2006

Next year looks like it will be another interesting year. I have been booked for the 3rd annual Fine Art and Wine Festival in Red River, New Mexico. It is held on Father's day (U.S.) weekend. June 17th, and 18th, I think. Also I have been contacted about playing at the Fylde Folk Festival held in Fleetwood, England on the 1st 2nd and 3rd September. I think the last time I performed there was 1995. It is always nice to go home.

Last friday I was at the Primetime in Seneca,S.C. The place was absolutely packed. Chuck and Linda were holding their wedding reception and they had family present from all over. Congratulations Chuck and Linda, and great to see your extended families again. Saturday was back at Sugarmill Creek with a good lively crowd. Philip went with me for the first time in several years. We had a great time and spent the night at the lake with plenty of news and conversation to exchange.

This coming weekend I'm at the Primetime on friday and then Chickasaw Point on saturday. In case I don't get to write again soon,I'd like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Til next time..........

Back home.

Friday I was back at the Primetime after a month away. It was very busy and I saw a lot of people I had'nt seen in a while. This photo was taken a few years ago, taken from the stage. It was a celebration of Elvis's birthday.

Last night I was back at Sugarmill Creek. It snowed just a little as I was on my way to the lakehouse. Most of the leaves are down and it looks very wintery here. The lake level is being lowered and there are few boats on the water. Since the bears should be hibernating it may be alright to put the birdfeeders back out.This last summer, one pesky bear destroyed every feeder we had.
I wish everyone a great Thanksgiving.

Landrovers

My other favourite hobby, one I don't seem to find time to do any more is Rovering".
There is some really incredible scenary in the mountains of Northeast Georgia and I love to ride the dirt roads. Here are two of my Rovers.
The green one is a 1961 series two and the white, a 1993 Defender 110"

Solaros is the Landrover owners club in Atlanta. Check out www.solaros.com
I hope to find time for some rides between now and the holidays. Cool temperatures go well with stops for hot, steaming coffee and time spent with like minded friends.

The Dolphin Bar

The Dolphin Bar is the place I started as a full time musician
back in the sixties. Unfortunately it was torn down a few years
ago to make way for apartments or something. I have another blog
called the Dolphin Bar. Check it out if you want to know more.

End of tour

I just got home. This has been a good week, but now I have to turn my attention to packing and getting ready to leave in the morning. I will be at the Primetime in South Carolina this coming friday. That's the 18th, I think.

It did snow last night and when I awoke the mountains were white. Most of that melted in the warm afternoon sun. It is quite cold at the moment.

Last night I attended the celebration for introducing the new FIVE magazine at Ktao studios in Taos. I have ads running with them for about eight months. There were a lot of people there and I knew nobody, except for Janice. She graciously showed me around and introduced me to many people whose names have already faded. The faces though, I'll remember, but names...

This has been a wonderful tour and I hope to see again all my new and old aquaintances. Experience tells me that Some I'll see again and others I won't, but they have all been a gift. Thanks everyone. Til next time then....

Had an enjoyable night at Ronnie Lee's last night. Mike and Connie came down from Red River. Thunder in the mountains is about Mike's hiking experiences. I also sold some cd's. That's always nice.

While I was in Taos I bought a digital cable for the Marantz recorder. This morning I hooked up the digital out from the Bose to the Marantz and tried recording. The quality is exceptionally high, but there seems to be one drawback. The Bose only outputs channels one and two into the digital out. The other two "line in" channels are ignored. There may be a way around this but I hav'nt discovered it yet. This may be a design flaw or at the very least an inconvenience for it means hooking up a second mixer to do live recordings of all instruments or channels used. There is a computer in the base of the Bose system so maybe an update will come along to solve this problem. Don't be put off trying one of these systems though, I still think it is the best thing on the market right now. Photo's of Bose and the Marantz recorder and the DR-880 is used only as a sound module for the Roland PK-5 bass pedals.

In an hour I'm going to Santa Fe. More when I return.

More travelling

I'm leaving for Taos shortly. Tomorrow to Santa Fe, and Friday back in Taos.
While in Santa Fe I may even get breakfast in the "Pink". English nationals take note, I'm not talking about "naked" but a cafe. Look at the photo..
This tour is rapidly coming to an end and it will be the last for the year. I'm a little tired of moving around right now so a break will be good. With this new equipment I am travelling lighter than I can ever remember. Good for the old back.

Get well soon John. And Rita, I'm going to try and find a big sun face for your deck at Sugarmill creek.
More when the opportunity arises.

Waiting for the snow

Red River, New Mexico.
The snowmakers are ready and are turned on when the temperature drops low enough. Some help from mother nature would be appreciated right now. With less than three weeks to Thanksgiving, some of the residents are getting a little concerned. The town is starting to wake up as merchants ready their stores for the coming season.
In other matters, I'll be heading to the city in a couple of days. Get well JSB. I'll see you soon.

Happy Bonfire night!

Well, 5th, November, Bonfire Night. Would'nt I love to be in England tonight. I have very vivid memories of past Guy Fawkes days. "penny for the guy" where we begged for small change to buy our fireworks with. We used to collect old wooden furniture, branches, hedge clippings, just about anything that would burn and build a huge bonfire. This undertaking might take five or six weeks. We made a "guy" out of old clothes and straw then he would be placed on top of the bonfire. about the time it got dark we'd set it on fire and watch Mr Guy Fawkes burn. Then came the fireworks and last, as the whole pile collapsed into embers we'd drop potatoes in to bake. I believe they were the best I ever had, even though we never quite got all the ash dusted off.

Anyway, I'm working in Taos at Ronnie Lee's this coming week. See the picture Great food, nice atmosphere, oh, and wonderful entertainment. Check the place out when you're in Taos.

Ok JSB, so now you know, I figured out the image bit.

Back from Taos

I just got back from the Blue Moon Gallery. Another good night and sold some cd's.
I had to put some money in a parking meter. After the first quarter it registered 1/2 an hour so I put another one in and it registered "violation" so I had move the car to the next space and start all over again.
We were quite busy, but if the newspaper had not put the wrong date in the ad we would probably have been very busy. Well that's Taos and I think I'm starting to get used to things like that. I'm not grumbling it's just that things like that seem to happen all the time here. That probably has a lot to do with the charm of this incredible place.
The photo I added is Red River at the end of January, 2005. The ski season is supposed to star in about three weeks. Mmmm?

Santa Fe

Back from Santa Fe. I stayed with Paige and Leslie. Last night we went to see the Bill Hearne Trio at the La Fonda hotel on the plaza. They put on a great show. Also, I love to watch western dancing and that's an excellent place to see it. Tomorrow I'm playing at the Blue Moon Gallery in Taos. Looking forward to that. I'll write more when I can.

Red River... November

Red River, 1st, November. It was around 14 deg this morning, now though, today is bright and sunny.
I've been learning how to use the PMD-670 digital recorder from Marantz.With the one gig card it will record about an hour and a half in cd quality. Great for songwriting and also recording live shows.
Tomorrow I'm going to Santa Fe to see some friends. I may stay a couple of days, just hav'nt decided yet. Tonight Fritz and I will be at the Bull O' The Woods. Should be fun. Life is good...