Sunday and Cimarron Canyon.

Today we went to the St. James for lunch. The temperature in Cimarron Canyon was 40 deg. Hailstones covering the road looked just like snow. There was also a very hard rain which must have lasted for several hours. It's desperately needed here in this extremely dry summer. Tonight I was on the deck with Jeff and Fritz. We finished early because it was so cool. It's so amazing to leave the hot and humid weather of Georgia and experience this. Very enjoyable!!

Sunday was another wonderful day at the Fine Art and Wine Festival. After it was over everyone retired to the deck of Mountain Treasures to listen to Fritz and Fagan. I also sang a couple of songs.
Monday I was at the Sagebrush. It was my smallest audience on this tour but they were very enthusiastic. Congratulations to the couple from Belen who were celebrating their 35th, anniversary.
Tuesday I was in Angel Fire with Fritz at a Cd. signing. We performed together and had a very nice audience.
Wednesday, off to Colorado for a short rest and some cycling.
Friday was Eskes, a favourite Taos outdoor venue. I met some folks from Peru. Hello Orlando, Trish, Monica, Bruce, Kevin and Monica and Orlando's Dad. Also, hello to Gretchen and Cathryn. Hope you enjoyed your hike up Wheeler Peak.
Saturday was Altitudes for the wedding reception of Kelly and Vann. Congratulations!!! Sunday is back to Mountain Treaures to join Jeff and Fritz on the deck. Have a great weekend..

Fine Art and Wine Festival, Red River N.M.

It really did cool off last night. The temperature this morning was 31 deg. All you folks in Texas and Okalahoma could have been up here enjoying this beautiful weather. It probably reached 75 deg. today. This has been the best festival yet. We have larger crowds more wineries and perfect weather. It was good to meet all the folks from last year again.
The Bose system was more than adequate to fill the park. I don't know what I was worried about. What an amazing system this is.
There is also another Pimentel guitar on order. Thanks to Rick Pimentel for all your help the other day. It will be ready in about eight months and will really be an instrument to be proud of, just like the others. In the photo I'm playing the guitar Alonzo made. More soon.

Altitudes Restaurant, Red River.

Friday night at Altitudes. This is the reception for the artistes and wineries at the festival in Red River this weekend. In the foreground are the owners of Roberto's and The Bull o' the Woods, both of Red River. As I was leaving I noticed the temperature was dropping quite fast. This was quite a party. Thanks to John and Tracie of Altitudes for helping to make this night such a success.

The Thunderbird Inn, Florissant, Colorado.

This was taken at the end of the night at the Thunderbird, Florissant, one of the friendliest towns in the Rockies. I'm looking forward to being back here sometime in the fall and performing both friday and saturday nights. I'll keep you posted. Thanks to Russ and Lavanna for making this venue such a nice place to play.

Ronnie Lee's Supper Club, Taos, New Mexico

I performed inside at Ronnie Lee's on saturday night and on the patio for sunday brunch. It is beautiful out here and I recommend sitting on the patio for lunch or dinner. Saturday lunch I was in Cimarron for the "Mule Days" It was quite windy but I was fortunate enough to have a sheltered place to play. Thanks to Vallerie for booking me. I'm looking forward to the "St James Hotel" on the 30th, June. I also ran into some friends of mine who own "Legendary Tee's" in Angel Fire. Hello Jennifer and Tony. Great to see you.
The weekend ended at Mountain Treasures where I performed with Fritz and Fagan. This is always an incredibly funny and entertaining gig, not only for the audience but also the performers. A busy week, but very satisfying.

Taos Plaza

This was a fun show with a good crowd. I even saw my friend "Dulcimer "Dan Arterburn in the audience. The show was partially visible over the internet via the webcam situated on the "Made in New Mexico Store" Unfortunately it was from the rear of the stage. This photo shows what it was like from the front.
This is a busy weekend for me.This morning I'm heading for Florissant, Colorado via Guffey. Saturday lunch I'm in Cimarron and saturday evening back in Taos. Have a good weekend.

A view of Old downtown Salida.
The drive out here is about 1600 miles from Cornelia.The scenery in the last 200 is something to be seen. Temperatures have been around 85 during the day
but much cooler during the evening and morning.
Here's the Arkansas River. It is a place where everyone seems to spend at least part of their day. Quite a lively river!! The mountains are visible in the background. There are a lot of kayaks on this stretch, and people swimming. That water looks cold.
Here is a view of the rear deck at the Salida Cafe. Just to the right is the river. I did a sunday lunchtime show today. There were plenty of people and they really enjoyed the music. The last four days have been really nice and I hate to leave but I'm heading down to Red River in the morning so I have another great place to look forward to. Fritz and Jeff will be up here at Bongo Billy"s next friday. Many thanks to Clark Roberts for making this such a fabulous venue.More later.

Bongo Billy's, Salida, Colorado.

Here I am at Bongo Billy's. What a fantastic place this is. The scenary is beautiful, the people are friendly and appreciative and I feel right at home here. The food is great and the deck backs on to the Arkansas River.
I will try to post some more photo's before I leave. This is the most bicycle friendly town I've ever been to and sidewalks on almost every street. Very different from where I live. More later..

Colorado

Last night I spent the night in Mt Vernon, Illinois. Tonight, after around a 700 mile drive, I'm in Burlington, Colorado, after driving through a very bad storm. The weather service said to expect golfball sized hail and winds in excess of 70mph. I didn't encounter any of that but in Goodland, Kansas, they had enough hail they had to bring the snow ploughs out.
Tomorrow I'll amble down to Colorado Springs and on to Salida. It should be a nice relaxing drive. Not like today. M.L.

The Basket Peddler

Here I am performing at the Basket Peddler in Cornelia on 25th, May 2006. The deck is brand new and as you can see, really, really nice. Mike and Jean are very proud of it. It is completely enclosed with windows all the way around that can be opened during nice weather. Now I can have breakfast on the deck year round. The event was a wine tasting, featuring the wines of Wolf Mountain Vineyards of Dahlonega, Georgia.
For the musicians reading, I'm Playing a custom built nylon strung guitar from Pimentel in Albuquerque. The mic is a Neumann KMS105. The amplifier is an acoustic Carvin, AG100D, and finally a little Vox T-25 Bass amplifier for the pedals. All very small and lightweight.
Tomorrow night (saturday) I'll be back at Sugarmill Creek at Lake Burton.

One less job.

Well John took and passed his driver's test on wednesday and then bought this really nice Scion. It's rated at 38mpg on the highway. I wouldn't mind one myself. Anyway it looks like my chauffering days may be over.

Altitudes Restaurant, Red River, New Mexico.

Even more bookings. This time in Red River. Altitudes Restaurant is doing a "lunch in the Park" on 4th, July. I shall be performing for that and then later at the restaurant for dinner. This should be a really nice day, plus I will get to see the Parade. It looks like there is a lot happening in the town of Red River this summer. I really appreciate those cool morning temperatures. If you live in Texas this is a great place to escape some of that summer heat.

Eske's Brew Pub. Taos, New Mexico

The latest addition to the summer tour is Eske's in Taos. The date.. Friday 23rd, June. I have dined at Eske's several times and the food is great. I also like his chili beer, brewed on the spot. If you're in town please stop in.
Last night I was at Sugarmill. We had a very heavy rain around 10:30pm but had taken the precaution of setting up under shelter. It was still a nice evening, plus we got to watch the lightning dance around. Today is a mix of sunny skies and surprise rain showers. Rabun County averages over 80" of rain in a year and the vegetation is
like they said in yellow submarine "A sea of green" Very easy on the eyes.

More on the tour.

I will be performing at the St. James Hotel in Cimarron on 30th, June. I intend to stir up some of those ghosts (at least in song) for which it is so famous. Tuesday 27th, I'll be at the Buffalo Nickel Art Gallery, also in Cimarron. Check the web page, I'm still adding venues. I hope I get to see Scout Troop 24 from Cornelia Ga. They will be hiking at Philmont Scout Ranch in early June. Philip earned his "eagle" with them. Have a great trip guys.

Summer tour 2006

At the moment my summer tour starts on the 2nd, June at Bongo Billy's Salida Cafe in Salida, Colorado. From there to the Plaza in Taos on the 8th. This is an open air show that I'm really looking forward to. On the 9th, I am back in Colorado at the Thunderbird in Florissant, then Cimarron, New Mexico on the 10th, followed by Mountain Treasures in Red River on the 11th.
The complete schedule is to be found on my website under upcoming events. Bookings are being added all the time so please check frequently.
I got an e-mail today from my good friend Bill Loughner. His favourite song on the new album is "I'm the Coyote". Have a safe trip to Charleston Bill.

Hilton Head Island

Had a very relaxing week at Hilton Head. It was warm, sunny and nice to sit on the porch and watch the boats pass by. Hilton Head is behind the times as far as internet connections are concerned.(Maybe that's part of the charm?) I finally discovered Java Joe's with good iced coffee and free internet service. Then on saturday both John and Wendy graduated from Piedmont with honours. Congratulations to both of you..
Saturday night I was performing at Sugarmill Creek with a nice crowd which included some dancers. The weather was warm and he rain held off until Sunday.
I will be working in Florida in September. Funny, but I've never worked there before.

Saturday night off

Tonight was cancelled due to cold, windy, and possibly rainy weather. It didn't rain but it was cool. So... I found myself at the lakehouse with some time on my hands and I decided to call Fritz Davis, the editor of the "Red River Miner". He told me they had just had several inches of snow and the precipitation is badly needed in such a dry year.
Also Fritz and Jeff Fagan have had two songs accepted into the New Mexico song writing competition. One, called "Take it as far as it will go" is an awesome song, and the other is about the presidential race and really funny. Good luck to both of you in Albuquerque next month.
I keep working away on songs for the next album and it is not easy. The stuff I've been writing is so different from what I've done before that I'm not sure if it will fit with what I do. Does every profession have these problems? Probably not... More at a later time.

The weekend

This friday we all gathered at the lakehouse. Philip, Nora, John and Wendy spent the weekend with Linda and me. On saturday night at Sugarmill, we were joined by Mary, Lou, Robert, Linda, Les, the guys from Baldwin,two former boy scouts from my Cornelia troop, plus some campers and locals. A really nice night even though it cooled off around 10:00pm.
On Sunday we took the boat out for a couple of hours. Quite choppy because of the wind but still refreshing. M.T.C.L.

John took these photographs at Sugarmill last night. It was busy and we even had folks from Seneca, S.C. Thank you Bob and Linda for really going out of your way. Yesterday was hot, around 90 degrees in Atlanta and not much cooler than that up here. This guitar is my Washburn. It is not an expensive guitar but very hardy and almost impervious to the temperature and humidity changes I put it through.

I really enjoy this place and all the people I meet here. M.T.C.