So, today is/was ‘Play Music on the Porch’ day… We took our ukes, and went down to Oregon, Il, to the Ukulele Station America, and hung w/ our friend, John Lindhorst, and the Rock River Strummers, to celebrate… Good times… 🎶
Hey kids… We had a great time in Minnesota, at the SILVER CREEK INTERNATIONAL UKULELE FESTIVAL… Good music, great people, good times … Met friends from all over the country. What more could one want, for fun?
Hi there. Hope you are all well… We’re fine. Been busy… Hey, it’s summer. We are supposed to be busy!!! Speaking of busy, we got home last night, from the 2021 Willow folk festival. We’ve gone for almost 20 years. Last year, like sooooo many other events, it was given the year off… This year was a smaller version of the fest, but still a ton of music, in and out of the camping cow pasture area.
There were several people who had passed, some from Covid, and some from other things, and that made it a bit sad. Our friend Al, was sorely missed, but not in a ‘sad’ way, but it wasn’t quite the same without him. He ran the sound system for almost 40 years, so, that was a change. However, the very talented Bill Bartilson, has had his hands on the knobs for several years, and he made quite sure, that the music sounded great! In fact, we were told, as we came off the stage, by a group of talented young peeps, that ‘your sonic texture was the best we’ve heard all day’… Means we sounded good… We take some credit for that…
The fest is actually at a country church. The stage is a hay wagon. Seats are 2X12’s on hay bales. Rustic is the byword… Anyway, there were familiar faces, new faces, and a lot of happy faces. Some great music. Some ‘enthusiastic’ music… Talking, eating, sharing, enjoying. And yes, we were cautious, w/ social distancing …
We got to be onstage THREE times, on Saturday. Once, as the Magtones. Once, to back up our new friend, Bruce. And, finally, as the backup to our amazing friend, Tommy… All, a lot of fun, and good tunes…
Hi there. Hope you are all doing ok/well. Went from cool to hot to cold and rainy, here. Yuck…
Anyway, our friends, Mike August, and Ern Saunders joined us- The Magtones- to have fun w/ a classic… Fire On The Mountain…. Hope you like it…. We had fun doing it…
Morning, kids… This… may be the perfect tune for our Covid Quarantine… We got the band together- Mike August, Gail Herrera, Elizabether Safley Brinker, Diane Poole, my lovely wife, Maggie, and Ernie Saunders- all amazing tune smiths on their own, and did a Dylan tune, ‘You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere’ (Easy Chair). Turned out pretty darn good, I believe… Hope you like it…
Hey there… Our friend Ernie joined us for an old Byrds tune, Mr Spaceman… Had a great time… Love playin’ w/ Ern… Hope you like it…
Our friend Diane Poole rounded up the troops- Elizabeth Safely Brinker (check out her YouTube page), Jim Allen, and Franco, and pulled off a great cover of the Zombies tune, ‘Time of the Season’…
We borrowed a tune from the Spare Change Band, and our friend Michael August added the right amount of cool, to make this tune pop… Hope you enjoy it…
We went on a social distanced road trip, this weekend.
We hung w/ amazing people, who, have been quarantined and social distancing… ‘Cept for this…
So, Mike- Back row, right- entered a contest to win a fabulous Bonanza five string ukulele, from Pete-back row, left- and sure as shootin’, Mike won! Dilemma, ship it? Or, wait! Pete had a great idea… ‘Why don’t you come and pick it up?’… Dee-front row, left, in the tie dye- said, ‘bring the Magtones!’… That’s us… So, the plot was hatched… Pete and Dee invited Mike, and his lovely wife Ann-back row, center- and the us, to come to their corner of the world, and spend Thursday-Sunday morning, w/ them…
We arrived Thursday afternoon, and proceeded to join Pete on his Facebook show. How fun… And joined him on the Friday show. Fun! And, the Saturday show… More fun! Great tunes. Fun interaction w/ the peeps on the other side of the camera, and, just hangin’ out w/ all of us…
Dee, a mistress of the kitchen, fed us AMAZING southern food, til we thought we’d gone to food heaven… What a chef, and sweetheart….
There was as much heartfelt conversation around the house, and dinner table, as there was music… It… Does not get much better than that…
Sunday morning, rolled round, and, it was sadly, time to head back north… We shall deeply miss them, IRL, til we get to meet again…
Here we go…
So, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything… Been a bit busy and in a tulmult, like everyone else. Laid off. Terminated. Means I’m retired. Actually, the best thing that could have happened to us!
We went to Utah. That was a fun road trip. Low-key, but enjoyable. Was informed, about 4 hours into the trip, that I was retired. That was interesting… However, everything fell into place, because of out research and planning, so, we’re golden. When we arrived home, we started a new chapter in our lives.
The downside to this summer, was, and is, the cancelled events that we were to attend, in our victory lap summer. Memphis. The UK. Minnesota. Two Rivers. So many musical, and tour trips killed by Covid. We’ve been able to attend small, outdoor, distancedevents, and that’s been nice, but…
There have been home projects. Yard projects. Recording projects. Cookouts with friends. So, we are keeping busy. Seems, that there’s more to do now, than when I worked!
Celebrating our 25th anniversary was a wonderful milestone with a wonderful woman. I am a very lucky man… Onto another (as many as possible) years…
