Attn: DC Area Cafe Members!

[Rob Powell]

All,

Gordon has suggested a meet somewhere in the dc area for us to check out some Eastman mandos up close and personal, get to meet each other and have a couple of brews or other beverage of choice.

Seems like a great opportunity to me but then again, I am the beergeek http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

Just email Gordon with your preferred dates and places and we will do it up Cafe Style....

groberts@eastmanstrings.com

--Rob

[rose#1]

are only Eastmans allowed? or can we have a D.C. mando tasting

[Stephen Perry]

I'll be DC area week of Thanksgiving. The concept of an overall mando tasting is quite appealing.

STeve

[Rob Powell]

Hey Darby and Steve....

I say the more the merrier....would love to see a Rose in person as well and welcome the chance to meet Steve...

[Bob A]

I'd consider bringing a Gibson or two for comparison's sake. Might be interesting.

[telepbrman]

I'm in, keep us posted, are we talking about a hotel, someones house, or a shop? Sounds like a DC/Va/Md Cafe meeting to me, fill me in, dy.

[Rob Powell]

After thinking this over, since Gordon is actually the one with the connections and he's making the arrangements, it's really his call. I'm not sure it's fair to him to make this a general mando tasting when he's doing most of the work to get this together.

That said, we're talking about maybe meeting in DC at the Brickskeller. The location could be changed depending on where everyone is coming from but Gordon has a possible connection with the owner of the Brick.

Again, the idea originated with Gordon as an Eastman tasting and he's doing the work to put it together. I think we should let him make the call and if he'd rather keep it all Eastman, I say we let him and I'll try to arrange another general mando tasting another time.

I think that's the only fair thing to do...please, no flaming on the board but feel free to flame me personally at beergeek@comcast.net http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif

[Harrmob]

Good chance I'll be in D.C. for thanksgiving week also, that would cool. Keep us posted.

[EastmanGordon]

Seems like we have about ten people interested already so it looks like we have a quorum and I really like the idea of getting some other makers involved also. I know the guys that play down at Madams Organ in Adams Morgan every wednesday night and Saul here thought it might be cool to see if we could arrange something there to coincide. They play bluegrass and they actively encourage people to sit in so it might be possible to hear the instruments in context. They don't start the first set until nine so we could meet at sevenish and have a couple of hours of picking before the band starts up. I haven't talked to anyone there about it yet (I have a call in to Tad Marks who plays fiddle for them but I haven't heard back from him yet. Tad used to play with Del McCoury by the way). Do you think this could be done the Wednesday of the Thanksgiving holiday? I know that Steve from Gianna Violins will be in town that night and it might be a fun kick off for the holiday season. The only negative is of course the fact that a lot of people go out of town then so it might not work. Any feelings?
Gordon

[EastmanGordon]

By the way I have no problem with setting this up and having other makers there, my feeling is the more the merrier and we should treat it as a mando cafe listmeet and not an Eastman event. That means I can hang out just like everyone else.
Gordon

[Rob Powell]

Hey Gordon, I suspected you wouldn't mind other builders but didn't want to speak for you...

I like the idea of Madams Organ but you might be right, the night before Thanksgiving could be a bit tricky...I'll have to check with the boss...I think we have people coming over on Turkey Day and if'n our house ain't in order for guests, well you know the saying...

"If Momma ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy!"

--Rob

[telepbrman]

Yep, I'm out of town...dy.

[EastmanGordon]

Several people have contacted me offlist to tell me that Thanksgiving will not work so I think we will drop that idea. The consensus seems to be that Wednesday would be good just not that Wednesday. I am still waiting to hear back from the Madam's Organ folks to see if it's do able there. The other possibility is Flanagan's in Bethesda. It's close to the metro and they are very music friendly. The Brickskellar is still an option although it seems that it would be a hike for most of the people that have responded so far. Seems that mando players congregate mostly in the Maryland and Virginia suburbs.
Gordon
By the way, the band I play in is looking for a fiddle player if anyone is interested, we do Americana/folk stuff.
Contact me offlist if you know of anyone that might fit the bill.

[Tim]

Jammin' Java (http://www.jamminjava.com) in Vienna might work if you can catch them on a night without a show. #No financial interest but they are having Alison Brown in early December.