The Fifth Course

Seriously, I had no idea England had a Rochester too. But every time I come across an English city with the same name as an American one, like Boston, I think, "Well duh. They had to get the name somewhere,"

In any case Rochester is a lovely little town that holds a medieval castle and cathedral. They have a folk festival there every year called Rochester Sweeps Festival. I appeared on Sunday the 5th of May at the Busker's Corner. The stage was set up between the castle ...

Napping during the break.

Matt and I went to the Cambridge market square yesterday afternoon. Mandolin and guitar in tow, we walked through it twice scouting busking locations. One by one they were taken up by more experienced and decisive buskers. We finally settled upon the southwest corner, near a coffee shop and some likely looking kiosks.

I set out the mandolin case (my breast-cancer-awareness pink gig bag) and tuned up my Vessel F5. Matt tugged out the Rainsong and waited.

That space ...

A lot has happened since the last time I dropped a line here. I should update here more often! (I wonder if anyone is still reading this. Drop me a line or post a comment if you are!)

The following is a warning to all you unattached people out there. This could happen to you...

She is wonderful. She plays guitar and writes songs, she is intelligent, insightful, caring, patient, and fun to kiss. When we met she was on vacation from England, visiting the Bay Area ...

I had accepted an invitation to play mandolin and join in the fun at the monthly Contra Dance in Sonora at Aronos Hall, so I felt obligated to go. Still I could not find a way out of the doldrums. Nothing seemed worth doing except sitting in my apartment with my cat and a movie...

Continue reading...

This is an excellent primer and very good advice if you want to play lot to a wide variety of audiences.

Thanks Allen!

Originally Posted by allenhopkins

Some thoughts on what's worked for me. And let me state up front, that while I make a "good second income" from music -- over $15K annually -- I couldn't live on what I make; that's where civil service retirement comes in...

1. Playing for seniors: I compiled a list of nursing homes, senior centers, assisted living facilities

...

The mandolin is the perfect travel instrument. My mandolin, in a hard shell case, has fit in the overhead compartments of every puddle-jumper into which I have had the pleasure of folding myself. Occasionally a zealous gate agent will attempt to tag my case for gate-check for the short flights. When that happens I have been able to put off the green-tagger by saying, “It’ll fit,” or “This needs to come with me -if you need to check something take the backpack.”

The size also allows ...

I used to be a singer/songwriter. Time was when I could access my emotional state at the drop of a hat and pour my guts out with a pen, a piece of paper and a guitar.

Things changed as I got older. Music became a hobby rather than a serious endeavor, so I turned from songwriting to more social forms of musical expression.

I found Bluegrass, not because I am deeply enamored with the style of music, but because Bluegrassers welcomed me.

The reason I played ...

I cannot remember the last time I posted to my blog. Life got very complicated in mid-July only a few weeks after starting a new job. Then teaching at Columbia College (Sonora CA) started in late August. Suffice to say the second half of the year has skipped by without my being able to play much music or stop and reflect --in text-- on events in my personal life.

But here we are near the end of the year, and I have resolved to play more music and write more. Here is the first installment ...

Howdy to all on Mando-land,
I have a new video up on my Youtube Channel which I will embed here to save the trouble of clicking a link.

This is the second in the ongoing series of songs being recorded at Fran Guidry's Digital Duck Studios in Walnut Creek, CA.

The Song is called Wounded Knee. It about the massacre of several hundred Lakota Soiux at the hands of the 7th Cavalry in December 1890. The story is told from the first person perspective of a fictional ...