Let's talk

  1. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    For starters, do you like the avatar for the group? Other than the print across the top, it's an unaltered pic I took last summer, from our front yard out here on the farm in central Iowa!

    I know there are other Iowans out there; guess they are still out planting corn and beans Or, wishing the rain would stop long enough to get finished!

    Didn't check to see what we discussed when we started this group, so I'll ask again...

    What kind of music do you usually play, and what would you like to learn? Do you play in a band, or get together with others to play, on any kind of regular basis? What are your musical goals!

    Barb
  2. Mike Romkey
    Mike Romkey
    That's a lot of questions! Lessee: The avatar is nice...

    I'm a recovering rock-and-role guitar player. Garcia, Clapton, Beck, zzzzz. Sorry, I fell asleep for a minute. Bored with all of that, and with schelpping amplifiers out of bars at 2:30 a.m., I got interested in flat-picking fiddle tunes on a Martin. That led to mandolin, because fiddle tunes work a lot better on instruments tuned in 5ths than 4ths. That led to fiddling. Fiddle tunes are played on fiddles. (Duh.)

    But I've kinda come back and settled into spending most of my time playing mandolin. It's a comfortable instrument to sit with in your lap and let the evening go by. Plus playing the mandolin during commercials is a lot easier for my wife to tolerate than letting fly with the fiddle.

    My emphasis has been Irish and Scottish for a while. I have a rocking little Celtic band, The Barley House Band, and we do enough shows that I wouldn't want to do more. Made a couple of CDs in area studios, acquired a bunch of recording gear for a live monthly Prairie Home Companion-style show we podcast. (Hey, if you want to record for the low rate of a bottle or two of wine, get in touch. Seriously. My stuff is all portable. Have studio, will travel.) If any of you want to perform at the Bucktown Revue, give me a holler. We start up again in September. 7 p.m. third Friday of the month at the River Music Experience Performance Hall in Davenport. No money but a good crowd and and a great time.

    All that said, I'm more interested these days in playing bluegrass, new grass, old time, classical, Americana -- stuff that doesn't necessarily fit into a category. I'm taking vid cam lessons with Mike Compton in Nashville. (I highly recommend him.) That has opened up a lot of things for me -- from playing straight single line melody to playing with drones, chord slurs and a lot more active, tremolo-like right hand style.

    I'll keep Barleying, but I'd like to do something with mandolin, fiddle, guitar, bass, maybe hand drum or brushes, maybe even an acoustic piano, drawing from the aforementioned repertoire but playing the music as we hear it.

    There. I've gone one entirely too long. What about you, Barbara?
  3. Barbara Shultz
    Barbara Shultz
    I started playing the mandolin about 4 years ago. Before that, it was piano as a child, and 'pop' organ as a teenager.

    Then, a lifetime, making no music! Raising, kids, etc!

    A couple of years ago, the folks that got me into this, who have a band based out of Des Moines, The Flatland Ramblers, asked me to join the band. We do perform around the area, not as much as we'd like. We play Old Time & Celtic tunes, acoustic, no vocals.

    I don't work outside the home, so I am lucky to get to spend several hours a day playing music. Plus, our band gets together twice a week to play / practice.

    Most of the music I play is Old Time, Celtic, Fiddle Tunes. I would like to someday learn blues mandolin. I don't think I'll ever be fast enough to play bluegrass mandolin... leave that to the young folks!
  4. Bear667
    Bear667
    Well here goes..... I am still in the learning process, but I really dig Celtic music, but I would love to learn any type of mando music. I've never played any instrument in my life, however I do like singing. I'm not a concert quality singer, but I can carry a tune.
  5. MrMoe
    Introduction, Maurice McMurry here. I am an Iowa ex-pat. now living in Missouri. Born in Des Moines in 1963. We lived outside Iowa City 1965 - 1969, Mom still has some acres in Wane County near Confidence. She is 2nd cousin to Rhonda Vincent. I am a very novice player, I am a fairly accomplished builder. As to the Avatar, I feel like I should recognize the image but I do not, Best regards to all, Maurice
  6. MrMoe
    Well.. the Mandolin Architect is doing absolutely beautiful work, the corn has grown tall and the cattle have grown fat. The tough folks around Cedar Rapids continue to rebuild. All appears well in Iowa.
  7. MrMoe
    It Is fun to see Rhonda Vincent in the Women's Histroy banner. It is good to see that the Sally Mountain Bluegrass Festival is scheduled again. I hope some of our clan can attend. Are any other members fans of Rhonda Vincent or the festival?

    Maurice
  8. trodgers
    trodgers
    Hey MrMoe - you will not believe this, but I've played a couple of gigs in beautiful Confidence!

    A number of years ago, the pastor of the last church in town happened to be the dad of a pal of mine (and leader of our bluegrassish outfit.)
    We played a couple of late Sunday afternoon shows at the church. They paid us by taking up a collection (pretty modest) and then nearly feeding us to death in the church basement after the show. Our poor bass player had never been to a church basement potluck before; he barely survived!
  9. MrMoe
    trodgers , that story made us smile very wide. My Great grand parents were charter members of Sunny Slope Church of Christ. Right down the road. C of C is non instrumental so we never had any mandolin, guitar or bass. Acapella singing from the shape note song book only. Pot lucks were permitted. Oh boy! Were they fantastic!
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