Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Music. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 21, 2017

Glen Campbell

Have I ever mentioned that I LOVE Glen Campbell?

I read the saddest thing this past Sunday.  Glen Campbell's present wife (his fourth wife) told reporters this past weekend that her husband can no longer play his guitar.

This country music icon, who still plays the background music in my head when I think of my life in the late 1960s, can in reality no longer play the guitar.

When I read that, it made me too sad to think of anything else for a few minutes. Can you think of anything sadder than a guitarist forgetting how to play his instrument??? So very sad.

Glen Campbell was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease back in 2011.  He is in the late stages of the disease today, and I fear we will lose this talented man very soon. 

Alzheimer's is the Devil.  

Back in 1967 when I was at that awkward age of 12, too old to be a child and too young to be an adult, Mr. Campbell's Gentle on My Mind and By The Time I Get To Phoenix (both grammy winners) played through long afternoons of homework and daydreaming of being 16 and grown-up.  

The next year, when I was at the even more awkward age of 13, it was Witchita Lineman playing on the 8-track-tape-players of my friends' cars as we rode around the neighborhoods and trolled all the local teen hot spots.

NOTE:  In 1968 in South Carolina you could get your drivers license at age 14, but that changed the next year, so I had to be 15 before I could get my license and then it was restricted to daylight hours until I turned 16, but my friends, only two years older than me, had their licenses in 1968, so we often rode around together when I was 13.  

I can still hear that Witchita Lineman song playing over and over and over.  ♫♪♪♫•*•.¸♫♪♪♫He's still on the liiiiine.♫♪♪♫•*•.¸♫♪♪♫

The next year, 1969, it was ♫♪♪♫•*•.¸♫♪♪♫Galveston, oh Galveston; I still hear your seawinds blowing; I still see her dark eyes glowing. She was twenty one, when I left Galveston.♫♪♪♫•*•.¸♫♪♪♫ and so on until life took over and I didn't hear from Glen Campbell for quite awhile.

Then in 2015 Mr. Cambell's song, I'm Not Gonna Miss You, won the grammy.  Remarkable.  

That thief people call, Alzheimer's, has now stolen this man's memories, as well as stolen his music left unwritten. Someone please find a cure.  Please.

Here is his grammy winning song, I'm Not Gonna Miss You, for your listening pleasure.  Please send him healing and comforting thoughts as you watch the video.  


What a talent lost.  What a talent lost. 

Friday, January 13, 2017

I Think I'm in Love With Sixto Rodriguez

Seriously.  I love this man.  I love his music even more.  I love that he's not about money and fame. I feel so cheated that I didn't get to listen to his music on the radio when I was young.

You want to hear his music.

You want to hear his story.  It is incredible.

He was bigger than the Rolling Stones in South Africa back in the early 1970s.  He was even bigger than Elvis. His first album, Cold Fact, was released in 1970 followed by Coming from Reality in 1971.  For whatever reason he didn't find an audience in the US back then, but South Africa was a different story. 

Rodriguez is presently working on his third album.  I sure hope he finishes it because I want to buy it.  I LOVE his voice and listen to his music often on my drive to and from work.  You can purchase his music by clicking HERE.  His official website is sugarman.org.

I know I posted about Rodriguez back in October, but it came to my attention today that the full documentary about him, Searching for Sugarman, which won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2013 is now on YouTube, so I had to share.   

To view all the film's awards click HERE and be prepared to scroll a long way down before getting to the end of that list.  It is a remarkable film - a modern day rags to riches story - a story of a life that should have been.

The Rolling Stone also published a great article about him back in 2013 that you might enjoy.  To read it click HERE.

Here is the documentary.  Enjoy!



Sunday, December 4, 2016

The Citadel's 79th Annual Christmas Candlelight Services at Summerall Chapel

Tonight, Sunday, December 4, 2016, will be this year's final performance of The Citadel's Annual Christmas Candlelight Service at Summerall Chapel on The Citadel campus at 171 Moultrie Street, Charleston, SC 29401.

Try to go if you missed Friday night's service.  You will be glad you did.  It is a lovely service.

Get there at least one hour early or you will not get a seat.

For more information or to LiveStream the service and watch it from home, go HERE.

This will most likely be the last service I ever attend as I'm moving next summer.  I will miss the service.  I've attended every one of them since 2000.  It makes it feel more like Christmas to hear the Christmas story and hear the carols sung by candlelight.

As I was watching and listening this night, I couldn't help but think of all the cadets I've seen pass through those chapel doors and stand on those risers and sing.  The original cadets I saw that first night I ever attended are in their mid-30s now.

That first choir was very different from the one I saw this year.  It was almost all male cadets.  This year's choir has a good mix of both male and female cadets, as more women today choose to attend The Citadel Military College of South Carolina.

All The Citadel choirs have had much in common though.  They are comprised of young people in their prime working towards their life's goals.  Trying to better themselves. They're sitting on the brink of true adulthood.  Just about to plunge into their lives full force. 

Some will become military officers, teachers, engineers, business professionals, health professionals, scientists, fathers, mothers, and other productive citizens.  Their lives will change exponentially after their graduations, but on this night each year, they are simply young singers raising their voices in celebration of the birth of a Jewish child who lay, wrapped in swaddling clothes, in a manger more than 2000 years ago.  A child who came to give us hope.  A child who came to save the world.

This service always makes me think of who among us may be remembered for generations.  Who will remember me?  What difference has my life made?  Who celebrated my birth? Have I changed the world?

The answers are complicated, of course.  I know I have changed the world of my sons, as I gave birth to them.  I know I have changed the world of all those whose lives I have touched.  I can only hope the change was for the better.  I wonder...

I look around and see so very many friends beside and surrounding me.  I see their faces and feel their joy in hearing the old songs, and it makes me believe we are all here for a reason.  It is good to gather and be thankful and in wonder of the miracle of birth.

The 2016 Christmas Season has officially begun.  I hope you find yourself surrounded by all the things that make you happy, and I hope each day you find a few minutes to truly be thankful for all the things you have in this life.

Love and joy come to you!!!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!


The following video is a LiveStream of Friday night's performance.  Enjoy!

The cadet choir appears at about 53 minutes in the video below.  If you have trouble entering full screen, please click YouTube on the bottom right of the video screen and try from there.


Tuesday, November 22, 2016

Remembering Emma Kelly: A True Story

Back in 2000 I had the great honor and pleasure of meeting the famous pianist and singer, Emma Kelly in Savannah, Georgia.

My apologies for the photo resolution.  I really need to find the original and re-scan it, but here I am with the lovely and talented, Emma Kelly, the Lady of 6000 Songs.  

I had seen her in concert with the Charleston Symphony Orchestra in Charleston, SC once before, but I didn't get to meet her that night.  I was thrilled to meet her this night!  She is one of my all time favorite musicians.  I just love her.

Emma Kelly gained nationwide fame when John Berendt published his book, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, back in 1994.  The book was full of Savannah, GA stories and characters and Emma Kelly was among them.  Then later in 1997, Clint Eastwood made a movie of the book. Emma played herself in the movie.  

She was and is unforgettable.  A finer lady never lived.  

Emma was the mother of 10 children.  She earned her living by playing the piano and singing, oftentimes having to drive long distances to get to her next gig.  She was a devout Christian, who was born in 1918 and died in 2001.

I own two of her CDs and listen to them often.  The last time I was in North Carolina visiting two of my sons and my granddaughters, I had Emma's music playing in the car and my sons heard her.  My son, Dave said, "Mama who is that singing?  She sounds like a female Louis Armstrong."  

Dave was originally a music performance major at North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston Salem, NC.  He was a jazz trombonist.  Him saying someone sounds like a female Louis Armstrong is high praise indeed. 

The night the picture above was taken, Emma was playing in a little jazz bar called Hard Hearted Hannah's, which was upstairs in the Pirates' House restaurant in Savannah, and... 

It was my 45th birthday!! 

A friend took me to Savannah for dinner at the Pirates' House that night, and then we went upstairs to hear Emma Kelly play and sing.  When she found out it was my 45th birthday, she came over and joined us for awhile.  We talked and laughed and had the BEST time.  She played and sang all my favorite songs, and honestly, it was one of the most memorable and wonderful birthdays of my life.  

About six months later, in January 2001, I heard the news.  Emma Kelly, the Lady of 6000 Songs, had passed away in her home.  She was 82. Thinking of her passing still makes me sad after all these years.  

I feel so very blessed to have had the opportunity to meet her.  It is so seldom we get to sit and chat with celebrities that we admire.  What a wonderful birthday gift!  A day and night to remember.... 

For more information about Emma Kelly, click HERE to read a 1998 tribute to her.  Her obituary is found HERE.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016

Searching for Sugar Man (Probably NOT What You Think)

Searching for Sugar Man is a documentary.  The story is so incredible that this film won an Oscar for Best Documentary in 2013.  It is about the 1970s singer/songwriter, Sixto Rodriguez. Known merely as Rodriguez.  

To view all the film's awards click HERE and be prepared to scroll a long way down before getting to the end of that list.  It is a remarkable film - a modern day rags to riches story - a story of a life that should have been. 

I personally believe every human on this planet should see it, so I'm sharing the trailer with you today. 



After seeing the movie in the theater back in 2012, I bought the DVD of it as soon as it released in 2013.  If you want one too (or a Blu Ray), you can buy it HERE.  You can also rent and stream it on Amazon, or you may be able to find it in your local library.  Streaming it on Netflix is unavailable, but you can get the DVD on Netflix if you have that plan.

However you decide to see it, I'd recommend that you do see it.

Below is Rodriguez as he appears today, singing his hit song, Sugar Man.  I admit.  I just love this man and his music.



The reason I'm thinking about Rodriguez today is I drove to North Carolina recently and listened to his music all the way there and all the way back.  I just can't get enough of it. 

Truth be told, I love that he finally is receiving the recognition he deserves.  

Rodriguez is a rock star you never knew you loved.

To purchase his music, click HERE.  Enjoy and you're welcome!

Saturday, October 1, 2016

I Blame Arlo Guthrie: A True Story

Arlo Davy Guthrie (born July 10, 1947), Woody's son, made my teenage years miserable.  Yes.  It is true.

Back in 1967, right about Thanksgiving, when I was 12 years old, Arlo Guthrie took it upon himself to publish a song called Alice's Restaurant.  It was the chorus of that song that was my undoing.  It went:

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in, it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant

Oh...how the Junior High School boys laughed and pointed their fingers!  They sang and sang and sang that chorus every single time I walked down the hall at school. They snickered and giggled like little girls huddled in their groups talking junk about me.  Poor Alice.

When I tried to protest, it only made them worse.

Years later I discovered I could say something like, "Well, YOU can NOT get anything YOU want at Alice's Restaurant!" to the leader of the group, and it would generally shut them up for a little while. 

Horrifying.

Yes.  I tried to explain to them that the last of the lyrics clearly state:

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

But they never listened that long.  -sigh-  Admittedly it was a long song, and Junior High School boys are notorious for short attention spans.  

After a while of singing the chorus of that song, the boys started to believe it.  No.  It was not then, nor is it now, true, but I'm thinking those boys really wanted it to be true, so they believed. 

I blame Arlo Guthrie for all those passes I endured and all those much less than arousing slobbery teenage kissing attempts.  -shudder-  Not to mention the "Alice's Restaurant" remark I had to hear a few years ago at my 40 year high school reunion.  -double shudder-

I'd just like to go on record once and for all and say, "NO, Mr. Guthrie, you can NOT get anything you want at THIS Alice's Restaurant."

Now.  Just in case some of you are too young to remember the song, here it is.  Enjoy!  The lyrics follow.

(PS: I secretly love the song.  Shh...don't tell.)




Alice's Restaurant Massacree

You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in, it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want at Alice's Restaurant

Now it all started two Thanksgivings ago, was on - two years ago on
Thanksgiving, when my friend and I went up to visit Alice at the
restaurant, but Alice doesn't live in the restaurant, she lives in the
church nearby the restaurant, in the bell-tower, with her husband Ray and
Fasha the dog. And livin' in the bell tower like that, they got a lot of
room downstairs where the pews used to be in. Havin' all that room,
seein' as how they took out all the pews, they decided that they didn't
have to take out their garbage for a long time.

We got up there, we found all the garbage in there, and we decided it'd be
a friendly gesture for us to take the garbage down to the city dump. So
we took the half a ton of garbage, put it in the back of a red VW
microbus, took shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the city dump.

Well we got there and there was a big sign and a chain across across the
dump saying, "Closed on Thanksgiving." And we had never heard of a dump
closed on Thanksgiving before, and with tears in our eyes we drove off
into the sunset looking for another place to put the garbage.

We didn't find one. Until we came to a side road, and off the side of the
side road there was another fifteen foot cliff and at the bottom of the
cliff there was another pile of garbage. And we decided that one big pile
is better than two little piles, and rather than bring that one up we
decided to throw ours down.

That's what we did, and drove back to the church, had a Thanksgiving
dinner that couldn't be beat, went to sleep and didn't get up until the
next morning, when we got a phone call from officer Obie. He said, "Kid,
we found your name on an envelope at the bottom of a half a ton of
garbage, and just wanted to know if you had any information about it." And
I said, "Yes, sir, Officer Obie, I cannot tell a lie, I put that envelope
under that garbage."

After speaking to Obie for about forty-five minutes on the telephone we
finally arrived at the truth of the matter and said that we had to go down
and pick up the garbage, and also had to go down and speak to him at the
police officer's station. So we got in the red VW microbus with the
shovels and rakes and implements of destruction and headed on toward the
police officer's station.

Now friends, there was only one or two things that Obie coulda done at
the police station, and the first was he could have given us a medal for
being so brave and honest on the telephone, which wasn't very likely, and
we didn't expect it, and the other thing was he could have bawled us out
and told us never to be see driving garbage around the vicinity again,
which is what we expected, but when we got to the police officer's station
there was a third possibility that we hadn't even counted upon, and we was
both immediately arrested. Handcuffed. And I said "Obie, I don't think I
can pick up the garbage with these handcuffs on." He said, "Shut up, kid. Get in the back of the patrol car."

And that's what we did, sat in the back of the patrol car and drove to the
quote Scene of the Crime unquote. I want tell you about the town of
Stockbridge, Massachusets, where this happened here, they got three stop
signs, two police officers, and one police car, but when we got to the
Scene of the Crime there was five police officers and three police cars,
being the biggest crime of the last fifty years, and everybody wanted to
get in the newspaper story about it. And they was using up all kinds of
cop equipment that they had hanging around the police officer's station.
They was taking plaster tire tracks, foot prints, dog smelling prints, and
they took twenty seven eight-by-ten color glossy photographs with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one explaining what each
one was to be used as evidence against us. Took pictures of the approach,
the getaway, the northwest corner, the southwest corner, and that's not to
mention the aerial photography.

After the ordeal, we went back to the jail. Obie said he was going to put
us in the cell. Said, "Kid, I'm going to put you in the cell, I want your
wallet and your belt." And I said, "Obie, I can understand you wanting my
wallet so I don't have any money to spend in the cell, but what do you
want my belt for?" And he said, "Kid, we don't want any hangings." I
said, "Obie, did you think I was going to hang myself for littering?"
Obie said he was making sure, and friends Obie was, cause he took out the
toilet seat so I couldn't hit myself over the head and drown, and he took
out the toilet paper so I couldn't bend the bars, roll out the - roll the
toilet paper out the window, slide down the roll and have an escape. Obie
was making sure, and it was about four or five hours later that Alice
(remember Alice? It's a song about Alice), Alice came by and with a few
nasty words to Obie on the side, bailed us out of jail, and we went back
to the church, had a another Thanksgiving dinner that couldn't be beat,
and didn't get up until the next morning, when we all had to go to court.

We walked in, sat down, Obie came in with the twenty seven eight-by-ten
color glossy pictures with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back
of each one, sat down. Man came in said, "All rise." We all stood up,
and Obie stood up with the twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy
pictures, and the judge walked in sat down with a seeing-eye dog, and he
sat down, we sat down. Obie looked at the seeing-eye dog, and then at the
twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles and arrows
and a paragraph on the back of each one, and looked at the seeing-eye dog.
And then at twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy pictures with circles
and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one and began to cry,
'cause Obie came to the realization that it was a typical case of American
blind justice, and there wasn't nothing he could do about it, and the
judge wasn't going to look at the twenty-seven eight-by-ten color glossy
pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each
one explaining what each one was to be used as evidence against us. And
we was fined $50 and had to pick up the garbage in the snow, but thats not
what I came to tell you about.

I came to talk about the draft.

They got a building down New York City, it's called Whitehall Street,
where you walk in, you get injected, inspected, detected, infected,
neglected, and selected. I went down to get my physical examination one
day, and I walked in, I sat down, got good and drunk the night before, so
I looked and felt my best when I went in that morning. 'Cause I wanted to
look like the all-American kid from New York City, man I wanted, I wanted
to feel like the all-, I wanted to be the all American kid from New York,
and I walked in, sat down, I was hung down, brung down, hung up, and all
kinds o' mean, nasty, ugly things. And I walked in and sat down and they gave
me a piece of paper, said, "Kid, see the phsychiatrist, room 604."

And I went up there, I said, "Shrink, I want to kill. I mean, I wanna, I
wanna kill. Kill. I wanna, I wanna see, I wanna see blood and gore and
guts and veins in my teeth. Eat dead, burnt bodies. I mean kill, Kill,
KILL, KILL." And I started jumpin up and down yelling, "KILL, KILL," and
he started jumpin up and down with me and we was both jumping up and down
yelling, "KILL, KILL." And the Sergeant came over, pinned a medal on me,
sent me down the hall, said, "You're our boy."

Didn't feel too good about it.

Proceeded on down the hall gettin more injections, inspections,
detections, neglections and all kinds of stuff that they was doin' to me
at the thing there, and I was there for two hours, three hours, four
hours, I was there for a long time going through all kinds of mean nasty
ugly things and I was just having a tough time there, and they was
inspecting, injecting every single part of me, and they was leaving no
part untouched. Proceeded through, and when I finally came to the see the
last man, I walked in, walked in sat down after a whole big thing there,
and I walked up and said, "What do you want?" He said, "Kid, we only got
one question. Have you ever been arrested?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the Alice's Restaurant Massacree,
with full orchestration and five part harmony and stuff like that and all
the phenome... - and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, did you ever
go to court?"

And I proceeded to tell him the story of the twenty-seven eight-by-ten
color glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and the paragraph on
the back of each one, and he stopped me right there and said, "Kid, I want you to go and sit down on that bench that says 'Group W'... NOW, kid!!"

And I, I walked over to the, to the bench there, and there is, Group W's
where they put you if you may not be moral enough to join the Army after
committing your special crime, and there was all kinds of mean, nasty, ugly-looking people on the bench there. Mother rapers. Father stabbers. Father
rapers! Father rapers sitting right there on the bench next to me! And
they was mean and nasty and ugly and horrible crime-fightin' guys sitting on the
bench next to me. And the meanest, ugliest, nastiest one, the meanest
father raper of them all, was coming over to me and he was mean 'n' ugly
'n' nasty 'n' horrible and all kind of things, and he sat down next to me
and said, "Kid, whad'ya get?" I said, "I didn't get nothing, I had to pay
$50 and pick up the garbage." He said, "What were you arrested for, kid?"
And I said, "Littering." And they all moved away from me on the bench
there, and the hairy eyeball and all kinds of mean nasty things, till I
said, "...and creating a nuisance." And they all came back, shook my hand,
and we had a great time on the bench, talkin' about crime, mother stabbing,
father raping, all kinds of groovy things that we was talking about on the
bench. And everything was fine, we was smoking cigarettes and all kinds of
things, until the Sergeant came over, had some paper in his hand, held it up and said,

"Kids, this-piece-of-paper's-got-47-words-37-sentences-58-words-we-wanna-
know-details-of-the-crime-time-of-the-crime-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-
you-gotta-say-pertaining-to-and-about-the-crime-I-want-to-know-arresting-
officer's-name-and-any-other-kind-of-thing-you-gotta-say", and talked for
forty-five minutes and nobody understood a word that he said, but we had
fun filling out the forms and playing with the pencils on the bench there,
and I filled out the massacree with the four part harmony, and wrote it
down there, just like it was, and everything was fine and I put down the
pencil, and I turned over the piece of paper, and there, there on the
other side, in the middle of the other side, away from everything else on
the other side, in parentheses, capital letters, quotated, read the
following words:

("KID, HAVE YOU REHABILITATED YOURSELF?")

I went over to the Sergeant, said, "Sergeant, you got a lot a damn gall to
ask me if I've rehabilitated myself, I mean, I mean, I mean that just, I'm
sittin' here on the bench, I mean I'm sittin here on the Group W bench
'cause you want to know if I'm moral enough join the Army, burn women,
kids, houses and villages after bein' a litterbug." He looked at me and
said, "Kid, we don't like your kind, and we're gonna send you fingerprints
off to Washington."

And friends, somewhere in Washington enshrined in some little folder, is a
study in black and white of my fingerprints. And the only reason I'm
singing you this song now is cause you may know somebody in a similar
situation, or you may be in a similar situation, and if your in a
situation like that there's only one thing you can do and that's walk into
the shrink wherever you are ,just walk in say "Shrink, You can get
anything you want, at Alice's restaurant.". And walk out. You know, if
one person, just one person does it they may think he's really sick and
they won't take him. And if two people, two people do it, in harmony,
they may think they're both faggots and they won't take either of them.
And three people do it, three, can you imagine, three people walking in
singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and walking out. They may think it's an
organization. And can you, can you imagine fifty people a day,I said
fifty people a day walking in singin a bar of Alice's Restaurant and
walking out. And friends they may thinks it's a movement.

And that's what it is , the Alice's Restaurant Anti-Massacre Movement, and
all you got to do to join is sing it the next time it come's around on the
guitar.

With feeling. So we'll wait for it to come around on the guitar, here and
sing it when it does. Here it comes.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

That was horrible. If you want to end war and stuff you got to sing loud.
I've been singing this song now for twenty five minutes. I could sing it
for another twenty five minutes. I'm not proud... or tired.

So we'll wait till it comes around again, and this time with four part
harmony and feeling.

We're just waitin' for it to come around is what we're doing.

All right now.

You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Excepting Alice
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant
Walk right in it's around the back
Just a half a mile from the railroad track
You can get anything you want, at Alice's Restaurant

Da da da da da da da dum
At Alice's Restaurant

Written by Arlo Guthrie, Garry Sherman • Copyright © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, The Bicycle Music Company

Thursday, June 30, 2016

Hot Air Balloon Festivals in the Carolinas

Let's talk about hot air balloons!


Ever since I was little, I've wanted to ride in a hot air balloon.  I blame Mr. Bill.  I saw him ride in a hot air balloon on our little black and white TV once, just once, decades ago, and I was hooked.

Bill Norwood (aka Mr. Bill) was a local celebrity.  He starred on a children's show that aired early in the morning on Channel 13 (ABC Network) out of Asheville, North Carolina.  Mr. Bill is responsible for my early love of classical music as played on Bugs Bunny cartoons, and for many hickory switch stripings I suffered because of  shenanigans I did copying the Little Rascals and/or The Three Stooges.

Yes.  I blame Mr. Bill for a lot of trouble I got into, but Mr. Bill also gave me a "bucket list" desire to ride in a hot air balloon, so he is forgiven. 😉

Every year in October in the hill country of North and South Carolina, they have big hot air balloon festivals.

To view Balloons Over Anderson's festival schedule for October 2016 click HERE.

Usually about 25 or so balloons launch daily for three days in early October.  It is a festival atmosphere with food and craft vendors, carnival and balloon rides, live music, and such.  I've always wanted to go, and I plan to go when I retire and move closer to home. 

Statesville, North Carolina has Carolina Balloonfest every year in late October, so you can easily go to both of these events.  To view Carolina Balloonfest's October 2016 schedule click HERE.

This is another fun day with food and craft vendors, carnival and balloon rides, live music and such.  You can purchase an untethered ride on a hot air balloon of your choice at this festival for $250.00.  Better schedule in advance. 

If you are a little wary of untethered rides, you can buy a tethered ride for $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for children age 10 and under.  

You need to buy tickets for the festival in advance.  It is always expected to sell out.

I honestly can't wait to do this!  I'm hoping maybe October 2017!  Cross your fingers for me.  😊


Monday, June 6, 2016

Mountain Dulcimer Mania

Today I'm itching to play my mountain dulcimer, and I'm thinking once I retire and move to the Asheville / Hendersonville, NC area, I can join a mountain dulcimer group!  I think that would be so much fun!

I was shocked and amazed when I moved to Charleston, SC and learned that even the professional musicians here, for the most part, had never heard of a mountain dulcimer before.  Seriously.  Can you believe it?  They thought all dulcimers were hammered dulcimers.  Wow.  That thought had never even occurred to me before.

Amazing.

This brings the teacher out in me, so I feel I must educate all the poor people who are missing out on a whole genre of wonderful music.  


I did this presentation for a Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) meeting in Summerville, SC back in August 2010.  

I hope you learn something new!




I've been playing the mountain dulcimer for some years now, but I don't fancy myself very good.  I'm an intermediate player at best.  I mostly play alone just to feed my soul, but when I'm very lucky I get to go to Dulcimer Festivals and play with my friends and dulcimer teachers.  Many of them play and/or build mountain dulcimers for a living, so they are much better players than me.  It is such a joy to hear them play, and playing with them in a group is just a delight!  I will LOVE getting to do that more often after I retire and move next year.

At the North Georgia Foothills Association Dulcimer Festival
in Unicoi State Park, Georgia 2002
Check out some of my favorite Mountain Dulcimer websites if you'd like to know more:

 There are many others, of course.  Some, like Bill Taylor, don't have a website.

I'll close this morning with a real treat for you.  Stephen Seifert playing Whiskey Before Breakfast on the mountain dulcimer.  This should get your toes to tappin' for sure!


 

NOTE TO MY BOSS: No, I am not having whiskey before breakfast before work today! -grin-