Last week I learned that 13 Stripes in the old Southern Bleachery at Taylors Mill was hosting a sea shanty sing-along. I’ve been wanting to do one of these for a long time. I had even thought about getting a group started myself. I loved the sing-alongs I did at the Bellingham Celtic Festival and ... Read More "Sea Shanties at 13 Stripes ..read more

It started with a notice on Facebook. McBee Methodist Church would be holding a Christmas carol singing on Saturday, December 10 at 6:00. I had visited the historic chapel many times and had photographed it from the exterior, but I was dying to see the inside. This would be my chance. McBee Methodist Church, aka ... Read More "Christmas Carols at Conestee, McBee Chapel ..read more

As we were driving out to Samish Island back last August we passed through a couple of old towns. Especially in Montana as we passed ranches and old abandoned farmsteads I had flashes of the Old West. The first line of a set of lyrics popped into my head. When we got to the island ... Read More "Jeremiah Jones ..read more

I’d seen an announcement about a musician’s circle at a flea market in Winterville.  I knew that was close to Houston’s place and that he wanted to learn about local music jams, so I sent the info to him.  I had nothing to do one recent Sunday, so I decided to meet him there and ... Read More "Jamming at the Rabbit Hole ..read more

I have a love/hate relationship with the song “I’ll Fly Away. I sing it at just about every jam session I attend and, quite frankly, I had gotten a bit tired of it. During the pandemic I sang it at one funeral and heard it at two others. Every time we do it at the ... Read More "I’ll Fly Away Redux ..read more

A long, long time ago, in a world before X, Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, or even MySpace, this blog came into being. It started as a travel journal to document a trip across country to Samish Island, Washington, then evolved into a personal journal. The blog entries were short and were just my personal observations of ... Read More "Catching Up and Rethinking My Purpose ..read more

The following comment was made on Facebook group called “Dedicated to Old Time Music”… How to play backup guitar for old time, traditional bluegrass, Celtic , contra dance, Cajun and progressive bluegrass…  For traditional Bluegrass, simply play the chords you naturally want to play.For old time, don’t change chords unless absolute necessary.For contra dance, play ... Read More "A Session on Sessions ..read more

Yesterday we celebrated the Fourth of July on Samish Island with their annual parade. It was the first time the parade was held in its regular location in several years due to COVID, and there certainly was an air of celebration. We parked at the McDaniel’s cabin and had a short walk to perfect viewing ... Read More "To Anacreon, on Samish Island ..read more

Yesterday the Greenville Chorale celebrated the conclusion of its 60th concert season and its director, Dr. Bing Vick celebrated 40 years as conductor of the group. It was a stirring concert at First Baptist in Greenville with a varied repertoire played to a capacity crowd. It was also bittersweet for me. This was my last ... Read More "A Farewell to the Greenville Chorale ..read more

As mentioned in my last post, I’ve played in a lot of different jam sessions over the past few years, in different genres and different settings. I’ve gotten a feel for what works and what doesn’t. I keep fantasizing about starting my own sessions, but that’s not going to happen. Regardless, I thought it might ... Read More "How to Have a Successful Jam Session ..read more