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The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 23 Jan 03 - 11:42 AM We are planning to be at The Bluegrass Shop at 12:30-ish, although Laurie has to take the Florida Kindergarten Certification Exam at 8am over in Tampa. That will certify her K-6 for teaching. I will probably come over and just have her meet me there. Might be cold outside, but we can keep warm inside. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 22 Jan 03 - 06:29 PM Hi Guys, yes Bobo that is a good site indeed! This will take you to it without copying or pasting for those who would like to go that way. click here I just posted a new idea at the Bluegrass Shop today. It was at Bob Miller's suggestion. We will try an e-mail notification letter about every two weeks listing upcoming events, who is playing where, sessions that may be of interest, and even occasional specials at the store if you can tell Elson you saw it in the newsletter. I wonder how the weekend will play out with the weather being predicted. It is supposed to get into the twenties this Friday and Saturday. That may well put a kibosh on much jamming at Heritage Park and bring some folks in at the Chop. Are you guys planning on the Bluegrass Shop? I plan on Heritage Park in the morning until about 1:00 and then maybe grace Elson with my presence afterwards. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: GUEST,Gern Date: 22 Jan 03 - 10:47 AM Another good site. There must be 100 Carter Family songs alone. This might prevent me from humming the second verses to all the songs I do. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 22 Jan 03 - 10:43 AM Don't have Fred's email, or several others for that matter, that attend the jam sessions on Saturday. BUT, I just stumbled over this link that is an incredible source for lyrics: http://www.bluegrasslyrics.com/all_index.cfm.htm Please pass it on! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 19 Jan 03 - 01:09 PM We sat 3 rows back, stage floor level in the center last night at DEL McCOURY concert. Awesome. I have some pix I will print out of Del & The Boys for Elson's wall collection. Saw Bill Truax and a couple of other buddies there, including Tom Henderson. The show was absolutely stunning! Talked to him outside later and can report Del McCoury is a truly nice gentleman. The concert was at Neel Auditorium on campus at Manatee Community College. They will be playing March 1 at the Strawberry Festival with Ricky Skaggs. Plus, a couple of other dates in Florida this year. delmccouryband.com for details. See ya! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 12 Jan 03 - 07:07 PM Lauren, were have you been hiding? We miss you at the Shop. Gern, several folks came early this Saturday to play some old time with you, you were missed! Had a good crowd for the full blown session though. Wish more 'Catters lived in the area. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 11 Jan 03 - 07:48 PM Drop back to my post of 04 Jan 03 - 08:07 PM and click on the link to see the newest pictures, taken this afternoon by one of the guys at the Bluegrass Shop. The last five pics are new. The steel player is Bobo, he posted here 30 Dec 02 - 06:50 PM. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 10 Jan 03 - 08:21 PM Boy what a crazy day at work today was!! I can't wait to lose myself inthe good music tomorrow afternoon and the jam. Ya'll come on now, hear? Lauren, how about you? Looking forward to it! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: GUEST,Gern Date: 07 Jan 03 - 12:17 PM Thanks Banjer for capturing the craziness. In his photos, you can see how the average Saturday progresses from peacefulness to riot conditions when pickers are allowed inside. And now that we have a photographic record of these events, my wife can see that I really am going off to pick some music each Saturday. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 06 Jan 03 - 05:22 AM Some pictures taken with a different camera have been added. I will try to get captions on mnost of them by Wednesday. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 04 Jan 03 - 08:07 PM Pictures of The Bluegrass Shop and some of the sessions that have been held there are available at this link: Click here There are no captions on them yet, that will come later, but for now there are pictures of the shop and some of the participants. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 31 Dec 02 - 06:36 PM Well, BlueJay, you would be more than welcome to come visit with us!! Even though I don't play that much yet, (still learning) I do feel very fortunate to be surronded by so many talented folks. None look down their noses at anyone, all realize that they too started somewhere. I have been in places where if you are not at least a virtuoso on two instruments you may as well not be there!! Yes, I do consider myself VERY fortunate to have stumbled onto this group!! Who knows, some of their knowledge and talent may even rub off on me after a while! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: BlueJay Date: 31 Dec 02 - 05:45 AM Banjer- After reading this thread, all I can say is congratulations, and enjoy. It sounds like a rare treat- the community of players you have assembled at the Bluegrass Shop. I have only been lucky enough to share such a regular yet fluid setting a few times in my life. I live in Colorado, and play quite a bit, but reading this thread makes me yearn for the good old days of the Purgatoire Cafe in Trinidad. But that's another story). Carry on, I applaud your enthusiasm. And if I ever find myself anywhere near Florida, I know where to go. Thanks, BlueJay |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 30 Dec 02 - 07:05 PM Hi Bobo, yes, I saw the picture tonight. I was down at the shop for a while to see Fred Smith about some CD's. It is a good picture. Glad to hear you will be back Saturday, see you then! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 30 Dec 02 - 06:50 PM We missed 2 weeks jamming...darn. Just got back from a trip to Nashville area to visit family. While there, we visited Tim Scheerhorn, the number one luthier for building resonator/dobro style guitars... and Jerry Douglas' builder, among other top pros. Tim is a nice man who builds about 40 guitars a year, all one at a time and totally custom by him...by hand. Makes them out of curly maple, koa, walnut and even Brazilian rosewood if you have the money. Says he discourages Brazilian because it is almost extinct. His shop is in Dickson, TN which is 40 miles west of Nashville out in the country. He talked to us and played about 6 or 7 instruments for over an hour and a half. Even offered us coffee. I forgot how nice people are back home. I dropped off a photo of Scheerhorn playing one of his "dobros" with Elson who will hang it on the wall. His prices begin at $4,000 and there is a 3 year waiting list. See you all Saturday at about 2pm (will be running late). |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 28 Dec 02 - 01:18 AM Am I correct in assuming that the GUEST is Lauren??? Sorry to hear that you won't be with us. Look for you next Saturday. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: GUEST Date: 28 Dec 02 - 01:00 AM Unfortunately I will not be able to make it tomorrow even though I had planned to. I am attending a funeral at 1:30 tomorrow. Hopefully the week after, I will be able to come. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 27 Dec 02 - 09:35 PM Just a reminder, tomorrow around 12:30 I will be at Elson's for the old time portion of the session. Regular Bluegrass session begins approximately at 1:30. See ya'll there!! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 22 Dec 02 - 04:58 AM Hi Lauren, good to hear from you! They were asking about you at Saturdays session, wondering what had become of you. Gern and Elson and I had a good 'old time' hour before the Bluegrass session kicked off yesterday. We have been meeting around 12 or 12:30 and doing 'our thing'. I was even able to get in on some banjo with Gern yesterday. Gern won't be there next Staurday, he is going North for Christmas. He did say we would see him Saturday following New Year. Don't let his not being there deter you though. I could try to keep up with some of the old time you have and I'm sure Elson would enjoy it as well. Merry Christmas to you and yours. See you soon. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: GUEST,a long lost picker...errr bower Date: 22 Dec 02 - 03:03 AM Hey guys...It's Lauren. I haven't been jamming over there forever. It's been a crazy couple of months and things are finally starting to settle down, so I should get over there soon. I've been working on my bluegrass repertoire in the meantime, so I hope I can join in on more songs now. I can't wait to jam again! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 01 Dec 02 - 03:02 PM Yes, that would work in most cases. I think if he could get three fourths of his students on the prepay plan it would help. You have to consider the few that can't pay a month in advance. I'm sure there are some that work from paycheck to paycheck but want the lessons bad enough that they will continue on. Those should be accounted for as well. We'll just have to keep harping on this until he listens! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 01 Dec 02 - 12:45 PM A good game plan would be to get Mike Godwin there twice a week instead of just Tuesdays. And increasing the students of Mike and Elson will provide some help. However, there is a flaw with how he is set up. I mentioned that he should consider changing his fee structure, just like alll the other teachers and schools, and have the students pre-pay for the month. The premise is simple: You reserve the time and it's yours. If you don't show, then the school and instructor don't lose the income that could have been with another student. The monthly class fee is due no later than the first lesson of the month. If you don't pay, then they sell the time slot to a new student. Bringe Music does this, Tom Henderson does this, and so does Laurie's violin teacher and every other teacher I know. If the teacher can't attend the class, then the student gets a credit for the following month. This would be the way to solidify income and allow Elson to predict income for the month. Paying as you go is rough, especially during the holidays. If people have paid, they will show up. If not, there are always excuses. Meanwhile, the rent and light bill continues. Having run karate studios for 20 years, it's the only way to keep the lights on. Pay as you go does not work. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 30 Nov 02 - 11:04 PM I tell everyone I know that I think would be even remotely iterested in music about Elson's Bluegrass Shop. It would probably be helpful if we could get more people to take lessons from him. I really look forward to the sessions each Saturday. I won't however be able to make next Saturday. I have a commitment to a reenacting event. Your fingers will heal soon enough I'm sure, they did look rather like achunk of raw meat today! Like we were saying, once the calouses build back up you'll be good for many hours at a time! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 30 Nov 02 - 10:00 PM Great session today... and my roasted fingers prove it. I started off playing upright bass many years ago in Memphis. Played bass for most of my music career, but not too much in the past 10 years or so. Result: wussy fingers. And these are Supernil nylon strings. Could be worse with all steel. Couple of more jams on bass and I will survive. Good singing today! Thanks to Elson for his hospitality. Tell everybody about this place, 'cause we want to see him make it. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 29 Nov 02 - 06:54 PM Thanks Bobo, I'll see you at Elson's Saturday. We will probably have a great turnout again! I took two folding chairs to the shop and just left them there. If I can locate some more that aren't being used I will gather them up as well. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 29 Nov 02 - 04:52 PM By the way, if you want "fast," try Stewart-McDonald, which is where lots of professional luthiers and musicians shop. www.stewmac.com and you will get your stuff about 2-3 days after you order. Elson has one of their catalogs. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 29 Nov 02 - 04:11 PM Couple of thoughts... Banjer, get used to Elderly's slow shipping time, because that is just the way they do it. We have bought lots of stuff from them and it is always 3 to 5 days for them to ship. No diff if it's an instrument or set of strings. Ridiculous isn't it? For those of you folks who want to sit at the Saturday jams: Bring a folding chair. We always bring two for Laurie and I and sometimes a stool if I am playing bass and want a resting perch. Elson only has a few. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 24 Nov 02 - 05:18 PM Yes, mmb, there is a |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: mmb Date: 24 Nov 02 - 04:07 PM Hi, Banj - - I haven't been able to be there for the past two weeks, and the one before that, there was scarcely standing room! Is there likely to be a session next week, with the Holiday? I will try to make time to view your tape before next week. So little time . . . Take care. M. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 22 Nov 02 - 07:21 PM Good to hear it guys!! I am looking forward to it as well! Sounds like it's building up to be a good 'Old Time' session.....Don't know if I'll have my open back banjo with me..Elderly upset my applecart. I ordered sets of nylon strings for it last Sunday on their website and just tonight (11-22) got an e-mail that they had just sent them out. Five days to put three lousy sets of strings in an envelope and mail them!! I've half a mind to refuse shipmant when they get here! Anyhow, I'll be there with the dulcimer at least. I plan to be there around noon, see ya all there! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Bobo Date: 22 Nov 02 - 07:00 PM Tomorrow, (Nov. 23) the "big boys" are playing at a picnic. So, the attendance at the Bluegrass jam will be a bit smaller than in the past few weeks. If you have been shy about hopping in, tomorrow could be your day. I will bring bass and drag along a banjo. Gonna be fun. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: GUEST,Lauren Date: 02 Nov 02 - 03:17 AM I will be there this afternoon! I've been gone and busy these last few weeks...but I expect to come...and other members of our oldtime band were planning to stop by too (not sure if they will play though). See you all then! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 27 Oct 02 - 10:40 AM Next weekend will find me on the shores of Lake Weir living in a tent. That will be the last event for us until mid-January. I may or may not have a date with the cannon on Nov 9th, (the following weekend) but that is not for sure yet. I will be there every Saturday after that until our January event! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: GUEST,Gern Date: 27 Oct 02 - 10:28 AM Sorry to miss the bluegrass bonding this weekend. I was out rocking my nursing home fans with some ragtime piano, on the occasion of their 'senior' prom. Great idea, isn't it? Local teens even donated old prom gowns, which had to be taken in considerably to accomodate the older gals. Hope the pickin' was productive. Given the absence of hell and high water, I intend to attend next Saturday, Nov. 2. Banjer, you gonna be there, or will you be sleeping in the mud and eating hardtack? |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: mmb Date: 26 Oct 02 - 10:35 PM Hey, Banj - - It was really a pleasure meeting the group and jammin' for a bit today. I realized while I was playing how "gone" my callouses are, and now typing is reminding me again! Good motivation to practice and build them up again. Your note made me realize that my Old Songs pin left an incorrect - or, rather - incomplete impression of my musical preferences. The Old Songs Festival of Traditional Music and Dance has been held in the Albany (NY) area for nearly 30 years, and encompasses music and dance from a wide variety of traditions, but mostly from North and South America and the British Isles, although African culture is frequently represented, as well. Given my druthers, I spend most of Saturday and Sunday mornings at the shape note/Sacred Harp singing, which draws anywhere from 150-200 voices (mostly from New England, NY, NJ and PA) singing shape-note hymns in 4-part a capella harmony. Other than that, I tend to divide my time among the workshops, a staggering challenge, since there are 5 or 6 areas, running simultaneous sessions at intervals of 60 or 90 minutes! If there's Celtic music available,whether vocal or instrumental, I'll hit that first; traditional ballads come in a close second. Traditional string-band music is next, with Bluegrass just slightly ahead of what is commonly thought of as "old-timey" music. Saturday nights after the Main Concert ends there are two primary large gatherings from 11-ish to whenever people drop: Contra Dancing at one end of the grounds and an a capella sing at Creature Comforts, the area where all the performers, festival staff, and their families are fed for the three days of the festival. Other, smaller, groups gather at campsites in the end of the campground that is not reserved for those who want to sleep (BG): strolling along, you can hear Bluegrass, Old-timey, Blues, and one genre I can never label - a group that likes to do the "pop" tunes of the 20's and 30's. About three years ago I found a St. Pete group that enjoys playing contradance tunes. They're really a nice group of folks, but one of the regular members plays a bodhran like a bass drum in 3/4 time on all the waltzes, and has no idea how it should be played on the other tunes. It's just too painful to ignore. They were together long before I came along, and I didn't feel it was appropriate to criticize someone they obviously accept, so I just drifted away. The nearest regular shape-note singing takes place down in Fort Lonesome only in months when there is a fifth Sunday. Otherwise, joining in on my most favorite singing requires driving to either Ocala, Micanopy, or Gainesville, or worse yet, to Tallahassee or Georgia! I've heard that there will be a day-long sing during the Pinellas Folk Arts Festival, and you can bet I'll be there! Sorry to blather on . . . I really did enjoy today, and will try to brush up on my guitar over the next few weeks, as well as haul out some selections that I may be able to lead sometime. I wrote to Becca when I got home today and thanked her for bringing us all together. Enjoy your re-enactment next weekend. See you whenever! M. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 26 Oct 02 - 05:56 PM Hi mmb, it was a pleasure to meet you this afternoon. Hopefuly you found the 'abbreviated' group fun. As I told you we had a few folks missing at another event. I myself will be gone next weekend and possibly the weekend after as well. It's the season for Civil War reenacting, you know. Hope you will join us again and often. Maybe next time you come Gern will be there as well. Since your interest is largely in old time music he will keep you entertained for sure! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: mmb Date: 20 Oct 02 - 05:03 PM I have a way of forgetting things, even things I really want to do, and completely forgot about Mudcat, which is why I haven't shown up at any of the gathern's. Housecleaning my inbox I came across the original link that my daughter had sent me, and now that I've read down the postings since then and know the shop's address, there is really no excuse for not at least stopping by: I'm only about a ten-minute drive from the Shop! My voice is my primary instrument, and I'm pretty good at harmonizing. I'm a fair-to-middlin' basic rhythm guitarist, and also have an old Oscar Schmidt autoharp. I am desperately in need of help finishing a re-stringing project if I can just find the box with the strings! And if anyone is into Celtic tunes, I'm very out of practice but after a week's instruction and practice with Craob Rua's bodhran player back in '95, I was told that I have some talent in that area, as well. (For those who don't know, klutzy and/or insensitive bodhran playing is like fingernails on a chalkboard to good string groups.) So why haven't I gotten out to any FOFF events or club events, etc? I have attended some gatherin's and gone to some concerts, but have been forced to leave with severe headaches and/or nausea because the room and its occupants were not smoke and fragrance free. If someone is a cigar smoker with the residue on (most likely his)hair and clothing, I'm history. It's not practical to expect public events to ask paying customers not to wear their favorite smelly stuff, but I'm hoping that if I find a small group of musical folks with similar interests, they may be willing to accommodate my hypersensitivity. If this offends any of the established members of the group, please let me know and I'll keep looking elsewhere. I can be reached directly as mmbryan on roadrunner. I hope to see y'all next week! M. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: harpgirl Date: 13 Oct 02 - 06:59 PM ...that was a great session, Banj! I had a lot of fun. Thanks for telling me about it! Banj has a very cool Ford truck with lots of reenactment stickers and a handsome grandson! All the men were so cute! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 12 Oct 02 - 05:37 PM Well, I did it!! I met Harpgirl after lo these many years of chatiing here on this forum. She is a delight to listen to. Harpy, I'm glad ya made it!! So we had Gern, Harpgirl and a new member that has been attending the sessions, he signed on as Stoney Creek. That makes four of us, does qualify as a 'Mudgather'? |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 08 Oct 02 - 05:39 AM OK, good luck with whatever you undertake to do! I've tried several different tunings and all seem to have their good and bad for different melodies. Just need to experiment farther. Is your event open to the public or is it a closed camp? Might be interesting to go to see. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: harpgirl Date: 07 Oct 02 - 10:12 PM I expect to be there. I'm playing the concert Saturday night along with about fifty other people! I'm hoping to mend fences with my old Doneygal partner. Wish me luck! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 07 Oct 02 - 09:38 PM OK, I'll try it during the week. If I can't seem to get it hopefuly you will be able to make it on the 12th and show me!! Looking forward to it. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: harpgirl Date: 07 Oct 02 - 09:02 PM Banj, try tuning DAD on your dulcimer. That tuning should allow you to play lots of stuff with everyone else! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 07 Oct 02 - 08:53 PM OK, so you 'plowed' through the keys and managed to stay upright....Kewl...But did you get a chance to do any kayaking?? |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: GUEST,Gern Date: 07 Oct 02 - 10:25 AM Yeah, I was plowing thru the Keys while you all were picking. Managed to stay upright and even picked a little with a street musician at Key West. I hope to see everybody on the 12th. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 06 Oct 02 - 01:10 PM I was flabbergasted!! This lady with a fiddle case whom I recognized as a performer from several past musical festivals at a place near us known as Heritage Park walked in the door. It was Lauren. What surprised me that we were able to meet close up at The Bluegrass Shop by means of the Mudcat! She plays a real nice Old Time fiddle and we had a good session. I couldn't get the dulcimer in tune with any one else....well, I was in tune but no one could pinpoint what I was tune to...(**BG**)...So I just borrowed one of the consignment banjos and plucke on it every now and then. Good to meet ya, Lauren, and as we told ya, do come back again! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 04 Oct 02 - 07:09 PM Waiting with baited breath........ |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 03 Oct 02 - 04:45 AM I'm waiting patiently (well, maybe not very patiently) for Saturday. Gern, what has the storm Lili done with your kayaking plans? Is she far enough northwest to allow the trip, or are the Keys still under threat? That is one of the biggest and most well defined hurricanes in recent years. One of those mixed emotion things....glad she passed us by but feel bad for those that are about to get her! Either way we'll see all that can be there Saturday around 1:30. |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: harpgirl Date: 02 Oct 02 - 07:54 AM Yup on the 12th! |
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Subject: RE: The Bluegrass Shop, St Petersburg FL From: Banjer Date: 02 Oct 02 - 05:56 AM OK Big Daddy...Like they say on one of those old TV shows....Come on dowwnnnnnn!!...No fiddle, no problem. I sit and listen more than I play most of the time also, just getting into it a little at a time. But like I said in an earlier post I promised the grandson I would start trying harder if he would. This may grow to something great!! |
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