Catching up!!
Well, after receiving a friendly reminder from Judy that I've been remiss in my duties as a blogger, I've learned my lesson and will continue this... I mean, it's only been since April that I wrote anything!
A very busy Summer! The OTCBR is playing a lot, did a couple of nice festivals and concerts, the most memorable being a house concert at our buddy Walter Kraft's house (& Carolyn's house, too!) up in Fall Creek, WI... what a wonderful time! Walter being the gad-about that he is invited people from all over, and so here we are in a beautiful house (newly re-modeled and added-on-to) on a quiet Wisconsin road a few miles from anything with people from Ann Arbor, Detroit, Cleveland, Eau Claire, Yorkville, IL, and Lord knows where else. Much good music that night... after the show we jammed, as several of the audience were also players -- what a surprise :-) Musicians at Walter's house!! Met Howard Ludke (sp), a fantastic player from the area and all around nice guy and did a LOT of blues with him!! He's got some primo instruments and knows how to play them!!
Also memorable was the Putnam County Festival outside McNabb... sad to say, this was the last year for that one... Having attended many of them when I was running the NIBA, it will be missed. But, Chris Vallillo says that a replacement festival is in the works!! Hooray... can't have too many festivals... But, having done a few, I know how much work they are, and hope that enough people can band together to make it work. We also did a show at Chris' Hickory Ridge Coffeehouse at Dickson Mounds... Got to meet a lot of new people, and see some old friends.
We also have started playing fairly regularly at the Village Squire restaurants... we did 4 months at their newest one in S. Elgin (has is really been that long ago?) and also a month at the W. Dundee one... There are a few new clubs opening up in the St. Charles/Geneva area, and we're starting to get some jobs there as well... always nice to play the small clubs/bars, as they are pretty intimate... it's always nice to establish a rapport with the audience and easy to do in a small club. Of course, we'd do house concerts every night if we could!
Guitar repair continues! I have about a dozen ready to sell, so must start measuring and writing descriptions, taking pics, and recording them -- I decided that if I put a link in the eBay listing to a couple of sound files of the instrument, it could help sales... Time will tell on that one!
And, the biggest news of all -- Guitar #1 was started and progresses nicely... So far the sides are bent, glued to the blocks, all the kerfing is glued on, the neck is rough cut, the top is ready to have the soundhole purlfling inlaid, and then it's time to slot and shape the fingerboard so that I can start shaping the neck... The back is all glued up and braced as well... Binding is all picked out, inlay cut... all I need is time! And ambition...
I also headed up this month to visit Rob Cook up in Alma, MI and Stan Werbin at Elderly Instruments in Lansing and collected some more materials for the Slingerland stringed instrument book... it's gonna take longer than we thought! We keep finding out new things, and heading down different paths digging for information, and generally finding a tidbit here and there... enough that we've re-thought some of our original dating ideas, and of course, leading to even more digging to corroborate the new ideas. We had hopes of it coming out this year, but I think that we've pretty much given up on that idea!! I have yet to head into Chicago and spend a day or two at the Library... I know that they have a lot of info there. I did spend a day and a half at the Chicago Historical Society, and discovered that they have absolutely NO information about Slingerland in their entire collection. I did find references to the various schools of music that HH and his brother ran in the City Directories from 1917, but absolutely no other references! So, that got me to wondering, and I started looking up the other companies: Harmony, Stromberg-Voisinet (Kay), Regal, Washburn, Bohmann, Gibbs, etc. ZERO!!!
Well, having been doing this research thing for a couple of years now, I was astounded... so much so, that I drafted a letter to the Historical Society and offered to write a small article concerning the musical instrument industry that existed in Chicago prior to WWII. I got a nice form letter back stating that they weren't researching that now, but if they ever did, they would be in touch with me! Harumph!!
So, here we have Chicago, the center of stringed musical instrument manufacturing for nearly 3 decades, and there is no history of it? What's wrong with this picture??? Literally millions of instruments of all kinds came out of Chicago, and aside from the employees of the companies making these instruments, several thousands of other people were involved: Someone had to unload and move all the wood that went into these instruments... someone had to manufacture and move all the metal hardware for these instruments, pearl for inlay, cases for all the instruments (at least 2-3 companies existed in Chicago), the largest tanneries for hides for drums and banjos were located in Chicago, as well as Wards, Sears, and Lyon & Healy for distribution... and, in the case of Slingerland, Popular Mechanics was a Chicago-based magazine, and that's where Slingerland did most of their advertising... thousands and thousands of other people were involved in the music industry!! And not a mention of it!! So, I'll show 'em... I'll write my own article and get it published in a non-Chicago magazine! Ha!!
The musical madness continues with new developments all the time... Pete & I hooked up with our buddy Byron who is learning pedal steel, and discovered that we know a LOT of old country stuff, like when country music was good? Hank Snow, Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzel, Jimmie Rodgers, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter... you know, when country music was good!! So, yours truly has picked up the electric guitar and started working on my country chops... Pete is playing bass, and Byron on the steel... I also play the bass and Pete plays his Martin. So, something else to practice!!
As is that weren't enough irons in the fire, we've just put together a bluegrass band to host the bluegrass jam sessions at The House in DeKalb the 2nd & 4th Sundays starting in Nov. This one's gonna be a ball...
Maurie Grafton from Hanover (runs The Artful Lodger B&B with his wife Patricia - http://www.the-artful-lodger.com/index.html) & I were in The Pleasant Street String Band back in the 70's... we played most of the clubs in Chicago, Madison, Rockford, Cary, etc. and generally had a great time! We were one of the main backup bands for Vassar Clements when he came to the area and spent a lot of time with him. He just died in August, and will be greatly missed by the music community. He taught us all a lot about how to be a gentleman as well as a musician!! Maurie plays banjo, guitar, cittern, hammer dulcimer, and bagpipes and probably anything else he decides to... but for these gigs,he'll be on banjo & guitar.
Dale Ludewig, my oldest friend in DeKalb -- like we've known each other since about '67 -- (http://www.ludewigmandolins.com/) & I were in a couple of bands back in the 80's: Mispent Youth & Bluestem... we played all over the DeKalb area... Dale is now one of the premier mandolin builders in the world, and plays mandolin, banjo, & guitar.
Pete Norman, my bud and partner in the OTCBR plays... whatever he wants to: guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo, and makes 'fiddle-like' noises.
And yours truly will be on guitar, reso, and maybe some bass... we're too versitile for our own good sometimes! We will also have Stephen Briggs with us occasionally on guitar and vocals.
We all sing, can do multiple parts, so that's going to be the most confusing thing... figuring out who is going to be doing what!! Reminds me, I have to start a set list, along with everyone else, and clutter up the electrons with many e-mails.
Needless to say, we're looking forward to this, & I realized that after we started talking about this, that I am the common link between all these guys... Hmmm...
As if that weren't enough, the 12th-15th of Oct. I attended the 20th Annual Hawaiian Steel Guitar Convention in Joliet, IL... Yes, Joliet!! I went last year for the 1st time, just to "check it out." Well, since then I've joined the Association, and done some experimenting with various tunings, most notably C6. This year I was actually confident enough to sit in a jam session with some primo players (carefully positioning myself slightly behind one of the best - Duke Ching - so I could watch his hands!) and actually took a couple of good breaks, or at least they said they were good... I was too busy concentrating on trying to play to notice!! But, after this year, instead of just being an acquaintence, C6 is now my friend. My goal is to be on stage for a 25 min. slot at next year's convention! Of course, my main goal is to learn as much music as I can!! Time's runnin' out, & I haven't learned nearly enough yet!!
So, that's pretty much the encapsulated version of "What I Did This Summer"!! Honest, Judy, I'll try to be more diligent in this ;-)
A very busy Summer! The OTCBR is playing a lot, did a couple of nice festivals and concerts, the most memorable being a house concert at our buddy Walter Kraft's house (& Carolyn's house, too!) up in Fall Creek, WI... what a wonderful time! Walter being the gad-about that he is invited people from all over, and so here we are in a beautiful house (newly re-modeled and added-on-to) on a quiet Wisconsin road a few miles from anything with people from Ann Arbor, Detroit, Cleveland, Eau Claire, Yorkville, IL, and Lord knows where else. Much good music that night... after the show we jammed, as several of the audience were also players -- what a surprise :-) Musicians at Walter's house!! Met Howard Ludke (sp), a fantastic player from the area and all around nice guy and did a LOT of blues with him!! He's got some primo instruments and knows how to play them!!
Also memorable was the Putnam County Festival outside McNabb... sad to say, this was the last year for that one... Having attended many of them when I was running the NIBA, it will be missed. But, Chris Vallillo says that a replacement festival is in the works!! Hooray... can't have too many festivals... But, having done a few, I know how much work they are, and hope that enough people can band together to make it work. We also did a show at Chris' Hickory Ridge Coffeehouse at Dickson Mounds... Got to meet a lot of new people, and see some old friends.
We also have started playing fairly regularly at the Village Squire restaurants... we did 4 months at their newest one in S. Elgin (has is really been that long ago?) and also a month at the W. Dundee one... There are a few new clubs opening up in the St. Charles/Geneva area, and we're starting to get some jobs there as well... always nice to play the small clubs/bars, as they are pretty intimate... it's always nice to establish a rapport with the audience and easy to do in a small club. Of course, we'd do house concerts every night if we could!
Guitar repair continues! I have about a dozen ready to sell, so must start measuring and writing descriptions, taking pics, and recording them -- I decided that if I put a link in the eBay listing to a couple of sound files of the instrument, it could help sales... Time will tell on that one!
And, the biggest news of all -- Guitar #1 was started and progresses nicely... So far the sides are bent, glued to the blocks, all the kerfing is glued on, the neck is rough cut, the top is ready to have the soundhole purlfling inlaid, and then it's time to slot and shape the fingerboard so that I can start shaping the neck... The back is all glued up and braced as well... Binding is all picked out, inlay cut... all I need is time! And ambition...
I also headed up this month to visit Rob Cook up in Alma, MI and Stan Werbin at Elderly Instruments in Lansing and collected some more materials for the Slingerland stringed instrument book... it's gonna take longer than we thought! We keep finding out new things, and heading down different paths digging for information, and generally finding a tidbit here and there... enough that we've re-thought some of our original dating ideas, and of course, leading to even more digging to corroborate the new ideas. We had hopes of it coming out this year, but I think that we've pretty much given up on that idea!! I have yet to head into Chicago and spend a day or two at the Library... I know that they have a lot of info there. I did spend a day and a half at the Chicago Historical Society, and discovered that they have absolutely NO information about Slingerland in their entire collection. I did find references to the various schools of music that HH and his brother ran in the City Directories from 1917, but absolutely no other references! So, that got me to wondering, and I started looking up the other companies: Harmony, Stromberg-Voisinet (Kay), Regal, Washburn, Bohmann, Gibbs, etc. ZERO!!!
Well, having been doing this research thing for a couple of years now, I was astounded... so much so, that I drafted a letter to the Historical Society and offered to write a small article concerning the musical instrument industry that existed in Chicago prior to WWII. I got a nice form letter back stating that they weren't researching that now, but if they ever did, they would be in touch with me! Harumph!!
So, here we have Chicago, the center of stringed musical instrument manufacturing for nearly 3 decades, and there is no history of it? What's wrong with this picture??? Literally millions of instruments of all kinds came out of Chicago, and aside from the employees of the companies making these instruments, several thousands of other people were involved: Someone had to unload and move all the wood that went into these instruments... someone had to manufacture and move all the metal hardware for these instruments, pearl for inlay, cases for all the instruments (at least 2-3 companies existed in Chicago), the largest tanneries for hides for drums and banjos were located in Chicago, as well as Wards, Sears, and Lyon & Healy for distribution... and, in the case of Slingerland, Popular Mechanics was a Chicago-based magazine, and that's where Slingerland did most of their advertising... thousands and thousands of other people were involved in the music industry!! And not a mention of it!! So, I'll show 'em... I'll write my own article and get it published in a non-Chicago magazine! Ha!!
The musical madness continues with new developments all the time... Pete & I hooked up with our buddy Byron who is learning pedal steel, and discovered that we know a LOT of old country stuff, like when country music was good? Hank Snow, Hank Williams, Eddy Arnold, Ernest Tubb, Lefty Frizzel, Jimmie Rodgers, Gene Autry, Tex Ritter... you know, when country music was good!! So, yours truly has picked up the electric guitar and started working on my country chops... Pete is playing bass, and Byron on the steel... I also play the bass and Pete plays his Martin. So, something else to practice!!
As is that weren't enough irons in the fire, we've just put together a bluegrass band to host the bluegrass jam sessions at The House in DeKalb the 2nd & 4th Sundays starting in Nov. This one's gonna be a ball...
Maurie Grafton from Hanover (runs The Artful Lodger B&B with his wife Patricia - http://www.the-artful-lodger.com/index.html) & I were in The Pleasant Street String Band back in the 70's... we played most of the clubs in Chicago, Madison, Rockford, Cary, etc. and generally had a great time! We were one of the main backup bands for Vassar Clements when he came to the area and spent a lot of time with him. He just died in August, and will be greatly missed by the music community. He taught us all a lot about how to be a gentleman as well as a musician!! Maurie plays banjo, guitar, cittern, hammer dulcimer, and bagpipes and probably anything else he decides to... but for these gigs,he'll be on banjo & guitar.
Dale Ludewig, my oldest friend in DeKalb -- like we've known each other since about '67 -- (http://www.ludewigmandolins.com/) & I were in a couple of bands back in the 80's: Mispent Youth & Bluestem... we played all over the DeKalb area... Dale is now one of the premier mandolin builders in the world, and plays mandolin, banjo, & guitar.
Pete Norman, my bud and partner in the OTCBR plays... whatever he wants to: guitar, mandolin, bass, banjo, and makes 'fiddle-like' noises.
And yours truly will be on guitar, reso, and maybe some bass... we're too versitile for our own good sometimes! We will also have Stephen Briggs with us occasionally on guitar and vocals.
We all sing, can do multiple parts, so that's going to be the most confusing thing... figuring out who is going to be doing what!! Reminds me, I have to start a set list, along with everyone else, and clutter up the electrons with many e-mails.
Needless to say, we're looking forward to this, & I realized that after we started talking about this, that I am the common link between all these guys... Hmmm...
As if that weren't enough, the 12th-15th of Oct. I attended the 20th Annual Hawaiian Steel Guitar Convention in Joliet, IL... Yes, Joliet!! I went last year for the 1st time, just to "check it out." Well, since then I've joined the Association, and done some experimenting with various tunings, most notably C6. This year I was actually confident enough to sit in a jam session with some primo players (carefully positioning myself slightly behind one of the best - Duke Ching - so I could watch his hands!) and actually took a couple of good breaks, or at least they said they were good... I was too busy concentrating on trying to play to notice!! But, after this year, instead of just being an acquaintence, C6 is now my friend. My goal is to be on stage for a 25 min. slot at next year's convention! Of course, my main goal is to learn as much music as I can!! Time's runnin' out, & I haven't learned nearly enough yet!!
So, that's pretty much the encapsulated version of "What I Did This Summer"!! Honest, Judy, I'll try to be more diligent in this ;-)
posted by DK at 10:45 AM
9 Comments:
September 6
Talkshow Boy back-catalogue now free in MP3 Melbourne "Hard Pop" artist Talkshow Boy is working on a new album and has now put his entire back-catalogue online in freely-downloadable, high bit-rate MP3s.
Hi, I was just blog surfing and found you! If you are interested, go see my online gambling related site. It isnt anything special but you may still find something of interest.
Sad to say I just got back from a bowling tournament and decided to log in and do some websurfing. DK I love your blog. I had some very good laughs. I am doing a paper on guitar tab and chords and have been downloading information for the last hour. I don’t know how I came across Catching up!! but I am glad I did. It has set me back a little because I have spent the last hour reading your archives. If you don’t mind I would like to add you to my favorites so I can back again and read some more. Well I need to get back to guitar tab and chords. I am almost finished with it. Great job.
p.s some very good points on your blog
Well I just got back from the gym and I am beat. I am currently doing some research on resonator guitars and stumbled across your blog. Which cracks me up really. The internet can certainly land you off base sometimes. Even though Catching up!! is not completely related I think it is a cool blog. I have read back through the archives and lots of people make some very good points. Well I have been on-line forever it seems. I need to continue to plug away at resonator guitars. If you have the energy swing by resonator guitars. I try to update my site weekly and maybe you will see something you like. I already snagged your URL and put it in my favorites. If you do not mind I will be back again. Great job!
All I can say is WOW DK. The other half and I just got back from our friends house (well her friends house) and I needed a huge break. I am working on a project right now that is based on alvarez guitars. I have literally been on-line for 2-3 hours doing research. Even though Catching up!! really isn’t on the same page as alvarez guitars I am certainly glad I came across your blog. There are a ton of great view points on this blog. Well I think I can here the kids screaming in the background. I put you in my internet favorites and I will certainly come back and visit. If you want to take a peek at my site you can find me here at alvarez guitars. I update my site very frequently. Again, great job blogging and I will be back again soon!
Well I just got back from the gym and I am beat. I am currently doing some research on beatles guitar tabs and stumbled across your blog. Which cracks me up really. The internet can certainly land you off base sometimes. Even though Catching up!! is not completely related I think it is a cool blog. I have read back through the archives and lots of people make some very good points. Well I have been on-line forever it seems. I need to continue to plug away at beatles guitar tabs. If you have the energy swing by beatles guitar tabs. I try to update my site weekly and maybe you will see something you like. I already snagged your URL and put it in my favorites. If you do not mind I will be back again. Great job!
Hi DK your blog is really great! Wow :-) As I was out blog surfing and surfing the web for detailed info on christian guitars I stumbled across your blog. Obviously my search landed me here and it is a little off subject compared to Catching up!!, but I am certainly glad I did come across your blog. Did I already tell you I like it! If you would not mind, I would like to add your link to my "favorites" page to come back and read again sometime. Should you ever need it, there's lots of information on this site about christian guitars. Again, great blog and keep up the great work!
P.S.S If you want to bookmark my site I am at christian guitars. You never know you may find some good deals!
Hi DK your blog is really great! Wow :-) As I was out blog surfing and surfing the web for detailed info on alvarez guitars I stumbled across your blog. Obviously my search landed me here and it is a little off subject compared to Catching up!!, but I am certainly glad I did come across your blog. Did I already tell you I like it! If you would not mind, I would like to add your link to my "favorites" page to come back and read again sometime. Should you ever need it, there's lots of information on this site about alvarez guitars. Again, great blog and keep up the great work!
P.S.S If you want to bookmark my site I am at alvarez guitars. You never know you may find some good deals!
Hi DK your blog is really great! Wow :-) As I was out blog surfing and surfing the web for detailed info on christian guitars I stumbled across your blog. Obviously my search landed me here and it is a little off subject compared to Catching up!!, but I am certainly glad I did come across your blog. Did I already tell you I like it! If you would not mind, I would like to add your link to my "favorites" page to come back and read again sometime. Should you ever need it, there's lots of information on this site about christian guitars. Again, great blog and keep up the great work!
P.S.S If you want to bookmark my site I am at christian guitars. You never know you may find some good deals!
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