Bluegrass & Friends!

This was an especially nice day, due to the fact that we got to meet with several of our good bluegrass friends.  My oldest banjo student and his wife (Al & Jan), came to New Athens today to join us for lunch at Gary's Restaurant.  It's been a while since we've seen both of them because Al hasn't had a lesson recently.  (Don't worry...he's still practicing that dobro!)  We spent about an hour together eating and talking, and just had a wonderful visit.

After the shop opened, Ron & Lorraine stopped by.  Ron was eager to show off his new D-18.  It was very nice, too!  The figured mahogany back and sides were the prettiest I've ever seen.  It sounds as good as it looks.  Of course, we HAD to play a little bit of music!  Earl, Ron & Lorraine went out to dinner while I "took care of some business" (explained in the next paragraph).

And now, on to "taking care of business."  Last week, my mouse was stuck to my mousepad.  This week, I'm even...

Hectic As Usual

We've been very, very busy in August, and things haven't slowed down one bit so far in September.  First off, The Pickin' Chicks have had gigs every weekend.  Secondly, The Chris Talley Trio had two full weekend gigs in a row, with a lot of planning and a lot of hours spent each weekend and the time preceeding the weekends.  I'm not saying I'm not loving it.  I'm just stating the facts.  I've got a boat load of band instruments waiting for repair.  I have a few fiddles in front of the band instruments, but I think I can get to everything this coming week.  Sales have increased both online and in-store, and the number of folks requesting lessons has also increased.  I need more teachers!

My dad and a friend of his visited this weekend.  It was wonderful to see Daddy again.  He's 84 years old and is still playing the fiddle.  Chelsea came over to the shop, and we all played music together.  Daddy played guitar and fiddle.  Chelsea played banjo, fiddle and guitar, and I played fiddle and guitar.  Zoey (Daddy's friend) enjoyed it all!  She doesn't play, but she sure had a nice time listening. 

Daddy is planning on coming to our October 30th Fiddle, Banjo & Flattop Guitar Contest.  If you haven't made plans yet, you should!  I'll be posting information soon, along with a flyer.  It's always a good time, with lots of music, food, friends and seasonal decorations.  This is the one contest we hold that you can dress for!  We don't really celebrate Halloween, but we do encourage everyone (adults and kids) to dress up for this particular contest -- even if you aren't going to play in the contest.  We suggest themes such as cowboy, western, hillbilly, Grand Ol' Opry, etc.

Our Monday night instructional jams have taken on a new twist.  I have been dividing everyone up into smaller groups and having them work out two songs to play in front of the other groups.  It has been working out very well, and the feedback I've gotten has been very positive.  If you are learning to play an instrument and you haven't started playing with others yet, I encourage you to do so right away!  It's the fastest way to get better and it's lots of fun!  The camaraderie and knowledge you gain from it is worth its weight in gold.

We are still holding our every other week Tuesday night jam sessions.  They are all acoustic and they start at 7:30 p.m.  Everyone is invited.  You don't even have to play an instrument to come!  Some folks come just to listen, some just to sing, and some to play and sing.

This week somehow turned into dobro week for Earl.  He worked on several dobros, and we sold another dobro as well.  Earl completely overhauled an old Regal dobro.  Someone had taken out the original "guts" and replaced them with some pretty inferior parts.  Earl took out the old replacement parts and put in a new quarterman cone and new spider and I really don't know what all!  Wow!  Talk about a great sounding dobro!  It was really amazing when he was done.

We got a call from Roland White today, too.  It's always nice to talk to him.  We stock his mandolin and guitar books and they are good sellers for us.  He has some great mandolin tabs! 

Christmas books will be arriving soon.  I don't usually put them out until later, as will be the case again this year.  I like to actually enjoy Thanksgiving first. 

We have a piano teacher on Fridays now.  Katarina is an excellent teacher and has several spots still available on Friday.  If you or your kids have been wanting to learn piano, here is your chance!  Katarina is able to teach by ear and by music.

We hope you'll come and visit us soon!  It's always nice to see old friends and meet new ones, too!

Hours of Operation August 27 & 28, 2010

We will be closing on Friday, August 27, 2010, at 6:00 p.m.  We will be closed all day on Saturday, August 28, 2010.  We will be open again with our normal business hours on Monday, August 30, 2010.  Come join us at Lake Sallateeska Baptist Camp in Pinckneyville, IL for our First Annual Bluegrass Retreat!

Yesterday's Workshops & Concert

I had an extremely full day yesterday at Our Lady of the Snow Shrine.  I taught three fiddle workshops and one guitar workshop, and then The Chris Talley Trio played in the evening concert.

The workshops were full and went extremely well!  I had a great group of people for all four of the classes.  The three fiddle workshops were set up as progressive classes, starting with beginning fiddle in the first class.  Some students attended all three of the classes.  We talked about everything from the very basics (like how to hold the fiddle and bow) all the way to topics like instrument setup, exercises for double stops and vibrato, and left-hand flexibility.  Everyone got to ask questions, and there were some really good ones asked, too!

The guitar workshop was also a success.  I had students ranging from never played before to proficient with chords for years.  We started with basic left-hand positions and talked about several ways to make the G chord.  We learned G, C, D and an alternate A7.  We talked about why to use certain chord fingerings, but that none of them were "wrong."  We learned basic three note run patterns for G, C and D, and then we put them in a song.  We also learned a very simple flat-pick version of Bile Them Cabbage Down.  After that, we talked about the capo and transposition.  It's actually hard to believe we covered so many topics!

The evening concert was unbelievably awesome!  Since this was a dulcimer festival, all of the groups had dulcimers in them except my group.  That's because I'm the only one who is hired for something other than dulcimer.  There were both hammer dulcimers and mountain dulcimers.  One thing that is really cool about mountain dulcimers is that they can be played in way that makes them incredibly easy or incredibly complicated.  This makes them good for kids, and also good for adults of all levels of musical experience or inexperience!  The hammer dulcimer is simply beautiful sounding, especially in the hands of Rick Thum.  The chapel at the Shrine has a sound that is unmatched.  It is all hard surfaces, so it's actually quite complicated to use a sound system there.  Everything is so "live" that feedback is hard to contain.  When it's right, though, the sound is wonderful!  There was a full crowd there, which is probably 200 - 300 capacity, but it sounds like 5,000 people when they clap.  I love playing there.  This was the fourth year for me and I always look forward to it.

After the concert, my husband Earl and also Emily and her family all met at Denny's.  One of my favorite things about having a band is the comraderie.  Zane and Carla weren't able to meet us, but it was nice even having only part of the band.  Emily had never been to Denny's before, so that made it especially fun.

Now that it's over, I'm simply worn out and I have lost my voice!  It's a good thing it's Sunday and a day of rest.  I sure need it.  I wouldn't have traded yesterday for anything in the world, though.  Thank you to everyone who made it so much fun for me!

Update on Bluegrass Retreat Workshops

For those of you wanting to take advantage of some of our workshops at Lake Sallateeska, you should make sure you sign up right away to reserve your spot.  All of the workshops still have space available, but the Knowing Your Banjo Inside & Out workshop is more than half-way full.

Also, The Red Haired Boys will be playing at the Saturday evening concert.  They are not on the flyers unless you pick up the new ones here at The Shack.  You will surely enjoy their music!  You can visit their Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Red-Haired-Boys/318310063761.

If you want to stay at Lake Sallateeska, call and make your reservations soon!  Be sure to ask for the bluegrass rate, which is substantially less than their normal rates and the rates you will see listed on their website.  If you need more information on the retreat or the workshops, take a look at my previous blog entry, which includes links to all the flyers and forms.  If you still have questions, feel free to e-mail or call us!

We're in the Local Newspaper!

This article came out in the Business Section of our local New Athens paper.  Many thanks to Cathy Meggs for her support!  Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Weekend at Grassy Bluegrass Festival

We had a wonderful weekend at Arrowhead Campgrounds in Grassy, MO this weekend.  The Chris Talley Trio played Friday and Saturday for the annual August bluegrass festival.  The weather let up a little bit, so we were actually quite lucky -- no rain, and the heat was tolerable.

I think every kid I saw was soaked from head to toe from the Castor River!  That was always my favorite part of this festival when I was younger.

Emily did a great job playing with The Chris Talley Trio.  She also played with her family band, Charlie & the Girls, so she really got a workout.

There were so many friends there, I can't possibly thank every one of you by name for coming to support us.  Please know that you all are much appreciated!  Here is a link to a couple of videos from The Chris Talley Trio's Friday night performance.