May 30, 2019
Nature is in full splendor, the garden is growing, we can sip iced tea on the porch in a rocker, play tunes at a campsite while the river rolls by, and the fireflies have returned! Summer beckons us all with her outstretched, green, leafy arms. The rolling mountains of the Blue Ridge are many shades of pastel like a water color painting. Each day we are grateful for so much beauty around us.
I write this update as I almost always do…from the car. I’m so grateful that I can read and write while traveling. Car-sickness or sea-sickness has never had a grasp on me. Carl and I were on a boat last year that lost one of two engines (a log got caught in the engine) and we all bounced two and fro, rolling in the waves, until we eventually made it to our destination. Not all the passengers looked happy when we got to land, (some looked a little green), but I was content. It was like being rocked to sleep in a hammock.
This summer, like many others, we will traverse many roads to great music camps and festivals in the south-eastern USA. This week we are teaching a guitar class at John C Campbell Folk School in Brasstown, NC and it’s been big fun. Next we are looking forward to teaching/playing at the Mount Airy Old-Time Retreat during the Mount Airy Old-Time & Bluegrass Fiddlers Convention June 5-7, then Kaufman Kamp Acoustic Week June 9-14 (Maryville, TN), Wheatland Camp June 16-19 (Michigan), Cowan Creek Mountain Music School (just Erynn) June 23-28 (Whitesburg, KY), Swannanoa Fiddle Week (just Erynn), June 30-5 (NC), Swannanoa Traditional Song Week (just Carl) July 8th(NC), Swannanoa Old-Time Week July 22-26 (Swannanoa, NC). Plus we’ll be going to festivals in Elk Creek, VA, Galax, VA and Clifftop, WV! Hope to see many of our music friends at these wonderful events! There is still room at many of them if you decide to be spontaneous and join the fun.
Other news… this year we both helped out with the Alleghany JAM Program. This is such a good cause…a non-profit that helps children learn traditional music afterschool in Sparta, NC. The kids just wrapped up the spring semester with a great concert and they sure are inspiring! Alleghany JAM is hosting a couple Coffeehouses this summer with an open mic hour and featured performer. Plus we are having a three-day kids music camp July 17-19 that includes the kids playing the opening set of music to kick off the Alleghany Fiddlers Convention. They really sound good!
We appreciate you stopping by to visit our website and we thank all our friends and fans for your support of our music projects. Carl and I hope you all get time to savor summer and hear or play lots of music too! Hope to see you all down the road soon.
Warmly, Erynn and Carl