Dear friends,
We hope this letter finds you well and that you have been able to enjoy many days of the summer so far even if it is another unusual one. We continue to feel grateful for increased vaccinations, things opening up more, a return to our first in-person camps/gigs again and for seeing more friends and loved ones. Every day counts more now than ever before.
Carl and I have some news! We are moving to Hillsville, Virginia (25 minutes from Galax, VA) where we have bought an old Victorian farmhouse (built in 1900 but very updated). We’re staying in the beautiful, Blue Ridge Mountains with amazing traditional music and cool temperatures. The house is lovely but no one enjoys moving. Wish us luck! We are packing a lot of boxes these days…
Online Music Camp: SGOnline:
Want to enjoy an online fiddle camp from the comfort of your own home? I’ll be teaching adv-beg fiddle at Swannanoa Old-Time Week (called SGOnline this year) July 18-23, 2021. Carl is teaching intermediate clawhammer banjo and int+-adv mandolin. You can take 3 classes (there are many great teachers and classes to choose from!) and you should check them all out. If you are busy you have a whole month to catch up on any classes you miss. You can also participate in online jams led by great old-time musicians, join in the virtual Old-Time Social Open Mic (or just listen) and enjoy the gala staff concert (killer line-up! …all the OT staff). All that and there’s even happy-hour hang-outs every day where you can just socialize with friends and have the beverage of your choice. There’s still time to sign up but you should do it soon. Check it out at: https://swangathering.com/catalog/ot/classes/
Other upcoming events we’ll be at in person (woot!):
Aug 25 – 19 – Nimble Fingers (BC, Canada) Week 1
Aug 22 – 26 – Nimble Fingers (BC, Canada) Week 2
Aug 30 – Sept 3 – Acoustic Alaska Guitar Camp (Anchorage, AK).
Sept 5 – 10 – John C Campbell Folk School (Brasstown, NC).
Oct 27 – 31 – Augusta October Old-Time Week (Elkins, WV).
Carl and I will be starting up our online classes again once things settle down in the fall. We’ll be sure to let you know.
More good news! Old-Time Sweethearts featuring 12 old-time music couples from across the country (and produced by Rachel Eddy and myself) was glowingly reviewed and featured in the Old-Time News (a UK publication) and we even made the cover! The new, 2021 release is available from www.Dittyville.com and Bandcamp.
p.s. Catch us on Patreon
Carl and I also continue to provide teaching videos, music, tab, recipes, free album downloads, performance videos, songwriting tips & more on Patreon. If you sign up at the $6 (lesson videos) or $10 level (videos & sheet music/tab) you also get all the tunes we taught monthly for the last 14 months! You can check out what we offer at: https://www.patreon.com/dittyville
We look forward to seeing many of you this summer. If we miss you we hope we get to see you soon. May you and yours enjoy all that these warmer months have to offer. Thanks as always for your support of our music and be safe.
Sincerely, Erynn and Carl