Quality Folk

Tonight we are in Centralia, WA playing at the Olympic, WA with

Steve Einhorn
and Kate Powers.

They play uke, banjo and guitar and sing great folksy harmony vocals. we heard about them from Gordon and Char from Myamoe Ukuleles and they were right, they are great.

A little bit of Cat Stevens meets Doc Watson, with harmonies that only come from singing together for 30 years!

Also, like all the venues on the great northwest music tour, The Olympia Club is totally haunted. it is a venue, bar, cafe, pool hall and hotel.

Mobile Blogging from here.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

Three New Records I Played on By Neat People

This year I have had the good fortune to perform on three records put out by good friends. Here is some info about each one.

The first is Chris McGarry: Friends for ten years, he moved to CO three years ago and got a job teaching music in Nicole's school district and at Swallow Hill. His song writing is very poetic folk/country and the record sounds great. I played banjo, lap steel, guitar and bass on this record and I am pleased with it.

You can buy it here. We recorded at Swallow Hill with Brian and it was mixed by Aaron Youngberg. The album release concert was at the Meadowlark in Denver. When we were rehearsing for it, I realized that it was the first band I had ever played in that had 3 guitars, bass and drums! (its a really great sound, somebody should start a band with the combo...) Here is a video of that gig with the horn section added. Notice me trying to play trumpet after three PBRs.



Next is Victoria Vox, a singer/songwriter/ukulele player from Baltimore by way of Green Bay.

We have been bumping into each other for 5 or 6 years on the road and collaborating for the last two. (we have some shows this summer together!) Her record was recorded half in New York and half at John Macy sound studios in Denver. It sounds poppy and energetic but still folky and hip. I played guitar, lap steel, horn, banjo, bass, etc...and had a great time working with her producer Mike. You can buy it here.
Here we are playing one of her songs in Eugene, OR.




And next is my home slice Danielle Ate The Sandwich. Danielle is a big deal because of her legendary Youtube page. She also plays the uke and she writes really thoughtful beautiful songs that are also quite funny. We recorded at John Macy sound studios and I played lap steel, banjo, horn, etc... Her cd release shows are next week in Denver. Here is a video of Danielle and I singing a Miley Cyrus song:



This vid has over 100,000 hits, which makes me famous, fyi.

Buy it here.

Baritone Banjo Uke for Neil and Leightonhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

My friends Neil and Leighton have a folk music/performance art band called Safe Boating Is No Accident. I just finished a new neck for this old supertone pot for them. It has the scale of a baritone ukulele and is strung dgbe re-entrant tuning. The Supertone pot was made for Sears in the 1920s and is 10 inches across and built for a banjo mandolin. Check out the cool little Grover guitar tuners.

Supertone!

Hey banjo friends- Just finished a restoration on this mid grade supertone, it turned out pretty good. It is for singer songwriter Gregory Alan Isakov, who also plays a banjo I built for him. The three piece neck with dyed hardwood fingerboard is pretty warped, so the action can't be as low as I want, but it is right where Gregory wants it.

I put on some new Gotoh tuners, skin head, bridge, nut, pip and strings. And don't forget the K+K pickup.