I mentioned the other day I was working on the tune Sandy River Belle on clawhammer banjo. Learning this tune is my first experience playing in the Sandy River Belle, or Old G tuning (gDGDE). I like the tuning and I’m going to figure out… Read More
Imagine one of those cooking competitions in which Gordon Ramsey yells at all the contestants and makes them feel small and inadequate. Now translate to a music school. That’s Whiplash in a nutshell. I don’t have any admiration for abusive teachers. The idea that such… Read More
Sandy River Belle is a well-known fiddle tune, but it also has a special distinction. There is a particular banjo tuning – The Sandy River Belle tuning – named after it. I should say tunings with an s because there are variations on the Sandy… Read More
The guy who dug that mystery tunnel up by York University – the one that has had all the news attention – has come forward saying he did it because it was his dream to build something like that; it was a fun project for… Read More
Time for a daily dose of country & western. Let’s start with Iris DeMent covering Merle Haggard. I could listen to this tune about 100 times in a row. Funny how some music does that to you, grabs you where it counts and won’t let… Read More
The Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway came to me well-recommended. When I say came to me I mean just that – the book arrived by mail. I had asked for recommendations and here one arrived at my doorstep. I asked for recommendations in an… Read More
Check out the fantastic coyote photos at the Friends of Sam Smith Park blog. Our dog walker has seen them twice recently while out with the partners. She noted that one of them had a tracking collar as well.
So this is March. I took this shot while walking the partners this morning down along the lake by the yacht club. It isn’t as cold as it has been and lots of dogs and their people were out and about. Still there is plenty… Read More
27th Street 