Wunnerful, Wunnerful

Ok, I grew up watching Lawrence Welk on TV.  I even visited the home place in Strasburg, ND before it was restored and made into a small tourist attraction.  So I suppose that it is only fitting that I traveled to Roslyn, SD on Saturday (June 22) to play music.  No, not that kind of music.  Wes and the crew at the Creamery were having their first Bluegrass Jam and invited me to come and sit in with the band.  I guess that once again proves, "you don't have to be good, just available" to play music.

The connection to Lawrence Welk is of course Myron Floren.  Roslyn proudly boasts of being the birthplace of that great accordion player.  And sure enough, when you come into town there is the sign. 

More on this jam when I get the photos of the gang that was playing. Let's just say that we will definitely do it again.  Oh and by the way we did have an accordion player show up to play.  It had nothing to do with bluegrass, but it was fitting.

I Love A Parade

Musicians pictures are not all that interesting to look at, so we won't show you shots of the Fiddlers of South Dakota from the Tabor Czech Days' Parade.  But check out these two pictures from the parade.  That first one is definitely NOT what it looks like riding a bull at Vegas during the National Finals Rodeo.  I guarantee that nobody messed with this guy or his ride.

This second picture is cool too. Horses in a parade - been there done that.  But stripes coming down the parade route - now we're talking.  That's something that you don't expect to see in South Dakota. 


















While we were in Tabor, they had some nasty weather back in South Shore but except for some wind the ride home was long but uneventful. 


Don't forget to come see the Fiddlers of
SD as well as all the rest of the musicians at the 41st Annual SD Fiddle Contest in Yankton, South Dakota on September 20,21,22.

When  I get some pictures of us from the parade I'll post those also.

Thanks Bill Chase for the use of the pickup and thanks to those musicians who showed up to play in the parade.

Montana Fiddle Camp

Just returned from Montana Fiddle Camp in Monarch, MT.  What a blast !

Thank you to Fred Buckley for having me back for another year.  I got paid to go and call dances after the evening concert was over and I got to take whatever classes I want to.  It does not get any better than that.
The only problem was that I could not be more than one place at a time.  With so many great instructors, it was hard to choose.  Sandy James, Barbara Lamb, 'Chirps' Smith and then Byron Berline - and that's just on the fiddle side of things.



Thankfully, I had brought more than one digital recorder along with me, so I cheated and sent a couple of my digital recorders along with some of the students that were in different
 classes so I wouldn't miss anything.









 Oh yeah there were banjos - yup that's plural.  And they were working together.  It's a wonder anyone got out alive.

93rd Birthday in Big Timber

Ben Riceland celebrated his 93rd birthday in Big Timber, Montana on Saturday the 8th of June.
Since we were traveling through we stopped and played a little music with the usual cast of characters.  Doc, Bud, Lenore, Charlie and I went outside and had a little jam to warm up before we hit the stage for our turn.  Good thing we did 'cause I was a bit rusty on their tunes.





Got to see a lot of folks that we knew and played and listened to a lot of good old tunes.

Even John Hoiland showed up
He still needs to keep his beard for a few more photo shoots.

David Davis & The Warrior River Boys

 

 

 LAST CHANCE TO PURCHASE ADVANCE TICKETS AT REDUCED PRICE FOR THE DAVID DAVIS & THE WARRIOR RIVER BOYS CONCERT ON THURSDAY, 13 JUNE.  

NOTICE:  2 - 3 PAID UP ASSOCIATION VOLUNTEERS ARE STILL NEEDED TO ASSIST AT THE CONCERT-- THOSE VOLUNTEERS WILL GET FREE ADMISSION TO THE SHOW
MORE INFORMATION: 1-877-621-4118 TOLL FREE

KEEP PICKIN' FRIENDS,

Jon Hittle (JB)

Vermillion, SD - Bluegrass Jam

WHAT:    Open Bluegrass Jam
WHO:       Musicians all levels, professional to novice
WHEN:    Sunday, 9 June, 1pm-6pm
WHERE:  Washington St. Arts Center, 202 N. Washington Street, Vermillion   

                  (outdoors in nice weather)

Sponsored by The East River & Missouri Valley Bluegrass Music Association

FIND US / LIKE US ON FACEBOOK

1 year association membership is $20
Casual, drop-in pickers pay $4 at the door.

LAST CHANCE TO PURCHASE ADVANCE TICKETS AT REDUCED PRICE FOR THE DAVID DAVIS & THE WARRIOR RIVER BOYS CONCERT ON THURSDAY, 13 JUNE.  

NOTICE:  2 - 3 PAID UP ASSOCIATION VOLUNTEERS ARE STILL NEEDED TO ASSIST AT THE CONCERT-- THOSE VOLUNTEERS WILL GET FREE ADMISSION TO THE SHOW
MORE INFORMATION: 1-877-621-4118 TOLL FREE

KEEP PICKIN' FRIENDS,

Jon Hittle (JB)

Picking on the Porch

Finally had a good to day to play some music outside on the deck.  If you have never been on that deck it is big enough and sturdy enough to hold an entire band and have room to hold a square dance.  Just two of us today however.

Jerry Anderson came up from Volga, SD with his fiddle and we spent a most enjoyable afternoon playing some tunes. Maple Sugar, Echos of the Ozarks and some twin fiddling on Black Velvet Waltz were just some of the tunes we went through.  It gave me a chance to not only grab my mandolin, but to pick up my guitar and practice my "4 chords and a capo" method of guitar backup.


We even tried a few tunes we didn't know, just to make it more exciting but we won't talk about those until we have them ready to trot out into public.

Jerry even tried out a little chording on his fiddle and survived the experience.   We used Possum up a Gum Stump for that since that is one tune that Jerry was learning.  His book of tablature had some licks in it that worked for rudimentary chords and once he saw what was going on and how it the notes related to the chords, away he went.  Now the poor guy has some music theory and chords that he has to worry about keeping straight for backup as well as just playing the tunes.


Thank you to my lovely wife Penny and daughter Isabelle (also lovely) for supper and fresh banana bread and for snapping a picture of the two musicaholics. And yes I am to lazy to even take off the tie after church although you will notice that I did untuck the shirt.