Cold, Wet Midwest... to Sunny Florida

Hello friends! This update is being written in Largo, Florida---my home. I'm not here a lot, so I feel kind of "on vacation" when I am here, although typically I work a lot of shows while in Florida. That's true this time as well, but still the "vacation" feeling persists.

When I left Iowa, not long ago, cold weather was definitely stealing in. Mornings were more than crisp and icy rain was falling. I was sad to have to leave my very good friends Danny and Donna Dee, and Bob Raine, who had come to visit in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, where I had been staying for a couple of days with Danny and Donna, but it was time for this southern boy to head south! I had not seen snow yet, as I did in Colorado in September, but winter was in the air.

I departed from the midwest on a long drive southward to Missouri, travelling in gloomy overcast and rain most of the time. With every mile, though, the temperature grew warmer, and by the time I reached Columbia, Missouri, I was not uncomfortable to be outside without a heavy coat. I am an "outside" person, and I don't like cold weather, so that suited me fine. In Columbia I visited overnight and jammed with old friend and music cohort Dale Palmer. Dale lost his wife to cancer in June. It was good to see him coping well and getting on with life. He's taken up pedal steel guitar and with his solid professional-level background in other musical expression, he is already doing well with it. We spent a good evening making music and talking.

Leaving Columbia early next morning, I drove to Springfield, Missouri, to the home of bass ace John Jackson and his wife Carol. It was great to see them again. John often supports me with his first-rate bass work in shows around the country, and he plays also sometimes with the Terry Smith road bands. Our friend Don Taylor has a fantastic country music museum and hall near Springfield. I played there with John and Don and a couple of other pickers, for a very receptive audience, the night I arrived in the area. I did mostly country music (the real country music, not the rock/pop/slop currently ruling in Nashville), with a few excursions into other things.

I want to come back again to Don Taylor's museum when I can spend a whole day exploring the wonderful things in his collection. That museum should be considered a national treasure. I am proud to have my picture on the wall there along with a multitude of other fine musicians and entertainers.

After departing from Springfield, a long day's slog through driving rain brought me to Nashville, Tennessee, where I overnighted with always hospitableTerry Smith. Terry was preparing for a long, long drive the next day to Minnesota where he had a festival booking. I love to play music with Terry, but I must say I was glad not to be going close to a thousand miles north to Minnesota with him this time!

On the road south from Nashville early the next morning, I drove to Rocky Face, Georgia, still in rain all the way, to make music and visit with J. D. Beach and Mary Robinson. The far-too-modest J. D. is a fabulous Chet Atkins/Merle Travis-style guitarist I met years ago when we played the Hank Williams Memorial Festival in Alabama. I love, love, love to make music with J. D. Beach. He is one of the very best I know of, anywhere, at what he does!! Another fabulous Atkins/Travis-style guitarist is my friend Stuie French of Sydney, Australia. These are two of my music friends I wish I could somehow get together. Stuie and J.D. will probably never meet, and that's too bad. They would love to know each other and they would make gorgeous music together.

I think J.D. and Mary are coming to my Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp in November, and if so that will be great. What a wonderful example J.D. will be for all the students of fingerpicking guitar at the camp!!

My next stop after Georgia was in the Sunshine State---back home in Florida. Yay!! The weather was warm; the sun was bright. The rain was gone, gone, gone. There's a reason why we call Florida the Sunshine State.

There is a very cool little cafe in Homosassa, Florida (home of the Homosassa Springs manatee sanctuary), called the Museum Cafe, with a nice stage and outdoor seating behind the building, where I often play to begin and/or end my tours around the country and the world. That's just what I did last Saturday, with good Florida musicians Carl Wade (guitar) and Rick Kennedy (bass fiddle) supporting. Doug Purcell and Barbara Shafer joined the others to form Triad, a Florida singing group, to open. It was GREAT to see and make music once again with my Florida "homies". I had a blast playing. I did all kinds of music---folk, jazz, blues, country, on and on. Told my stories and just had a wonderful time. The audience was wonderful too. At this show there were some college students who had an assignment from a professor to attend, interview me, and write essays about the experience. Amazing!! I've had lots of things happen at my shows and as a result of my shows---lots of newspaper articles written, television and radio reports and spots done, and such---but never before, as far as I know, have college students written an essay about me and what I do. One more for the books!

As soon as I arrived at home Saturday evening, the "home" stuff started. I heard rushing water as I unlocked the door to my house, and discovered a huge leak in the plumbing under the (currently vacant) apartment next door which is part of the building. I shut off the water supply at the street and called the management company Monday morning. A plumber is under the house now, as I write, fixing the problem.

Everything else seems cool around home. I'm emptying my van gradually, bringing in the house all the things I've collected in four months on the road. As most of you know, I'm a big book person (I don't even own a television set), and so I had numerous books to bring in that I've collected over the summer. I have lots of reading to do!! I've already pulled my bicycle out of the garage, put air in the tires, and done some riding. I love to ride my bike. As the days go by I'll be getting the van serviced for the next big trip (to Texas in December). I'll be trying to find a naturopathic physician here. I don't go to drug-and-surgery doctors. There are dozens of other things I need to do. I'll be, and in fact already am, working on final preparations for the 20th annual Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp, coming up November 13-14-15, 2009. We expect it to be our best camp yet.

If you are interested in attending the camp, visit the web site here:

http://www.cgmusicman.com/camp/index.html

From the web site menu, you can access the 2009 class schedule, instructor information, registration information, and much more.

We guarantee that you'll have lots of fun! The camp has become a venerable Florida institution, and it makes available a fantastic weekend of musical instruction in a beautiful natural setting in St. Petersburg, Florida. People are coming this year from as far away as Denmark, New York, and South Dakota, and from as near as right down the street by the camp location.

In the deep green shade of giant live oak trees in a secluded but well-equipped nature park in St. Petersburg, instructors and students have been meeting annually for two decades now! People start rolling into the campground Friday afternoon. There's an orientation session and a huge jam session Friday night. Classes begin first thing Saturday morning and run through the day both Saturday and Sunday. There's a big concert Saturday evening, student shows during lunch hours, and more jam sessions, mentored and free-form, all weekend.

There are bunks in bunkhouses, lots of free camping space and free RV and camper parking space, acres of play space for kids, a modern kitchen, outdoor grills and picnic tables, and many restaurants and grocery stores and other stores, just a few blocks away.

Check it out, and come join us this November for the 20th annual Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp!

Well, friends, that's enough for today. I have to get to work preparing for two concerts this coming weekend. One is in Orlando, with wonderful musicians Eddie Kavetskey (guitar) and Chris Campbell (bass fiddle) supporting. Eddie is a hot guitarist who came to live in Florida a number of years ago to get away from the frantic music scene in New York. Chris is the very first bass player I worked with when I came to Florida many years ago---and he remains a great bassist! The other concert is in Tampa, with Carl Wade (guitar) and Rick Kennedy (bass fiddle), also very fine musicians, supporting.

Gotta go!! Thanks to all of you who have kept in touch. I enjoy hearing from all the readers of the blog!!