February Update: Florida

Hello from the Sunshine State, blog readers! I realize it has been a long time since I posted something here. There has been a LOT going on in my life!!

After my Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp in November, I made some life-changing decisions, and so far I'm happy with them. I've decided to stop all the constant touring in the USA, much as I have enjoyed doing it and loved making all the great friends I've made on the music road. From now on I plan to save my travelling for tours to places in this country where I really want to go, and for international touring.

Continuous touring here in this country during worldwide hard times had become at best a break-even proposition financially. Also, as most of the smaller gigs between larger events like festivals vanished or became too low-pay (or no-pay)to do, continuous touring in the USA had come to involve far too much down time in places far from home, where I did not really want to be, while I waited between larger events for which I was booked. Particularly in the southwest and midwest USA, due to distances involved I was spending WAY too much time sitting around waiting and spending money to live because I was too far from home to return there between larger events.

Some of the larger events continued to pay generously, but even some of those events were no longer were able to pay well. In some cases entertainers I was working for paid a fair and generous share of what they got---but they themselves did not receive enough to pay support musicians well.

Bottom line: Continuous touring just wasn't working out anymore, moneywise---and in addition to that I was beating my old van to death making all the very long trips. I'm not prepared to buy a new vehicle at this time. With more normal use I think my present van has many more miles left in it.

So, an end has come, for now at least, to my continuous touring in this country. Onward to new things! For thirty years I have made my home in Largo, on the Gulf Coast of Florida, one of the most gorgeous and pleasant states in which to live in the United States. I've decided to make more music right here, where a sizeable population and visits from a great number of tourists, vacationers, and refugees from snowbound places all over the world make for many opportunities in music. In times to come I'll be working much more here in Florida and in southeastern USA.

I've started a new Florida-based musical group, called Easy Street (named after a theme song I wrote, a swing number called Easy Street). We can function as a duo, a trio, or a larger group. In the core group I'm playing guitar, piano, mandolin, and whatever other instruments I decide to play. Carolyn Dunn, from Venice, Florida, a longtime professional musician, plays bass and sings. Austin Truax, a recent arrival in Florida from the frozen north, plays rhythm guitar and sings. We are doing a wide range of music to please a wide range of audiences. Featured are jazz standards (Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong, many more), swing and western swing (Bob Wills, Cindy Walker, more), authentic ragtime (The Entertainer, Dill Pickle Rag, many others), country standards (Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, more), and a wide range of other great numbers. In this group I'm having more chance to play piano and to use my wonderful Gibson Herb Ellis model electric hollowbody jazz guitar. I'm also doing some unusual stuff like playing Duke Ellington and other jazz pieces on Dobro. Love it!!

Here's the new group: Easy Street

I'm also working with friend and ace guitarist Greg (Gonzo) Gove and others on a more "acoustic" act that will focus on Doc Watson-style flattop guitar picking, old blues, mandolin and guitar duets, harmony vocals, and such. That should be fun too. There are many good festivals to play here.

Gonzo has just been down in Belize, scouting out that lovely Central American country where we are thinking of going in December-January-February to escape the cold weather that has started to plague North America during those months in recent years. In Florida we don't have snow and ice of course, but even here there are now too many cold days in January and February to suit me. I'm just not a cold-weather guy at all. Since I won't be travelling to Texas or Arizona or other far places to play in this country in January and February, as I have done in the past, there's no reason not to explore warmer places during those months.

It felt kind of funny not to go to South Texas this year, as I have usually done in February, but that's okay. I'm enjoying being right here in my beautiful Florida. It truly is one of the fabulous places in the country. I live about eight minutes from the Gulf of Mexico, and I love that. There is certainly plenty to do and plenty of music to play. When I'm not making music I'm able to get a lot done around the home place that was not getting done when I was spending my life on the road. And the sun is bright and the weather gorgeous almost every day.

I've started work on a new Festival to happen here on the Gulf Coast in May. The project is having a rocky start due to problems with a partner, but I'm considering going ahead with it alone. More on that as things develop.

Life is good. I'm having fun. I hope you are, too!!

More, as always, to come!!