Your Letters to The Editor
|
Derek: Sad to read about Edale but I can understand Tom’s position when you get problems you don’t want and all the hassle that just drains and saps your enthusiasm. Derek Lawrence, Congleton. | Article | Derek, I HAVE READ SOME OF YOUR MAG (on-line) and am impressed with your efforts to promote and preserve Bluegrass music. The website is done well. Visit us at The Grand Ole Opry if you come to the States and please introduce yourselves to us.
Sonny Osborne, Nashville, Tennessee USA. Power to the ladies elbows!
Derek - PLEASE THANK JEAN for the generous, wonderful review of the Suzanne
Thomas, Don Rigsby And Friends concert in Palo Alto in
Jan NWBN. Great pictures too! This
took a lot of time to put together and we're very grateful for your support
and your work. I'll let everyone else in the band know about this review.
We're all on line now!
JUST TO SAY HOW MUCH I enjoyed the article on Suzanne Thomas in the
Jan NWBN. I was toying with the idea
of getting her latest CD as I seem to be enjoying more and more the female
singers these days, so you have made my mind up! This is the kind of encouragement the ladies need! We got several complimentary comments. Ed.
Hello, Derek,
Hi Derek Tony Ellis was marvellous last night - what a great reception he got. The gig was a sell-out - we turned folk away! A large chunk of the audience knew exactly what to expect - there were also quite a few faces from the folk scene as opposed to the BG scene. A great night! Louise's wee casio raised a few eyebrows when it appeared - but it was harmless stuff! Gave a nice texture to some of the tunes. The MC was bloody awful though - my MC career began and ended last night! Russell russell@ednet.co.uk NORTH WEST BLUEGRASS NEWS - Great web site! Thanks for posting it. Having the tab and midi together makes the tab even that much more useful. Steve Smith (Mandolinist) KM5GN (stevesm@home.com) Good News from Chris Moreton Dear Derek, I would like to share my experience of a really enjoyable booking recently. It was at the Acoustic Guitar Club which meets on Tuesday evenings in Shirley, South Birmingham. I was invited by the American organiser Dave Schwan to give a demo’ of Flatpicking guitar, mandolin and Bluegrass banjo. The clear, detailed map which he sent, showing how to get there, was most helpful. The evening was to start at 7.30 p.m. so I arrived 6-ish, having allowed for bad traffic; in fact the journey turned out to be much easier than I expected. The venue was a charming, little, old village hall at the back of the Shirley Institute. Being on my own, I played a bit to warm up and found the acoustic quality in there to be superb! I was not alone for long; at about 6.30 p.m. club members started to arrive and began setting up the chairs. Soon the place was filled with rows of chairs, with a gangway down the middle. I thought “They are a bit optimistic if they think all those seats are going to be needed!” But I was wrong - by 7.30 the place was full! Apparently this is not unusual on both Guest Nights and Club Only nights. A small P.A. system was also set up plus an over head projector and screen!! I played solo through my first set like a mini gig using a selection of my party pieces, but ran the second half more like a workshop. I was honoured when (then) Down County Boy Jim Hirons agreed to join me and sing a couple of songs, which delighted everyone. We were both made so welcome we felt surrounded by old friends. The variety of guitars brought along by the members was quite amazing, ranging from a top line Martin or two to a home-made barge-painted guitar!! A few weeks later I received a copy of the club magazine, which contained a most flattering review of our evening together. Various club members had contributed some very interesting articles and I was astonished to learn that the whole thing had been compiled and edited by 14 year old Matthew Jones, who also gives Classical guitar lessons! I would like to thank David Wilkes (Bluegrass banjo enthusiast) for suggesting me as a suitable guest and Dave Schwan for my booking. Anyone interested in this club can contact Dave Schwan on 0121-733-6066 for further details. Chris Moreton, Usk, South Wales.
|