Bringing It All Back Home

I had all good intentions to work on making kits for my classes last night and maybe even getting a bit of beadwork in until the wee hours of the morning. But... after soaking in the hot tub for a long spell, I felt like molten jello and got nothing accomplished. It's so nice to be outside and enjoy the night at this time of year. I turned the lights and the jets off so that I could do some star gazing and listen to the silence. Unfortunately, the clouds are rolling in and there wasn't a star to be seen but the sounds of "silence" made up for it. Just down the hill from my house is Siltcoos Lake, where the cacophony of frogs was especially loud this evening. From the deck I can also hear the creek that runs alongside the bottom of the hill, just at the end of the driveway. Behind the house, about a mile away is the ocean. I'm lucky enough to be able to hear that, too.
The hot tub is my "think tank." Last night I was thinking about all of the things in life that we take for granted. For example, the frogs. Listening to the frogs is one of my favorite things about living here and yet, I don't always make the time to pay attention to them.

When I lived in Long Beach, CA I took the music scene for granted. I could pick any night of the week to go out and see quality live music and it was all only a short drive away (ok well, maybe a little longer than short with traffic but still...). I used to spend a lot of time just down the street from my apartment, at the Blue Cafe. I would go there and listen to fine musicians such as Doug MacLeod www.doug-macleod.com/ (pictured above) every Thurs. night at happy hour. Doug is an incredible blues musician and was one of the reasons I ever picked up a guitar in the first place. He's played with some of the finest blues musicians in the world and even played with one of my other favorite guitar players, the late great Pee Wee Crayton. Yes, indeed folks, I was SPOILED.
Check it out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCEfaeH0Iik

Ever since I moved here to Florence, OR I have been missing that music scene. Luckily, every Sunday night there is phenomenal group of musicians that gets together at the Traveler's Cove. The line-up includes regulars such as my friend Peter Giri (pictured left) on guitar and bass, Paul Biondi on sax, Suzanne Sheretta on sax, Nate Kaplan on drums and Mike Anderson on guitar and bass. These folks sure can play and once again I'm feeling a bit spoiled.

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This past Saturday night, I was especially spoiled, as we had a bonus night of music down at the Cove. Not only were we blessed with Peter Giri and Nate Kaplan but they brought along uber-talented harpsmen Lloyd Tolbert and guitar guru Byron Case (pictued left). Man, oh man, that Byron can play. We were treated to a long and fabulous first set of blues. Blues the way blues was meant to be played. It was exactly what I've been missing. It felt like going home. Three days later I'm still feeling good from that quality dose of music. It doesn't get much better than that!