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Petunia just added these two original paintings to my web site. The Wes Clark is a local towboat that I worked on over the winter. I know there are quite a few turkey lovers out there, so hopefully Three of a Kind will be well received.
The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro, Tennessee reports on our friend Rebekah Weiler's attendance at last week's Leadership Bluegrass.
The Wall St. Journal article that I posted about last week, where Petunia and I are mentioned, is now available on line at http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120526706660828097.html.
Jams tend to get me painting musicians. Here's one of two jammers at a recent festival in our area.
Hey, are there any other bluegrass and basketball junkies out there like me? If so, you probably were watching the NCAA Tournament and saw Belmont University out of Nashville give Duke a real test on Thursday night. You must have also seen Vince Gill really getting into cheering for his Belmont team. But for a moments lapse, Belmont would have moved onto the next round. From the reaction of the crowd and the ESPN commentators on Friday morning, we may have a new "America's Team".
Just back from our annual odyssey to the land of sunshine. It was better this year as we found a part of the sunshine state that is still mostly swamps, gators, birds and host to congenial laid back people far removed from the south Florida parking lot/traffic jam.
First we met J.D. who ran the place we rented and was kind enough to invite us to a low country boil. Then we met Greg, a first class picker and singer.
We also met the folks at the Island Art Coop - active artists sharing space and work load. Check out Mike Segal's work at www.mikesegalart.com and also David Crown, a world reknowned mezzotint printer who works closely with his wife and fellow artist Deborah Cotten.
And, now I have to leave this and hang a photo print that Queen Bee bought from gallery space owner and artist, Carol Sakellarios.
It was an exciting day for the Bluegrass Painter today, as Petunia and I were featured in an article in The Wall Street Journal about how small businesses can use the blogosphere to market. Petunia is working on getting full access to the article, but for now you have to pick up today's paper or be a subscriber to get full access to the piece.
Petunia was interviewed about a month ago by Shelly Banjo for the article. She was interested to hear our story, and how we attribute our work with the IBMA and other projects to posts from some of our favorite blogs, including The Bluegrass Blog, Mandolin Cafe and Cybergrass. Why do you think I'm the only person in the article whose age was given? They must think I'm pretty hip for an old guy.
Thanks to Denise Wakeman of The Blog Squad for referring our story to the WSJ.
I can tell from my sitemeter that bluegrass music is alive and well all over the world...sometimes in places that you might not expect. I stumbled upon these photos taken at the Seoul Bluegrass Festival from William George's Blog and thought you might like to see them as well.
If you're a regular fan of bluegrass and spend time in the "bluegrass nation", you'll agree that it is a tight knit and friendly community. Attend IBMA's World of Bluegrass or any other event and you'll see that the "stars" in this world are a different breed of celebrity. My feelings about this were recently solidified with the following personal experience:
Our friend Dennis was recently diagnosed with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma. He was hospitalized immediately and is facing an extensive round of hospital stays and treatment over the next few months. Dennis is an avid bluegrass fan and has done much to expand the love of this music among his widespread circle of friends and family members. He is also an extremely upbeat person and has brought much joy into many of our lives...he's one of those guys that always brings a smile to your face when you see him. Knowing that we have some contacts in the industry, his wife asked Petunia if we could possibly get some of his favorite artists to either call or leave a positive message of support for him on his CaringBridge page. Petunia sent emails to some folks that we had met along our travels as well as some that we had never met before. We did expect a positive response from those that we contacted, knowing what kind of folks they were. We had no idea, however, of the speedy and heartfelt responses that our request would generate. Within a matter of hours, Dennis received several messages from some of his favorite musicians. These artists have busy schedules and lots of fans. The fact that they would step out and be so kind to someone they do not know really speaks volumes about what kind of people they are. I'd like to thank Claire Lynch, Audie Blaylock, Missy Raines and Tim Stafford and Blue Highway for their much appreciated gestures of kindness.
Regular readers of Bluegrass Unlimited's classified section have probably noticed Harry and Jeanie West's invitation to stop in to their shop if ever in the Statesville, NC area. Well, we did. Last Thursday.
The West's have a very comfortable store and a large inventory of new, used and vintage acoustic instruments, as well as a bunch of accessories. With Harry and Jeanie in the business is their son James. When we arrived at their store, James was busy working on a dreadnought style flat top. They have a page on MySpace that provides nice background and an audio sample of Harry and Jeanie''s music.
These are good folks and since they invited us to stop back...we sure will. Check out their website for a thorough tour of their store and inventory. They've got a whole bunch of Martins.
