Realizing My Musical Mission

Through performances, recordings, and education, I strive to:

• preserve and propagate traditional folk music
• increase participation in the singing and playing of traditional folk music
• enhance understanding of people, culture, and history throughout the world

This blog post focuses on a few upcoming events through which I am realizing that mission.

Old-Time Music Night

At 8:00PM on Friday, October 24th I bring together South Florida's old-time musicians and the community at large for a night out at Luna Star Cafe in North Miami. This will be a fun, participatory night of music making with fiddle tunes, folk songs, sing-alongs and so many musicians they will spill off the stage into the audience.

Featured performers include the Pompano Beach Old-Time Jammers, Greg Allen (fiddle and banjo player), Tony Thomas (folk singer, banjo/guitar player and scholar), and my group, The Rambling String Band.

The Pompano Beach Old-Time Jammers are a group of acoustic musicians (fiddles, banjos, guitars, mandolins, autoharps, basses,etc), including myself, that meets every Tuesday night to play old-time fiddle tunes just for kicks - no microphones, audience, or aspirations of superstardom.

For more information about them and where they meet, email me.

Check out the Pompano Beach Old-Time Jammers playing Waterbound at Red, White, and Bluegrass on Hollywood Beach in May, 2008.

The Florida Fair

This event celebrating all things Florida is being held at Calder Race Course in Miami on Saturday, November 8th from 11:00AM until 5:00PM. I will be performing at various times throughout the day and hosting a booth dedicated to the music of old Florida. The music of early Florida provides an interesting look at the history of Florida, from the Native Americans to the Spanish conquistadors, as well as the French and British settlers who called Florida their home.

For more information about the The Florida Fair, visit their website .

Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp

For many years, musicians from beginning to advanced have gathered annually in the deep green shade of giant live oaks in a secluded but well-equipped 100-acre St. Petersburg nature park to teach, learn, and trade tunes. This year, as last, I will be teaching classes in old-time banjo throughout the weekend for players of all skill levels, including the absolute beginner.

For one low price you can choose from dozens of workshops taking place throughout the weekend, including guitar, fiddle, banjo, harmonica, singing, lap or hammered dulcimer, autoharp, mandolin, songwriting, and music theory.

For me, the best thing about music camps like this is the chance to get away from everything else in life and just play music. I tend to spend all weekend (when I'm not in a workshop) walking around with my banjo strapped on - playing with, learning from, and teaching like-minded musicians.

The Sunshine State Acoustic Music Camp will be held at Boyd Hill Environmental Studies Area in St. Petersburg, Florida from November 14 - 16. For more information, visit their website.

I hope you can join me at one or more of these events.