Red Oak, Missouri

A couple of weeks ago, Holly and I had the good fortune of visiting Red Oak, Missouri.  I didn’t know quite what to expect, but it’s an absolutely fascinating place.

If you wish to read the history of Red Oak  (and you should!!), read about them on the Legends of America website here.

Here are just a few photos from Red Oak.

Bluegrass Railroad Museum, Versailles, KY

Yesterday, Holly and I had the good fortune to visit the Bluegrass Railroad in Versailles, KY.  I’ve long had an interest in trains, and, especially, train songs, so this was a real treat for us.  We were there for a Geocaching event, and, as an added bonus, got to play at the station, which houses the museum itself.  The station is a restored L&N Depot, and is absolutely beautiful.  Check out the link above for the RR’s website, and if you’re in the area, I highly recommend a visit.  Here are a few pictures of our day!

Geocaching and Bluegrass!!

Last Saturday, Holly and I were invited up to Thorntown, Indiana, to play some music, and we decided to grab a few Geocaches on the way.
Our first stop was at  a cache near Indianapolis Executive Airport.  In addition to a number of corporate jets, this airport is home to some classic aircraft, and I was able to shoot a few pictures.

The best thing Geocaching, for me, is seeing things that most folks don’t get to….it seems most folks don’t ever get off of the main roads.  Out in rural Boone county, we came upon this wonderful, old iron bridge.

Cemeteries are an endless source of fascination to me.  This is something I’ve not seen before.  After a pretty good hike in the woods, we came upon a single, solitary grave out in the middle of the woods.  This is a civil war veteran, quite interesting to see a single tombstone like this.

After grabbing a half dozen or so caches, we were off to play music.  We were playing with a bunch of folks we’d never played with before.  What a hoot!  The highlight?  The 11 year old banjo player who blew us all away.

All in all, another great day in the life I love so much!

Cumberland Arts Festival, August, 2009

A couple of weeks ago  (yes, I’m running behind in posting!!) we played the Cumberland Arts Festival, and we had a ball.

This is a yearly event in conjunction with the Farmer’s Market in Cumberland, Indiana.  We stop and play at several Farmer’s Markets during the year, and I believe that Cumberland is my favorite.  I’m always amazed at how friendly the folks are there, and we always have a ball.

On this day, the Indianapolis Firefighters Pipe and Drum Corp made a stop and I sure enjoyed meeting and listening to them!

I enjoy playing instruments that one doesn’t see every day, and one of those is the Appalachian Dulcimer.  I took one of mine with me that day and played a few tunes for the folks…

One of the things I enjoy most is introducing folks to instruments they might have seen or heard before, and giving them a chance to try their hand at it.  The Hammer Dulcimer is one of those instruments that everyone seems to love, and kids of all ages really seem to enjoy trying it.  I’ll leave you today with a couple of pictures of folks giving it a try…and they both did very well at it!

Geocaching, July 26th

We were on a mission today!  To get cache number 1,000, and we did it.  Here are a few pictures we took along the way.

First of all, I LOVE barns.  There is a cacher in the Indianapolis area who places caches in such amazing places.  This one was at a couple of barns, both old and new.

The new barn is nothing short of amazing.  yep, it’s a BARN, folks!

And the old one is just lovely.  I’ve really got a thing for old barns.

This is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.  This farmer has decorated a field with all kinds of sculptures made out of old farm equipment!

I never know what I’m going to run into while caching.  These last two are of a Buffalo Farm, near Lebanon, Indiana.  Such beautiful animals!  And this’ll be it for today, happy Tuesday, everyone!

Just some random stuff on Friday.

Last night, a bunch of friends and us went to one of the comedy clubs in Indianapolis.  And we had the…ummm…honor of possibly seeing the worst comedian I’ve ever seen.

I realize the comedy, like anything else, is a matter of personal preference.  But this guy was just awful.  And, it wasn’t just me that thought so, but it seems that was the general opinion of the crowd.

And, to top it off…he’s a FULL TIME comedian and travels all over the country doing this.

Which shows me the power of promotion.  He’s obviously got a good publicist, and is good at promoting himself.

It’s a lesson to be learned for all of us who are in business.  It matters less how good  (or bad) you are, it DOES matter how you promote yourself.

Well, earlier in the week, the weather for the July 4th Holiday was supposed to be fabulous.  Now, they’re calling for rain off and on all day.  I know that we have a few things to do, and we’re going to do some Geocaching, but the weather will determine just exactly what we do.

I have gotten HOOKED on a Facebook game called “Farm Town”.  What a fun game!  I spent WAY too many hours playing that game!!

We’re meeting with another musician tonight to discuss an upcoming project.  I’m not sure what kind of upcoming project, but based on his past projects, it’ll be a good one.

Well, I guess that’s about it for now!  Everyone have a great weekend!

Another really interesting tombstone!

Wonder what this fella’s passion was?

A couple of new projects I’m excited about….

Hey everyone!  Well, it certainly feels like summer these days, doesn’t it!  We’ve been busy playing and enjoying life, as usual.

I just wanted to give you a quick update on two projects that are now available, but first, for you locals…we’ll be playing at the JS Reutz Cafe’, 10th and Jefferson, this Friday night, June 26th, from 7-9 PM.  JS Reutz is an all ages venue and their food is outstanding!  Come on out and join us!

We’re on two compilations that have recently been released, and here is the info on both of them.

Give a Girl a Chance is a compilation that was put together to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Tenderness Tour.  This 19 track CD features some of the best in local and national talent, including Carrie Newcomer, The Trust Project,  Carl Storie, Jennie DeVoe, many more, and, of course, Patchwork!  It’s truly a remarkable work and one that you’ll be proud to own.  Locally, it’s available from Luna Music, Indy CD&Vinyl, Karma records  (86th and Michigan) and also online from Amazon.com and CDBaby.com.  You can read more about the project at http://tendernesstour.com/ and you can view the album and hear samples of all the songs at http://cdbaby.com/cd/tendernesstour .  Take a minute and give some of the songs a listen, and I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a great addition to any music lover’s collection!  AND you support the fight against domestic violence when you purchase one.  How can you loose?

Goin’ Back Home is a compilation of 20 of the finest folk, bluegrass, and traditional artists from across the nation.  We’re especially honored to be paired with folks like Whitewater Bluegrass, Old Rag Mountain Remedy, Jonas Riley, the Whiskey Bent Valley Boys, and many more.  There are 20 tracks on this CD and we’re so pleased to be the opening track on it.  It has JUST been released in digital format, and we’ll have the CD itself in our hands in very short order.  Right now, it’s available on Amazon.com and here is a link, that includes a link to every song on the album:  Goin Back Home. I’m sorry for the length of the link…I don’t know any other way to do it!

I continue to be amazed at the love and support that is shown by our friends.  We are blessed to get to travel all over the Midwest, and I tell folks everywhere we go…that we have the coolest friends anywhere!

Geocaching in West Central Indiana

Friday night, Holly and I had a music gig in Carbon, Indiana at the Sanctuary of the Arts, which is housed in a 1910 schoolhouse.  The town has a lot of history…founded in the late 1800s by a group of Italian and German immigrants, who were mainly miners.  (This part of Indiana is coal country)  In the early 1900s, the entire town burned, leaving only the school and a cemetery.  We’re headed back there in the fall for the Covered Bridge Festival, and I’m looking foward to spending some time exploring the area and history some more.
On our way there, we did some Geocaching, and here are a few of the things we saw.

In Indiana we have a whole series of caches called “Indiana Spirit Quest”.  These caches are planted near old pioneer cemeteries, and they have special historical significance.  Many of them have revolutionary or civil war soldiers buried in them.  One such cemetery was our near Putnamville.  As most of you know, central Indiana is mainly flat, but there are hills here and their.  This cemetery sat up on a hill, and the view was amazing.

Down the hill and about a half mile away was a horse farm.  Since I’d not had any real chance to test out my zoom lens, I thought this would be my chance, and I’m quite happy with the results!

I’m a sucker for old Churches.

As I said, we were headed out to a music gig, and Holly snapped this picture of me doing a dulcimer set.

Well, I think that’s about it for now.  Everyone have a great week, and get out and enjoy life!

An interesting old helicopter!

While out Geocaching last weekend,  this fella flew over us and landed at a nearby airport.

It’s a Sikorsky S-58 helicopter, otherwise known as the “Choctaw” and was developed in the mid 1950s.  They served in pretty much every battle theatre in the 50s, 60s, and 70s, and then found new life as civilian workhorses.  The S-58 is known for it’s lifting ability, and is popular for industrial uses.

This particular aircraft is owned by Midwest, out of Chicago, a company that provides “Aerial Cranes”.  I was able to find a YouTube video of it in use you can view that here.

It was a real treat to see this old bird make it’s approach and land while we were out caching!