Hardly Strictly Bluegrass

Last year I heard from our old friend Jim Murray, currently living a sheltered life in S.F., about a festival called Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. This is a 3 day event that features an amazing list of artists appearing on stages scattered throughout Golden Gate Park, all open to the public ... for FREE! NO TICKET NEEDED!
Click http://www.strictlybluegrass.com/2008/artists.shtml to check the performance schedule for this years festival, Oct 3 - 5. And since most of us can't just drop everything and head to the park, the good folks at Austin City Limits bring their HD cameras and video the whole thing for us! They distill all that into a one hour special and play it FOR FREE on PBS! You can catch last year's show on KAET Channel 8 in Phx Friday night Oct 3 at 11pm. Set your Tivo! If you are elsewhere in the country the show will air on PBS stations that week, starting 9/27. The show from this year's festival will air in Feb 2009.
Please remember that the next time you see me begging for dollars on Ch 8 (Dec 08)

Contact me for copies of the KCAC tapes

I have finally digitized and mastered the amazing collection of KCAC tapes provided by Jeff and Jennifer Crawford. The total run time is about 55 hours, and thanks to the miracles of modern technology the whole collection fits on a single DVD-R readable on any computer. This is too wonderful not to share, so contact me off-blog at twright1955[at]yahoo[dot]com and I'll send a copy to anybody who requests one. (One copy each, please!)

The following caveats apply: sound quality is highly variable and often quite poor; the tapes are not well-cataloged (although I can provide a preliminary list of highlights); the taper made frequent, irritating stops and starts; the tapes are almost all public affairs programing and commercials (there is very little music, and most of the songs are incomplete); there are several hours of non-KCAC audio that I did not edit out; and at 55 hours there is a LOT of material to wade through and there are certainly some dull patches. But it is an amazing trip back into a different time, and a great way to visit with old friends like Bill Compton, Marty Manning, Toad Hall, Hank Cookenboo, Eric Harris, Steve Zind, and many others.

Thanks again to the Crawfords for making this all possible!

Tom

Pickin' In The Pines Flagstaff Bluegrass/Acoustic Music Festival

GET OUT OF THE HEAT AND INTO THE PINES
WHERE: FLAGSTAFF
WHAT: PICKIN IN THE PINES BLUEGRASS ACOUSTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL
WHEN: September 12 – 14, 2008 at Pine Mountain Amphitheater
Advance weekend tickets are on sale through September 11 for $65.
Day tickets are $20 for Friday, $40 for Saturday and $30 for Sunday until September 11
HEADLINERS:
Del McCoury Band
Nashville Bluegrass Band
PLUS
Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike
Carolina Chocolate Drops
Steve Smith and Hard Road
Burnett Family Bluegrass
Spring Creek Bluegrass
The Billy Pilgrims
Sawmill
ALSO FEATURED:
Contra dance band, Sandia Hots
AND
Fire Ridge
Muskellunge Bluegrass
Knockabouts
Springfed Band
Reno & Sheila McCormick
Traditional Blend.
PRODUCED BY:
FLAGSTAFF FRIENDS OF TRADITIONAL MUSIC (ffotm.net) For more information about PICKIN' IN THE PINES including schedule and lineup go to:: pickininthepines.org

UPCOMING MUSIC IN FLAGSTAFF AT PMA:
9/27 Michael Franti & Spearhead

UPCOMING MUSIC AND COMEDY AT THE HISTORIC ORPHEUM THEATRE:

9/10 Cracker & Camper Van Beethoven
9/11 John Hiatt & The Ageless Beauties with Joan Osborne & Band
9/19 TNT& Don't Look Back (AC/DC and Boston Tributes)
9/21 Joe Bonamassa

9/22 Railroad Earth
9/23 Dark Star Orchestra
9/25 Reel Rock Film Tour
9/27 Greg Brown

9/30 RJD2
10/7 John Brown's Body
10/11 Bob & Tom Comedy All-Stars
10/14 Lotus

10/16 Dave Attell
10/25 Dar Williams & Shawn Mullins
10/26 STS9

11/13 Dave Alvin
11/24 The MISFITS
Venue Website: www.pmamp.com