2018 Music
2018 turned out to be a pretty good year, musically.
I attended many more festivals and music camps than I had in the previous year.
In February, Wintergrass took place in Bellevue, WA. I saw some great shows, met up with many friends, and got in a lot of jamming in the hotel lobbies and hallways.
Walker Creek Music Camp in April was great! I was a teaching assistant for one of my favorite mandolin players and teachers, John Reischman.
May brought the Bluegrass From the Forest festival in Shelton, WA. I played on stage with the Pine Top Pickers and found some stellar jams around the campgrounds.
In June, I was back in California for the California Bluegrass Association (CBA) Bluegrass Camp and the Father’s Day Festival. I was again a teaching assistant, this time for another one of my favorite teachers, Tristan Scroggins.
The Darrington Bluegrass Festival in July was hot in so many ways!
Puget Sound Guitar Workshop (PSGW), week one, gave me a chance to study mandolin with Eric Thompson and guitar with Wayne Henderson and David Keenan.
A few weeks later, back at PSGW week 3, I was sitting in mandolin class again with Tristan Scroggins.
Immediately on the heels of PSGW, at the end of August, I headed up to British Columbia for a week at NimbleFingers. John Reischman was there teaching mandolin again. It was during a smoky period due to wildfires in the northwest, but it was still a spectacular road trip.
Next up, was Hovander Homestead Bluegrass Festival in early September. The weather was great and featured some of my favorite bands, including some California folks like Laurie Lewis and the Right Hands and A.J. Lee and Blue Summit.
Its not over yet! American Banjo Camp, in Port Orchard, was a blast. Eric Thompson was teaching the guitar track and with so many talented banjo players present, great jams were happening around the clock.
After being home for more than a full month, I was off to California again for the Fall edition of Walker Creek Music Camp, held on the first weekend in November. This time, I was a teaching assistant for a guitar class on flatpicking and cross picking with the amazing Peter McLaughlin.
In addition to all the camps and festivals, I had a lot of fun playing gigs with the Pine Top Pickers and sitting in occasionally with the Rank Strangers at the Pig Bar in Olympia. And, when I was home, I was also busy teaching private mandolin lessons.
Now that December is here, it’s serious woodshedding time as well as time to maintain the camper and gear to prepare for next year. Wintergrass 2019 is just a few months away!
