As you all know I've been working pretty hard at the solo stuff for some time now. It seems like a good time to reflect what's happened. It was April first when I performed at Artichoke Music. I mark that as the first "real" solo gig I've done. I had played a few gigs before that but for some reason I think of the Artichoke gig as the beginning. At that time I had just started lesson with Mary Flower. I've spoken of her before but for those of you who don't know, Mary is a world class finger style blues player who happens to live here in Portland. You can find her at maryflower.com. Taking lessons from her has simply been amazing. I'm learning great new songs and my technique is getting better and better. It was also around that time that I went to Fur Peace Ranch for the second time. I've written and spoken quite a bit about Fur Peace and Jorma Kaukonen. See my blog post from April on the subject. In addition I began writing original tunes around then. I now have six in the hopper! So many things began for me musically around six months ago. Since then I've played numerous gigs and open mics and am having a great time doing it. Many thanks to those of you who have supported me by coming out. I feel like I'm at the beginning of something very cool. I have no idea where it's going except that I'm trying to become the best guitarist I can and enjoy the ride.

I've come some ways these last months. I now have two regular monthly gigs - the second Thursday of the month at Eugenio's and the first Friday of the month for the Spring Creek Coffee House poker party. The poker party has been an especially fun gig. And I'll be playing for the third time at Artichoke in October. What a great place it is!

Looking forward I'll be making a CD during the coming year. Mary will produce it. The current plan is to record and mix it at Secret Society in northeast Portland. I'm currently working on the material.

It's all been very exciting and gratifying. I've managed to live my dream and so far it's going great. I've got to mention my wife Kay in this regard. Without her support, advise and encouragement I could never do this. She is simply the best thing that has ever happened to me.

It's a little hard to believe but my musical journey is almost 50 years old. I began taking guitar lessons in February of 1963. My plan is to time the CD release to coincide with my 50 year anniversary of music and hold a CD release concert and celebration. I hope to include as many of the musician I've played with over the years as I can from my childhood friend Steven Gary to my Sons of Bernard band mates to the folks I'm just now meeting. Obviously I'll be making a big deal about it as the winter of 2013 gets closer.

As my musical journey moves forward it's important to remember why I'm doing it. It's easy to get caught up in it or think it's about me. It's not about me. It's about the music. What drives me is the love of music - a life long obsession - and the love of finger style blues in particular. I often tell my guitar students that to really get good you have to become addicted to playing. I think that describes me.

We had a great time Friday night at Artichoke music. My Oak Grove pals Alice Olsen and Bob Lawyer opened the show with a great set of originals. Here they are in action.

They were followed by Artichoke regulars Sophie and Time with there soulful folk style. Then yours truly.

Here's my setlist:
See See Rider
Last Go Round
Ring That Bell
A Life Well Lived
Spike Driver Blues/99 Year Blues
Embryonic Journey

Margaret Branch followed with a stellar set of folk originals. Her voice is reminiscent of folk singers such as Judy Collins. We were then treated to the Sunset Highwaymen and their acoustic americana. The night was topped of with a special appearance of San Francisco based Rin Tin Tiger.

As always it was a great crowd.

On Saturday we gathered at Spring Creek Coffee House in Milwaukie for our monthly open mic. It was great as always. We've started a new tradition of warming things up with a blues jam.

Followed by the benediction by Charlie Stevens.

It was a great night of poetry and music. Here's Lokie bringin' it!

We had a great time yesterday evening at my video shoot at Spring Creek Coffee House. Lots of friends showed up including my old pals from the Sons of Bernard, Peter Whitmore and Mikel Parker.

Our video man, Alex Andreychenko, sent me a link to a test video he produced and it looks great! Alex is a wonderful guy. I had fun working with him. Here he is hard at work.

Many thanks to all who came out. Over the next few weeks Alex and I will be producing a few of the most choice numbers and putting them on YouTube. I had a lot of fun doing the show and by all accounts I acquitted myself well. You can judge for yourself once its online.

Last Sunday evening I had the pleasure of attending a house concert featuring two great acoustic blues guitarists: piedmont blues virtuoso Mary Flower and 'A' list blues player Alan Hager. If you're not familiar with house concerts they are just what the name sounds like - a concert held in a private home. In this case it was the home of Matt Miner in northeast Portland. Matt had been putting on concerts for a number of years. The show was wonderful. Mary opened with some original instrumentals both old and new. If you've never heard her you owe it to yourself to check out her music - www.maryflower.com. Soon she was joined by Alan for a couple of duets. Alan then took the stage solo for some amazing playing including an instrumental medley of songs associated with Eric Clapton and some Muddy Waters. They finished the show with a couple of duets. Both are world class players. Getting to here then together in someone's living room was a real treat. The show was followed by a gourmet meal topping off a great evening.

I'm just got back from a fantastic guitar workshop with Jefferson Airplane and Hot Tuna founder Jorma Kaukonen. Jorma and his wife Vanessa own and operate Fur Peace Ranch, 120 acres in the foothills of the Appalachians offering music workshops from March through November.

I arrived a day early so I took in the sights of nearby Athens, Ohio. Including the former Athens Insane Asylum now an art museum and part of the University of Ohio campus.

The next day I drove the twenty minutes south to the ranch. Fur Peace is music camp like no other, completely remote, featuring gourmet food, small class sizes and world class instructors. My workshop with Jorma consisted of twelve folks, all good pickers to begin with. Jorma ran us through five of his signature tunes in three days.

Here's the Captain himself stringing his guitar with fellow student Debbi Pace.

Saturday night we were treated to a concert by Hot Tuna in there acoustic incarnation: Jorma on guitar and vocals, former Jefferson Airplane band mate Jack Casady on bass, and mandolin savant Barry Mitterhoff. Barry and Jack were also instructors for the weekend. Fur Peace's concert hall holds about 200 people so there isn't a bad seat in the house.

I can't say enough about the vibe of Fur Peace. You walk away with a feeling that you had just met 40 long lost friends. The workshops are outstanding. The food is amazing. The setting is sublime. Those of you who play owe it to yourself to spend a weekend there.