ejammers.net AUSTIN TEXAS (where the hell else?)

Pickin' For The Record :: Luckenbach, Texas :: August 23rd

2009-08-20T12:37:00.006-05:00

http://voicesofagratefulnation.org/default.aspx

Hey everyone!

This is a chance to make HISTORY and in LUCKENBACH, TEXAS no less!!
Some of you know that Javi and I make an annual visit to Luckenbach for the Hug-In each Valentine's weekend.

Well, now we ALL have this great opportunity to be a part of history by being one of the guitars to break the World record for most guitars playing the same song at the same time.

Here is the body of the text from the web-site and the link...it's only $10 and all the pickers get a t-shirt, dog tags and their name(s) in the Guinness Book under the record. How cool is that?

Voices of a Grateful Nation & The Welcome Home Project In conjunction with The Kerrville Folk Festival and Cheatham Street Warehouse Presents . . .

Pickin' for the Record

We are going to attempt a new Guinness World Record for the Biggest Guitar Pickin' Session in the History of the World to support our homecoming Troops and their Families! The proceeds from this event will support the Welcome Home Project's Veteran's Endowment for Traumatic Brain Injuries.

Kerrville's Dalis and Luckenbach's Abbey have teamed up to present this special get together in Luckenbach, Texas on SUNDAY AUGUST 23, 2009 Noon Until After Dark!? We'll Attempt the Record at 2:00 PM So Don't Be Late!

Calling All Guitars: The current world record is held by the Germans and we know we can top it in the Texas Hill Country! Everyone's welcome to bring small instruments like fiddles, banjos, or shakers but most importantly, BRING GUITARS AND YOUR PICKIN' BUDDIES!

We need 2,000 guitar players to break the Guinness World Record The Registration Fee for this record-breaking event is only $10.00. All Registrants will receive a special event T-Shirt and Special Event Dog Tags at the gate on the day of the event. Simply fill in the registration form provided within the web site and drop it in the GUITAR BOX in the Sponsors-Guitar Raffle Booth Area.
http://voicesofagratefulnation.org/default.aspx

I hope lots of ya'll join us out there!!! I'm actually going to put down my uke and learn the chords on the guitar so that I can participate.

*BIG HUGS*
--Helen
haakechic@yahoo.com

P.S. Two songs will be performed by the record number of guitar players who gather. Hear the songs we'll be playing (below): "This Land Is Your Land" and "Luckenbach Texas" and see the sheet music at http://voicesofagratefulnation.org/default.aspx

MP3 for "This Land" can be heard here: http://voicesofagratefulnation.org/files/land.mp3
MP3 for "Luckenbach Texas" can be heard here: http://voicesofagratefulnation.org/files/luch.mp3

Steve & Renita Withrow :: Lake Charles, Louisiana

2009-05-11T04:13:00.000-05:00

Bruce Newman's Bye, Bye Bush!

2009-05-11T04:10:00.000-05:00

OSMF 2009 Photos

2009-05-11T03:12:00.001-05:00

brand new osmf09 photo albums are published at: http://ejammers.net/photos.html.

thanks to nance and tess for adding so much to the pile. FIVE new albums to go SEE YOURSELVES IN!!

Square Dance 2008

2008-07-20T15:34:00.008-05:00

this year was the first time we attended the annual square dance held at quicksand farms in manor, texas. for reasons i can't recall right now, i missed out the last two years i've known about this event. after attending this year, i'm making it a priority from now on and intend on making it every year to come. i believe this year was something like the 26th annual square dance. these folks have been at it for some time. after attending this first for me, i ask myself, "why in the hell don't we have something like this once a month?!" it was THAT much fun!

the square dance is hosted by a great couple who bought an old farm house in manor, texas. the farm house was used in the film, What's Eating Gilbert Grape (starring Johnny Depp and others). the gracious owners allow anyone and everyone to tour the inside of the house. upstairs in one of the rooms they've installed built-in "berths" and "sleeping lofts" in which they provide thin mattresses and bedding for guests who choose to stay overnight. they provide live music performed by very talented, local musicians, and they hire a professional square dance "caller" or "emcee" (i'm not sure of the proper term.) the "caller" has a wireless microphone and stands amid hundreds of hippies, free spirits, children, adults, cowboys, punk rockers, and elderly folks and all else between. because many of us are NOT well honed square dancers, the "caller" takes a few minutes explaining the different moves, or steps, to the different types of dances. after a brief lesson, the music kicks in and circles and circles within circles of folks begin to dance. i personally didn't do any dancing as it was my first time to attend, but next year i will most definitely try out the dancing. i had such an incredibly fun time photographing and observing how it all went down. square dancing is an art, no kidding. watching chains of folks whiz right by me, seeing them cracking up with laughter and joy, some falling down, girls with girls, guys with guys, and hey, even girls and guys dancing together. i figure you just can't go wrong when hundreds of people are out in the country in the middle of a field, holding hands and laughing. not to mention the long tables, side by side - a huge line of pot luck dishes that everyone contributes to - a FEAST. after the square dancing ends (and the crowds of folks all say, "awwwwwww" cuz they don't want it to end), the pickers and grinners start breaking out instruments and the song circles begin. what fun. guitars, mandolins, fiddles, accordians, upright basses, snare drums, flutes, beautiful vocals and grinners come together and the music goes on until daybreak (and later). a few tents are erected here and there for those that want to stay overnight and breakfast is served the following morning. what a neat, magical evening for all. nope, i won't miss another one of these shin digs now that i've been once.

the week after the square dance i had to re-rent What's Eating Gilbert Grape to see the movie again, and to experience a sense of newfound familiarity.

The Oaks, Live! In Manor: April 3, 2008 Photos

2008-05-06T17:24:00.010-05:00

Thursday, April 3, 2008
Songwriter Showcase

Old Settler's Music Festival 2008

2008-04-26T02:09:00.028-05:00

well....we did it again...packed up nearly our entire household (including the latte machine) and headed out to driftwood, texas, camp ben mcculloch and the salt lick pavillion for another great round of musical festivities, pickin' and grinnin' and lots of music appreciation. we had a great time with old friends, new friends, ate good food, and we played our hearts out until we dropped (for me, i speak in a literal fashion).

we pulled into camp ben on wednesday afternoon sometime around 1:30P or so and began unloading gear from within and on top of our jeep (last year we took two vehicles). we began setting up our brand-spankin' new tent and pavillion, found electricity to plug into for our lattes (i know...we're hard core campers, right?), got our camp situated and began celebrating kelli's birthday, our annual starting point that marks the festive happenings.

(here's the view from our campsite:)

once alan and tess creatively engineered their camper and site amid the large, protruding roots, it seems that their site became the "place to be". we brought in kelli's birthday with lots of love, great music, and magical kinship. steve and i met folks we have been hearing about for some time now, and it was good to finally get to know these extended tribal members, and even better to share and play music with so many!

(new friends to share music with:)

bruce and i were the last two folks left at alan and tess's camp and around 4:00 we politely bowed out and away. i met up with bruce on the edge of a parking lot a few minutes later (not even knowing it was him until i got right up to him) and we stood there on the gravel and shared some great tunes. i asked bruce if he'd follow me to the little pavillion and he agreed so we headed for cover, a comfortable seat, and the good acoustics.

(bruce gettin' down on his guitar:)

judy and brother tim joined us and sat and visited and encouraged us to keep playing (which, of course, we never seem to mind doing). we played quite a few songs, and bruce and i finished out with a whopper of a song and that's when he said, "well, i'm done with that one", so i thanked him for accomodating my need to keep playing. the birds were singing and coming to life and i headed down to my camp, where my husband was sleeping like a bear and i enjoyed first light of the new day. peaceful, quiet, with the gentle bubbling of the stream below our campsite. i knew that i should cherish these peaceful moments for in awhile, folks everywhere would be up and about, with many new arrivals and campsites being pitched, and music, oh, sweet music hither and yonder and everywhere i turned and/or spied.

steve woke up nearly crippled from the day before, all the unloading, pitching, staying up late playing music, sleeping so close to the ground (and at OUR age). i too was feeling crippled from lack of sleep, old age and a bad back and the barometric pressure wasn't helping. friends came by our site to visit and they all encouraged me to get some rest for we knew i'd need lots of energy to endure the rest of the fest. it wasn't until around 1 or 2 o'clock that i think i finally laid down and fell soundly, deeply asleep.

when i woke up next it was around 11:30P on thursday night as steve rushed to our campsite (from rick and carolyn's) to secure our belongings as the wind was howling madly, whipping other folk's campsites and belongings. steve, my hero, secured everything outside and came in to tend to the few tent leaks we endured. when i woke up i had a terrible, sore throat and for awhile i was convinced i had come down with strep throat. i hadn't felt that bad in some time. i could barely swallow, felt achy all over, was congested, felt feverish and just icky. bless my steve, as he took over all the responsibilities of seeing to our things, keeping them dry, and rearranging things as needed.

friday morning i woke up with steve just outside the tent visiting with the good jim jones. i had a latte and slowly awoke to a new morning, bright green from the recent rain, and heard the tales of the trials some of our friends survived through the night before. steve and i had already planned to come into austin, check on our home, feed our cats, run by the grocery store for ice, etc. and head back. after a couple of lattes, and a visit from tomas, we did just that.

at home, the cats were fine, the house undisturbed (which was a worry of mine), we brought in the mail, took turns taking showers, i grabbed a box of lozenges, the sudafed and more advil. off we went back to camp ben!

not long after returning to camp it was time to catch the shuttle with my camera gear, and chairs in tow. we stopped by the mercantile booth and purchased our annual t-shirts and poster and a few other little sundries, and headed down to the big stage for the david grisman bluegrass experience. wow! what a show! so much talent packed onto just one stage. we've seen david grisman's quintet the last couple of years at the paramount in austin, and i had never seen his bluegrass experience. being a flute player myself, i immediately missed the flute player from the quintet, though the band kept me fully entertained. somehow i lost track of steve on our way toward the shuttle and began looking for him in the shuttle line, and around the mercantile booth. found him there visiting with lady Z and we said our hello's and goodbye's as we were gettin' chilly and needed to head back to camp for our long sleeves.

(that's it for now as i'm growing weary from all the typing and it's getting later and later. i'll write more and tell you about the rest of the fest later.)

i'm new at this blogging stuff

2008-03-21T07:15:00.003-05:00

i've created and filled in the profile section of many, many of these blogs, forums, and other public places on the information highway in the ongoing efforts i make in the world of search engine optimization and popularity. if you're a client of mine, you'll probably see a blog with your name on it (and you never even knew it was there did you?)

love you all - renita

NEW BLOG

2008-03-20T17:52:00.004-05:00

ejammers.net New Blog

hello folks.
welcome to our new blog.

no time to post much now....just saying 'hello'.

feel free to join this blog and post away....

check out http://ejammers.net for more info.

thanks and g'night,
playflute4u

p.s. if you get bored waiting for me to return and write more, sit back and watch this video to fill your time: