Recap of 2008 Summer / Fall

It's been a busy summer and fall .. it's high time I add a bit to this blog. I'll take up where I left off at the end of June.

We went to Rick's barn party on July 3rd - playing bluegrass, listening to other groups and eating the fantastic potluck ... Dean wants the recipe of whoever brought that yummy peach pie ... and watching the fireworks from the hill. Rick has a great group of family, friends and neighbors and I hope he'll do it again, although it is a tremendous amount of work! He has one of the best voices I've heard and when JR (equally great voice) joins him on harmony on some of those "cowboy" songs, it send chills up your back! Castle Ridge bluegrass band was also there - Mark, Joy, Corky and Roger. A great evening!

BLUEGRASS FESTIVALS
We went to our favorite festivals this summer /fall:
Windmill Ridge Bluegrass Festival near Kalona, IA
Backbone Bluegrass Festival near Strawberry Point, IA
Central City Bluegrass Festival
Barnes Bluegrass Festival, Aledo, IL
Bloomfield Music Festival (our first time there and we'll definitely go back!)
The Fiddler's Picnic in Iowa City
The little gathering east of Anamosa

We didn't get to see many of the groups performing on stage because we jammed so much with new and old friends ... Big Max from Indianola (always accompanied by Ben, his dog); Dan and his daughter from Fairfield; Martin and Cindi from Illinois; Rick and Aaron from Central City; Mark & Joy from Castle Ridge band; Jack from Sioux City (what a voice!) and his friend Jim on dobro; long-time fiddler and a voice that cuts through the campgrounds, Lowell; Fred (banjo guru) and Velda; Bill .. the list goes on. We even had the privilege of jamming with Al and Aleta Murphy at the Aledo festival. Just to let you all know ... we LOVE every minute of it!

JAM CAMPS

Keith Y. teaches many students on various instruments and encourages them to jam - leads jam camps along with other musicians. There was a good turnout for the jam camp in conjunction with the Backbone Bluegrass festival this year and is was great to see so many young pickers performing on stage ... good to know that people are working to keep bluegrass in eastern Iowa alive and growing in the younger generations!