Ludington Area Center for the Arts Nov. 28 2009

The Ludington Area Arts Council operates the Ludington Area Center for the Arts at 107 S. Harrison St. in downtown Ludington, Michigan. They have taken over an historic Methodist church to house their facility. We were booked to play for their Holiday Extavaganza on Saturday night. These pictures were taken by our friend Phil Gigante.

Interim director of the Arts Council, Terry Murphy introduced us. She and her group of dedicated volunteers had organized the Extravaganza weekend to include a fine arts and crafts fair, a bake sale, and concerts both Friday and Saturday nights. They even set up a little cafe that served great food out of the old church kitchen. The chicken noodle soup was to die for.
Ruth gave her Takemine an airing and a workout. The setlist included some songs that will appear on our soon to be released CD including Daddy Was An Old Man, Same Old Grind, I Hear Your Footsteps, and Michigan Girl; some of our old favorites like Mama Said and I Know Love; and Ruth's original Christmas song One Little Child, among others.
Between sets we chatted with the guests as they sipped wine and munched hors d'oeuvres among the art objects in the vestibule gallery.
Old churches can make wonderful concert halls, and we enjoyed playing in the space immensely. If you hear of an event happening at the Ludington Area Center for the Arts don't hesitate to attend. You'll enjoy yourself just like we did, and we hope to be invited back again.

We have a fun weekend planned next Saturday and Sunday. On Dec. 5 we'll be joining Steve Albert on banjo at the Barnes and Noble Bookstore in Muskegon from 11:00 AM to 12:30 PM. A percentage of the store's sales will go to benefit WBLV Public Radio, so come on out to see us and do some Christmas shopping. NEXT, on Sunday Dec. 6 we'll be at Mainstreet Pub and Eatery in North Muskegon for an AMARYLLIS REUNION! That's right our dear old friends Steve and Sue Reeths will be in town playing some gigs and they've asked us to join them for this one. We'll be starting there at 7:00. See our schedule at www.ruthbloomquist.com for more details. We'll all be playing tunes from our respective upcoming CDs and a lot of our old favorites for sure.

Looking Forward to Saturday

We're really looking forward to our concert this Saturday night November 29 at the Ludington Area Center for the Arts, and of course we're hoping for a good crowd. We've never played in Ludington before and we're sure to have a good time. All the information is on the flyer above, and the Ludington Area Arts Council has a website with even more.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

New Video I Hear Your Footsteps

Here's some video from a Concert With Friends, November 6, 2009, Frauenthal Theater, Muskegon, Michigan. Bruce Ling plays mandolin. We hade a great time playing with the Oat Bran Boys and Hawks and Owls. The audience of 900 or so was wonderful, and we raised money for United Way. Thanks to Bob Skolnik for putting it on.

A Concert With Friends

The third annual "A Concert With Friends" was a wonderful time and a great success. Thanks to Bob Skolnik of Mona Lake Productions, we once again were able to join with some great musical friends in the legendary Frauenthal Theater to raise money for the United Way.















Hawks and Owls opened the show with their traditional oldtime sound.
L-R Joe Van Acker, Bruce Ling, Becca Shilt.












For the end of Hawks and Owls' set they were joined by the Oat Bran Boys for a rousing version of Deep Elem Blues.









Then the Oat Bran Boys took the stage. L-R Richard King, John King, Dan Seabolt.

"The Oaties" always do a great job. The brother harmonies are top notch and they're great pickers.


John and Dan have been playing dates with us as part of the Ruth And Max Bloomquist Band, and we've been lucky to have them.



After the intermission we began the second half of the show with a couple of songs from our soon to be released CD. Then Bruce came out to play mandolin with us on another soon to be released song, Ruth's "I Hear Your Footsteps". He stayed on while the Oat Bran Boys joined us for "Daddy Was An Old Man" and then took a break while the Oaties backed us up on a few more tunes.







On one song, the Cajun flavored Thibideaux, Rich and Max traded instruments and shared a vocal mic. The height disparity made for some physical hilarity.














By the end of the show we were ALL on stage for Bob Skolnik's favorite singalong, You Are My Sunshine. The crowd 900 plus demanded one more and who were we to say no. Looks like we'll all be back next November.