Ruth & Max Bloomquist

European Tour 2011

2011-10-26T12:27:00.000-07:00

We have just returned from a wonderful tour in France and the UK. Unfortunately, we were not able to access this blog while we were there, but here is a recap of our experiences.

Our first gig was for our old friends at Montpellier's Le Country Rock.

Here is a video from one of our shows posted by Club Butel in Pezenas, France.

We also played shows in Montpellier, Lodeve, Montferrier-sur-Lez, and Dio et Valquieres in France, and Amersham (two shows), Chorleywood, and North Dean in the UK.
Here's a still from Club Butel in Pezenas. Playing on the stage of this private club under the vaulted ceilings of an ancient wine cellar was amazing!

We relax outside before our show at Le Miniscule, Lodeve, FR.

Truly an intimate venue, Le Miniscule allowed close proximity to the extremely appreciative audience. No PA was necessary!

And the food was fantastic.

We played a House Concert put on by the American Women's Club. Proceeds benefitted their cause of clean water in developing nations.

We played a farewell concert for our many friends in "the south of France." It was beautiful day. The audience was watching us, and we were enjoying an amazing view of the local countryside.

The audience relaxes with the ancient chateau and the hills of Lanquedoc in the background.

In the UK, Seasons Cafe in Old Amersham was a hit.

Naturally, we also did a bit of sight seeing. Here we are at Windsor Castle.

Final show of the tour at Piggott's Barn. Built in 1710 and now converted to a music venue, Piggott's hosts mostly classical music and is famous for their "Music Camps". A wonderful place, we felt that we were somewhere between Hogwart's and Bag End. The proprietor didn't mind that we weren't classical and said that he might be trying more similar events. Yes!

The next morning we bid a fond farewell to the UK and flew on back home hoping to return in the not too distant future to the many friends we'd made there and in the South of France.

We will Play for Peace at the Dogwood Center

2011-09-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

September 30 - NCPP Present Max and Ruth Bloomquist at Dogwood Center ,

The Dogwood Center for Performing Arts

4734 S. Campus Court

Fremont, MI 49412

Newaygo County People for Peace are pleased to have Max and Ruth Bloomquist perform during Newaygo County's "30 Days of Peace"!

Ruth and Max Bloomquist's acoustic Americana is the stuff of rustic romantic dreams. Ruth's songwriting and rich alto voice combined with their blend of harmony, guitar and upright bass draw the listener straight to the heart of every song.

Ruth and Max have been making music together since they first met and discovered their common love for practically any music that features acoustic instruments and lyrics that touch the heart. Bluegrass, traditional country, folk ... the list goes on - Ruth and Max are excited by it all.

Tickets: $12.50. Black Box. 7:30 p.m.

Tickets available online, at the Dogwood Box Office, or at NCCA-Artsplace in downtown Fremont.

Box Office hours are Tuesday - Friday 10:00 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. and two hours prior to an event. For information, phone 231.924.8885.

NCCA-Artsplace hours are Monday - Friday 9:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m., Thursdays 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m., and Saturdays 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. For information, phone 231.924.4022.

New Song: It's A Beautiful Day (Bicycle Bob)

2011-09-14T13:24:00.000-07:00

Here's a video produced by our friend "Bicycle Bob" Scolnik. He described the video and asked Ruth to write the song. She did without ever having seen the video itself. We produced the song in our home studio with the help of John King and Dan Seabolt playing guitar and fiddle, respectively. Hope you enjoy.

Here's some music.

2011-06-23T06:45:00.000-07:00

Amaryllis 35 Concert a Blast (from the past)

2011-06-12T08:44:00.000-07:00

A good time was had by all at the Amaryllis 35 Year Anniversary Reunion Concert held on June 9 at Orchard View Community Auditorium. We were so happy to see so many of our friends and fans (both new and long-time) in the audience. Visiting with them during the intermission and after the show was wonderful.

The band was introduced by veteran area broadcaster and patron of the arts (especially music) Buck Matthews. By his account, during the nine year run of his groundbreaking local morning TV talk show he featured Ruth (both Tetzlaff and Bloomquist) eleven times. Several of those occassions were with Max Bloomquist and Steve Reeths as Amaryllis.

We were able to share some of that old video with the audience and they seemed to enjoy it a lot. We were much younger when it was shot and so were they.

Here are a few photos of the evening's proceedings:

Buck Matthews introduces the band and reminisces about our appearences on his show.

Classic Amaryllis!
Max Bloomquist, Ruth Bloomquist, Steve Reeths

"The String Section"
Sue Kittredge-violin, Peggy Smith-viola, and Max Bloomquist-bass
add that special something as Ruth sings Steve's song Lonely Lullabyes.

Encore!
A cappella number "Mister Moon"
Sue Kittredge (left) adds her vocal to the mix.
Photos by Tom Willi.

For the success of the show we owe a debt of thanks to Orchard View Community Education, Doug Wood, Bruce Haase, Mikael Narramore, and a host of others.

AMARYLLIS 35th Anniversary Concert

2011-06-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

We're celebrating 35 years of friendship and musical collaboration. The band, AMARYLLIS, consisting of Ruth Tetzlaff, Steve Reeths, and Max Bloomquist played its first show in June of 1976 and played and toured together for nearly 20 years. The Reunion and Anniversary Concert is June 9, 2011 and Orchard View Community Auditorium, 16 North Quarterline, Muskegon MI. Call ahead 231-760-1350 Monday-Friday for tickets.

Here's a bit of history of the band:
Amaryllis was born in June of 1976 when Ruth Tetzlaff, Steve Reeths, and Max Bloomquist appeared together at the Grand Rapids (MI) Festival Of The Arts. That day began a 19 year string of appearances on club and festival stages that neither they nor their fans will ever forget. After honing their skills in local clubs, the trio hit the road in 1979 for a stint at a ski resort in the mountains of Wyoming, and before long had played stages in Montana, North Dakota, Minnesota, Ohio, Wisconsin, and Kentucky as well. Yet, they always returned home to Michigan and their faithful early fans for extended periods of local performances while holding down various day jobs. The band released two recordings, the self-titled Amaryllis (now available on CD) and the live Raw Asparagus (now out of print).

The trio became a quartet when fiddler Sue Kittredge joined the band, broadening the sound with her fiddle and voice and brightening the stage with her infectious smile. This was the Amaryllis that showed its mettle in the bluegrass band competition at New York’s Winterhawk Festival in the 90’s, and continued to wow audiences all over western and northern Michigan.

In order to pursue various individual musical interests and career goals, the band eventually had to discontinue performing together on a regular basis. Ruth and Max Bloomquist have continued to perform as a duo and with other musicians as well, achieving regional success and even gaining international radio play in folk and bluegrass music. Steve and Sue, also happily married, have continued to play as a duo and in various successful bands and recording projects including “The Kittredge-Reeths Band” and “Square One” and their current project “Coconut Radio.”

The two couples have remained fast friends and occasional musical collaborators. Most notably, Amaryllis came back together for an appearance at the 2006 Bluegrass On The Bayou Festival in Baton Rouge, LA, and Steve and Sue were instrumental (in both senses of the word) in the recording of Ruth’s third CD, One Day Ain’t Enough (2006). That CD hit the folk radio chart in April 2007.

The Facebook Event for the 35th Anniversary Concert is posted, and the band will be doing radio promotion in Muskegon live on Friday June 3 at 4:30 pm on NewsTalk 1090 AM, and will also be featured on WGVU Radio's Shelley Irwin Show .

Here's a link to a video from our last little get together:

Amaryllis: Don't Let the Moon get In Your Eyes

Music Player

2011-04-24T12:14:00.000-07:00

Michigan Girl

2011-01-19T12:16:00.000-08:00

We promote our MAP benefit concert on TV-8

2011-01-13T06:10:00.000-08:00

Max & Ruth Bloomquist Perform: woodtv.com

Welcome 2011

2010-12-31T22:22:00.000-08:00

It has been an exciting year for us, thanks to all of the friends and fans that make it possible for us to do what we love to do. You probably are mostly up to date on what we've been up to. If so, you're welcome to skip on down to the news about our upcoming schedule in January 2011. If not, here is the Reader's Digest version of our 2010.

We shipped the new CD, Turn Back A Page, to over 500 radio stations, DJs, and other airplay venues in mid-February with an "official" release date of March 2. Much to our delight, it shot to the Number 5 position on the Folk Radio Airplay Chart in March (after a slow start in February) with three songs in the Top 20. We were on that chart a total of 5 months.
The CD release concert at Whitehall's Historic Howmet Playhouse was a big success.

In May we took a tour in Europe with our friends and band mates John King and Dan Seabolt. While there we played several private parties in addition to 5 club dates and an outdoor concert in a lovely French village. We made a lot of friends and had a lot of fun sharing our music in Belgium and France.

We played a number of fun outdoor shows closer to home during the summer. In July we were please to have The Highway Song from the new CD featured on NPR's Car Talk, so it's now officially "another stupid car song". That's OK with us.

This Fall we attended the Folk Alliance Region Mid-west (FARM) conference near Chicago, and we were honored to play an Official Showcase at SERFA, the South East Regional Folk Alliance conference at the Ozark Folk Center in Mountain View, Arkansas. November brought us to Muskegon's Frauenthal Center for the Arts for A Concert With Friends, a benefit for United Way of the Lakeshore. It was a great pleasure to have Jim Hurst on the bill with us. We also had a wonderful time playing for a sold out house at the Paint Creek Folklore Society's Tin Whistle Coffee House with Kitty Donahoe, Maggie Ferguson, and others.

December brought us to Zellie's Opry House, a wonderful Roots Music venue in Howard City MI; If you haven't seen a show there you should make the effort. We were also invited to play a "Special Assignment" slot for the annual A Winter's Tune concert, where select songwriters are invited to present their brand new original Christmas songs at Grand Rapids' Wealthy Theater. Turn Back A Page has been nominated for Best Local Album and Best Traditional Album in WYCE Grand Rapids' Jammie Awards. Results will come in February. Also, the new CD is NUMBER 2 on the Year's Top Forty List on Steve Jerrett's Sunday Morning Coffee House show on KOPN, Columbia MO, and was named among the year's Top 30 Albums by Norm Mast and Al Kniola, hosts of the Back Porch program on WVPE, Southbend, Indiana.

That brings us to the present, January 2011. A trip to Livonia's Trinity House Theater is in the offing. We'll play a benefit show for Muskegon's Mission For Area People (MAP) sharing the stage with Carol Johnson and the Carl Webb Band. And we get to return for two shows at the Langeland House Bed and Breakfast for the Musical Interludes Concert Series there. You can check the schedule here or at our website or social profile for the details on all these shows and more.

Detailed Schedule for January:

Jan 8, 2011 8:00 PM Trinity House Theater
38840 6 Mile Road
Livonia, MI 48152-2605
(734) 464-6302
We're excited to have a night at Trinity House. It's a wonderful venue to play and to attend. Doors open at 7:30.
Members' tickets $12.

Jan 15, 2011 6:00 PM Orchard View Auditorium Muskegon, MI
16 North Quarterline
Muskegon, MI 42442
Tickets Call 231-760-1350
Benefit for MAP - Muskegon's Mission for Area People. Carol Johnson family show starts at 6:00. Also featuring the Carl Webb Band. Child care and activities available. Under 12 - $5. Concessions. A family-friendly event.

Jan 29, 2011 7:00 PM
Musical Interludes at the Langeland House Bed and Breakfast
1337 Peck Street - Muskegon, MI 49441 - (231) 728-9404
Comfortable house concert setting. This show fills up, so get your reservation early. $5 off ticket with non-perishable food donation. Please call for tickets & details: (231) 728-9404

Jan 30, 2011 4:00 PM Musical Interludes at the Langeland House Muskegon, MI
1337 Peck Street - Muskegon, MI 49441 - (231) 728-9404
Comfortable house concert setting. This show fills up, so get your reservation early. $5 off ticket with non-perishable food donation. Please call for tickets &details: (231) 728-9404

That's all for now. Thanks again for making 2010 a fun and rewarding year for us. Please come see us when you can.

We wish you a Happy New Year and hope that you have the 2011 of your dreams.

Ruth and Max
http://www.ruthbloomquist.com/ (visit and check the schedule any time)
http://www.myspace.com/ruthmaxbloomquist (friend us?)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ruth-and-Max-Bloomquist/101518542307?ref=mf (Like us or see what we're up to?)
http://www.reverbnation.com/ruthandmaxb (check the schedule, hear some music, sign up for the mailing list)

Great Weekend November 12 & 13

2010-11-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

What a wonderful weekend we had Nov. 12-13! Friday's "A Concert With Friends" presented by Bob Scolnik at Muskegon's Frauenthal Center was a success. Over 750 in the audience and several thousand dollars raised for United Way. Nice job, Bob! It was a real treat to play with our friends in the beautiful and historic Frauenthal Theater, and a special treat to introduce our friend, 2 time IBMA guitarist of the year, Jim Hurst to our friends in Muskegon. He is a wonderful musician and entertainer, and the Frauenthal audience loved him. We are so grateful that he was able to join us along with our wonderful more local friends, the Oat Bran Boys and the Hawks and Owls Band. Naturally, we all ended up on stage together for the big finale.
On Saturday, we traveled over to Rochester Hills (near Pontiac/Detroit) for the Paint Creek Folklore Society's Tin Whistle Coffee House, a once a year fundraising event for the PCFL. We shared the headline with singer/songwriter Kitty Donohoe. The Fellowship Hall at University Presbyterian Church was packed with a sold out audience, so all the performers enjoyed a wonderful experience. Also on the bill was singer, songwriter, and Folk DJ Maggie Ferguson, and the Better Late Than Never Trio. The folks at Paint Creek really put on a successful event. Be sure to check out one of their shows in the future.

Our next outing will be December 4 at Zellie's Opry House in Howard City. We had a great show there with John and Dan last Spring and we'll have them along with us again for this date. Zellie's is a wonderful old church that has been a roots music venue for many years and has been recently renovated. It's an intimate venue with the feel of a classic old theater, or it could be called West Michigan's answer the the Ryman. (also a made-over church though it is a bit smaller) It's gonna be fun!

A Concert With Friends 2010

2010-10-20T12:55:00.000-07:00

This is one of our favorite shows all year. This year we are honored to have two time IBMA Guitarist Of The Year Jim Hurst on the bill with us in addition to dear friends and great performers, The Oat Bran Boys and Hawks and Owls. Don't miss it!

2010-10-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

Schedule

2010-10-10T17:55:00.000-07:00

Hi! Thanks for stopping by. We're really excited to be attending the SERFA conference. We're playing an Official Showcase and several "guerilla" showcases. It's going to be fun. Here's our schedule as it stands today.

Wheatland and Midnight Special

2010-09-13T20:20:00.000-07:00

We had a blast at the Wheatland Festival. We saw some great bands, including the legendary Hot Mud Family, Slide Ireland, and Quebec's Genticorum. Of course, we did some jamming with many friends at the King Family Camp, including John and Rich King, Dan Seabolt, Scott Nesbit, Banjo Jim, Tom Devries, Jay Round, Bruce Ling, and more. A little rain on Saturday dampened the spirits of no one.

We thought the fun was over when we left the festival, but we just found out we were included in the playlist for this week's (September 10, program no. 036 - 2010) Midnight Special, the nationally syndicated program from Chicago's WFMT hosted by Rich Warren. There we were right between Joel Mabus and Jeff Daniels in a set of three Michigan songs. Woo-Hoo.

2010-08-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

We're really excited to be bringing our music to The Historic Town Hall in Elk Rapids, Michigan. Here's the poster, which pretty much says it all. If you're in that area, please do print it and share it.

#5 On the Folk Radio Chart (and a new video)

2010-04-05T17:07:00.000-07:00

Our new CD, Turn Back A Page, shipped to Folk DJs everywhere in mid-February with the official release date of March 2. The March Folk Radio Airplay Charts are in, and we couldn't be happier. We are listed in every chart: Top Albums (#5), Top Songs (3 songs), Top Artists (#10), and Top Labels (#31). The charts are published on the FOLKDJ-L via email subscription and on the related website. You can follow the link and click on March to examine the charts. We feel like we're in pretty good company.

We offer our sincere thanks to all the Folk DJs who have been playing us for the past month. It means the world to us to be able to share our music with so many people all over the world.

On March 5 we played our CD release Concert at the Howmet Playhouse in Whitehall, MI. It was a tremendous success. Most of the show was video taped and the audio was recorded separately, too. Final combined results are still to come, but here is an early version of Ruth's THE HIGHWAY SONG.

Ruth and Max Bloomquist Kick Off Frauenthal 80th Anniversary Series

2010-03-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

Muskegon's Frauenthal Center For the Performing Arts is having it's 80th anniversary this year, and it was our honor to help kick off the celebratory series of events. Our March 20th concert there, billed as "Folk Night at the Frauenthal," was doubly auspicious for us because it came less than three weeks after the release of our new CD, Turn Back A Page.

There's a lot of history in the old place and we tailored our show to reflect that a bit by rediscovering a few popular gems from the 1960's Folk Revival including Blowin' In The Wind, Can't Help But Wonder Where I'm Bound, Today, and others. We have some history with the Frauenthal, too, having once held our own concert and then opening for the Kingston Trio on her stage in the late 1980's with our Amaryllis band. More recently, we opened a show for Prairie Home Companion's Garrison Keillor there and have participated in all three of the Concert With Friends events produced by Bob Skolnik's Mona Lake Productions.

Opening act for this concert was singer/songwriter Mike Snell. Mike sounded great, and the combination of his original songs, well chosen covers, and finger picking style on both six and twelve string guitar were reminiscent of the late John Denver.

In addition to the 1960's covers, we played a number of songs from Turn Back A Page plus some of our favorite older originals and a couple of favorite covers. Ruth opened our second set with her solo medley of I Dream of Jeanie/Danny Boy.While the audience couldn't hope to fill the near 1800 seat capacity of the Frauenthal Theater, they were warm and generous with their applause and support. With the house lights down and the stage lights up it had the energy and intimacy of a full house in a smaller venue. What a wonderful stage to play!

There will be more events in the Frauenthal Center's 80th Anniversary Series. Watch for them and go. It's a win/win situation. You'll get a great show and support this beautifully and faithfully renovated old gem of a theater. It's up to you to help keep live entertainment and wonderful venues like the Frauenthal alive.

(Pictures by our good friend Tom Willi)

Two New Dates in March

2010-03-16T17:05:00.000-07:00

First, we offer our heartfelt thanks to all who attended our CD Release Concert at the Howmet Playhouse. (picture above by Tom Willi) We were humbled by your kindness and generousity. AND, thanks, of course, to John King and Dan Seabolt for your invaluable musical contributions and collaborations. We couldn't ask for two more inspiring stage partners. For our Street Team, Dawn, Tom, David, and Kate, Soundman Steve Albert, and Cindy Beth with the entire crew of the Howmet Playhouse we have nothing but gratitude and admiration. The entire evening was a wonderful success.

We are excited about two upcoming dates that you may not know about. We hope you won't miss the chance to join us in two very different and wonderful venues.
On Saturday March 20 we will be performing at Muskegon's choicest venue, the Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts, as part of the celebration of the 80th Anniversary of this beautiful facility. We have played the Frauenthal several times (picture above by Tom Willi) in the last few years, and we can't get enough of the place. We'll be doing two full sets, and West Michigan's own Mike Snell will be opening the show. Come on out and help us enjoy and celebrate the history and the splendor of the Frauenthal. Show starts at 7:30. Reserved Seating. Frauenthal Box Office M-F 11 AM - 6 PM 231-727-8001 or Star Tickets 1-800-585-3737 www.frauenthal.org

If you would enjoy a more intimate atmosphere, join us on Friday March 26 at Fennville's Salt Of The Earth. We always enjoy playing this excellent restaurant and music venue. Executive Chef Matthew Pietsch creates marvelous offerings from mostly locally grown and produced ingredients. No fillers, no additives, just wonderfully good food. Trust us. You won't be sorry. A full bar is offered that includes Michigan wines and beers. We start at 8:30. There's no cover charge, so come on out and enjoy dinner or one of their famous wood-fired pizzas. 269-561-7258 www.saltoftheearthfennville.com

Remember that our new CD, Turn Back A Page, is always available wherever we are performing and at the following outlets and websites.

In Muskegon: Sun Wind and Rain, Glass Reflections, and the Muskegon County Museum Gift Shop.
In Grand Rapids: Schuler Books and Music on 28th Street and on Alpine Ave.
In Lansing: Elderly Instruments
On Line: www.cdbaby.com, iTunes, www.digstation.com, www.amazon.com

Thanks for taking the time to read this month's newsletter. We are truly grateful for your support and we hope to see you soon.

Please join our official Fan Email List at
http://www.reverbnation.com/ruthandmaxb
And join us on FaceBook at
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ruth-and-Max-Bloomquist/101518542307

Sincerely,

Ruth and Max Bloomquist
www.ruthbloomquist.com

Turn Back A Page Release Concert A Success

2010-03-07T16:58:00.000-08:00

Our March 5 CD release concert was a big success as far as we're concerned. Cindy Beth Davis and her staff at the Howmet Playhouse in Whitehall treated us and our fans right. A cash bar was available before the show and during the intermission.

We were joined on stage by John King (guitar) and Dan Seabolt (fiddle) and they added wonderful depth and dimension to the show as always. We are so very lucky to be associated with such talented musicians and fine individuals.

The set list included all the songs from Turn Back A Page, our newest CD release, plus one or two from each of the previous three and a few of our favorite covers. We even had two father-daughter dance couples dancing in the orchestra pit during Ruth's song, Daddy Dance.

After our encore, our friend Joe Wolff presented Ruth with a beautiful bouquet of flowers and each of the guys in the band with a bottle of something nice.

Video and audio were recorded separately, and we hope to post a song or two on YouTube when they are synced and edited. Many thanks to Dave and Kate with the cameras and Steve for both mixing live and recording audio.

The large crowd of fans was very generous at the CD table, which was managed with aplomb by Street Teamers Tom and Dawn Willi. During the second set we presented a door prize consisting of a new CD along with a Michigan Girl mug and a Michigan Girl pin to the winner of a drawing from names and email addresses of participating audience members who wished to be added to our ReverbNation email fan list.
Opening act was guitarist Justin Wierenga who told us he was treated very well by our audience. His freeform jazzy new age style seemed a good foil for our more rootsy sound.

Turn Back A Page is available from us at all of our gigs of course, and also at several brick and morter establishments and many online sources including: CDBaby.com, iTunes, Elderly Instruments, Digstation, etc.

In-Studio at WYCE promotes Acoustic Saturday Nights

2010-02-12T12:38:00.000-08:00

We went to the Grand Rapids studios of WYCE, the great community radio station, and talked with Music Director Pete Bruinsma about the new CD, Turn Back A Page, and our upcoming concert of the Grand River Folk Arts Society's Acoustic Saturday Night series (February 13) Follow the link to hear a stream of the broadcast. We talked with Pete and played a couple of tunes.
http://www.grcmc.org/?page=news&news_id=916

New CD Release Date

2010-02-02T18:58:00.000-08:00

We are excited and happy to announce that our new CD, TURN BACK A PAGE, is currently being shipped to us. We are hoping to mail them out to friendly radio stations around Feb. 12. The “official” release date is March 2. Please join us for a special CD release concert on March 5 at the Howmet Playhouse in Whitehall, MI. For more information and to reserve tickets call… (231) 894-4048.

Locally in Western Michigan, we hope to once again have them available at Sun Wind and Rain in Muskegon, Glass Reflections in Muskegon Heights, Schuler Books and Music in Grand Rapids, and Elderly Instruments in Lansing. It will eventually be available for purchase or download at CDBaby.com, iTunes, digstation.com, amazon, and other online distribution sites.

Of course, our favorite way to get our music into your hands is to see you in person. Our schedule is at our website, so take a look and make a plan to come on out to get your autographed copy. We can’t wait for you to hear it.

Merry Christmas (and CD Update)

2009-12-21T20:53:00.000-08:00

Dear Friends,

Thank you all for your generous support for us and for our music. As a gift for our fans during the Holiday Season, we are making available a free download of Ruth’s popular song Michigan Girl. This is the newly recorded version of the song similar to how it will appear on our new CD. Just go to the link below and click on the BECOME A FAN button and follow the directions. Those who have already become our fans at this website are already eligible to collect the free download.

http://www.reverbnation.com/ruthandmaxb

We know you have been patiently waiting for the new CD. Well, the music gods have other ideas than a Christmas or New Years 2010 release. We are so close to being finished with just a few small adjustments to make. We are trying to make it as perfect as we can because you deserve it that way. Also, we have decided to use the services of a National Radio Promoter to help us get the CD to as many folks as possible. In order to optimize the radio promotion, we will have to delay release just a little longer. We are grateful for your patience in this matter. Folks like you on our email list will be the first to know when the CD is available.

Merry Christmas and a Spectacular New Year to you all!

Ruth & Max

Ludington Area Center for the Arts Nov. 28 2009

2009-11-29T10:12:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-23T17:19:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

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

2009-11-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

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.

A Concert With Friends Tickets Available

2009-10-23T08:46:00.000-07:00

We hope all our West Michigan friends will come out to this show in Muskegon's beautiful Frauenthal Theater. You'll love the eclectic acoustic music of the Oat Bran Boys and the traditional old timey sound of Hawks and Owls, and we'll be able to join them all on stage in various configurations. Proceeds to UNITED WAY. Don't miss it.

Concert in Murfreesboro, TN

2009-10-23T08:21:00.000-07:00

While we were in Nashville for the IBMA World of Bluegrass, our friends Jeff and Wayne threw a house concert for us in Wayne's spacious (and very clean) garage in nearby Murfreesboro. We were honored to play for their invited friends and family.

Wayne operates a sound company, so he set up a sound system for us. Jeff shot video. We'll post it here and elsewhere when he finishes his editing.

We enjoyed a great meal with the invited guests and then we shared our music. A good time was had by all, and Wayne vows to do it again next year.

IBMA WoB 2009

2009-10-23T06:59:00.000-07:00

The band all went to the IBMA World of Bluegrass Conference 2009 in Nashville. We had a blast! L-R below, Max, Ruth, John, Dan.
Certainly, one of the highlights of the trip was our showcase at Layla's Bluegrass Inn, above. Thanks to fellow Michigander, Dave Burley, we joined a number of great bands in this "off premises" showcase venue. There were lots of familiar faces in the audience and we made some new friends, too.
Michael Martin Murphy (yes, that Michael Martin Murphy) has released a Bluegrass CD called Buckaroo Bluegrass. He showcased, above, with fellow PineCastle recording artist Audie Blalock and Redline. Note Lou Reid dashing in to add his fine harmony. Michael gladly had his picture taken with Ruth. Think she's happy to meet him?

We ran into our friend Claire Lynch wandering around the trade show. It's a great place to meet people and find old friends. We chatted with Claire for a long time. She's a delightfully encouraging lady.You never know who you might get to meet at IBMA. Here's Ruth with country star Lynn Anderson and producer Bil VornDick. Notice Bil is wearing one of Ruth's handmade lanyards.
Our friend Mike Sumner is now playing banjo with IBMA female vocalist of the year Dale Ann Bradley. This showcase, above, was his VERY FIRST SHOW with Dale Anne (right). Kim Fox adds her great harmony singing.
Some of the members of the Ruth Bloomquist Lanyard Club met on the street corner near the Nashville Convention Center: L-R, Ron Murphy, Lora Murphy, John "Sky" King, Ruth, and Max.
It was Dan Seabolt's first ever IBMA World of Bluegrass. He could usually be found as above, playing fiddle in one of the neverending jam sessions. He got kinda famous among the hard core jammers as the fiddler that never quits.

The Harvest Moon rose over a truck on I-94 as we made our way home after a full week immersed in the World Of Bluegrass 2009.

Mid-West Dahlia Society

2009-08-29T21:28:00.000-07:00

We just got home after playing an afterdinner show for the Mid-West Dahlia Society. They're having their annual show and meeting this weekend at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, MI. It was put on by the Grand Valley Dahlia Society. They were a wonderful audience, and oh my, do they grow some gorgeous blooms. They are all sizes and styles and very colorful. Here's Ruth with one of the big ones at the show, and a few shots of the lovely bouquet that was given to us last year by the president of the local Dahlia Society.

Bluegrass On The Lakeshore

2009-08-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

We had a blast playing the festival today. I was proud of us. We were strong and relaxed on stage. Dan and John were on fire. The folks from C&S sound did a fantastic job. Thanks go out to Ron Ballard, John & Ruth Lakatos of the Patchwork Band, MC Terry Grannis, and all who made it happen. The audience was delightful and responsive.

In all these years this was our first ever visit to the Muskegon County Fairgrounds. It is the perfect spot for a bluegrass festival and the organizers are promising some improvements next year. Camping is available and there are showers, though they are a ways away from the camping area. That may be fixed by next year. There is plenty of shade in this wooded area, too. The performance and audience area is covered and the stage is of sufficient size. Reasonable growth could call for expansion of this area next year though. Food venders were adequite and catering for the bands was very good, even to the point of accommodating the vegans among us. There were several semi-secluded and sheltered spots available for those that wanted to jam.

We can only hope that the first year for this festival was successful enough to warrant a second one. The potential for growth is certainly there.

Thanks again to everyone involved.

Bluegrass On The Lakeshore Poster

2009-07-31T17:59:00.000-07:00

Green Food Bluegrass Festival, AKA Cabbage Crik Reunion

2009-07-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

July 19 was a day we had been excitedly anticipating. We had been invited to play a new West Michigan music festival, the Saugatuck Green Food Bluegrass Festival. Not only were we glad to play the festival, but we were doubly excited that one of our favorite bands from the 1970's would be reuniting to headline the show. Cabbage Crik was truly our first ever exposure to live bluegrass and, as we like to say, "Life hasn't been the same since."

The weather was perfect - sunny but not too hot, and the venue was beautiful. The Felt Mansion was directly behind the stage, and the audience was divided between the sunny soccer field and the shade of the surrounding trees.

For our set we were joined on stage by John "Sky" King on guitar and Dan Seabolt on fiddle. We were the only band playing this bluegrass festival without a banjo, but nobody seemed to mind.

We played a mixed set of Ruth's originals including High As A Mountain, Michigan Girl, the yet to be released Daddy Was an Old Man, and some of our favorite covers such as Remember Me (When the Candlelights Are Gleaming) and Crazy.

Sky and Dan played great as always and we all felt really good about our set.

Our longtime dear friends Paul (banjo) and Todd (bass) Kirchner opened up the whole festival with their band Full Cord.

The Green Food Bluegrass Festival turned into a wonderful reunion of West Michigan Bluegrass and Roots musicians and music fans. There was a lot of hugging and backslapping going on all day.

The Green Food theme of the festival was a great success. Several local restaurants that serve up locally grown food impressed the crowd with their great quality and flavor, and a couple of local microbreweries served up their fine locally brewed beers-fabulous.

We truly hope that the Friends of the Felt Mansion raised some money for this local landmark and that there will be a repeat of the festival next year. If there is don't you dare miss it.

Double Gig Day

2009-07-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

Saturday we played two shows, both under tents. Our good friends Tom and Dawn Willi actually came to both shows, and these photos are curtesy of Tom. We had been scheduled

for months to play the fundraising carnival at St. Mary's Church in Spring Lake, Mi.
This was our third year in a row to play this fun afternoon event. The parking lot is always full of children, and the parents and grandparents sometimes like to grab a snack and a beverage and come visit us under the tent while we play. Sound was provided once again by John Lutz in his inimitable fashion. There's never a worry in that department when John is on the job.

Just a few days ago we had a call from our friend Lou Lincoln. It seemed that the Michigander Bicycle Tour which is held in his neighborhood had had their entertainment cancel out on them, and though he was not directly involved Lou was helping out trying to find a replacement. We said we'd take the job and would try to make it up to Edmore from Spring Lake (one hour and 22 minutes according to Mapquest) in time to set up and play at 7:00. Then we immediately called our friend Dan Seabolt to see if he'd help us out on fiddle. Dan's a great player and a great guy and we were SOOO glad he could make it.
Dan only lives about 40 minutes from Edmore so he got there first and met us in the parking lot.
The sound system provided was a bit limited, but we had brought some mics and stands and a few other items and managed to make it work. Dan and Max got cozy and shared a mic for fiddle and vocals. Lou and his family showed up to add to the audience of weary cyclists and provided some welcome "liquid refreshment" for the thirsty bass and fiddle players. Ruth stuck to pure Michigan water.

Oscoda Concerts On The Beach

2009-07-10T21:40:00.000-07:00

On Thursday, July 9 we played in as beautiful a venue as any anywhere.

With the setting sun on our faces and our backs to calm Lake Huron, we played for about 200 people that came with blankets and bag chairs for a concert on the beach. Was there ever a better setting for "Michigan Girl"?

Oscoda is a pretty little town and the people there treated us great.

We'd love to play again next summer and a lot of the folks there said they'd love to have us.

Special thanks to Bob and Linda for putting us up for the night and taking such good care of us. These pictures were taken by their daughter Kalie.

Grand Rapids Water Festival

2009-06-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we were furtunate enough to play the Grand Rapids Water Festival. Musicians Bruce Ling and Becca Shilt (Hawks and Owls Band) are extrememly dedicated to the cause of water conservation and other environmental issues, and it was our great pleasure to join them and a host of other fine musicians at this festival of music and environmental education.There are and will be other Water Festivals in Traverse City, Marquette, and Detroit. Look them up and visit them if you can. We're already looking forward to next year and hope that we'll be invited back to play.
Photos by Kris Carpenter. Thanks Kris!

Send Off From Dio

2009-06-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

On Sunday June 14 we were treated to double send off parties to mark the end of our stay in Dio.

We were invited to the home of Anton Vandenbeele, a Belgian who has a home in Dio, for lunch at 1:00.

Anton’s home in Dio is built upon the site and partial foundation of what was the largest house in the village (aside from the chateau! Here's picture of part of the Chateau d'Dio. Pictures of Anton's house are below.) hundreds of years ago. Like many of the houses here it is also built right into the side of the mountain. Though you enter the house at street level, there are two living levels below, and an ancient stable and living area (now used for storage) below them. His view of the Orb Valley is magnificent and the combination of old and new construction is very interesting.

Did I say lunch? What an understatement! First of all, Anton is a vintner. His cav and vineyards are about a mile down the road in the nearby village of Caunas near Lunas on the valley floor. He treated to us many samplings of his various wines and other products much to everyone’s delight.

Did I say lunch? Anton is what I would call a gourmet chef, too. After some drinks and lovely hors d’oeuvres, he began the meal with an escargot and mushroom soup made with snails he had harvested locally himself and allowed to live in clean water long enough to clean out their systems. WOW! These were the same breed of snails we had been stepping on in Deb’s garden all week. Next, along with a lovely salad that included some gorgeous wedges of fresh tomatoes and two different home made dressings, he served individual mini summer squashes stuffed with delicious mini-meatloaves. The main course was a perfectly done roast of pork that would make any BBQ fan salivate, along with roasted potatoes and the French version of green bean casserole. Dessert was a chocolate cake with what he called English cream AND a pineapple upside down cake followed by espresso and Belgian chocolates! Then there was Cartagen and something he had distilled himself that he poured from a lab beaker! Did I say lunch?

When this party broke up, a few of us went down to Anton’s cav, LaFaloise. He showed us around a bit. We sampled some more wine and took a few pictures. Most of the pictures were taken by our friend and host Bob. We’ll put some of them up when we get copies.

Later, we visited our dear friends Linnette and Lucien, who had insisted that we drop by Sunday evening for apertif. Linnette served some wonderful snacks and, of course, wine and pastis. We played a few tunes joined by Bob, and Noah played his solo piece.

Lucien and Linnette are two of our most favorite people in the world. Kind and generous, they love music and Lucien can sing. They have childhood memories of WWII, and they have shared some of them with us. Pretty scary, and pretty cool when the Americans finally came along. Lucien is a retired electrician. I think he worked mostly in power transmission. And Linnette worked as a seamstress in Paris for a fashion designer.

After a late night swim in the pool, we went to bed for a few hours before driving to Montpellier to catch our flight for Paris and then home.

Club date in Montpellier

2009-06-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday June 13 we played in the club Country Rock in the Rue Multipliants in downtown Montpellier. The gig was arranged by our good friend Ilene Gex, mandolin player and lead singer of the Montpellier area band The Dustbowl Darlings.Though small, the Country Rock, is known for concerts in the Americana, Country, and Folk genres. The owner, Fred, is a former musician, and the walls of the club are decorated with American music memorobilia, mostly Country, including some pretty nice guitars. The Rue Multipliants is very narrow, too small for anything but pedestrian traffic, or at most scooters. The outdoor tables appear to be right out in the "street", but since there are no cars it's no problem.After parking in an underground ramp a few blocks away, we got a little bit lost trying to find the venue in the maze of little streets. Eventually, Max screwed up his courage to try speaking some French and tried to ask directions of a guy standing outside an urban fruit market. Just as he was pretty much making a fool of himself he heard a bright little voice behind him asking IN ENGLISH if she could be of any assistance. The young lady turned out to be a student from Lebanon, and her English was perfect. Her nearby friend turned out to be from Ireland. These two nice folks basically walked us right to the club. Talk about luck!Though this gig had been arranged pretty much at the last minute, we played a couple of sets to an almost full house of diners and and partiers. They seemed to like us. Even the watress bought two CDs. Fred and his son Mike who was tending bar and managing the place (Fred and Mike? gotta wonder if they're Frederic and Michel.) were well pleased. Mike was impressed with the original material, saying that the French acts that play there pretty much play the same repertoir of American hits and standards. Fred said that next time we're in the area he'd love to have us back. Sounds good to us!

The Day of Our Concert in Dio

2009-06-13T07:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was the day of our concert in Dio. Earlier in the day, though, we drove down to Valrais to visit the Mediterranean. We strolled along the rows of shops and bistros down to the shore and took a walk out on the pier. The area reminded us of Gulf Shores, AL or Santa Monica, CA. touristy of course, but the beautiful blue of the sea and the French ambiance made it wonderful. It’s still early in the season, so it wasn’t too crowded. We ate the local specialty for lunch, moules. It’s local clams steamed with garlic and onions served with a side of fries. Oh yeah!

Our concert was outdoors in the center of Dio. They set up chairs in the recreation area across the street from the community building, and put up a refreshment bar. Helen, a delightful local musician, allowed us to use her small PA system. She only had one mic stand, so Antoine, a vintner who lives in the village, found a substitute. The weather was gorgeous.

We played a mixture of Ruth’s original songs and some popular chestnuts that we thought the French audience would like including in no particular order: All For Love’s Sake, One Day Ain’t Enough, Crazy, I Know Love, Mama Said, Country Roads, I Don’t Remember A Waltz, By The River, Daddy Dance, High As A Mountain, and more.

Ruth had learned a bit of French, so we did The City Of New Orleans with the addition of the French chorus that doesn’t seem to have anything to do with trains or New Orleans or the American landscape. The complete version in French by Canadian artist Roch Voisin was quite a big hit in France. She also had learned that the popular hit by the Everly Brothers, Let It Be Me, was originally a French song translated into English, so we did an arrangement that includes both sets of lyrics.

Our son, Noah, treated us and the audience with a solo guitar piece. He said he was nervous beforehand, but he played great, the crowd loved it, and we were very proud. Who wouldn’t be?

After the first set we made a brief presentation to the mayor: some small gifts and friendly greetings from the mayor of our home town, and our own heartfelt thanks for his invitation to return for this repeat performance.

When it began to get dark they turned on some bright lights. Our friend Paulette helped sell CDs during the break and after the show. After it was all done and cleaned up we adjourned to Bob’s house for a nightcap, conversation with our Dio friends, and eventually some much needed sleep.

Catching Up In France

2009-06-11T13:22:00.000-07:00

We are totally enjoying ourselves here in the mountains of Southern France. Friends that we met last November, Deni and Paulette, through a great party last night.

They must have made over a dozen pizzas in their outdoor wood fired pizza oven.

One of the guests, a Belgian named Antoin, is a local vintner. His rose’ was flowing freely. (They recently passed a law in France making it illegal to mix red and white wines and call the result rose. Rose’ must be made from scratch using proper grapes and methods.) We are invited to his home for lunch and tasting on Sunday afternoon. We know we’ll enjoy ourselves at that one. If his cave has a website we’ll post it later.

We did a few songs thoughMax didn’t yet have a bass to play.

Noah joined in, too, and even played a solo piece on Ruth’s guitar.

Yesterday and the day before we did some walking around the area. The windmills on the plateau at the top of the “mountain” were partially in the mist and Ruth found some interesting “pine cones”. We love the geological features of the area and the flora and fauna, too.

Today we drove down to Pezenas to pick up the bass we’re renting. Our GPS was set on “shortest” rather than “quickest”. Though the route may have been a shorter distance, the roads were mostly the narrow rural mountain roads that are so scenic around here. Instead of going around, we went up and over, through forests, tiny hamlets, vineyards and mountain pastures. It took a bit longer, and the driving was more challenging, but the sights were worth it.

Our rental bass is the same one we used last November, built in the city of Nime by a luthier friend and sometime collaborator of our friend Luigi Notarangelo.
They are currently working on a beautiful “gypsy” guitar of French ash and Canadian spruce.

By all means visit his website for some great pictures of Luigi’s work. We spent some time in his shop on the main street of Pezenas playing and talking guitars. Last year when we met him he showed us a 000 size guitar that was under construction at the time. Taking a point from the Martin D35, this one includes a three piece back. It is with the client now, but the pictures at Luigi’s sight are worth a look. Be sure to look for the “Eifel Tower” bridge on the new gypsy!

Tomorrow we have a date to meet up with some local “Americana” musicians. Ilene and Sharman are in the Montpellier band Dustbowl Darlings. Ilene has been kind enough to set us up with a show at the club Country Rock in Montpellier this Saturday night AND SHE HASN’T EVEN MET US.

Our concert in the village of Dio, where we’re staying, is Friday night June 12. The folks here in the village seem as excited to have us back as we are to be here again. One of the locals, Anne, has even been using our songs as part of the English language classes that she teaches in the area. The sing-alongs could be interesting.

Hope you enjoy the pictures. More soon.

Duck Creek RV Resort

2009-05-24T08:01:00.000-07:00

It's Memorial Day Weekend and we were invited to play for the opening Saturday night of the brand new Duck Creek RV Resort just north of Muskegon. The facilities are absolutely beautiful and the location is handy to many Muskegon area attractions, not the least of which is the Michigan's Adventure Amusement Park which is pretty much just across the street. The resort is also within a few minutes drive of Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, a couple of great State Parks on Lake Michigan, lots of golf, Thunderbird Raceway, the list goes on.

It was only their first weekend and they already had about a third of the over 150 sites filled. Did we mention the sites? They are gorgeous, all paved, full hook-ups, fire pits, the works. There's a camp store for those last minute or forgotten items, and a great clubhouse with laundry, games, a pool table, and huge restroom/shower facilities. It overlooks the fantastic duck shaped swimming pool and its attendant lounging deck.
It was a lovely evening, so we played our show down by the pool where folks could sit in the chairs provided and chat while they enjoyed the music. Our friends Dave and Kate dropped by and Dave shot some video as part of his tireless campaign to help us gain YouTube exposure and Kate snapped the stills that you see here.

The smallish audience was highly complimentary, the owners seemed happy saying that they'd like to have us back again, and the whole weekend event was covered by Midwest Living Magazine.

This was our last show before we embark on a short tour in southern France next month.

If you're an "RV camping person" or know someone who is, be sure to check out Duck Creek RV Resort. We're sure it's going to be a very popular destination.
http://www.duckcreekrvresort.com

Congratulations DJ Geoff Morris

2009-05-09T07:25:00.001-07:00

Australian DJ Geoff Morris celebrated the 200th broadcast of his twice weekly show, Wall To Wall Bluegrass this Friday. Geoff requested a copy of One Day Ain’t Enough when we promoted it to Folk and Bluegrass radio in 2007, and started playing it on the air as soon as he got it. Since then, we’ve sent him copies of Jewel Of My Heart and All For Love’s Sake as well, and he has graciously added cuts from each to his broadcasts from time to time. We are pleased and honored that he played one of Ruth's songs, I Don't Remember A Waltz, on this his 200th show.

We were fortunate to meet Geoff in person in 2007 when he traveled to the states for the annual International Bluegrass Music Association World Of Bluegrass Conference. He took the time to attend our showcase concert, interviewed us for his radio show, and had Ruth record a “station ID” on the spot for later use. It was a great experience for us to get to spend time with him then and get to know him a bit better.

We thank Geoff for all the airplay he’s given us and offer our heart-felt congratulations on his 200th broadcast. You can “tune in” to listen on the web every Friday morning at 7:00 and Monday evening at 9:00: http://www.worldwidebluegrass.com/listen.html

2009-05-06T06:34:00.001-07:00

It was a very busy weekend for us. We took a drive to Jackson, MI on Thurs. (4-30-09) to do the Bart Hawley show on JTV to promote our appearance at the Jackson Coffee Co. the next night. We stayed with some friends in Grass Lake while we were in the neighborhood. We had a really nice crowd at the Jackson Coffee Co. Brian and the Baristas really treated us well. Our friends Roger and Mary from Montague showed up! They get the prize for driving the farthest for the show.

Saturday we hurried home to attend a Kentucky Derby party (our horses lost) and play in Grand Haven, MI at the Grand Oyster Bar in the evening. John King and Dan Seabolt played with us there. We had a great time. The photos were taken by our friends Theresa and Tom.

But we weren’t done yet. Sunday afternoon we headed across the state to Rochester Hills, MI to play a house concert, part of the Paint Creek Comfy Concert Series, put on by the Paint Creek Folklore Society in the home of Phil and Althea Doolittle. Again John and Dan were with us. What a nice experience to play in Phil and Althea’s home. Some nice folks took a chance and bought a ticket to see us, even though they had no idea who we were. In the end we were all very pleased and very tired. Max did all the driving. Monday we didn’t do much of anything, especially sing!

All For Love's Sake Honored by No Depression

2009-04-24T18:01:00.000-07:00

We are honored and excited to announce that Ruth’s song All For Love’s Sake is currently being featured in the music player on the main page of the No Depression Community Site. This website is an extension of the new online version of No Depression Magazine, for years a leading voice in the world of roots music. You can go to this URL:

http://community.nodepression.com/

and look for the music player in the left hand column to listen to it and the other artists being featured including David Wilcox, Justin Townes Earle, and Mars Arizona.

Studio Time

2009-04-24T15:35:00.000-07:00

We spent some time in the studio this week.
All 12 origianl tracks for the new CD have the bass tracks done! The plan is to get the extra musicians into the studio in May and have the recording completed by June. Colleen Rocky is onboard to design the packaging!

In the meantime, we have gigs to play and a return trip to France to plan. So join us as we travel Michigan in May. If you should happen to take any photos while you are at our shows and you would like to share them, please email them to us. You never know you might see one right here on the blog!

New Band Picture

2009-04-18T09:28:00.001-07:00

The Ruth and Max Bloomquist Band

Howdy folks. We just want to take a few minutes to introduce you to some very good friends of ours who will be playing a number of shows with us this summer and, hopefully, into the more distant future as well.

The gentleman holding the guitar in this new band photo is John "Sky" King. John’s love of music has led him to a long career of playing in bands, studios, and as a sideman on a variety of instruments. Known as a “string bender”, John and his unusual approach to the acoustic guitar create a sound that is often reminiscent of a pedal steel, making it particularly complementary to Ruth’s song writing and vocal style. John has appeared with us at the IBMA World Of Bluegrass in Nashville and at the North American Folk Alliance conference in Memphis.

Dan Seabolt is not only one of the finest fiddlers we know, he is a much sought after bow maker and builder of fine upright basses and mandolins. He has played with many great Michigan bands including the Oat Bran Boys (along with John), the Missing Lynx, and Free Wheelin’. We are proud to have Dan on stage with us anywhere.

We are particularly pleased that John and Dan will be with us for two brand new festivals this summer. On July 19 be sure to check out the Saugatuck Green Food Bluegrass Festival to be held at the Felt Mansion between Holland and Saugatuck, MI. Then, on August 1, don't miss Bluegrass On The Lakeshore at the Muskegon, MI County Fairgrounds. Both of these new festivals will go all day and well into the night with all the great music, food, friends, and jamming that anyone would want. Be sure to come up and say, "HI".

More information on these and other opportunities to come out and see us is available at our website: " http://www.ruthbloomquist.com/ "

Thanks for stopping by!

Alley Door Club 4/10/09

2009-04-10T21:42:00.000-07:00

We just got home from playing the Alley Door Club in Muskegon Michigan's beautiful Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts. Set up on the third floor in a large rehearsal hall, it's a great place to play. The cash bar, free munchies, and BBQ for sale help to make the atmosphere friendly. The sound crew lead by Mark Gorter does a fabulous job.

We shared the bill with Eric Glatz and Mike Snell. Eric is a wonderful Travis style guitar picker, tending toward the jazzier side of the tracks. His renditions of San Antonio Rose, Walk Don't Run, and his original music knocked us out. Mike is a fine singer and song writer. We love his original stuff and were also struck by his cover of the Paul Koss tune Last Of The Leelanau Schooners.

We had a wonderful time during our set. The crowd of around 150 seemed very receptive and several shouted out requests for Specific Ruth penned songs. Naturally, we made mention of the two brand new bluegrass festivals coming to West Michigan this summer, Green Food Bluegrass Festival on July 19 and Bluegrass On The Lakeshore on August 1. The crowd clapped and cheered at the idea of bluegrass in west Michigan! YES!

We called Eric up to join us for the Willy Nelson song, Crazy, and Mike led us in a rousing version of John Denver's Country Roads. Mike is a big Denver fan and even sounds a bit like him. Ruth followed that with her tribute song, I Remember John. Mike helped us out with his great 12-string picking on that one. We finished the set with Ruth's I Know Love, Sometimes, the great Clare Lynch tune He Don't like to Talk About It, and Ruth's Merlefest winning gospel song By The River. For the encore we did Ruth's Put Down That Beer And Dance. By that time the bar was closed and the wonderful crowd cleared out pretty quick with quite a few stopping by the CD table for a chat.

Many thanks to the Alley Door Club for having us in and to our many friends and fans that came out to the show. We hope you had as good time as we did.

Winter's Over

2009-03-31T20:28:00.000-07:00

It’s been a long busy winter. In February we went south to Memphis to attend The North American Folk Alliance Conference. John King went with us and accompanied us during the 6 showcases we had. And he played splendidly.

We met up with folks from all over the world, some of them famous and most of them just like us, good musicians doing what they love. There were the seminars and instructional gatherings. And then there was the music. There were lots of Canadians present. Their music is so diverse, from sea shanty songs, to jazzy, to singer/songwriter and all of it good.

Some of the famous folks we saw were:
Roger McGuinn,

Kathy Mattea, Ronnie Cox (Not pictured and that’s right, the bad guy from Robocop) and

Rodney Crowell.

We had a great time at Folk Alliance and even brought home a new song or two to play for you.

March has been very busy and fun! We’ve done, TV, radio, and of course, live shows. Max and I did TAKE 5 and COMPANY on 3/11.

It’s been a long time since we were on TV. It’s a get up early, hurry and get there, then wait for 2 hours before you go on. That’s showbiz! Everyone was very nice to us at WZZM-TV 13. We want to say thank you for letting us be part of the show.

On 3/18 Max and I were on the road again to be on the radio at WLNZ in Lansing MI. We were there to play a couple of tunes and promote out show at the Ten Pound Fiddle, also in Lansing, the following Friday. What a nice bunch of folks. We did a 15 minute interview with Karen Love. I hope we will get to do it again!

The Ten Pound Fiddle was a gig we have wanted to play for a few years now. On March 20 we performed there with John King on guitar and Dan Seabolt on fiddle. That's Dan in the foreground. John's on the left behind Ruth. The concert was held in the Unitarian Universalist Church in East Lansing, MI. It’s very well done and the people there treat you right. We hope we get to play there again soon.

Remember, the two of us will be playing at the Alley door Club in Muskegon's Frauenthal Center on April 10 with Mike Snell and Eric Glatz.

Langeland House Musical Interludes

2009-01-28T07:15:00.000-08:00

We played the Langeland House Musical Interludes concert series this past wekend January 24 & 25. The Langeland House Bed and Breakfast at 1337 Peck St, Muskegon, MI is a wonderful venue for house concert style music. Owner Elizabeth Sherman invites musicians of various genres into her gracious parlor for concerts during the cooler months of the "off season" but the atmosphere is warm and cozy and the seating is soft and cushy. Get there early if you want the primo love seat spot for two right next to the musicians. To say the least, we had a wonderful time playing as we always do there and the audience was as warm as the fire blazing on the hearth.

This coming Saturday night, January 31, Elizabeth will be hosting Claudia Schmidt with her wonderful blend of folk and jazz, original and classic. Call (231) 728-9404 to make your reservation. Don't wait or you'll miss it!

This Friday, January 30, we'll be playing a set at the Rosebud in Grand Haven, MI. Anisa Hayes hosts an acoustic showcase there on Friday nights, and we're very pleased to have been invited to play with some of West Michigan's best acoustic talent. Music runs from 5:00 to 8:00. Come out and join us for this acoustic happy hour.

Canceled Christmas Tours at Felt Mansion

2008-12-21T09:28:00.000-08:00

We were scheduled to play at the Felt Mansion in Saugatuck, MI this afternoon Dec. 21 at 3:00, but all tours of the mansion have been canceled today due to the winter storm. Though we always look forward to sharing our music, we were dreading the drive down US 31 in a blizzard. Authorities here are asking folks to stay off the roads if at all possible, so stay home and bake some Christmas cookies. That's what we're doing.

We've posted some Christmas tunes on our MySpace page.. They're songs that we recorded about 20 years ago with Amaryllis. Check them out and enjoy!
http://www.myspace.com/ruthmaxbloomquist

Concert In Dio, France

2008-11-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

Yesterday afternoon, as is customary in this neighborhood, we were introduced to the mayor of the community.

The community consists of 3 hamlets a couple of miles away from each other. Mr. Mayor says it can be a challenge seeing to the needs of all three.

We are pictured with the Mayor of Dio-et-Valquieres in front of an aerial image of the terrain under his care.

In the evening he came to our concert in what I would call the Dio community center building. They just call it the gite.

Our show was advertised to start at 8:30 and we were told by the organizers that most folks wouldn't come until that time. In all three of these hamlets combined there are only a few hundred people, so we had no idea what kind of turn out to expect. We thought maybe 12 to 20 people. The room was set up with seating for about 25.

By the time we started at about 8:40 we had 29 people and were feeling really good. Our new friends Lynette and Paulette and some others had prepared wonderful food and drink for all, and these ladies really know how to bake.

There were tarts and cookies of every wonderful kind. Anne had even made her first pumpkin tart in honor of our upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. She used homegrown pumpkin from her own garden. What a treat!

Some in the audience spoke English. No one on stage spoke French, but the language barrier was not a real problem. They were enthusiastically responsive to the point that we could really feel the positive energy flowing between us. They knew a few of the covers that we had chosen and sometimes sang along. They loved the original songs, too.

Eric, a harmonica (French harp?) player from the nearby town of Bedarieux asked if he could sit it. He made a nice contribution and the crowd loved having a local guy play with us.

By the time we started our third set there were at least 40 people in the room, standing room only! During the previous break you could hardly move around the room at all it was so full, and folks did there best (and failed) to eat all the great goodies the ladies had made. Meanwhile, our new friend Denis made sure our glasses were full of the fabulous homemade sangria or another of his favorite beverages.

At the end of the show we had made about40 new friends and all said they hoped we would come back again and some of them will be looking for venues for us to play on our next trip. Talk about feeling welcome! The mayor finished off the evening with a little speech about how much he enjoyed the music and how happy he was with the turn-out, also saying that he hoped there could be more such events and that he hoped we would return to play again.

We went away with the biggest smiles of all.

We Find a Bass

2008-11-19T06:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday we drove (with Deb navigating) to the town of Pezenas. Deb had done some telephoning for us and found that a shop there, the Autour d'une Guitare, would rent us a bass to use for a few days.

Yes, that's Max making coffee. Notice the rocks sticking out of the wall. Our digs are literally that. Dug right into the side of the mountain.

Pezenas is a bustling little town with lot's of artsy shops, antique shops, and an ancient neighborhood with super narrow streets and an historic Jewish ghetto.

We found the guitar shop right away and they were expecting us. They have a pretty fair selection of instruments, mostly acoustic guitars including a few Martins, and run a repair and customization shop, too. The owner/luthier, Luigi Notarangelo, is very nice, speaks pretty good English, and does beautiful work. Ruth played one of his guitars, a sappelle dreadnought, and pronounced it very nice. We made arrangements to rent the bass and to pick it up after the lunch hour during which EVERYONE except restaurants close for two hours. (Notice the deserted street. Eveyone really goes home for lunch here.) This gave us time to eat a very nice lunch in a place recommended by Luigi and stroll around town.

We had told Luigi that Ruth plays a Martin D35, so after lunch we brought it with us when we went to pick up the bass. Luigi was impressed with the D35. He strummed a few chords with both pick and fingers, seemed to be checking out its bass response, and pronounced, "It's like church!" Then he asked if his assistant could try it. When he tried it the assistant immediately got an amazed look on his face and all he could say was, "Whew!" He's and excellent player, too. After that we packed up the bass and headed out of town.

We drove via some narrow and twisting roads, some running right through the beautiful vineyards of the area, to the village of Puissone where we hoped to meet another luthier and bluegrass fan, one Claude Fouquet. We found his studio and though his wife had invited us there was no one there. Right behind his shop we found a very old amphitheater, just the kind of place we wish we could play. Maybe next time!

Finally, we headed back to Dio with the bass looking forward to some playing and getting accustomed to the new rented instrument. It's made by one Antoine Jean-Baptiste Leducq jst two years ago. It's very lightweight. The flat back is plywood. The sides and top are solid.

Trip to Carcassonne

2008-11-17T11:12:00.000-08:00

Today, after a leisurely breakfast, we got into our rented Citroen, set the GPS, and headed out for Carcassonne, home of the famed walled medieval city.

A major highway on the preferred GPS route was “Baree” closed do to construction so the GPS took us on a twisting route through one little French village after another with multi-colored autumn vineyards in between. Each one had an aisle of golden leaved plain trees either as we entered or departed.

Once we finally got to Carcassonne, (It took about 90 minutes to get there.) the GPS seemed to be a bit confused possibly because we entered the city from a less than optimum direction due to our construction mandated “Deviation’”. Many of the streets of Carcassonne are no different from the streets in the tiniest of French villages- narrow, twisting, and frequently one-way. The GPS often tried to get us to turn where there was no street to turn onto or turn the wrong way on a (newly reversed?) one-way street. We finally parked a several blocks from “Le Cite’” and walked up the hill toward the turrets and towers that obviously marked its location. (There was supposed to be parking right across the street but we never found it.)

Le Cite’ has been restored with the dual purpose of preserving a grand piece of history and attracting tourists. The tourists were few and far between on this cold, cloudy, windy day. Beyond the moat and inside the walls is a little city unto itself with hotels, restaurants, bars, and every kind of gift shop imaginable. Most of the restaurants were closed as the lunch period was about over when we arrived and many of the shops were closed as well due to the fact that it was an off-season week day.

The highlight of the city for us was the ancient and beautiful St. Nasaire Cathedral. It’s a true medieval cathedral with buttresses and gargoyles and wonderful stained glass, and they still hold services there.

Cold and weary, we set the GPS for “home” and were taken again on a twisting route through tiny French villages. But on the way back they were mostly different ones from those we saw on the way to Carcassonne. Good thing we were sightseeing!

Another Beautiful Day In France

2008-11-16T12:16:00.000-08:00

After a week, today was laundry day. Afterward we took a walk with our hostess, Deb, down the road toward the neighboring village, Valquieres, to visit our new friends Denis and Paulette. Paulette is helping to organize our concert.

Denis is a marvelous gardener/landscaper with a peculiar talent with cactus and other succulents. He's a real nice guy, too. He took us for a tour of his garden though he's starting to prepare for cooler weather.

Dennis grows fruits and vegetables, too, and we sampled some little orange fruits that reminded us of a cross between a strawberry and a peach.

Dennis and Paulette also raise animals and take in strays, etc. including a dog and cat, a horse, three pregnant goats, and three friendly donkeys.
We'll post more a bit later in the week.

Ruth & Max Go to France

2008-11-15T12:56:00.000-08:00

We arrived in Marsielle on Nov. 10 in the afternoon after a long flight from Detroit to Amsterdam and a short hop. We then boarded a shuttle bus (navette) to the train station (Gare St. Charles) and took a train to Montpellier. Our friends met us there, helped us pick up our rental car (Citroen Picasso 5-speed) and very kindly drove us to their home in a little village in the countryside.

The bureau of Languedoc is beautiful. We are in an area of big hills (small mountains) with vineyards, cattle, sheep, and horse farms. The weather started out cloudy and cool and then turned sunny, breezy, and still sort of cool. Today we walked up the curvy road up the mountain behind our digs to visit the famous windfarm here and check out the view of the local hills and villages. What an enjoyable day! We've visited several of the local towns and villages and plan more country style sight seeing.

We have a concert scheduled for Thursday in the local community center. There are posters all over the village. It's being organized by a couple of our friends' neighbors who heard Ruth sing when our friends invited them over to meet us last Tuesday. We'll post pictures and a report in a subsequent post.

International Bluegrass Music Association World of Bluegrass Conference and FanFest 2008

2008-10-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

IBMA WOB
International Bluegrass Music Association World of Bluegrass Conference and FanFest.

Once again we attended the International Bluegrass Music Association World of Bluegrass Conference (IBMA) in Nashville. Max and I were joined by our good friend, and cool guitarist, John (Sky) King. It was a week (Sept.29-Oct.4) of hearing, playing and learning about doing the business of bluegrass music. Fortunately those things all lend themselves to folk music too. Monday was a flurry of getting settled, figuring out the schedule and where we needed to be, meeting up with friends we often see only once a year at IBMA.

We played our first showcase on Monday night at 11pm, sponsored by Patuxent Music, a cool acoustic music record label in Rockville, MD <> . There were folks there to see us from all over the U.S. as well as Europe and Asia. The President of Berklee School of Music in Boston, Roger Brown (he was the keynote speaker at the welcome dinner) came for our whole showcase. (It is common for folks to stay for just a few songs and then move on to another showcase so to see a lot more acts.) That was a real compliment. Some of our favorite DJs stopped by, too, Larry Bomar from Memphis, TN and Loek Lamers from the Netherlands.

Max, Ruth, and Sky playing Patuxent Music Showcase

Thursday afternoon we filled Layla’s Bluegrass Inn on Broadway with folks, some from the conference and some locals and tourists. We had so much fun doing that show. Thanks to Dave Burley for inviting us to perform there. He showcases his favorite acts there each year during WOB. Later we were recognized while walking down the street shopping by some of the tourists that had been at the show. Next day we were stopped by another fellow who had seen us at the Bluegrass Inn who turned out to be from Belgium. He was highly complimentary and bought a CD on the spot. Too cool.

Ruth, Max, and Sky
Jammin’ at the Bluegrass Inn
Pictures courtesy of our friends Bill and Pam Warren
(http://www.candidpix.info)

All week we listened, learned, picked and schmoozed. We saw some of our favorites perform, Blue Highway, Claire Lynch, Missy Raines, Kathy Mattea, (yes folks she has moved to bluegrass!), Charlie Sizemore Band, and Red Wine (from Italy) just to name a few. One night Ruth was in a song circle sitting between Clair Lynch and Louisa Bransomb who each welcomed her and introduced her to the circle like she was an old friend. That was all during the first four days! We also saw some new bands that you might want to check out, Sawmill Road, The Farewell Drifters, The Boston Boys, Donna Ulisse and Balsam Range.

Max and Ruth with Martino Coppo, mandolin player for Red Wine. Martino's favorite song by Ruth is Time Was from the All For Love's Sake CD. He now also has a copy of One Day ain't Enough

On Friday the WOB becomes Fan Fest. It is no longer a business conference but the ultimate bluegrass festival, no mud, no dust, no bugs, no porta johns. Thousands of folks flood the Nashville Convention Center. It’s amazing. Of course by this time we were a little tired. You see the alternate meaning of IBMA is I Been Mostly Awake. We had been jamming in hallways and elevator lobbies several nights and then up early to attend seminars and meetings. But to just sit in a comfy chair and watch, Tony Rice with Mountain Heart, Blue Highway, Josh Williams, Cherryholmes, Tony Trischka, Dale Ann Bradley, The Dan Tyminsky Band, Special Concensus, April Verch ……. If you like this kind of music and you have the first weekend in October 2009 open we highly recommend you check this out. www.ibma.org

Unfortunately we had to leave Saturday morning. We would have liked to see G2 Bluegrass perform. They are a young band from Sweden. We have their CD and they are really great check them out.

WMBMA FallFest

2008-09-21T19:59:00.000-07:00

Sept. 21, 2008
It was a fine day for a music festival yesterday. As a matter of fact it was down right hot! Max and I were joined by Steve Albert and Johnny (Sky) King performing for Fallfest 2008, sponsored by The West Michigan Bluegrass Music Association in Lowell, MI. As we approached the Kent County Fair Grounds from the south we crossed the Grand River, and it was seriously over its banks and even over part of a road that would normally be the entrance to the grounds. The festival was high and dry though and the weather was fantastic, hardly a cloud in the sky, and nary a puddle in the stage area.

Of course there was lots of bluegrass music. We were especially blown away by a trio of 13 year olds called Cats And The Fiddler. (www.catsandthefiddler.com) These kids are scary good. Check them out if you have the opportunity. We did 2 shows one at 2:15 in the afternoon and the last show of the night starting around 9:15. The day was pretty hot by the time we started the afternoon set, but every once in a while a cool breeze would blow in to cool us off. We enjoyed performing but the waiting in between is no fun. It might have been nice to step out of the stage area to jam a bit, but we also wanted to stay at the CD table to talk to the fans that happened by. The audience that stayed for the late show was kind enough to ask for an encore after our 10 song set. Always a plus for us. There will be some pictures up at the WMBMA web site.

The WMBMA FallFest is a well-run festival. We appreciated the snacks, sandwiches and beverages, especially lots of ice-cold water, that were provided for the bands in the warm-up shed. (otherwise known at the goat barn, but, hey, it’s at the county fair grounds) We’d like to suggest the addition of some local seasonal fruits and vegetables to the food table for the vegetarians among us.

Next Friday, Sept. 26, we’ll be playing at the smoke free Bear Lake Tavern in North Muskegon. Click on the “SCHEDULE” button above for the details. We recommend reservations. It’s sure to be a fun night.

Saturday, Sept. 27, we play a private party for one of Max’s cousins. And Sunday we leave for Nashville and the International Bluegrass Music Association World Of Bluegrass convention and business conference, certainly one of the coolest events of the year.

August 30, 2008

2008-09-19T19:02:00.000-07:00

We slept in this morning not getting to Big Top until about 11. Bill Staines was doing a workshop at that time. I got to do I Don’t Remember A Waltz during that workshop and tell Bill that it is the continuation of his song Roseville Fair. Bill said I had written a great song. He said the chorus was so good that after it was done you wanted to hear the song again. Yeah I was groovin’. Then Michael Smith did his workshop and he was so intense about songwriting. He talked for a solid 2 hours and I wasn’t bored. Toward the end of his presentation he mentioned the songs he had heard during Bill’s workshop and said the only line that stuck with him was, I Don’t Remember A Waltz! Wow, now that was the supreme compliment.
When all the workshopping was over Max and I got out the instruments and traded songs with a couple of the other songwriters who didn’t win. My favorite was Erin. She is an instructor at Michigan Tech and lives in Calumet.
Gotta go! Today’s trip on the Badger was perfect, sunny and unqueazy. I can’t wait to get home.
Ruth

August 29, 2008

2008-09-19T19:01:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful morning! On the way into Washburn yesterday we noticed a sign that said “Bloomquist Gallery”. We went to see who this Bloomquist was since we had some time this morning. The house was right on the bay. We honked and out came this tall, slim, grey haired (with streaks of blond) guy. We introduced ourselves and told him why we were there. It turns out that Dave Bloomquist is a painter of outdoor scenes, rather nice pictures. He is also a boogie woogie piano player who worked for Disneyland several years ago. We had a nice chat, took a picture of him and left.
I was beginning to feel nervous about the contest at this time. We cruised up to Big Top and sat in on a workshops with Karn Maal and another with Buddy Mondlock. They were sort of interesting but it was hard for me to concentrate. Bill Staines wandered in and he and I had a nice chat about our sons. The next thing I know someone asks me, “Are you Ruth?” It was Jack Williams! He is always so sweet. His wife Judy was with him too.
Finally the time for the contest was at hand. Jack was back stage most of the time and we were talking some more. It kept my mind off the competition. When my turn came around I sang, Same Old Grind and Daddy Was An Old Man. Those things make me so nervous. The songwriters were all quite good. I didn’t win. Betty Soo won! Her songs were VERY good. OK now the pressure was off. We (the songwriters) were treated to dinner (family members weren’t allowed).
The concert for that evening was Buddy Mondlock, Karen Mol and Bill & Kate Isles as openers, Bill Staines and then Michael Smith. They were all good, but Michael Smith was brilliant!
After the show some of the songwriters got together for a song circle. That was fun and Max finally got to show what he can do. Of course it was a very large circle, maybe 10 or 12 folks so it took quite awhile to get around it. We did 2 turns then stole away into the night about 1 am.
Ruth

August 28, 2008

2008-09-19T18:59:00.000-07:00

On the road again! Max and I are travelling today to Washburn, WI to take part in the finals of the Superior Big Top Chautauqua song writer contest. First you must know that we researched how to get here, drive (11 1/2 hours thru Chicago and the same north over “Big Mac”) or take the Badger out of Ludington. Well we opted for the boat. When we arrived at the ferry (at 7am) we were joined by hundreds of Harley Davidson guys. It seems that they were all going to Milwaukee, the home of Harley Davidson, to celebrate the 105th Birthday of the bike. We spoke to one biker from England! Well, Max and I are not very good sailors. There was a breeze from the south that caused a bit of a roll to the boat. (We don’t do carnival rides very well either.) Let’s just say that we were VERY happy to be off that boat. I hope the ride back Sunday is calmer and warmer. (I’ll let you know) When we got off the boat there was a TV guy there recording all the bikes coming off the ferry. And there were folks in lawn chairs waiting for the Harley parade. Cool!
So happily cruising down the road in the stable van we had rather clear sailing. The day was warm and overcast. The Wisconsin landscape is dotted with some of of the prettiest, well kept farms in the Great Lakes area. We got so far north that we hooked up with hwy 2! That’s right the one that runs the length of the U-P. And there in front of us was a black bear crossing the road. I’m glad we’re not camping. It was another 6 hours to Washburn from Manitowoc. So you see it was 11 hrs if you cross the lake. We save 1/2 hour. hmmmmmm
Once we got to our motel we took a ride and found the Big Top and did a bit of sightseeing in the area. It’s quite lovely with lots of water, marinas, B&Bs, and local crafts. A brief thunderstorm swept through and in it’s wake left us a brilliant double rainbow that we enjoyed for a rather long time while eating excellent burgers overlooking the bay. Now we’ll get some rest for tomorrow’s adventure, the contest finals.
Ruth