Upcoming Events for a Busy Summer!

After a spouting out a steady stream of philosophy and psychology, I realized I haven't been talking much about art and music the last few posts, even though we are super busy with both at my house. My wife has taken a blogging break while we move, but she's teaching a couple art classes this summer at the Fuller Lodge Art Center. Check 'em out!

And I haven't put up any pics in weeks! Here's one sent to me courtesy of the mother of one of my music students:

From April 19, 2014 at the Blue Window Bistro. Taken on Charlie Strauss's iPhone and abstracted in iPhoto.

And here is a list of my upcoming gigs/events:

- I'm only teaching a couple music lessons in June so we can move and settle in to a "new" house. 
- June 7 w/DK & the Affordables at the Rockabilly on the Route festival, 10 AM at the car show
- June 7 w/the Affordables, Rockabilly on the Route, 10 PM backing Justin Shandor, the Ultimate Elvis Impersonator, endorsed by Graceland! As a life-long Elvis fan, I'm really excited about this one.
- June 9 we close on our "new" house and begin moving!
- June 17 w/Craig Martin Experience, Los Alamos Creative District (LACD) Tuesday Night Series, Ashley Pond Stage in Los Alamos, 7 pm
- June 27 w/DK & the Affordables, Los Alamos Summer Concert Series, Ashley Pond Stage, 7 pm
- June 30 start Summer music lessons (heavy on the theory) in my new studio space!

- Sometime during the week of July 21 Britt & I are team-teaching a summer camp session at the UNM-Los Alamos Youth College called "How to Survive a Zombie Apocolypse." We'll go over foraging, shelter, urban scavenging, and other survival techniques.

- August 5 w/DK & the Affordables, LACD gig, Ashley Pond Stage, 7 pm
- August 16 w/DK & the Affordables, wedding at Pajarito Mtn.
- August 23 w/DK & the Affordables, Beer & Band gig at Pajarito Mtn.
- August 27 w/DK & the Affordables, Santa Fe Plaza Bandstand, 6 pm
- August 28 w/DK & the Affordables, wedding in Las Vegas, NM
- August 29 collapse into an exhausted heap!

- September 1 start music lessons for the school year
- September 12 w/DK & the Affordables, Los Alamos Science Fair Kick-off, Ashley Pond Stage
- September 13 w/DK & the Affordables, Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Santa Fe, 8 pm
- September 20 w/Craig Martin Experience, wedding at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos

- November 22 piano recital

- sometime this Summer and/or Fall I plan to teach a couple fly tying classes, one for beginners and one for folks who have some experience. 

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In recent "completed jobs" news, my students put on a recital on may 24, which included both guitar and piano. For some of them, it was their first music recital; for others, it was their first performance on a new instrument. It was well-attended and well-received, and I made a recording of the entire thing; there were some highlights that I'd like to use in future mixes and recordings. It was amazing to me, though, how much thought, time, and preparation went into a 15-minute event (I only had 5 students for this one). I had to book the venue and prepare refreshments for a reception afterward, not to mention all the time the students put in over the past couple months preparing. I've always thought the recital process was a bit anticlimactic, but important--I trace my confidence in front of a crowd to my piano performances as a kid. The event took place at the United Methodist Church in White Rock, NM, which features a clean, beautiful, modern space with a nice Knabe grand piano (one of the nicest grands I've played in Los Alamos, incidentally) and wonderful acoustics. I plan a Fall recital for November 22, with hopefully a few more students participating.

For my recording I fed the microphones through a Focusrite Scarlett 2i2 interface into my MacBook Pro through USB. The piano mic I used was an sE 2200 a II C condenser mic and it worked great, though I did have to pad it -20 dB to keep from over-powering the preamps on my interface (that piano is loud!). For the guitar, I used a Shure SM-58 dynamic microphone, but I would have preferred another condenser mic to pick up some of the subtleties of the guitar's sounds. I'm thinking I'll get another sE condenser when I can afford it, possibly the mulit-pattern.

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On the art side, I taught a fly tying class a few weeks ago at the Fuller Lodge Art Center. I've been selling my hand-tied fly pattern earrings there for a while, and did a demo last summer. It was kind of funny, though--I didn't get a single person in that class who was interested in fishing! One student claimed that fly tying reminded here of beading (jewelry making) and during our class, fly tying gained the moniker "beading for bros." I've also taught a fly tying class at Warm Hearts Yarn, and plan to teach a couple more in the fall. Stay tuned!

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That's it for now. Thanks for reading!