Multi-instru-MENTAL-ists

While on the road in Maryland a couple weeks ago, we stopped by our friend David Eisner's House of Musical Traditions and tried out some wacky instruments...

Noah with a bouzouki (not much different than a mandolin)

Me with a banjola (what the heck?)

Noah with wooden drums (very cool)

Me with an erhu (I couldn't even make any noise on it)

They had tons of other stuff including some sitars and a very cool stained glass window. So next time you're in DC check the place out. Gotta run.

Self-portraits, Part II

Even though Sarah tells me it's a bit egocentric (and she's probably right), this is Part II of my self-portrait project I started last summer. Just in case you've forgotten what I look like, these pics should sufficiently confuse you. Click here to see Part I.

Dance Flurry and more snow

This past weekend was the 20th Annual Dance Flurry in Saratoga Springs, NY. I think this was my seventh year there (something like that anyway). It's a huge dance and music festival; thousands of people, hundreds of performers. It's great. Great Bear had a couple sets and Noah and I did some workshops. This was taken from the Main Stage. It was even more packed the day before!

This is Owen Marshall, a groovy guitar player but an even groovy-er fashion expert. Anna, Dan and Sarah.

The snow here is pretty amazing. I don't remember too many other years with banks this high. Yesterday we shoveled the roof and this morning Aaron came over with his tractor to help get us dug out (the axle broke on our snowblower). Here're some pics...

That's all I have time for at the moment. Here are some more pictures of the snow if you're interested: Jack in a tunnel, Noah next to snowbank, mailbox, more snowbanks.

Snowfort

One good thing about being 19, living in central New York and having way to much time on your hands is that you can make a really cool snowfort! This bank is easily 12 feet high. Hannah and Zach Caster worked on the wall and tunnel this morning. Noah and I worked on the mail room for a couple hours yesterday before putting the partial roof on. More pics... Last winter we made a pretty awesome (if I do say so myself) pair of Snow-people. Check them out here. Starting to get excited about the Dance Flurry this weekend. Hope we have power this year!

Merry, Merry, Maryland

Hello again. Thanks to the folks who responded about the gull. I agree... an over-interpretation of a Herring Gull seems to be the verdict. Anyway, GBT was on-the-road this weekend in Maryland. We played a concert and two dances, all put on by The Folklore Society of Greater Washington. On Sunday afternoon we played for a Family Dance with lots of very energetic 3-7 year-olds and a handful of slightly overwhelmed parents. Then on Sunday evening we played a regular dance at Glen Echo Park.

It was built in the late 1800s and became "the area's premier amusement park from 1898-1968." We played in the beautiful, restored, enormous and unheated Spanish Ballroom...

What a place! The car rides were a bit long but otherwise it was quite a fun weekend. There's no caption I can come up with for this last pic so I'm afraid you're on your own.