News/Thoughts

On The Road

Staying Visible Stay Connected

I have been scratching my head over what to write about in this On The Road article while not being ‘on the road.’ It is indeed a strange time for touring musicians. Like most of us road-dog touring artists, the dates and tours are cancelled. Even at that, no one is sure how 2021 will play out. So the question ...

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Cajun Music All Night

While the effects of the pandemic have crippled the music industry, still, for some, there is the occasional opportunity to get out and perform under the right circumstances. Long time friend and musician, Scott Murray, had one such opportunity recently, and it seemed too good of a story not to share. This is Scott’s story. I was living close to ...

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To The Same Island

In the time of Covid-cancelled tours and shows, I am on our floating home, Ocean Girl,  considering what to write for an ‘on the road’ article. Time to tap the well of past experiences. Some years back Amy and I were in the Canary Islands, off Spain. We were waiting for a storm to blow itself out to start sailing across the ...

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Goldtone Instruments

One of the things I love about being a traveling musician is the people I get to meet and where I get to meet them. About four years ago, while recording Wayward Troubadour, I started playing this nice, steel resonator that was one of the studio guitars. I would play it, put it down and keep going back to it. It ...

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FAI – Mayhem, Music And Inspiration

Mayhem, Music, and Inspiration were the tag words as the 32nd Annual Folk Alliance International (FAI) conference took over the Sheraton Hotel in New Orleans, Louisiana. Did I say music? Well let me tell you…180 official showcases, spontaneous shows and jams in the lobby, stairwells and elevators, as well as five complete floors of independent showcasing starting at 10:30 pm ...

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Mike Aiken; On The Road

The last piece I wrote, we were just beginning this tour and were in Europe. Two months later we are still on tour and rolling through Missouri. During this run, life, or maybe I should say, death happened. We were just entering Texas when we received a call that my mother in-law had passed. While on tour this creates a ...

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On The Road

It is mid-summer and I am on the road from Norfolk, Virginia to Annapolis, Maryland thinking of the upcoming festivals I will be playing later this summer and fall. They are all quite different. The best ones create a fest-family of artists that then grows to include the audience. As a veteran of performing at festivals, and producing a music ...

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6 String Travel Companion

Guitars As Traveling Companions This piece brings me to thinking about my life and its relationship with guitars. I am getting ready to sail a 53’ sailboat to Bermuda and am trying to decide which of my guitars to take with me. To go weeks without playing is unthinkable and makes me twitch. A guitar has got to be on ...

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Bill Collings; On Making Guitars

My road to Collings guitars started about 15 years ago when the then product manager at Takamine guitars (Mike Markure) took me to the Collings booth at winter NAMM and introduced me to Collings’ GM, Steve McCreary. Over the years I would see Steve once a year at NAMM and walk away stunned by his soft-spoken passion for the instruments ...

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