Cat Tuesday

Taking pictures of something black and white together is very tricky.  White gets over exposed and black under.  Thus a black and white cat is a challenge in a sunbeam!! Oscar on the bed, Stewart in the bag.  For cat lovers only.

Vernon McIntyre's Appalachian Grass at Miami Downtown

A spur of the moment, last minute outing led me to a great band!  I'd left the bird watching 55-300 mm Zoom lens on the Nikon so my photos look like that of a stalker. Sorry about that. I had to hunt for a parking spot and when I got inside, it was a packed house and mostly, standing room only. Until I spotted a few chairs in the front row. Why are people shy about sitting close to the band? I love to watch their hands work.

Vernon McIntyre's Band, Appalachian Grass, was in Miami Downtown Hamilton.   I do not remember all the band member's names but  I provide a link at the end of this post.

 The band sounded awesome,  dressed sharp, were perfectly tuned --and stayed that way-- had fabulous tight harmonies, and played songs in rapid succession.  No easy feat.  Yet, Vernon found time to give a brief intro to each song they played, which I always appreciate.

I told a friend of mine who was there, "This band is so tight, they do not stop on a dime, they stop  on a toothpick!."  Remember that word, toothpick, ok?

That's Vernon on  guitar

Robert Campbell on banjo

Mike Elliott on Mandolin

Kitty McIntyre plays a fabulous fiddle and keeps herself busy, playing at the end of the group, and dancing up to  the mic to sing harmony, then back again. Her "Orange Blossom Special" was phenomenal, rapid firing fiddlin', but she slowed it down to  gently play a poignant solo on "Ashokan Farewell."

Then there was her violin trick set.  She told a story of how her bow broke one night at a bluegrass festival, so she thought of alternatives ways to play.  The mandolin player held the mic during this part so  I did not get a direct shot in places.  Kitty played with the bow behind her back, between her knees,  and between her toes, with violin on the floor. She demonstrated  using a men's comb, a chopstick and even a toothpick (!) to play real notes, not just make noise!

Playing with the bow behind her back

Bow between her knees. *Click on any photo to see it full sized but remember they do look grainy due to film speed and no flash.

Sorry I did not get a photo of the entire band, or of the bass player, and that the photographs are so close up  (.hazard of leaving on the zoom lens on) I refuse to use flash without permission of a band so I used high ISO settings, thus pictures are grainy. I had to tweak the contrast and saturation to make the pictures light enough.  Depending upon your monitor settings, mileage may vary on how well you view these pictures.

Tammy Powers on bass (sorry her face is hidden. I shall correct this w correct lens next time!)

The McIntyre's have a website if you need music lessons or work done on musical instruments or if you want to just keep up with the band schedule.  Click here

P.S. Kitty and Vernon will be playing with the Retread Band, Sunday, October 13th, at the Waynesville, Ohio Sauerkraut Festival at  12 Noon.

Ok, one more of Kitty holding the bow between her toes, under her long skirt.

Pyramid Hill Park Art Fair and Music Festival

Saturday's weather? PICTURE perfect! The park looked great, the booths were fun and interesting and the music energetic, and fine!  Why did two bands play at the same time and both sets had musicians stuck in the sun? Granted it was not 95 but still, a problem easily remedied next year, as well as more seats for the audience to sit in. Straw bales or more picnic tables would've helped.

The Outhouse Trio was  entertaining, but played the same time some other friends did, though I heard some of their stuff briefly Sunday, when it rained and moved the bands indoors. Jim McBride was a one man band, switching between instruments all day,  but enjoyed this choices, too, but, played up against other friends that were having special gigs that day! I have two ears but can only listen to one band at a time...but maybe that's me.
In no particular order are some of the great musicians I got to sample or listen to in their entirety.

***Click on any photograph to see full- sized***

Above, is The OutHouse Trio 

Jim McBride, switched instruments around a lot, a one man band of many  tunes!

Jim McBride through a tree branch. I loved the bokeh color I captured  with his cap.

Chuck and Deborah Wiggins, a great singing duet! 

Dancers

Kevin Loving on guitar, Donny Hampton of 31 Ky Bluegrass band, on mandolin.

These little girls danced to some of Kevin Loving's set. Cute kids!

Kevin, in the harsh noonday sun, belting out a fabulous set with mandolin player Donny! A cornucopia of tunes!

Chico on stage with Twistin' Sourwood.

Ethan Berne, bass player with Twistin' Sourwood.

Kevin and Chico appear,  in a happy, uplighting, toe-tapping- set to finish the day!

You can see the time on Chico's watch! 5:55pm! And see the plug in so we could hear his violining better this set!

Kevin Loving's second set with special guest-- Chico Converse-- got cut too short since the preceding band ran over time.  But Kevin and Chico still seemed to be having a great time (first time playing together, ever!! - and great tunes!)

Read more about Kevin Loving here!
http://kevinloving.com/wiki/wiki.asp?db=kevin&o=KevMusic

**Check out Chico's band  schedule here!
lagniappecincy.blogspot.com

I'd be remiss without saying check out pyramidhill.org in person. Support the park and the arts!

Pyramid Hill Sculpture Park

(Click on any photo to see it full sized!)
http://pyramidhill.org/calendar/calendar.php
This weekend is the Annual Arts Fair and Pyramid Hill Park. Starts at 10AM both Saturday and Sunday. Hope to see you there!

Also, memberships annually are VERY AFFORDABLE even for those on a strict budget.

 Please consider joining if you live locally. Even if you only go a few times a year, it will pay for itself. Enjoy the park, enjoy the arts in the outdoors . . AND in the fabulous indoor museum! Support the Arts!

 The new entrance, which is .5 from the old one.  It's a drive-thru sculpture!

The Roman Courtyard, in the Sculpture Museum area.

I love this! Good thing there are no recliners here or I would still be there!

 Some of the sculptures inside here are from many centuries B.C.

 Outside are the huge stones on display and the sky was so blue, I even photographed this old tree. No photoshop either. The sky really was that blue!

I took so many photographs, I put some in this two minute, silent slideshow on youtube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wbcvbxCHRI8

P.S. Don't know of Harry Wilks? Well you should! Read the short version of how he started this fabulous park right here.
http://tclf.org/stewards/harry-wilks