1) Me and Sister... I'm wearing "bluegrass boppers"
2) Mom and Dad... enjoying some fine music
3) The Hunt Family Band... we have enjoyed jamming with them and getting to know them over the years.
4) Jamming with the big boys... Lee Gibson on guitar, Jason Thomas on fiddle
5) Claire Lynch came and sat on the floor right beside me so she could hear my dulcimer better... talk about nerve-wracking!
6) Playing "Julie's Waltz" with Mark Schatz... what an honor and a priviledge!
This last weekend was very relaxing for Amber & me. We didn't have anything we HAD to do, so we enjoyed doing a lot of things we WANTED to do. I got to read for fun, catch up with some old friends, go for long walks, and shop at a thrift-store. We went grocery shopping in Lubbock Saturday, went to church Sunday morning, and had a friend over Sunday afternoon. It was really refreshing, especially after the stress of last week.
Speaking of that, my situation with the teacher seems to be better (though she was gone today, so we'll see what tomorrow brings). Thank you to everyone who has been praying for me. I continue to ask for wisdom and grace to deal with this situation in a Godly manner. I pray that Amber & I can be lights in the music department, accurately representing Christ to everyone we interact with.
This week is mid-terms here. I love this school-- I only have 2 mid-terms. One was for my piano lesson, which I passed with a 99 out of 100 today. The other is for my Performance & Promotions class where I have to turn in my completed promo package. Putting the promo packages together has been a lot of work, but I am excited about having a professional press kit ready to go. It will be a relief to have it all completed--I turn it in on Wednesday.
Ya'll have a jolly good week and drop us a note to let us know how you are doing!
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( 3 / 68 )The past week has been something of a roller coaster ride, with a great high over the weekend and a difficult low this week. Let's start with the good part!
Last weekend was the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival in Guthrie, OK. Scenic Roots once again performed in the Children's Tent-- 4 shows this year. Dad was able to be there Wednesday evening-Friday evening, but had to get back for work on Saturday. Mom spent the whole weekend with us. Amber and I carpooled with a couple friends from school, and another car-load came down later so SPC was well-represented. Our shows in the Children's tent were wonderful as usual. We had a two groups of 3rd graders, a group of 2nd graders, plus a pre-school class and some homeschooled students. Dad is so good at interacting with the kids and getting them involved in the music. Plus, we get to do fun things like wear "bluegrass boppers" all weekend!
We also got to hear some incredible music. My favorite band of the year was Claire Lynch with band members Jim Hurst, Jason Thomas, and Mark Schatz. I was especially thrilled that Mark Schatz was there because I recorded his tune "Julie's Waltz" on my "Quiet Sunshine" CD. I spoke with him after their first show; he was very friendly and down-to-earth, and even complimented me on my recording of his tune. Needless to say, I was pretty excited after that!
The story gets even better from there. An additional perk of playing in the Children's Tent is getting "Artist" passes which allow us access to the back-stage area as well as a hospitality room at the local hotel. On Saturday night, after the main show, Mom, Amber, & I went up to the hospitality room just to see what was going on. Our friends, the Hunt Family, were in there picking, so we got out our instruments and started jamming with them. Before long, other people started drifting in... Lee Gibson of the Gibson Brothers, Jason Thomas, Jim Hurst, Claire Lynch, and Mark Schatz.
We ended up getting to jam with all of them, and I even got to play "Julie's Waltz" with Mark Schatz!!! To top off an amazing evening, Mark Schatz taught me to dance a two-step... yeah, I got to dance with THE Mark Schatz!!!! I also had some great time with my family, good conversations with my friends from school, lots of great picking in the campgrounds, and constantly good music from the main stage. It was all-in-all an absolutely wonderful weekend and one I won't soon forget! I'll try to post some pictures this weekend when I have a little more time.
Now for the low.
When I got back to class on Monday morning, I ended up having a major confrontation with one of my teachers. I'm not sure what provoked the confrontation, but it really upset me. I ended up spending quite a bit of time talking through things with my advisor and the head of the music department. I am really blessed that they are both strong Christian leaders and give wise advise combined with uplifting encouragement. I am still not on very good terms with this particular teacher, and I have a lot of classes with her which has made my week a real struggle. I have spent a lot of time on my knees in prayer and getting advise from people I trust about this situation. I would covet your prayers as I try to deal with this with grace and love. There is a lot of tension right now and I really don't like being on bad terms with anyone, least of all one of my teachers. Please pray for me to have wisdom in my dealings with her and to speak the right words. My desire is that God would be glorified through my life and through this situation.
God bless each of you. Have a wonderful week!
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( 2.9 / 67 )Wow, it's been a while since we updated you folks at home. Sorry for keeping you out of the loop.
Erin and I had a great time at Winfield, it was really different this year, but as usual we got to see some very special people and do some fine picking. My favorite band that we saw were Dailey and Vincent...very good harmony vocals and they had some nice instrumental breaks.
Since coming back from Winfield Erin and I have been back to classes. I am really enjoying most of mine. My video technology class is tough, I actually have to STUDY! WOW! I'm getting to take 2 hours of fiddle lessons each week both from Joe Carr and Ed Marsh. I'm learning a lot. IN the evenings we can be found either in our appartment practicing, jamming here or in the music building jamming the night away. Now that is what I call HOMEWORK!
This weekend Erin and I are headed up to Guthrie,OK. Mom and Dad will meet us there for the Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival. Scenic Roots will be performing at the children's tent again this year.
Erin has been feeling a bit under the weather this week, caught a good ol' Texas cold. I'm still battling allergies, I tell you the ragweed grows really well down in these parts.
Erin had her first television debut today with the Pickin' on the Plains ensemble. If it gets up on the web we'll share the link with you so you can hear them play. I'm off to go cook some dinner. We'll see you on down the road.
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( 3.1 / 69 )We're going to Winfield!!! As soon as we finish classes tomorrow, we're hitting the road. It should be about an eight hour drive, putting us in Winfield by midnight. We really can't wait!
For those of you who don't know about Winfield, it is home of the Walnut Valley Festival on the third weekend of September every year. Mom & Dad have been down there since Thursday reserving space for me & Sis, playing music, and hanging out with the other awesome people who are there. There has been some excitement there this year with major flooding in the campgrounds. Everyone moved into the campground on Thursday and then promptly moved out again on Friday when the river started coming up. Everyone was scattered around town for a couple days, then finally settled into two different campgrounds nearby. It will sure be different not to have camping on-site, but the festival will go on and be wonderful no doubt!
Amber & I were reminiscing earlier this week about where we were a year ago. I had my second chemo treatment the Thursday of "Land Rush" (when the campers move in). It was while we were camping there that my hair started falling out by the handfulls... I had to have someone's arm for support when I walked around the campground... I slept through half the festival. This week, I got my hair cut because it was getting to long and shaggy... I go for 1/2 hour walks and carry my instruments across campus... and I can stay awake all day! God is so good! He has brought me through so much in the past year and I can only rejoice!
Classes are going well. Amber and I have pretty well established daily routines. We've been playing music for several hours every evening-- either by ourselves (practicing for our lessons) or with friends (jamming & practicing for our ensembles). We've met some wonderful people around here! We found a church with a bell choir that needed more players, so we are going to jump into that. There is also a Christian student ministry I think we are going to get involved in. Every once in a while we actually have "real" homework too. :)
Life is good. We're going to "fwap our shizoozy" at Winfield starting tomorrow evening! "Fwap your shizoozy" is really meaningless... or I guess you could say it has whatever meaning you'd like it to. Some words are just so fun to say that you have to use them, even if they have no definition! :) That's kind of what Winfield is about-- having fun no matter what.
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( 3.2 / 69 )Amber and I got to see Mark O'Connor on Thursday!!!! We were in the 2nd row!! He did a two-hour solo violin concert and it was amazing. I definitely rank it among the top 10 best concerts I have been to. He played all his own compositions or arrangements, mostly Classical, but with a lot of bluegrass/country/western swing fiddle influence. Some of the pieces were not extremely pleasing to the ear, but they were so technically intricate that you couldn't help but be in awe of his ability. Then other pieces were incredibly beautiful and full of emotion. I sat awe-struck throughout the concert. I start thinking I'm a pretty good musician and then I hear a concert like Mark O'Connor's and I feel like a beginner who needs to go out behind the barn and woodshed for another 50 years! Needless to say, I have been inspired.
I should probably include some other news from the last week, but I had to get that out of my system first!
We have had a very good week. Last weekend, we found a bluegrass jam in Lubbock and hosted one of our own at our apartment. It was a short week of classes without much excitement. Tuesday was kind of a rough day for both of us. We found ourselves slightly bored and frustrated with some of our classes, so we had a good pity party and then found a better attitude about the classes that aren't challenging us. We are finding ways to challenge each other within the classes, even if they aren't challenging in and of themselves. We are determined to make the most out of our time here and learn as much as possible. This is going to be a fun year! One night, we found ourselves in the practice room pounding out harmonies to a song for nearly 2 hours. We were exhausted by the time we got home, but excited about what we accomplished. This weekend, we are taking it easy. Amber is having some sinus trouble-- maybe allergies from the cotton in bloom everywhere. We're hoping that she can get some extra rest this weekend and keep from getting really sick. We have a jam at one of our teachers' house tonight; church, grocery shopping for the week, and a small ensemble practice tomorrow; and then it will be time for classes again.
God bless you. Thanks for your prayers and support as we follow our dreams!
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