Hi, y’all.  How ya doin’?  Yes, I played hookie last week and didn’t write to you at all after procrastinating through the weekend .. no excuse.  It certainly wasn’t because I hadn’t heard any music because I did.  I was at Coconuts Beach Bar & Grill to hear The Mercury Agenda, a show I always love.  I was there again to hear Rick & Regina, another act I thoroughly enjoy.  Regina is an incredible vocalist; the only one I know who can sing up into that atmospheric register known as the ‘whistle tone.’  Then I had fun hearing the amazing talents of the players in the String Buzzards at Harborside.  AJ Fox is home for the summer (he now lives in Nashville) so it was an added treat to hear him on both mandolin and dobro, along with Darin Engh on banjo and guitar, Sean Loomis on guitar and Wilson Sawyer on upright bass.  Too cool!  It’s a once-a-month treat to hear these guys play Blue Grass on the last Sunday of every month; check it out next time on July 28th.This past week I had ... » Click here for the full story.

COCO NIGHTS 062824Hey, everybody out there in fun city - how ya doin’?  I must confess the heat made me kinda lazy, often preferring to stay in my lovely air-conditioned living room in my lovely lift recliner chair and let the incredible variety of choices on TV entertain me.  Yeah, that sounds like the proverbial ‘couch potato’ doesn’t it - minus the couch.  That’s not to say I have been a total hermit; no way, Jose, gotta hear some live music ... and I did!Wednesday I visited The Angler knowing a breeze would be cool off the water ... and it was.  What a treat to hear the String Buzzards playing on this beautiful bayside dock bar.  Darin on banjo/guitar, Sean on guitar and Wilson on bass played song after song of music straight out of the American Songbook in Blue Grass style.  Such a pleasure.  The dock bar soon began to fill up when the crew of 85 n’ Sunny beach umbrellas showed up for a company party, courtesy of their boss Pat McLaughlin.  Cudos to that hard-working and friendly ... » Click here for the full story.

Hey, y’all!  I made it!  Of course I’ve needed a few days to recuperate but I’m here.  I told you last week that I would be going to Pennsylvania to meet my new great grandson and I did it.  It was challenging to be in the car that long but once in the mountains, we were in total awe.  The only thing that put a damper on it was the ears popping at the higher elevation.  It was incredible how the roads wound around and around the mountains going ever higher.  We passed so many small villages, townships and simple crossroads that if you blinked, you would miss them.  I found myself saying, “Where do they go to hear music?  Where are the clubs?”  So, no folks, it was fun to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there.  I can certainly appreciate the beauty of the often pristine forests.  One could imagine going back in time before there were any settlements at all.  I am in awe of the tenacity of the people who settled there.  It appeared that mining and farming are the main industries.  I b... » Click here for the full story.