Hi folks, Hey all you mando-geeks! Can you identify the instrument from this picture?
Updated Mar-01-2009 at 5:59pm by Daniel Nestlerode
By the pricking of my thumbs, Something wicked this way comes. Open, locks, Whoever knocks! Especially if it's the FedEx driver! (MacBeth Scene 4, Act 1) More on this in a week. I hope I can stand it! Daniel
So last night I posted after getting home from the gig. It was late and my thoughts were a little less connected than usual, though they were fresh. More about the second set... Lots of material in Em and D. I am very comfortable in those keys on the mandola, which is essentially what the Mando(la)bird is. It's the same as playing in Bm and A on a mandolin. If you can play a lead part to "Bury Me Beneath the Willow" on a mandolin, then you can play in D on a mandola. ...
We received an email from Mark Boucher who is with the magazine CMM Quarterly. CMM's current issue deals with musical instrument building, and in this special issue, our readers will recognize some familiar names: Dave Smith, Smith Creek Mandolins Greg Deering, Deering Banjos Jeffery Elliott, Elliott Guitars Greg Byers, Byers Guitars Jonathan Hiller, interesting article on composite graphics vs. wood JEM magazine, article about Luis and Clark composite ...
Updated Feb-22-2009 at 9:32pm by Scott Tichenor
So Scott's figured out how to get comments on his blog: Post pics of a Mandolin Cafe baseball/golf cap. On the gigging front... Tonight was just a duo gig. I backed up my buddy Tim, a singer/songwriter. Mandolin all night long for me. I mostly played my beloved Vessel F5, but the Mando(la)bird came out too. It is pretty amazing how much people dig the Mandobird. Though, really, what's not to like? It's small, sparkly gold, and I make some pretty cool ...
Received our first sample of a ball cap we're having made for the Cafe. We like it. Will order a few to give away to some friends and possibly some to sell as well. Web address will be on the back.
Hate to say we told ya so, but we told ya so. Right on cue, the observation that the Classifieds had gone wild (we LOVED that title!) once again resurfaced. Nothing against the person that made the observation, and this is not about picking on them. Get over it. Its about this same conversation that gets repeated over and over and over . Around the time that discussion was started there was a high of about 410 ads in the Classifieds. ...
"Dollars to Dharma," despite its allusions to eastern philosophy, has a latin feel. A few years ago, Carlos Santana had a nearly ubiquitous hit with the lead singer from Matchbox 20. You remember it? [I can hear you saying, "Yes, thanks so much for reminding me. Now I have to go post to the ear-worm thread."] Well "Dollars to Dharma" is kind of that feel, so I went for a Santana kind of sound on the Mando(la)bird. ...
Updated Feb-15-2009 at 4:11pm by Daniel Nestlerode
My friend and band leader of Seņor Circus, Tim, has taken Seņor Circus into the studio. We're recording tunes in his nicely outfitted basement. It's paneled, soundproofed, and it has an isolation booth. I'm not new to recording. I did some in my rock band days and I've done some for myself. But my role has always been lead vocal and rhythm guitar. I'm in a different role now. Seņor Circus is Tim's band, not mine. So he does all the lead vocals and rhythm guitar parts. (He's ...
So I've been shaking off the rust lately (see my last entry) by reconvening the regular Friday jam session, getting back to Wednesday night practices, and taking the mandolin to work. And it's all beginning to pay off. The Friday jam sessions are fiddle tune heavy. We have a fiddler/mandolin player who loves the old timey stuff and Texas Swing too. We've been working on "Pig Ankle Rag" recently. Which is an interesting tune. It doesn't sound difficult, but the return ...