|
 |
| Home | Bio | Calendar | Music | Press | News | Photos | Store | Links | Contact |
| What's New From Sally |
Apr. 24, 2005 | |
| Hi all, I know I haven’t updated the site in a while, so my sincere apologies for that! So many things have been happening in the last year or so I just haven’t had the time, so I thought I would bring you all up to date now and I am putting up a current schedule for all that will be happening. Some of you already know I have the good fortune to be newly working with songwriter Jeff Finlin. He is a songwriter in the American Troubadour tradition. His style is his own, which interests me greatly, and his songs are the stuff that good old Cynical Romantics like me just live for; imagery that conjures up from the soul the things that you need to uncover. The band members are Jeff Finlin on lead vocal and guitars, Eric Moon on keyboards and B3 styles, Amy Geiske on Electric Bass, Todd Moore on drums and percussion and, of course, myself on Electric Lap Steel & Weissenborn Slide Guitar. Everyone who comes to the gigs becomes as quick a fan of this songwriter as I did! You will too. His website is www.jefffinlin.com. THE JEFF FINLIN BAND – FEBRUARY 2005
In January 2005, I had the great time of flying to Burbank CA to work on Chris Hillman’s newest acoustic recording, The Other Side, to be released this year on the Sovereign Artists Label. It is chock full of Chris’ songwriting and was just a wonderful time in the studio. Produced by Chris and Herb Pedersen, the album features Chris, Herb Pedersen, Bill Bryson, Larry Park, Gabe Witcher, Jennifer Warnes, Skip Edwards and (lucky!) me. IN THE STUDIO WITH THE GANG IN BURBANK
In December of 2004, I had the opportunity to play with a hero of mine, the heralded Slack-Key (Ki’ Ho’Alu) player Cyril Pahiniu. Cyril is the son of the legendary Slack- Key guitarist Gabby Pahinui. What an inspiring experience for me. I got Cyril to play an Irish air that I had recorded earlier for my solo project (which we will get into later), and he just went for it, never having heard it before. The crowd went nuts at the Great American Music Hall, and his playing made me wish I hadn’t already recorded it!! The following photo is of the concert at the GAMH last December—that’s Cyril in the beanie hat! What a player! SLACK KEY CONCERT, GREAT AMERICAN MUSIC HALL, SF CA 2004
Last summer, I did a serious (for me) HotTuna gig with Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Cassady --boy was I nervous! I had toured with Jorma, but not yet worked with Jack, so of course, I did as much HTH (Hot Tuna Homework) as I could, and the gig was nothing but FUN and good music. Those guys really are veteran players, and made me feel right at home with their music and their humor! JACK, JORMA & SALLY SUMMER 2004
This last year included lots of session work. One of the most fun sessions were The Boomchicks in the studio to work on a track for Alison Brown’s newest offering, Stolen Moment, a track called Prayer Wheel, featuring all of the Boomchicks, (and as well a few of the MANdatory Boomchick Alumni). No actual photographers were allowed to be at the session, (the Boomchicks like it that way- they prefer The Mystery). A few different months were busy wearing the producer’s hat for wonderful artists such as Rounder Records’ Open Road. Their new recording, called Lucky Drive- is a strong traditional and original bluegrass record. We finished the new and upcoming Great Britain songwriter Lennie
Harvey’s (www.lennieharvey.com)-
recording Under the Big Sky. Lennie Harvey is an artist
I think you should all check out. Finally, rising star on the Boulder
music Scene- Jefferson Hamer- songwriter and guitarist Originaire
(I made that up!) from the Single Malt Band & Irish band The
Wayfarer’s fame is mixed and ready I am (yes yes, I know) still working on the solo project & am currently mixing down the first five of a hopeful 11 tunes. We have (so far) recorded purposely in a live (person to person in the same room) duo style with the direction decided as much on the spot as possible to keep it live- somewhat of a quest to capture the interaction between friends, players, and co-conspirators. It is kind of the recording I have wanted/needed to do for a very long time; so far the friends/co-conspirators are Irish Songwriter/Guitarist Gerry O’Beirne, fiddler Bruce Molsky, Jefferson Hamer and there will certainly be more friends to be involved! There have been lots of questions about the music camp schedule this summer- I will be teaching two less camps this summer due to scheduling conflicts, so check the schedule page of this site to get all the information. Rocky Grass Academy and California Bluegrass Association camp both still have a few openings, so if you are thinking about attending either one of them, there is still time to register! I know some of you were told that RG class was sold out-sorry, but you were incorrectly informed!!! Please don’t wait- Register Now! This year at RG Academy, I (and you too!) have the pleasure of
having the one and only Curtis Burch working alongside of me in
the Dobro classes. You may know of Curtis from his years with the
New Grass Revival and, as well, from the Great Dobro Sessions. Curtis
has a style all his own, and what a chance to be able to sit with
him and learn from one of the greats! (I may have to play hooky
and do that same thing!) Going across the Big Pond to Great Britain; touring there with the Jeff Finlin Band / doing a few workshops while there/ performing with Lennie Harvey, Leon Hunt & Mike Pryor/ spending a week just rousting about the Scottish Highlands, eating Bangers and Mash (with peas of course) / taking photographs of one of the loveliest places on Earth/finding that special Single Malt to bring home for the year/ doing some recording (hopefully) over there/ more touring in general and, of course, Springtime in the Rockies. We will see what this year shall bring to the plate. Already the plate feels full, and I am thankful for the work and the camaraderie that always it brings to me. There will soon be some changes to the site- we think you will
like it lots more; we are in the process of updating all the photo
archives and the guest forum for you, (which will help protect you
from email address thieves). I will be adding a few new fun things
as well to prompt you to join in. As well, we are upgrading to a
new server so there may be a small blip here and there- likely not-
but just preparing you for that possibility! Thank you all for taking
your time to read the Little Newsletter from Lyons. |
Archive December 31, 2005 December 8, 2004 November 28, 2003 December 28, 2002 July 15, 2002 May 10, 2002 March 20, 2002 July 3, 2001 |
|
