A collection of photography and exploration focusing on Upstate South Carolina and beyond.
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Yesterday the Greenville Chorale celebrated the conclusion of its 60th concert season and its director, Dr. Bing Vick celebrated 40 years as conductor of the group. It was a stirring concert at First Baptist in Greenville with a varied repertoire played to a capacity crowd. It was also bittersweet for me. This was my last … Read More “A Farewell to the Greenville Chorale” »
As mentioned in my last post, I’ve played in a lot of different jam sessions over the past few years, in different genres and different settings. I’ve gotten a feel for what works and what doesn’t. I keep fantasizing about starting my own sessions, but that’s not going to happen. Regardless, I thought it might … Read More “How to Have a Successful Jam Session” »
I’ve been playing in lots of music venues lately. My standard two have been the Pickens Flea Market and Gramling Opry House. I finally got around to visiting the Oolenoy Bluegrass Jam, both on New Year’s Day and on their regular Friday night session. Table Rock has also started back up with their bluegrass sessions. … Read More “Local Music Session Round-Up” »
In 1985 I had gotten settled into my teaching career and was starting to accrue a bit more money beyond simple survival. I had one small keyboard, a Casio CZ101, but I wanted something with full-sized keys. I made a trip down to a huge music store in Atlanta and purchased a Korg DW-6000. On … Read More “An Old Synth Comes Full Circle” »
I have a love/hate relationship with the song “I’ll Fly Away. I sing it at just about every jam session I attend and, quite frankly, I had gotten a bit tired of it. During the pandemic I sang it at one funeral and heard it at two others. Every time we do it at the … Read More “I’ll Fly Away Redux” »
I really miss playing in jam sessions. I learn so much just by listening and trying to follow along. Granted, I’ve participated in lots of online sessions and I’ve had time to hone my skills and learn new tunes during this pandemic, but it’s just not the same. I made one trek to the Pickens … Read More “Musical Hoarding” »
I have weird dreams. Sometimes I’ll dream an entire piece of music and have to get up immediately and go to a keyboard. Sometimes this works. Other times I realized that it’s just a piece of music I heard somewhere that got stuck in my head. Once I dreamed I heard the 23rd Psalm sung … Read More “Germophobic Paranoia Blues and Other Dream Tunes” »
I can’t believe I haven’t posted anything here since Halloween. November was a blur, and December was upon us before I knew it. We have now entered the most chaotic time for professional musicians. This past week alone I’ve had either a rehearsal, a performance, or a group jam session every day. Since stores have … Read More “A Christmas Carol, Revisited” »
I usually don’t go in for Facebook memes or games. My friend J. Todd Settle tagged me in one recently and I gave it some serious thought. The idea is to post twenty albums that had some influence over you. According to the rules you’re supposed to post one album per day, then tag someone else to annoy each day. I just don’t do that sort of stuff, but I do like the idea of reflecting on the music that played a part in your life. So, rather than annoy friends on Facebook, I’m going to post the whole kit and caboodle here. Sorry, Todd. I’ve always been an iconoclast.
Last August tickets went on sale for a concert by Paul McCartney at the Bon Secours Wellness Center in Greenville. I tried and tried to get tickets, but they were completely sold out within minutes. I told Laura about my failure. What I DIDN’T tell her was that I was able to go back online … Read More “A Visit with Sir Paul” »