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I had a great run up to northern CA a few weeks ago, playing a couple of times in Nevada City (including an hour on KVMR as a guest on Wesley Robertson’s “Rockin’ and Stompin'”) and as the opener for Rick DiDia and Aireene Espiritu at The Acoustic Barn house concert series in Newcastle. Really nice people up that way. Had a wonderful weekend bouncing from Nevada City to Roseville and back and forth a couple of times, finishing the weekend at the house concert. It was also our first trek up to that part of the country. We’ll get back there soon, I’m sure.

For photos of the concert at The Acoustic Barn check out my Gallery page. Below is a pic of me closing my set:

Click to hear “I Shall Be Released” (and the big shaker solo)

That “little guitar” I’m holding is an old Favilla ukelele that was restored by my pal Maddog (yes, I have a friend named “Maddog”.) It’s a barritone, so it has a nice bottom end, but it’s tuned like a soprano, so it really supports the voice well. Since Rick and Aireene also play ukes, I closed my set with the Favilla and a reggae turn on Dylan’s “I Shall Be Released”. The unsuspecting front row was drafted to add percussion with shakers for a little audience participation.

Being the audio pack-rat that I am, you can rest assured that I recorded most of the goings on over the weekend, including both my and Rick/Aireen’s sets and a short interview with The Acoustic Barn’s Kevin Odell, for a future podcast on this cool little phenomenon knowns as a “house concert”. (It’s really the best of both worlds for both the performer and the audience – who are all there for the music – and it’s a labor of love from the folks who host these events.)