CATF: Contemporary American Theater Festival

Finally my review of the Contemporary American Theater Festival (CATF) is published. I would have liked them to be done individually, but others had other ideas. Sometimes that is the life of as writer. I'm glad I was able to cover it! I am glad West Virginia gets a chance to present a top notch theater event.

Two world premieres, a show that opened last year on London's West End, and five plays written by award winning playwrights. The festival featured great sets. Great cast, including Broadway vets, a Tony Award winning Actress.

If you are a theater lover it is definitely worth the trip from Washington or Baltimore. Might even be worth a road trip from farther destinations! You can read my review here.

Here is an interview with Johnna Adams whose play Gidion's Knot is World Premiered at the Festival...

Adding something a little different then just my review and opinions.

Well I hope you enjoy and I will be back with another blog!

Summer Cold

Some how I came down with a summer cold. It is weird being sick during a time of the year you aren't supposed too. Oh well, I pressed on and am working on a bunch of reviews. I went to 5 plays over the weekend, with my summer cold, and the heat I am kind of running thin.

Apparently extreme heat does not kill my summer cold. Who the heck catches a cold in the dead of summer? Apparently I do.

No worries! I'll get the reviews up soon. I also have a pretty full week ahead. 2 concerts, maybe a third, one play and the fringe festival, plus I hope to line up some awesome things with the kids. In another words I will have a bunch to blog about.

Just give me a little time...

California Guitar Trio

It is no secret I like watching the California Guitar Trio. I have seen them three times now. Each time they were playing a concert where the proceeds went to Advocates for Homeless Families in the area. I love the fact they take time to play a gig for a worthwhile charity.

I love their version of this tune even though they scratched it from the playlist:

Well the third time was a charm because I finally wrote a review of one of their shows. You can read my review here. Here is a picture from the show my editor didn't use but I will share it.

Here the trio performs something a bit more classical...

Well it has been a long day, but I will be back with another blog soon,,,

Crosby, Stills and Nash

The last time I was able to see Crosby, Stills and Nash was about 20 years ago. Wow, that makes me feel old. I walked away thinking Stephen Stills might be one of the most under rated guitarists. After seeing them again I still thing that may be true. Even though their voices may not be what they used to be, they still have plenty of moments and put on a great show. You can read my review here.

Here is a performance of Almost Cut My Hair from the concert I reviewed, thanks to youtube...

Here is the encore from that show..

The backing band was pretty solid. The guitarist has played with Bruce Springsteen, the drummer had played with David Gilmour, and the bass player had played with Jackson Browne.They played a couple of newer songs, a couple of deep tracks, and lots of favorites.

Including my favorite Crosby, Stills and Nash song "Southern Cross" here is the video..

I am having a great year of concerts seeing a bunch of diverse musicians. As long as the power stays on I will be blogging and sharing I hope you enjoy!

Riding the Storm Out

This Spring and Summer have been all about storms for me. Over Memorial Day weekend Tropical Storm Beryl decided to meet me at my vacation spot. Next I was at Blues Fest and there was the delay/evacuation due to strong winds due to a rain storm. Now, I ended up driving through the Derecho in the Mid Atlantic states. I wrote a blog about it Monday when I finally got power back on but didn't publish it, I turned it into an article instead. I liked the blog post better since it was longer, I had to whittle it down for the short article request. Perhaps this song should be my theme song for the summer..

Well you can read my article about riding the storm out here. I should feel lucky I only lost power for parts of four days I know some folks who are still without power.

Okay, besides just promoting my article I thought I would post a few more articles by other writers so you could see what they went through it.Plus it is nice to play it forward!

Here is the experience of one writer who lives in Columbia, Maryland. It is a bit North East from me. Here is a report from Catonsville, Maryland to read as well.

Well, I hope you have power where you live and I will have a new post soon!

The Fourth of July

Well it is a crazy July. Another Fourth of July is coming to a close. I was able to celebrate twice. Once last week as the County I live in had their celebration. Today, I drove over to Leesburg, Virginia and watched theirs! I like to watch them on the 4th of July!

Well I thought I would put together a collection of Patriotic songs to keep the party going!

First up is "Living in America," I love that old school funk and James Brown was a master!

I also love the blues and I just found this version today. Here is some Keb Mo doing "America the Beautiful"

Well even the U.S. gets the Blues here are the Dead...

Hey it is all about fun, Brad Paisley tells you about it here..

Ray Charles is another master...

and we have somethings we should never forget like Alan Jackson sings about the world stopped spinning..

and I will end with the Star Spangled Banner..

Well thanks to those who serve to make America what it is! I hope you enjoy the tunes and the Holiday! I know there are a lot more songs out there if you have a favorite I miss add it in the comments! This is a light post, I was without power for a few days so I will be back with some heavier posts soon!

R.I.P. Andy Griffith

Everyone has probably heard Andy Griffith has passed away, unless you are still without power. I remember watching reruns of The Andy Griffith Show quite often in my youth. Some of that good, old, entertaining television of years gone by. I also remember watching Matlock later in life.

However, Andy was a musician as well. He was one of the first to play the guitar on a television show..

Here is episode one with Andy Best playing the Guitarist..enjoy it from youtube

Andy Griffith playing the guitar on The Arthur Smith show in 1973...

Here is Andy Griffith performing rather recently with Brad Paisley..

Andy's Flop Eared Mule...

Well I hope I shared a little light on the musical side of Andy Griffith, he will be missed may he rest in peace..