Gosh it's hot! Good time to be inside if you haven't acclimated to this weather.  We got home Sunday night from a week in Clifftop, WV at the Appalachian String Band Festival, with daytime temps in the 80s, and needing blankets at night. It was glorious.

Anyway, have some fun shows coming up this month and over Labor Day weekend.   Square Root will be at the Easley Farmers Market this Saturday, so you can stop by and see Marshall and Gregg while you're buying produce if in the area.

Saturday night is our special house concert/MS fundraiser at the Goodwins. It is ALMOST SOLD OUT, so if you haven't yet made your reservation, please call or email Gale SOON!  For those who have already responded, thank you so much for your support.

With Marshall out of town for a few days, Lucy will be playing with 2 different configurations of the Saluda River Gals--at Scratch for their Pizza Palooza! party and then again at the Carolina First Saturday Market in downtown Greenville.

We close out the month back at the Pumpkintown Opry, a really fun evening with dinner (usually chicken, ribs, salad, dessert) and a variety show with music, skits, dancing wait staff.

Over Labor Day we're excited to be playing at the Cafe at Williams Hardware in Travelers Rest.

Hope to see you at a show!  Thanks for supporting Live Music.

 Gale and Dexter live in a lovely house in the shadow of Paris Mountain. They can accommodate up to 75 folks, so please make a reservation, as we think the spots will fill up quickly!  The entrance fee is a check made out to the National MS Society.  There will be a basket at the door for donations.

When: August 14th, 2010

Time: Door open, gather for food and friendship 7pm

         Music starts at 8 pm

         Optional jam session after the concert (bring an instrument)

Where: 275 Phillips Trail, Greenville SC 29609

What to Bring: Donation to National MS Society, Beverage of your choice

RSVP:   galegoodwin@gmail.com

If you can't make it but wish to make a contribution, you may make a donation online.

Donate on Lucy's site online at:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/Lucy_Allen or

Donate on Marshall's site online at:

http://main.nationalmssociety.org/site/TR/Bike/NCPBikeEvents?px=8467298&pg=personal&fr_id=13801

Thank you! Hope to see you at the show.

We have a lot of musical activity coming up this month. Actually, we did last month, too.  We played at the Songwriter Showcase at Hagood Mill on June 19th and had a great time--apologies for not sending out a notice to let you know about it, but thanks to those who were there.

June was filled with lots of music events not related to our usual performances.  Marshall attended both the Mt. Airy Fiddlers Convention and the Grayson County Fiddlers Convention in Elk Creek VA, where he enjoyed seeing friends, playing a lot of music and learning some new tunes.  He competed in the folk song at Mount Airy & the lap dulcimer competition at both festivals.  It was a good time & an opportunity to try some things out on a new audience.

Lucy attended the Blue Ridge Old-Time Music Week at Mars Hill College, primarily as a massage therapist, but also took some mandolin and banjo lessons. The miniclass on beginning mando was taught by Adam Tanner, and if you want to learn that instrument, and live in the Asheville area, he is a top-notch teacher.  Chip Arnold continued giving Lucy tips on 2-finger, index-lead banjo picking, and she started working on Cold Frosty Morn.  Don't expect to see her playing either of those in public soon, but possibly on down the road.

Lucy's loves of music and massage were highlighted in an article published in Making Music magazine. She was interviewed a few months ago for the article.

 This month, we are returning to a few of our favorite spots -- the Village Cup in Laurens and Downtown Coffehouse and Creamery in Mauldin.  And, we'll also be at the Pumpkintown Opry a couple of Saturday's for their two-hour variety show.   Dinner and a show for $25, including dancing by the wait staff!  Check it out! 

We also hope you'll mark your calendars for a special house concert on August 21. Our friends Gale and Dexter Goodwin are hosting the concert, and it will be a benefit for the MS Breakaway to the Beach. Both Marshall and Lucy will be participating in the 150 mile bike ride in September to raise money and awareness about multiple sclerosis. This is a chance to see us in an intimate setting and contribute to a great cause, too.

Thanks for supporting Live Music!

We are so grateful for the beautiful weather and flowers blooming after a wet winter.  We missed sending this out for our first two shows of the month--playing at WKBC's Hometown Opry in N. Wilkesboro on Friday, which is always fun; and at Hagood Mill for the first Saturday program.  Hagood is such a great cultural treasure here in the Upstate, and it was a delight to hear JC Owens' fiddling.

We're doing some great gigs together in April. First one is at the Village Cup in its NEW location right on the square in Laurens. We love the atmosphere at the old location, but have heard the new place is even better! Toward the end of the month we'll be playing in Mauldin twice on the same day--at the Garden Club Spring Fling early, and with our friends at Downtown Coffee House in the evening.

May will include some gigs together, and some playing with other folks. Lucy will join the BattleAxe Band for a trip to Village Cup and a dance in Charleston; Marshall will be at the Farmers Market with Square Root, and back at Hagood for a 3rd Saturday Program with his old friend Josh Johnson.  Then, we'll be together for a performance at the Carolina First Farmer's Market over Memorial Day!

We started a Facebook Fan Page and are trying to remember to post events there, too.

Hope you are enjoying the Springtime as much as we are.  We'd love to see you at a gig or two! And Thanks for supporting Live Music!

We're pleased to be participating in the TEDx Greenville Conference on Friday March 5.  The Conference will be at the Carroll A. Campbell Jr. Graduate Engineering Center Auditorium on the Clemson University ICAR Campus from 8:30am to 5:00pm.  More information is available at tedxgreenville.com.  In addition to performing as a duo, we will accompany Paul Anderegg during his flatfoot dancing performance.  Should be a fun and informative day!

On Saturday March 13, we'll be serving up a selection of irish & celtic tunes at Downtown Coffeehouse and Creamery in Greenville to help celebrate the upcoming Saint Patrick's Day.   And, if anyone wants music for a St Patrick's Day event, let us know.   We're free that day!

Hope to see you all somewhere soon!  Have a happy & safe March!

Hope you're staying warm this winter.  We've had either rain or frozen precipitation almost every weekend so far this year.  We're ready for some nice weekends, at least!

Lucy was looking at the calendar after learning that the Native Americans (not sure which tribe, Wikipedia is a bit vague on that point) name each full moon of the year. We start with Freedom Day on the first, followed by Groundhog day on the 2nd. The Chinese will celebrate their New Year with the new moon of February (Year of the Tiger), which also falls on Valentine's Day, just after Lincoln's Birthday and before the US Gov Holiday, President's Day (which this year is also the same date as Susan B. Anthony Day, Nirvana Day, and in Canada, Family Day).  If you just want to focus on the month, you can celebrate both American Heart Month and Black History Month.  With all of that going on, we all can celebrate something!

We'll be having fun at a couple gigs this month. First, on Friday we'll join the Fine Art Ramblers for a fun evening at the Coffee Underground. Then a week and a day later we'll be at Downtown Coffee House and Creamery in Mauldin to celebrate Chinese New Year's Eve and Valentine's Day.  Red is good for either celebration, in case you're in a quandary as to what to wear.

Hope you have a great month, and we'd love to see you!

Marshall & I had a great time playing Christmas tunes (and some of our regular stuff) during December at both private and public venues.  Loved being at Smiley's as the last gig before Christmas.  We hope to be back there soon, possibly for a songwriter night.

We're working on some new (or at least recycled) tunes and songs, and dusting off some that we haven't played in awhile.  Our first gig of the year will be back on home turf, at the Downtown Coffee and Creamery on Butler Road in Mauldin.  In early February, we'll be headed back to Coffee Underground and to Hagood Mill.

The BattleAxe Band (Lucy, Amy, Michele, and Nancy) will be playing not one, but TWO dances in January, the first for the new City Dance at St. Mark's Church. This dance replaced the one at the YWCA and is organized by Harvest Moon Folk Society.  The second one is a benefit for the Environmental Action Group at Furman University, with Jennie Wakefield as the caller.

Finally, we want to wish Jim Hurst (our friend and former producer) all the best as he moves to his new solo career after playing with Claire Lynch for so many years.  Jim is a great guitarist & performer and we recommend him to other music lovers.

 We just added links to a bunch of musicians who are in or near Greenville, under Upstate Musicians (and if I missed you, let me know!).

 On a non-musical topic, the Oatmeal may be a very bizarre website, but occasionally has some choice posts.  One is "10 words you need to stop misspelling" Check it out! http://theoatmeal.com/comics/misspelling. 

 Thanks to all for supporting live music.

We've pulled out our Christmas songs and started practicing for the upcoming holidays. We love learning new info about the songs each year. For instance, this year we learned that Jingle Bells was originally intended as a Thanksgiving Day song, not Christmas. Not that we're likely to be dashing through the snow here in South Carolina on either holiday, but still... An interesting historical item!

Most of the shows this month will feature music for the season, while some will also include our usual eclectic mix of tunes. We're also working on some new tunes and songs and dusting off some old ones to perform at our shows in 2010.

We're thrilled to be heading back to Village Cup and to Christmas at Connemara at the Carl Sandburg Home this month, and we always enjoy the variety Ed Harrison brings to the 3rd Saturday Celebration at Hagood Mill. If you've never been to the Mill, you're missing a treat.

Also sponsored by the Pickens County Cultural Commission is a new exhibit that should be of interest to music lovers--"Story Song and Image" a collaborative project by Glen MIller and John Fowler, combining music and paintings. The show will be at the Pickens County Museum of Art & History from Dec 12 to Feb 12th (other art shows opening that date, too). We've heard quite a bit about this collaboration from both artists, and are really excited to see the project!

Finally, we'll be playing at Smiley's on Dec 19th in the early evening slot (7-9:30ish). We're glad to be playing at this venue, featuring live music 7 nights a week and really great food, too!

Thanks for all your support. Hope all of you enjoy the holidays, and we'd love to see you at a show.