I'm a songwriter, short story writer, essayist, musician, husband, both a cat and a dog person, and these writings will be a fun mixed up jumble of all of me. Thanks for popping by.
Eastwood Road is an instrumental piece I wrote a billion years ago when the dinosaurs were still roaming the land.
I had an opportunity to buy a house and had just applied for a loan. While waiting and being nervous I wrote this tune as a sort of positive energy work toward getting the loan.
It worked I got the loan and have been in the house for almost ten years now.
The guitar I'm using is a mid to late 1940's Regal wooden bodied resonator guitar with a spider bridge. If that means exactly nothing to you here's a link where you can see and read all about this very guitar having a neck reset. LINK
This song can be purchased on iTunes, and heard on Spotify and so can all of my published work.
Thanks so much for your time.
Wishing you and your family all the best.
Trevor Marty
Here is a song I wrote in a rush so that I could keep up with the prompts. I was in a rush because here is the list of things happening in February.
I've also been commissioned to help with a theme for an animated short for a friend of mine,
had to prepare for two gigs one big and one not so big but cool none the less,
rehearse for Irish stuff happening in March,
oh and lets not forget shoveling out of the 'Snow Apocalypse' which has happened in Minnesota this year,
and last but not least taxes
I'm only trying to be clear about it because I believe we need to show all of the stuff. In this situation the song isn't the best, and it needs work. I will do that work as I progress with it and the year, but for the moment this is what I did and what I get.
Here are the lyrics.
Song Prompt: Blossom Tentative name: A Book By It’s Cover
Verse 1
Blossom she was a think tank she was a working type of gal she got/kept her hands dirty but her mind clean she was a country kind of gal. grew up on rainy days, clean air, and country roads grew up on hot summers and cold winter winds she grew up long and slow.
Chorus (she learned ya) don’t judge a book by it’s cover don’t call a flower a weed cause you never know what you got in hand that weed might be a friend in deed/ you never know what you need
Verse 2
one day she went to the city to see what it said hit the road for thirteen hours got out and looked ahead she met all kinds of people blue, black, and red she met hims, and hers, and thems in-between and they all got together and shared bread.
Chorus
Bridge
So take your skin off put your guns down and come on lets join the show let the band play on lets sing the song let the rainbow go out of control cause ain’t no one going to save us but us its our one day out in the sun come on right now sing our song …..(lets join the show)
This weeks prompt was Stir and I must admit this one was harder. Partly because it just didn't flow and partly because life was in the way.
We’re Cooking Key: A Writing Prompt: Stir Standard Timing
Open the Wine Stir up the sauce grandma’s got a spoon in her hand The kids get lost
We’re cooking. Yes, we’re cooking. Baked apple pie Blues on the hi fi We’re cooking
Winters here it’s cold in the snow going to make some love (tonight) cause it’s 20 below
Chorus Bridge You’ll need ten cups of apples pealed and cored one cup of sugar don’t spill it on the floor You’ll need a teaspoon of cinnamon four tablespoons of flour half cup of water shouldn’t take half an hour.
You get a cup of quick oats another cup of flour cup of brown sugar quarter teaspoon baking powder. We’re going to melt all that butter a whole half a cup cause our hearts are only happy when we’re filling something up
Hello Gang-
Here is another in this series; as I've said before, these are just a weeks worth of work and then I record on video the tunes. I know they need work and they are works in progress.
This one I wrote over the period of like two days. Once I got the first one out and recorded I didn't feel so backed up. You see I felt behind because I joined the group while I was on vacation. If you don't know what I'm talking about well here is a link to last weeks edition in which I explain. LINK Alternately, I can and will just mention a smallish bit here. I joined a songwriting group which gives a prompt every week for us to write about. It doesn't have to be an epic song or anything just something you were inspired to write from the prompt. This weeks prompt was, 'Cab'.
Song Prompt 2: Cab T.A.Marty Am, C, G, F Title: Old Cab
This is a tale of an old wagoneer he was a cowboy, a traveler, a lover (of beer) he’d hitch up his two horses and climb to the chair ride off to nowhere cause it’s better than here.
They called him ‘Old Cab’ and they said it quite clear they were proud of this old man and it was said like a prayer. In the year of 18 hundred and 65 he saved the whole damn town ya he kept them alive.
It rained in the day and it rained in the night it rained that whole (damn) month till the river went wild. It burst through the damns, and it tore up the rocks sent them all tumbling to the town down below
Now Old Cab saw it happen cause he was out on a drunk been chased out of town cause he was dirty and stunk? he jumped up on his pony yes he mounted the nag and he raced that old water through the forests and crags.
He warned the whole town yes he said it quite clear the water was coming the water was near no one believed him no one cared he was just a drunk and a lier get out of here.
Old Cab didn’t give up he continued to fight went down to the mining office to steal the dynamite back up the mountain he went fast and lite to blow off the top and block the waters spite
now back in the town there was drinking and dance nobody knew of the water they didn’t have a chance they’d kicked out old cab they’d sent him away now he’s up on the mountain trying to save the day
then came the rumble of the thunder and rain then came the explosion and the rocks down again/tumbling down the town had been saved the water passed them by saved by a drunk a man/person they passed by. Old Cab
Thanks for popping by and I wish you a dear and beautiful day.
Trevor
Hello everyone-
It's been to long. What have you been up to?
I've begun a challenge which I found on a FB group which I was invited to join. It's a songwriting group. Every week someone gives a new songwriting prompt and everyone in the group writes something which has been inspired from the prompt. Then they do a little video. It doesn't have to be anything super produced. It's just an exercise to keep our creativity flowing well.
This weeks song writing prompt was Sour; as a matter of fact, it was the first one.
Every week that I am doing it I will try and post that song here, but y'all have to realize that it's not going to be the best song ever. These are just a weeks worth of working on it.
Here is the first week's.
Two Tone Toxic Terry
T.A.Marty
Key: A blues
Songwriting Prompt: Sour
Verse I
Two tone toxic Terry
was a whole lot of something
and little bit scary.
He’d gamble and rob
steal your breath
Mess with him and
you’ll be close to death.
Mean as a hornet & ugly too
but I know his secret and
I’ll tell it to you.
Chorus
Now I’ve soured milk and honey
got a little bit of coffee and even less money
I’ve seen eagles fly and the country get crummy
Seen people die and some think it’s funny.
Verse II
He wasn’t always mean and sour
He was born in the middle of a flower
Him mama smelled of Jasmine
His Pa smelled of Rose
played outside all day
till the bank came to foreclose
Threw them all out
out in the cold
then and their he vowed not to be controlled.
Chorus
Bridge
He took to fighting and calling names
Got so good should have been an Olympic game
Take from the rich give to the poor
wanted from coast to coast for his delusions of grandeur.
It's been awhile since I've written anything here, so I thought I'd catch you up.
Spring is finally here and with it the outside jobs. Whether is cleaning the yard up from the long Winter or it's checking to see if the house needs repairs the list is already building.
One thing that I am wanting to do this Summer is to cycle. When I was young it was just called bicycling, but now there is a new term. Cycling. I have been trying to build up strength and stamina so in August I can go on a big journey. I plan on riding from the gates to Canada to Iowa completely through my home state of Minnesota on my bicycle. As I have gotten into the planning and the working out of my legs and heart I have realized just how daunting a task I have set for myself. Which paths to take, what happens if something breaks, what happens if I break, traffic, hotels or camping and that's just the stuff at the top of my head. It's a bit overwhelming, to say the least; however, as with most things I take on you can be certain I will make a bigger deal out of it than it is. All it comes down to really is riding my bicycle. That's it. Just get on and ride and keep riding.
The most I've gone in my training so far is 14 miles in an hour and I did a little GoPro video of it. That's linked below. I'm hoping to finish the whole thing in seven and a half days. I have those days off of work and will just go right back to work the day after I finish. I will also be taking a lot of video of the whole thing, and have been doing smallish workout journal videos since January when I started training for this project.
Perhaps I should define my version of training. If you are like me than the word itself conjures up images of a drill Sargent person yelling at you that you ain't worth the carbon base which makes you up. That's not going to happen for me. Training for me is just getting on my bike and riding. I try and choose hardish rides and don't coast. I always keep my legs going, and go hard till I can't anymore then I go a little easier on myself for a little while. It's been working pretty well because my legs are getting huge and weird looking.
Well, here is that video sped up and with music for your enjoyment.
Hello everyone, We wish you happiness and joy for now and always.
This week Elissa and I got sick. Yup, we came down
with that bad flu that's been going around. We got the
whole ball of wax. Sleepy, coughs, fever, body aches.
Oh man, it's yucky.
National Public Radio has a contest every year and the
winner gets to play at the main studio in their office area. LINK I've submitted to this contest every year that it's been around and this year is no different. The song I submitted this year is an old one I wrote just after I moved to Rochester. It's called, "Twice". It's a flat-picking, jammy, sort of thing. Please feel free to share the video around as much as you want.
Here is the Spotify link to the song. LINK
Here is the iTunes link in case you want to buy it. LINK Don't forget to keep the shiny side up!!
First off I never win anything so you know there’s that, but then to win something that’s actually interesting doesn’t just push the boundaries it makes them just disappear.
A little history.
I subscribe to a Youtube channel called, “Garageband and Beyond”. A really nice guy named Lewin tutors people on how the Apple program Garageband can be used and is way more than a toy. Now, as far as DAW’s go (DAW = Digital Audio Workstation) I have a couple one of which is Garageband and I do use it. I use it a lot for video editing. Well, the audio of the video anyway and any smallish song idea I might have had and used the mobile version to record. I have learned tons from his channel. He does reviews of products, how to’s, and Give Away Contests. The one I entered he was giving away these mixing monitors from IK MultiMedia which he had tested out. All you had to do is listen to a track played through two sets of monitors. One of which were the Ik’s. Guess correctly and then he picks a name from all of whom got it right. Well, he picked my name. Cool huh?
I have one set already, but have been looking for another set to work with. I’m hoping that this Winter I can redo my studio. Utilize the space better and create more space in it.
Here’s a link to the company’s page on the speakers I won.
The other day I had this great gig of which I can’t even begin to say how excited I was about. I got to open up a show for an Emmy award winning vaudeville duo who also happen to be great old friends of mine.
They asked me to open for their show at a new local hot spot called, ‘The Jive Mill’.
The Jive Mill is owned and operated by Noelle and Christopher Roberts. What began for them in 2012 as a hope for building community and broadening the arts has culminated in a wonderful, large, and vibrant performance space.
Not only was I fortunate enough to play here I also got to open for the Nortons; although, we didn’t get any footage of my portion of the show I sure got some great stuff of their show.
What is vaudeville?
A short answer is it’s entertainment. Music, acting, clowning around. Before television and radio any sort of entertainment was great. Small bands of traveling musicians went around and entertained the masses. You can trace the evolution of where we are at today to those same wandering folks. Lucille Ball, Red Buttons, all three styles of clowns come from those times. If you want to go down a little Youtube hole check out any of those, or just watch the video of the show. Here.
Hey gang!! I hope that you're doing very very well today.
Elissa and I have spent that last week on the road. We've traveled in our little van through out Minnesota and a good section of Wisconsin as well. Here's what we did day by day and we have a guest writer too. My wife Elissa makes her writing debut here today.
At the bottom you will find Part one and part two of the video of the first stop on our trip. Nerstand Big Woods Minnesota State park.
Monday the 24rth:
The van had an appointment with the mechanic aka “The Van Dr.” after coming back with a clear bill of health we hit the road. It was sometime in the afternoon. Our spirits were high and the van was driving like a dream albeit a sixteen year old one with a ton of rust under him. We thought of it more as a sweet sixteen.
Our first goal was a Minnesota State Park called Nerstrand Big Woods. Our GPS brought us on county roads and single lane highways. Corn, farms, beans, and cattle lined the roads on both sides. The sun was happily shining down on our day.
The town of Nerstrand is quiet and has a listed number of people just over two hundred.
The park is down a gravel road which comes just after the town and at its border is a series of large solar panels. You can’t miss them. After checking in we drove down one of those smallish camping one ways. It was really nice. We immediately felt the stress from our lives drop away as the leaves from the trees surrounded us in a sort of Great Earth Mother hug. There’s nothing like that feeling.
I will admit to being a bit nervous about backing our big van into place. I don’t have all that much experience driving these over sized vehicles around; however, I did fine. There weren’t a whole lot of people there because it was early on in the week, and we loved that. It’s not that we hate our own species we just don’t like them all that much. The rangers here are very helpful and nice, but before I forget Elissa would love for me to talk about the bathrooms. I think I’ll let her do that though.
Elissa:
I went to Nerstrand Big Woods for one day and we walked their trails. They are beautiful and the hidden falls I highly recommend seeing if you get chance. As a woman wanting a clean restroom while traveling is important in my opinion. The restrooms were very clean and well maintain as well as the showers.
Okay, I’m back.
That first night sleeping in the van went pretty well, but early in the morning there was a crazy storm. Hail, lightning, thunder, wind, and heavy rain fell on the van and his solar panels. Woody kept Elissa, Marley, and I safe and sound. Here’s where I bring up something I should have done. There are several types of sound proofing on the market. Some very expensive and some not so expensive. Whatever your budget allows I would say put some on the roof before you insulate it. I love the sound of rain on a tin roof too, but hail and a huge rain storm is a bit much.
The park sports several hikes. These have varying degrees of difficulty. We went on as many as we could find and they were all terrific. Bridges, butterfly’s, birds, nature, and hardly any mosquitos.
Tuesday: Gooseberry Falls
We took the long way because we’d heard that 35 north through the Twin Cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis is under long term construction and will have delays for the next four years. We figured it’d be prettier to see more corn fields then to see a semis rear end. Gooseberry Falls is a long way from Norstrand, but is way worth the drive. When we finally got there we had another beautiful spot. I backed in like a pro this time even as the jeers and cat calls of the birds echoed off the trees which sheltered us. The spot had a beautiful open center which allowed for star watching and yet the tree’s were around enough to shelter us. It really was a prime spot. On the other side of the park road was a water source and we were maybe a hundred yards from the bathrooms. Beyond the water source was a paved combination bicycle path and walking path and just beyond that was a smallish path our to a rock outcropping and cliff which faced the great Lake Superior. We couldn’t have asked for a better spot. Here again they had hikes for all abilities, and the ones I was one were very wheelchair accessible. We had a lot of luck here and didn’t have a single mosquito. This is where I hooked up our solar panels for the first time. In the morning I made coffee and hooked everything up. It went very well and was easier then I expected. We hadn’t used the house battery all that much to this point because we were using our Lucy Lights which are crazy crazy bright and wonderful. We had drained it a bit though and the solar panels did a great job of topping it off.
Elissa:
Gooseberry Falls State Park was great. The lake was near our camp site and it is a gorgeous lake! The restrooms were ok for being an old park. I thought that they could definitely use a couple more showers and the cleanliness of the restrooms was ok for being big park.
Wednesday:
We drove into Wisconsin and visited my father. I’m not going to say where he lives, but it was very nice and we had a good time. Except he had a lot of mosquitos. What I will say is that those Lucy Lights work great for mosquito killers. You won’t find a better one.
Thursday Trempealeau, Wi. and Perrot State Park:
The roads from my fathers place to Trempealeau were beautiful curvy, hilly Wisconsin backroads. That part of Wisconsin is known for this and it didn’t disappoint. The sun was shining in, the temperature was perfect. Picture yourself in a big van doing about sixty mph with the windows down and the radio off. (It doesn’t work) Traveling down windy backroads. Perfect. It just doesn’t get any better.
Perrot State Park is a place I am very familiar with because right across the Mississippi is my hometown of Winona, Mn. We went here all the time, but living right across the river I had never camped here. Boy, was I missing out and now Perrot is one of my favorite camping spots. We parked on the lower loop. The whole east side of the spot was filled with trees and the western side had the start of meadow. Which means that the morning sun was a lot more dappled then the afternoon which beat down a bit more still it was a great spot. We had a water source across the road from us and a pit toilet down the a bit. Here again the trails were accessible to most and everyone we met was very friendly.
I had a gig at the Historic Trempealeau Hotel that night which is a spot not to be missed. They have five star food in a quaint restaurant and bar. It is also a high spot of the musical community, so if you’re able to see music there you can guarantee it will be among the best.
That night we ventured out of our little van and saw the most stars either of us had seen in long long time but the sky had a surprise for us. As we stood there a shooting star screeched by. It was a perfect almost end to a week of camping and driving the van.
Here’s Elissa again for her take on Perrot and it’s bathrooms.
Perrot State Park has awesome trails. I didn't get to use the showers in this park, but I used a pit toilet. For a pit toilet I thought it was very clean well maintained. There wasn't a nasty smell like most pit toilets have.
Me again:
Friday we stayed at a hotel in La Crosse, Wi. There happened to be a big bunch of stuff going on there as well. Street fairs, live music, and tons of happy joyous people of all ages wandering around getting to know one another.
It was nice sleeping in a king size bed and having tons of wifi and cell coverage.
Saturday Morning:
We drove back with a last quick stop at the Great River Bluffs Minnesota state park. It is just off of I90 by Nodine, Mn. Its very easy to get to and sports incredible vistas of the Mississippi river it’s backwaters and the far western side of Wisconsin. Great meadows, and woods to walk in.
Now it’s Sunday as I write this and I have to admit to being both glad to be home and wishing we were still in the van. I promised you a few of the things we found we need to adjust to our van/camper. Here they are in no particular order.
The solar. We weren’t going to mount it on the roof and just put it out where ever we found ourselves. This has changed. I still like the idea of keeping them in the van so we can park in the shade and put them in the sun. However they are pretty bulky and took up to much space, so on the roof they go.
A cooler versus a fridge While the cooler worked just fine I have to admit to thinking a small 12 volt fridge would be better. All of our food got wet from ice melt. We had to throw away to much food and we both hate that.
ShelvesI didn’t build any shelves for a number of reasons and I think this has to change. We found ourselves stumbling around and hitting into each other because of the stuff sitting on the floor. Everything was very chaotic at first. This is probably also because we had brought to many things along.
Lastly Screens It is important to be able to keep the windows open so that it doesn’t get to stuffy and hot in the van at night, but you don’t want mosquitos getting in and ruining your good time. We have them, but I think they need to be worked on a bit more.
Part One:
Part Two:
Well this was our journey and I hope we take many many more in our little camper/van ‘Woody’.
Keep building your dreams and keep the shiny side up.
Okay so it's just a joke; although, I do have a torch and I use it in this video.
There are several thing that I have never done and while doing this project have had to learn how to do them. Several meaning lots. For instance. I had to remove a rear heating and a/c unit from the van, I had to insulate it, put paneling up, drill holes through my precious (the van), and by no means the last of the challenges....making battery cables.
Now, having never done this before I did what any sensible person would do....I went to Youtube. After watching a few 'blowhards' I decided I can do it to. Heck if they can do it so can I.
Spoiler alert Spoiler Alert!
I did do it, and everything is fine, but just like a Greek or Roman tragedy that you already know the ending to. It's the telling of the tale that matters.
Pull up your chairs, refresh your coffee and hit play.
Don't forget....he's got a Torch!!!!
It’s just like it sounds. Elissa and I go for a test ride of the electricity.
I set it up so that the control panel is in the front of the bed and we have easy access to it. The battery however is going to be mounted in the rear of the vehicle. A wire will bring the current up to the control panel. This is just a test run to see if I wired, soldered, and fused everything properly. It turns out I did. Hip Hip Hurray. This has been quite a steep learning curve. There was one minor-ish issue. I had hoped to have wired an on/off switch to the charging station. The reason for this is because I choose (accidentally I might add) a back-lit kind and the light is always on. There is no way to turn it off, so I thought if I put an on/off switch before the current it would turn the thing on and off. I did it wrong and it was always on.
****Author Shrugs his shoulders****
You'll see what I mean in the video and I’ll keep at it and get it figured out at some point.
Well, thanks for stopping by, and be sure to keep coming back for updates on the van and other miscellany.
Have a great day gang and keep the shiny side up.
Trevor Marty
PS Next week we unfurl the bed and take it for a test run. Watch out for the mosquito's.
Components that I will be using for my van build electrical system.
Today we're going to go through the parts which I will be using for the electrical system on my camper van. Now, this isn't a 'how to' blog. Nope, it's only a small outline of what I will be using for my own build.
We’re going to start with the way I will be charging my battery, because that’s the front of the van and it seems like a terrific place to begin. I have decided to charge my battery bank (all one battery of it) two ways. One is through the alternator and the other is via solar power. Now as of the writing of this blog post I don’t have any solar so we will just be doing the alternator for the time being. The alternator charges the starting battery, the one which starts your vehicle. It is possible to split that charge and allow it (the alternator) to charge a second battery. This is what we will be doing. There are many ways to do this, but I am choosing to use a constant duty solenoid.
It is an electromagnetic switch which is turned on via a ‘keyed fuse thing’. Essentially you connect it to the starting battery and the house battery then connect it to the main fuse box. Making sure that the fuse you’re using only turns on when the key turns the car on. That way the two batteries are not connected when the car is off. They are only connected when the car is on.
The wire you use to connect the two batteries is huge. Mine is 2 gauge wire as you see in the photo. These are the connectors which will be squished onto the ends of the wire. You’re also going to need a really big fuse for that part. This fuse will go under the hood, but as of the this moment I’m not entirely sure where. I think it goes after the solenoid and before the house battery. .
I’m choose to put a nice giant red on/off switch to the whole system. Here is my switch. It sure is a fancy red color isn’t it? Now we will put another one of those giant fuses. See previous photo somewhere back there. That leads to a 500 watt inverter. Now many boondockers will be using way way bigger ones, but we are not full time and will not be bringing fridges and things. It’s going to be there as sort of a just in case. I mean the minute you don’t think you need something is the minute you need it, so here it is. .
Here is the little dc fuse box, and fuses I will be using for the LED lights and the charging stations.
Here are the charging stations and a switch for the smaller of the two.
I’m going to wire the switch in because I noticed when I tried it before that the little blue light stays on all the time. I don’t like that. I want to be able to switch it off when it's not in use.
That’s it really. We have a small system because we don’t have many needs really. We are not full timers. We will be doing this part time till we retire and then we’ll see what happens. For the moment this will do.
Oh and here is the last piece to our electric puzzle although it’s not really electric. It’s just fun.
For the past three years I have participated in an event designed to help gather funds for researching cures to childhood cancers. I am a ‘Shavee’. I can hear you saying, “Well that’s all fine and dandy but what the heck is that?” I’m so glad you asked.
First of all let’s start with what St Baldricks is. Here's a LINK.
St Baldricks has been around for seventeen years and has become the largest private funder for researching cures to kids cancer in the nation. It's also the organization I shave my head for.
Here’s how it works, and I encourage you to visit their website. It has a lot of great information on it, so don’t just take my work for it. In the last seventeen years four hundred thousand volunteers have done this and the results are very real. Real change happens as a result of these acts. The St Baldricks organization has given two hundred million dollars to cancer research.
In case you’re wondering what the number one killer of children in the U.S. is it’s cancer. According to their press release 1 out of 5 children with cancer won’t survive and a good number of the ones who do have major after effects for the rest of their lives.
They have many different grant types and grants going on at any given moment. Scientists looking for treatments as unique as the person receiving the treatment.
Here’s a photo of us bald and beautiful and here’s a link to my page which you can still donate too.
I don’t get any of the money. They don’t give me anything but a bald head and a smile.
If you’re curious about where all the money that gets donated goes to here’s what I found on their press release
71% goes to funding
26% goes to the events
And
3% is administration.
Here is a link to my own page there. I just want to say again that I’m not seeing any of this money. It’s going straight to the St. Baldricks organization.
Our trip to Stillwater, Mn and where we stayed. It was at the Water Street Inn.
A few weeks ago my wife and I stayed at a little place called, “The Water Street Inn”. It’s located in Stillwater, Mn and has a great view of the St. Croix river not to mention a marvelous bridge. In the video you’ll see our room, but the video pales to the glimmer of the real thing. If you have a vacation or a longish weekend coming with your partner please go. It’s set up just like it was ‘back in the day’. Which day? Well, I’m glad you asked. As you walk in you notice that dark wood tones that were a staple around the turn of the century 19th to 20th. There is a full size grand piano and large ceilings. The grandness welcomes you instead of pushing you out like so many other places. You know the ones I’m talking about. Anything the Trumps or the Kardashians would stay in. The places where the first thing you think about is money and everything is sterile, modern, and boring. No, this place is not like that. It is welcoming and joyous. It oozes history everywhere you go. Stories and people from the past walk through your mind like ghosts telling you their stories. There is an Irish pub with live music on Friday’s and Saturday’s, a restaurant, and outdoor seating.
Our room, as you’ll see in the video was at the end of a hall with corner windows. We could look in two directions and one of them had a balcony which looked out on a street and the cute architecture that Stillwater is known for. Our bed was something you’d find in an antique store. It was a rich dark wood with carvings on it’s carvings. There was a gas fireplace (which is a luxury to us), a giant bathroom, and a very large shower stall. Now don’t worry about it just having a shower because it also had a ….wait for it….a jacuzzi (also a luxury for us). Why we didn’t even know to wait till the water was over the jets to turn them on. Water went everywhere and you heard the both of us screaming with laughter.
We ate at the pub that night. I had a giant burger that had corned beef and sauerkraut, and Elissa had a baked mac and cheese thing. Both meals left us sleepy, so upstairs for a nap and then out the door to explore the nightlife. The pub was much the same as the rest of the hotel. Lot’s of rich dark wood, a wonderfully old bar, great staff, and a spirit that streamed of Backus flavored adventures. By the way they had a shelf with tons of board games.
After a touch of a nap we went out exploring, but because it was a Sunday night we were just out of luck. That night we ended up at Stillwater's food co op called, ‘The Coop’. It’s a lovely place with good prices for great food.
The next morning we had a lovely breakfast and then went out to explore the town. We were a little early (everything seemed to open up at eleven am) but had a good time nonetheless.
Stillwater is a mid-sized touristy summer river town with it’s history and historic buildings you will have tons of things to do and check out. Don’t forget to stay at the historic Water Street Inn when you go to visit, and yes they have off street parking.
On Sunday the ninth of April in 2017 I went to my first blues competition. It was a very jovial, bouncy, happy group of people who simply adore the Blues. I had been building up this sort of nervous anxiousness since I entered the competition, and it all drained away as soon as I entered the door of the bar where everyone was.
This week I'm going on about the competition, who is throwing it, the contestants, and the winner. Next week I'll going on about where we stayed afterword. It’s a lovely place in Stillwater, Mn called, “The Water Street Inn”.
The competition is called, “Road to Memphis’ because the winner gets to go there and compete in an international blues competition organized by the Blues Foundation (link). Which I think will be great when I win next year. Imagine going to the place where so many great musicians from all over the world are going to play and be able to throw yourself into the mix with them. I think it would be very influential to do and be apart of.
The Minnesota Blues Society(link) is an organization that’s mission is to keep the blues alive through education, celebrating the culture, and promoting the past, present, and future of Minnesota blues music. They are apart of a larger organization which I’ve mentioned called, ‘The Blues Foundation’ (link).
The contestants this year were all terrific musicians, and I am so grateful to have been able to be apart of it. Brother Jon duo consists of two members of a larger group called, ‘The Brother Jon Band’ who were winners of 2016 Famous Dave’s Battle of the Bands. The next was Louisville White Lightning Curtis duo. They played a tremendous set and had people dancing in the by their tables. Mixing covers and originals for a fun porch stompin good time.
Javier Matos opened the show up and ended up winning the day with his fingerstyle old tyme originals. At one point in his show his son came up on stage and being the good dad I can see he is Javier let him sit on his lap while he finished the show. I wish him luck (like he needs it he’s terrific) and the best of days. Finally I was the last for the evening and I also took second place. (Yes, I am counting it.) I used my prewar Gibson L-1which Tommy Benz at Brickhouse Music in River falls, Wi put a none destructive jazz pick up in. It performed super. People seemed very engaged in my music, and stories. The crowd even asked me about certain songs, and remembered them enough to tell me which ones were their favorite. People even danced and all had a great time.
In the end I met several new people, played and heard some great music and am glad that I was able to hang out, listen to such great musicians.
Thanks gang for allowing me to join you on stage.
Here you will see a video of the show. I was only able to get a few minutes of each competitor and a few minutes from my songs too.
The salesman fog. It's like a spell they cast on you when you are vulnerable. I don't mean vulnerable like you've gained a little Winter weight and seen yourself in the window, or an old school bully called you that thing he always did and gave you a momentary PTSD type flashback. Nope, I mean the kind of vulnerable where you're driving with your life partner just trying to stay out of the house and not realizing how open to change you really are. They can smell that sort of thing like blood in the water, but in this case it's money.
This is the sort of happy go lucky day that my wife and I experienced about a month ago. It was another in the long line of cold Winter days and we were trying to stay out of the house to keep our spirits up. While driving around we found ourselves at a car lot.
The little red light came on in my head, and I heard my voice telling me to beware.
Now before I go any further let me explain something. When I use the words, 'Kung fu' I don't mean it in a beating up bad guys sense. No, I mean it in a more general sense. You could use any term you want. How about ‘The Force’, or Witchery, maybe Mental Acuity’? All that matters is that when we were visiting that car lot there was a master in residence and it wasn't me. A salesman with such power that he was able to take proud and self-proclaimed 'Cheap Skate' and turn him into a blithering idiot. He came out and started chatting with me. Now normally when they do this I pull out the trusty old “grumpy face” and give it to them. They leave us alone and we can go about our business, but like I said we were in a vulnerable spot. A place in ourselves that was ready for change...or something. I just kept chatting.
The little red light amped up and an alarm sounded in my head, but his witchery was stronger then my alarm bells and I listened to the siren's call.
Yup by now I’m sure you’ve guessed it. That was the day we abandoned reason (not to mention our old beater of a car which we still feel bad about) and purchased a new one. It’s a 2012 Toyota Prius V. The 'V' isn't for five as I thought but for versatile. It’s suppose to mean it has more space. They call it the station wagon of the Prius line.
Here’s a picture of our faces. I know we look happy here but really we’re just hypnotized.
Don't let the smile fool you. We were under a spell.
The Prius has a computer that would make Star Treks USS Voyager NCC-74656 jealous. It monitors the miles per gallon that you are getting and updates itself every five minutes. I bet even seven of nine couldn't do that. Thus far it says we are getting around forty, but I’m testing it. We gassed up and zeroed the odometer, so far we’ve gotten over a hundred miles and it’s not quite at a quarter of a tank used yet. I guess that’s pretty good, but I’m stubbornly holding onto my grumpiness about buying it because I feel like it. Grrr.
It does have a sexy profile though doesn't it?
Not much for clearance though.
Those two indents are how you lock the silly thing.
The video will show you a few other of the things that are sort of neat about it. I do have to say though that it’s got a nice stereo, and it does fit all of my music gear with room to spare. Have a great day friends and don't go into car lots.
