Musical Week in Review, 2/2

A few things of interest happened this past week.

* I bought a used bass amp from the Craigslist classifieds. Why do I need another bass amp? The answer is Rosewood gigs. Our setup has been the two guitars and the vocal mic into a PA system, with my amp independent of the PA. If I had an amp with an XLR output, we could run me into the PA too. The advantages would be a more balanced sound - and we could also record straight out of the PA. The amp I've been using is powerful enough, but it doesn't have the direct out. Now I have an amp that does. Not coincidentally, there's now a bass amp (as well as a bass) on CL looking for the right buyer.

* Younger Daughter is continuing her weekly guitar lessons, and she's making amazing progress. The reason is simple - she's working hard at it, practicing every day. I could not be more pleased - not because she's doing something that I like, but because she identified something she wanted to learn, and she's learning it.

Pete Seeger's banjo

* I'm still doing my Mike Marshall mandolin lessons, and I still think it's a fantastic program. It's a really well thought out series of video lessons, and it's helped me tremendously. I still haven't sent him a video....

* Folk icon Pete Seeger passed away last week at age 94. I wouldn't say I knew enough about him to call him an influence or a hero of mine, but he was a legend on the folk scene. I learned reading the obits that he wrote some folk classics, including "If I Had a Hammer", "To Everything  a Season (Turn Turn Turn)", and "Where Have All The Flowers Gone." Simple beautiful songs. RIP, Pete Seeger.

* Rosewood gig in 10 days. We weren't able to practice this past weekend, and we won't be able to practice next weekend either, but we'll rehearse twice next week, and that will be plenty. I can't wait!