Made it to Columbus

I made it to Randy Clepper's house here in Columbus, OH around 9pm tonight. We've mostly been hanging out and talking and intend to start working on the "Hammer On!" recording project first thing tomorrow morning. I'll try and post some samples of our recordings some time during the day if that is OK with the other guys. ¶ 11:23 PM

Noisy Buttons

Quite a few people have written to say they miss the hammer dulcimer sounds that used to play when they moved their mouse over the buttons to the left. This was part of a Shockwave movie in the old web site design and I don't have a program with which to create the .swf files required. I'm working on a more universal way to get this working again. (Thanks to Robbie for the coding suggestions)

I may find that I need to just go ahead and purchase Fireworks MX 2004 which is expensive and of course means another thing to learn. Grrrrrrrrr.

¶ 9:39 AM

Top 20 in Japan

I received an interesting email overnight from Japan. Apparently, my CD Turning Point is getting a lot of airplay there and is in the top 20 most played this month according to www.newagereporter.com.

Here's the list:

Top 20 Most-Played CDs for December 2003
www.newagereporter.com
Earth Feeling - Love FM
Fukuoka, Japan (www.lovefm.co.jp)

1. Michael Halaas - The Lucidity Project
2. Paul Schwartz - State of Grace II: Turning to
Peace
3. Moya Brennan - Two Horizons
4. DFO (Digital Future Orchestra) - White Hole
5. Hevia - Etnico Ma Non Troppo - EMI
6. B-Tribe - B-Tribe 5 - Higher Octave Music
7. Kirk Whalum - Into My Soul
8. Chris Botti - A Thousand Kisses Deep - Columbia
9. Clacks - Clacks
10. Michael Franks - Watching the Snow
11. Operatica - Christmas Classics - E-Magine
12. Jim Brickman - Peace - Windham Hill
13. David Nevue - O Come Emmanuel
14. Dan Landrum - Turning Point
15. Ric Flauding - Escape
16. Yulara - Livin' in Peace: Best of Yulara
17. Patrick O'Hearn - Beautiful World
18. Keiko Matsui - Wild Flower
19. Various - Asian Snow
20. Gregorian - Masters of the Chant IV
¶ 9:35 AM

Test using my phone

I am writing this entry on my telephone. I certainly hope this is successful as it will make it very easy to post quick updates.

My plan for tomorrow is to get up early, load my gear into the van and travel to Columbus, OH for a recording session with other members of our band HammerOn!
I hope some of you will take the time to try out the new guest book. I'm anxious to know if it works. ¶ 8:22 PM

Working on my blog system

My web site may operate strangely for the next hour or so. I'm finally attempting to switch my journal over to a blog system. That simply means that I'll be able to make posts quickly from anywhere I have access to email.

For the past year I've had to fire up Dreamweaver, the software that I use to maintain this site, in order to post to the journal. The blogger system will allow me to post using the email functions built into my phone, at least that is the theory. Keep checking back and I'll note when I get a phone post up.

Another advantage to using Blogger is that it automatically organizes and archives all the posts. ¶ 11:37 AM

Try out the new guestbook!

I just added a new feature to the web site and I hope some of you will help me check it out. Click on the link that says Guestbook and leave a message for all to see. ¶ 10:34 AM

My final Christmas gig . . .

. . . for 2003 that is. I said goodbye to Jingle Bells and Drummer Boy as I played my last Christmas gig at Rock City last night. The weather was unusually warm, in the 40's, and the tent was full for just about every show. It was a great way to end the holiday playing season.

I haven't had a break for quite a few days so I decided to get outside today and enjoy some sunshine with a hike in Prentice Cooper Forest which is just a couple of miles from my home on Signal Mountain. It was a bit cool out for Angie to join me, my son Jeremy was headed back to college, and my daughter was gone to church so I invited my dog Hershey to come along, We hiked some, but not all of the trail, which is about 26 miles total and joins the Cumberland trail for a few miles. I heeded the call of a very comfortable human shaped rock perch overlooking the forest and Hershey and I took a nap. It was great. I posted a couple of pictures on my Photographs page. Scroll to the bottom for today's link. ¶ 6:03 PM

New Web Site Design

As of this afternoon I'm beginning the roll out of my new web site design. I've rebuilt this site from the ground up in order to make it easier for me to maintain while on the road, as well as to make it easier for you to quickly navigate the content. I would be completely shocked if everything works perfectly right from the start, so please, help me find anything that is broken by hopping around the site using the links to your left and notifying me via email. I'm also interested in hearing your comments and suggestions regarding the new layout in general.

The journal archives will be down for a couple of days while I update all their links. I'm also planning on building the Store section of the site over the next few days.

I'm back at Rock City tonight (Friday) and tomorrow night as well. I hope to see some of you there. ¶ 5:05 PM

I'll have a Linear Christmas (Concert)

I'm fortunate to have been very busy with holiday related gigs for the past couple of weeks. The most recent of which was last night's performance at Chattanooga's Tivoli Theatre as part of the Signal Mountain Schools annual Christmas Concert. I am very thankful to SMMS Middle School Music Director Robert Cirlot for inviting me to be a part of the show.

It was fun entertaining the crowd in front of the main curtain while the crew busily changed scenes back stage. However the highlight of the evening for me was accompanying the band and choir on several songs which required playing in unfriendly hammer dulcimer keys like A-flat and D-flat. It was the perfect opportunity to do play my new James Jones Linear Chromatic. Click here for pictures.

Attention all hammer dulcimer players: You really can play in ANY key with this tuning scheme. Thanks again to James Jones and Steve Schmania for continuing to develop the linear chromatic which I believe is the future for hammer dulcimers.

I still have quite a few gigs left before the holiday performance season draws to a close. Here's a list of what is left:

Wednesday (today) 12/17 - Rock City Enchanted Garden of Lights 6:30 to 9:30

Friday 12/19 - Tennessee Aquarium Holiday Member Night 7:00 to 9:00

Sunday 12/21 - Chattanooga Holiday Market in the pavilion next to Finley Stadium 2:30 - 4:00

Thursday 12/25 - 27 Rock City Enchanted Garden of Lights 6:30 to 9:30

If you intend to order CD's from this web site and get them in time for Christmas you need to do so by Monday, 12/22. They are also in stock at Cat's Records on Brainerd Rd and in the Tennessee Aquarium Gift Shop.

¶ 12:07 PM

Christmas Days and Lights

If you're within driving distance to Chattanooga come downtown tonight for the annual Christmas parade at 6pm followed by a 7pm "Hammer On!" holiday concert in front of the Tennessee Aquarium. It is going to be cold so bundle up! Mark Alan Wade, Bob McMurray and I hope to see you there.

Randy Clepper, the fourth member of "Hammer On!" had a previous engagement and couldn't join us. Click here for a short clip of Mark and me playing Joy to the World on the local NBC affiliate Friday Morning. ¶ 12:13 PM