August 3, 2008

Well, this has been a pretty depressing summer as far as weather in Anchorage goes.
The good news is that Jim and I had a fantastic trip to the Catskills for Irish Arts Week. Our friend Ben Saylor came too, as he is quickly catching on to the tunes with banjo and flute. I took a class with Tim Collins and came back with a few new tunes. There were some great evening concerts, and a number of sessions to choose from each night. I'd say this event is the next best thing to going to Ireland. Maybe I'll make it there some day.

Our return trip included a layover in Seattle, and we were able to play for a dance in Tacoma with our friend Dave Foster and and his son Andrew, a fabulous young fiddler. Our makeshift band was named "Half Baked Alaska"

My daughter Amanda Kerr recently turned 21. Maybe you saw her joining us at the Thursday Session at McGinley's last week????

As if sessioning in the Catskills weren't enough, Anchorage held its annual Galway Days on August 2nd. G Street came alive with local and visiting musicians playing all day, including some that I'd just recently played with in the Catskills! It didn't even rain, so I was pretty happy.

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