3 hour marathon of bluegrass at the Matakana Farmer's Market yesterday. Man, that last 20 or so minutes are hard. We're just so tired by that point, even just smiling is difficult let alone singing and playing. And it was OH SO COLD. Not as cold as it MIGHT have been, though, and for that we were very grateful.

But, you know what I hate? I hate playing for three hours, and then getting ripped off by the stallholder right next to the bandstand who only has half a cup of soup left but STILL charges me $5 for it. Don't get me wrong, not all Matakana Stall Holders are thieving *****, just the one. And it left a bad taste in my mouth. Feh.

Nat and I went down to Auckland last night to see Lorina Harding's "Farewell Concert" at the Wine Cellar. Funky venue, we'd never been there before. I think it's where crappy old couches go to die. The place is full of them, so much so that you can't actually walk between them to get to the ones at the back.

We had fun, though. Peter the cook from Waharau was there, and Paul Symons. Janek Croyden, who plays pedal steel for Pudding was part of Lorina's band for the evening, as was her brother Warren on bass and backing vocals, and Janek's partner Warren on lead guitar. He's GREAT.

Thoroughly enjoyed the show and even more enjoyed hanging out with everyone afterwards until the wee hours of the morning. More than enough fun to make up for that long, hard slog back up to Leigh afterwards!

Farewell, Lorina! We didn't have enough time to really get to know you. Maybe our paths will cross again when we're in North America.

Tags: Lorina Harding, Wine Cellar

The gig at the Leigh Sawmill on May 15 went GREAT. Nearly everyone we know turned out, it seemed. At least, the place looked pretty full to me. We had a great time playing. I felt like we were all really in a groove together. Maybe someday they'll have us back again.

Also had a great time at the Jane Gifford celebration in Warkworth. Well done to the organisers.

The photo page is broken. Sorry. I'll rebuild it soon. Richard Smallfield, a GREAT local photographer, took some shots of us at the Mill, and I'm hoping to get permission from him to put some of them up. They are beautiful, almost ethereal.

Had an AMAZING time at the Waharau Winter Shake-up over Queen's weekend. What great fun! We played so much music, and got to play with so many different musicians, people we've known a while, and new friends. Very special was getting Emily Giles of Forbidden Joe to sit in with us on "Summerfly" and backing up Lorina Harding on her song "35 Below." What a treat. The whole weekend was just like a big bottomless bowl of candy for us, and we're already looking forward to next year. Kudos to Rosie Holmes who, year after year, puts on this great "party" for 125 of her closest friends.

We're playing at the Matakana Farmer's Market this coming Saturday, and going to see Lorina at her CD release concert Saturday night, so it'll be a full weekend for us. We'd love to see you at one or t'other!

Further down the track: we are dangerously excited about the prospect of playing as "special guests" at the Wellington Folk Festival, which is being headlined by TIM O'BRIEN.

Nat and I head back to Colorado with the kids on June 26th, we'll be there for 2 months. I'm looking for a bass I can borrow, so if you know of one, please let me know. I am attending Rocky Grass Academy Bass Camp this July, in Lyons, Colorado. VERY excited about this.

Tags: Wellyfest, Waharau Winter Shake-up, Emily Giles, Forbidden Joe, Lorina Harding, Rockygrass, Tim O'Brien, Matakana Farmers Market, Leigh Sawmill