All turned around……..ain’t nothin’ easy

It is over 90 again for the 4th or 5th day in a row. This kind of heat makes me very cranky. I know you Central Valley and Foothills folks get this all the time but I live in Mountain View so I am not supposed to have to deal with this stuff. I need my bay breeze....

All You Really Need is a Sharp Knife

I have been working with wood most of my life. I started whittling as a young boy and there is just something special about walking along, picking up any piece of wood that catches your eye, and pulling out the pocket knife and going to work. Slowly trimming away all...

Almost Banjo

I wish I could say I’d listened to Uncle Red play his banjo when I was growing up….could tell you how he’d pull it out during family get-togethers and just light up the room playing all the old mountain favorites all night long. But the truth is, I think I only heard...

Alt Jams

Saturday night I was out near Tomales Bay at a UCSF retreat and wondering around looking for a jam. You would think that I would be smarter than that, what are the chances that I would just happen to find a music jam at a gathering of a bunch of science nerds and you...

Alternative Tunings, and the People Who Love Them

I had a weird dream last night. I dreamed that I was at a festival, and that there was a buzz going around about a really cool new banjo tuning. It turned out this new tuning was so unique, to use it required that a luthier add another string to the instrument, and...