This evening while surfing around Youtube I discovered this little performance by Sinead O’Connor. How can I describe what went through my mind listening to this song. She’s singing in Gaelic, a language as indecipherable as any I’ve heard, and yet this song touches my heart. There are several versions on youtube from a number of performers. Curious to know what the title, Óró ‘s é do bheatha ‘bhaile, meant I put it through Google’s translator.

Óró ‘s é do bheatha ‘bhaile. Oh You’re Welcome Home!

Wikipedia has an excellent write up about this song with original lyrics here.

The first weekend in August just exploded with tons of great events going on, and lots of excitement. Working with On The Go-Go I had the opportunity to go see Sugarland at the Les Schwab amphitheater, interview Kim Breedlove, the master luthier behind Breedlove Guitars, and finally cover a concert by Blues Legend Johnny Winter. What a weekend, and that was just work. For fun I went rafting down the Deschutes River with my friends from Bikram yoga, and got to go paddle boarding with surfing legend Jerry Lopez.

SugarLand at the Les Schwab Amphitheater

The Sugarland concert rocked. I don’t know how many people can attend the concerts at Bend’s Les Schwab amphitheater, but it looked like a sell out crowd. In addition to the jam packed venue there were crowds of people lining the opposite bank of the Deschutes river in the Old Mill district of Bend, and a number of rafts, canoes, and kayaks on the river. People were wearing all kinds of boots, belts, buckles, and hats with a western flavor in support of the award winning country duo. The equestrian scene is pretty big in Bend so there were lots of girls wearing english riding boots.

I was invited with my video camera not to capture the band, there was a CMT crew set up for that, but to be available to the promoters if there was an OLCC incident. The Oregon Liquor Control Commission (OLCC) has been causing a big stir recently with numerous local businesses and promoters complaining to city, county, and state officials about uneven, arbitrary, and malicious enforcement of code. There weren’t any incidents for me to video tape at this particular event. The concert rocked. If you enjoy country music, and have a chance to go see Sugarland, don’t miss it.

Breedlove Festival

Each year Breedlove guitars hosts a three day festival featuring some of the finest acoustic guitars made in North America. I had the pleasure of catching Kim Breedlove and Bill Keale onstage and later doing an interview with Kim. Boy I really blew the interview. After their performance onstage I approached Kim about doing an interview, and he said that would be fine with him. Could I wait about an hour. That was pretty simple since there was a lot to see at the Breedlove factory. I was inside checking out the guitars and shooting some video when it began to rain outside. This was a pretty heavy storm that took down the power for a bit. Peter Newport, president of Breedlove Guitars, moved everyone outside inside. Onstage performing at the time was The California Guitar Trio. Outside maybe 1/4 of the seats available were filled. Inside it was a packed house in a very intimate setting. I’ve caught it all on video. However I didn’t manage my power very well which is how I screwed up the interview with Kim Breedlove. When he came over I was down to my last 5 minutes of tape and the end of the battery. Figured that I had enough tape and battery to get the interview, but I figured wrong. I only had enough tape. The battery died just as we were getting started. I’m sorry Kim. I hope you’ll let me do it again sometime.

Rafting Big Eddy

Sunday came around and I went rafting down the Deschutes River with a bunch of my friends from Bikram yoga. We had a great day on the river with Michael Harris, the studio owner, promising a free month of yoga to the person who could hold standing bow pulling pose on the bow of a raft the longest. Sounded like a fun thing to try. I can tell you that trying to balance on the bow of a raft is tricky on two feet. Trying to balance on one foot while getting into and holding one of the most difficult postures is very tricky. In several attempts I managed to hold for about 7 seconds. A good effort, but not the winner. A 17 year old girl in my raft managed to get into and hold the posture for about 12 seconds before going into the river. Anyway it was a lot of fun watching everyone trying. The next day in class my balance was really dialed in. Moving, bouncing raft… difficult to balance on. Solid, steady, unmoving studio floor… no problem.

The major rapid on this run is called Big Eddy. It’s a class 3 plus primarily because of the narrow river and lava rock that the currents push into. Not particularly difficult in a raft. I really want to have a solid combat roll before I try it in a hardshell kayak. Can’t wait to try though.

Paddleboarding with Jerry Lopez

Monday morning after a great weekend I went to yoga at 9:00AM. My teacher that morning, Molly, asked me if I was going to go paddleboarding after class. Paddleboarding is becoming a very popular sport around Oregon and it involves a very large surfboard and a very long paddle. The last time I tried was during the Alder Creek Paddlefest in April, and I went swimming. It’s a tricky thing to learn. My plan had been to go to yoga then go do laundry. I had a pile to dirty clothes to wash, and was trying to figure out when I’d get it done so my first thought was to skip the paddleboarding. Then she said that Jerry was going out with us. Jerry Lopez?

When I was in high school I was really excited about surfing. Kind of odd for a kid in Louisiana miles and miles away from any kind of surf let alone the amazing barrels at pipeline. Still I was into surfing and Jerry Lopez was a big name. He was riding waves at Pipeline that were insane. Now he lives in Bend, Oregon and I had a chance to meet him.

Jerry is a very cool laid back kind of guy. He’s really good on a paddleboard, and knows how to teach really well. We paddled up river to Bill Healy bridge (1.3 miles upstream from Alder Creek) I was surprised at what a workout this was for my core muscles and my legs. We had a group of about 7 boards and had a lot of fun. It won’t take the place of kayaking for me, but I’ll probably do some more paddleboarding when I get the chance. It’s a great way to enjoy flatwater.

Blues Legend Johnny Winter

Monday evening and it was time to go to the Tower Theater to listen to Blues Legend Johnny Winter. During the sound check the guys were having a hard time with the boominess of the drums and bass. The Tower is a finicky room when it comes to sound, and the local sound guy Jonah is a genius at figuring out how to set the mix. Too bad Johnny’s sound guy didn’t listen to him. The concert was fun. They played to a packed house, and really raised the roof. Still Johnny was drowned out in the drums and bass. You can tell that Winter has really lived a hard life. The members of his band help him on and off stage, and he prefers to use lightweight guitars, but the guy still slams out a great performance. I listened to several songs before my ears gave up on the sound. What a way to finish a great weekend.

In June Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe Shop hosted the first Pickin & Paddlin Wednesday event with local Bend Band Blackstrap. All afternoon folks came out to try out different kinds of canoes, kayaks, and paddleboards. Lots of fun on the water, but that was only a prelude to the evening’s entertainment.

Blackstrap set up center stage on the back lawn at Alder Creek and gave a lively performance of some downhome, homegrown, Central Oregon Bluegrass. By the end of the evening everyone was on the grass dancing.

Pickin & Paddlin Wednesdays are great fun for the whole family. Next up in July are The Sweet Harlots and in August The Moon Mountain Ramblers Y’all come out to Alder Creek Kayak and Canoe shop and pass a good time.

Alder Creek hosted the Spring Paddle Fest in April, and is owned by Geoff Frank, and is a primary supporter of the Bend Paddle Trail Alliance.

Trace Bundy at the Tower Theater in Bend, Oregon

One of the great things about my life in Bend is working with the fabulous Ladies of On the Go-Go. They’re fun to be around, and they send me out to meet people like Trace Bundy. We were able to interview Trace about his music here, and he allowed us to video a performance of one of his original songs here. And if you want to read a really great review of Trace’s performance you can read Carrie Hebert’s here.

The readers of Acoustic Guitar magazine have awarded him a bronze medal as the third best fingerstyle guitarist. Those same readers awarded him a gold medal as the best upcoming talent. Ray Solley, the executive director of the Tower Theater, described him as an amazing young musician. I’d have to say that he was one of the nicest most easygoing people I’ve ever met. Trace Bundy is an incredible artist, and a class act.

We met Sunday afternoon while he was setting up for the concert that evening. I had planned on using whatever he did for his soundcheck as my video about the concert, and hoped that he would give me the time to answer a few questions on camera. Any nervousness I might have had was dispelled as soon as we met. As someone who attributes a large portion of his success to Youtube, Trace was very comfortable with the video camera. He offered to perform one of his songs for me after they finished the sound check, and agreed to an interview. While I was concerned about making the experience as seem less and transparent for him, he seemed to be effortlessly putting me at ease.

As Trace walked out on stage to begin his concert that evening he used that same easygoing personality to put his audience at ease. Preceding each song with a story he engaged the audience in his performance. Although we were in the Tower Theater surrounded by a huge audience Trace Bundy made it feel as if he were entertaining friends in his living room. In one instance he introduced a song as an oldie. “You all like oldies don’t you?” he asked from the stage. The applause answered loudly. “Here’s one from the eighties.” Trace responded to a slight groan out of the audience as those of us who remember the eighties let him know how we felt about being labeled “Oldies.” Chuckling slightly he fired back that this really was an oldie. “I didn’t say which eighties. Ever hear of Pachebel? This song was written in the 1680’s, and its called Canon.” Then he continued to tell us about a little 9 year old Korean boy who had learned how to play Pachebel’s Canon by watching youtube videos, and how he invited Sungha Jung to open for his concert in Korea. You can easily find the youtube video of Trace and Sungha playing together. Then he performed.

Trace’s stories and anecdotes were fun. His music is magical. Each piece, whether a classical icon from four hundred years ago, a metal love song from a few years ago, or one of his original compositions was a captivating experience.