Bluegrass Deer Camp

Well, the past few weeks have been a study in mania; seems Anthony has "Ramble On" mastered and we are just waiting on the artwork to be finished. Brandon Durand is working on that, and it should be a hoot. Brandon's been doing the artwork for WinterFest the past three years---he draws the best elks hehe. Anyhow, in the interim Anth took the Deer Head tapes and mastered them as well, and he and the lovely and talented Jillian Griggs slapped together graphics and all that and had a feakin' CD in three days which has got to be some kind of land speed record for a CD. Rich Levy's recording was spot on and the damn thing sounds pretty good. Not as smooth as "Ramble On," but definitely a good listen.

In the meantime, Anth has convinced me that it wold be a good idea to spend the opening day of deer season with him in his capacious digs in Wellsboro. Any other year I wouldn't even have considered it; I've been hunting the pines for over thirty years now, and I've taken dozens and dozens of deer from there.

But this past summer the gas company scaved out a fifty yard wide swath like a big field running right through the pines, and there are five new houses up on top of the hill. To top it off, soem wanker by the name of ******* bought up the last lot on the access road that I've been using to park, and even though it is a right-of-way, he's decided to be a butthead about it and blocked it off.

That's illegal and stupid, as I explained when I found his fat ass leaning on the hood of my van last year on the first Saturday and he told me he didn't want me hunting on land I have permission to hunt and on which I have walked lo these many years.
I was nice to him when I first saw him there, explained all about the right-of-way and how it didn't matter if I parked there near his house or on top of the hill, as I would still be hunting the same spot, safely away from his home. That, he said, was not the point, he was worried about the emotional damage deer hunters sould do to his delicate daughter. I told him that I certainly would be cicumspect when I drug my deer out, check to see that there were no little impressionalble darlings prancing about in the yard, but he didn't want to hear it.
"I didn't ask you to hunt here," he said. And I said, " I didn't ask a hundred thousand assholes from New Jersey and New York to move here, either, but I'm dealing with it."

Then he said " I'm from Blairstown." Like that was different, like that was some kind of exemption. Pah! Last I checked, Blairstown was still in Noo Joisey.

So I'll take anthony's invite, although I am concerned, because the Smith brothers are going to be there, and Neil is threatening to come along, so that means late night sessions. I blush to admit that I have combined bluegrass with fishing, drinking, writing, crafting, wood-working and chain-sawing, book-signing, pig-roasting and a myriad of other pursuits.

Never with hunting,though. ehhe Should be interesting, and there are some massive deer running around out there in the big woods.
Odd how the plot of Bluegrass has all turned out to be mostly true. Odd, and sad, too.
So I'll spend the first days out there in Wellsboro, playing music and trying to blast the bejesus outta some huge buck, and the opening Saturday I'll be home and set up exactly 151 yards away from that butt-head's house and let 'er rip.

Maybe I'll even shoot at a deer hehe.
********I had his name up there, and he deserved it, but now I'm thinking that there might be nice people in his family so I took it out. hehe.

The bluegass dumpster of life

Well. Nothing like a perky beginning to get you back in the saddle after you got bucked in the rodeo of life, which phrase, together with that snappy title, almost certainly can make somebody a lot of money as either independent song titles or as a part of a song, or you could do the titles separate and then sing about those songs in another song, thereby getting your bluegrass mile out of song-writing out of eleven littlw words.*

Except you have to add a couple hundred more, but that's no biggie with sterling titles and/or lyrics like those. Hell, that's right up there with "Mountain Dew" or even "Rabbit in the Dodge" or whatever the hell that song says.


Yes, I might as well have entitled this entry "Stokes of Geniuis in Bluegrass Marketing", which is a little bit oxymoronic, but hey.

We're goobers, remember?

Not to mention the bluegrass action figures. Del with the hair and Ricky and Dolly...wow. I bet they'd be pleased to be imortalized that way, with their hairs all perfect forever and no chance of being sweaty or greasy looking. Unless somebody dumped you in a cruet of earl er sumpin.

Anyhow, The Ramblers have been busy as the dickin's with wrapping up the 3rd CD,
titled Ramble On under the expert guidance and recording genius of Anthony Hannigan with a BAH-zillion players on the disc: Jillian Griggs and Scotty Eager and Miss Barbie McMahon, Bob Dorough, Sue Cunnigham, Billy who needs no last name from Flaw-da, Coleman Smith and Hannigan himself on Banjer, mandolin and fiddle.

You could toss the vocals right in the dumpster and the disc might actually be better , but they were acceptable, too. Actually, "Petticoat Junction" and "Calipso Soldier's Joy" are gonna go the distance. Too bizarre and cool to be ignored hehe. The disc also has a "special guest"---the original Mr. GreenJean's bass escaped and made the trip to Wellsboro to be on the disc, courtesy of Joan Brannam, the late Hugh, AKA "Lumpy" Brannam'd widow living there in Saylorsburg, PA., home of the Hamilton Wellness and Fitness Center and Bistro.

What else? The regular turmoil of teaching and taking classes, raising kids...eesh...and trying to fit in time to play, increasingly short supply the past few weeks. But the wood bin is almost full, hunting and deer season a few short weeks away for me, or maybe earlier if I get my bow out this Saturday. We'l see. Or my turkey gun, one or the other. It's been 6 years since I plugged a turkey~! That's the length of time I've had kids in High School. Hoo boy.


Anyhow, the CD should be out soon, and plans are already underway for WinterFest, the last week in January this year to avoid Stupor-bowl. Ramblerosity will also reign down in Hellertown this coming Sunday at the VFW (I think, or maybe the American Legion) as guests of the AFBA, that stalwart bunch down to WindGap.

*Yet another get title. My brainpan must've bust up against a whole boatload of 'em. kinda like the Titanic of song-titles.

AHhhhhhhhhh!**

** I never did go back and put those footnotes in that one post of mine aways back last year. So maybe I will. Later. Out of beer! OMG!