I was thrilled to be part of the DylanFest Songwriter’s Contest 2022 at Sacred Heart Arts Center in Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday year. There was a great lineup of talent from not only the area, but from as far away as Prague. I performed an original written just two days before called “The River of Time.” It’s a song about reflecting on life and how life connects in this huge tapestry of life. The response was great! But my rendition of “My Back Pages” surprised me with my first standing ovation! Although I…

I was so honored to be asked to be part of Two Harbors’ KTWH Artist’s Showcase Series. It was a neat setting as I played and talked in the captain’s quarters of the Edna G tugboat! It created such a nice atmosphere - including the creaking sounds of the ghosts of sailor’s past! The interview was done in November, but aired on December 10th, 2021. I didn’t think of publishing this as it does last an hour! That is a bit long for a blog! But this is the year of the Lake Superior Tall Ships 2022 that are…

After a two year break, Duluth Homegrown Music Festival is in full swing. It’s a week long festival in the Twin Ports (Duluth, MN/Superior, WI) featuring genres of all types of music in all kinds of venues! Even as a local, I’m blown away at the ever increasing pool of talent in the area! Every musician is given about 40 minutes. Mine was May 3, at Sir Benedict’s on the Lake to an enthusiastic crowd. I’d even met someone again I hadn’t seen for many years, but came out for my show. The owner asked me to…

After a two year pause due to the pandemic, I finally was able to open for the amazing French/Swiss guitarist Claude Bourbon on April 23 at Wussow’s in Duluth, MN. It turns out I’d visited a friend in small town in French-speaking Switzerland close to where he grew up! What are the odds!  It was wonderful hearing his unique style of playing flamenco/classical/blues on a Gibson J-45. We had a great time exchanging “notes” and winding down later with food and drinks at Pizza Luce, all made possible by Jason…

I was playing a Medieval Scandinavian Christmas song I'd made a blues arrangement of for Jason Wussow, owner of Wussow's Concert Cafe in Duluth, MN. He was struck how it worked, because the melody has some blues intervals in it. Jason really liked it and asked me if I'd like to open for the international artist, Claude Bourbon, who is a blues fusion guitarist. He asked me to check out his music first and let him know if I liked what I heard. I could then decide if I wanted to open for him. So I did and…

Last night I heard Storyhill celebrate 30 years of making music at Sacred Heart Music Center in Duluth, MN last night. I'd never heard them before, but was struck by their close harmonies, musicianship, songwriting and warm personalities. I was able to talk to both Chris and John afterwards. Chris wanted to hear my music and took a card.  John and I discussed his his beautiful sounding 37 year old Martin guitar he's been using since 1972. I spoke to friendly and dedicated fans on either side of me and…

The two-day Access X music conference just wrapped this afternoon with Catch the Moon Music here in L.A. Participants heard from the president and vice-president of the company, as well as music supervisors from the synch world of film, Tv and ads. Outside of getting a great deal of useful information from the industry, there were one-on-one sessions with music supervisors who listens to our music. Casey Brown from Trailer Park especially liked on of my songs and he's interested in using it!  Catch the…

Had a fun gig at Amazing Grace in Canal Park today. As part of the Octoberfest celebration in Germany (and the US) I decided to sing a few German beer drinking songs IN GERMAN. The crowd joined swaying their coffee mugs like beer steins and singing along on the very simple choruses. It was like having a beer tent choir or Liedertafel in Munich! 

I was contacted by Wisconsin Public Radio to inform me that a request was made by a listener for the Irish-American song, "Too Ra Loo Ral." My version was selected to be played on Simply Folk tomorrow sometime between 5 and 8 p.m. I was so honored to have mine selected,  since there are so many fine versions, besides mine. Simply Folk is a wonderful program with a great variety of folk music.

I had a wonderful evening on Saturday, May 5th at the Amazing Grace Cafe in Canal Park as part of the Duluth Homegrown Festival. I performed a variety of music from original to Irish ballads. What really made the evening so special was that I had a interactive audience that loved to sing along. It was like being a conductor directing a choir. The video on my home page is an excerpt from that evening.  Last year was a wonderful experience, too. If you've never attended the Duluth Homegrown, I highly…