Contra Dance at the Monterey YMCA

A local group called the Crabapples hosted an open mike contra dance at the Monterey YMCA last night. Initially the musicians outnumbered the dancers, but the balance of power shifted after the first hour. A lot of fun. Anyone learning an instrument should get out and help play for one of these events in whatever capacity they can. (There were even a couple of trumpet players in the mix. They sounded great!)

The Portland Collection tunebook is where the Crabapples pulled a majority of their tunes. The second volume is out, along with accompanying CDs. The neat thing about contra dance tunes is that they draw heavily from standard Irish session tunes. Whacking two acoustic birds with one bow, if you will. :)

Out on the Ocean (Jig)

Fiddle, Key of G. Someone dinging a triangle on the B part lends a little nautical ambiance to the tune. I played it through twice. The second time seemed to clear out the early morning cobwebs. :)

How to Podcast my Tunes

If you use Apple iTunes, here is how you can listen to a "Podcast" of my fiddle, mandolin, banjo and guitar tunes:

1. copy this link: http://gtolle.audioblog.com/rss/zen_fiddler.xml
2. switch to iTunes
3. click the Music Store menu link
4. click the Podcasts menu link
5. click the "Publish A Podcast" icon
6. paste my link into the field named "Podcast Feed URL" in iTunes.
7. click the Continue button and follow any additional instructions iTunes provides.

Now you have a handy collection of my audioblogged fiddle, mandolin, guitar, and banjo MP3s on your iTunes player. Not that anyone will buy these anytime soon, but it is a neat way to share tunes over the internet.

Now I've got to get back to my homework. Cheers, GT