Saturday, June 19, 2010

I just got back from spending a week up in Grass Valley, first as a volunteer teaching assistant at the CBA Music Camp, and then attending the CBA Father's Day Festival

I had a great time this year.  At the camp, I was assisting Andy Falco, the guitar player for the Infamous Stringdusters in the advanced guitar class.  Turns out that in addition to being a great musician, he's also a good teacher and a super nice guy.  I haven't always been a fan of the Stringdusters (see my comments here, about the band with the previous guitar player), but after meeting Andy I decided to check them out again.  Their Thursday set was really good, and their Friday and Saturday sets were even better so now I'm a convert.  Their sound is a lot stronger rhythmically than I remembered, and they have some great songs and jamming pieces.

Other than that, the highlight of the weekend was Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper.  He really tore it up on a number of pieces, but my favourite was a slow one he did - Maiden's Prayer.