The Harp Guitar Gathering prides itself on its excellent record in not getting kicked out of hotels (with the noticeable exception of Nate Blaustein’s Motel 6 room that one year…).
Typically, we commandeer the bar area (absent this year) and generally most of the entire lobby, as was the case this year. We don’t just visit and party. We jam. The results are noisy and not always entirely musical, but always entertaining. At least to us.
So after the evening’s respectable public concert, the real music begins…
Claude Laflamme and Andy Wahlberg get right to it…
Andy McKee tries out Mike Doolin’s HG.
Whatever he’s laughing about…
…soon has Nate Blaustein chortling.
Bets Swarts chooses her weapon of choice, as Ed and Sally Dowling look on. Meanwhile, Bets’ other half Dan Pease has offloaded a 4 string mando-banjo on me…
…and I enlist Dave Powell to try to teach me some of his fiddle tunes (Dan and Bets soon joining in)
On the other side of the fireplace, James Platt and Steve Farmer ignore us to create their own Holloway duet
Tony Karol chats up SB…
…and Claude’s wife Ann
Craig Keever enjoys his Tonedevil…
…and Randall Sprinkle, his Karol
(Randall – why, in every picture do you look like “Jack Nicholson meets The Cat in the Hat”?)
Mike Doolin, looking none too happy about having to submit his mandatory annual Harp Guitar Gathering urine sample…
Meanwhile, John Thomas decides to help Stacy Hobbs on Alistair’s carbon fiber HG…
…which seems to captivate Rich Reed…
…the guys get more serious (Stacy on his Dyer, John tries Alistair’s carbon 9-string)
Back out front, Andy regales the crowd with “Cows With Guns.” Our harmonizing soon turns into a contest for who can end on the highest note…
…he won
…while Andy’s daughter Meg and husband Dmitry try to pretend they’re not related…
My favorite photo…Stacy and I in the zone
Moments like these are a big part of what keeps us coming back.
But we’ve got a full day tomorrow, so most of us eventually start heading off to bed (with, naturally, visions of harp guitars dancing in our heads…).
Next: Sunday morning Workshops and Arranging Challenge
