Mark Evans

Wendy me darlin' don't defect da ranks! Hold fast! That diatonic beast is a different stripe altogedder! May suit you to a tee, then again...could take ye unawares an' we'd loose our Bellowbelle ta limbo an' a trip across da river Stix! What I'm about to say could draw a "tread drift" warning and I'm already holding one penalty card from another thread...but think of EC bellows control as punctuation within a sentence. For me it brings a little more of an organic feel to the instrument which for sure from the get-go is a part of the anglo (Get thee back). Hold da line me dearie, an' listen not to the Siren's song! Now quiet, just between you an' me...if ya must an' figger out da beast, let me know how ya did it...all quiet like, an' promise not ta tell.

Hum, wouldn't dream of speaking for either of my fellow dwellers in the land o the Free an' dah Brave, but I would not mention the retailer in questions name because "it" is viewed in small town America as a plague. Once established on the outskirts of a community, it is only a matter of time before the small shops in the town centers slowly go out of business. "It" is infamous for labor practices that are an abomination. Aggressive is "Its" corporate mindset. "It" stands poised over small town America with a cudgel in "Its" mitts and uses our own little icon to my left as "Its" logo. Go pick your reason...I've said too much already . I stand with Stephen. The record is now out there. Let it stand. The artisans have been well defended. In fact were I younger, richer and in better health, I'd get in line for an EC, shut me yap and wait (didn't hardly know their names before this punch-up began). Paul and Ken have managed the situation in a measured and responsible way. Bravo. In future we'll all be a bit more careful would be my guess. Oh, I can't wait to use "slagg off" in conversation...got to get the proper pronunciation though. I'll try it out on fellow commuters in the morning !

Question: Was it a low or high D whistle? I purchased a low D whistle that is made of pvc pipe (don't laugh, it is drop dead beautiful black and a stunning tone). One of the makers selling points was that it would be very useful in a punch-up. Now I have a mental picture of you going at them, whistle in hand, like Dartanian!

Not just ebay folks.....I received an urgent email from what appeared to be one of my credit card companys. They suspected unauthorized activity on my card and if I didn't act right away (by giving them passwords etc) my account would be suspended. I reported this communication to police and the credit card company. Yes as has been mentioned here already, nobody but me seemed to be worried.

Wendy, Congradulations you Heavyweight Boxer you!

Quite a wake up call Jim. I mentioned my wife's name in the forum, and low and behold the next time I google her (that didn't sound quite right), there is it at #5! Thank goodness I had mentioned to her my use of her name in Alan's discussion on being a professional...she could have been offended and suprised. This must have caused the builders in question a great deal of pain. It's not fun, but I would like to say that several of the C. Net family....made me very proud in their staunch defense against a particularly unhinged rant. Were I to need someone to watch my back in a pub punch-up vertual or otherwise, they'd fit the bill methinks. For good or otherwise it's out there and their swift response brings a little balance to what otherwise could be very damaging. I know, because there are two reviews of a performance I was involved in over ten years ago floating around on the net. One good, one very ugly and hurtful to me personaly. P.S. It occurs ta me you'd be a tough customer in a altercation as well .

Well Helen, a questionable avocation as a clogg dancer was brought to a swift end. The thigh muscle on the right side is still week and I have a really cool scar! Just thankful that bar didn't come down on the knee. Grunting and singing are very closely related...give 'er a little try.

Howdy, again... As most music folks in the Cambridge area are aware, the Plough and Stars barely escaped closin' it's doors. This weekend has turned into a rip-roarin' fund raiser! Eddy and the boys will be on from about 6:00-7:15, before us there will be a number of bands and after us groups will be doing 45 minute sets up till 11:30 ( gotta keep those apartment dwellers from across the road from gettin' their hind-ends in a bind). Anyhoo, that's what's sposed' ta be goin' on. Gonna be a rather ecclectic blend ah' reckon

Thank you Robert. It was a remarkable experience. The other cutter working the lot with me came right over and threw me over his back, up a steep grade and in his truck in what seemed seconds. He laughed and told jokes I dare not repeat here, we both put a big "dip" in....funny to think back on. The hospital and coming out of shock was the end of the party and my logging adventure. I too feel bad about the clear cutting we did for what is now a very large man-made lake with fancy homes and yuppy communities. A lot of animal habitat, farms and wood lots were dystroyed for what purpose. Don't even have the solace of planting trees to make myself feel balanced about it. Have done a couple of benefit concerts for local conservation groups over the years...the tally still ain't even.

Helen, from grunting to singing...Okay? Oh, I'd never bite dear Renee. He's a 70 year old Acadian Biologist who loves life and can walk me into the ground. The madman just bought a Horner Panther from the Button Box and has insisted that I teach him to play it. Huh? We start on the first tune in the tutoral...Twinkle, twinkle little star...this afternoon. I can't play a diatonic box for beans...we are doomed !

Derek, That is something I never even thought of on a EC. For years I played a drone notes on different tunes and songs, just adjusting the fingering to accomodate whichever note is being held (I do it quite a lot actually). It certainly is a compromise in dexterity, but the expense of adding what you discribe...wow! Why not, I guess.

Al, I like that grunting between the chorus. That I could manage. Had a colleague from work stop by to hear a session I was playing in. Already adjusted by several adult beverages, chere Renee walked up and started talkin' ta me. It's all I can do ta keep up with the other players! I grin an' raise me eyebrows (looking like I'm havin' an attack of heartburn I'm sure), but it doesn't wave him off. Grabs me by my chops like I was a pooch an' scrubbs up me short hair. By some sort of intervention from I don't know where, I didn't loose me place in a rather too quick version of Off To Califorina. Nobody said nuthin'...not even a grunt between the chorus.

Robert, I logged for 6 months while living in Glennville, North Carolina. It was all about tryin' to prove to my old dad that I was a "real man" for he told me that being a musician wasn't a "real" man's job. Great fellas I met and worked with. One afternoon "lapping" a felled oak coming up from under a large limb, the bar of my chainsaw bounced right down on my thigh. Right to the bone and I didn't feel a thing (for the first half hour). Wish I had had someone to make music with then. Folks would listen but I was alone. Have not touched a saw in 28 years. In those short 6 months I damaged the hearing in my right ear which just now is becoming a problem. Ah youth, how do we survive it?

Thank you Helen for the Stephen update (I'm sure he's spending time with that beautiful Ambonia English...gelosia manga mi cuore!). Elementary school teaher eh? I'm in a state over one with my daughter (not music thankfully). Take blood pressure medication I do, and took an extra beta blocker (am told it puts a rosey glow on an otherwise "Crabb" like personality) this evening durning homework so as not to get stark ravin' loony in front a' the kids . What's this about not singin'? Allison, you are about holy work and my thanks to ya'!

Forgive me for what I'm about to do...but Wendy has scratched an ich o mine. For the last 15 years I have been a voice teacher on and off (doesn't speak well for my character I know). Durning that time I have had a large number of adult students who in their 40+ years have decided to give themselves voice lessons and find out why they can't sing (they think they can't sing). In almost every case where these students came in all bound up not able to use their instruments, the root cause has been some unkind remark by an authority figure in their past (Sister Assumpta: "you're horrible, just move your mouth with everybody else...just don't sing!"). Long, hard road coming back from that. Some couldn't and there was no reason other than that strident harpy's screech still ringing in their ears. Glad you didn't let some foolishness shut you up Wendy...Bravo! My mini-rant is now finished, with apologies. Edit to clean up a bit a' creative spellin'.

I'm one for worry...particularly after Nanette's stroke. So, I've been holding off asking half expecting Helen or someone else to say, Where's Stephen Chambers? I know he was on the mend, but...well you know...not like him to have been silent this many days.

Well said Henk.

Thank you Al.

Well, here I am again...sorry. One of my duties here at Framingham State College is to facilitate the Spring Performance Series. The second offering in this series may be of interest to area Gaelic enthusiasts and squeezers. On March 7, 2005, at 1:30 p.m. in the Ecumenical and Cultural Center, Harpist Mairead Doherty and friends will present a program entitled: GAELIC TRADITIONS with Jim Buchanan, fiddle Mairead Doherty, harp Mark Evans, concertina and tenor Jim Gleason, wooden flute and tin whistle Joey Sullivan, bodran This group of musicians (with the exception bein' roly-poly ole me) has worked with Mairead giving concerts in schools and Grange Halls for years promoting Gaelic Culture. Their music making is sparkling and drop dead beautiful. These concerts only run about 40 minutes and have a nice mixture of community folks, students and faculty. Free and open to the public, the center is a beautiful stone chapel from 1870 with stunning acoustics. If you'd like to come, just email me directly at mevans@frc.mass.edu and I'll arrange parking and such. P.S. If you manage to sneak off from other duties...in for a penny, in for a pound...bring along yer squeeze box and we'll have some fun afterward in this hall that makes a concertina sound like a pipe organ!

Interesting stuff. Alan, I don't think you went about it the wrong way at all! With our most primary instrument (voice) that's what we do from the moment of self-awareness. Twenty years of not playing concertina or banjo produced some amazing discoveries for me. I had always played "by ear" on both instruments which I still feel is the most natural for me. However, second time 'round on the concertina I wanted to learn a lot of new material. Man, it worked and didn't seem the least bit confining as I assumed it would. Looked back over material I had picked up by ear. In some cases I had "devolved" the tune into something completely different. The written score brought clarity from which ornamentation could be chosen rather than a "habit." Am still not interested in reading music on a five string banjo...just a good Yee-Haw and off I go! Coming back to this instrument has caused me to rethink how I play however, and I find myself using guitar techniques and other styles of banjo playing that I would never have considered before. My own rule for making music has become, Do Somethin'...Even If It's Wrong! (advice given me by a passenger in the 18 wheeler I was attempting to get into the next gear as I foolishly tried to pass a farm truck on a mountain road) .

That's her!

Limonaire is a maker of a crank organ typical in Europe durning l9th and early 20th century (I'm sure Stephen can give full information on this instrument). Wonderful...The music cards were folded and placed in a tray feeding them into the instrument (quite a valuable antique as were those yellowed cards). This fellow, Paul Luc had the most charming collection of Musette music and of course Edith Piaf. He would sing with them and people would gather and sing along. I bought one of his cassettes and wore it completely out. He was a most charming gentleman and added to my enjoyment of some wonderful evenings in a lovely city.

Is there not a member of this forum (from Rhode Island I think) who's avatar is a painting of a young girl with a red shirt sitting on a rock playing a black anglo? Seems to me it had this impressionistic light happening...very nice.

Ifin' ah weren't a banjer player ah might a figgered that out! Paint on a Tina indeed! What was I thinkin'? There is a canvas of a concertinist I started up in my closet....Haven't smelled oil paint in a long time...