As you all know I've been working pretty hard at the solo stuff for some time now. It seems like a good time to reflect what's happened. It was April first when I performed at Artichoke Music. I mark that as the first "real" solo gig I've done. I had played a few gigs before that but for some reason I think of the Artichoke gig as the beginning. At that time I had just started lesson with Mary Flower. I've spoken of her before but for those of you who don't know, Mary is a world class finger style blues player who happens to live here in Portland. You can find her at maryflower.com. Taking lessons from her has simply been amazing. I'm learning great new songs and my technique is getting better and better. It was also around that time that I went to Fur Peace Ranch for the second time. I've written and spoken quite a bit about Fur Peace and Jorma Kaukonen. See my blog post from April on the subject. In addition I began writing original tunes around then. I now have six in the hopper! So many things began for me musically around six months ago. Since then I've played numerous gigs and open mics and am having a great time doing it. Many thanks to those of you who have supported me by coming out. I feel like I'm at the beginning of something very cool. I have no idea where it's going except that I'm trying to become the best guitarist I can and enjoy the ride.

I've come some ways these last months. I now have two regular monthly gigs - the second Thursday of the month at Eugenio's and the first Friday of the month for the Spring Creek Coffee House poker party. The poker party has been an especially fun gig. And I'll be playing for the third time at Artichoke in October. What a great place it is!

Looking forward I'll be making a CD during the coming year. Mary will produce it. The current plan is to record and mix it at Secret Society in northeast Portland. I'm currently working on the material.

It's all been very exciting and gratifying. I've managed to live my dream and so far it's going great. I've got to mention my wife Kay in this regard. Without her support, advise and encouragement I could never do this. She is simply the best thing that has ever happened to me.

It's a little hard to believe but my musical journey is almost 50 years old. I began taking guitar lessons in February of 1963. My plan is to time the CD release to coincide with my 50 year anniversary of music and hold a CD release concert and celebration. I hope to include as many of the musician I've played with over the years as I can from my childhood friend Steven Gary to my Sons of Bernard band mates to the folks I'm just now meeting. Obviously I'll be making a big deal about it as the winter of 2013 gets closer.

As my musical journey moves forward it's important to remember why I'm doing it. It's easy to get caught up in it or think it's about me. It's not about me. It's about the music. What drives me is the love of music - a life long obsession - and the love of finger style blues in particular. I often tell my guitar students that to really get good you have to become addicted to playing. I think that describes me.