Almost August and it's getting busy

July has flown by.  I'm reminded of a line from Al Stewart's song Time Passages,  "The years run too short and the days too fast." I have a line in my song The King's Shilling, "Time seems to move slower the older I become" but I think I'm wrong and Al has it right.

As you would expect, music is what makes the days go by so quickly.   I'm working on the follow-up to Wires Rosewood & Roots and have most of the guitar parts done.  David Findlay, my producer, has done some initial mixing on the guitars and in a moment of inspiration, started tinkling on his piano and we ended up with a couple of piano parts for one of the new pieces.

I've been releasing some of the guitar parts as we get them finished and you can find them all on my website here.

We're aiming to have the CD (as yet with no title) released in early 2014.  We still have a lot to do but the timing should work. I'm part way into composing the 11th of 12 tracks and the musical gods have been whispering melody fragments in my ear for the 12th so the composition phase is well on the way to completion.  Then it will be time to sit down in the Otitis Media studio with David in his producer's hat and add the other instrumentation to complement the guitar.

In the meantime, Lunenburg Folk Harbour Festival is coming up for the weekend of August 8-11 and your humble correspondent is honoured to be in the line-up. On Saturday afternoon from 3:30 to 5, as part of the Festival's School of Folk, Scott and Ryan Huppman, Christine Campbell and I will be hosting a guitar workshop in the Central United Church Hall.  There will be three different playing styles so bring your guitar and pick up some tips and tricks.

On Sunday afternoon at 3:00 I'll be playing on the Bandstand Stage in the park next to the Town Hall.  This stage is open to the public and you don't need a festival pass - just bring a chair or a blanket and enjoy the music.

There's lots more news to come, including an upcoming tour in the fall and some plans for 2014 already.  Thanks for listening.

Cheers, Bob

bobardern.ca