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KarenA

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Opa John suggested that I do this, so you can blame him. icon_lol.gif

I recently discovered this forum and thought I'd try it after pretty much falling asleep at Flatpicker Hangout. I'm happily married and living in the hills of Arizona. We have 2 kids and 2 grandkids, and I work from home as a research consultant. I started playing acoustic guitar at age 17, after sneaking into my brother's record collection and listening to Doc Watson and have been pretty well stuck on bluegrass since. I convinced my brother to buy a guitar at the same time which worked out well as far as having a picking partner of equal ability. Occasionally I'll get sidetracked into some fingerstyle playing as I have a fairly diverse love of music by Michael Hedges, Leo Kottke, Will Ackerman, Don Ross and many more. I'm currently playing a Martin HD-28 that I bought 2 years ago after a long series of budget guitars. And since I try not to be one-dimensional, I also enjoy hiking, photography, genealogy, sewing, and doing difficult crossword puzzles.

I'll try not to be obnoxious and obtrusive, all while maintaining a sense of humor. And now that you're totally bored, you may return to your normal browsing routine.

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Quote Originally Posted by kiowa1

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Hi, Karen, and welcome. I thought, by your avatar, that you were a young Cher. icon_lol.gif Hope you enjoy your stay here. wave.gif

 

I did too, Jack! Since when are we allowed to use our high school graduation picture as our avatar?


I mean, I got away with it, but they didn't know I didn't graduate HS until I was 65 years old! icon_lol.gif

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Welcome to the forum KarenA,,,, even if you're from a warm place like the hills of Arizona. smile.gif


We're freezin' our butts off, here in south-western Quebec. (-6* Celsius tonight) My cat keeps wanting to go "out", but minutes later, he's at the door, and he's got that look of panic in his eyes. "Lemmee Innnnnnn". eek.gif


I think he's a "Wussy-Cat" wink.gif

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Welcome Karen. I too like some bluegrass, although classic country is likely my favourite genre. Alison Krauss is one of my favourite artists but with her talent and personality, why not. Enjoy your stay. We hope to hear from you often. We don't get too many ladies to share their ideas with us so glad to have you on board.


What about your husband or children; do they play as well or are they listeners?

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Thank you all for the welcome!


Michael: the only recording I've done is mostly been at jam sessions etc. Haven't really tried to actually do any kind of a quality recording.

Kiowa1: lol @ "young Cher"....no one has ever accused me of that before, and now that my hair is a bit shorter and minus the bangs, there's no chance!

Steadfastly: my husband plays some bluegrass fiddle, and my youngest son plays guitar. My brother is the bigger musician, but unfortunately he's 2500 miles away in frosty New England!

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Welcome, KarenA! It sounds like you'll fit in just fine here. Be sure to check out the upcoming Virtual Open Mic coming up on the second Saturday. I imagine it will have a holiday theme. A bunch of us use handheld recorders that we use to upload our submissions to Soundclick or box.com. A few more involved folks break out the cameras and upload stuff to youtube. A lot post originals, though many of us stick with covers. Every now and then a couple of folks will collaborate on something and put it out there for the rest of us to admire or pick apart. By and large we're mostly polite though.

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Quote Originally Posted by Queequeg

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Hi Karen-

Welcome to the Monkey House.

Karen, what does a research consultant do?

 

Well, in a short summary, I track certain events online for the company that I work for....kind of a "What's happening out there that we don't know about but need someone with a lot of time of their hands to do the work for us because we can't afford our own internal employees to waste their day with this so we outsource it to someone who has nothing better to do." biggrin.gif
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Quote Originally Posted by KarenA

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Opa John suggested that I do this, so you can blame him....I'll try not to be obnoxious and obtrusive, all while maintaining a sense of humor...

 

I haven't been here long, but I welcome anyone who is trying not to be obnoxious. I can't pull it off and I am trying really hard.


BTW - I just got back from Sedona. If those hills are anything like the hills you live in, you are a very fortunate person!

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I can still remember one time driving from Phoenix to Flagstaff on I-17. About halfway to Flagstaff I was coming over a mountain ridge and Camp Verde was below me in a deep valley. One of the most beautiful vistas I'd ever experienced. It looked like the whole world was laid out before me.


The drive from Georgetown, CO to Estes Park, through the Rocky Mountain National Park, is nothing to sneeze at either. I've thrown snowballs in August up in the Rockies.


And, of course, there's always The Swiss Alps. If you've never driven through them, it's highly recommended. I've seen water, from melted Winter snow, shooting straight out of the side of mountains like a gusher in the middle of June!


And I think to myself, what a wonderful world. - I think Satchmo said it.

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Doc Watson!! Leo Kottke!! Michael Hedges!! you just rattled off 3 of my guitar heroes.

I had the pleasure of seeing Doc play live a couple of times and last time was a few years back and I met him, shook his hand, and told him about the first time I saw him with his son Merle. I started to walk away but Doc squeezed my hand and held on to it and drew me closer.

He wanted to talk with me more about my memory of seeing his son. I could tell he was touched and happy somebody was remembering his son Merle to him.

Doc, Merle, and Michael are in heaven now.


I've seen Leo Kottke many times and one unforgettable tour was in 1988 when Leo and Michael hedges toured together and shared the stage! Incredible show and you can find some clips on YouTube from that. Michael hedges was a huge Neil Young fan and used to play the open mics at the Varsity in downtown Palo Alto.

It's great someone took videos of that and it's great to watch his excellent Neil Young covers too!.... I discovered Michael Hedges when he was first releasing his Windham Hill records and bought them. I had no idea he was a Neil Young fan until decades later.


I play a 1997 Martin HD28-VR which I found by accident. Sometimes a guitar finds YOU and that's what happened.

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Hi Karen -


I'm fairly new here too, having recently found myself more compelled by acoustic than electric when it comes to guitar.


I saw Michael Hedges when I was 15. As a pretty nervous kid who loved the comfort of structure, seeing someone who was determined to find every conceivable way to make musical sounds with a single instrument was really eye-opening. I saw Kaki King live recently, and while she has a very different energy about her than Hedges, she's just as committed to expanding the box of "what's possible" with a guitar, IMO, and it was totally inspiring. Now I am finding myself exploring the possibilities offered by alternate tunings.


Anyway, welcome!

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Quote Originally Posted by KarenA

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Thank you all for the welcome!


Michael: the only recording I've done is mostly been at jam sessions etc. Haven't really tried to actually do any kind of a quality recording.

Kiowa1: lol @ "young Cher"....no one has ever accused me of that before, and now that my hair is a bit shorter and minus the bangs, there's no chance!

Steadfastly: my husband plays some bluegrass fiddle, and my youngest son plays guitar. My brother is the bigger musician, but unfortunately he's 2500 miles away in frosty New England!

 

I think that's great! Having others in the family play is a definite plus for musical talent and I've found it always helps with family unity when interests are shared.
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Hello Karen,


a hearty Failte agus Dhia Duit from the other side of the pond.

We're mad as dogs and a quite disagreeable bunch here, but other than that, I'm wrong and a liar. You've got one bonus. Should your guitar implode, yer p.... awww...

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Thank you all. smile.gif


Ricochet: I never did get to see Michael Hedges "live" but I have the video of him at Red Rocks and sometimes I wonder if it inspires or discourages me...though I'm sure it's the former!

Katopp: A vacation trip to Ireland has been on my "to do" list for years. I've wanted to spend some time in the pubs, and between a guitar and too much booze, make a complete fool of myself. I need to convince my other half that it's a good idea.

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