4/16/08
I told my parents I was on the cover of Mandolin
Magazine this season and my dad called me
a celebrity. That made me laugh. I've also been reminded that
now I can release my new line of hair products (not).
The
first weekend of recording the new CD went extremely well. Easy
peasey. Our engineer, Jay, owns some of the coolest recording
gear EVER. Check out this mic:
Isn't it beautiful? Sigh. Just wait till
you hear it....
3/19/08
Ah, there's nothing like home. Just returned
from our first tour to Chicago which proved to be a fantastic
trip. We drove from NC and stopped in Frankfort, Indianapolis,
Champaign-Urbana and finally Chicago. We'll be home for almost
a whole month working on our next CD!
I'm selling an excellent mandolin that I used to record most our
CD, "Zephyr in the Confetti Factory". Have to fund the
next CD project somehow! Give me a holler if you're interested
or take a look here for more details: Greg
Boyd's Fine Instruments.
  
3/5/08
Opening for Solas
was such a treat! It felt more like a rock show than a traditional
Celtic music concert with green and blue lights dancing all over
the hall and two huge projection screens standing on either side
of the stage where closeups of our peformance were displayed.
I'll put up some photos of all that craziness soon.
We've just returned from the Northwest where we performed at the
legendary Wintergrass
Festival! Talk about craziness. Over 4,000
acoustic music lovers take over a hotel, church and restaurant
in downtown Tacoma complete with 24/7 jamming in every nook in
cranny. The best part was catching up with old friends and meeting
new friends. Although, I must say, the two standing ovations in
the beautiful restored church after our performance was also a
highlight :)
In other news: I've found that when practicing a slip jig, left
to my own devices, I begin walking in small circles while focusing
on minute details of playing. After becoming dizzy I realize that
perhaps the saying used to count the slip jig shouldn't be actualized
while practicing on one's own (1, 2, 3, buy the band a beer).
1/29/08
In three days we open for Irish supergroup
Solas
at the historic Grove
Park Inn as part of their three-day Celtic
Adventure Festival. Come join us!
10/29/07
We've been selected as a finalist for the
Independent Music Awards! "Levantine's 'Spinning' Barrel",
a track off of our CD, is in the running for Best World Traditional
Song. The entire track can be listened to on the voting page.
Please support us by clicking on the logo, listening to the track
and voting for us!
10/23/07
Off on to the next tour! We have a four flight
ticket from Charlotte to Portland to Phoenix to Denver and back.
Does one ever learn to enjoy flying?
The color change has been beautiful as we've been driving around
to gigs in the Southeast. We played to a sold out house in Hendersonville,
NC last weekend thanks to an awesome article in the paper. Read
it here.
9/27/07
Just heard word:
We're playing at the Wintergrass
Festival this February! YAY!
I'm quite excited....come party with us!
9/27/07
We're home! It's great to have a little break
before we go out traveling again. With all this free time I've
had time to put up more tour
and fun
photos. Wee! Our CA tour was pretty dang fabulous. We left time
for hiking and seeing old friends. That's the way to do it.
9/22/07
We performed for a lovely group of folks
in a gorgeous home in Long Beach. It was a true salon series,
as we played in the salon. The performance was comfortably casual
as the audience members asked questions in between musical selections
and wine and hor' dourves were plentiful. A warm welcome for our
first concert in Long Beach.
9/21/07
We played for an intimate gathering on the
third floor of The Gamble
House. It was so special to be able to play
in such a beautifully restored landmark. Several people in the
audience commented that the music made the museum feel like a
home again.
9/18/07
The
Millpond Festival rocked my socks! It was
such an honor to perform at the festival alongside all the other
monstrous bands. Highlights include witty conversation with Joe
Craven and his lovely family, conducting a
workshop and being able to watch all the other bands perform.
The festival is so well organized and they have great taste in
choosing their talent. I've been to many a festival where I was
disappointed with one band or another, but the Inyo Council certainly
does their research. Thanks, guys!
9/13/07
We hiked 1/4 way up Mt. Whitney in Lone Pine
yesterday! I feel so strong. And sore.
9/10/07
It's been a nonstop tour so far, traveling
from Sutter Creek to Davis to Berkeley, Mt. Shasta, Newman and
now Bishop. We have the next few days off to catch up on sleep,
hike and work on some music. Next up: Millpond Festival!
More photos added: tour
and promotional
8/25/07
We have new promotional
photos, a few more tour photos, (I would have more, but
I always forget the camera) as well as a couple more fun
pictures. Enjoy!
We're off for a month tour in CA starting next week. I'm really
looking forward to the Millpond Festival in Bishop and seeing
my family later in the month.
8/12/07
Another inspiring week at the Swannanoa
Gathering. There were fewer students this
week compared to Celtic week, but it made it all that more interesting
getting to know everyone more on a personal level.
A few highlights include having the entire fiddle week staff decompressing
after a long day by sharing stories about Stephane Grappelli and
Joe Venuti, learning how to do the French Canadian percussive
feet tapping with our new friend Eric Favreau, going out to eat
with the staff at a great Tapas restaurant. Oh yes, and witnessing
Matt
Glaser's epic moment: his first time wearing
shorts in the U.S.
7/23/07
Just finished our first teaching job at Celtic
Week during the Swannanoa
Gathering in Asheville! Jamie was teaching
Scottish fiddle and I wasn't officially teaching (I
get to teach at Fiddle Week in a couple of weeks), but
I stopped in to help Jamie out and listen in on all the other
classes going on (bodhran, tenor banjo, guitar, fiddle, uillean
pipes). I learned a lot and now want to take up the bodhran, tenor
banjo, guitar and pipes...
We
met some wonderful people from all over and reunited with some
friends from Scotland. My favorite
part of the week was a late night session in the dance hall where
all the instructors plus a few students played Irish tunes until
3am. Too bad we had to teach at 9 the next morning. Ouch.
7/13/07
We're finally returning to Asheville after
an intense three week tour on the West Coast. High points include
teaching at the Mandolin Symposium, collaborating with the Haas
sisters and the Clarridges at our Fiddler's Blowout concerts,
and spending time with family and friends. Low points include
a heckler sitting front row at one of our concerts, a lot of sleep
deprivation, and a whole lot of driving.
It was an entertaining tour to say the least. Can't wait to get
home and begin working on new music!
Pictures from recent gigs are now posted...more
to come soon!
7/3/07
Whew! Just finally got caught up on sleep
after a week in Weiser, ID (National Old Time Fiddle Competition)
and a week teaching at the Mandolin
Symposium in Santa Cruz. The symposium was
a lovely gathering of mando-aholics with a plethora of diverse
mandolin styles and music. It was a privilege to be a part of
it.
6/19/07
Wonderful review of our recent concert in
Asheville by Alli Marshall of the Mountain Xpress!
Read
it here
6/17/07
We're returning to Asheville after a week
of teaching at Steve
Kaufman's Kamp in Maryville, TN. What an experience!
The students were wonderful, the other instructors were so interesting
to talk to (and what fantastic musicians!), and the weather was
perfect! What more could ya want?
Ted Eschliman the author of the legendary JazzMando
site, has written a glowing review of our CD! Read
it here
6/9/07
Jamie and I are researching alternative transportation
(traveling so much isn't helping the environment) and we have
found fascinating results. Thought I'd share some interesting
links:
1. This will motivate you to think about your
next vehicle purchase: Who
Killed the Electric Car?
2. Do your part and make a difference: TIME
article on how removing your tie in hot weather,
wrapping your water heater with an insulated blanket and planting
bamboo will reduce carbon emissions.
3. Zipcar
- Only use
a car when you need one...Stop worrying about car insurance, maintenence
and parking. Oh
yeah, and it's cheaper than owning your own car.
4.
Buy a diesel vehicle and no change to your vehicle will have to
be made in order to use biodiesel. On the road and can't find
biodiesel? Mixing petroleum diesel and biodiesel is fine: Go
Biodiesel
In musical news:
Our Asheville debut concert was a very sweet event. It was a welcome
change to have our own home five minutes away from the venue where
we were able to have a meal and rest before the show. The Asheville
Arts Center is a wonderful venue for acoustic music. There should
be more concerts put on in their wonderful hall.
5/28/07
The
Northwest Folklife Festival must be one of
the coolest festivals that has ever existed. So many different
styles of music, culture, food all in downtown Seattle. Jamie
and I played once every day of the festival. We had a rockin'
contra set with our fellow rocker Jeff Kerssen-Griep on guitar
Friday night, some Greek and Bretagne music with our friend Stanley
Greenthal, his wife Kip and a wonderful clarinetist Christos Govetas
on Saturday, and then our own concert set on the last day to wind
things up. We're now getting ready for our upcoming gig in Spokane
which is a homecoming for Jamie as he used to teach violin lessons
at the venue.
5/9/07
We've finally booked a show in our new hometown
(Asheville, NC) for early June. The concert will be held at the
wonderful Asheville Arts Center. Yay!
5/1/07
Our SE tour with Kevin Burke and Cal Scott
was an extremely fun adventure. Tim O'Brien even showed up in
Nashville to play some tunes during Kevin's set. The tour ended
with a late night jam and plenty of story telling in Birmingham.
Check out some pictures
4/26/07
The wonderful guitar, mandolin and violin
luthier, John
Sullivan, has passed away from cancer. I was
hoping to have an instrument made by him someday. The luthier
world has lost an amazing maker and sweet person. He will be missed.
4/24/07
What a luxurious weekend! We traveled to
Jefferson, NC (near Boone...but out in the boonies) and were royally
treated at the River
House Inn where
we ate four course meals and canoed down the New River (I should
say up the New River as it is one of
the few rivers that flows north) Oh yeah, and we played a few
concerts...The
Bohemia Cafe was a sweet spot for a concert
and the audience couldn't have been more kind. We also performed
an acoustic set at the River House Inn. Can't wait to visit our
friends again in Jefferson.
Meanwhile, we're getting ready for our concerts with Kevin Burke.
Zephyr in the Confetti Factory is now available on iTUNES! I almost
feel famous now. :) Check
it out!
4/17/07
Jamie and I had a wonderful West Coast tour from northern Washington
to San Diego. We've just come from Chattanooga, TN where we had
a splendid gig and are looking forward to opening for Kevin Burke
on his South East tour in a week or so. Check out the schedule
for more info.
3/16/07
Zephyr in the Confetti Factory is now available
for purchase online! Check out the Music page!
The first two gigs of our West Coast tour have been wonderful.
Can't wait to take the train from Seattle to the Bay Area in a
few days!
3/4/07
We have somewhat recovered from our week
in Memphis at the Folk Alliance Conference. Chaos and music seem
to blend well together. We met some great new friends and played
music all week long. Great practice for our upcoming West Coast
tour in a few weeks.
The concert with Altan was quite a success! The audience was extremely
vocal (screaming and stomping) and the band couldn't have been
more friendly. There are a few new pictures up of our recent adventures
:)
2/9/07
We're opening for Altan in Knoxville in a
few weeks!
(Altan is a big name in Ireland and to Celtic music lovers all
over the place)
I'm so excited!
1/24/07
We've finally finished our duo CD "Zephyr
in the Confetti Factory"! It will be available for purchase
at CDBaby in two weeks!
There are different sound samples on the music page. Check them
out!
11/11/06
Music samples are now available on the MUSIC
page. There will be more to come!
We've created a new myspace page for our music. Have a look and
let us know what you think:
www.myspace.com/jamielavalandashleybroder
Also, there are more pictures up.
10/15/06
More pictures of Scotland have been posted.
Check 'em out.
Also updated the schedule.
10/9/06
I've updated my pictures. More to come!
10/3/06
Scotland was such an adventure! I don't know
where to begin except that I'll be posting pictures in a week
or so. Some of the highlights include having hot, sunny weather
for most of the trip, hiking in the pouring rain to a spectacular
waterfall, meeting so many interesting people, and feeling like
a rock star in Lochgoilhead where fans screamed their heads off.
7/25/06
Had a fabulous time visiting my family and
playing sold out shows on our West Coast tour. Now we're off back
to the East Coast where we'll be doin' a few shows and then we
fly to Scotland!
6/29/06
We're getting closer and closer to finishing
the CD. We're planning on goin' into the studio next week to begin
mixing a few tracks.
The schedule page is updated for our upcoming Scotland tour in
September. I can't wait!
5/15/06
My good friend, Lamont, has been nice enough
to loan me his beautiful Flatiron mando. Check out his rockin'
band at:
www.undertheradar-band.com
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