Monday, December 31, 2012

Almost 2013 !!!

Where did December go?   Into a whirl of warm gatherings with friends and family for me, and I hope, for you.  I was up in Portland over the Christmas week.  Drove up from the SF Bay Area and saw a lot of snow over the passes.  Beautiful, and brrrrr!!

And here comes January and a new year; and if you are like me, lots of thinking about resolutions, checking back on goals, recalibrating, dreaming and scheming the big plans.

Major priority is transitioning from being a capable musician to a truly engaging performer.  Not that I want to stop being a capable musician :-), but when you take the trouble to come see me play, I want it to be a good time and well worth your while.   I continue to get so much out of my performance coaching sessions with Vicki Ambinder.   I was able to squeeze in a two hour session with her in person during my visit to Portland last week.   A real treat since we usually work on Skype.  

I have signed up for a music marketing class with Bob Baker starting in mid-January.  Bob Baker has written several excellent books on music marketing, and I am looking forward to his class – even though marketing is the last thing a sensitive, creative, and very modest person (who me?) wants to do.   But to get better at playing and performing, I’ve got to expand my list of places I play and let people know about my music making. So promo, here we go!

I am particularly looking for new places to play in SF, Marin and Sonoma counties these days.  I am also going to be spending more time in Los Angeles, helping take care of my 94 year old Mom.  So, if you have any favorite places where you hear live music, thereabouts or in between, I would appreciate your ideas and suggestions.

Speaking of venues, I have been working with the Freight and Salvage in Berkeley as a board member for awhile now.  The Freight is a long established venue and does a first rate job of encouraging and supporting acoustic music.  If you haven’t come to a show since the Freight moved into their new venue, you need to!!  It is one of the best listening rooms I have been in anywhere; and one of my favorite performers, Clair Lynch will be there on January 24th – fine, fine song writing and truly superior musicianship.

In terms of my own shows: Chester’s in Berkeley is changing owners, and we don’t know how that will affect their commitment to live music; but at least for January, Dorcas Moulton and I will be playing with Sonic Boomerang on Saturday, January 5th, and we’ll be back with Randy Rood, Patty Hammond and some other talented folks on Thursday, January 17th.   I’ll be at the Kensington Farmers Market on Sunday, January 13th  with Dorcas and Patty.   And I have a children’s music gig with Michael Hanna on the 19th.  So fun!!   That’s a private party, but if you have young kids, we play a lot of kid’s songs at the Farmers Market too, so drop by.

Hope your January is full of good things and big plans too.   Happy New Year, and all best wishes for a great year ahead!!

John
Roy Zat
Croizat
Whatever

Saturday, December 1, 2012

Hello December

Well Here comes Santa Claus and Christmas music again.  (And, every songwriter’s dream is to write the next Christmas standard.)  ‘Tis the season of holiday parties, lots of music making and calorie counting.  

But let me savor November first:  three shows of   “A Celebration of the American Song”  with Chappell & Dave Holt, Bob Loomis and Dorcas Moulton (thanks to all of you who came out!!);   a great night at Chester’s with the Quake City Jug Band,  bluegrass at the Taco Jam,  singing at the Kensington Farmers Market (lot’s of kids songs and so much fun!!);  and a couple of music parties.  I was down in Santa Monica with family over Thanksgiving also – a small gathering and very nice and relaxing.   I have so much I am thankful for.   I hope the same for you.

Saw a great band at the Freight & Salvage recently,  “Le Vent du Nord”  from Quebec.  I have mentioned them before, and here is another Youtube link.   Such fun music!!  Olivier, the fiddle player, keeps a driving rhythm going with his feet as he plays.  My legs are tired after just one full-tilt fiddle tune, and he went for over an hour.  I jokingly asked him how many shoes he wears out during the year.  He said his shoes last, but he goes through five stomp boards a year.  I can believe it.

Big thing in my musical endeavors these days is that I have started working with Vicki Ambinder, a performance coach.  She is in Oregon, and we work on skype once a week, going deeply into a song, digging into the story, the point of view, the emotional trajectory, pacing, how best to present it, etc. etc.  I was skeptical that working on skype would be very productive, but it works well and Vicki has been immensely helpful.  I have been playing and performing music for forty years, and I still have so much to learn!!   One more thing that I am thankful for.

Coming up in December,  I am playing at Chester’s in Berkeley this Saturday, December 1st, with my long time music pals, “Don’t Look Back” and with Zoe Carter, Maria Kersey and Dorcas Moulton.  Music starts at 7:30 and there is no cover.  This will be a good show with glorious harmonies and some very hot picking!!  Dorcas and I will be at the Kensington Farmers Market on Sunday, December 9th from 10am to 2pm, with Patty Hammond on bass.  And back at Chester’s with Quake City Jug Band on December 20th.

Otherwise, I’ll be wrapping presents and being good.   Merry & Happy Everything to you: Bodhi Day, Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice, and Yalda.   Hope the holidays are filled with good things for you, family and friends.  

John
Roy Zat
Croizat
Whatever

Friday, November 2, 2012

Hello November

Boo!!!   Here comes November -- the leaves are turning and falling, and we have some of our best weather of the year in the SF Bay Area.

I was down in Los Angeles two weeks ago for the annual FAR-West Folk Alliance conference.  It was more than wonderful, and finally I learned what  the difference is between folk music and Americana music -- drums!!   Seriously though, the workshops were excellent; and I am glad I did not finish my CD before the conference because I got some very good information about planning and production -- I have some re-thinking to do. Chris Strachwitz, the founder of Arhoolie Records, and Barry McGuire, the singer of Eve of Destruction,  were honored; and it was interesting hearing a bit of their history.   And, I heard so many inspiring performances at the conference!!  I could not possibly list all of them, but I'll give you two to check out:  a new band,  Salty Suites and a veteran  Johnsmith.   

I hosted my own showcase room at the FAR-West conference for the first time.   It was a bit of work, but it was great hearing so many talented artists up close.   Got to sit in with several and that made it even more fun.

Back home, I am working with Dorcas Moulton, and Chappell and Dave Holt on our "Celebration of the American Song".   We are doing two shows in Berkeley, at Chester's on November 3 and 4; and in Occidental at the Occidental Center for the Arts on November 11.    It is no small challenge telling the story of American song in two hours but we will cover a good part of it, and we have an eight page program booklet to fill in more details.   It will be interesting and a whole lot of fun.   Hope you can make it to one of those dates. 

Other doings:   I'll be playing the bluegrass Taco Jam at the Baja Taqueria on November 5th, with wild man Stacy Samuels and other excellent players.    Dorcas and I are playing the Kensington Farmers Market  on November 11th in the morning, before heading up to Occidental.   And we will be at Chester 's on November 15th with the Quake City Jug Band.

I am volunteering with the San Francisco Bluegrass and Old Time Festival again this year.  The festival is not until the second week of February, but we are planning and lining up bands for it now.   The SFBOT (as we say) is an urban festival taking place in the folk clubs and listening venues of San Francisco and neighboring cities.  It is more strictly than Hardly Strictly, if you know what I mean.

There's a wee bit of my news and I would love to hear some of yours.   Hope you are doing well and got lots of treats.

all the best,   John

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Hello October

October!!   Halloween stuff in the stores already, starting to make plans for Thanksgiving and even year end holidays.   Oh my!!

September has whizzed by with my ears mostly in my headphones --  working away on CD number three.   I had hoped to have it ready by mid-October, but that deadline was long ago abandoned.   I have some good songs, and I am putting the time in to make them sound right.  I am broadening the format from my "Solo" CD and  including multiple instruments on the songs and the talents of other musicians.   Actually, I am thinking seriously of abandoning the CD concept and sending out songs as I get them done.  Remember the days when bands put out singles?  Well, it seems to have come round again, with 45s being replaced by web downloads.   

Had some fun performances this last month (Chester's, Kensington Farmer's Market, Cole Valley Street Fair, and Bella Winery among others),  and I saw some good music too.  Ray Bonneville with Nina Gerber at Studio E were excellent as expected.   (Do check him out.)   And, I went to a house concert performance by Evie Ladin and Keith Terry.   They do old time and folk mixed with body percussion of all kinds.  Lively stuff and a lot of fun!!    Evie teaches, and I got one of her DVDs to expand on my repertoire of foot "tappage."    Quite a work out!!

I am heading down to Los Angeles in the middle of October for the annual FAR-West (Folk Alliance western region) conference -- a business gathering for folk musicians.   It was excellent last year, and I am sure I will get a lot out of it again this year.   I have filled my showcase room and have a nice variety of artists performing in it.  I will be doing some performing myself at several showcases there as well.  

But not so much performing in the Bay Area in October.  I'll be at Chester's in Berkeley this Saturday, October 6th with Dorcas Moulton.  Sonic Boomerang will open, which is always fun; and we hope to see you if you are out and about.  At the end of the month,  I am doing a fundraiser in Rohnert Park with the "Spare Me The Details" Band.  And, I'll be back at Chester's on November 3rd, most likely sharing the bill with Don't Look Back.

Looking further out, Dorcas and I will be doing a concert at the Occidental Center for the Arts on November 11th with Chappell and Dave Holt -- A Celebration of American Song: Old Time to Jazz, Traditional to Original.     We are putting together a show to touch on the huge variety of American music, which is no small challenge.   The "OCA" is a first rate venue, and it is very exciting to be working on this production with such talented folks.   Already planning and practicing to make this a real stand out event.  Save the date!!

That is a bit of my good news.   Hope you are making some good news of your own.  Let me hear from you.

All the best,   John

Friday, August 31, 2012

Hello September

Last day of August and where did the summer go?!    Sun and fun, I hope.   

I had some in August.   My daughter was visiting from Monrovia where she works for the UN.  (Monrovia?)  Did a little geo-caching with my friend Bill Spence.  (geo-caching?)  An oyster barbeque at Point Reyes (yum!), and a visit to the Gold Country (didn't find any).

And I even played a little music.   Had some good nights at Chester's as usual, and my house concert with Dorcas Moulton and Sonic Boomerang was sure a treat.   Last Sunday at the Kensington Farmers Market the weather was gorgeous, and it was a pleasure playing with Patty Hammond on bass and with Dorcas on accordion.   We had a lot of families and a wonderful time with "Down By The Bay," "Wheels On The Bus" and other kids songs.   And we always come away with some great food in addition to some change in our pockets.   I am eating well!!

I read a very interesting book by Tom Jackson about performing and getting folks excited at your live shows.   Smoke!! Strobe lights!!  Just kidding, but Tom has some good ideas and you've been warned.    And seriously, something that really gets me excited these days is flat foot dancing and I am starting to learn some of those steps.    Check out this video.  It's a workout!!

I am working hard getting ready for the FAR West (Folk Alliance Region West) conference in October.   I would like to have a new CD ready for it and am scrambling to complete the recording now.   (Randy Rood who did such nice work on my Solo CD will be doing the mixing.)    I am volunteering at the conference, playing some, and also hosting a showcase room; and it has been fun getting my showcase slots filled up and interacting with folks who will be at the conference.

Coming up in September, I'll be playing on the 1st (why, that's tomorrow night!)  at Chester's in Berkeley with Laura Lind, Dorcas Moulton and Searle Whitney.  We'll be doing old time, folk and originals.  The Kookie Uke Lady will open.   On Sunday, September 9th, I'll be at the Kensington Farmers Market;  on Thursday, the 20th,  I'll be back at Chester's;  and on Sunday the 23rd, I'll be at the Cole Valley Street Fair with Don't Look Back.    You can always see where I am playing at my website www.royzat.com.

Next Friday I am going to see Ray Bonneville perform.   I saw him a couple of years ago at the Kate Wolf Festival and he got me started on the foot accompaniment.   A fine guitar player and songwriter too.  Here is an example.   He has such a great sound!!

Hope you are all doing well and looking forward to a good Fall season.       All the best,   John

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Here comes August

Here comes August and for us in the SF Bay Area, the ending of fog season and the beginning of true summer.  Ahhhh . . .
  
My July was sure busy.   It started with The Kate Wolf Festival, which was fantastic -- inspiring and humbling to hear how good the stars really are.   K.D. Lang was the Saturday headliner and was absolutely mesmerizing.   She's not someone who's music I follow, but wow !!   

The weekend before last, I played in Inverness with "Who's On Top" and then attended  the 40th year reunion of the Camp Meeker Players.  Such a treat to see people I hadn't crossed paths with in years; and my, haven't we all gotten older (but not old) !!  We got some good music making in of course, reprising old songs from bands we were in back then, and from some of the shows.   Last Friday, I saw Steve Riley and the Mamou Playboys at the local Zydeco dance.  (Absolutely my favorite cajun/zydeco band --highly recommended !!)  Then on Sunday,  I played at the Napa Porchfest with  Laura Lind, Searle Whitney and Dorcas Moulton.  A very fun event -- 50 bands on the porches of lovely Victorian houses in old town Napa.   July whizzed by and I hope yours was filled with fun too.

Coming up in August, I will be playing at Chester's in Berkeley on the first Saturday and third Thursday as usual.   This Saturday I will be playing with Randy Rood and Dorcas Moulton, and Sonic Boomerang will open.   Not sure yet about how we'll have fun on the 16th, but I expect some will be had.

On Saturday the 18th, I will be playing a house concert in El Cerrito , sharing the bill with Allene Rohrer and some of her musical friends.   I am really looking forward to this !!   Playing at restaurants and bars is always fun of course, but it is such a pleasure to play in a quiet setting when people have come to listen and enjoy more of a concert presentation.    If you are free that evening, it will be a particularly nice event at a beautiful home in the El Cerrito hills.   It will start at 7:30, with music from 8 to 10 pm .   Reservations are required and you can get more details by emailing Allene Rohrer: adangerzz@gmail.com

I'll be playing a fund raiser for North County Community Services at the Hoot Owl Vineyards in Healdsburg on the 25th.  And, then to finish out the month, I will be at the Kensington Farmers Market on Sunday, August 26th.  This is a small, boutique farmers market with highest quality organic produce and edibles.   There are chairs for listening when you want a break from shopping.  It is a lot of fun.

Other news:   I just got a pair of clogging shoes to improve the sound of my foot accompaniment.  Boy, are they fun!!  Tap, tap, clatter, clatter.  You can really stomp in them, and aren't you glad you're not living at my house !! 

Wishing you all a great August with sunshine, barbeques and of course good music !!

Monday, June 25, 2012

June is Winding Down and Here Comes July!


Hope you are doing well and looking forward to July like I am.

This is a bit early for my July newsletter, but I am sending it out now for a couple of reasons. I am going to be heading up to the Kate Wolf Festival this Wednesday and won't be back until early July. It usually take a few days to recover from the Festival: listening to music all day and playing music all night -- so I am planning ahead.

The second reason is that I have an interview with the Indie Showcase radio folks in Australia this Monday night (June 25th) and I want to let you know how to tune in. This is a big deal and I am really looking forward to it. To listen, just go to http://www.indieshowcase.net/ Join us in the Chat Room by going to the Main Menu on the left side of the page. Select Chat Room, type in a Nickname and press connect.

This will be a two hour show, so you can tune in any time between 5 to 7pm (that's my time in San Francisco). We'll be going through the songs on my Solo CD and talking about what was behind them, and also about the state of music for independent artists, which is very fast moving these days. You can send comments/questions/corrections :-) through the Indie Showcase chat room. The whole thing will be interactive and should be some fun. And for those who can't make it to listen to the live interview, the podcasted archive will be available afterwards on the Indie Showcase website.

Other news for July:

I'll be at my favorite Berkeley spot, Chester's, on Saturday, July 7th with Randy Rood and Reed Cooper. I told you about Randy's fine guitar playing last month, and we had a mighty fine time together then, and this month will be even better !! Michael Hanna and Sonic Boomerang will open, and I'll be sitting in with them for a few tunes too. Hope you can join us

I'll be at Chester's again on Thursday July 19th with Don't Look Back. Who's On Top will open. I put up a few more videos of Who's On Top (here) recently so you can see what we are up to. By the way, we'll be camping with most of Who's On Top at the Kate Wolf Festival and getting lots of playing time in. Bound to have some new songs come out of that !! Check out my website for more performance info: http://www.royzat.com and clink on the Calendar link.

More nice news about internet radio airplay recently. This last week, ending June 22nd, Solo was at #5 on the Top 50 internet radio folk chart (here) and Collaborations was at #3 on their Roots Country chart (here). Not sure what this all means, but I like it.

And I hope life is good over your way too. Let me know what you're up to.

All the best, John

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Here Comes June !!


Here Comes June !!

In the San Francisco Bay Area, we say "June gloom" because the cold foggy summer is coming, but it is still pretty lovely these days.

This Saturday, June 2nd, should be a very fun night at Chester's with JRZ and Friends. I will playing the first set starting at 7:30, with Randy Rood on guitar and Reed Cooper on bass. Randy is a very fine guitar picker (toured/played with Tex Williams, Merle Haggard, Tiny Moore and many others); and with Reed's solid foundation there will be some good music made. The second set will feature Michael Hanna and his new band, Sonic Boomerang playing blues and roots rock. (Bring your dancing shoes!!) As if that weren't enough, Dorcas Moulton and Chappell and Dave Holt may sit in for a song or two. And, please put June 21st on your calendars also, when I'll be back at Chester's with Don't Look Back.

I got some very nice news about internet radio airplay in May. My CD "Solo" hit # 1 on the Roots Music Report Top 50 Internet Radio Airplay Folk chart, and "Collaborations" hit #39 on their Roots Country chart. I also charted at #35 on the Roots 66 report. I had an interview on KC Cafe Radio in Kansas City and a nice feature on their website (here). I love the internet !!

School is out, and my animation class with Pam Stalker is over. It was so excellent, I may sign up for another next Fall. In the meantime, I am continuing to work on video and put up several on Youtube recently: two from the Donkey & Goat Winery show (here and here), a couple from a Chester's gig (here and here), and one with the band Who's On Top (here). I have a back log of video editing to do and will let you know when I put more up on Youtube. I would love to hear any feed back you have - likes, dislikes, suggestions.

I have started working on a new CD too, which I want to have ready in time for the FARWest conference in October. I have ten songs to record and just completed words to one of my favorite fiddle waltzes, My Old Home. It is such a pretty tune and I had been fooling around with ideas for a long time and not quite getting there. But finally, I got something that fits the feeling of the melody well. Getting a new song to come together is such a thrill !! Maybe we'll do a sneak preview at Chester's this Saturday.

The Razzberry festival over Memorial Day was sure a ton of fun, and I know the Kate Wolf Festival at the end of June is going to be too. Oh boy !!

The sun is shining on my front door, and I hope on yours too.

John

Friday, May 4, 2012

Happy May

Cinco de Mayo, Mother’s Day, Memorial Day coming up.  I am down in Santa Monica celebrating my mom’s birthday. German chocolate cake and red wine – mmmmmm. She is still spunky and stirring things up for us at 94.

The timing of my visit to LA was serendipitous as Bob Baker, music marketing guru extraordinaire, was in town and had invited folks to drop in for informal conversation at the Makai Lounge happy hour. It was a small group and very nice for chatting and indie artist shop talk. Thank you, Bob. I learned “the scale that will change your life” from Adrian Galysh.  And this important tip which I would have liked back when I was starting out .

Went to the Two Day Town music festival this last weekend at the Del Valle reservoir in Livermore. My first time there, and what a lovely gathering !! Much smaller than events like Strawberry or Grass Valley, but still lot’s of good music both on and off stage. And you can have camp fires !! (A very big thank you to Rich Chamberlain for his fine camp hospitality. ) It was good seeing and playing with long time friends and making new ones. Sure whetted my appetite for Razzberry and for the Kate Wolf festival.

Speaking of appetite and going back to the German chocolate cake (which I went back to several times actually), I have been thinking a lot about cake and pie lately. Here’s why: This was my mid-term project for the class I am taking at Berkeley City College. The assignment was to make an animation inspired by a painting. Wayne Thiebaud called to me, and it was a fun and tasty project.

Other video activities: I finished editing the videos of kid’s music I did with Michael Hanna, and have put a couple up on Youtube. Here’s one.  I sure don’t watch videos like I used to. I see camera angles, notice zooms and pans, scene transitions, etc. etc. I have a couple of video shoots this month, and I am learning more all the time.

And I have some fun gigs coming up. The first is at Chester’s Bay View CafĂ© in Berkeley this Saturday night, May 5th. I’ll be playing with Don’t Look Back which is always a treat. Come by if you can. The next day, I’ll be at the Kensington Farmer’s Market (at the Colusa Circle) from 11am to 1pm. I had been hesitant to get involved with playing out in the harsh elements of Northern California, but I am a convert now. I played there last month, with my friend Patty Hammond on bass, and we had so much fun!! This time, Dorcas Moulton will be joining me with her accordion. John Roy Zat and Friends will be back at Chester’s on Thursday, May 17th.

Don’t recall if I mentioned I have been learning Zydeco dancing. There are dances twice a week to live bands in my ‘hood with hot loud music and loads of style. A lot more fun than running on a treadmill for exercise.  

Hope you are doing great and that your toes are tapping too.

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

April music news for John Roy Zat

Hi – I hope you are doing great and enjoying more daylight and much Springing   Dark days of winter be gone.  Love and life is in the air !!

I heard some nice news about radio airplay this month.  My CD "Solo" debuted at #6 on the Roots Music Report Internet Folk charts, and hit #78 with on the Roots Music Report Chart for California for the week ending March 30th, 2012 - - up from #79 in the middle of March.   This sure keeps me inspired and motivated !!

Back on earth, I am diligently working on my French Canadian fiddling foot tapping.  It is fun but it does take awhile to build up the endurance (it's like jogging in place), not to mention the coordination.   I am planning to do a least one foot tap fiddle tune this Saturday at Chester’s.  I have been polishing lyrics to “On My Radio” and I revived a lyric for one of my favorite fiddle waltzes “My Old Home” also.

Speaking of Chester’s, I am sharing the bill this Saturday with Randy Rood and the Rounders.   Randy is the guy who engineered my Solo CD, and is a fine musician also.   He’s played with the likes of Merle Haggard (shameless name dropping) and his buddies are in the same league, so I have no doubt that some good music will be made.  I am thrilled that Patty Hammond will sit in with me on bass  (Her band Kicking the Mule ROCKS http://www.myspace.com/kickinthemule), and rumor has it that Dorcas Moulton may join for a tune or two on accordion.   If you are on Facebook, you probably already know I’ll start at and we play to .   If you can make it by, it will be nice to see you.

And, I’ll be playing Chester’s again on Thursday, April 19th with Don’t Look Back, and Zoe Carter and Maria Kersey.

Video and animation is the focus of my energies these days, and not yet much to show for my efforts.  I have been taking an animation class at Berkeley City College and learning so much.  Here is some fun for you: 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQcUqrKM3mc, and lots more here:http://www.nfb.ca/channels/Animation/.   Video is about 24 frames per second, which means a three minute song requires about 4,300 images.  There is some great animation software out there, but it still takes time.  I am working on an animation of “Crazy Glue” and it will be awhile before it's on YouTube.

My friend, Lisa Esherick is working on an animation of my song “Long Train Coming” and I saw part of it last week.  Very nice !!   Her friend, John Reilly an experienced animator, is also involved and they are using images from her paintings.   Lisa does wonderful art which you can see some of here: http://www.lisaesherick.com/    

I am working on videos of some children’s songs with Michael Hannah, and I am planning to do a few more of my songs for YouTube in the next month or two.   I have no shortage of aspirations :-)

Last month, I took an excellent workshop on music marketing put on through the West Coast Songwriters Association and sponsored by Media Local Studios in Menlo Park.    Learned a lot and have yet to take full advantage of it, but little by little we get there.   I have been working with Jeanette Lundgren at Mother Hen Promotions for awhile now, learning the ins and outs of Facebook and indie radio among other things, and that has been first rate.

Life is full and good over my way, and I wish very much the same for you.

Happy Easter/Passover/Nowrooz/Equinox -- and all the best,

John
Roy Zat
Croizat
Whatever

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

March News

I have sure been having a lot of fun with my music activities.   The outreach available now through the internet is fantastic and enables independent musicians like me to be visible and find people who like my music.  My CDs are up on iTunes, Amazon, CD Baby and other spots, and I have had sales as far away as Quebec, Germany and Bolivia.   I have been getting radio play in the Netherlands, Germany, Australia and a quite a few stations here in the US.     And I am getting some nice press.   Here is a link to my most recent review, from Indie Showcase in Australia: http://www.indieshowcase.net/index.php?topic=983.0     (When you get there, scroll down the page.) 

I have updated my website  and will be doing more work on it in the next couple of months.   My biggest priority now is learning video and animation (so that I can go viral on YouTube, YES !!).    I have been improving my music-making skills, studying fiddle with Chad Manning (I am so lucky !!), working on my guitar chops, adding in a bit more harmonica, and learning foot tap accompaniment  (Thank you, Ray Bonneville:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOwdBM554us&feature=related !!)   I just took a workshop from Pierre Minn on the infectious foot tapping that Quebecois fiddlers do .   (Check out this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUHXOkp5BmQ&feature=related )

Of course, I am having fun playing with my  Don't Look Back buddies (John Bidwell, Brian Bloom,  Richard Moore, and Dale Scott J and we  play out about once a month.   Also having fun working up songs with Zoe Carter and Maria Kersey, and with Dorcas Moulton, and I am playing out some solo.  Between performing and rehearsing, and all the jam sessions there are in the San Francisco Bay Area, I am getting more than enough playing in.   (I have been seeing a physical therapist to help me with the ravages of fiddling and guitar picking.  Too much fun can be grueling.)

Not writing any songs at the moment and it will probably be awhile before I have new ones to share, but I hope to have some videos up on YouTube in a few weeks.   I'll let you know.

I hope you are doing great.   If you have any feedback or any  favorite stuff you want to share, I would love to hear from you.

All the best,

John
Roy Zat
Croizat
Whatever . . .