* AnyaViolins *

On Varnishing

2012-01-09T13:30:00.001-06:00

I used to dread the process of varnishing a violin. Even thinking about it kept me up at night as I anticipated an outcome that I wasn't happy with. I'm a visual person, and I have opinions about what looks "right" to me, and it seemed that I couldn't ever get the varnish to look the way I wanted it to. I didn't want it to be totally uniform and perfect (the factory look), but it needed a sense of being intentional, and a kind of aged look without intentional antiquing.

Part of the problem, in retrospect, was that I was using a varnish that was too tacky and difficult to apply, but more of the problem was in how I was applying it and also how uptight I was during the process of varnishing. I would kind of freak out if I sensed that the varnish was getting too streaky on the top as I was brushing it on, and since I wasn't sure how to remedy that streakiness, I'd kind of panic.

Needless to say, I've had a change of heart about varnish. I actually enjoy it now. Largely thanks to some good advice and a good varnish recipe, I started making my own oil varnish in my back yard here, and also gained the insight that wet oil varnish is meant to stay workable for as long as you need it to. If it starts getting streaky, just rub it out and move it around. Relax! Apply thin coats that are heavily pigmented so that you don't need too many to get the color right.

Varnishing can make or break an instrument; after spending months carving, scraping, and fussing to get a really nice looking violin "in the white," a poor varnish job can cheapen the whole look and create an expectation of a bad sounding instrument. As I mentioned before, I'm a person who really cares about the aesthetic and the whole "vibe" of the violin, so by the time I start varnishing, the instrument has been through a lot of scrutiny to get it looking the way I want it to (not that I'm always totally successful with this!). You see why I'm such a slow builder. But rather than dreading the varnish stage, I've come to think of it as one of the final steps before stringing up the instrument, which is the ultimate joy in violin making. . .

Quirky but cool

2012-01-05T12:55:00.003-06:00

Had this fiddle in my shop the other day, unusual f holes. Label says "Made in Austria" and that's it. Pretty nice sounding instrument, actually, played by a really good local player (which always helps out the instrument :)

Awful Purfling

2011-12-22T22:50:00.001-06:00

This is from a poor quality 1900s Strad copy (why do I work on these?) I suppose there's no question that it was done by hand (perhaps its only redeeming value), but obviously that particular hand couldn't have cared less about whether it looked good or not -- which is probably the most opposite from a real Stradivari as one could be.This example is case in point that older is -not- always better !!

Rib cage done

2011-12-13T12:48:00.001-06:00

Ribs and linings are complete. Here are the ribs before linings:

And here is a closeup of one corner block showing the linings installed:

Now I get to join plates -- and I'll be a happy camper when that's done :) After that comes all the fun stuff.

Next One

2011-12-06T22:30:00.001-06:00

Still amazed at how long it takes to do a decent job of bending ribs, using curly wood that is predisposed to cracking. I see why Stradivari often used much plainer maple for ribs than for the back -- I should take his lead on this, but for this next violin it's already too late. I've gotten into it with some nice looking (and curly) big leaf maple. I did finally get a couple of C bout ribs to cooperate quite nicely, and will wrangle with the rest of them tomorrow.

Spending hours cutting, scraping (to 1 mm), and bending ribs, only to have a bunch of them break -- we violin makers are an unusual breed.

My Latest

2011-11-22T14:51:00.001-06:00

Now it's varnishing time!

An Assorted Collection

2011-11-15T22:45:00.001-06:00

I took this pic the other day when I was figuring out how to arrange and hang some instruments on the wall in our living room. It wasn't meant to be much of a photo, but I kinda like it! The violin was my grandfather's -- it's a nice looking German made instrument labeled Robert A. Dölling. The varnish on the top is a little bit chippy in the corners, so I keep it out of circulation, but I still like having it out, hanging on the wall.

Louisiana Crossroads

2011-10-19T12:55:00.001-05:00

October is shaping up to be a very rich musical month in my world. Starting with En Francais and Fiddlers on the Bayou, I also played at Festivals Acadiens with Bonsoir, Catin last weekend -- one of the best weekends of the year around here -- and this week we're participating in 3 Louisiana Crossroads shows. The event is called "Accordion Blowout: Cajun, Zydeco, Lebanese and Conjunto." It will feature, appropriately, our accordion player in Bonsoir Catin, Kristi Guillory, who is a rather amazing and virtuosic musician, a small pack of dynamite who hits it hard on the Cajun accordion.

The first show in the series is tonight in Lake Charles, LA and it will be broadcast live on KRVS. You out-of-town friends can stream it live on www.krvs.org-- beginning at 7PM Central Time. Only tonight's performance will be aired on the radio.

The other accordion players in the lineup are equally amazing, so go ahead and have a listen, or come out if you can! Thursday and Friday nights the show will be at the ACA in Lafayette, LA. Tickets/info available here:
http://www.acadianacenterforthearts.org/Louisiana-Crossroads

Fiddlers

2011-10-10T12:45:00.001-05:00

I'm playing a cool gig this Thursday night, featuring 6 fiddle players representing different styles of fiddle music. Each of us has 20 minutes to play. I'll be playing a bunch of old-time Appalachian tunes.

It's at Vermilionville in Lafayette, 7pm on Thursday.
For more info, visit www.fiddlersonthebayou.com

En Francais, again

2011-10-05T12:56:00.000-05:00

Not to overdo it on talking about this album (it's been getting a lot of really good local press and airtime recently), but I've had a chance to listen to all of it, not just our tracks, and it's pretty great. (It's available to listen to here until tomorrow morning). I am a bit biased towards our versions of "Oh Catin" ("Oh Darlin') and "T'est Pas Bon" ('You're No Good') -- I think Kristi and Christine just nail it on the vocals, but every band did such a great job in their renditions of rock and roll tunes. It makes me again realize what a great time it is to be involved in playing Cajun music. It's like we are secure enough in the survival of this music that bands now are pushing forward into some amazing new ground. And fans are embracing it. Being a part of this is an awesome feeling, I must say!!

Come out for the album release of "En Francais" tonight -- should be rockin.

En Francais

2011-09-29T12:09:00.003-05:00

One of the bands I'm in, Bonsoir, Catin, was involved in a really fun recording project earlier this year, when we recorded 2 songs for the "En Francais: Cajun 'n Creole Rock 'n Roll" album. We covered the Beatles, "Oh, Darlin" ("Oh, Catin") and Linda Ronstadt's, "You're No Good" ("T'es Pas Bon"). The project was produced by Louis Michot of the Lost Bayou Ramblers, and is set to be released next Wednesday night. We'll be performing our two songs within a 45-minute set, and a couple of other bands (Mamou Playboys & Feufollet) will be performing too.

Plus, LA31 (our local Arnaudvile brewery) is releasing a new dark brew at the same event. Come check it all out!

Here's a review of the album and more info about the event on October 5th.

Nunu's gig tomorrow (Sunday)

2011-09-24T21:21:00.001-05:00

Kristi Guillory and I will be playing as a duo tomorrow afternoon at Nunu's in Arnaudville, LA. It starts at 2pm with an open jam session, and then we'll play an hour long set with an interview segment. We've worked up some new (archival) material for the gig, including a very cool and funky tune reminiscent of J'ai ete au Bal. Come!!

From the press release:

Join the front line of Bonsoir, Catin for some old-style accordion/fiddle magic at NUNU's in Arnaudville. A performance and interview will be preceded by a jam led by Kristi and Anya and open to musicians of all levels. The fun starts at 2pm, $5 admission, kids free. Food and drinks are available for purchase, BYOB. NUNU's is located at 1510 Hwy. 93 in Arnaudville in the old Singleton lumber building.

LJA Field Trip

2011-09-16T12:59:00.001-05:00

All went well! About 65 kids came with their teacher and several chaperones and spent a couple of hours in and around my shop -- funny to see 2 big school buses barreling down my country road. Overall it seemed like they enjoyed the trip -- I showed them the set-up on a violin, a bow rehair (super quick variety), and talked about how to care for their instrument. My former apprentice Chris did a presentation outside on building a violin. I probably overwhelmed the students with a ton of information, but at this point they should be more informed than most people about the inner workings of violins and bows.

So they were here:

And in a blink, they were gone, and the buses rolled away...

2011-09-14T12:47:00.000-05:00

I have 80 middle school kids coming to my shop tomorrow --
2 school busloads.
Wish me luck :)

Edit: Turned out to be only 65 :)

Tokyo Quartet recap

2011-09-10T19:40:00.000-05:00

A great evening. Turns out that our seats were exact center and 4th row up, which meant that we were at the same level as the musicians, and the Stradivaris sounded great. During the pre-concert talk, I asked about the differences in the two violins, since they were from such different points in Strad's career. "Full disclosure, the second violin of the Paganini quartet (1680) has been in the shop for the last 9 months, and it will probably take a full year until the repairs are completed." (I immediately logged that bit of data in my brain, to pull out gingerly when a customer is anxious to get a fully repaired violin back from me in 2 weeks...:) So the second violinist was playing the 1708 Huggins Strad instead, quite a nice loaner while he waits for the other to be finished.

The other 3 instruments in the Paganini quartet of Stradivaris :
1st violin-- 1727 Comte Cozio di Salabue
viola-- 1731 Mendelssohn
cello-- 1736 Ladenburg

The concert was inspiring and refreshing, and reminded me of how much I love string quartets. We don't get a chance to hear a live quartet play very often around here. And in fact, I was chuckling because much of the audience faithfully clapped between every movement of each piece -- an indication that we aren't exposed to Classical music and its etiquette too much around here. Later on I asked the cellist about his reaction to such frequent and enthusiastic clapping, and he said that it was "refreshing" to be in a place that was so forthcoming with appreciation. I imagine that this quartet plays in some stuffy venues, and this was definitely not one of them !

On the program was: the "Lobkowitz" Quartet in G Major, Op. 77 by Hadyn, Quartet No. 1 in C Major, Op. 37 by Szymanowski, and Quartet in A minor, Op. 41, No. 1 by Schumann. I especially enjoyed the first piece when the full impact of hearing 4 Strads was fresh to my ears.

After the concert, I attended a very small reception with the musicians, and the first violinist recognized me as a violin maker from my earlier question about the instruments -- which was fortunate, because he offered his instrument to me for a few minutes of checking it out. Very nice treat. My quick impressions were that the top of the violin was classic Strad -- flat long arch, beautiful recurve along the edges, classic ff holes, etc. The back struck me as a bit flatter than most, almost as if someone had reshaped the arching in the center there, maybe as a result of the center seam coming open and becoming misaligned at some point. The varnish too, on the back, was less transparent than I was expecting. Nice scroll, of course -- maybe a little less graceful than his Golden Period violins, but still with the amazing aura of true proportions and fluting done to perfection. I felt very fortunate to be able to handle the violin, to say the least.

So Stradivari was 82 when he built the 1st violin, 86 when he built the viola, and 91 when he built the cello. This, after having already built 1000 or so instruments in his lifetime. Pretty amazing. I better get back to work now...

The Tokyo String Quartet

2011-09-01T12:26:00.009-05:00

... is coming to Lafayette ! September 9th at 8PM. In case you aren't aware, all four members play on Stradivari instruments, a group known as "The Paganini Quartet," which are pictured above. The first violin was built in 1727, the second in 1680 (an early Strad), the viola was built in 1731, and the cello in 1736.

Pretty exciting to have Stradivari instruments coming to Lafayette. I already have a 4th row seat. I guess it's only a violin maker who is mostly concerned with (or obsessed with?) the instruments in the concert -- much moreso than the players or the music they're playing. To most people it's the other way around (!)

For ticket info, call the Acadiana Center for the Arts at:
(337) 233-7060. There will be a "special artist discussion" before the concert, at 7PM.

Updated phone number

2011-08-23T21:57:00.002-05:00

We are doing away with our landline, so my primary home and workshop phone will now be my cell phone. Please take note of my cell number: (337) 308-9654

Thanks!

Funny

2011-08-22T12:17:00.004-05:00

I had a customer in my shop over the weekend who said, "Man, I need to get me a hobby like yours" -- to which I kindly explained that it's not a hobby but a full-time job! (and often more than a full-time job)! I guess she thought it was a hobby since I was working on a Sunday.

It made me think of a quote I had just read in the Fretboard Journal that morning, which could easily be applied to violin makers as well:

" ... the great thing about being a guitar builder is that you get to work half days. What you do with the other 12 hours is up to you."

Get it?

A Treat

2011-08-10T20:00:00.001-05:00

Heading down to New Orleans tomorrow to hear Gillian Welch and David Rawlings play at Tipitina's. Can't wait!

Apres-workshop

2011-06-27T17:47:00.005-05:00

Wow that was fun. A whole week of working on my latest violin, with Michael Darnton offering far better techniques, tools, and eyes than I have on my own ... I finished the top plate -- bass bar installed, edgework done, f holes refined, I removed the ribs from the mold and cleaned up the inside there, and then got working on my scroll. Actually I got the scroll pretty much done. It was a very productive week. I hope to get this fiddle put together before too long -- I'm in the home stretch!

Pre-workshop

2011-06-16T20:34:00.006-05:00

Tomorrow I fly out to Claremont, CA for a week-long violin making workshop with Michael Darnton. I thought I'd take a photo of my latest violin, before spending an uninterrupted week working on it. The big block of wood on the left will become the scroll, and hopefully I'll get a good start on that this week. (My suitcase will be lighter coming home!) Looking forward to hanging out with violin making friends, and also looking forward to escaping this southern heat for a little while...

Fretboard Journal

2011-06-08T12:09:00.010-05:00

One of my favorite magazines is 'The Fretboard Journal,' a quarterly publication mostly related to guitars, their builders, and their afficionados. The stories are consistently interesting, the quality of the pictures is excellent, and advertising is largely limited to the back of the mag. And even though I'm completely caught up with violins in my daily work, I love reading about gorgeous stringed instruments of any kind, their luthiers and their various philosophies, collectors, musicians -- it's so much related to what I do.

This latest issue has an interview with musician and collector Marty Stuart, an article about one builder's discovery of the Golden Mean (also central in violin design), a couple of stories about custom-ordered guitars, and enough eye-candy to keep the average instrument lover happy for a long time.

A quote by St. Francis of Assissi is highlighted in a luthier profile:
"He who works with his hands is a laborer. He who works with his hands and his head is a craftsman. He who works with his hands and his head and his heart is an artist."

Another Pic

2011-06-02T21:40:00.006-05:00

I had my latest violin back here this week and was able to take some photos, but I'm still not able to do justice to the violin with my current camera set-up. To me, this instrument has a very cool aesthetic, a slightly textured top with interesting colors. This was the first violin I've finished with varnish that I made here in the yard outside my shop, and I feel like it was a big step forward in quality of varnish job. I'm actually happy with the looks of it, which is something I wasn't ready to say on other violins I've varnished. Now I'm eager to finish another instrument so I can try out the varnish again.

Bows

2011-05-18T09:38:00.003-05:00

I have a good cache of bows for sale in my shop right now. This includes a full line of Coda Bows for violin, plus less expensive carbon-composite bows, and wooden bows $100-$600. Come check them out!

May the Levees Hold

2011-05-14T13:15:00.004-05:00

I've had a number of good friends, customers, and comrades check in with me in the last day or so about the risk of flooding in our area, as the Morganza Spillway is set to open up this afternoon. I think we're going to be fine. My house and shop sit about 5 miles from the Atchafalaya Basin, an overflow area for the Morganza. As long as the levees do their job, we're in good shape. Cross your fingers for us. . .

Claremont workshop

2011-05-10T21:22:00.002-05:00

Just confirmed my flights to head out to Claremont, CA for the annual violin maker's workshop in June. Excited! I've been attending this workshop with Chicago maker Michael Darnton since it began in 2005 (the first year was in Florida, and I drove to it). It's a wonderful week spent hanging out with other violin makers -- friends at this point -- geeking out about violins for a whole week, and getting some uninterrupted violin building done. I consider it very important professional development, but it's also a really fun time in a beautiful and cool setting. Can't wait! Website is here.

Post Balfa Camp

2011-04-25T10:37:00.006-05:00

The Balfa Camp was a great time -- I'm actually kind of missing it today, after being out there all of last week. My beginning guitar students made great progress, and we celebrated with mimosas on the last day (the same day that they fill out evaluations :) I also kept busy setting up a number of instruments and rehairing bows for fiddle students, and a major highlight was delivery of my latest violin to its new owner -- what a thrill. She's bringing it back to me in about a month so I can get some more photos, and then I'll post them here. During the week I also met a whole bunch of interesting people, got to play a lot of music (including a couple of great old-time jams), and danced to great bands every night. Bonsoir, Catin played for the dance on the last night, and man was that fun. Such great energy. Now you see why I'm in a bit of camp withdrawl today!

There are a few more pics of us playing here.

So it's back in the saddle in my workshop, which isn't such a bad thing either. Lots of unpacking and remembering what I was up to before last week...

off to Balfa Camp

2011-04-16T16:27:00.002-05:00

Leaving this afternoon to spend the week the Dewey Balfa Cajun and Creole Heritage week, which takes place annually out at Chicot State Park in Ville Platte, LA. I'll be teaching guitar and setting up a repair table to service anyone needing violin work out there. The camp is an immersion in Cajun and Creole music, for people who come from all over the country and even internationally. Basic schedule is: morning classes, afternoon concerts, and nightly dances. Plus, 3 meals a day prepared by local chef Pat Mould. Should be fun, and delicious. Bonsoir, Catin is playing out there on Thursday night, for any of my readers in the area.

My latest

2011-04-15T12:45:00.002-05:00

A quick pic of my latest violin, just strung up this morning. Those first tunes that bring it alive: what an awesome feeling. I'll get more shots of it soon, and will post.

West Coast weekend

2011-03-30T21:51:00.004-05:00

I'm going away for the weekend -- a trip to the San Francisco area with the Magnolia Sisters -- so I'll leave you with my latest old-time tune in the key of C. It's Jack of Diamonds, not the waltz-tempo one that is more common, but a regular old-time tune in 4/4. This recording is by eastern Kentucky fiddler Snake Chapman. http://slippery-hill.com/c/JackOfDiamonds.mp3

And if any blog readers are in the SF area, come out and see us! Dates and venues are to the right, under "Upcoming Gigs."

Back here next week...

Tone Ball part deux

2011-03-28T15:48:00.002-05:00

Following up on my previous post, here's a pic I took a few years ago of a toneball inside of a full-size cello. It's about the size of a large marble. Actually, I haven't seen this cello since then, so the toneball is probably even bigger now :)

Tone Ball

2011-03-26T15:48:00.004-05:00

For some reason, every time I run across a tone ball inside of an instrument it makes me laugh. It's just funny, this collection of dust that rolls around, getting bigger and more regular over time. Most players aren't even aware when their instrument has a tone ball, and I rarely mention it, and never take it out. When I was in violin making school I was warned against ever removing tone balls from instruments -- certain players who are aware of having a tone ball in their violin or cello are very superstitious about its being there, and taking it out (basically removing a sphere of dust) might just kill the amazing sound of their instrument. Or something like that.

And in case you're wondering what you're looking at above, it's the beautiful view inside of a violin. I took this pic with my camera's macro setting, through the endpin hole (after removing the endpin at the bottom of the violin).

Maestronet

2011-03-25T13:11:00.006-05:00

Maestronet is a discussion board for violin family enthusiasts -- players, makers, hobbyists, etc. Occasionally I go over and have a look at it, but I didn't realize until yesterday that this blog got some airtime on Maestronet a couple of weeks ago -- more specifically, what generated some discussion was the post I wrote on the Sommers bass bar. Thanks yall. If I have any lingering readers -- welcome. I love to read comments, so feel free.

See here for the Maestronet thread.

Settling In

2011-03-24T12:14:00.004-05:00

In order to get back into the swing around here (sorry for the brief hiatus), I thought I'd share something that I posted on another forum :: my impression of how new violins settle in as they're played. This also applies to violins that have been sitting still, unplayed for any length of time. I get this question fairly often, of how the sound of a violin develops as its played, so here's how I usually respond:

First, I always compare the new (or newly restored) violin to a person who has sat on the couch idle for a while -- after surgery or whatever. When that person finally gets up to resume normal activity, they are very stiff and inflexible. It will probably take weeks or months of regular activity and exercise (even physical therapy) before they're moving in an optimal way, as flexible and graceful as possible, etc. And even then, activity must be sustained in order for muscles and joints to stay flexible.

A new violin or one that has been stored for years acts much like this person on the couch. The top plate isn't accustomed to movement so it's stiff and inflexible, and doesn't have any established patterns of vibration. Because of this, the vibrations at first are pretty scattered and all over the place, which leads to a less-than-optimal sound. As the violin gets played in, for weeks and months, regular nodal points begin to develop in the top plate, and vibrations become more and more regular -- which cleans up the sound, gives it more focus, and allows the violin to reach its full sound potential.

Stripey

2011-02-16T21:38:00.001-06:00

Check out the fake maple flame painted on this one:It reminds me of the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland.

Crackle

2011-02-15T22:59:00.002-06:00

A violin made by H.L. Ortega: Memphis, Tennessee: 1931:

Winter strikes

2011-02-04T15:31:00.002-06:00

My shop this morning: icicles on the roof ! (This is strange for Louisiana).

A year ago...

2011-01-31T21:32:00.008-06:00

One year ago tonight I was sitting in the Staples Center in LA for the 52nd Grammy Awards show. What a thrill -- it was one of those amazing life experiences that will be with me forever, no doubt. But in case the memories start to get fuzzy, I always have this account of the whole Grammy weekend, including my photo op with Weird Al the night before, and the most amazing and wild Grammy party after the big show. What a time!

Drunken Man's Dream

2011-01-25T12:48:00.006-06:00

Next up: Drunken (or Drunkard) Man's Dream, an old-time number recorded by Doc Roberts of Madison County, KY in 1930. It's another C tune, and a pretty squirrely one -- I have my work cut out for me in learning this one.

I haven't been able to find an mp3 file of this tune online, but it is available on iTunes if you're interested.

Odd Specimen: Sommer's Patent Bass Bar

2011-01-20T12:39:00.000-06:00

I started work on a fiddle last week that was in pretty rough shape -- with warped ribs that were separated from the top plate, a loose endblock, old yellow glue repairs etc etc. Looked like a normal enough instrument from the outside -- an average quality Stradivari copy with a fake label of Johannes Florenus Guidantus (who apparently made nice instruments, and this is not one of them).

I work on a lot of Strad copies so they can get a bit routine, but when I took a look inside this falling apart instrument, I found its oddly interesting bassbar -- a "Sommers Patent Bass bar" dated August 25, 1925. It's fun to find this kind of quacky stuff, at least I think so -- it adds interest to an otherwise predictable instrument. This particular bar has a sideways kink in it, an apparent attempt to improve the tone of the violin, which it probably didn't. But Mr. Sommers evidently wanted to make sure that everyone knew that his breakthrough idea was patented, because he stamped the patent number and date about 8 times on the inside of the top of the fiddle and on the sides of the bar.
In case you're not familiar with the look of a normal bass bar, it's a straight piece of spruce that's fitted to the inside of the top at a slight angle, and then it's very carefully shaped from end to end. A normal bar looks like this one:
I wonder how much he actually made on the patent. I'd guess zero. But it's intersting still!

Charleston No. 1

2011-01-15T09:55:00.010-06:00

(Willie Narmour)

Even though I mostly play Cajun music at this point, my first interest in traditional music was old-time Appalachian tunes. I love old-time music. In one way or another it has led to most other great things in my life, actually. I still play a lot of old-time music - there's a small contingent of us down here who get together on a somewhat regular basis - but I haven't really sat down to learn a new tune in a while. Well, I've decided (along with my good friend Daniel), to embark on an an old-time learning spree in 2011, with 2 new tunes a month, and I figure that I can keep track of all these tunes here -- see bottom of the sidebar.

Our first tune is Charleston #1, recorded by Narmour and Smith of Carroll County, Mississippi in 1929. It's in the key of C. More about the tune here, towards the middle of the page.

Click here for the original recording I learned from (Narmour & Smith). Cool tune, huh?

Catins last summer

2011-01-03T22:21:00.003-06:00

This pic is from the end of July, but it just got to me :: GrassRoots Festival in Ithaca, NY, where we played from 12:30am-5:30am, for real. Amid the freezing temps of January, it's nice to have a reminder of summer!
By the way, I did get my snow fix last week up in Boston, where we spent the holidays. Blizzard of 2010 struck the day after Christmas, which was lovely and just what I asked for...

Happy Holidays from the Magnolia Sisters!

2010-12-17T10:14:00.001-06:00

Well, 3 out of 4 of us anyway . . .

Visions of snow

2010-12-09T09:57:00.008-06:00

One thing about living in Louisiana is that snowfall is usually just a winter dream. And for someone who loves snow, this can be difficult! So it was, that I found myself carving away on a spruce violin top and having visions of snowfall as each curl of wood flew from the plane...gotta get my snow fix somehow I guess. (Some may think I'm crazy here, but I prefer imaginative:)

'Tis the Season

2010-12-02T23:01:00.001-06:00

Tunes

2010-11-22T20:41:00.000-06:00

The scene in my workshop last night:

Birthday Gig

2010-11-14T19:12:00.003-06:00

Lots of fun playing at the Blue Moon this past Friday with Bonsoir, Catin. It was my birthday, and also the birthday of the fiddle player in the band that played before us, so talk about a fun party. We even got a fiddle shaped birthday cake.

Field Trip

2010-11-10T21:47:00.003-06:00

A week or so ago I hosted a field trip for many of the strings students at L.J. Alleman Middle School in Lafayette. About 50 kids and 4 chaperones pulled up to my shop in a big school bus and spent the morning learning about how violins are put together and set up, how bows are rehaired, and the life of a violin maker. I'd say they learned a lot! We all had fun, which is really the goal anyway. . .

LeLeux via Kaplan

2010-10-21T22:39:00.004-05:00

I had another encounter with Lionel Leleux this afternoon when I looked through the endpin hole of a violin that came in for repair. Here's what I saw:You can see how he stamped the neckblock, "Lionel I. LeLeux/ Violin Repairer/ LeLeux, LA via Kaplan, LA/ July 4, 1950" He was most certainly the last person to work on this instrument back in 1950, and since the stamp is only visible through the endpin hole, I'm probably the first one to see it there. I never leave a mark inside the instruments I work on, but it is kind of neat to come across this trace of him here.

Atchafalaya Basin benefit

2010-10-15T21:31:00.002-05:00

Bonsoir, Catin is playing at *Whiskey River* in Henderson, LA tomorrow (Saturday) from 4-6pm. It's a benefit to help clean up and restore the Atchafalaya Basin.

Should be a fun time, at a very cool place. Come on out!

New workshop -- yippee

2010-10-13T22:03:00.002-05:00

So a couple of weeks ago, much to my big delight, my carpenters finished up major renovations to my workshop and moved on out of here. I actually enjoyed their company but it's nice to get my groove back too. They had been here pretty much since May, and did a whole lot of quality work which I couldn't be more thrilled about. They completely restructured and insulated the roof, replaced foundation sills on three sides due to termite damage, re-sided the whole building with cypress trimmed out with old cypress, dealt with a lot of crazy angles and problems, and generally got my haphazardly built building all straightened out. It's done! I can't believe it. All I need now is a little bit of vegetation to pop up next spring, which it certainly will (here in the tropics). Please come visit if you're in the area.

Richmond Folk

2010-10-12T09:23:00.002-05:00

Played at the Richmond Folk Festival this weekend, what a blast! You might be able to tell from this photo too.

Magnolia Sisters in SF

2010-10-06T22:03:00.002-05:00

Here are a few more pics from the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. These were taken by amazing photographer Mike Melnyk. Thanks Mike.

Hardly Strictly

2010-10-04T12:20:00.012-05:00

Just got back from a great weekend in San Francisco, where we (Magnolia Sisters) played at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival. Pretty cool time meeting great musicians and hearing great music. I almost froze at the festival when the temp dropped to about 45º, but hospitality was amazing and our set turned out pretty well. Here's one person's take on it: http://blog.dailycal.org/arts/2010/10/post-5987/
And a quick pic with Gillian Welch. It's ok to have favorites right?Even more fun was the afterparty, which took place at a club called Slim's -- all night long it was a continual rotation of festival musicians, who played a few songs and then stepped aside for the next amazing act. Nice to get to see everyone play in a more personal setting. Great party. Enjoyed riding with Earl Scruggs band on the way over there . . .

Big Job Done

2010-09-20T16:49:00.017-05:00

Several months ago I posted a pic of a restoration project I was working on : see here. The instrument was in such a pitiful condition when I got it, that the only way forward was to open up all of the loose glue joints and disassemble it entirely so that I could make sure everything was securely glued back together. (Kind of like an old falling-down barn that needs rebuilding -- you need to take it down to its component parts and basically start over). Plus, there were three major top cracks, center seams open, loose bass bar on both ends, and every block and lining was coming unglued. Oh, and it also had an old dowel in the neck which created a mess in the neck joint, a fingerboard worn-too-thin, and some old mechanical tuners that had done a major number on the pegbox, requiring bushings. The owners also requested that I clean the violin as much as possible, and that turned out to be quite a job on its own. Here's the pile of pieces:And here's a picture of the finished instrument, which I completed last week. The long restoration process ended well -- nice varnish turned up under the solid coat of black grime, and although it hadn't been played in decades, it sounded full of interesting character. This violin has a great new lease on life. . . The owners came by and picked it up this weekend, and just sent me these kind words: "Anya, Just wanted to say Thank you again from all of us. We appreciate the way you handled this and we are all very proud of the outcome, as you can plainly see by the smiles on everyone's face. Hope to see you soon."

It's nice to work for nice people.

More Saulieu Festival

2010-09-10T09:32:00.000-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/user/PatakaisseTV

Mandolino, Mandola, Mandolin

2010-09-08T22:12:00.004-05:00

Here's something I hadn't seen before visiting the Musée de la Musique in Paris :: it's the pegbox for a 12 string (6 double courses of strings) mandola attributed to Stradivari: The mandolino (4 or 5 courses) and mandola (6+ courses) were instruments built in response the great popularity of the lute in the 17th century. (Stop and imagine a world in which pop music was played on a lute :) Their dimensions were not standardized, and based on his extant patterns, evidently Stradivari built a great number of various sized mandolini and mandole. To give a sense of what the completed instrument might look like, I found this example that resides in Vermillion, SD at the National Music Museum. It's one of two known Stradivari mandolini and has 5 double courses of strings. This instrument was built in 1680 and is called the "Cutler-Challen" choral mandolino.

Pochette

2010-09-06T23:25:00.003-05:00

Another item of interest at the museum was a pochette or kit fiddle built by Stradivari in 1717. (In Italy it was called a sordino). Pochettes were used by dancing masters at the time, who could easily carry the fiddle in their pocket (poche) as they traveled to teach dancing lessons. Obviously the body of the instrument is very narrow, but the dimensions of the fingerboard are more normal, which makes it relatively playable. This one is especially neat because it shows the same attention to detail that characterizes Stradivari's full sized violins.

Pics from Festival Internationale

2010-09-03T12:44:00.004-05:00

Just came across a bunch of photos that David Simson took of Bonsoir, Catin at Festival Internationale this year. Lost of good shots, check 'em out here.

Guitars at the Musée

2010-09-02T19:59:00.007-05:00

I was impressed by all of the very cool looking 17th and 18th century guitars at the museum. Most of them had very tasteful inlays below the bridge and around the soundhole, and many had interesting bridge designs. I'm not too much of a fan of modern inlayed instruments, especially not on violins (or guitars or banjos!), but these motifs were somewhat simple and interesting, not gaudy. And, they were obviously hand done, which gives them a such an attractive quality. Here are just a few of the many that I took pictures of::

Octobass

2010-08-30T23:18:00.003-05:00

Okay, now back to the Musée de la Musique in Paris. Might as well hold onto memories of that trip for as long as possible.

Visiting this museum was one of the highlights of our stay in Paris. It was 4 floors devoted to musical instruments, from lutes and clavichords and guitars, to recorders and wooden clarinets, pianos, accordions, percussion, numerous other shortlived inventions, and even a "serpent." The whole thing was fascinating, and we spent two full afternoons there. Included was an excellent audio tour and short videos were placed throughout the exhibits. Very impressive was their collection of violins, which I will address in a later entry, but for now I will highlight one of the more unusually excessive instruments of the museum, an octobass made by French maker Jean-Baptiste Vuillaume, sometime around 1850. The octobass has the same proportions as a normal double bass, but it's about 11 1/2 feet tall and the player must stand on the attached stool to reach several levers and foot pedals that fret the strings. I think another musician was required to operate the bow. Apparently the octobass never really caught on, and I can only wonder why . . .

How True

2010-08-25T22:19:00.002-05:00

"That fiddle got me places where I couldn't have gotten in at all." -- 2004, Robert Byrd, The Fiddling Senator

Catins in new James Lee Burke novel

2010-08-23T17:53:00.003-05:00

A friend called me yesterday to let me know that she's reading the latest James Lee Burke novel, The Glass Rainbow, and on p. 286 he mentions Bonsoir Catin! I haven't read the book yet so I'm not sure of the context, but it sounds like a minor character mentions that she's a musician and has played with Bonsoir Catin. Very cool, gotta get the book and check it out. Thanks Mr. Burke.

Song of the Year

2010-08-22T17:08:00.002-05:00

So I just found out that Bonsoir Catin won the "Song of the Year" category for the CFMA (Cajun French Music Association) awards 2010. From our Vive l'Amour CD, the song that won is " J'Aimerais Sentir Comme Ca Chez Moi," (" I Wish I felt this way at Home") a Dolly Parton song that Kristi translated into French and turned into a Cajun two step. Kristi sings it as a duet with Courtney Granger, and I agree that it's a pretty cool song. Thanks CFMA, good choice.

Shapes in Paris

2010-08-22T16:11:00.005-05:00

Seemed like everywhere I turned in Paris, I saw violin shapes. Even in the most mundane places, like lamp posts and street grates, I saw scrolls and f holes and even C bout outlines. It was a visual feast. Here are just a few examples:

Girl jam

2010-08-22T14:57:00.004-05:00

Brief hiatus from writing about the France trip to put up a couple of pics from a very fun girl party this weekend. I'm the lucky member of two all-girl bands (!) and several band members plus a few others got together for Lisa's birthday party. A friend forwarded these pics and I just had to put them up, too much fun.

Rue de Rome

2010-08-17T16:34:00.006-05:00

A violin making friend recommended that I visit Rue de Rome while in Paris. It's a street loaded with violin workshops and music stores -- certainly my cup of tea. Interestingly, the majority of the shops (like 80%) were closed, with signs on their windows indicating that they'd be back in a few weeks after a month-long vacation. In a way I was disappointed to be visiting during an off season, but on the other hand it validated my own travel schedule of being away for much of the last month! The French have the summer vacation figured out, and I guess I've been following their lead this summer. . .

Here's a neat collection of carved bass bridges that were displayed in a bass shop on Rue de Rome. Even though the shops were closed, many of them had interesting window displays. And here's the outline of a cello bridge, laser cut from a block of wood:

France

2010-08-16T12:57:00.005-05:00

Just got back from a great trip to France, where Bonsoir Catin played at the Saulieu Cajun Festival. There are a bunch of postings on YouTube from the set we played. Like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMSTGdmRIvU&feature=related

Big fun! There's an impressive number of Cajun music fans in France, and our music went over well (despite the name of our band, which has a much less innocent connotation in France). Hope we get to play over there again sometime.

•••••••••••••••••••••••

More soon from the week we spent in Paris, which included two days at the amazing Musée de la Musique.

Sound Clips etc.

2010-07-16T12:04:00.008-05:00

Here's a link to a couple of video clips where I'm playing on the Jupiter Strad (1700) and Ray Lee's Ole Bull copy. In the first two video's I'm playing Ray Lee's instrument, and in the third I'm playing the Strad with a Tourte bow. Thank you to Ray for making these accessible.

http://picasaweb.google.com/raaylee/AnyaVideo?authkey=Gv1sRgCJHF88a87JP2cg&feat=directlink

Ray's Ole Bull

2010-07-02T12:24:00.002-05:00

A friend at the Darnton workshop, Ray Lee, brought a gorgeous violin that he built for the Ole Bull project that took place in Oslo this spring. (Unfortunately, the volcanic dust cloud over Europe put a kink in his plan to ship the violin to the exhibition). This violin is a joy to play and to look at, and I spent a good while doing both. Here's a pic that Ray took . . .

Jupiter Strad ca. 1700

2010-06-24T14:24:00.009-05:00

One of the highlights of my life as a violin maker happened last Saturday at the workshop in Claremont, CA. Arnold Belnick, famed violin soloist, former Hollywood player, and owner of Stradivari's "Jupiter" violin arrived to share his incredible instrument with the group. Michael handled the violin while we all looked on, seizing the opportunity to admire the design of the corners, stare into the depths of the varnish and wood, marvel at the perfect scroll, and soak in the aura of Stradivari's work. It's really hard to describe, actually. Even harder to describe is the feeling I had when I was given the chance to play the violin for the rest of the group (I knew that Grammy nomination would count for something one day :). The only thing I might compare to its sound is the experience of singing in an old European cathedral, in which the sound seems to go on forever, without any boundary. Even after the first bow stroke (did I mention that the bow was a Tourte?), the depth of sound that emanated throughout my body was something I've never experienced. I think it was the deepest, richest, warmest, most beautiful and resonant sound I've ever heard, and it was right there under my chin. Truly incredible. Thanks Jim and Mr. Belnick for the opportunity to play this instrument of Stradivari, the sound of which I hope never to forget. Its beauty will be an inspiration to me forever.

Darnton U.

2010-06-21T12:33:00.012-05:00

photo by Ken Pollard
Last week's workshop with Michael D. was excellent as usual -- I had the time to work on my own project (#7), I got to geek out for a whole week with other violin makers, and I gained innumerable tricks and guidance from Michael. It's easy to stay on a plateau as I do a lot of the same kinds of repair work all year, but spending this week with other violin makers always pushes me to keep getting better, reminds me that there are other people out there doing what I do, and also reminds me of how much I love every aspect of building violins (well, except maybe joining plates . . . )!

Workshop in CA

2010-06-10T22:02:00.003-05:00

Next week I'm headed out to Claremont, CA for a violin making workshop, an annual event for me at this point. It's led by Chicago maker Michael Darnton, a great guy and master of all things violin making -- tools, methods, geometry, physics, history, etc. I always come away with fresh inspirations and insights about the craft and where I'm going with it. It's a week when I get to build exclusively : no repairs, no phonecalls or appointments, no bows, just violin making. Plus, I get to hang out with other violin makers, which is a rare treat for me. Well, a rare treat for anybody I guess! So, 'til soon . . .

Cafe gig

2010-06-09T22:36:00.006-05:00

Setting up to play with the Magnolia Sisters at Cafe des Amis tonight . . .(photo by Kristen Kordecki)

Bonsoir at the Cafe last week

2010-05-20T11:24:00.004-05:00

http://www.youtube.com/MusicBoxProject#p/u/20/1W10jQxEfbU

Both of the bands I play in, Bonsoir Catin and the Magnolia Sisters, were invited to be a part of a documentary project about Americana Women musicians. It's called the Music Box Project and you can see more about it here.

Weekend in CA

2010-03-31T21:48:00.004-05:00

Heading out to the Bay Area this weekend for a few gigs with the Magnolia Sisters.

•Friday April 2: Felton, CA: Don Quixotes
•Saturday April 3: Winters, CA: The Palms
•Sunday, April 4: Berkeley, CA: Freight and Salvage

Come see us if you're anywhere nearby. . .

#6, in the white

2010-03-22T22:46:00.001-05:00

The Backside

2010-03-21T22:24:00.003-05:00

Bonsoir, Catin played in Lafayette on Friday afternoon for an outdoor lunchtime concert. It was a beautiful day, and a great excuse to get out of the workshop and play some tunes on a beautiful Friday afternoon. Here we are from the backside . . .

Another local maker

2010-03-16T22:42:00.008-05:00

Here's a fiddle that came in the other day -- made in south Louisiana in 1937. I hadn't heard of this maker before, Emar Andrepont, but evidently he made a lot of fiddles. This one is owned by the maker's great-grandson. It's neat to see a local instrument that's in pretty good shape and is decently built, especially for a self-taught maker living in south Louisiana in the 1930s. This area was the real outback back then -- pretty much isolated from the rest of America by major swamps and no highways, very few paved roads even. Most people spoke French as their first language. Electricity was minimal. So this Mr. Andrepont must have been a pretty resourceful fellow. Nice handwritten label too:

Design

2010-03-15T22:55:00.007-05:00

Just finished watching a very cool documentary called Objectified. If you're at all interested in design, you should see it. The movie dealt with manufactured design, and lasting designs that become more valuable with age. Objects that "wear in" rather than "wear out." Things that are both functional and beautiful, and that gain beauty the more they are used, like an old leather briefcase. Or a violin (they didn't mention violins, but I couldn't help but go there).

The real test of a good design may be if it's attractive, functional, time-tested, and sustainable. One could argue that the violin is the perfect example of meeting all of these criteria perfectly. 500 years after it was originally designed, it has hardly been improved upon. I think that's pretty awesome design.

Or am I a little biased?

Lionel Leleux, 1912-1996

2010-03-09T23:45:00.004-06:00

I opened up a fiddle case this afternoon to find Lionel Leleux's business card. Pretty neat. As you can see, Lionel was a local violin maker and also did repairs, aside from being a great fiddle player and quite a character. I never got to meet him, but the stories are numerous. Visits with him took all day. He was well loved. He built interesting fiddles, and I have seen several of them. Many of the fiddles that I end up working on were last repaired by him. It's cool to run across his business card. "Over 50 Years Experience" : Wow!

#5 on the radio

2010-03-07T13:20:00.010-06:00

Jonno's fiddle (my 5th) on WWOZ (New Orleans public radio) today! Jonno called me about 10 minutes ago to let me know that he was at the radio station and was just about to play my fiddle on the Cajun + Zydeco program. So I quickly set up my WWOZ live stream on the computer, hooked it up to some nice big speakers, and just heard him play a beautiful rendition of La Toussaint. It sounded just great. What a treat. Thanks so much, Jonno!

Plus it's the WWOZ fund drive this week, so go donate.
www.wwoz.org

A pile of pieces

2010-03-03T22:47:00.006-06:00

This one came to me in rough shape, wouldn't you say? Here's where I'm glad I know how to build violins! It's pretty much a complete re-assembly job. Aside from the center joints (which only need partial regluing), everything other piece and part needs to be fit back exactly where it should go, and this will end up as a totally playable instrument. I'll report back later on how it turns out.

Edgework

2010-02-14T10:36:00.000-06:00

Where I'm at with my latest violin:

Bonsoir on the Radio

2010-02-09T17:08:00.004-06:00

I just heard that one of the bands I'm in, Bonsoir Catin, will be on the American Routes radio program this week. American Routes recorded the Black Pot Festival last fall and will highlight different bands who played at the festival, including us and many others.

Around here American Routes is broadcast on KRVS, Friday afternoons 1-3pm, but the program airs on public radio stations all over the country. Check it out!

Yeah SAINTS!!

2010-02-07T20:56:00.001-06:00

Grammys -- The Lo Down

2010-02-06T23:08:00.013-06:00

Here's a pretty detailed account of the Magnolia Sisters escapades at the Grammys. I wrote it all out so I don't start to forget things, and also to keep up the great buzz and relive it all again. Quite a trip, I'll start at the beginning :
Arrived at LAX late on Friday night, after a big storm in Houston rearranged our flight plans. But we made it over to our cool Hotel Figueroa and tried to get some sleep before the start of major excitement. Due to all that excitement, not much sleep all weekend !The next morning, we got ready for our first event, the Louisiana luncheon, which took place at the fancy Biltmore Hotel. Here's a shot of us with record company owner Chris Strachwitz and record producer Joel Savoy, outside at our hotel, before the luncheon.
I was impressed by the amount of delicious food + drink at the luncheon, although this was the case at every other event as well, I just wasn't used to it at this point. Several good Louisiana bands played, topped off by Harry Connick Jr. who played a few tunes with a couple of excellent younger musicians from New Orleans, one of whom was Trombone Shorty. It was a cool scene, lots of Louisiana pride in the room --

Next we headed over to soundcheck at the Grammy Museum, where we played later that night. Nice new museum with a 200 seat theater, very ambivalent sound guys, but we managed. They probably weren't too hip to the fiddle and accordion scene, or whatever.

The nominees reception was across town and was a big event with an even bigger spread of food and drinks. The main event there was collecting our medallions ("Grammy Nominee"), made by Tiffany Jewelers no less, and having our photo taken. We met a bunch of other interesting nominees while waiting in line for this to happen -- there are a lot of categories! -- but the highlight of the evening for me, aside from the totally delicious desserts, was meeting Weird Al Yankovic and having a picture taken with him, which I posted a few days ago. Here we are in line for the big photograph.
Our gig went well that night, it was also broadcast live on WWOZ in New Orleans which was kind of cool. But we made a lot of new friends and fans and after playing we got to hang out on the rooftop terrace and check out the high life. The green room was also amazing with a hostess there to serve us. I'm telling you, this was the life!

Okay, so onto the next day. Dressed up again and got a little stressed out about that but Ann came to the rescue with my hairdo. Another day of high heels and makeup. The pre-televised event started at 1pm (more free food and drinks) and seats weren't assigned, so we sat pretty close. Lots of categories and quite interesting. Our category was #26 I think, and even though I was certain we wouldn't win, it was still a heart-thumping, sweaty palms wait as they approached the announcement of the winner. Didn't surprise too many people that Buckwheat Zydeco won, although unfortunately he wasn't there to accept the award. I was wishing he could have gone up to speak on behalf of the music and the category but oh well. We stuck around until about #45 and then had to head over to our next party, a private event for Bug Music hosted by T-Bone Burnett ("Oh Brother, Where Art Thou") and Bela Fleck. Very fun. Totally delicious food. Lots more fancy people.

Stuck around there for about an hour or so, then walked across a plaza towards the Staples Center -- actually towards the red carpet. A well-intentioned traffic cop tried to convince us that the red carpet was a zoo and we should forget about going if we wanted to make it to the Grammys on time, but I piped up and kind of insisted that we hit the carpet. I think I said something like, "I didn't come all the way to the Grammys to NOT do the red carpet! C'mon girls!" So, we sauntered our way over to the entrance in our heels, Ann knew the routine about getting an escort, and away we went -- Ann and the escort leading the way and Lisa, Jane, and I tagging along wide eyed as we passed about 30 different media outlets conducting interviews with big stars. Yes, it was zoo-ey, but more interesting excitement than I could have ever imagined. At the end, it was especially chaotic as a certain celebrity (Katy Perry, whom I didn't even know at the time :) was in great demand to enter the photographers area and we were right behind her, kind of getting pushed aside to let her through. It's a gated area, and I wasn't even sure that we were entitled to enter, but Ann forged ahead and told the woman our band name which she quickly wrote out on a white board and told us to come forward and pose for all the dozens of cameras. Then, move over about 5 steps and pose again. Then again. Katy Perry was ahead of us signing autographs, I was wondering who she was (!) and that was the end of the red carpet. Pretty wild. We weren't allowed to take any pics of our own. . .

The big show: we made it just in time, I scored a program with 3D glasses and hurried to find our seats. We had amazing seats: section 103, and 7 rows off the floor, just above the entrance to the celebrity green room. Saw a whole lot of celebs: Ringo Starr, Quentin Tarantino, Alice Cooper -ha- , Lady Gaga -wow, what outfits -, George Clinton, Jamie Foxx, Elton John, Dave Matthews, Pink, Seal, Tony Bennett, and more. Lady Gaga changed her getups several times which was pretty entertaining. The show was bright and action packed. It really was spectacular to be there in the audience, knowing that there were so many incredibly talented people there, even just in the audience. I was seated next to the guy who had just won a Grammy for album packaging -- the latest David Byrne (of Talking Heads) album. Major talent! I was very impressed by the whole production of the show, the coordination of sound and lighting and camera work for the TV broadcast. The maneuvers of the camera people was very impressive, and it was cool to see them moving around catching cool angles and then also look up at the huge screens overhead where you could see through their lens. And then to imagine the person who was mixing all of the camera work together for the TV broadcast. There were so many amazing moments in the show, from Lady Gaga jumping into a flaming urn, to Pink's aerial performance, to the Michael Jackson and Haiti tributes. It was quite a show. I actually gained a fresh appreciation for pop music and what goes into it, realizing that we're all musicians, using music as an outlet for our creativity, hoping to make other people happy by performing, etc. So, the Grammys . . .
. . . were only to be equalled by, or maybe even topped by, the Grammy Afterparty! The party of a lifetime. After the Grammys ended, we headed next door to the West Hall of the adjacent Convention Center, which had been completely decked out as a surreal circus production. The kind of thing that popped your eyes out as you walked in. There were 3 big rings (you can see two in the pic below) and each one was a performance area that had rotating acts : contortionists, acrobats, unicyclists, stilt walkers, a bearded lady, weird clowns, a roller skater doing tricks, a hula girl doing more amazing tricks, aerialists, clowns dressed up like animals, on and on. Plus there was a fortune teller, endless drinks and food, stars on stage singing, a photography booth, amazing looking people dressed in amazing outfits, and just a huge beautiful celebratory party! It actually got even more fun as it cleared out a bit and the performances became more accessible. I stayed 'til the end, figuring that I may never get to experience such an all-out, no holds barred party again. The only thing missing there were couches, so you could just fall asleep amidst all that and keep on dreaming.
We got to sleep late and woke up still in a daze, which lasted most of last week. Actually, I think I might still be in a daze ! It was a great time, I feel completely lucky and honored to have been there, to be a part of the music industry's biggest night. Um, I'd go back, yeah!

In da paper :

2010-02-06T22:58:00.003-06:00

A couple of articles were published by my hometown paper, the Winchester Star, about my trip to the Grammys:

First one
Second One with a minor correction here: we sat in the 7th row *off* the floor (not way up front in the 7th row -- ha! This detail makes it sound like I was amongst the real celebs!)

Long Lost Cousins

2010-02-05T12:24:00.003-06:00

Photo Op with Weird Al Yankovic. Actually, this moment was one of the highlights of my trip .

Went to the Grammys

2010-02-04T15:56:00.003-06:00

More on this soon, I promise! I'm trying to get all my pics together -- as well as my mind, which is still recovering from the Grammy daze. . .

2009-11-18T13:25:00.000-06:00

Photo by Ken Grissom, taken at the Cajuns for Bayou Teche fundraiser at Cafe des Amis.

Happy Birthday violin #1

2009-11-13T16:31:00.001-06:00

My first violin turned 10 years old yesterday, on my birthday.! Nov. 12, 1999 was a gorgeous cool fall day in St. Ann's, Cape Breton, and I clearly remember the exhilerating feeling of stringing up and playing my first tunes on the instrument I had spent so much time and energy building. Building this violin was truly a life changing project. This is the violin that I built mostly at violin making school -- Indiana University -- but that fall I took it up to varnish with luthier Otis Tomas in Cape Breton, NS. And this is still my main playing instrument today, a real dear friend. (I even have a framed photo of it hanging among our family photos in the house). Happy Birthday #1 !

Made in India

2009-11-04T22:19:00.005-06:00

A customer brought in a violin made in Calcutta, India the other day -- some pretty "creative" workmaship, I'd have to say ! Notice the painted-on flame here on the back. And below that is a pic of the bridge, which speaks for itself, or does it ?

2009-11-02T10:30:00.000-06:00

The Bayou Teche fundraiser was a big success -- thanks to everyone who came out to support our clean up efforts. . .

We're thinking about making this fundraiser an annual event.

And the next Bayou Teche cleanup will be on Sunday November 15, starting from the launch in Breaux Bridge, LA. Come with or without a boat.

Bayou Teche Fundraiser

2009-10-27T16:03:00.002-05:00

One of my non-music related activities is participation in the TECHE project, which aims to promote awareness of the rich cultural history and also the polluted condition of the Bayou Teche. We organize cleanups of the bayou and hope to welcome a canoe race along its length next October.

Please come to show your support of cleaning up the Bayou Teche :
This Thursday (October 29) at Cafe Des Amis in Breaux Bridge, 6-9pm
$25 recommended donation, but any amount is welcome.

Bonsoir Catin will be playing, as well as Drew Landry and David Greely. Come join us!

Festival Weekend

2009-10-09T11:53:00.000-05:00

Come out to see Bonsoir Catin play twice on Sunday --
At the main stage of the festival 1:30-2:30
and at Artmosphere 9PM.

Let me plug T-Salé too, on the Heritage Stage, Sunday, 11:30-12:30.

See you there!

My View

2009-09-29T16:06:00.005-05:00

Here's the view out the back windows of my workshop. You can start to see the Bayou Teche there through the trees, and that's a hackberry tree there on the left, looking straight out of a Dr. Seuss book. . .

Pencils!

2009-09-29T15:59:00.003-05:00

Leave a comment here, or email me if you would like me to send YOU your very own AnyaViolins pencil, or two . . .

Bonsoir Photos

2009-09-23T21:34:00.002-05:00

Here are some photos from our CD release party last Saturday night at the Blue Moon. There are also a few at the end of the series from our August gig at Vermillionville. (David Simpson photographer, thanks David).

Bow Rehair?

2009-09-22T22:16:00.003-05:00

While I'm on the topic of bow rehairs, let me post photos of the most creative bow rehair job I've ever seen. This bow and accompanying violin was purchased from the sister of an older black man in Ville Platte, who evidently rehaired the bow himself, with thin string, not hair. I see it as folk art, and in fact I turned down the job of re-doing it, and convinced the owner to leave it as is -- it's too cool ! Probably not all that functional, but creative nonetheless.