You may have seen a post or two here about my adventures with Mike in Australia. Or perhaps you caught him on tour with Elvis Costello and the Sugar Canes? John Hartford? Maybe you heard his mandolin playing while watching the movie O Brother Where Art Thou. Either way, here’s a chance to see him with David Grier–another monster player and three time IBMA Guitar Player of the Year–in an intimate setting. Oh, and you’ll get a chance to taste the greatest brownie on the planet.

Mike Compton & David Grier
Saturday, October 3rd @ 7pm
The Wil-Mar Center
953 Jenifer St, Madison, WI
Tickets $14.99 in advance, $20 at the door

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But the show must go on… or as Sean would say… “What would Duffy do?”. I managed to remain vertical, hit the tenor parts and with hands shaking, bang out a few solos. Actually, it sounds far better than it had seemed from stage… yeesh.

You can find more TITSH clips on YouTube.

For some time I have known that in order to get my playing to the next level, I need more reps and to be forced into sweating every detail. In other words, I need a band. As luck would have it, I have some good friends who’s playing I enjoy and who all have similar interest in improvement. Thus was born (This is the) Squirrel Hunters.

We recently had our debut… our maiden voyage… our, if you will, debutant ball (oh, and I will)…. The event took place at one of my favorite bars, the Roxbury Tavern. Tom, the owner/proprietor of the Roxbury, showed his TITSH colors by cooking up a fantastic squirrel stew in honor of the occasion!

It was a fine time to be sure. There’s work ‘o plenty still to do but it was a fine beginning. You’re welcome to see for yourself. There are a few videos up on YouTube, as well as a photo sideshow on the band site. Our next show is this weekend at the Brooklyn Bluegrass Festival in Brooklyn, WI.

To stop delivery, just call Madison Newspapers’ customer service number at 608-252-6363, select option 5, and ask them to stop it. Should stop in 1-2 weeks. Thanks Google…

I may post a bit more media in the near future… or not… either way, here’s some audio of Mike and I playing Squirrel Hunters in lovely Fremantle, Australia.

I myself, and more disturbingly, American Airlines/Quantas, have no idea where my bag is so it was off to Target to buy a couple of t-shirts and some shorts.

After diner, a few beers, some fabulous wine, some mandolin and a bit of sleep, I’m feeling almost normal this morning… this will surely not last but I will roll with it while it lasts!

SIDEBAR: While I was typing the paragraph above, a woman came up to me, looked out the window and said “what hapened? It was just sunny”. I looked up and sure enough, in the last few minutes, LA is covered in fog! REALLY weird. No way can I miss ANOTHER flight! Eek!

Anyway, I never explained WHY I’m going to OZ…

FLASHBACK SEQUENCE

It all started a few months back. I was chatting with Mr. Mike Compton and he was telling me about his plans to tour around Australia. It would include both West and East Australia legs (thus making it suitable for pants) and would include, but not be limited to, guests Paul Duff and Steve Gilchrist. I was surprised when he invited me along… and he seemed surprised when I said “hell yeah I’ll go!”. I don’t think it would surprise anyone that I would trade Wisconsin’s -20˚ for Perth’s 100˚… nor a chance to hang out with Mike and two of the finest mando builders in the biz. All in all, it sounded perfect for a mando-centric vacation in OZ! How could I miss?!?

FADE IN: GATE 45

I’ll tell you how I could miss… I could miss another damn flight!