While the folks back home were dealing with torrential downpours, my family and I were having a great time enjoying the Torrey Cowboy Music & Poetry Festival and the incredible scenery of Capital Reef National Park. What could be better than four days of music, hiking and Utah's red rock country?

We started off Memorial Day weekend at the Torrey Cowboy Music & Poetry Festival where I had the honor of backing Brenn Hill for a few songs at the end of his set Friday evening. It continued to get better as I reacquainted myself with old friends and made new some ones on Saturday. Blue Sage was joined by our good friend Ken Sager on mandolin for our set on Saturday night and the folks of Torrey were more than appreciative.



The day after the festival ended, we headed a little North East of Torrey to do some exploring around Goblin Valley. We started off by hiking a slot canyon (Crack Canyon), which turned out to be the perfect match for our abilities; if it were any tougher we might not have been able to make it back out again!




After Crack Canyon, we headed south to Goblin Valley. I guess it's officially called "The Valley Of The Goblins", but everyone who grew up in Utah calls it "Goblin Valley". We found ourselves in some of the most fascinating geography found anywhere on Earth.

All in all it was a perfect weekend with great music, great folks, great festival, and great hiking in the spectacular country found in Southern Utah's backcountry...

Tags: Brenn, Cowboy, Gigs, Family

Last night I had the pleasure of providing some background music for one of the venues featured in the First Fridays Art Stroll held in downtown Ogden.

The Timberlodge Collection (2214 Washington Boulevard) managed to get hold of a significant number of master artist Steve Johnson’s paintings to hang for the “stroll” and had asked Steve for some ideas for music; my name came up...

During the course of the night, a number of old friends dropped by. At one point in the evening I spotted Dale Pendleton, who will soon be ninety, dancing with one of his granddaughters! He’d stopped by to give me a CD he’d recorded. As a young man, Dale had learned a number of his dad’s fiddle tunes exactly as his father played them; double stops and all. This is a real treasure as it’s the equivalent of having a tape player running a hundred years ago at a dance up in Wanship or Coalville. I’m hoping Heather will learn some (if not all) of these tunes just as Dale’s father played them.

A very nice evening spent with good folks and with great art showcased in the perfect setting. If you’re not familiar with Steve Johnson’s work visit his website, or better yet, drop by the Timberlodge while Steve’s art is still hanging and see it for yourself!

Tags: Art, Cowboy