BillA profile picture

BillA

billablog

About Me

I am just a semi-retired guy, kind of growing older, but feeling sort of younger listening to certain kinds of music and going to a lot of festivals and concerts close to home and around the world supporting some of the musicians and kind of hanging out with folks who also like this kind of music. I used to be a musician of sorts myself in my younger days with a loud trombone in a marching band on a football field, but spend most of my time on the sidelines these days. I have been known to sort of sing "Waltz Across Texas" in cowboy karaoke bars in Japan and have kind of tried to play a variety of stringed instruments like the lap dulcimer and autoharp which was sort of fun. I now have a nice new guitar that seems to spend most of its time in the dark inside its case. Some day soon I intend to kind of get serious with it and my basic instruction book and training CD. I have sort of a nice life these days, fairly good health and am blessed with a very nice family and a growing number of nice MySpace friends and am looking forward to my first grandchild any day now. Cheers .... in a nice, sort of, kind of way.

My Interests

Travel, Genealogy, Writing, College Sports

I'd like to meet:

Ray Wylie Hubbard

Music:

Americana, Bluegrass, Country (traditional), Enka, marching Bands plus almost anything Australian or from Texas.Bands plus almost anything Australian or from Texas.

My Blog

House Concert with Audrey Auld Mezera - May 30

Dear Friends and Neighbors. We would like to invite you to an acoustic, folk music house concert with Audrey Auld Mezera at our home in Great Falls, VA on Friday, May 30. The performance will start a...
Posted by BillA on Sun, 25 May 2008 10:12:00 PST

My MerleFest 2008 Journal

Thursday - Apr 24 Our day got off to a $%&! start when a VA State Trooper pulled us over about 60 miles South of Roanoke to give Mary a costly reminder of the speed limit on I-81. Thing is w...
Posted by BillA on Fri, 02 May 2008 11:52:00 PST

Audrey Auld Mezera and Nina Gerber bring Australian & California Folk/Country Music to Virginia

..> (click on image thumbnails to view larger versions) Thursday, Nov 1, 2007: A four-hour, late afternoon drive south past harvested fields and though brilliant tunnels of Fall...
Posted by BillA on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:16:00 PST

John Lomax III - An Australian (and Kasey Chambers) Fascination

The August 2007 edition of the Australian magazine Country Update just arrived via air mail here in the States. I think it is a fantastic issue with feature articles on Troy, (Big) Adam, Kristy, Travi...
Posted by BillA on Thu, 30 Aug 2007 06:20:00 PST

MEGAN MULLINS AT 2007 BOONSBORO CARNIVAL

..> MEGAN MULLINS AT 2007 BOONSBORO CARNIVAL G'day everyone. I do feel very fortunate today thinking back to all the opportunities I have had to see some ...
Posted by BillA on Sat, 26 May 2007 10:21:00 PST

2007 WMZQ FEST featuring Catherine Britt

..> 2007 WMZQ FEST Bristow, Virginia  May 5, 2007: Catherine Britt made her debut in the Washington, DC metropolitan area this afternoon performing a 30 minute ...
Posted by BillA on Sun, 06 May 2007 09:57:00 PST

MerleFest 2007 Report & Photo Gallery Links

..> Mary and I are spending Sunday night at our half-way pit stop in Roanoke, Virginia on our way home from a wonderful four-day celebration of Americana, blueg...
Posted by BillA on Mon, 30 Apr 2007 09:31:00 PST

The Washington Post Raves About The Greencards

It was a cold blustery Monday evening in Vienna, Virginia, the start of a work week, but still a near capacity crowd turned out to see The Greencards perform at an intimate "listening" club called Jam...
Posted by BillA on Sat, 21 Apr 2007 09:38:00 PST

MY BELL HIGH SCHOOL BLUEGRASS MOMENT WITH CHERRYHOLMES

I believe it was my nephew that told me a couple of years ago that the hot, new bluegrass family band Cherryholmes once lived in my home town Bell, California. Last night I had a chance to confirm tha...
Posted by BillA on Sun, 08 Apr 2007 03:17:00 PST

I'M A NEW GRANDPA

Although most of my blog entries focus on the music I love, you have to excuse this first-time grandpa to divert once in a while to brag on the newest member of our family. Adam Richard Aldacushion ...
Posted by BillA on Mon, 09 Apr 2007 03:42:00 PST