It's great to be back online after the long break!
Now, I know I told you all the news I was moving back to California but I didn't tell you the "whys" and "hows".
I got a job as a guitar builder, aka guitar luthier!
What most of you may not know about me is that I have worked construction my whole life with my father. (I even made my first guitar when I was 10 out of scrap wood. Let me tell you, it was beautiful! ;) haha!)
I know instruments and I know woodworking. So when I came across a job opening at Cordoba Guitars in Oxnard, right next to my home town of Ventura, I jumped at it!
I have now been working here for about 4 months and it has been wonderful! Our shop here in the U.S. is no big ol' production line. No, we have a shop of 5 people (including me) who build the Master series guitars and cool prototypes.
All the guys at the shop-yes, not surprisingly I'm the only lady on site ;)-are super skilled at what they do and are just great people to work with and learn from.
We have a big guitar show coming up which we're getting ready for and we are in the proses of building two beautiful limited edition Torres and Hausers.
Hauser (left) and Torres (right) w/ granadillo back and sides.
Cordoba just recently came out with some cool videos with behind the scenes of our shop. You can even spot me here and there in both videos. (I'm the one with the short blonde hair and denim shop apron.) ;)
In the shop I take the guitar once it has been assembled and will do everything from binding, neck carving, truss rods, fret boards and frets, to bridges, nuts, saddles, tuners, and setup.
I'm super proud to be a part of Cordoba; we put out some killer guitars!
And with that I will leave you with a sampling:
Enjoy!
Well, it's been a fun and crazy summer at the Patterson house!
My little sister Sarah (one of my very best friends ever!) left on her 18 month mission for our church this summer, and though we miss her beautiful spirit, spunk, and smile in our home she is sharing them with the wonderful people of the Boston, MA area! :)
After my little sister left on her great adventure the rest of my family headed down to southern California to visit with family and watch my brother Casey Patterson, along with teammate Jake Gibb, win the Asics beach volleyball World Cup held in Long Beach!
Watch out for these guys in Rio 2016!
And lastly, I am moving back to my home town of Ventura county, California!
This was an exciting yet a bit surprising change of plans and, though I will miss my friends and bandmates here in Utah, it will be great to see my old friends and go to the great jams down there again.
(Check out my facebook musician's page for a fun video of my last Utah gig with some great friends last Friday!)
I'm back!
Back to my house, back to my wifi, back to microwaves, and back on the blog!
I spent this past weekend camping up at the OFOAM (Ogden Friends Of Acoustic Musicians) festival and state instrument competition, which was up in Ogden (as you probably figured). :)
Some friends and I decided to drive up last week to compete and see the amazing Adam Steffey and the legendary Sam Bush!
Sam Bush is well known for his rockin' mandolin and he did not disappoint on Friday, playing well into the night and cold!
I got in a good rest that night though cause Saturday morning brought with it the mandolin competition! (And for those of you who have done one but not the other, performing for an audience and play for judges presents two very different psychological challenges! The latter of which is quite a bit more stressful for me!) ;)
But I had been working towards this for months and so I was ready!...I hoped. ;)
(Fyi, I played my own arrangements of Salt Creek and New Chance Blues. Two great tunes!)
So, how did I do...?!
...yeah, other than the grubby camping garb...
I got the blue ribbon! :)
I was pretty excited to win first! I also got some great prizes like the Loar mandolin and the automatic contest entry to nationals and 5-day festival pass at Winfield!
I was also happy to be with my Mother when I got the award.
My Mom has always been such a great support to me at competitions, performances, and beyond! And so it was such a treat when she surprised me and drove up that morning to see me get my award!
Love you Mom! :)
By the way, if you are looking into buying a not-so-expensive mandolin that has good sound and build, I have to say the Loar LM 220-vs, at under $400, is great! (Most mandos only start sounding good at the $1,000 point, and then can even climb up to $10,000!)
I have to tell you I wasn't sure about it at first, but once I got jamming on it I was pleasantly surprised!
I play a Collings MT myself, which is just beautiful and hard to top, but I will enjoy playing this Loar at jams and festivals cause of its good bluegrass tone coloring, projection (which is important for acoustic jams), and playability.
The music at this festival was great, and it had some new and interesting bands that caught my ear, like: Elephant Revival (you have got to watch their percussionist play! YouTube them!), Run Boy Run (beautiful arrangements and vocals), and the Ugly Valley Boys (just plain bluesy fun).
It was a fun festival with prizes, friends, and jamming, but one of my favorite parts about it was meeting Adam Steffey and the beautiful music his band, The Boxcars, played!
Adam pulls tone out of the mandolin like Rumpelstiltskin spins gold! (...that was weird...Redo!)
Adam pulls tone out of the mandolin like no one else! He also has so much finesse and taste in his playing!
Plus, if you have noticed, he is one of the few non-tenor bluegrass male vocalists. ;)
Such a great and genuinely nice guy! (And 6'4" by the looks of it, which continues to say a lot for tall mandolin pickers.) ;)
So, now I'm back home relaxing (and thankfully showered!) and making plans to go to Winfield this September.
Hi all! So, just a short blurb. One of the band/duos I'm in is headed to the studio this week to lay down a few demo tracks! Finally, right?! ;) We will be putting them up for your listening enjoyment once recording and posts are finished. Plus, I should have a few free and freeish ;) shows I'll be playing this month which I will keep you posted on. And now for some sibling bragging. ;) My professional beach volleyball playing brother, Casey Patterson, along with teammate Jake Gibb just won gold in the FIVB Grand Slam in Shanghai, China! We are all so proud of him and excited for more great things to come! You can read about it Here.
That's all for now! Make sure to check back in soon and have a wonderful weekend! :) -Erin :)
Do you want to play in a bluegrass band but aren't getting picked up?
Even though you may be a good player and even have a knack for picking tunes up, there may be a few things you have overlooked that could solve all your problems!
Sorry, couldn't help it. ;)
Hi there! It's me again!
Today I felt like bringing up a topic which tends to get overlooked or forgotten by many a musician.
Back-up is the name of the game!
And I'm not just talking about mandolin and guitar players. Though back-up can be a bit different on each instrument, they all play it (yes, even the fiddles). ;)
The name 'back-up' sounds just like what it is. You are not playing the melody but instead are being a support to it.
Musicians who play back-up at any given moment should act as a compliment to, not a distraction from the song or breaks (solos) within it.
I could just get into the intricacies of bluegrass band arrangements and how to use a good sense for back-up as a tool of total awesomeness but I think that it is more important to talk about the Jam.
I say 'more important' because the jam is pretty much the sunday school and missionary field of great bluegrass picking and bowing. (I know, weird analogies but go with me on this.) ;)
The Jam.
It's a place of learning, leading, following, and observing. It's a place to be creative and take risks but most of all it's a great place to listen.
If you want to be a good, and especially a great picker you not only need to learn to play but also how to listen, and I don't mean just listening to yourself.
The best bands out there know this and are tuned into the sound of the band as a whole. They understand each instrument's unique voicing and know how to best compliment and play off each other. It's a constant game of balance, juggle, and lock-in throughout a single tune. You could say that it is this ever changing and adapting of the musicians and their instruments that give a song it's breath or life pulse. And you can only do that with good listening ears.
Now, you could say there are these unwritten rules for jamming, and though these may be more heavily suggested at one jam then another it is always safe to go by it. ;)
Note: This can also be a good review for the non-beginner, as well!
May I present...
The Patterson rules of the jam!
(Well, they're more like guide lines..) ;)
1. Typically, whomever picks the song is in charge of starting, giving direction when needed, and ending it the song.
(To signal a tune's end just simply lift a foot for everyone to see...or bust a jig! Your choice.)
2. Typically, a whole melody is played through once by the person kicking it off and then is passed down one person at a time around the circle, clock-wise or counter, what ever you like. If your turn is coming up and you don't want to take a break just signal to the person in line after you. They will either take it or pass as well and it will just keep moving down the line.
3. Everyone will have a chance to choose a song as it moves down the line so don't worry, you'll be up soon. And again if you don't have a tune you want to play just pass.
4. One should pick a tune to play that most the people in the group know. If you pick a song that may be a little too obscure it may end up being a 'Jam Buster'. (Meaning, you might be the only one who knows the song well enough to play it or for it to be fun. No one wants a jam buster.) ;)
5. Always, when one person is taking a break everyone else playing back-up should adjust their volume to accommodate the instrument taking the break. For example, the banjo and fiddle are typically louder when taking a break than the mandolin or guitar are, therefore the back-up should adjust to this change in volume.
And here lie possibly the two most common and aggravating 'Jam Busters'. The 'I-would-love-to-hear-your-break-but-I-enjoy-the-sound-of-my-own-chords/back-up-far-too-much-to-tune-it-down-a-little' syndrome which can then be followed by the 'No-one-can-really-hear-this-guy's-break-so-I'll-just-play-the-melody-with-him' counter by another. These are two risky moves that may luckily result only in a death glare. ;)
And us mandolinists are not always completely innocent, mind you. Mandolinist love their 'chop' chords and think it sounds cool to play the melody on top of the fiddle sometimes. ;)
There you have the basics for making a good jam and being a great band mate. Hope this helps!
And if the jams you go to tend to sound more like this...
...then it might be a good time to share some of these tips with your friends. :)
So I'm back and excited to talk about one of my favorite things: Performing!
When I was about 11 years old I started playing the fiddle and whenever my family would drive to my grandparents house in L.A. I would bring my fiddle with me to play for my Grandpa.
My Grandpa was a fiddle player all his life but I only remember seeing him play when I was much younger and he was able to move about.
I still have a hazy but very happy memory of our church hoedown/party he played at. I remember running around along with the other kids 'panning for gold', getting our pictures taken in our fun cowboy outfits, and watching out for the sheriff all while the happy tunes of an old-time fiddle sang in the air. I remember looking up now and then from the activities to watch him. What joy came from his playing! He was able to completely fill the air and somehow transform that church parking lot into the old west! It really was magical to me.
That, my friends, is what it's all about. It is the art of creating an almost tangible feeling or ambiance in the room. It should be almost as if the room or air you breath has changed itself and that the audience, not just you the performer, are now inside the music.
Now, I know this may sound like romantic or imaginative thinking but I cannot emphasize this one thing enough:
We perform WAY below our abilities.
We, as humans, do what we are comfortable with. Plain and simple. We tend to perform near the bottom of our abilities, sometimes reaching 70 or 80%, but not often enough do we feel what it is to be at this 'other' level.
Now I am not saying that I play at this level all the time, or that I don't find it hard to in many circumstances. Of course, some environments can be a kill-joy and quite negative.
But when the music and environment is right there are two things that will take you to that next level.
They are Humility and Love.
"Humility and What?!"
Okay, so stay with me here. I will explain my reasoning to you and hopefully won't get too philosophical. ;)
Much within our lives have a lot to do with relationships. From spouses, to parents and children, to friends, and to neighbors, and so on. (I won't get all 'circle of life' on you, don't worry.) ;) But pretty much within every interaction or communication between two or more people some type of 'relationship' is formed.
So now you step on the stage. You are now entering a new 'relationship'.
And you start playing a song. What is this? Yes, the communication.
If you have discussed 'the arts' with enough people you will have most likely heard the opinion that it is all created for a similar purpose. To communicate something. (I'm sure you could get many a more thoughts on the subject but in truth communication is the fundamental on which everything is born.)
Okay, almost done. I promise. ;)
I have learned that the most important things I need to have in order to grow relationships in my life are humility and love. Another word that I like to use for them is Sincerity.
The audience is there, wanting to hear what I have to share with them. They are willing to hear me out with an open mind. They wouldn't be there otherwise. I feel that sincerity from them and want to reply similarly.
No more am I showing off. I'm not stressed out about having them find out that I'm really not as good as I would like them to believe I am, but I am truly just wanting to give back what they have given me.
Coming upon this understanding I really didn't have much of a problem with stage fright anymore. Sure, I might worry about playing those hard parts without messing up but the actual fear of messing up isn't a problem anymore.
Fear has no place in a great performer. How can we ever learn to trust and care for others if we fill our hearts with fear and doubt in ourselves and others? So, in all honesty skill really has nothing to do with it.
Now I understand. Maybe like Yoda and Skywalker, near every time I would play a tune for my Grandpa back then he would tell me to either "Get hot or go home" with a loving chuckle. Fear has no place in greatness.
(The above is an interview I did in the summer of 2011 in eastern Europe. Enjoy!)
