Peter Ostrusko with Danny Gotham - Bennys' From Heaven

Another sweet tune from our friend Peter on YOUTUBE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9JORlzQ8Og

Daryl

Annuals and perennials

The posts about MBOTMA have made me think about this: Many bands have selections that are audience favorites, and they play those favorites at every show. In the MMO, we keep tunes in our active list for about two years, and the move them out to make room for new music. I do that because I always want to hear something new. But it's show biz, and I wonder if our concert set list should have a few perennials.



Do you think our set lists should always include some favorites from the past? If so, which ones?

Mandolin Orchestra of Niagara

Their website is here:

http://moonmusic.ca/

Remember, there's Niagara Falls, USA and Niagara Falls, Canada; for anyone who's been there (one of my sisters lives just 30 min. NW of there), the Canadian Falls are more popular.
Anyway, I think they have a cool acronym! MOON (Mandolin Orchestra of Niagara).

Kalamazoo Mandolin & Guitar Orchestra

Their website is here:

http://www.kalmando.com/

New Goodin music coming

Next week (March 10), I want to try John Goodin's "Wedding March Set" at our MMO rehearsal. I'll make copies and distribute them then. If you want to get a head start on the music, you can go to http://academic.luther.edu/~goodinjo/WMS.htm and download the parts.

observations of MMO at bluegrass festival

The MMO had its first 2008 performance on March 1 at the Winter Bluegrass Weekend sponsored by MBOTMA (Minnesota Bluegrass & Old Time Music Association).
I'll send an invitation to all of you to view my entire album from this festival soon.
Below are some comments I heard, some from my in-laws and husband, some from fellow bluegrassers with whom I jam, some from strangers:
"Only one guy smiled; everyone was so serious; I thought playing music was s'posed to be fun."
"There was not one bluegrass song played by the MMO. Isn't this a BLUEGRASS festival?"
"The selection of music was poor; you guys should play more familiar songs that people know."
(I explained that the available mandolin orchestra music was limited.)
"I liked all the songs; not one was bad to me."
"You were much better than last time I heard you, at Como Park last summer."
And my own comment: "Hey, we should play Christmas music at nursing homes in December!"
Blog out!