Tempo Definitions

MMO Friends: A reminder that my brother, John "Greyhound" Maxwell, will be appearing at Creek House in New Brighton on Saturday, May 4th at 7:30pm (sadly, Bella--above, right--is not accompanying John on this tour). The Washington State Blues Society named John as its Best Acoustic Blues Guitar Player in 2018, and he received a similar award when he still lived in California. John plays pre-war acoustic blues, ragtime, and originals on guitar, metal-bodied resonator guitar, and resonator mandolin. He will be performing St. Louis Women on resonator mandolin, and his slide playing on our favorite instrument is pretty amazing, if I do say so myself. Creek House puts on regular house concerts and is a first-rate listening room for acoustic music. To reserve a seat and get directions to Creek House, visit: www.creekhouseconcerts.com. To listen to John's "Bella's Romp," visit: https://youtu.be/XpQUk84cSYc To listen to St. Louis Women, visit: https://youtu.be/AFge96aYTvs I'll be joining John on blues harp and mandolin on several numbers. Hope to see you all at Creek House on May 4th! Steve

Episcopal Homes

I'm looking to book a gig at Episcopal Homes in Saint Paul where the activity director is a fan of the MMO.  They've asked if we could play a Sunday or Saturday afternoon show instead of a Monday evening show.  They believe that more residents will be able to attend an afternoon performance and that the lighting in their atrium, where we would play, is less than ideal after dark.

Would you either email your willingness to play one of the following dates, or RSVP at https://rsvp.mmo.mando.land/ ?

• Sunday, Oct 27, 2pm
• Sunday, Nov 3, 2pm
• Sunday, Nov 10, 2pm

Thanks for your patience, willingness to try, and feedback on the RSVP website.  

Thanks as well for suggestions on venues.

Jonathan

RSVP to Performances

I've created a site to record dates players are available to perform.  The site allows Lon and myself (Jonathan) to see which performances and potential performances players can attend so that Lon can tune the set list and I can book dates.  It also allows you to preemptively enter dates that you cannot play.

If you don't want to use the RSVP site, please feel free just to email me (Jonathan) which performances you plan to play, and which you cannot.

The Site

https://rsvp.mmo.mando.land/

Log In

Enter your user name (your name on the roster): 

Enter your password (I'll send you a password shortly):

If You Forget or Lose Your Password

You can email Jonathan to reset it.  It's easy for Jonathan to reset a password (but not recover).

Or you can reset it automatically from the log in page-- just enter your name as listed on the roster and click "I Forgot My Password".  The server will send you a new password to the email address we have for you on the roster.  Emailing the reset password can take 20-30 minutes sometimes.

RSVP for Events

The default screen you'll see should say "Browse Events", but if you see other screens, you can return by clicking "Events" in the bootstrap banner.

For each event there is a red/grey/green toggle switch beside a date time.  Click the left, middle, or right side of the switch to say that you cannot, might, or are able to perform at the event.  You can always change your RSVP.

The bar to the right side of the switch indicates what portion of responding players can attend.  More red is negative.  More green is affirmative.

If there are multiple dates for an event, that is because Jonathan is trying to narrow down possibilities to book a venue.

Lon and Jonathan will see a "Details" button that allows only them to see who has responded and summarizes the RSVP count for each section.

Tell Me You Cannot Play Dates

You can specify dates that you cannot play before before Jonathan even thinks about booking.   Click "User Settings" in the bootstrap banner.  Click "Blackout Dates".  Click the dates on the calendar that you cannot play.  The server will record the dates for Lon and Jonathan for booking hints and will RSVP negative appropriately.  You can change the RSVP for the event later, but there is no way currently of unsetting the black-out date, other than asking Jonathan to reset it.

The display of the "Cannot Attend These Dates" calendar fails intermittently and Jonathan will work to improve it.  You should be able to fix the display by reloading the page.

Change Your Password

You can change your password under "User Settings" by clicking "Personal" and clicking "Change" next to "Password".

Get Help

Please feel free to ask Jonathan for help on the site, or to suggest improvements.  For the curious or technically generous, you can see the plans for the site and server at https://github.com/jonathanlb/cat-wrangler

There's also description for the features under "About" in the bootstrap.

Johanna Shores Thanks

We received a thank you note for playing at Johanna Shores and I thought I'd share with the group.

MMO Friends -

Sorry for the late notice:

My dance group is hosting "Balkan Fest" at St. Paul's Landmark Center tomorrow (Sun. Feb. 17) from noon to 5:00. 

Although I will not be playing any instruments for this show, I'll be dancing in full, authentic costumes in several suites throughout the day.  There will also be food (Jack, we made homemade sarma!), activities, and audience participation - a great way to learn Eastern European dances!

Link to event: http://www.ethnicdancetheatre.com/event/2208/
Admission: $6

~ Tiffany

February 4 rehearsal recordings

I made mp3 files from my recording of our February 4 mandolin orchestra rehearsal.
You can find them at the following links:

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/arirang-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/bright-size-life-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/clarks-point-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/concerto-rustica-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/eleanor-rigby-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/fat-boy-rag-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/halleys-comet-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/kalamazoo-swag-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/waitin-julia-belle-190204.mp3

http://www.minnesotamandolinorchestra.org/young-america-190204.mp3

Mandolin Orchestra photo January 28 maybe

Elizabeth Gieseke will be at our mandolin orchestra rehearsal on January 28, and she'll have a camera with her. If enough MMO members are present, we'll take a photo or two of the group . We don't need to dress alike--just wear something that you wouldn't mind being photographed in. If there aren't enough people, we'll take a photo on another day.

News from Sherry Ladig

Hi everyone,
Sherry Ladig and I are meeting for coffee soon to talk about Irish music and her suggestions for our BYNRIE tune list. She asked that I share the following information about her upcoming events. Be sure to save the date of February 1st when her band Dunquin will play their annual Scottish Island Concert!

January 19th  , 6-8 pm Dunquin plays a food shelf fundraiser at Tillie's Café, corner of Cleveland/Marshall Aves. in Saint Paul. All tips go to the local Keystone Community shelves. Eat well, hear great music, do good for your community! We'll play our favorite Irish and Scottish tunes. No cover charge.

January 25th 6-9 pm Burns Night Scotch Tasting at the Historic LeDuc House; 1629 Vermillion Street (Highway 61) in Hastings. Hear Scottish music, poems by Robert Burns, and taste excellent scotch and food pairings. Reservations required; call 651-438-8480.

January 26th Dalwhinnie (that's Dunquin with a Scottish accent) plays for dancing and listening at the evening Burns Night celebration at the Lost Spur Country Club (see details elsewhere in this bulletin for tickets and reservation information). Lots of Scottish entertainment, dinner and a celebration of all things Burns! Sponsored by the Minnesota Scottish Fair and Highland Games folks. This is a ticketed event; for full details see www.mnscottishfair.org and make your reservation there.
    SAVE THE DATE!  Less than a month away:
February 1st, 7:30 pm (doors open at 7 p.m.) The 18th Annual Scottish Island Concert. Dunquin band and guest musicians play an unforgettable evening of spirited and soulful Scottish tunes and songs, and Joy and Jim Gullikson offer their fabulous Scottish tea at the interval (tea included in the admission price). Best entertainment value in town for fifteen bucks! If you love great Scottish tunes, don't miss this! At Olivet Congregational Church, 1850 Iglehart Avenue in Saint Paul (near Marshall and Fairview). No advance sales; tickets at the door. More information at www.sherryladig.com
             Hope to see you at one or more of these!
                   Sherry, Don and Rosa

Hey, All,

Just a reminder that "first" Monday is coming up, so I'll be wrangling MMO members to have pizza at Jakeeno's after practice January 7th, so plan ahead if you'd like to join.

Allison has reserved a venue March 17th for a St. Patrick's Day performance of some type and we'll be discussing who would like to play what.  For context, some of the orchestra played an Irish trad and Ladig set at Can Can Wonderland last year and are looking to follow up at St. Anthony Lutheran.

Also, Nine Mile Creek has asked that a subset of us play for them.  They cannot accommodate the entire orchestra, so I'd love to hear ideas on who would like to play... at a time to be decided.

Happy New Year!
Jonathan