Thanksgiving 2013

New Zealand doesn't have a Thanksgiving holiday so Trude and I host a dinner party at our house and invite other expats from the USA, and some of the natives too. I find it therapeutic to have a celebration focused on the things in this life that we are thankful for. Like pumpkin pie under a mountain of whipped cream :-). It's also nice to be surrounded by such lovely people.
All the photos here: https://plus.google.com/u/0/photos/108481211284683809830/albums/5992241912579254609

Wires & Wood, Mountaingrass 2013

Wires & Wood traveled to Australia to perform at Mountaingrass in the beautiful alpine village of Harrietville. It was the first time in decades that i had been to a strictly bluegrass festival and my first time ever to visit Australia. The standard of musicianship, especially in the jam sessions, was very high which was humbling and inspiring and very enjoyable. It was great to catch up with some old friends and make a few new ones. As always, it was a pleasure to perform on stage with Wires & Wood.
A few more photos: https://plus.google.com/photos/108481211284683809830/albums/5992232606597849249?banner=pwa

Oparau Acoustic Festival 2013

It was yet another lovely weekend at the Oparau Acoustic Festival. Highlights were the gumboot swim competition, the Saturday night concert, the bonfire and the jamming. I was happy to be performing with Rainberry Pie in the concert, along with The New Millennium Beatniks and Hard Candy.

The few photos i took are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/108481211284683809830/Oparau2013#

Gerard Hudson took some great photos of the event which he shared here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/musogerard/sets/72157637566143476/