Welcome to my first blog. I wasn't going to get into the whole blogosphere thing but so many folk email asking about my music & gigs etc I thought now is as good a time as any to start one. I'll try and be a regular as I can given my various musical deadlines.

A couple of weeks ago I was in Moab, Utah of all places playing at the Moab Music Festival. Our group played a Celtic concert called…. wait for it…. 'Highland Hootenanny'!!! Yeah, I know :o/ but it was great fun. The group consisted of Paul Woodiel (Fiddle), Natalie Haas (Cello), Christopher Layer (Pipes, Whistles, Flutes), Suzie Petrov (Piano & Accordion), Emily Smith (Vocals & Accordion) and myself of guitars. Emily is an amazing talent from Scotland who flew over to take part in this event and she was wonderful to work with. As were all the other musicians. Paul & I were staying at the home of world renowned soil scientist Dr. Jayne Belnap who was just amazing so thanks to her for allowing us to stay at her very impressive home in the middle of the desert! I'll post some pics soon. Quite a place!

I had an extra day at Moab after everyone flew to their various abodes so I took to my car and drove around Canyonlands National Park taking photos and soaking in the extraordinary vistas. Very inspirational! At one point in the later afternoon I was sitting looking out into a vast canyon watching a huge thunderstorm towards me. It didn't take long and soon it was above me dumping tons of rain on top of the car. But after only about 20 minutes it was over and the storm continued down the other side of the canyon. What an amazing spectacle to see nature at work. We live on an incredible planet! It would be a pity if due to our ignorance and greed we screwed it up!

Well now I am back home in NJ and working on Broadway in Jersey Boys. It's a busy week though… On Monday 1st October at 7pm I'll be playing at Birdland in NYC with Lawrence O'Keefe (He wrote the music for the musicals 'Legally Blonde' & 'Bat Boy' among others). It's always great and very challenging to play Larry's music.

On Friday 5th at midnight I'll be playing in Daniel Reichard's Kegger at Ars Nova in NYC. This is always a fun gig where various cast members of Jersey Boys and other guests get together to sing song and drink beer. So if you happen to be in the city on either of those days, do come along.

Well that's all for now. Many of you have been asking questions about my guitars and things and keep them coming. I'll answer them in upcoming blogs.

Cheers
Steve