2008 Musical Gift Ideas

Gift ideas. It is that time of year for gift giving, and here is our usual offering of ideas – CDs from (mostly) local artists, music festival tickets, books, and musical instruments. In some cases links have been provided, and in others you will have to seek out info on your own. For the bands, go to their websites and buy direct from them, thereby cutting out the middle-dude. Here are the suggestions:

CDs:

Dave Earl Sidewalk Boogie; The Barefoot Nellies Let Me Down Easy; Earl Brothers Moonshine; Stairwell Sisters Get Off Your Money; Chris Stuart & Backcountry Crooked Man; The Waybacks Loaded; Bill Evans & Megan Lynch let’s do something…; Maria Muldaur Yes We Can; Bill Cutler Crossing The Line; Sawmill Road Bluegrass Band 1; 77 el Deora Hammer & Tongs; The Del McCoury Band Moneyland (includes a song by former Marin songwriter Joe New); Kenny Blacklock This Little Light; Eric & Suzy Thompson Dream Shadows; Kyle Alden Tanglewood.

Festival tickets:

River City Bluegrass Festival in Portland, OR, 1/9-11; Sonoma Country Bluegrass Festival March 14th; Strawberry Music Festival on Memorial and Labor Day weekends; CBA Father’s Day Festival June 18th-21st.

Books:

Teardrops in My Eyes: The Music of Harley “Red” Allen by Dennis Satterlee; Air Castle of the South: WSM and the Making of Music City by Craig Havighurst; I Walked the Line: My Life with Johnny by Vivian Cash; Anchored In Love: An Intimate Portrait of June Carter Cash by John Carter Cash; Clapton: The Autobiography by Eric Clapton; Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me by Patti Boyd and Penny Junor; Twenty Thousand Roads: The Ballad of Gram Parsons and His Cosmic American Music by David Meyer; How I Make $100,000/year in the Music Business (Without a Record Label, Manager, or Booking Agent) by David Hooper; Hallelujah Junction by composer John Adams; Bumping Into Geniuses: My Life Inside the Rock and Roll Business by Danny Goldberg; Sex, Rock & Optical Illusions: The Art of Victor Moscoso by Victor Moscoso; Traveling on a High Frequency: Photographs 1978-2008 by Jay Blakesberg; A Power Stronger Than Itself: The AACM and the American Experimental Music by George E. Lewis; The Soloist by Steve Lopez.

Musical instruments:

Amazing Grace Music in San Anselmo and Schoenberg Guitars in Tiburon.

Organization Memberships:

California Bluegrass Association, The Northern California Bluegrass Society