Time to Travel West 2016

Posted by fiddledan on Thursday, September 1, 2016

Time to travel west 2016!

Hello folks! Another summer in Ohio is coming to an end and it is almost time for me to load the truck and head west! No trailer anymore and yes, you have heard right from the rumor mill that it is also time to sell the Ohio Hippie-billie homestead. AND yes, the my last trailer sold last winter so it is just the truck and me heading back to Tucson via St. Louis gigs.

About 20 years ago I found a little place in Southern Ohio to call home. It was 40 acres and an old (1870’s) small house. There was even a mule grazing when I looked at it but I think he went home shortly after my purchase. Fast forward with getting the 40 acres next to it, cleaning the property, select cut timbering the land, putting in roads and trails and yes, saving – resurrecting? – the old house. Most folks who saw photos said, “So why don’t you tear it down and start over,” while my neighbor said, “Well, Dan, how come you aren’t living in it?” Well, it had no plumbing or electricity in it and he said, “Well, why don’t you did yo-self a hole and put up a little building?” so I did. I’ve been working on the place ever since. I’ve often referred to it as my “hobby house”.

Since then I got working starting with a handsaw, weed trimmer and a shovel. It soon grew to 83 acres, a nice garden, electric in the house, solid walls and insulation, new windows, county water, mod cons and a John Deere garden tractor to become the place you see now in my pictures. Some of you have even seen it in person with a visit, camp or residency over the years noting its progress and enjoying the land with me. It was a lot of work and a lot of fun. It has been a journey for sure. But, like all things in life, it is time to move on so it is time to sell it and move on to the next adventure.

So the home is up for sale along with the land. 83 acres (m/l), house, garden, trails and stream. Perhaps it would be something you would like to carry on. If so, you can contact me by phone or email and I’ll put you in touch with the Wood real estate company. I chose them to represent me for several reasons not the least of which is Allen Wood’s father used to own it so he knows the property and can give you the real story of the place and even show you the best places to hunt – if that is something you enjoy. His number is 740-446-1066 but feel free to contact me first if you have any questions. And yes, it includes the mineral rights to the land.

On the way back to Tucson, I’ll be stopping in St. Louis to do Repertoire and Fiddle workshops at the Folk School of KDHX and a concert at The Focal Point on Saturday September 10th followed Sunday the 11th playing for the Childgrove dance. I will have some limited availability for private sessions on Sunday during the day and perhaps Friday afternoon depending upon when I get to town. I am still looking for a place to stay while I am there so if you have any suggestions or offers please contact me.

I don’t have anything scheduled after that on my way back to Tucson but if you would like to put together a last minute event Monday or Tuesday we can talk. I hope to be home late Tuesday or midday Wednesday. There I’ll unload the truck and hit the ground runnin’!

First up will be a visit from Conversations with Old Time Performers videographer Craig Evans to interview me for his next volume of that series. Band practice will get going pretty quickly too since Squirrelly Dan and the Cat Mountain Rounders plays the Tucson dance October 15 – FULL MOON! We’ll be in Las Cruces, NM on November 18 too. I’ll also be playing the Tucson dance with Buz Lloyd on November 5th.

Other scheduled highlights include an appearance at this year’s Tucson Meet Yourself on Friday October 7th at 6 PM. And I have scheduled Clawcamp West 2017 for March 10-12, 2017. Info and registration can be found on my website. That camp was large the last time I had it in Tucson so don’t delay if you are interested in some sun, fun and banjo.

My students are already asking when we will get started again and I do have space for a few more this year if you are ready to get started or advance your skills in Old Time Clawhammer banjo, Old Time fiddle, guitar or mandolin. The regular jams at the Rincon Market have been going on all summer so I’ll be excited to get back to those. September 26 is the first one after I get back.

Speaking of jams, last year I ran a Jam Workshop where we got to go over many of the regularly played tunes at a moderate pace and break them down especially for those who want to get up to speed and learn the tunes, ins and outs of old time jam sessions. It ran monthly. Do you folks want me to set those up again? Another suggestion was that we start to have a monthly tune repertoire workshop for the more advanced tunes where we likewise break them down and bring them up to speed. In either case, folks I’ve talked to seem to be willing to make a donation for those sessions. I’m figuring $15-20/session if I decide to do those and we’ll work from the repertoire books I have out with Mel Bay. Those include Old Time Festival Tunes; Old Time Favorites and my latest Beyond the Waterfall which came out in June. Let me know what folks think about that and we’ll get them going – probably in October – once I get back to Tucson.

That should bring us up to date for now! So, back to the cleaning, fixing and packing. See you in St. Louis or when I get back to Tucson. Till then…

Play Nice,
Dan “Clawdan” Levenson
www.Clawdan.com

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