Merry Christmas

Welcome ALL to the 

 Classical Christmas Meeting

Mon. Dec. 12 ,  at the Pheasent Plucker, 20 Augusta Street, Hamilton

             7:30 sign in, show starts at 8:00

Hello Everyone,

       Holiday time has come again.   Time to play a tune, give best wishes, enjoy some music, food and cheer with your old friends at the Hamilton Guitar Association and SOFGA.

Dust off those Christmas tunes, (if you can remember them) , Enjoy some light refreshments and treats then sit back for an ensemble  yuletide set from our resident classical crew.


Last time our feature set from John Harris and Andy Rock, (collectively known as Crazy Chester) proved to be a heart warming display of song, guitar technique and friendly ol music and manner from two of our favorite club members. Check out this clip of Deep River Blues . Thanks guys for being great musicians, club members and friends. (look..., I'm getting all mushy like... it must be Christmas time)

See you soon and...Dress Nice Damn-it ,    It's Christmass

Hga...SOFGA    meeting

Mon. Nov.28 ,  at the good ol Pheasent Plucker, 20 Augusta Street, Hamilton

             7:30 sign in, show starts at 8:00

EYE ACHE,... MY EAR!

This week HGA is proud to present the rescheduled feature set by super solid club members, players and friends John Harris and Andy Rock. 

I tell you, I've not seen performers who look like they are having as much fun playing together as these two.Catch a clip of John doing Blake Snake Blues . I couldn't find a clip of Andy but maybe he'll have a chance to explain this photo

Check out the website for clips of our last club night, featuring the sensational EMMA RUSH, (which was literally infested with nylon stringers)  and there captivating classical chantadas. We also had a visit from Bob Maclean who will be on spotlight for a feature set later this year.

While your at it, notice the new listening room page where you can listen to and record music for me to post. If you are one of the many telecommuting to the club via the website, now you can share by playing us a tune. It's like an online open mic. Presently there is only one measly song from me, but ,  with your help we'll have  some   "enjoyable"   "music" from actual "musicians" very shortly.

Thanks being a part of our guitar community,

See you Monday night,

Mark

this weeks meeting ( M..usical E...xciting E...ntertaintment T...hing),

Mon. Nov. 14, at the good ol Pheasent Plucker,
 20 Augusta Street, Hamilton

7:30 sign in, show starts at 8:00


We're back to the beloved classic format, half open mic, half feature performer. ...SO,

Bring your guitar for a two song set then...kick back...grab a fresh cold one and great local food and ....



This week, the HGA is proud to present, a feature set of the amazing, lovely and talented........


EMMA RUSH

Check out this EMMA VIDEO, entitled "Tortilla w/ Blue"

Guitars and Guns,..... Guitars and Power Tools and Guns

    If you're like me, you've been walking around for a couple of days singing the words to Russ`  new song,  Guitars, Power Tools and Guns. One of the three he played on Monday night at the meeting.

     As it turns out, we had a bit of camera trouble, and ended up using a web cam.  So now you can see three clips of this weeks meeting.  Russ, as if cut from an excerpt of the Pete Seager Show,  Scot Hamilton in true 70`s singer songwriter form and yours truly looking sort of like the cover of  Frampton Comes Alive. On the upside,  the sound recording system is infinitely better (direct from the board).

     Be advised, there is NO CLUB ON HALLOWEEN NIGHT, me and Alf have to stay home to scare unwary children. Our next meeting will feature a set from Emma Rush. We`re all pretty pumped.

Catch You next Month,
Markis

Scot Hamilton

Mark, Hamilton Blues in Montreal

Mon. Oct. 17 , HGA... Sofga meeting

1. Hga...SOFGA  meeting
   

Mon. Oct. 17 ,  at the good ol Pheasent  Plucker, 20 Augusta Street, Hamilton

             7:30 sign in, show starts at 8:00

Hey everyone,

Due to a sudden illness, the feature performers  scheduled for this week were forced to postpone to a later date. We all hope that John H. feels better chop chop , (without having to do any sort of chop chop)

For this meeting we'll continue to do some extended sets for open mic and post tapes of our favorite parts of the night. Make sure to bring a memory stick to download a full version of your previous performances.

Check out the link for this weeks episode of the Randy Bachman show, vinyl tap on CBC, it's a great couple of hours of exploration into the use of acoustic guitar in popular music.

I'd like to be able to post upcoming shows that we might be interested in, so be sure to forward me your dates and times in advance of the bi-weekly news letter.

In the last couple of weeks our website/blog has gotten over 500 views. (and I,m pretty sure it,s not all me) . I could  use some suggestions for Member Vid of the month, (a cool recording not done at the club)


See you tomorrow,
Mark

Alfie on banjo

Oct. 3 ,2011, One leg in the nylons, followed by banjo music kinda night

      We had a great musical open mic night with some extra songs from a few of the usual suspects. This was our first club with videography. (Thanks to Mackenzie for doing the taping.)

     You can see two clips this week. Emma Rush's  second number (below),  a Spanish piece and  a new song from recent member, Stephan Guschewski, entitled Let it Bloom. Both of these play excellently and are much better looking than many of our members. (who are a rather funny lookin bunch on the by and large)

     At the next meeting you can view last meeting's recordings, so bring a memory stick to tote yours home in full glory.

Emma Rush Oct. 3, 2011

Mon. Sept. 19 , HGA... Sofga meeting

          

   Hey everyone, me again. Last year was very exciting as we started to figure out together exactly who we were going to be as the new H.G.A.  The glowing performance from Mike Anderson, who we've  all watched develop into a gifted performer and artist  finished the year on a high for the coming summer.

 I hope you had a great summer playing at drunken festivals and nude beach parties each and every night,  till  the  morning light,......     like me. But now  the summer is all over but  the paternity suits.

   We have another exiting year of great solo performance of guitar music from beginners , students, artists and masters. This year, we'll continue to build a community where the art of solo guitar performance can thrive.

   In eager anticipation, and to come down from the summer hangover, I'll see you this Monday, and we can all detox together.

Hair of the Dog,

Markis

First Meeting Of the 2011-2012 season

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

   It was great to reconvene after a summer away and see all our friends again. Everyone played a few tunes, we got a feel for how the year was going to play out and also a great discussion on aching body parts. Allot of enthusiasm was shown for our visits to the Alexander Place palliative care centre and we hope to return soon for another song circle.

At the next meeting, we'll hand out full schedules for the year and plan some future events and concerts.



    Take Care , Mark

David Gillis At HGA

This week, May 30,  the Pheaesnt Plucker, 8:00 to 10:00, HGA is proud to present the return of, multiple award winning finger style guitar (...and ukulele) player,  long standing member and friend to HGA /sofga David Gillis.

 I've always admired David's ability to display his amazing  guitar technique, vocal and song writing while building an increasingly close connection to everyone in the audience. It makes for a dazzelling, unique and uplifting musical experience.

You can spend an afternoon watching clips of super talented musicians going under the handle "Gillis", ( Ariana and Briar for example)  Here's a clip of David on his own, doing a favorite to many , one super-cool (as well as documented and published) arrangement of... Spiderman.