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Steve Kaufman 2008 visit finalized.

Steve Kaufman will be returning for his 10th annual visit and will be conducting mandolin and guitar workshops as well as appearing in concert per the schedule below:

Thursday, April 3, Mandolin Rhythm Workshop, 7:00 PM

This workshop is designed for new mandolin players or even those considering picking up the mandolin.  Some basic knowledge of the instrument is helpful though not required.

Material covered will be basic to intermediate chord forms and how they move around the fretboard.  Also covered will be chops, timing, melody and melody picking.

This workshop will be restricted to 20 Students max. Workshop fee is $45.00.

Friday, April 4, Beginning to Intermediate mandolin lead workshop 7:00 PM.

As crucial a roll as the mandolin plays in maintaining rhythm in a Bluegrass context, it's also a lead instrument.  In this workshop, Steve will work on fingerings, new songs and how to learn them and how to best learn by tablature and by ear. 

This workshop will be restricted to 20 students as well.  The workshop fee is $45.00.

Saturday, April 5, The 6-Hour Beginner and Intermediate Flatpicking Workshop 9:30 AM.

As the only three-time winner of the Winfield National Flatpicking Guitar championship, Steve Kaufman is undoubtedly the best known instructor in the world of the flatpicking style.  With scores of publications and videos to his credit, Steve will give you the key to all his secrets in this workshop.  He will concentrate on both right and left hand techniques with an objective of giving you better control.  He will introduce you to new chording techniques and teach you how to incorporate new tunes into your repertoire.

If you have been contemplating trying your hand at flatpicking or if you've been struggling to do so, this workshop is a must.  The workshop fee is $80.00 and the class will be closed at 20 students.

Saturday, April 5, Steve Kaufman and Adam Granger in concert, 8:00 PM

Also held in the Armatage School Auditorium, this concert will team up our very own Adam Granger, author of Granger's Fiddle Tunes for Guitar, and a widely known and highly regarded flatpicker and instructor himself with Steve Kaufman.  The result -  an evening guaranteed to delight anyone who enjoys world class guitar playing.  

Tickets to this concert are $13.00 in advance or $15.00 the day of the concert. 

Sunday, April 6, Upper Intermediate to Advanced Flatpicking Workshop 12:00 Noon.

During his decade of conducting workshops here at the Homestead Pickin' Parlor  Steve with Adam's support has developed some very good flatpickers and in recent visits, some of these more developed pickers have been asking Steve for a no-holds barred advanced workshop.  He will accommodate those players in this three-hour workshop.

The workshop fee if $45.00 and it will be restricted to 20 players. 

These workshop are always extremely popular and we recommend signing up immediately.  For the month of January, all of the above workshop fees will be reduced by $5.00 for you "early birds" who plan ahead.  The fees as listed will go back into effect on February 1.

2008 Bluegrass Calendar

After a one-year absence for reasons not entirely clear, the Bluegrass Calendar is back this year with a theme of "Women in Bluegrass".  We're delighted that Minnesota's own Becky Buller is included.  We have a very few left at $13.95.

Barry Densch receives C.F. Martin authorized repair status.

Before Barry Densch began doing repair work for the Homestead Pickin' Parlor, he had been an authorized C.F. Martin & Co., Inc. repairman in Chicago, IL. After relocating to Minneapolis and getting his shop set up here, Barry took a trip to Nazareth, PA and visited his old friends at Martin and told them he was ready and anxious to resume his working relationship with Martin. They quickly replied that they were more than happy to have him back in the fold and he's all set up and ready to go. So if you're the original owner of a C.F. Martin & Co., Inc. Guitar and feel you may have a warranted repair, give us a call.

Sorry Muthas New CD
 EVEN HOTTER
OFF THE PRESS &
WE'VE GOT THEM
AS WELL

The Sorry Muthas was a seminal Twin Cities based fixture band of the 60s and 70s folk scene. Now for the first time on CD, the Muthas can be revisited on their 'Greatest Hits, Volume 3' compact disc which will help you relive the best parts of those years or perhaps enable you to visit for the first time, portions of that era that somehow evaded being permanently burned into your consciousness.

the Sorry Muthas first incarnation began in 1967 when Papa John Kolstad and Bob Stelnicki joined musical forces. During the next few years, the congregation grew through old friendships, chance meetings and even occasional intentional recruitments. The Muthas toured the country extensively performing at such legendary venues as The Gaslight in New York City, The Unicorn in Boston, The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley, CA and the Guthrie Theater (BCE) in our own Twin Cities. They shared stages with The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Vassar Clements, The Dillards, Rosalie Sorrels, U. Utah Phillips among others. Loudon Wainwright III would ask to sit in with the Muthas while he was still relatively unknown.

'Greatest Hits, Volume 3' was a 1971 release. Through the marvels of science and the persistence of the remaining Muthas, it's re-release will delight the ears of those who have been patiently waiting as well as those who will be experiencing the Muthas for the first time. It's a revered collection of original tunes, contemporary songs by the likes of Loudon Wainwright III and old-timey tunes originally brought to the table by Memphis Minnie. And it is IN THE HOUSE!

Get your copy now - $ 15.75

Click to see larger image

  Folk Music Venues Page

We used to list on the home page a number of venues which often (or occasionally) present something which qualifies as folk or acoustic music events.  We've decided to move the list to its own page, and we'll occasionally make additions and changes to that list.  We hope this will become a useful resource for our customers looking to hear some live music.

Featured Items!!

These are either items which seem to fly out of the store as fast as we can get them, or they're products we think you should know about.

The Hottest Thing in Tuners

The Intelli IMT Series

The Intelli IMT series tuners are the extremely compact clamp-on chromatic tuners that are all the have been taking the musical world by storm.

They clip on to the instrument peghead and pick up the string vibrations directly through the clamping mechanism (see accompanying photo).

Featuring an extremely accurate  quartz crystal 12-note full range chromatic tuner.  A2-B7 with +/- 0.5 cents accuracy. 

“A” Calibration from 430 to 449 Hz in 1Hz steps.

Easy to read wide screen LCD readout acts and looks like a tuning meter.

Extremely resistant to surrounding ambient noise.

Available with or without backlighting to make for easy tuning in any level of ambient light.

3 Volt CR2032 battery included.

Overall dimensions = 1.8” x 1/8” x 2/2” (includes body & clamp)

Call today to purchase
IMT-500 (with backlighting) =    $29.95
IMT-501 (without backlighting) =   $24.95

Keep us up to date and spread the word.  Not surprisingly, we've found that folks change their internet providers (hence their e-mail addresses) much more often than they do their snail mail addresses.  Should you do so, please drop us a note and let us know where to re-direct our e-mail newsletters.  In the world of acoustic music, we can't afford to lose contact with a single one of our friends in the music.  And if you enjoy reading our periodic e-mail newsletters, forward a copy to one or more of your friends.  Have them send us their snail mail address, along with their e-mail address, and we'll keep them up to date on Homestead happenings as well. 

Please pass along the Homestead URL -- www.homesteadpickinparlor.com -- to others. If they would like to receive the e-mail newsletter too, have them e-mail Homestead with their snail mail and electronic addresses as well as a phone number. We'll make sure the next issue heads their way.