Dear Good People on the Outskirts of a Hurricane, I'm loving this weather! Hawaii in Cali, humidity to the hilt, warm ocean currents blending into evening mysto south swells—all valid elements to bug the heck out of some and to make others, (me in the latter list), rejoice in the heat of July. Bring it on, steam it up, confuse the air conditioners, and make the days last long.
Taylor Guitars has a cool quarterly newspaper called Wood & Steel and the summer version that's just now surfacing has a cover article called "The Endless Strummer." I play and love my Taylor guitars and this San Diego company is taking on the world with their instruments. The piece talks about musicians who also surf and or surfers who also strum. I'm in there along with Titus Kinimaka, Mike Smith, Tim Luranc, Bob Zinc, Bill Macpherson, Tim Flannery, Jeff Yeomans, Jon Foreman, and Larry Breedlove. Some of these folks are guitar builders and most are players. Improvising on a wave and blowing on a jazz tune have some similarities and you might want to read into the details as to how it works inside the minds of a few salt water devotees. Click on the image to the right to be jettisoned to the article.
This last week I dug into my box of old videos and found a cool one of our band playing an outdoor concert in the heat of August in Del Mar in 1987. The band at that time was Kevyn Lettau, Coral Macfarland-Thuet, John Leftwich, Tripp Sprague, Duncan Moore, Bill Cantos, Kevin Delgado, Mark Lampson and myself along with 5 other percussionists. We're stirring it up along with a zillion bohemian dancers in the audience. Pretty funny and one thing for sure, the laws in Del Mar were a lot looser back then. "Sure, feel free to block the main highway with your creative music and dancing, we love the arts", said one fine police officer. Ahhhh, the good 'ol days! I trimmed the video up and if you click on the image to the right you can take a trip back in time. Look for the HotDance '87 video.

For this week I'm playing a trio gig with Lisa and Gunnar on Wednesday evening. Thursday finds Leonard and I with percussionist Toby Ahrens at a benefit show for the fabulous Troubadour newspaper. I love this paper! They highlight everything acoustic around San Diego and they're throwing a happening at the Portugalia in Ocean Beach to help raise funds to further their creative efforts. Hope you can make it. And finally on Friday Lisa, Gunnar and myself play jazz at the Inn L'Auberge in Del Mar.

That's what I know for now. Salt water rules!
Peter

 
Wednesday July 26, 2006 Lisa Hightower Trio
featuring Peter Sprague		 McCormick & Schmicks's
at the OMNI Hotel
675 L Street, San Diego
92101
619-645-6545
Lisa Hightower — vocals
Peter Sprague — guitar
Gunnar Biggs — bass		 7 to 9 PM A last minute hang in downtown. Should be some fun with some fancy food.
Thursday July 27, 2006   Peter Sprague and
Leonard Patton		  
Portugalia
Portugalia
4839 Newport Ave.
Ocean Beach, CA
92107
http://www.sdportugalia.com/index.html
Peter Sprague — guitar
Leonard Patton — vocals
Toby Ahrens — percussion		   9 to 11 PM   A benefit show for the fabulous Troubadour Newspaper
Friday July 28, 2006   Peter Sprague Trio
featuring Lisa Hightower		  
Inn L' Auberge
1540 Camino Del Mar
Del Mar, CA
858-259-1515
Peter Sprague — guitar
Lisa Hightower — vocals
Gunnar Biggs — bass		   7:30 PM to 10:30 PM   Great setup in lovely Del Mar. Make it an evening topped off with jazz in a living room setup.
Friday August 4, 2006   Peter Sprague
and Pass The Drum		  
Point Loma Park
1049 Catalina Boulevard
near the intersection with Varona Street. (Thomas Guide 1268:A-2)
http://www.plconcerts.org/
Peter Sprague — guitar
Tripp Sprague — sax
Leonard Patton — vocals
Coral Macfarland Thuet — vocals
Tom Aros — percussion
Duncan Moore — drums
Gunnar Biggs — bass		   6 PM to 8 PM   We've done a show at this festival and it's pure heaven, inland style. Great setup, wonderful people and any chance to samba in the open air works for me!
Saturday August 5, 2006   Peter Sprague Trio
featuring Leonard Patton		  
Del Dios Bar and Grill
20154 Lake Drive
Escondido, CA
760-489-4800
Peter Sprague — guitar
Leonard Patton — vocals
Gunnar Biggs — bass		   8 to 11 PM   Inland soul for sure on this one!
Friday August 18, 2006   Peter Sprague Trio
featuring Leonard Patton		  

Ki's Restaurant
2591 South Highway 101
Cardiff, CA
760-436-5236
Peter Sprague — guitar
Leonard Patton — vocals
Tripp Sprague — sax and flute		   8:30 PM   Hanging in the beach zone playing the samba with two creative musos.
Sunday August 20, 2006   Peter Sprague
and Pass The Drum		  

Quail Botanical Gardens
230 Quail Gardens Dr.
Encinitas, CA
760-436-9491
Peter Sprague — guitar
Tripp Sprague — sax
Leonard Patton — vocals
Coral Macfarland Thuet — vocals
Tom Aros — percussion
Duncan Moore — drums
Gunnar Biggs — bass		   6 PM to 8 PM   We've done a show at this festival and it's pure heaven, inland style. Great setup, wonderful people and any chance to samba in the open air works for me!
Sunday August 27, 2006   Peter Sprague Group  
The Coyote Bar and Grill
300 Carlsbad Village Drive
Carlsbad, CA
760-729-4695

Peter Sprague — guitar
Tripp Sprague — sax
John Opferkuch — piano
Gunnar Biggs — bass
Duncan Moore — drums		   5 PM to 9 PM   The ultimate outdoor summer setup complete with the Amtrak on the hour, some stray bikers, some spirited young Venakta idealistic young ones, and the beloved fire rings. Come on out and be part of it.
 

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