Riding, racing, loving nature

After my morning race in Chattanooga, I took an awesome ride at Jackson Point.

This is a point on the Cumberland Plateau that has been cleared for development unfortunately, but like Myers Point, has not sold.  In one week they are selling 230 acres of this spectacular land in an absolute auction.

At the end of the point, there is pinnacle where there is a 360º view with Sweeton Cove on one side, I24 and the TN River on the other side.  From there,  I watched the sunset.

The new road down to Sweeton Cove is amazing, it drops 800' down into the beautiful Sweeton Cove community.   What a ride.  It an off road cyclists dream... lots of flower lined trails through the woods, all fairly close to my house.

And I get to come back to an even better view... without the distant noise of the highway.

Return to the stage

Nice to be back on stage. The audience was very appreciative. I played Bach, a Handel Suite, lute music, Brazilian and Spanish.   For a kick I ended with Hudson's 'Delta' and Jerry Reed's 'Jerry's Breakdown'.    Standing O ... and I then played Lauro's 'El Maribino' for an encore.     It went pretty well and the Traphagen spruce guitar was loud, clear and colorful.

 Apprehensive about the trigger thumb release surgery on Tues, but it's supposed to be routine. Looking forward to playing more concerts soon.

Concert, Sept. 5, Cookeville, TN

William Yelverton in Concert 
- September 5th, 7pm 
 - Peachtree Learning Center 
- 420 N. Walnut St., Cookeville, TN 38501 

This is my first concert in a while and my first on a spruce guitar in over 22 years. I'm now playing a spruce Dake Traphagen, and I think it sounds beautiful, clear, and colorful.

I'll be playing some new repertoire: Bach, Handel Suite, D. Reis, Tarrega, and a Jerry Reed piece.

Lately, have been thinking about what athletic training has taught me about music... and vice-versa.

I have a sore thumb which I'm having minor surgery on 5 days after the concert, hopefully that will be a permanent fix to the trigger thumb problem.

Plants are huge again

The plants get a drink in the recently hot weather.   

This winter, my sunroom is going to be a jungle.  Some of these guys weigh 150+ lbs.   Hope for a late frost.

The ole boat...

Still runs great!  Haven't had the boat out for a while but it ran great last week.

Fontana in October, here we come...

My rock

Owning a piece of the bluff, this rock, this house... a sanctuary, an observatory of nature and sky... it's idyllic.

The weather station has been down a bit, but now the weather cam has been relocated and everything seems to be working fine.   I have new web hosting for SewaneeWeather.com, so hopefully, it'll be up for a long time.  Long live the Sky Castle weather station.

Yesterday, we hiked down into the gorge.... to the waterfalls.   First time this summer.   Always challenging.  I'll never go down there in that jungle without my GPS.   No trails, very wild and challenging.  Due to the tree canopy and 'disappearing creeks'... it would be easy to get lost down there, as I found out last October.  

Roya took this photo of me at the base of my bluff.  A beautiful rock it is.

My lowland forest flowers

It seems there are more flowers this time of year in my lowland forest here in Murfreesboro.

My chair in my woods ...

Timelapse video of storm, pics

Video - Afternoon storm and sunset.
Captured by the Sky Castle Weather Station Webcam: Champion Cove, Sewanee, TN



Lightning illuminates fog over Lost Cove...

Sunset, after the storm...

Back on the mountain...

And the views keep coming.   What a spectacular morning!

Last magnolia blossoms of summer

Those that visit my homes have been greeted with the scent of magnolia blossoms for the past 2+ months.   I love the smell of these.  Better than honeysuckle and gardenia.

As the dog days of summer approach, these are getting harder to find, so these magnolia blossoms may be some of the last.

The seasons are flying by.  So is life.

To everything ... turn, turn, turn.  There is a season... turn, turn, turn.

July 7 evening

Just another day...

My teacher

Bruce Holzman was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award and inducted into the Guitar Foundation of America Hall of Fame on June 30 at the the GFA Convention in Louisville.  Bruce just finished his 40th year of teaching, and I'm about to start my 25th,  how time flies.  Making the decision to pursue my Doctorate at FSU was one of the best decisions of my life. 

GFA is always a huge party, and I was happy to have seen a lot of my long time friends from FSU and colleagues from the guitar community.   What a wonderful time it was, very inspiring and fun... a great community. 

This photo was shot just after Bruce and Adam played a duet written by Sergio Assad especially for the occasion.  It was a rare treat to see Bruce and Adam play together. 

Playing for the kids

Camp Gailor-Maxon, an Episcopal Camp

The boy standing next to me told me he had a guitar and that he had learned C, G, and Em. I told him that was a great start! ... and that he should get his friends to play guitar too so they could have fun playing together.   He also asked me if my guitar was hand made and he said he could tell it wasn't from a music store or Walmart.

 I loved answering a thousand questions. I could do it all day.

Spring to summer - random photos

5:54 am, June 26, view from my bluff - Lost Cove, Sewanee, TN

All Saints, Sewanee, TN

moonset at dawn June 23

Close up of far away lightning.   Radar shows this lightning to be about 40 miles away, too far to hear thunder.  Looks like a positive charge strike.  

Panorama shot

This was taken with Vik's iphone.

View of thundershowers in Champion Cove, Sewanee, TN.  

Shortest night

Happy solstice.

Moon over fog, midnight in Lost Cove.

Last day of spring

Mountain wildflower still life.

I have magnolia blossoms in bowls around the house.
Very sweet.

Tuesday June 11, 7:32 am

Today, I met with the Franklin Co. tax assessors. I went to challenge my tax appraisal which is $261,700. They denied my appeal and said that I would have to go to the state level to appeal, which I will. I have a property appraisal for $190,000. They said my property is like 'ocean front' and needs to be assessed accordingly. But, come on ... at $92,000 an acre? That is ridiculous!

 I admitted, "ok, yea, I do have sort of a view, but...."

 I will make a better case to the state at the Tullahoma courthouse in a few months.

Tennessee Guitar Festival 2013

It exceeded all expectations. 28 competitors of the highest quality. An awesome performance by Dr. Silviu Ciulei, and by our guest artists Carlos Castilla, Ben Bolt, and Richard Todd. The competition judges had their hands full. What keeps this festival growing is 'the hang' ... the parties and the celebration of our culture and music. This year was really spectacular. I think classical guitarists spend so much time alone refining their art, when it comes time to party, it is a particularly fun celebration. Some of these guys that I've seen year after year and especially former students and colleagues like Jerry, Howard, Ben, and Silviu, feel like family to me. We'll do it again next year and at GFA in a few weeks.

The competition was as high a caliber as any. There were some exceptionally fine players who didn't make the semis, and all 12 semifinalists were superb. The Finalists were truly some of the best guitarists in America, world-class.


Photos:
1) Paella!! We filled the big dish twice. 10lbs of seafood.
2) Our competition winners, the 'usual suspects' - Jeremy, Chad, and Joseph.
3) The awards presentation with our judges and prize winners
4) A brief clip from the flamenco portion of Silviu's recital. Just listen to the first 5 seconds, wow.

TN Guitar Festival ... afterparty #1

Silviu's concert was amazing.  The competition is amazing.

This is our culture, our music....