Summertime...

Hi folks! It's been a busy summer so far. Lots of traveling for both work and play...

I ended my last blog writing that next up on our schedule we were playing a surprise birthday party at someone's house. Turns out the guest of honor was a gentleman named Jim Irsay. Jim is the owner of the NFL Indianapolis Colts. He is also one of the worlds major guitar collectors! He showed me his collection of mainly 150-200 rare Martin guitars. He recently purchased David Gilmore of Pink Floyd's main Fender Stratocaster for 3.9 million dollars and his main Martin acoustic guitar which brought the total up to 5 million at a recent auction. He's quite serious about this. The money all went to charity. He also owns the piano on which John Lennon wrote Lucy in the Sky, Strawberry Fields and many others, as well as Ringo Starr's drum set from their first Ed Sullivan show appearance. It's an amazing collection.

Jim and some of his collection!

From there, I flew to Florida to meet up with Annie, her sister and brother-in-law for a quick vacation at Sea Grove on the Florida Panhandle. The weather was perfect!

Gulf Of Mexico

A week later Annie flew to Tokyo, Japan to be with her son, Dash as he graduated from school there and then they traveled by train throughout the country for a great sightseeing vacation!

I had a few shows with Art while she was gone and then decided to drive up to Minnesota to visit my daughter Jessica in Minneapolis and to see my dad up in central Minnesota. I took the following pictures on an evening drive near to where he lives.

Manhattan Beach

Another peaceful evening in northern Minnesota at Manhattan Beach Lodge.

End of the day on Big Trout Lake, part of the Whitefish Chain of lakes.

Driving back to my dad's along Pine View Road.

Back on the road! One of the great things about touring with Art is that we play a lot of restored Vaudeville-era theatres. So many towns, all across the country, have these great old, historical theatres that are truly amazing when you step out on stage.

The State Theatre in Easton, Pennsylvania. Built in 1910, it was fully restored in the 80's. So many famous performers got their start on stages like this; Fred Astaire, Marx Brothers, Houdini, Abbott and Costello, etc...

Colin Walker hard at work getting ready for soundcheck. This is another restored theatre in York, Pennsylvania built in 1925, the Appell Theatre.

When I'm on the road and in between shows, I love to research. I love reading, usually it's inspired by things I have seen on the road. So many of the places that I've been to, I've made notes to revisit either in person or through research. Although I've never been to Egypt, I've always been fascinated with it. I even mention the pyramids of Egypt in my song, Lost in A Daydream on my album. This photo is one of my favorites.

I love this old photograph taken by Earnest Ashton. It captures the mystique of Egypt and the pyramids, a place that is high on my bucket list of places to visit.

Speaking of Egypt...In the middle is Hossam Ramzy posing with Annie. Hossam a friend of ours who is a world renowned Egyptian percussionist. He's toured with Robert Plant and Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin on their Unledded world tour and more recently with guitarist Joe Bonamassa. I invited Hossam and his friend to our show a few years back at the Royal Albert Hall in London. He drove Annie and I around London the night before our show and gave us a tour and a visit to one of his favorite restaurants. He has promised the same when Annie and I visit him in Cairo, Egypt!

Another favorite photograph...

This happy boy grew up to be one of the world's most beloved children's authors, Theodor Seuss Geisel, aka Dr. Suess. As part of a school project when I was about this same age, I wrote him a letter and a few months later got a handwritten letter back from him! Unfortunately, the letter was lost to time...

Back home in Nashville....Annie and I love to get in our car and just drive around to look at our lovely city and countryside and take pictures.

Across the street from Vanderbilt University is the Parthenon, in Centennial Park. It's an exact full scale replica of the Parthenon in Greece. Built in 1897 for the Centennial and International Exposition, it was fully restored in 1920. Since the mid 1800's, Nashville's nickname has been "Athens of the South".

Sunday evening drive down a country lane close to where we live.

Recently, I found an article where Art talks about our kinship.

“Tab and I go back—I’m just guessing now—seventeen years? How did I get to know Tab? I made an album in Nashville with Buddy Mondlock.… Buddy wanted me to know Tab, and I met Tab, and I found him to be so in my wavelength musically. We started working together, and it just fit, you know. It’s like falling in love. “How did you meet your wife?” I don’t know—it just felt so right. The answer usually is something like that. It felt so right”. “I was so happy to work for years with only Tab on the Martin guitar, which is extreme. Less is more. Just one guitar and Garfunkel’s voice is scary. When you’ve lost the voice, as I did in 2010, and you’re trying to bring it back, and you’re alone with one guitar—it was my game in 2010, 11 and 12”. - Art Garfunkel

Thanks for checking in!

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-Tab