Guitarist Beppe Gambetta Concert Set in Murphys

Murphys, Ca. — Guitarist Beppe Gambetta will sing and play a solo concert of “American Roots with European Passion”  on Feb. 15 in Murphys.

The concert will be held at the sanctuary of the First Congregational Church at 3 p.m., and marks a return of the internationally known artist who performed an all-American roots concert here last year.

Gambetta, who plays guitar in a flat-pick style and sings a mix of U.S. and European folk music,  tours annually throughout America and Europe, playing at music festivals and concert halls. The Washington Post critic said his performance “calls to mind what a duet by Doc Watson and Leo Kottke might sound like.”  The BBC Scotland critic wrote his concert there was “exciting, varied, satisfying and just downright musical music..”

This year’s program will include traditional American folk tunes, played in the flat-picking style which originated in rural America and made widely popular through folk and bluegrass festivals. 

In addition, Gambettas will provide  part of his “Canzoni — Poetry in Italian Songs and Melodies” program which draws on the traditional singer/songwriters of his native Italy. Gambetta also offers interesting background for his music, and includes lively  humor in his presentation, including his trademark red shoes. 

The sanctuary is located one block off Main Street, uphill from the Murphys Hotel. A donation for  the artist of $15 will be taken at the door.

The concert is part of a periodic series at the Murphys church which offers the venue as an outreach to the community. Past concerts have included traditional Irish music, a memorial in honor of Pete Seeger, a classical string quartet, and a chorale.  

 Here are some excerpts from additional reviews of his performances:

“Get him on a stage and his fingers speak a language all their own. After all, he’s not known as the ‘Italian King of the flatpick guitar’ for nothing.”

(Steve Wildsmith, The Daily Times)

“A Spanish odyssey, a mazurka learned from a 78rpm record, slips into this repertoire, just as tunes like these have been slipping into American culture since.”

(Rob Adams, The Herald)

“His incredible versatility combined with his charm and engaging stage presence make Beppe’s concerts evenings of high quality music and relaxed entertainment. Over-riding all else, however, is the brilliance of his talent...”

(Cornish Guardian)

“…Beppe displays his remarkable versatility with the flatpick guitar style, displaying the new directions he has taken in the art of playing the acoustic steel stringed guitar with pick in hand.” (Dan Miller, Flatpicking Guitar Magazine)

“Few players on the planet could so successfully fuse an unwavering allegiance to tradition with impatient, wide-eyed vision, tongue-in-cheek humor with solemn devotion, and folksy song styles with progressive improvisation as Gambetta…” (John D’Agostino, Wood & Steel)

"...Though he's shown over the years that he can keep pace with the Tony Rices and Dan Crarys of the world, , it is Gambetta's understated elegance as a flatpicker that has set him apart and made him an in-demand partner the world over, and he's as elegant as ever on Rendez-vous." (Sing Out!)

More music is always a good thing

Murphys, Ca -- Most of my friends know I like many different kinds of music. If I play, I keep it simple (folk and bluegrass and gospel). But I love listening to almost everything (except obscene rap and acid rock).

So the following is an announcement I put together for one in a series of concerts I am helping encourage at our little church.  If you are nearby, come see us and hear some fine musicians next Saturday.

 

 

 

 

Murphys, Ca -- The Delphi Trio, the ensemble currently in residence at the
annual Bear Valley Music Festival, will present a free concert this coming
Saturday (Aug. 3) at 3 p.m. in the sanctuary of the historic First
Congregational Church in Murphys.

Trio individual members have performed in 14 countries and on four
continents, including as a trio in Europe, California and the Midwest. The
Delphi Trio has completed artistic residencies at the Dakota Sky
International Piano Festival, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and is
currently featured as artists-in-residence at Old First Concerts in San
Francisco where they have juxtaposed classic repertoire and works
commissioned for them.

Members Liana Be'rube', Michelle Kwon and Jeffrey LaDeur are graduates of
the University of Toronto, Stanford University and the Eastman School of
music respectively. The trio was formed while they were studying at the
Chamber Music Program at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Saturday's concert will be the second in a series of musical events at the
church. The initial concert was presented this Spring by Cooking With Turf,
a traditional Celtic band. Later this year the church will host
performances by the Masterworks Chorale, a jazz group from Pennsylvania, a
traditional/bluegrass/gospel band and other local/regional musicians.
The church sanctuary is located at the corner of Church and Algiers
Streets, one block above the Murphys Hotel on Main Street.

The trio believes chamber music is an integral part of music education, and
has coached students at the San Francisco Conservancy of Music and the
Crowden School in Berkeley. They developed an innovative chamber music
mentoring program at the Dakota Sky International Piano Festival Young
Artists Program and developed an Emerging Artist Program to guide
collegiate students through their first independent concert experience.

Progress Report in Photos

Murphys, Ca -- A quick look at the progress on fixing up our new/old home.

The downstairs bathroom needed tile (done) baseboard (in work) a new sink (bought from a neighbor's yard for $20) towel and toilet paper racks (done) a shower curtain rod (in work) a new mirror (still looking) move the cabinet (still thinking) and maybe a new toilet. And then we will call the plumber back. 

 

The once incomplete kitchen cabinetry, including electrical and installation of the  microwave, fan and new drawers, was finished off by our friend and master cabinet maker Skip Sharp.

 We  have a drainage problem so we installed a new French Drain on top of the new water pipes, using the trench Andy Glessman dug.

 The living room had a large section of ugly tile cemented over the old oak floors, so we tore it out and are having it restored, plus a new stone hearth. We expect to get this part of the house back mid-week.

 The last appliance installed was the in-counter oven which had been sitting in the floor serving as an island for a week or so.  The kitchen is actually complete.

Furnishing a four bedroom house has proved to be a challenge, but we are adept at garage and estate sales. So far we have had a nice sofa and carpet donated by the Grassmeyers, purchased three good carpets from the Catholic Church Rummage sale, bought another sofa from the Humane Society and one from the Masonic lodge, and found a good chair and twin beds for a guest room at a moving sale. We've had lots of other items given to us, or purchased inexpensively, through the kindness of friends and neighbors.

One of my pals from the trail crew at the state park, and his wife, have given us a complete bedroom suite.

We have purchased a new bed and a dining table and chairs from the local furniture store, and are negotiating with folks to buy window coverings for 15 large windows. The first estimate was $12,000, so we decided not to do that!

No matter what the status of the fix-up, we stil take a little time for music.

 Pat on her hammered dulcimer in the in-progress living room.

Me and George Haskel rehearsing for a benefit for Harmony Ranch.

Old House, New Home

Murphys, Ca -- We had been almost casually looking for a little house down the hill from our cabin home, a place we could escape to when the winter snows get too deep (as they did last year).

Our Realtor friend Carmela call on a Thursday, we looked at the property that Friday, made an offer that night and closed within 30 days. I think that was a month ago.

The pace has been fast ever since.

But first, a description:
House Number One (I'll explain that later) where we currently live with plans someday for adequate furniture, is a two story home built 80 years ago to house a doctor and his family, and maybe his office. The original house was built in the 1930s as part of a San Joaquin County Tuberculosis Sanatorium, a state-run place in the Golden Hills of California away from the miasma of the Valley winters and the heat of the summers. 

Flowers, stone and stucco

The house has been expanded through the years to about 2,200 square feet, a lot of fixups had been done, but it still has some interesting characteristics and challenges.  Murphys has transformed meanwhile into a tourist destination featuring more than 20 wine tasting rooms, several high end places to eat,  music somewhere every weekend night, and the world's best bakery about five blocks from our home.

We have polished oak floors in every room, white oak in the older part and red oak in the newer section.  The ceilings are coved, cabinets built in,  and  the walls are plaster over lathe.

Built-ins and a wine rackThe new dining table

The roof is nearly new.

The kitchen cabinets are all new, as are the polished concrete counter tops. The windows are new too. and everything had a fresh coat of paint (Real Estate Neutral for color).

The heating system was brand new.

The bathrooms had new fixtures and new sculptured concrete showers.

Best of all, there is a yard full of oaks and cedars and Catawba, lots of flowers, and a hundred foot tall Giant Sequoia right across the street in an undeveloped lot.

Our Neighborhood Sequoia

We have a three car detached garage, the biggest in our fairly long home-owning lives.

On the challenge side, you could add "but not completely finished" after every plus. For example, all appliances had been stripped out and the cabinets not completed. All light fixtures were gone, including ceiling lights and fans. When we opened the caps in the ceiling over the electrical wires, it spat sparks at us. The heat did not work because the gas pipes leaked like a sieve, and the air conditioning system  was never actually installed. The garage doors are stuck shut.

Pat taking a deserved break

The plumbing had been hand tightened, so sinks leaked.

The lovely new stone patio was cracked from the concrete settling, and the shade cover was never installed, just footings in place.

The fancy heater insert made for the fireplace was missing.

The plants had not been cared for in two years or so, so we had a riot of greenery when Spring showed up.

And two days after we paid for a home inspection we had the biggest rain storm of the year, and the basement was slowly filling with water. Someone removed the sump pump.

 In other words, this is a handyman's dream and we are having the time of our lives.

Some work required

With the exception of a few surprises, we knew what we were getting into: a great old house that needs a lot of love and care.

From Day One friends and family have helped with the important stuff.  My son-in-law spent every spare minute for a week chasing down every gas leak and fixing them all in time for us to have a working heat system on cool mornings. He also was on emergency call when the basement flooded, and helped with the pumping out chores. He has every skill needed, and I just regret he needs his day job to support his wife and my hungry grandchildren.

My cabin neighbor Dave showed up and fixed most of the electrical stuff, and various others have consulted, helped, or have signed up for next month's projects.

Our young friend Skip whom we've known since he was in high school in Modesto finished off the kitchen cabinetry, including amazing custom work.

Friends Emily and Judy showed up early with yard tools and high energy to help get the jungle outside under control. Mary came and loaned us lamps so we could have some light.
Kelly and Tracey and George and Andy were available to do a lot of the hard stuff, like making seven or eight trips to the dump with debris and garbage pulled out of the basement and and the yard, cleaning windows and polishing floors, fixing plumbing problems, and cleaning everything from top to bottom. Diana brought us a meal, and Dave and Meg gave us a plant.

Andy digging

Other friends provided endless support.

And we have met a lot of skilled contractors, eager to help.  We are on a first name basis with plumbers, electricians, air conditioning folk and a wood floor expert. 

We welcome almost daily the chance to take a break to give guided tours to neighbors and friends who drop by, curious to see what we are up to.

Pat and I have been busy working and buying and discovering stuff we need, and what we don't, for several weeks now.

I have changed every lock, installed sump pumps, sprayed bleach on mold, and found I am not too old to put on knee pads and crawl through the buggy crawl-space to see what I can discover. (Yes, I wear eye protection and a hepa-filter breathing mask when exploring the unknown.)
 
The final appliance (a built-in oven) is due to arrive next week, as is the tile man who will rework the bathroom floors.

Furniture at last!

We bought a new bed and dining table from a local furniture store, and have been haunting Craigslist, thrift stores (a sofa), yard sales (a like-new recliner), non-profit sales (side tables), and estate and garage sales.

I have researched French Drain Construction, wood restoration and stucco work. Pat has spent hours researching ratings on appliances, measuring toilet seats, planning her garden, and trying to figure out how to cover windows that are open to the street immediately in front of the house.  We have a budget (I'll let you know how THAT works out in six months.)

The cashiers at Lowes know us well, and we expect to be on a first-name basis by next week.

We entered a new phase this morning: Pat spent the day in Sonora returning items we purchased that did not fit, or work out. We've learned to keep receipts and packaging.

The kitchen works, The bed is in place. The windows are covered (temporarily), the plumbing works, and we have a place to sit and lights to read by. Oh yes, and the biggest TV in our lives and high speed internet.

Tomorrow, we are taking the day off.

Then Monday, it's back at it.

And the next blog will talk about House Number Two.