Wisconsin recordings all processed

I've finally finished up the processing of all the MiniDisc recordings made during my recent visit to Wisconsin. I've uploaded them to the IAA as four separate collections under my usual 'catchall' name A Tiny Window.

• Madison improvisations, winter 2005-6 - jams recorded with Maggie, Ken and Pete Fee at either end of my visit


• Stevens Point open mic sessions December 2005 - recorded on the Winter Solstice with banjo-playing friend Gavin, and a week later with percussionist Ryan Biesack at a couple of friendly local venues


• The Yoga Studio, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, 29/12/05 - a solo set I played to accompany an intermediate yoga class in a wonderfully peaceful, resonant space (among the nicest solo saz recordings I've made)


• New Year's Day session at Stef's, 2006 - A rough-but-spirited psychedelic/bluegrass/old-time/reggae/folk fusion jam recorded out in the country with Gavin and friends from local band Sloppy Joe

UW-Stevens Point's 'Old Main' building in the snow
I've burned CD's of various selections to for the people involved in the recordings and posted them off. The visit was definitely a success, musically and otherwise. The one thing I'm not going to make public is the recording of my solo set at The Mission Coffeehouse, opening for The Deadlies on the evening before New Years Eve. I was quite nervous at that time, having expected to be playing as part of some kind of group, and finding myself along on a stage - not something I'm really used to. I thought I'd played quite well at the time, but the recording just makes me cringe and want to just go away and practice a lot. Oh well...

Other pleasant musical memories the trip:

• The hilarious and inspiring John Lennon tribute gig hosted by Madison's The Gomers
  
• Hearing the last minute or so of Van Morrison's Astral Weeks coming from out of nowhere as I walked down Pine Street in Stevens Point in the snow one morning. I gradually realiseded that it was coming from a parked UPS van (they have no doors), and just as the last freeform bass notes sounded, the driver re-appeared, started the engine, and drove off...
  
• Being surprised to hear a couple of songs from Nick Drake's Pink Moon when I was in the Stevens Point Co-op looking for a jar of local honeybee pollen (wonderful stuff). I don't think I've ever heard Nick Drake in the States before.
  
• Hearing a poignant, evocative track called "Always Coming Back to You" by Minneapolis hiphop crew Atmosphere on the local University radio station WWSP
  
• Jamming on various familiar Neil Young, CSNY, Beatles, Dylan songs with ultra-friendly local musicians at The Clark Place's weekly "song swap"
  
• hearing someone called Ed (or was it Steve?) singing a Damien Rice song several times at the Clark Place - the first time I heard it a young woman in a woolly hat was casually singing beautiful harmonies from the bar. Ed (Steve?) wasn't even sure what the song was called, but it's just gorgeous