4/23/08 Our local paper, The Cullman Times, has an article today about me taking Connie Brien's Wallace State College Biology 101 class on a field trip to Thacker Creek. This is the second year in a row I have done this and we plan to make it an annual event if we can. Our goal is to do a Bio-Assessment of the creek. This involves collecting macro-invertebrates, which live in the creek, and classifying them by species and pollution tolerance. These critters are good indicators of the health of a creek. Macro-invertebrates are living creature big enough to see with the eye, but which have no vertebrae; they include crawfish, snails, worms, beetles, fly and beetle larvae such as hellgramites, mayfly, stonefly and caddisfly larvae and others. No fish or animals with backbones are included in the survey. We collect them using kick nets. These nets are held by two people with the bottom of the net placed on the bottom of the stream and then another one or two people disturb the rocks and soil upstream from the net to dislodge the critters. Then the nets are taken to the shore, the critters picked out and identified and placed in one of 3 containers depending on the pollution tolerance of that particular macro-invertebrate. When 200 or so critters have been collected, we total up the number of species and individuals in that species and use a matrix provided by Alabama Water Watch, a part of the Auburn University Fisheries Dept. We use their protocols in this study, and we assign the creek a numerical value from which we can determine how polluted or clean it is. The biology students, about 18 I guess, had a ball and we collected some really good data. In the end Thacker Creek came out Excellent, this is a big deal because several years earlier the US EPA had declared Thacker an impaired creek. Over the past 5 years or so that I have studied this creek, the creek has steadily improved due mostly to conservation practices being put into place by livestock producers. All in all it was a great day, the students learned something about aquatic biology and water quality issues and we were able to provide some data for the AU Fisheries waterway data base. Thanks Connie.

4/23/08 As most of you know, in November we expanded our closing time from 6Pm to 9:30 PM Mon-Sat. It has been a 5 month trial so far and our conclusion is that it has not been worthwhile to stay open late Mon-Thurs. We get very little business, it just seems that when Cullman rolls up the streets at 5 no one comes back into town, even those who live just a few blocks away. We have already begun to close at 7PM Mon-Wed and will probably expand that to include Thursday soon. Any feedback that any of our readers might have about this should be given ASAP, otherwise Thursday will revert to a 7 PM closing. Friday is still in play, some Fridays are ok, but some are not. It might work if we could schedule some special events, but I am not convinced of that. In other places later night coffee houses are busy, but that doesn't seem to apply here for some reason. To us it doesn't really matter, we just wanted to provide that service in case it might be something the local folks wanted, but if no one is interested in it, we will just go home and spend the time with our families too.

4/23/08 I have been taking a lot of pictures lately with my new camera and finally figured out how to upload them to this web site. So check out the new pictures on the Coffee House Images page. One problem though, the new pictures are so much sharper than the old ones, that the oldies really look washed out compared to the new ones. I almost deleted the old ones they looked so bad but I decided against it. I have more to upload and tried today but I don't know what happened, I can't find them.

4/22/08 Today is Earth Day so I thought I would share with you some facts about our beautiful State of Alabama: Alabama The Beautiful. Alabama’s forests and waterways make it one of the most beautiful places I have ever lived.

Forest Facts:
67% of Alabama is forested with 23 million acres. We are the 29th
largest state, but have the 2nd largest forest of any state but Georgia,
we surpass Alaska, California, all of them in the sheer size of our
forest area. 71% of our forests are owned by private landowners. Over
200 species of birds live in our forests, many neotropicals that
overwinter in South and Central America. Our forests hold 23 billion ccf
of timber (189 million cords or 20 million truckloads).

River Facts:
Alabama has 75,000 linear miles of rivers and streams. We are the 29th
largest state, but are 7th in the number of miles of waterways. Over
3800 species of plants and animals live in Alabama making us the 4th most
biodiverse (total number of plants and animals) state in the country. We
have the 2nd largest number of species per square mile behind Florida.
Not surprisingly, 75% of all wildlife species are found near waterways.

But There Are Problems in Paradise- We are on the edge of losing much of
this natural beauty

Threatened and Endangered Species:
98 species in Alabama have already become extinct, 122 are presently are
listed by the Federal governmnet as being on the edge. We are 3rd behind
California and Florida in the number of T&E species. Cullman County has
9 species listed, Winston has 28, Blount has 26, Walker has 7.

Impaired Waterways
Hundreds of Alabama streams and rivers are listed by the US EPA as
impaired or polluted so badly they cannot function as they are intended
to, several here in Cullman County. Unregulated development is the
number one cause of stream impairment and species loss.

What Can We Do?
Support wise land use planning (zoning) in the County and the City,
including wise development regulations, such as landscape ordinances,
greenways, rain gardens to control stormwater runoff, etc.
Protect and reestablish riparian (areas of vegetation at least 70 feet
wide on each side of a waterway)zones around all waterways, rural and
urban with greenways and buffers.
Maintain healthy septic systems; use fertilizers, pesticides and all
chemicals wisely, including their proper disposal. Don't pollute the
soil with petroleum products or other hazardous waste, including pet
waste. Don't allow soil to erode anyplace.
Promote the use of Federal NRCS conservation practices to protect soil
and water resources in all agricultural setting especially open
cropland, poultry and livestock operations.
And the list goes on....There is much we can do. Commit to do your part!

4/22/08 Another great open mike night, thirteen performers and 50 folks in attendance. Steve Bluestien was back, regulars Dennis Kaylor, Carlo, and Jamie were here. Andy Smith is becoming a regular, I'm glad of that, Susan Vaughn and Shea Heatherly came from Birmingham and Larry Woelhardt came from Huntsville, I am always glad to see them. WP Smith made a rare appearance, great to see him too. Joe Carter played as did Cody and his Uncle. Beth and Terri sang a duet for the first time, good harmonies on My Name is Lisa and two others. Another good time with great music and fun.

4/21/08 Saturday night was our Relay For Life special concert and film. It went very well and raised some money for the American Cancer Society. Josh Brooks opened at 6:45 and played his good originals for a half hour. Then Elana Caudel showed the movie she made for Relay For Life. It was a half hour movie, really a neat story. It was written about a local cancer survivor Colton, 12, who had a brain tumor. Elana with Colton's help wrote the story of his battle with the cancer as a children's fantasy story set in medieval times. The villians, the Cancerians, went around inflicting people with cancer and Colton was one of their victims. The story tells of the many doctors (healers) he went to until he found the one who helped, and then it told of his quest to kill the Cancerian that afflicted him, a metaphor for the cancer cure Relay of Life supports. It was a nice story, acted by kids (16 and below) dressed in medieval costumes in a series of medieval sets. It's amazing how rural Alabama can look like medieval times. All proceeds went to the American Cancer society. Elana did a great job writing, directing, and producing the movie and she seemed very pleased with the amount of donations she received. She also sold C Team T shirts (C team being the friends of Colton who stuck with him until the end of the quest). After the movie I played some old folk songs for an hour or so. It was a really good night.

4/14/08 Jerry Ryan is a real pro. Of course, I knew he would be, I have been following his band Three On A String for over 30 years. His performance here last Saturday night left no doubt, it was a really great show. I have heard nothing but wonderful comments ever since. He calls his solo act "Me and Blue" and it all hinges on his setup. I don't think I can really explain his setup except to say that it looks similar to a set of drums with a high stool behind them. But that doesn't do it justice. He works it all with pedals, the bass drum, standing on its side to the right, the snare drum in the center with four (I think) drumsticks laying on top of it parallel to each other also worked from the pedals. With these four drumsticks he can make all kinds of drumming sounds. He also has a set of cymbals to the left which he can work at the same time he does everything else. Then to top it off, he has a cardboard cutout dog "named Blue", a cute little fellow, who can also play two drumsticks on the snare drum at Jerry's command. I'm not sure how he controls Blue, is it another pedal? Jerry, of course plays a guitar along with all this percussion, but on his guitar the two bottom stings are base stings and the remaining four are regular guitar stings, which gives him much added versatility. Then comes his harmonica, he has a whole set of them in different keys, the mark of a pro. With all of this in action the sound really is exciting, so much more in depth, a much fuller sound, than you would think. And he has a great voice to compliment all of the above. With the type voice he has, he can do an amazing variety of music which he does.

He started off with Mason William's Classical Gas, it sounded just like the record, great guitar pickin', amazing. From that point on he had our full attention. We had a full house and they stayed with Jerry all night even through the break which can be a crowd killer here. He sang and played a really great mix of music, everything from Glen Miller (In The Mood and St Louis Blues) to Bob Dylan's Blowing In The Wind. He played Georgia On My Mind with his harmonica and sounded just like Charlie McCoy the Harmonica King. He played Buddy Holly's Its So Easy To Fall In Love, The Eagles' Seven Bridges Road, Up a Lazy River in the Mills Bros style. When I was a kid in the SF Bay Area the Mills Bros used to play every year at the San Mateo County Fair and I heard them many times. I love their stuff and Jerry did it justice. He choked the harp on Orange Blossom Special, just like a train.

Just before the break he did a military medley, and as he played the theme song from one branch of the service he put a different hat on Blue to match that branch of the service. It was neat. He covered them all: Air Force, Navy, Marines and Army. In the Air Force segment he put an old red baron helmet on Blue and he looked just like Snoopy. Jerry also did a cowboy set, complete with all our cowboy favorites: Cool Water, Back In The Saddle Again, Tumbling Tumbleweeds, Happy Trails. Old Roy, Gene and the Sons Of The Pioneers would have been pleased. He didn't forget the Kingston Trio or PPM with Scotch and Soda and Don't Think Twice. He even covered Oh Brother with the classic from that movie He's In The Jailhouse Now. The Theme from Ken Burns Civil War Series,Askoshan(?)Farewell, even though not played on a fiddle, was wonderful. Then came his polka set including The Beer Barrel Polka. He included a real bluesy version of Oh Susanna and the classic Blue Eyed girl. He closed out with everybody singing Tennessee Waltz. And there was much more than I attempted to cover. He had a wonderful play list. All the above was sprinkled with Jerry's great sense of humor and he had the crowd laughing quite often. As I said when I started Jerry Ryan is a real pro and it showed tonight. I hope he will come back.

4/8/08 We have had a lot of great open mikes over the past 5 years and it would be hard to say one was the best, but last night was as good as any and many of us think it was perhaps the best ever. We had 14 performers a pretty full house and a great diversity of really good music. It started at 7 and finished at 9:30 and we did not have a second round. Jason Lisle (pronounced Lyle) brought his small son (5 or so?)Logan and they started us off really well. Jason is a very accomplished guitar picker and has a nice tenor voice and Logan accompanied him on uke (he had some pretty good Elvis-like moves). Everyone really enjoyed it and it started us off an a high note. John Lott had to follow that, but he is a pro and brought it off. I really like John's songs and his style. Then Jamie came up and John accompanied her on a CCR song, and then Pam Hart came up and sang Mother Mary with her; really great harmony. Jamie closed out this set with her keyboard and a Bonnie Raitt song Dimming of the Day. Next was Carlo with his Mechanic's Blues, Three is a Magic Number, and Wild Kitty No More. The crowd likes his offbeat stuff. Then Dennis Kahler played his cat song If My Wife's Cat Was an Aluminum Can I'd Stomp That Sucker Flat, which always has everyone singing along, then came Key West Time. Andy Smith followed, I love his finger picking style. He sang three originals that were really good. The last was about a friend who went to Viet Nam when he did, but to a different Company and was killed two months later. Being a Viet Nam vet myself with a lot of combat experience, that song got to me and I was speachless, which is unusual, and almost couldn't introduce the next act. The next act was Nick. Nick is a songwriter, he like John writes about raw life, good stuff. He is a great guitar picker too. He did three of his great originals, the second was was his testimony and was very emotional. Steve Bluestein was back after a long stay, it was good to hear him again. He also did three originals playing my old mail order Stella. Sounded good. Next from Jasper was first timer Alfred Hartley with his mandolin. He did some really old songs Long Journey Home, Y'all Come and The Bridge is Washed Out and I Can't Swim. Hope he comes back. Then was Shea Heatherly. Since Shea moved to Birmingham we haven't seen him much. He did some originals including my favorite song that he wrote The Ballad of Lost Johnny, a very moving song. Susan Vaughn from Birmingham followed with three originals. Coffee With My Dad is a really neat song as is Happiness Ain't For Sale. She has a nice style and meaningful songs. Elizebeth McDowell sang a soft ballad which was hard to hear because her baby, which she had been nursing, got really upset when she left and got up to sing, so she quit after one song. Maybe another night. Then came the surprise of the evening. Lolly Lee from Houston over in Winston County. Wow! She brought the house down. She is a great performer and writes really top quality songs. She did Barfly, Fly Away, You're Not to Blame and my favorite Sweet Alabama Home, one of the best singer songwriter songs I have heard in a long time. She has a really nice stage presence and personality. I invited her back for a concert. Last was Ben Farley with his box of harmonicas and Irish pipes. He played an Irish jig on the pipes, then did Rock Me Momma Like a Wagon Wheel, Oh Lord Buy Me a Mercedez Benz, the old Janice Joplin song. He is very high energy and animated. What a night, I wish I could have recorded it, but don't have the means to do that yet. Hopefully I can get some pictures up on this site, although I don't remember how to do that. I'll have to get my webmaster to help me. Thanks to all those who came and made this such a special night. Y'all Come back in two weeks, hear?

4/7/07 If you missed the second edition of the Honeysuckle Fiddle Show last Saturday night, you missed a great concert. Roy Crawford definitely lives up to his billing as the Alabama Fiddle Champ and Scott Miller is the perfect accompanist and side man, a great musician in his own right on guitar, clawhammer banjo and hammered dulcimer. He is also a comedian and storyteller. Again we had a great crowd, standing room only, and they stayed for the whole show. To me this is old time music at its best. Roy plays it all: Appalachian fiddle tunes, Celtic tunes, Cajun tunes of all kinds, jigs, reels, waltzes and good old footstompin' bluegrass. In fact we did have several buckdancers on the floor throughout the night. The music was great, everyone had a really good time. I hope we can do it again, but these guys will become famous before long and who knows where we might see the Honeysuckle Fiddle Show in the future. But we can always remember that they got their start at Berkeley Bob's. During the intermission the Mauldin sisters from Arley played and sang some really tight old gospel harmonies and the Miller boys sawed on their fiddles along with the Mauldin girls. They are all students of Roy's and it is great to see a whole new generation learning the old songs and fiddle tunes.