Ashby Frank
Mandolinist, Singer, Songwriter

This past weekend, we spend 4 days in the Boston area playing for the Boston Bluegrass Union at 6 schools and at the Joe Val Bluegrass Festival.
Other than some major flight headaches, everything was great.
It was great to hear the new lineup of my buddy Michael Cleveland’s band Flamekeeper. My Mashville compadre Darrell Webb has joined the band, and I must say that they have one of the tightest traditional sounds that I’ve ever heard live.
You should for sure check them out if they’re in your area.
Not much else to say this week. My allergies are killing me and I haven’t been into much this week. Hopefully I’ll be better by Saturday for our trip to Woodstock, Illinois.

Hope everyone has a great week!

Junior Sisk and Rambler’s Choice’s album Blue Side of the Blue Ridge, featuring a song written by yours truly entitled “I Did The Leaving for You”, has made its way all to #3 on the Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey Album Chart for the month of February. Pretty cool!

Speaking of radio and charts, we need your help! Signs from Special C should be at your favorite Bluegrass radio station by now, so help us by going ahead and making those requests! We really appreciate it!

After 23 days, 21 shows, and hours and hours in mini-vans, city buses, ferries, and planes, I’m back home! We had a great time with everyone over in Ireland, Scotland, and England, but it’s nice to be back. I must admit it felt strange to be on the RIGHT side of the road again.

Our last few gigs went very well, mostly sold out, but we did get blasted by one of the largest snow storms to hit Ireland and Britain in the last 20 years. It didn’t keep many people away, though.

The last two nights we spent in the town of Kilworth, which is in County Cork in the far South of the Republic of Ireland. I guess it’s a good indicator for us that we were sold out of the new CD Signs long before we made it down to Kilworth,  and on the last night we sold completely out of everything the band brought. I guess some people, and we all know who you are, just can’t enough Bluegrass.

Yesterday was kind of crazy because we had to get up at 4:45 AM (10:45 PM Nashville Time) to drive back to Dublin to catch our flight. Talk about a long day! It was nice to get back to Nashville before too late. By the end of the trip we had been in transit for something like 16 hours. That’s a long day.

Now that I’m home, I have a chance to wind down a little and catch up on shredding the considerable pile of junk mail that had accumulated. It’s rediculous!

I must say that I’m overwhelmed by the response and interest that everyone has shown in this series of posts! Special thanks to the TheBluegrassBlog.com for setting all of this up! If for some strange reason you’re interested in reading more about me or my travels, even after all of this you’ve already read, come on back to AshbyFrank.com and see what I’m up to!

Well here I am at a Bed and Breakfast in Ireland at 2:30 AM watching the Super Bowl… and blogging to all the AshbyFrank.com and BluegrassBlog.com readers.

I tried to look on Google maps to show you exactly where I am in Ireland, but when I typed in Carrig on Bannow, Ireland, it gave me the address for the First United Methodist Church in Winchester, Kentucky. Strange. Even stranger that I’ve spent some time in Winchester, and I bet I know people that have attended that Church. I know that Winchester is the last place to get fast food  before you head east towards Morehead and Ashland. I think there’s a Fazoli’s there that Alecia used to make us stop at. I wonder if my friend  Billie Renee goes there?

Anyway, we had another packed house at a pub show tonight, but it was more like a festival. There were Irish bands, as well as some US originated folks with some Old Time and Bluegrass.

After the show, I noticed that the Super Bowl was on. Now, I’m not a huge NFL fan, I like NCAA Football much better. I must say though, I haven’t missed many Super Bowls whether I’ve been on the road or not. I can remember another Super Bowl featuring the Steelers when I was on the road with Marty Raybon and Full Circle. We were in Bakersfield, CA  and Doyle and Quicksilver were there. We spent the evening between rooms talking and socializing around the game. That’s what it’s all about, right?

Well here it’s not that big of a deal, and it is 2:30 something in the morning.

Here’s a picture of the scene after the show was over and everyone’s gathered in the pub jamming:

Oh, and there’s a big SAFETY for Arizona.

It’s strange how such normal things back home feel so far away and distant after 3 weeks. I actually just called Jim Van Cleve via Skype (note: TOUCHDOWN ARIZONA now, they have the lead) because I know he’s having a gathering at his place and I wanted to say “hey” to everybody, and it turns out, I’m seeing all of this before they are. You’d think I’d have the delay being over the Atlantic… guess not.

It is odd to hear all of this with a mix of British and American announcers…. and NO COMMERCIALS! Why would anyone want to watch the Super Bowl with no commercials?

Oh, and one more thing. Guess what sign was up behind the bar here in a small town in Ireland?

Station Inn License Plate in Ireland

Well, only two shows left. They’re way down near Cork which is in the far South, then I’m making my way back home.

Looks like the Steelers are going to win now! Hope everyone’s enjoyed the game.