I'm one of the lucky people visited by Pat Marr. Though he only spent a few hours, by the time he left I felt like I had been visited by a long lost friend. My only regret is he wasn't able to visit longer. If you haven't met him yet you've got a real treat in store. He's a veritable fountain of music theory and has a great feel for the guitar.

Pat, if you read this; come on back when you can, and pack a bag for a longer stay, friend.

Jeaux

Jeaux,

Put me on that lucky list as well. Pat got to spend one night but we talked like long lost family members.

Pat please come again, in fact when I told my wife you were not hitting Mobile until the next day she chewed me out for not bringing you back with me after the gig.

I truly enjoyed your visit, and I hope to see you again maybe before too long when I get to your neck of the woods.

Until then, take care my friend.

Later,

Pat is one of those folks who we occasionally call “old souls” in music. He has a wealth of musical information on his own, yet he still looks to all the musicians he encounters as a source to learn more!

I haven’t met Pat yet, although I almost volunteered to adopt his Border Collie!

I believe that Pat is someone who truly wants to bring musicians together regardless of musical genres or stereotypes. He’s invited me to his home on more than one occasion.

So if we ever create a category of “Musical Ambassador” for BIAB, then Pat Marr would be the only logical choice.

Hey, I want to meet Pat Marr too - Pat, when are you making your way to NYC ? You're always welcome to visit - as well as anyone else that's not afraid of all my question !!!

Pat just left my home in Pensacola, FL, on his way to Fort Walton Beach to visit with his brother, who lives there.

We had a great visit, as the others have attested. As I said to Pat, our home is always open to friends, virtual or otherwise.

It's so great putting a human face to an online moniker.

Thanks for the kind words Jeaux! It's also very kind of you not to mention that I arrived without making sure you knew I was coming! But you and your wife were very gracious and hospitable to me even though I surprised you!

What I didn't know about Jeaux until a few days ago is that he has a professional recording studio which totally blew me away! Jeaux gave me quite a tour of his studio's capabilities and played several projects that clients had paid for. I was very impressed by the "before" and "after" versions of the songs... Jeaux has some magic up his sleeve! He can take something that I would think is already radio-ready and expand it into the stratosphere! He showed me some of his tricks, and now I can't wait to get home & try them on my projects. But I have a feeling my stuff won't sound the same as Jeaux's!

Another interesting thing about Jeaux is that he's one of those lucky people who looks about 30 years younger than he is! In bayou country I have to wonder if maybe he struck a deal with the devil for talent and eternal youth in exchange for his soul But even if he didn't strike that deal, he got the talent and youthful look anyway! Jeaux, if you ever make it to NC, you and Mary are always welcome in my home!



When I get home from this trip, I'll start posting pictures, videos and observations from the visits... but for now I can say that this road trip is turning out even better than I hoped! Meeting people in person after knowing them only in a forum is a real exercise in human kindness and sociability. These days, it's asking a lot to invite a stranger into your home. I thank all of the people who have allowed my visit!

Thanks for everything Danny! You and Linda made me feel right at home!
As an aside to everybody else, Danny has got to be one of the most interesting people I've ever met! His attitude about life is so positive, there are no obstacles this guy can't overcome! I find it totally inspirational to spend time with him because his positive "can do" attitude is contagious!

Danny took me on a gig, showed me his whole setup (which is extremely clever, by the way) and now I have lots of new ideas to use in my post retirement gig career.

As conversationalists, Danny and Linda are just FASCINATING! They're had such interesting lives so far, just hearing their accounts of famous people they've not only met, but actually KNOWN and hung out with as friends is amazing... but that's not the end.. they are interesting in so many different directions

Thanks Danny and Linda for a totally enjoyable visit! Y'all will always be welcome in my home!

John and Anita,

Thanks for your gracious hospitality! Each of my visits have been different in one way or another, and the thing that stood out in your home was the intelligent and witty conversation around the dinner table! I don't think I have laughed so whole-heartedly in a long time. Your family is made up entirely of quick and clever thinkers! You and Anita are and will always be welcome in my home (but you have to promise that we'll have another one of those great after dinner wit-fests!)

As an aside, John showed me some of his music projects, and I can honestly say that this man has no problem with biting off big projects! But it's his incredible organizational skills that enable him to pull it off! I won't go into the details, but John may be the most organized thinker I've ever met.

There's so much to say about all of these visits, but it will have to wait until later when I post pictures

Bob,
you give me wayyy too much credit! I'm more of a "Big ol' dummy" than "old soul"... but it's very kind of you to chime in with such positive comments! I truly appreciate that~! You are a person I hope to meet in person... I consider you to exemplify most of the musical qualities that seem to have bypassed me completely. There's lots to learn from you, and I hope to have that opportunity some day!

And Merlefest is coming up in April... if you ever want to attend, I'm within daily driving distance. You have a standing invitation to visit!

Joe,

I'll be going North at some point! Matt and Mario are also in NY state, right? And who knows how many more...

I may have to ask you to meet me outside the city though... let's just say that big city driving puckers me up. Driving through HotLanta when I visited Ryzard was the only stressful part of the drive. More on that trip later... while I was visiting Richard took possession of a new guitar, and we got the whole experience on video!

I'll be amazed if I don't end up with an inferiority complex at the end of this road trip. After each visit I walk away with a sense of awe and respect for the people I just met. And even though it's not possible that all of them are the smartest people I've ever met (there can only be one superlative) so far, that has been the recurring take-away.

Everybody I've met so far has such depth and breadth of talent, knowledge, wisdom, creativity, wit, kindness, generosity and more... it's humbling to encounter everything I admire in humanity... over and over again!

Thanks again to all of the people who had to take the chance that I MIGHT be an axe murderer and let me in anyway.

Thanks for the kind words, Pat, you posted them just as I wrote them.

Jeaux

I was fortunate to sit down for lunch with Pat when he passed through Mobile on his way to Pensacola. He is a fascinating guy. What was supposed to be a one hour lunch turned into a two hour chat fest. We would probably still be talking if he hadn't have needed to get on the road.

Pat, I'm 2 hours north of NYC, though I split time in the Adirondacks also. Mario is another 4 hours, outside of Rochester.

I had a great time when John and Anita Ford visited. They scheduled their trip to visit while my music was featured with the regional symphony.

I have a great idea - how about we create a Google map with everybody's location on it - you don't have to put your own personal address on it - just put a nearby starbucks location on or something - and your "PG" handle if you have privacy issues.

Hey Danny, it's good hearing from you. I hope all is well with you and your family. I'm still looking forward to meeting you when we can hook up.

Jeaux

JoeV, PG Music had just such a site right on this website, where users around the world were 'pinned'. It was a lot of fun to see. For example, I learned MarioD was my closest fellow user (at that time).

The map fell out of use about 15 years ago. We asked about it a few years back, and PG Music responded they didn't know why it wasn't active and would look at it. I haven't heard any news since.

Same here. Very few lulls in the conversation and it felt like I'd known Pat for years. The wife and I truly enjoyed his company and wish him well on the remainder of his journey. He is really a nice guy and his love of music and people is obvious and infectious. It was a great visit for us and hope he had fun too.

Pat came a'calling last Tuesday 2/3/15. We started over breakfast and I was immediately comfortable with him. We talked for a while, then went back to my place. He met my wife Trudy, who is also a musician, and complimented for being (per my description) the perfect woman. Okay, so now they're friends, too.

I showed him some of my guitars and my studio. He took pics and perhaps video of me at the console. I surprised and disappointed myself by not being able to find some advanced projects I created in BIAB and am working on in Propellerhead Reason. It didn't even occur to me to look for stuff still in BIAB form. More about that in a moment.

A great serendipity was that a reissue Gretsch Country Gentleman G6122-1962 I had ordered arrived while he was there. He got video of a Very Happy Person accepting and unpacking it, then demonstrating what a Very Rusty Player I am.

Pat left as I was beginning to fade. I work nights and had just finished my shift before breakfast. I wish we could have met longer, but I was just too tired.

Now, here's the really cool thing. Pat, through questioning and by his "mere" presence, has triggered a reawakening. The next day I found all of my BIAB projects on my DAW (funny place for them, don't you think?), and my Reason projects on a laptop I use for business (and had planned on using as a mobile studio). Since then I have been playing daily, listening to my work in BIAB, and thinking musical thoughts I haven't had in a very long time. I wish we had had more time to bounce ideas off each other, or even played together. In short, I was vastly benefited by his visit and left wishing for more.

Pat, I hope to be in future contact with you, you old inspirational genius, you! Please be safe on the rest of your journey.

Richard

Inspirational!

If that's the case Richard, Pat needs to visit me very soon so I can get back to playing every day too.....

It's pretty daunting, Eddie, to see how much ground I've lost. I used to be a proficient finger picker; now my fingers feel wooden, and I've forgotten much material with which I was once familiar. The great news is that I still have all the head knowledge. I firmly believe that I can recoup and surpass my former skill level.

It didn't occur to me to take a still shot of Guitar Hacker/ Herb Hartley so I'll have to see if I can extract a still from the video I took of him later when I'm not on the road.
Herb is in North Carolina, so he was the first stop on my PgMusic Road Trip 2014


Next stop was Charlie Fogle in South Carolina. For the sake of everyone's privacy, I'll just mention the state they live in so no axe murderers can track them down.
Charlie and his lovely wife live in South Carolina. Here's the only photo I managed to get of Charlie... a selfie taken in a mirror, and unfortunately it's blurry:

After Charlie in SC, I drove through Georgia and stopped at the home of Richard LeTaw AKA RYZARD. Here's one shot of him sitting at his DAW:

Pat, I vastly appreciate your choosing a very flattering shot.

After visiting Richard/RYZARD in Georgia, next stop was Alabama, where Alan David and his lovely wife Di live. Here is one shot of them with their babies:

After Alabama, there was a long drive to Louisiana, where several PGMusic forum members live. First visit was with Kajun Jeaux, who owns and operates a professional recording studio! Here's a shot of Jeaux sitting at the console: (the glass in the background is the soundproof room for isolating any kind of mic'ed performance, such as vocals or acoustic instruments)

Next stop in Louisiana was Danny Campo, who happened to have a gig while I was there... I took videos of several songs, but I'm still on the road so I don't have a good way to post video yet. This is the one photo I took of Danny... and wouldn't ya know it... I didn't notice that his face was obscured by the mic until now!! Bummer!

But y'all already know what a good looking dude Danny is, so no harm done.

After leaving Louisiana, I passed through Alabama again on the way to Fla. I was fortunate to meet Keith for lunch.... this was particularly fortuitous because a GPS can only tell you so much, but Keith knew where we could meet without getting tangled up in Mardi Gras parades! (you da MAN Keith!)

Here's a picture of us that was taken by an innocent bystander as we left the restaurant. Well, we assume she was innocent.. you never know.

First stop in Fla was the home of John Ford and his lovely wife Anita. I failed to get a shot of them together, but Anita took this shot of me and John sitting at his music computer:

I was able to get a couple of clear photos of Pat during his visit. I haven't learned how to attach a photo as he is able to do above, but here is a link to a photo in my Drop Box.

Pat Marr Photo

Did you get one of the cops arresting him as he tried to steal that gorgeous double neck?

Oh wait, that's what would happen if I ever visit you.....

Thanks for providing the updates Pat. It's been an interesting read.

Off Topic - I remember travelling to Lincoln, NE from IL around 2000 to meet with several people I had hung out online with on a recording website. It was a blast to meet the people in real life and record a song together. Priceless stuff you're doing Pat.

Pat, you are always welcome to visit me at my nursing home and entertain we patients.

Danny and Linda came and knocked the socks off everyone. They are coming back in March. We plan to stream it live on www.streetjelly.com this time, barring technical problems. Linda mixed so beautifully with everyone that for weeks afterward I couldn't pass through the Dining Room without being asked: "When's Danny and Linda coming back?"

Summer Russell came, sat Indian style in the middle of my bed, then proceeded to mesmerize me with her beautiful voice and arpeggios on guitar. She is another treasure.

Owl keep the stoop lawt own fer y'all.

Or half vastly, at least. (chorgle = Something less than a chuckle).

So wonderful to put faces on my PG friends. Thank you, Pat.

Charlie, I uploaded Pat's pic for you. Hope you don't object. File Manager is not very intuitive.

LOL! Eddie, you always manage to make me laugh out loud!

But I'm afraid there's very little chance of anybody stealing Charlie's guitar... he keeps it locked in a large fireproof safe with very thick walls... stored in a location that isn't easily accessible. And then there's all those alligators in the moat...

Charlie is a very smart man and he thought this through

you're on the list Don!


Danny and Linda are definitely two of the most charming people on the planet! They are such a good match! On a likability scale from one to ten, they are both 12s


don't forget to post pictures from Danny's visit in March!



[/quote]

Well at least you got my best side!

Pat,

Again we enjoyed every minute you were here, hurry back my friend!

Thank you so very much for the kind words.

Later,

I echo the sentiments. Thoroughly enjoyed the visit.

Don, I don't mind at all. Glad you did it. I could get the photo onto file manager but it didn't show up anywhere in my post.

Charlie

Eddie, Pat was way too fast for our local police. I did alert Pat on his way here about our famed speed trap town and he made it safely through. Not many cars with NC tags can accomplish that feat.

As fast as Pat is, with guitar in hand, he's much to slow to outrun my German Shepherd and I convinced him that he would be unable to out bite her when she caught up with him.

Would love to have you stop by and visit if you're ever in the area. If you can make it through town without getting a ticket, you can have a picture taken with the guitar too.

I thought it was pretty cool that Pat was wearing a Gibson Cap.

yeah, but if EDDIE ever visits, he won't only have out of state tags... he'll have YANKEE out of state tags. Bad combination. But if anybody can pull it off, it would be Eddie.


Funny story about Charlie:
During my visit we all went out for dinner. (thank you Charlie!)

Charlie ordered a steak, and the waitress asked him "How do you like your steaks?" to which Charlie replied "I like them a LOT!"

The waitress looked a little flustered, but she followed up by saying "I mean how do you like them cooked?"

Charlie replied "Oh, I like 'em even better cooked!"

Then she caught on and we all had a good laugh. It was the perfect set-up, and Charlie pulled it off like a master. I was totally impressed.

This reminds me a house I used to drive by on my way to work when I lived in Virginia.

There was a sign on the fence in front of the house that said, "Our German Shepherd can make it from the front door to the fence gate in 2.6 seconds...How fast can you run?"

There were no other security system signs visible.

Yer pretty slick. That's picture is for the Post Office,
ain't it?

Charlie,

I haven't found File Manager to be especially intuitive. The target file must appear in the upper window before it is actually loaded.

Mine says "My security system operates at 1165 ft per second. Can you do 1166?"

WARNING! This building is protected by a deadly Pith Viper two days per week, you guess which two days!

I saw this one, "Protected by a Pit Bull with Ebola"

after a long string of visits with non-PGMusic forum friends, I got back into a string of visits with forum friends. Yesterday's visit was with none other than FLOYD JANE!!

Since Floyd is such an active participant on the forum, and notoriously helpful, I figure there is probably a lot of interest in seeing pictures or hearing info about him. Unfortunately, I'm afraid I walked away with no pictures or videos at all! You might ask how that could happen, considering the fact that the trip's premise was to get face time with people who had been virtual friends prior to the visit.

The simple answer is that Floyd is such an interesting person that he kept me fascinated the whole time, and I just never got to the camera part of the visit.
But above that, Floyd is a very private man, and I don't want to compromise his privacy by talking irresponsibly about him. So, all of what I am about to say is highly subjective, intended to expose my general impressions more than his specific description.

Floyd's high degree of proficiency with BIAB and music in general strikes me as being characteristic of the man. He approaches everything with the intent of understanding and mastering it. Everything Floyd does, from cooking to golfing to programming to home improvements to music is approached first from an analytical perspective, and he studies it until he identifies the key points around which excellence revolves. Once he's identified those points, he relentlessly experiments with the principles until he is not only familiar but also conversational with them. And therein lies the essence of this man.

My opinion is that Floyd is a true Renaissance man, that rare person who can excel at anything he chooses. But he also has an awareness that excellence comes at a cost, and part of his hard-earned learning curve includes the knowledge that spreading his efforts too thin can dilute his results. Economy of motion. Every word choice in his lyrics, every twist of a joint in his golf game, every minute added to or subtracted from the cooking time of a meal is significant to this man. He wins at everything by identifying excellence, and then by making no motion that doesn't add value.

I fully expected to be impressed by Floyd, but I didn't expect to be blown away. I left his home thinking that I rarely have the opportunity to trade thoughts with anyone who thinks at such a high level. My ability to conceptualize the world around me is significantly enhanced by spending a day with Floyd.

To Floyd and his dear wife (who will remain unnamed for reasons of privacy):
Thank you for opening your home to me. I greatly appreciate your hospitality, intellect, wit and especially your combined talents... all of which are highly developed. You make success look easy, but I know you have both worked very hard to achieve the results you now enjoy.

PS: if you ever get the opportunity to meet Floyd, here's my suggestion (for whatever its worth... everyone's mileage varies)

There is a time for every purpose under heaven... a time to build, a time to tear down, a time for war, a time for peace... a time to talk and a time to shut up.

Given face time with Floyd, if you're smart enough to shut up and listen you will have used the time to your best advantage.

Floyd is one person that I'd dearly love to meet. Thanks for confirming my fore-gleam of a very talented musician and selfless man.

Count me in Donald and Pat.

Later,

LOL... what Pat means is... once I get to talking... ya can't shut me up...


We had a delightful visit. A variety of conversations... it's always fun to talk music with someone who has the same passion for it...

If you have the chance to met Pat, I highly recommend it. He is a good soul.... My wife enjoyed his visit just as much - and I believe told him "It is nice to find out you aren't a serial killer..." However, I'm pretty sure she is writing an outline for a novel in which he may be... Pat - you are an inspiration! And no longer "virtual"...

We had a great time. See ya next time around, buddy...

floyd

LOL....

Pat started his road trip by coming here after visiting a buddy of his in Chapel Hill... just up the road a ways between us.

When I approached my wife about Pat staying here over night.... her response ...."and you know this guy how?" uhhhh on an internet forum for musicians..... "so you really don't know this guy at all?" yeah I do... on the music forum.... he sounds like he's good people..... I could almost hear her thinking, yeah Charlie Manson was a musician too and look how that turned out....

Well eventually Pat arrived and we all had a good time. We took him out for Eastern NC BBQ pork because up where he lives they eat "western NC BBQ" which is quite different....and enjoyed good conversation. We came back to the house and jumped on some studio time..... working a bit on the new version of Charlie's song about Cheating songs.....

Pat stayed overnight and in the morning, I cooked BACON and some of the freshest eggs my chickens had laid.... wash it down with coffee and much too soon, Pat was on the road headed to the next destination on his road trip....

We had a good time... including my wife....

As Pat left he thanked us for going all out on the hospitality... and I think I muttered something about having to set the bar high for the rest of the folks.... from the sound of the stories....I think everybody measured up and hosted Pat in fine style.

I KNEW I should have worn my "I'm NOT a serial killer" shirt! (too late now)



Although everybody has treated me wonderfully, and the hospitality has been over the top everywhere... I'd bet money that most of the couples had the "serial killer" discussion at some point before I got the go-ahead to visit.

And really... you can't be too sure. I think it's rational to respond cautiously to any proposal that is as unexpected and outlandish as the one I laid at the feet of everyone I've visited.

Well, in our case, we didn't. I guess that's because we had previously been the serial killers, errrr.., I mean visitors when we went to visit Matt and Denise Finley.

I just left Tommy Adams.

What a great guy! I knew he would be awesome, and as has been true of everyone so far, the only surprises have been in terms of discovering even more goodness than I anticipated!

Tommy kept me laughing all day and all evening with stories from his past that are WAY better than any fiction I've ever read. This man should write an autobiography... his life has taken more interesting curves in the road than anybody I have ever met until now! If you ever meet Tommy, pull up a chair and see if you can get him to talk about his many adventures. You won't be disappointed!

And better yet, if he plays music for you, prepare to be impressed. Tommy has played in places and with musicians that I could only dream about. He has run with the big dogs in everything he's done.

Above and beyond the interesting life and highly cultivated talent... Tommy is also a very intelligent man. Although he doesn't put on airs, he is clearly a man who could.

Once again, I walk away from a visit with someone I previously knew only as a name on a forum... and embellish the original 2-D impression with a 3 dimensional appreciation and respect. That may be my new functional definition of "friendship"

Thanks Tommy! You and your wife will always be welcome at my home!

Pat I do hope you are going to do a map of your journey with pins at all the places you stopped. (You don't need to put people's names on the pins)

Was Pickles there???

I'll let Floyd answer that one.

Final chapter of my road trip... I just left Notes Norton and his beautiful wife/ performing partner Leilani. They played a local gig at a marina (yes, a waterfront gig! how cool is that?)

Their repertoire is built around backing tracks that Notes created in BIAB using his own styles! (how cool is THAT??)

They keep their duo interesting in a variety of ways:
1) by maintaining a very large active song list

2) by playing a variety of different instruments in the course of the show

3) and by interacting with the audience at a very personal level. Patrons actually stopped to hug them as they left!! They know many of their audience members by name! Their audience not only enjoys their show, the audience loves them as people and as friends... I've rarely seen anything like this!

4) and by visibly acting out how much fun they are having! Their enthusiasm for performing is truly infectious, and I can honestly say that watching their show filled me with a profound sense of joy.

After the show Notes and Leilani very graciously took me to a wonderful restaurant (also on the water, fantastic view, fantastic food and fantastic company! Thank you Notes and Leilani!)

Because the season for performing does not last the whole year, the Nortons like to travel during their off-season. If you ever have the opportunity to meet them, ask about their travels... they have been EVERYWHERE! and their experiences have been truly unique and off the beaten path.

But the best thing of all is the glow that marks the unmistakable presence of deep love and respect between two people. When Notes and Leilani sit beside each other you can almost see sparks flying between them! I am not in the habit of envying others, but I find myself wishing for a relationship like theirs... and for the unique brand of contentment they have built into their lives by making choices that allow them to live exactly the life that thrills them.

Thanks for helping me to arrange a meeting with two people I've liked and respected from a distance for years. My expectations were high, but the reality was better. Bob and Leilani, you will always be welcome in my home!

Pat, I can tell you that the next time you come up north, I will give you the 40% friends and family discount for the couch you will sleep on, and you only have to wash, but not wax, my car.

Serial Killer? I just told Linda that I was pretty sure that all those charges had been dropped. :>

Weren't they?????????????

Later,

How about Pat write new lyrics to Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere"? Sounds like a hit in the making.

Video with Original Lyrics

Eddie,
there's a high likelihood I'll take you up on that offer... but probably not until the weather in Ohio is a lot warmer than it is today!

ummm... ummm... LOOK! A HAWK!
(Pat slips out the side door while everyone looks for the hawk...)

Steve,

Notes and Leilani Norton would be the ones to write THAT song!

And I am happy to be counted among the lucky that Pat was gracious enough to visit on his road trip.

He patiently sat through 3 hours of us goofing off on 'stage' and then went out to a decent waterfront restaurant and spent a few hours enjoying each others company.

It was a real treat for both Leilani and myself to spend some time visiting with a old friend that we met in person for the first time.

Thanks for stopping by, Pat.

I think by now all of us who take the time to participate in the forums realize that this is a pretty cool place to hang out. It operates very much like a family as floyd has pointed out. Pat Marr is the embodiment of all that is good about this place. A gracious and humble man that I now call my friend. What he has done with this series of visits has brought us all a little bit closer together and he should be commended for his efforts. In his own words " How cool is that?" Thanks Pat. Tom

C'mon! We are up to 15 degrees today!!

We are up to 20 degrees today. One more degree and it short's season around here.

Nope, not the original lyrics. These were made so Hank Snow could sell this song in the States. The original sound a bit different:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UAh7ogwAYQ

Thanks. Did not know that.

You're welcome. Not many know this. I've Been Everywhere is "soo" country that nobody questions that it is an original by Hank Snow even if some guy named Geoff Mack wrote it. (There were many cover recordings, most of them with the North-American words.) I've learned about it through an album by the LeGarde Twins. Before then, I also never knew that this is an Aussie original.

And here's a picture of a pretty cool dude to hang out with. Especially if there's a campfire, some musical instruments, and some stories to tell...

in these pics you can clearly see that Notes and Leilani are having a great time as they perform!

You learn something every day!

Thanx for bringing that up!

What's that vinyl spinning thing on the video??

Just for the record, that's a record.