May 2013

Greetings!

 Another fantastic touring season is about to wrap up for us. We topped it off with a great visit to Sedona, Arizona last week and then hastily covered the 1000 miles to northern California. After a pair of elementary school performances here at the base of the towering, snow-covered Mount Shasta, it will only be a hop, skip and a jump up to Talent, Oregon, where we will finally see our very own little house for the first time since we purchased it in January. Our lives are a whirlwind of endings and beginnings, plans and completions, and already we are eagerly anticipating the next time we head out to find more BusRoads. Thanks for coming along  ~  Brian and Andi

Wish You Were Here

 As we camped in the dry, tumbling, pinion-studded grasslands of New Mexico at the site of a famous bluff, we wished you could smell the pungent herbal aroma of the junipers and hear the raucous croak of the soaring ravens. The story of El Morro National Monument is one of people and stone, but the plants and animal impressed us, too. The contemporary history of this sanctuary situated 75 miles west of Albuquerque begins at about the same time our “new” house in Oregon was built – 1906. El Morro was declared

a national monument to preserve a unique record of the passage of time. As we tell our audiences before playing the Native flute tune we composed in honor of this place, “Ruined remains of the once prosperous Atsinna Pueblo crown the immense sandstone bluff of El Morro, whose face bears inscriptions of ancient puebloans, Spanish explorers and early Anglo pioneers.” As during our previous visit to this remote, desert park, it was fascinating to peruse the messages carved into the soft cliff face,  hike to the top of the 200-foot bluff with its meandering pathway across a stony top, and peer into the natural basin that lured people here throughout the ages for its precious contents – water.

Life on the Road

We have traveled the majority of the past 10 years, and due to the location of friends, family, concert opportunities and affordable camping, many of those treks have followed similar routes. How do we keep from wearying of this routine? We try to take advantage of a few new experiences each year, even in places that have become quite familiar. A few of our first-time adventures this season were a visit to Acoma Pueblo, camping in Rio Grande Gorge, playing at open mics in Albuquerque and hiking at Red Rock State Park in Sedona. Oh yes, and we did buy a small house! As for next year? We’re making this up as we go along, so you’ll just have to stay tuned.

Did You Know?

Ravens figure prominently in the mythology of many cultures, including Native Americans. They have been linked to creation, labeled as tricksters and attributed with the ability to speak to humans. We were told by more than one person this year about the playful nature of this impressive black bird, and both mentioned having seen ravens sledding in the snow – on their backs! We were in lots of raven country this year, and whether or not they can actually communicate with people, it turns out one of us (Andi) can talk to ravens. Perhaps that comes from reading “The Hobbit” so many times.

Coffee Chat

Following a busy month in the big city of Albuquerque, we immersed ourselves in the peace and quiet of El Morro National Monument for several days, staying in one of the nine camping spaces at its small-but-perfectly-formed campground. Half a mile from the park entrance is a cluster of four business establishments where we made the pleasant discovery of a vibrant artistic community. We felt comfortable amid the musicians and poets, actors and organic farmers, painters and healers. We were even invited to come back in the future to play on an outdoor stage with a dramatic mountain backdrop. That might just be a fun “first” for next year’s tour.

Now Hear This

After our first visit to El Morro several years ago, we were inspired to create the Native flute tune you can hear by following this link and clicking on the “El Morro” title.

http://www.myspace.com/fourcornersduo

Photo collage – Sedona 

April 2013

Greetings!

 Our travels find us within a month of returning to home territory on the west coast, and actually seeing our own little cottage in Oregon for the first time since we purchased it in February. Whoever said that the only thing that’s constant is change was pretty wise. Many of us have experienced sad changes over the past few months and we have shared your sorrow. Luckily, springtime in the southwest is such a season of optimism and renewal that we are encouraged to make the most of our days and appreciate all the goodness we encounter. We hope you navigate all of your springtime changes with hope and happiness and a renewed awareness of our affection for you.  ~  Brian & Andi

Wish You Were Here

On this our tenth visit to Albuquerque, one might wonder what is left for us to do that we have not already done. Plenty, actually, but we rectified one glaring omission this year with a trip to the famed Acoma Pueblo. Also referred to as Sky City for its location on the top of a 400-foot mesa, Acoma lies approximately 60 miles west and a bit south of Albuquerque. About a dozen families live on top of the bluff full time while others who dwell below only inhabit the upper pueblo during special ceremonial times. Sky City may be visited only by tour and the group we joined was led by a young fellow called Brandon (or “Turtle”). A short bus ride took us up onto the mesa from which we could view the surrounding golden desert dotted with dusty green pinyon and cedar, and broken by other jutting sandstone monuments. In the distance were faint blue mountains, including Mount Taylor (pictured below next to Turtle). People have inhabited this mesa for at least 1000 years and the structures are now a mix of somewhat modern and more traditional building styles. Brandon gave us a tremendous amount of information about the Acoma people as he walked us down dusty lanes, past outdoor mud brick ovens, to scenic viewpoints overlooking barely perceptible agricultural fields, past the one cottonwood tree (jokingly dubbed “Acoma National Park” by residents) and to outdoor tables where locals sold their wares – mostly pottery with traditional geometric designs. A few people sold fruit pies or fry bread – who could resist? Good thing we were allowed to hike the nearly vertical stairs back down to the bottom of the bluff at the conclusion of the tour. The fine visitor center where we purchased our tour tickets also featured a movie room, museum, café, gift shop and more skilled vendors offering lovely pottery. A memorable Albuquerque side trip, to be sure.

 Life on the Road

 Concerts have been a large part of our life on the road for about eight of the last ten years, but only on Native flute and percussion. Lately, we have had a hankering to try out some of our original ukulele songs in public under our everything-but-Native-flute-and-percussion alias of “Wayside View”. Beginning last fall, we have taken advantage of open mic nights in several cities. The first were in Port Townsend and Edmonds, Washington, followed by Newport, Oregon and now we have done three in Albuquerque. The usual scenario is that an open mic host comes rushing into the restaurant, bar, brewery or coffee shop (slightly late), sets up some type of PA system plus a microphone or two, and puts out a signup sheet. The host will often play a couple of songs to get things going before turning it over to the assembled talent. We have taken to choosing the third performance slot and by then the audience is prepared to listen (if they are going to be inclined to listen at all, which is not always the case.) Every host we have met has been extremely nice, as have the other performers. We have heard poetry, guitar, rap, comedy, stories, original songs, bamboo flute, political commentary – you name it. We have rigged up our ukes with electronic pickups so they can be heard and we usually play two to four tunes. And how have audiences responded to our open mic contributions? So far, so good.

Coffee Chat

 It is a fairly rare occurrence for us to run into familiar faces in Albuquerque, so imagine our surprise when we were walking to the Fitness Center on the Air Force base and a voice from behind inquired, “Aren’t you the BusRoads duo?” We turned to see a young man who reintroduced himself as a former campground neighbor in Key West several years ago. We chatted merrily in the parking lot, happy to share fond memories and current stories. It was an unexpected and pleasant reunion.

Did You Know?

 After our most recent open mic performance, a lady asked us how we identified our musical genre and offered a suggestion: Trop Rock. Although we had never heard the term before, we immediately knew that it meant tropical rock and evidently it is a recognized but relatively new style. Wikipedia defines Trop Rock as “a genre of popular music that incorporates elements and influences of contemporary folk music, rock and roll, reggae, country music, caribbean, Calypso music and zydeco, with themes and musical compositions inspired by an island style that represent a way of life that is relaxing, exotic and full of tropical cocktails.” What a delightful concept!

Now Hear This…

 If you have listened to us play you have probably already heard this song, but one of our originals that seems to exemplify the Trop Rock concept is “Island Sun.” You may listen to it and other tunes at this link:  www.ReverbNation.com/waysideview

Springtime in the Southwest

 Thanks for sticking with us. Next month, a report about the "new" house!

March 2013

Greetings!

What does March bring to mind for you? For us it means longer days, changeable weather, boisterous birds in search of nesting materials, and bare cottonwood trees soon to burst out in bright green leaves. More often than not when March rolls around, we find ourselves in New Mexico, the Land of Enchantment – an apt motto for a remarkably varied and lovely state. Our travels took us to the eastern border, within spittin’ distance of Texas before we pointed Sierra north and west, our general trajectory for the duration of this year’s journey. Wishes of springtime joy to you and yours.

Wish You Were Here

Perhaps you have seen plenty of snow for one season. We encountered enough ourselves, but nothing like the massive white drifts we drove through in south central New Mexico. These particular “snow drifts” however, were actually the glistening dunes of White Sands National Monument. This is a place you have to see to believe, and visitors are actually encouraged to walk right out among the silky white hills. If you scramble atop a dune of this powdery white gypsum sand, you can get a feel for the enormity of the vast, colorless world around you – 275 square miles, to be exact. Always creeping like slow-motion waves, this ghostly white desert offers special challenges to plants and animals. We adapted to the harsh surroundings in our own way, by being careful to keep the sign posts pointing towards the parking lot clearly in view!

Life on the Road

This year our traveling world contains elements it never did before – tiny paint color sample cards from Lowe’s and Home Depot (who knew there were so many shades of white?), home improvement articles torn from unsuspecting magazines and a pad of graph paper for sketching out house plan ideas. In addition to trips to the gym, library wifi sessions, Native flute concerts, ukulele practice and RV maintenance, we now brainstorm about our little cottage in Talent, Oregon. There will be much remodeling and finishing to undertake, so we are doing all the planning and decision making we possibly can – you know, without ever having actually been inside the house! As we mentioned in the announcement of our real estate purchase, we do not exactly know how the acquisition of a home WITHOUT wheels will affect our travels, but we do intend to continue having a Life on the Road. 

Coffee Chat

After one of our concerts in Tucson, a young Navajo lady came up, pointed to one of our Native flutes and said, “My brother made that flute.” The one she indicated was the very first Native American flute we had ever acquired, and during the ten subsequent years of playing that instrument, we have shared music with many people and made many friends. It is safe to say that the direction of our lives was significantly affected by the instrument we call “Little Flute.”

Did You Know?

Nearly half of New Mexico’s two million inhabitants live in the greater metropolitan area of “The Duke City” – that is to say, Albuquerque.

Now Hear This…

This is a new segment for our BusRoads Buzz blog. We wanted to let you hear one of the more recent songs we wrote. It is entitled “Each New Hello” and was composed just before we bought our little house (across the street from a library.) This link is to our ReverbNation Wayside View page where you can play "Each New Hello" as well as other songs and videos. 

New Mexico: The Land of Enchantment