We had a great day of playing music today…My group Alberta Rose opened the St Albert Canada Day celebrations at Rotary Park this morning, then our community music group Bluegrass Breaks played for the seniors barbecue at Ironwood Seniors Home this afternoon…We had the privilege of opening for Elvis! (Well, an Elvis impersonator anyway…) We finished off the evening with a band meal at Boston Pizza, and a good catch-up with one another. Happy Canada Day everyone!

This evening, my students performed for the residents at Ironwood Seniors Home in St Albert as their end of year recital…We played a variety of songs and styles, and parents and seniors all enjoyed the concert. The kids learned about the value of volunteering, serving as part of a community, and gaining invaluable experience playing to a warm, friendly audience!

Our community music group played tonight for the residents of Holyrood, in the south side of Edmonton…We were delighted to have Drew back to play Ukrainian songs on his fiddle!

I added to my guitar collection on Saturday, as I celebrated another birthday…Received this gift! It’s a dobro/lapsteel guitar…now to figure out how to play it…

Our group were joined by Dr Aaron Au of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra to welcome the Symphony audience to the last Friday Masters concert of the season at the Winspear Centre. We had a fantastic time playing bluegrass favorites to the audience, and were invited back in the fall! We attended the ESO concert afterwards, and were stunned by the talent on stage as they performed Beethoven’s piano concerto and works by Nielsen and Sibelius with Dr Au on violin…we’re looking forward to going back again!

Tonight, our community group Bluegrass Breaks played for the seniors at Rosedale Assisted Living as we celebrated the seniors who had a birthday this month…Thanks to all of the band members for giving of their time and talents and to Rosedale for donating to our 2015 charity!

I filled in on bass for a great young ska/punk band at today’s Rainmaker Rodeo parade in St Albert…Despite the challenges of playing on a moving stage being attacked by wasps and 28 degrees heat, we had a most excellent time, and a scorching hot summers day for it! My student Jacob played drums…Great crowd, too!

Our community group Bluegrass Breaks performed for the Chateau Mission Pub night in St Albert on Tuesday evening. In addition to our usual volunteers, my guitar student Savanna joined us…We played a mixture of Country, Bluegrass and Irish music and a ukulele set…

Our events group Alberta Rose played for a house party this weekend in Devon…We had a great time playing on the back of a trailer stage, with a light show, quad racing, a campfire and a backyard forest full of fairy lights. Thanks to http://www.barsnbands.com for the set-up!

Our trio performed for Taylor Seminary’s 35th Graduation Banquet this evening, at Edmonton’s West Meadows Baptist Church. We received some great crowd participation, a delicious dinner and a very generous cheque for our 2015 autism/aspergers charity fundraising.

Congratulations to all the graduates, including our band’s very own David Ferro, who completed his Masters Degree in Divinity Studies.