Merry Christmas

This you-tube clip is of the song "It Must Have Been The Mistletoe" at Trail Creek Lodge

Cal and I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and warm Holiday season.  Teddy is in Sun Valley singing with the Sun Valley Carolers, Cal is in Star Valley entertaining the home crowd.  We are so very grateful for our blessings.  Our families, friends, music and the chance to live out our dreams.  We are blessed to have you in our lives.  Thank you, as always, for listening. . . . .

We Missed The RMAF . . .

. . . . good thing we had some footage from the Lincoln County Fair of Montana Musician John Dunnigan to tide us over.  We were so sad to miss out on seeing all our Fair Association friends and can't wait to see them on the road again.  Let's hope their travels will bring them our way :-) 

Pinterest

Tonight I was perusing Pinterest and lo and behold found my cousin Curtis Hemmert's work on our CD pinned as a gorgous example of LETTERPRESS graphic design.   Some guy from Italy pinned it from some other guys website who had worked with my cousin.  It's a small world, and I do agree it is beautiful work.  We have some true artists in the family. 

Source: matthewdwilliams.com via T on Pinterest

Fall is Here

(photo courtesy of Travis Baker)

We had such a busy and fun summer.  Our last two shows of the season could not have gone any better.  Utah State Fair was filled with people we know and love and we had such a great time visiting with the audience.  I've come a long way since being threatened with cue cards during our sets :-)  The public speaking part of performing is something I've had to grow into but I'm getting the hang of it.  People are always interested to know about the music we (CAL) writes and the stories behind the songs are part of who we are.  This fall is bringing us back to the reality of our day jobs, but we have showcase in November and of course Sun Valley for the Christmas season so there will be music, there is ALWAYS the music. 

Utah State Fair!

Cal and I will be singing at the Utah State Fair.  You can catch our shows at the

Gazebo; 1-2, 6-7 and 9-10

We hope to see our Utah friends and family.  The weather should be nice and cool, I know there will be great music and have a feeling there will be plenty of funnel cakes, cotton candy and puketastic carnival rides. 

This is our last Fair gig of the season . . . see you there!

 

On a side note, I'm pretty excited to be playing this venue.  Katie at the Utah State Fair has been a dream to work with.  The first time I hit this fair was with a good friend Liz to catch THE BAD LARRYs show a couple of years ago.  We can't wait to play the Gazebo and I'll see if I can get Cal to try out the Mole' at The Red Iguana.  To die for!

GrosVentreRiverRanch Friends

Some of the great music/horse lovers we met at the ranch created a video and used the music from our album they picked up.  I love how it turned out.  What a gorgeous place to live and work and sing! 

Every Wednesday, All Summer

So, all summer long Cal and Me made the drive from Star Valley to the Gros Ventre River Ranch to entertain at their guest ranch campfires.  It was a great experience.  We had a chance to get away, decompress, listen to music, laugh, check out the river and learn new songs.  I love how you never know what to expect each week with each new group of guests.  Some love to sit and listen, some sing along, some drink and talk and laugh and ALL are interesting. 

On the last day going up there, I was smart enough to bring my camera and took a photo of the commute.  Traffic is crazy ;-)

 

We always got a kick out of the signs on the way into the Ranch.

There were some pretty great old cars out there as well.

 

The Tetons were covered in smoke for the better part of a month, but it's still a gorgeous backdrop for some campfire singing.

We really appreciated our summer with the great folks at GVRR.  There is truly never a dull moment for us when we're out singin'.

And last, but not least, the oasis in the night :-)

Concert Pics

Music, Meat and Mayhem

One of the best things about the Fair for us is the musicians that come into our little town.  Lucky for us this year we had The Bad Larrys and John Dunnigan.

 Seriously, does it get better.  Steaks bigger than your head, and a week of listening to true talent.

So, I may or may not have bawled like a baby during part of the show, but if I WERE in tears, I would not be the only one ;-)

Savannah Jack

Savannah Jack was the big concert at the fair this year and they were FANTASTIC!  We have heard so many great things about the show and about how much they loved this band.  We were lucky to be the opening band and even luckier to be invited back on stage to play a little with them.  They are absolute professionals and Star Valley loved them so much that the Fairboard is getting many requests for their return.  Let's hope we'll have a second chance to see Savannah Jack in our pretty little town again.

It was pretty trippy to see the lighted billboard in Afton.  Our bass players daughters are convinced their mother is a rock star because her picture is up there in lights :-)  It IS pretty cool.   I think it's a great idea to advertise all our local music and get the word out there about all the talent in Star Valley. 

 This is after the show with Savannah Jack.  We had such a great time, I wish we could do it again. :-)

I Have An Announcement To Make :-)

It's officially Lincoln County Fair time, the concert is tomorrow and I have got to make a public statement about The Linford Band. 

When a feature article came out in our local newspaper and only Cal and Teddy were included, we both privately and now publicly wanted to acknowledge the oversight, although not of our doing, certainly of our concern.  When Cal and I play as "THE LINFORD BAND" we are no longer and entity unto ourselves, the two becomes four, the musicianship is compounded with two awesome people.  Dave Parsons on the drums and Stephanie Berglund on the bass are what make up THE BAND part of THE LINFORDS.  We have never intentionally (and never will) leave them out of any advertising or publication of which they are a part.  We love 'em, we can't do without them . . . . so here is a huge shout out to the rest of The Linford Band.  Dave and Stephanie, thanks for what you do, you know how we feel about you, the music and all the fun that goes with it! 

Enough with the statements, public and otherwise . . . . let's play! 

Lincoln County Fair

The Linford Band is opening for Savannah Jack Monday July 30th at the Lincoln County Fair.  It's going to be a great day for music under the big top during the day and the night concert starting at 7:00pm is a perfect way to start out the fair week. 

We're excited to play for the hometown crowd and hope to see everyone out in force to support great music in Star Valley.

The Linfords Live

Sublette Here We Come

Heading out over the hill tomorrow to play in Sublette County.  It's the spring festival where we'll be playing along side Copper Mountain Band.  We'll have our drummer Dave and bass player Stephanie with us, we're excited to see some RMAF friends again. 

Her Lips

Putting it Together

Writing music is a process, and most of it, I miss :-)  Cal does a lot of writing on his own, sometimes he gets together with our brother Jake, most recently they wrote over the phone.  After the song is written then Cal and I get together and "learn" it.  We figure out what works with the guitars and harmony and it evolves into what has become The Linfords sound.  This is an old video of us working on "Sweet Grass to the Packing House", and yes, this is what it looks like around here.  Babies, patient spouses, yoga pants and no makeup :-)

This particular song was inspired by our show at the Allinger Theatre at the Oregon Trail Center in Montpelier Idaho, Robert Duvall, and our ancestor John Linford who died near Martin's Cove in Wyoming. 

RMAF Quarter Horse with John and Friends

Oh the power in knowing how to post videos!  Here is one from this fall.  John Dunnigan was kind enough to let us put his Quarter Horse song on our album "We Could Ride".  We get requests for it from those in the know :-)  John will be coming to The Lincoln County Fair this year too.  YES!  So excited.  It's going to be Music Monday at the fair, there is such a great lineup with The Bad Larrys and John Dunnigan. 

Making Good

We had a great time with The Bad Larrys when they came to visit us here on the ranch.  It started with guitars and ended with Moms stick to the wall chocolate cake.  I'm just getting the hang of posting videos, so brace yourself.  I've been promising for three years and now I'm going to make good on that promise.  We had a blast with Scott and Jay, the footage is shot with my little camera, nothing fancy, just some good raw music. 
(no auto-tune was used in the making of this music.  Hee hee) 

Let the Video Posts Begin!

The Bad Larrys are Coming!

Tomorrow, I'll be hosting the Bad Larrys at my home in Wyoming as they make their way from Montana to Nevada. So, the steaks are cut, the beds are made and we're excited to have some genuine homegrown American musicians in our neck of the woods :-)

On The Road Again

Well, almost on the road again. :-) We'll be toodling up into the wilderness once a week this summer to entertain at a guest camp with a view of the Tetons. I'll be posting dates as we draw closer.

Coming up in April is our Spring Fair for Sublette County. We're playing the same venue as Copper Mountain Band. It'll be great to hear them as well.

Utah Association of Fairs

While we may have felt we had gone where no man has gone before, we just took a jaunt over the hill to Salt Lake City and the Utah Association of Fairs Convention. It was our first time to the convention and our first trade show type convention. We had a great time. It's always fun to see other performers and check out what is available for the fairs. This bird along with it's feathered and scaly friends were just a few of the offerings.

We had a crazy day checking out guitar shops and trying out some awesome guitars. We got a few shots inside Intermountain Guitar and Banjo shop which we weren't sure WE would even SEE the inside of. This is a serious vintage guitar shop and because we were invited back we WILL make a repeat trip, hopefully with a load of cash to spend :-)

My favorite thing in the shop had to be the wolf hound. He was the sweetest fifteen year old wolf hound German Shepard cross. I won him over, and him me, and the rest is history :-)

I love the people and animals we meet along the way. I really think I could write a book about the people we meet in other places who know someone from Star Valley. It's amazing to me. Hopefully our travels will be taking us to Utah for some shows this summer. We're looking forward to it, and I know for a fact there will be more than one or two people who know someone from our hometown.

Feast your eyes on the wolf hound, and check back soon to see Cal's latest addition. He took a little trip to Montana and came back with something for his sister to covet.

Good To Be Home

I took this picture rolling into Star Valley around Palisades on my way home from Sun Valley. Gorgeous little place isn't it? As much as I love to travel and sing, I think I love coming home at least as much. We celebrated New Years exchanging family gifts (a belated Christmas celebration) and I'm sporting my headband my niece made me with paper and duct tape. We are nothing if not inventive in our family. She is quite the little artist.

I gave Cal some killer ginger brew. Cal loves a hot ginger bath in the dead of winter.
As promised, I posted some videos from the Holidays and since we spend them apart, The Linfords have no videos of us actually singing together. I'm planning to remedy that in the near future, but until then, enjoy the slim pickin's offered :-)

Carol of the Bells

Little Toy Trains

Merry Christmas

It's been a long lovely Holiday for the Linfords. Cal had some time to sing and play at home in Star Valley and I was Christmas Caroling in Sun Valley Idaho. (I'm the redhead in the pic) :-) We are excited for upcoming shows and musical endeavors. We will be announcing a new guitar soon (hopefully two). I sold my guitar before Christmas thinking I'd save all the money and put it toward a new one, but things happen, as they often do and my guitar paid for Christmas this year. :-) For now I'm playing my Mom's vintage Yamaha. It sounds pretty good with its age and low action. It's a big bodied old thing and I'm grateful to have it. I'll work on putting together some more posts. I've been neglecting the cyber world . . . . .