Last time slacking!!!

Oh no...I missed last week!!!
I would beg forgiveness but then again, it was my FINAL week of my 1st semester of grad school.  Yeah...so I have 9 credits under my belt.  Holy moly!!!

This is Moly.  Not sure if this sample is indeed "holy"

The week was very productive and so I'm ok with that.  Last weekend I played 4 shows in 2 days.  First off was i like you at my FAVORITE local venue, The Cabooze.  It was seriously the most fun I've ever had playing, the energy everybody was throwing around was HUGE!!  Right after I was done playing, I jetted over to Brady's Brewhouse in New Richmond, WI and played another fantastic show.  On Sunday, it was Happy Gnome day!!  I LOVE Happy Gnome days!  Better than an epic normal HG night, this time one of my former violin students came!!!  It was so cool to see her again now that she's off in college and grown up and stuff.  So cool!  After the HG, I ran over to the Turf Club with plenty of time to spare to join up with the Minnesota Bluegrass Band.  We had a lovely guest bass player and Eldon joining us on banjo.  I think this being my 4th show in 2 days with 3 different bands, I THOUGHT I was at the end of my creative output and felt every solo was crap.  The recording was a different story, I didn't even recognize myself! Apparently my "bad days" have surpassed my "good days" of 2 years ago.  Sweet!

So all of last weekend's shenanigans went down while I feverishly put together a pretty bomb presentation on New Grass music.  Prezi is a godsend, so if you ever need to present something, check it out!  Prezi.com yo!  Finals week went off without a hitch, I'm feverishly refreshing my academics page hoping to see my grades.  Deja Vu...  Well anyways, if you want to check out my super cool Prezi on New Grass music complete with a bunch of cool videos, go HERE!

Let's see if this works:

So this weekend, I didn't need to play ANYTHING!  Crazy!  I did get to see my good friends of The Boys N The Barrels have an incredible CD release show at the Cabooze.  There were so many old friends there that I haven't seen in forever, so many hugs were given!  I did have an opportunity to play afterwards with The Burbillies, but let's be serious, I'm getting old!  I can't do late nights like THAT anymore and haven't for awhile.  Well, I hope they had a great time.

So on to this week.  I may be joining some friends at the Mosaic Cafe tonight to play some tunes, but I owe my sweetheart some quality time after putting up with my schedule this semester so we'll see.  Next week is busy though!  A couple rehearsals, a breakfast gig with my rockin' 4th graders, Fiesta Fun Fair (school carnival), then on to the weekend.  My sweetheart's birthday is Saturday so that will be fun, I'm playing a wedding in the afternoon where I arranged ALL the music for string quartet.  Lots of great tunes, but it has been a lot of hard work.  Luckily the songs can now be added to our repertoire, so if you ever want to hire a string quartet to play Towers by Bon Iver, I'm your girl!  That evening, I'll be doing a set at the Cabooze with i like you. to open up for Heatbox.  We're on first so come out early!  Then on May 5th, I have a church gig where I'll get to play some classical violin (woot!!).  The Minnesota Bluegrass Band will be playing at Pickle Park for a very worthy benefit put on by a friend of ours.  The whole day should be fantastic and it goes from 12-7, but I think we play around 4.  I'll make an additional post when I know more info, it would definitely be worth checking out!!  Following the benefit gig, again it will be Happy Gnome week!  Yay!

It has taken me WAY too long to write this post.  I better update my calendar because if I keep it up, it will take all afternoon!

- K

Apologies, bachelorettes, and the underground

NOOOOO!!!!!!!  I didn't get to post last week!  I blame lots of projects for grad school, lingering sickness, and the weather.  If you're not familiar with what's going on in Minnesota right now, don't ask.

Every year, I look back and marvel that on April 10, 2009, I played my first show with One Fast Move...  The Hat Trick was such a weird venue to play just starting off, but it was great getting my start in my home town of St. Paul.  SO MUCH has changed since then!!  I can't imagine my life without gigs, 1/4" cables, soundchecks, and always pushing yourself to learn more.  My first solos were either roots or arpeggios, now I'm working on stuff that is so much more intense and experimenting with pedals and such.  Thanks SO MUCH to everyone involved in this journey from day one and beyond today, you know who you are.  FOUR YEARS now...so excited to see what year #5 will bring!!

Game-changer, right here!!!

Well, HAD I posted last week, I probably would have reminded everyone that 4/7 we returned to the Happy Gnome.  We had a great show, a great crowd, and look forward to doing it all again next week.  4/21!  Come on down!!!

Last night, I actually got to go out with some great dear friends of mine.  My college roommate is getting married in May, so thanks to the amazing planning of her twin sister, we surprised her with a great night out and about in Minneapolis.  She was such a good sport when we had her called up on stage to sit on a piano at the Shout House.  It was SOOO great running into an old high school friend there too!!

She was a natural!!  Look at all those guys serenading her!!!

Tonight, i like you is playing at Club Underground for their grand re-opening.  We'll be rocking out with DJ Gabe and Duenday.  I am VERY interested to see what this place looks like now, I've played there a few times and it definitely is underground, situated underneath the Spring Street Tavern in Northeast.  I kind of liked its "Party in the basement" vibe, yet its lack of Point beer, Topperstix, and walkability from my domicile reminds me that we're not in Kansas...er...undergrad anymore.  I think the music starts around 10, we play around 12.

On Monday, I get to rock out with my awesome undergrad viola student for the McNally Smith choir concert.  Every "Soul Medley" needs at least 2 violas.  Can't wait to be blown away by the singing!!

I get to have Friday off for wedding-ish things, but Saturday 4/20, I'll be playing the violin!!  i like you is playing at the Cabooze with Medicine for the People and Dustin Thomas.  I LOVE playing at the Cabooze and what great acts to be playing there with!!!  Depending on when we play, I may hop in my car afterwards and head to Brady's Brewpub in New Richmond, WI to play with The Big Adventure.  The wonderful Lehi Hoehn (also UWSP alumni!!), will be filling in on fiddle.  Therefore, if I make it there, be prepared for double fiddles!!!!

As I said above, 4/21 is Happy Gnome night!  Come over and bring all your gnomies ;-)  Music starts around 7!

I think I took care of that and 1 day early for this week.  I'm also 6 days late for last week, but who's counting besides me!!!

CHALLENGE!!!  I have ONE follower and I'm wondering if this is worth it.  If you read this to the end of this SUPER long post, leave a comment!  Follow me!  Leave some love!!

April showers!!

Woah, it's April!?  Cool!  The sun, melting snow, and warmer temperatures are very welcome in Minnesota.  I'm hoping this means coats can get put away for the year...but then again, this is Minnesota so we should probably keep them handy until late May.

This is the last day of my spring break and so far I've mostly spent it working a presentation on Buddy Holly.  It's been kind of depressing.  WHY did you charter that flight?!?!  WHY did Roger Peterson fly on his day off?!  WHY didn't the airport warn them of the conditions?!?  WHY couldn't they let someone who knew how to fly in such conditions take the flight!??!  Clearly I get way too involved in research.  I am happy I did this project though because I feel very inspired by Buddy Holly's short career.  Here was someone who didn't conform to norms: a rock and roll star with thick glasses, an interest and appreciation of music of the African American despite growing up in ultra-segregated West Texas, and who didn't give up when things didn't go smoothly.  His family was supportive of his rock and roll interests - band practices often took place in their living room with a drum set seeming like part of the furniture.  Mrs. Holley (the actual spelling of his name) fostered his appreciation of other types of music and would sing along with Ray Charles records.  After late night gigs, she'd stay up and make Buddy peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, calling it their "jam session."  He really was just a kid...and right now I'm 7 years older than he was when the plane went down.  It's inspiring and daunting really.  Well, just a presentation tomorrow and then on to the next project!

Spring break gave me a chance to get stuff done, but not as much as I would have liked.  Of course, this is when I happened to get sick.  This made me incredibly frustrated!!  Poor Johnny had to put up with this...I felt like the grumpy cat.

photo compliments of my photoshop-genius fiance

The only gig I really had was the Minnesota Bluegrass Band at Whiskey Junction.  Big thank you to everyone who came out and especially everyone on stage that put up with grumpy-cat-Krueger!

Things are starting to pick up this week once again!  Friday I've been asked to sit in with Useful Jenkins at the Nomad in Minneapolis!  The show starts around 9 or 9:30 with May North, UJ is second and the night ends with Horseshoes and Handgrenades.....direct from STEVENS POINT, WISCONSIN!!!!  SP represent!!  If you're on the St. Paul side of town Friday, head to the Wild Tymes to check out a super band put together just for fun!  My sweetheart, Johnny Kozak will be singing along with good friends from Luke Warm and the Cool Hands and more.  I hear they're doing "St. James Infirmary" which makes me SUPER jealous!  Wild Tymes is a cool place - go see them because I can't!

Saturday, I'll be at McNally Smith College of Music all day assisting and participating in Strings Fest!  Workshops will be presented by Matt Turner (cello), Brian Wicklund - fiddle extraordinaire, and my teacher, Randy Sabien.  This will be so much fun!  8:30-3:30, comment or email me for more info!!  While this is going on, again my sweetheart will be further east, this time in River Falls, WI for the River Falls Roots and Bluegrass Festival.  He'll be competing as a flatpicker and also in the songwriting competition.  It kills me that I can't be there to sing and play with him, so if you are not a string player and are interested in cheering him on and seeing Pert' Near Sandstone, head on out!  www.RiverFallsBluegrass.com  i like you is also playing that night, but I think it may be a private party so no details on that.  Hush hush!  Just wait until Sunday....

Where my gnomies at!?!?!

i like you. RETURNS to The Happy Gnome on Sunday, April 7th!!!  A great venue, amazing food, and all in good old St. Paul!!  We play around 7, but come early to grab a table!  We typically play here once a month, but we've had some time off so I hope everyone is as excited as we are to be back!  Free show!!!!  I can't wait to be back!!

I think that's all!!  One more shout out to Stevens Point - Teresa W. was the first to subscribe to my blog!!  She's been a huge supporter of all kinds of music for ages, she used to call in to chat on Thursday mornings when I was a DJ at WWSP and then I had a chance to play at her church and meet her very musical husband as well.  Wow, sometimes it seems long ago and sometimes it seems like yesterday.  Thanks for still keeping in touch after all these years, Teresa!