Where did the summer go?

Where did the summer go? Temperatures have been soaring all summer long, but its finally starting to cool off at night... almost cold enough for a sweatshirt, and the other day while I was walking through the woods I found the most perfect fall leaf! This summer, like most summers just flew by. I'm excited about the fall. I'm always excited about the fall, but I'm not ready for Winter and unfortunately it usually comes right after fall.

So, I've been seriously slacking off on this blog lately, but I guess that is almost as sure a thing as Winter following Autumn. That said:

I went to my very first fiddler's convention in Galax and it was awesome! I was only able to be there for Monday and Tuesday so I missed seeing a lot of friends that showed up later in the week. Next time I plan on staying for the whole week, camping and all, and maybe dragging my parents and a few friends along.

My Grandma Caudill at Galax watching the fiddle contest:

Last time I blogged I had just gotten back from a little trip with Rorey Carroll down to the coast. Since then I've taken a band down to Georgia to play at Sawnee Mountain Music in Cumming (where the odometer in the van rolled over 200,000!),

taken a few day hikes, and played the most awesome show with Nikki Talley at the Porter Center in Brevard.

On my way home from Galax, I stopped at the Linville Caverns and took the cave tour. Now I want to book an entire tour where we play everywhere there is a cave tour... I'll call it the Ashleigh Caudill Cave Tour!

Anyway, Nikki called me while I was in Virginia for the fiddler's convention and left me half a dozen voicemails (I don't get cell service there, or hardly anywhere, thanks to Sprint, but thats a different story) to see if I was available to play with her that Saturday. I was, and boy am I glad!

The show was at the Porter Center in Brevard, probably the biggest venue I've played at in a while, and it was a benefit for SAFE , a program that provides help and services to victims of domestic violence. Songwmith Gathering features four very talented songwriters, Julie Lee, Nikki Talley, Shannon Whitworth and Beth Wood, with a big awesome finale at the end.

When we first walked in the door I met Julie Lee who was sitting in the green room playing the cutest little 4-string banjo that I have ever seen, and about five minutes later she was teaching me one of her tunes, a super awesome haunting tune called Plague of Blood, which she had Shannon and I back her up on at the end of her set.



I love last minute collaborations!

Everyone else filtered in, sound checks happened, I met the rest of the musicians (everyone seemed to know each other pretty well from the last year) and then we ate. We ate the most delicious food I think most of us had eaten in a long time. Not only is it awesome to get to play a great venue for a great cause with great people but on top of everything to get fed gourmet food before hand! Above and beyond!

The show was great, the turnout was awesome and the finale wasn't bad either. It was fun to get to play with such a large group of musicians. Seven people doesn't quite compare to an actual big band, or even Lyle Lovett's large band, but I'll take it!

So, now on to upcoming things... I've got more shows with Nikki coming up, I've also got a few with Matt Purinton and Charles Hedgepath... check out my schedule for more information on those and all AC&NG shows. This fall and winter I'll be doing quite a few solo shows, and some duo shows as well. I'll also be teaching a few songwriting workshops!

The first workshop will be in Montrose Colorado on October 8th and 9th. There might be one on the Front Range too, but I'll keep you posted on that.

IBMA is also coming up and I might, just might, make an appearance at Folk Alliance in Memphis this year... We'll see...

I think thats all I have time for now... Thanks for reading!