Gary Blair Senior and Junior arrived in Portland, Oregon, on June 13th, and next morning drove to Northern California (a trip of 8 hours) to play at the Golden State Accordion Club. A huge crowd were entertained with by the two Garys and also by the local Accordion Band, which Sr and Jr played along with. A brilliant night was had all. Straight after the gig, they drove through the night (and through the magnificent Redwood Forests!), then on to Leavenworth – traveling through 3 states in the one day: California, Oregon and Washington!
The Leavenworth International Accordion Celebration was run this year by the North West Accordion Society, and Gary Sr was there as a judge, workshop leader and concert artiste. Over the 4 days of the festival, there were jam sessions in Andreas Keller and live music at the Gazebo on Front St. Other artistes involved this year were Cory Pesaturo, Patricia Bartell, Murl Allen Sanders, and many other well known accordionists from North America. The Blairs next had a couple of days rest, then traveled to Spokane Washington, where Gary Sr gave two workshops to Patricia Bartell's pupils followed by a concert with Jr at the Lutheran Church. Another great night with a very enthusiastic audience. The Sequim concert was held in the Local Grange Hall on Friday June 25th and a very large crowd were in hysterics when the organizer, Steve Berg, forced Gary Sr to wear a ‘chicken hat’ as he played ‘The Hen' s March O'er the Midden’. Saturday was time to head back to Portland, Oregon, for a concert on Sunday afternoon at the Community Music Center. Again a great turn out and a very appreciative audience. Gary Sr was asked by some Snowboarders to autograph their baseball caps and even a Snow board! It turns out that the guys listen to Gary's music on the way down the slopes! On Monday June 28th they traveled down to Eugene for what turned out to be the most amazing concert. This was held in the Memorial Building, and was so busy that some of the audience had to stand out in the street!
That night they all stayed at the lovely ‘Secret Garden B&B’ in The University of Oregon and at Breakfast, where they sat and chatted with two of the USA's leading pianists, who were in town for the Bach Festival. The night before they also made friends with some Russian musicians, ‘Trio Voronezh’, who had turned up specially for their concert. Tuesday June 29th, Father & Son traveled to Bend, Oregon, to play at both a concert and dance combined. When the local ‘Desert Celtic Society’ heard that the duo were coming, they asked if Gary Sr would play for the local Scottish Country Dance Team and play for a ceilidh after the concert. This turned out to be a super night of both music and dancing. On Wednesday 30th, the two Garys headed back up to Leavenworth, Washington (a 6 hour drive) to spend some time with their friends. They saw many places where films have been shot on location (‘Harry and the Hendersons’, ‘Deer Hunter’, ‘Sleepless in Seattle’, etc). Overall, this was one of the best tours to date. Gary Blair Sr and Jr would like to thank Geoff and Joyce Levear (close friends and tour managers) for their valuable time and kind assistance in organising the tour, and thanks also go to the many event organisers, pupils and audience members who came along to see and support them during this memorable visit to the USA. |
