An Invitation

Hey Scott, I'm not in Portland.... just about an hour and a half South though.  I've made that trip for the show a couple of times and it's a nice venue but a bit crowded.  Actually Portland has awesome mass transit with light rail and such that can get you anywhere in the metro area literally faster than driving.... a day pass is cheap (less than uber or ??) and limitless.  Gotta love trains!!  Here to Seattle was only like $35, and back when Mom lived in Kingston, we'd Amtrak to Seattle, walk the couple of blocks down to Coleman Docks and Ferry over to the Island with a 3 block stroll up to Momma's.  Not even gonna mention the Seahawks trips.... always overnighters and still less than gasoline.

Doug
I just spent some time going through the photos of the luthiers on the site.
They are so impressive.  I cannot fathom the time, talent, and passion that went into creating such masterpieces.
This is art at a whole different level. I wish I wasn't 3000 miles away, I would love to see them in person.
In addition,  the performers (I would anticipate) will be of matching quality - making this a really unique and worthwhile event.
Be sure to post some pictures of your visit.
thanks for sharing

Jim

There's another one in La Conner, WA in the middle of May !!     http://laconnerguitarfestival.com/index.html

Perhaps a little closer to our Seattle based and BC Friends.  Another showcase of Lutherie as Art and Function.

Made the trip up and back.... nice weather (for a change) and met a bunch of great Luthiers who were willing to chat a bit about woods, sound, finishes and motivation for spending the time to build instruments that can only be considered functional works of Art.  Managed to get a few photos good enough to share, but had some quality problems with back lighting and exposure control with all that darn sunshine filtering through the windows of the venue.  I'll find a host and post links later.

Was thankful that the checkbook didn't make the trip as there wasn't enough room in the van for all the ones that might have been candidates to bring home.  Most of the folks there were happy to let you take their stuff out of the hall into one of the side rooms and actually play for a bit without sending an armed guard.... amps and cables provided, "bring your own talent". 

Across the commons  area in Wiegand Hall up on the third floor (stairs or an elevator!!), the Chapel had been set up for demonstrations and performances by local talent using instruments featured on the show floor.  So there was a steady stream of live music to enjoy on a 15 minute rotation.  All in all a nice way to spend a Sunday Afternoon that otherwise might have been "wasted" doing something like yard-work, or similar chores.

Oh Yeah... I "bumped into" that other Doug Smith (the one with the Grammys) hanging out in one of the halls playing all by himself and we introduced ourselves and enjoyed a nice mini-concert in between sets.  Naturally that photo of the two of us was one of the ones that was totally junk, but I wanted one just so I could prove to everyone that we are two separate people.... Really !!