Thursday, December 24, 2009
Third Anniversary Blog
Today is the third anniversary of my blog. The first entry came on December 24, 2006. Since that time, I have posted 412 entries with the vast predominance being reports or analyses of bluegrass events. In the past year, Irene and I attended sixteen bluegrass festivals and twenty-five other events devoted to bluegrass music in some form or other. We went to fewer festivals, I think because the economy, especially through the winter, frightened us, and we left Florida earlier than we had the previous two years. Furthermore, dental emergencies for me put a huge hole in our budget and we have spent a good deal of time with Irene's mother, who at age 91 has moved further away to live with her youngest daughter. All told, we spent 216 nights on the road with 200 nights in our trailer. We're painfully aware that age is slowing us down; we don't drive as far or as hard, and it takes us longer to recover from a trip. Nevertheless, we spread out geographically and broadened both our circle of bluegrass friends while learning more and more about this world we've come to value and love so much.
During the year we attended about fifteen festivals and twenty other kinds of events from New Hampshire to Florida to western Kentucky, and Tennessee. We visited many new venues, including the International Bluegrass Music Museum in Owensboro, KY and the Kentucky Opry in Benton, KY, both new venues for us. Our trip to Bill Monroe's childhood home on Jerusalem Ridge represents a real highlight as well as an important learning experience. We went to Randy Wood's Guitar Shop near Savannah as well as Guy and Tina's Pickin' Parlor in South Carolina. We met musicians, luthiers, promoters, curators, and people from all walks of life who love bluegrass. We almost always felt welcomed into this rich and varied community. I wrote seventeen book reviews, many about bluegrass related books, and reviewed ten CD's, the hardest part of doing this blog.
There are lots of people I want to thank for their help in making sure my blog is better than it would otherwise be. There's a group of bluegrass people who regularly chime in to correct errors I've made and even, occasionally, to chide me for rushing to judgment because I know too little. I especially want to thank, in no particular order, Jon Wiesberger, Ken Irwin, Cindy Baucom, and Pete Wernick for pointing out errors of omission and commission. Their help has consistently and significantly contributed to making the blog more accurate and more interesting. Many other people have chimed in, too. I want to thank Bob Cook for always pushing me to broaden my perspective and take on topics I might not otherwise have tackled. And always, my wife Irene...first critic, biggest helper, strongest supporter, and, now, direct contributor to the blog. While my name's on the front, everyone person I've mentioned and many more who've sent me notes or made comments along the way have helped make it a better and more thoughtful piece of work.
Writing this blog has opened many opportunities to us as it has become better known and more widely read. During the year, I had the pleasure of doing phone interviews with Claire Lynch, Dale Ann Bradley, Sam Bush, John Cowan, Sierra Hull and others. Other people have contributed to the process by participating in e-mail interviews. Among these have been Jesse Brock, Lorraine Jordan, Jim vanCleve, Jason Moore as well as other members of Mountain Heart. Many people contributed my review of Can't You Hear Me Callin'” the biography of Bill Monroe. Each time someone allows me into their thinking about something I'm writing about, my work gets better, and I can't adequately express my appreciation to all those people. I'm also very grateful to promoters who've provided us with increased access and arranged seating to make our photography work more easily. As well as to record producers and bands who gave us CD's to listen to and review. Producing this blog represents a major expense for us. We believe in giving back to the music, but the help provided from within is deeply and sincerely appreciated.
Let's look at some statistics. Each year since the beginning, this blog has grown. This year, including this post, I have posted 139 entries. That's an average of 2.6 entries a week. I use three different hit counters, and each counts in a different way. Amazing Counters counts page views and I think it totaled 99,306 this year. Google Analytics, which provides large and varied kinds of stats says I have had 87,394 page views on 57,189 visits from 30,890 different people. All the numbers represent significant increases from last year. The average visit was one minute and thirty seconds, down two seconds from last year. I've read numbers that range from ten seconds to 48 seconds for average time on site, so I think people actually come to read or look at the pictures. Visitors to my blog came from 102 countries and every state in the U.S. I was particularly happy to see readership increasing from Australia and Japan. Meeting people like Lily Pavlak from the Czech Republic and Marta Sala Valadoms from Catalonia in Spain, and Heather Robin Mandich from New Zealand were neat experiences, and Facebook has meshed well with my blog to increase the blog's visibility and our ability to communicate with readers and people we meet along the way. It's always a delight to meet and chat with readers on our travels.
Finally, we want to thank each of you who continue to return to read about our experiences and to look at our pictures. We'll see you all again throughout the coming year. Meanwhile, have a
Merry Christmas
and a
Very Happy New Year
from
Ted and Irene Lehmann
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Happy "birthday"!!!!
ReplyDelete... and a very, very merry Christmas.
Thank You Ted and Irene for your hard work and extensive travels. Your blog is wonderful and I am a frequent visitor. There's always something of interest. Season's Greetings!
ReplyDeleteFrederick Warner
Jay, NY
www.frederickwarner.com
Fred - Thanks so much for your comment. It's always good to hear from you.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations, Ted. Three years is a long time in the blogging world. Strange as it seems to those who don't have a blog to care for, very few blogs last this long.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate what you do.
Were you once a teacher at Carlisle Intermediate High School? If so, you were truly a wonderful teacher. Thank You.
ReplyDeleteStacey - I can't even express how moved I am by your comment. I left Carlisle with a bad taste in my mouth because of the administration, but I have many wonderful memories of students. Please keep in touch. - Ted
ReplyDelete