9 Months of Bluegrass, 18 Months to Go

I can't believe it's been over a month since my last blog post! I wish I could say that there's lots wedding news to share, but there isn't. I have been busy with class, work, training for a 10 mile race, and just life in general.

This morning, however, there were two fun emails in my inbox. The first was from TheKnot.com congratulating me on 18 months to go! Our wedding is 18 Months from today! I don't know if that sounds like a lot or a little, but it definitely put me in a good mood.

image from wikimedia.org

The other email was a whole bunch of songs from a concert Mike and I went to last Saturday. But this story requires a little bit more explanation.

Mike and I would like to have a live band at our wedding, but its not going to be just your average wedding band. We are looking for a bluegrass band! And of course, the best way to judge a band is to see them play. So I've started scouring the Internet for bluegrass bands who have good music posted online, are in my price range, and are performing in the area. The Orrin Star Duo on Saturday night was our first concert.

At around 8 pm Mike and I wandered up to a house in a quiet neighborhood in Columbia for this "house concert." Neither of us really knew what to expect. Inside a whole bunch of bluegrass enthusiasts were jamming away and munching on food. At a little after 8pm we all crowded onto couches and folding chairs in the living room as Orrin Star and his guitarist, Daniel, were introduced. Orrin turned out to be a good humored guy with great guitar skills, a good voice, and fun stories. I had actually emailed with Orrin before the concert and he told me that the Saturday night concert would not be his usual wedding quartet fare. As Orrin had predicted, the music he and Daniel played was a little slower than I am looking for and he focused a lot of Irish music rather than bluegrass. That said, the second song he played was an Irish harp piece played on the guitar and it totally blew me away! It would be great to walk down the aisle to! Mike and I left the concert with a good feeling about Orrin, but knowing that we would definitely need to hear him with a bigger group before deciding. This morning's email was a bunch of songs recorded at the concert Saturday night, including the harp piece! I'm glad that I have it to hear again and share.

With 18 months until the wedding and about 9 months until I actually need to book a band, I am looking forward to months of bluegrass to come! I think this adventure will be one of my favorite parts of wedding planning!