Its Tonight we Gather........

After a really nice week of cool temps. the River is becoming aproachable and swimable if you know where to get in that is. Its still a deadly current and a very cold tempature to deal with. You could drown! Anyways, its going by the Drumcircle and its loud that River. It covers up all the noise we make and sometimes when it is just noise its a good thing. It keeps all the new people who haved moved into Three Rivers and used their millions of dollars to build their big houses from complaining about us. All the new arrivals in town always gotta complain bout something cuz thats what they always did in the big cities they came from. We just ride all that out though and have for all of our 19 years. We just groove along and enjoy the great life we're given, no complaining. I always have friends ask me what's a good time to show up for the Drumming. Well, we start at 6 technically. But its still light out. People start arriving and some go into the Gallery and look at the art, some go to the River and check things out, others go into the circle and get it ready for the big event of the night. Usually I tell everybody that the magic starts happening when it starts getting dark. When we light the fire or the oil lamp. Darkness is the best for doing what we do. It makes us all look ageless. It covers all the background that can be distracting. When red is gray and yellow white, you can decide what is right and what is an illlusion...............

A Hot and Sweaty bunch of Grooves......

A nice and hot sweaty sunday nite drumming it was. The river was ripping and splashing in the background and the drums were going in the foreground. We had a great show of hands on deck, Chuck, Wil, and all the core members who come and jam out the grooves in the heat of the night. We had a special guest, our lady who plays the Diggee the best, with her new baby strapped to her as she played. Wil's friend also had a Diggereedoo and together it was a girls nite out with the Diggee'ss. I hope to get the video up so you can check it all out. Well, it happens alot so you still got a chance to see all the cool stuff we're up to and things that show up in the dark.........

The Good Life........

We had a big one Sunday night! People showed and like its been lately, we didn't know them, but they came and had great fun. Drumming and Dancing and Hula Hooping and Spinning Fire too. Its like that these days, a few core members and lots of others coming to see what all the talk is about. That Drum Circle up in Three Rivers, they rock man!!
We've been meeting at the Riverview on Tuesday Nights. Tuesday Taco Nights that is. We always get a table right next to the Raging River and have Tacos and its good and lots of Drum Circle folks are there too. You all are welcome of course!
Its supposed to be really hot today, 107. Man, I know you might want to just jump in the river cause its just right there but don't. Its so crazy high and it'll suck you in and you might not come out. A Raging River running at its most cubic feet per second of the year. See you soon...........

Finally!!

Here we go then...........Its been awhile my friends, but Drumming lives! We've been hard at it every Sunday night. With a fire too, its been chilly most Sundays. Last Sunday we even had to move under cover due to rain starting all of a sudden and big drops too! The weather around here has been all the talk of course. The whole month of May was very cool and this hasn't happened as long as I remember..(and thats a long time) Now its June and its just starting to get kinda hot. I"m working back up in the Park and our Fire season will and is off to a slow start, though soon to rage. Well, we're having a Potluck at the Gallery Tonite at 6.00. You should plan on coming up to see us and to Drum. The river is as high as it gets and is something to see. Come on up friends and lets catch up...........

Recording at the Gallery Recording Studio....in the Old Days

We've spent hours and hours recording our original music and its not always just drumming. My own feeling is that the stuff is Excellant!

Old Friends come Visit.........

This past weekend we had friends come visit from Lake Havasu, Arizona. Friends who had been at the Drum Circle some years ago and influenced our music in many ways. As the word got out the result was a bigger Drum Circle Sunday Night, in fact for those keeping meticulous records, it was the biggest of the year. Good Grooves with good friends equals a life well lived................

Burning Art and Drumming.

Here's a few pics to show you that all is still grooving along here. We burned Art at our last big drumming a week ago. I always hate to see that beautiful art get burned, but it was around for a long time and funny.....it was real hard to make it burn! You would think that a wood frame with canvas wrapped around and latex paint all over would burn, but it sure took longer than I would have guessed!

Well, its coming soon......

Yes, we're due for something new here eh.........Check back and we'll see whats in store..........

Heavy Rain Due.........

The last few days they've been letting out water from the lake to bring the level down. There's some really big rain makers coming through in the next few days and the river might come wayyyyyy up! It was raining last night already and they are big wet drops that are falling. The higher elevations are expected to get up to 10' of snow and since this is a Tropical weather event some if not all of the snow will be coming down the mountain. Stay Tuned. I put in a picture of the 02 Oct. high water going by the Drum Circle. That Ole River can come wayyy up eh.......

The Misty Drumming.....

We were all outside again this last Sunday nite to a couldy. misty cool night around a roaring fire. Good grooves coming from the core drummers who've been coming for years and know how to do what we like best....and from friends all over.

The Rain.......

Well, it was raining hard when I left for drumming Sunday Nite and it never quit till way after 12. Didn't know if anyone would show up with all the weather and the drive around the lake and all. It ended up being real nice. Friends showed and we had a nice little jam inside of course. Normally I hate being inside because it can get sooooo loud, but this time as last, we jammed with sensitivity to sound and groove. Nice to see you and Thanks for coming and drumming........

Back in the Saddle........

I'm back after some serious computer stuff. Its a wild world on the internet and now I've got my internetesstial back on the air. How's it been going? Haven't heard much from you all in the way of comments and such....Tell me what's on your mind. We're still hard at it, drumming away every Sunday night. And,since its been a smaller crowd the grooves together have been of GRAND scale! I mean there're really good and its with a different mix every Sunday. Its been pretty darn chilly out there and that's why some of you have'nt come I'm sure. Well, once you get there you'll see a big fire now thats its colder and its warm. COme on up you all.........

Creature Features....

I know we all like critter pics. These are all ones I saw in the last 2 months. Thought you would like to check them out!

Inside around the fire....

Sunday night was raining like crazy when I headed up. So, that means, Thanks to Gary, that we're inside the Gallery with the full circle of whoever shows. And the groove was really good in the "boom room" too, I mean really good! The gallery was shaking and outside it was raining.

Getting back to the Frontier...

Halloween Drumming 2010....

When Halloween falls on the Sunday of Drumming, well its a special occasion and this last Sunday it was so. Many came dressed as something they are usually not. Halloween is fun that way, you can be anything you want to be and nobody cares, but the coolest dressed are just that and they were a few worth mentioning. Carol was the funky chicken and a nice outfit to fit that tag for sure. Michelle and I were Pirate girl and Buccaneer and Maha was some kind of weird alien type. Many more were dressed and I missed some cuz we were handing out candy at home. Actually, I should correct that and say we were handing out stuff that kids like and it wasn't any candy. So, the drumming was great of course and we had our first FIRE of the fall. Its nice to burn wood and the smells and the mezmerizing stares you get by looking at the flames tell all. Yes, we had the big sky with ink blackness and stars everywhere. Only in Three Rivers. Thanks for coming and drumming and dressing for the Halloween to remember!!

A Rainy but well attended Sunday........

Well, it didn't start raining right away. We thought as we drummed along that when it actually started drizzling that we could "Drum" it away and wow....we did!! At least for awhile, then around 9 it started pouring big wet drops on the drum heads. We were fast going flat with the sound and so we headed for cover. With a couple of candles and around 25 people we jammed to the gallery and put out some grooves that would make even the biggest drumming compete. It was the ambiance for sure, I mean the river was starting to make noise and we had a small crowd of hard core drummers who mostly came from miles away to attend so YEA! it was a drumming for the record books.....especially since NO ONE came the Sunday before! That WAS a record, one we don't want to repeat youall..................Thanks for Coming and Drumming!!!!

Back from the Hillls

Last post was quite awhile ago! Man, I better catch you all up on whats been going on with us, the drum circle. First, Yes, we're still doing our drumming EVERY Sunday nite at the Cort Gallery. We still have a nice crowd joining us too! Thank you all for checking in and wondering. Its just amazing to me that you do. Now of course it hasn't all been cake and ice cream, but we are still intact and moving along as we do. I've been very busy with our fire season and its been a big fire in Kings Canyon thats been paying my paycheck. Of course with camera in hand I go there every day, a 3 hour drive and do what I do for my job. Its a beautiful place! I'm adding a pic of the Kings River, basically the next drainage north of the Kaweah River drainage. And I'm working on getting you some more news about us. Again, Thank You for checking in.......

Last Wednesday at the Ruins......

The Gypsy and the Typsy.......

Hello, Let's see, since my last post I've seen one bear, a fox, a marmot, a buck deer, a rattlesnake and an eagle. Life is out there and the wilderness is doing good, pretty much. The rivers been running fast by the drum circle and has already claimed two lives. Watch out and don't go in yet as its still raging! We had a really hot and humid dumming last Sunday night. We were grooving though, but with sweat and lots of water being the rule. The dancers danced and the drummers did their thing and the lookie lou's did theirs. We were one, at least at one point of the night. Hope you stay cool my friends and keep looking please.................

Took this Video just last Sunday Night when we had two Diggeree Doo in attendance and lots of dancers. You know you'll have to just come and check it out to really see what happens but here's a snippet of the night. Enjoy!

After the biggest Drumming of the Year...5-30-10

There you are..............

You look and you look and then all of a sudden an entry. Here it is fresh from the chair here in the outskirts of V town. I go up the road every day, by the now almost full lake Kaweah. Up further along the raging Kaweah RIver, by the Cort Gallery and up to the park where I've been working again in the Fire Dept. in Sequoia National Park, home of the bigest trees on earth! Its been really really cool all month!This is big news around here as you might guess. By now its usually in the 90's and hundreds and we're sweating. But for us now we're just starting to get the hot weather. Yesterday it was getting close to ninety. Today though there are some clouds and still its starting to heat up. If you get out in the area where you can see the mountains, you'll see lots of snow packed peaks. This week I went up to a couple of high areas in the park and there lots of snow along the road. Its dirty snow, but its about 6 feet along the roadside. Snakes are just now starting to come out and you can bet their grumpy and full of venom! Tourists are swarming into all the areas of the park, most didn't even know that there's so much snow. Most are also unprepared for the cool temps. Just don't bring your inner tubes of air rafts into the park cuz there isn't anything that you can get into and not drown. I don't mean maybe but for sure! The rivers bringing all that snow down fast. Any sun melts the tons of snow into water and gravity brings it down all the way into the town of Three Rivers, by the Gallery where we'll be drumming tonite with the thunderous sound of the freshest water on the planet. Come on up and get by the riverside and splash some of that blood of the Sierra on your face...................

Drum Circle Rant.........

Drifters, Loners, Hitchhikers, Strays, Artists, Rainbow types, Hippies, Loafers, Wannabe’s, Soul searchers, Dead Heads, Players, Fringe elements………We get em all. They show up at the Gallery in some way or another. They stay and sometimes work for their keep. We all end up sharing our lifes experiences around a meal or at the Drum Circle. This is mandatory as in a soup kitchen having to listen to a sermon. If you show up at the Gallery in this condition and stay you have to attend a Drum Circle. Sure many come who are right with the world, you know right in what they say you have to be right in….a good job, a mortgage, a family. But, you can have all this and still be searching for something.
Its surprising how many times people think that what we do is religious. They think that we are the fringe elements who are practicing some kind of spiritual something that they think is cool but they wouldn’t be caught dead coming. Somewhere in their lives they missed out on something that was socially acknowledged to all and they weren’t there. Call it a rant here but I got this from someone this week and so I thought I would put it into words. We’re just having fun drumming. Its our religion, outdoors with dancing and drumming and fellowship and all that kind of churchy stuff. But we’re real and it’s a big groove and we’re celebrating life brothers and sisters, life by the river. Come on up tomorrow night, don’t be scared.

One of our Singers.........

A Thought to get You GOing...........

Man, I'm really a slacker for not updating you. I'm sorry for all the long wait for you my faithful and dependent friends. I'm still here for sure and the Drumcircle is too. Every Sunday is what we've been telling em. Every single Sunday of the year, rain or shine cold or hot.
We had a great one last night. A big groove put out by the core drummers talking to each other in that kinda way...thumping the highs and lows and making the spectators question their morals and then just going ahead and dancing anyways. Yea, we're all looking, but who really cares. Its free and its dark and its a great big groove that comes at you with this pull to the dance floor thats pretty darn irressitable. Thats what its been like for the past couple of weeks for sure! Lots of people too and drummers and dancers and lookie lou's and just plain people who are looking for something else in their lives. Something that gets them ready for the work week. Going to bed with drums in their head...............

The Best Times are Now..................

Well Hello Friends, Thought I'd put up some recent pics from the place where we drum. Its been just gorgeous! We've had alot of rain these last few days and snow in the mountains. So much that its been setting records. The river will be high this year, good for the rafting and good for late season swimmers and sun bathers. Now is a great time to come up and check it all out. Plan the schedule around Sunday night of course!

The Chronicles of the Drum.........

Well now, March is in the rearview mirror almost already! It went by in a flash, though I remember it like it was yesterday. Did alot of climbing, more than I've done in several years. And got another cave trip in too. Busy, busy, so, time to update you with all thats drumming. We've had a few big ones including last night when spring break brought the people who love to check out what we do and some even joined us by beating the skins to the beat of the town. It was a grand and big moon too, the kind we dream about being in. A silvery moon that lit up whole areas with a light thats magical and calling. We had a fire going to keep warm, yea its still a little chilly at night. Everyone seems to be doing good, no updates on conditions other than the usual gossip about so and so and the things that seem to make up life in a small town of around 3000. Its still green and flowers are everywhere! The river runs pretty good and with all the snow in the mountains its going to be a big river year. You should plan on coming up and checking out all that I'm talking about, you won't be dissapointed!

Article about us in the Fresno Bee.........Today

That was a nice article about us in the Fresno Bee today. A tell all in some ways. The article was written by our very own Lisa Liberman.She's been around us for all our time and so she should know. We've had lots of other articles written by others and you know how it goes, there's always something thats wrong.In this case though its all right, well my name was spelled wrong but I've had that all my life, thats alittle thing. Its a feel good article about feel good times. Come on up on Sunday night and check us out. We've been at it EVERY Sunday night for 18 years and that says something in itself! Thanks Lisa!

A Great Drumming.............

I've been meaning to catch you up with what's going on in our drumming lives. Good, Great and pretty darn exciting. That explains some of it. Last Sunday night was one that stuck out. Friends from the Auberry Circle visited and we got the word out and had a big turnout! A good crowd with our favorite fire spinner back from many lands. He always turns up at the best of times! We had a nice dancing bunch and a semi good and some smokey fire. We're Thankful of course for all that showed. It started with an early..6..potluck done just the way we're famous for. Then it was down to the drumming grounds to communicate and talk the way drummers talk through the drums to each other. Its nice to have another drumming group visit!
Drumming is that way, you never know who will show. Now in this case we did know, but we don't always. Take the Sunday before this one.....Super Bowl Sunday...That famous time when all stands still and rivals meet to see who's team is king! Drumming wasn't so well attended, in fact only 2 people were there and I'm sorry to say I was not one of them..............We have to take care of this thing we call drumming. We have to get involved, at least sometimes. We know that it can happen anytime and we know that the odds are it'll be the biggest yet, but every once in awhile..............................See you Sunday!

A Walk by the River..........

I took these pictures just a few days ago. Gary and I went for a walk talk. We have lots of snow in the mountains above and today its a rainy friday. Time for me to catch you up with how the rivers running.