Happy Holidays, From Our Homies to Yours!

. . . . The Unbroken Circle . . . A Never Ending Story . . . .

On Saturday November 12th at 2:00 pm, in Meeting Room B of The West Babylon Public Library, The Homegrown String Band™ will be once again presenting their Unbroken Circle program. This popular progarm features traditional songs and stories that have stood the test of time, surviving hundreds of years and making their way into the canon of  20th and 21st century contemporary pop and rock performers; including Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan.

West Babylon Public Library

2016 - 211 Route 109

West Babylon, NY 11704

Shelter Rock Public Library October 23, 2016

Sunday October, 23 at 3:00 pm The Homegrown String Band™ will be presenting their Unbroken Circle program which features traditional songs, performed on acoustic instrument, that have have been recorded by 20th and 21st century contemporary pop and rock performers including, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, The Grateful Dead, Nirvana, Janis Joplin, Woody Guthrie, Jack White . . .   

The Shelter Rock Public Library

165 Searington Road

Albertson, NY

516-248-7363 ext 233

East Meadow Public Library - Fri. October 14 - 7:30 pm

- photo by Mark Shanholtz

This Friday, October 14, 2016, The Homegrown String Band will be bringing their Neo-Traditional Acoustic American Roots Music and Dance back to the East Meadow Public Library. The show is free and the music begins at 7:30 PM.

 East Meadow Public Library

1886 Front Street
East Meadow
NY 11554-1700

516-794-2570

2016 Hudson Valley Garlic Festival

It's that time of year again the 28th Annual Hudson Valley Garlic Festival takes place this weekend, October 1st and 2nd, at Cantine Park in Saugerties, NY. This is the biggest and best garlic festival on the East Coast. The festival draws 50,000 lovers of the Stinking Rose from all over the country and features 55 garlic farmers, many excellent purveyors of gourmet festival food, a number of carefully selected craft vendors, four stages of music, a theater company, and a roving puppeteer. The Homegrown String Band™ will be performing three sets of high energy neo-traditional acoustic American music, each day on the Pavilion Stage. This year we will be sharing the stage with Medieval music performers, Bells & Motley. Other performers include Acoustic jazz by Sundad, songsters Mark Rust, Rich Bala and Ian Flannigan, Acoustic rock and blues by Annie and the Hedonists, Bluegrass and acoustic roots music by the Bondville Boys, The Arm of the Sea Theater, and One World Puppetry.

Directions to the Festival

A Change That Was Long Overdue

Photo by Rick Jackofsky

String change that is. Since we haven't had a show for a few weeks, and knowing I will be going through a half dozen sets of strings for the twelve sets of music I'll be playing over the next couple weeks, I decided to milk my last set of for all they were worth. I was almost getting used to the muffled sound of dead strings . . . NOT!  Nothing like a fresh set of strings! Looking forward to getting back on stage with my fresh Martin SP medium light phosphor bronze acoustic guitar strings and my Larrivee 000-50!

September 18th Rocky Point Farmers Market - Rocky Point, NY

September 24th  Long Island Fair - Old Bethpage, NY

September 25th Long Island Apple Festival - Setauket, NY

October 1st & 2nd The Hudson Valley Garlic Festival - Saugerties, NY

Homegrown Stringband™ - Man Who Dressed in Black

J. R. Cash Born February 26, 1932
Kingsland, Arkansas

Died September 12, 2003
Nashville, Tennessee

Rocky Point Farmers Market 5th Annual Havest Festival

It's 2016 Fall Festival Season! In the next few weeks we will be wrapping up our 2016 outdoor show schedule. Our next show will be at The Rocky Point Farmers Market's 5th Annual Harvest Festival on Sunday September 18th, where we will be performing two sets between 11 am and 1 pm.

September 18th Rocky Point Farmers Market - Rocky Point, NY

September 24th  Long Island Fair - Old Bethpage, NY

September 25th Long Island Apple Festival - Setauket, NY

October 1st & 2nd The Hudson Valley Garlic Festival - Saugerties, NY

HGSB Mineola Memorial Park Bandshell - 2 pm - 8/20/16

Homegrown Garlic 2016

This year's garlic picked, cured, and cleaned. We ended up with between 8 1/2 and 9 pounds. That should get us through the winter, if not we will just have to pick up some more at the Hudson Valley Garlic Festival in Saugerties, NY, October 1st & 2nd where we (The Homegrown String Band™) will be performing 3 sets of high energy acoustic roots music each day.

Bayard Cutting Arboretum Sunday July 24, 2016 - 2 pm

We are proud to be part of The Islip Arts Council's Summer Concert Series. On Sunday July 24th at 2:00 pm we will be bringing our acoustic American music to the Lower Carriage House in The Bayard Cutting Arboretum.

Deks American Restaurant & Taproom July 15, 9:00 pm

Come on down to Deks, have something good to eat. Listen to The Homegrown String Band™ make your whole day complete!

Deks American Restaurant & Taproom

Corner of 25A and Eagle Road in Beautiful Rocky Point, NY.

631-821-0066

The BookHouse Concert Series June 24th at 7:00 pm

On Friday, June 24, 2016 The Homegrown String Band Returns to The BookHouse Concert Series in East Stroudsburg, PA.

Doors will open at 7 p.m and the performance will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m. Seating is limited and available on a first-come, first serve basis. Please plan to arrive before the scheduled starting time. All BookHouse programs are free and open to the public.


The BookHouse program takes place in the Edinger Community Room of Eastern Monroe Public Library, located at 1002 North 9th Street (Rt. 611 and Chipperfield Drive) in Stroudsburg. For more information call (570) 421-0800, x312.

HGSB @ Deks American Restaurant Friday, June 10th

On Thursday June 9th Georgianne and I will be celebrating our 37th anniversary. Two days before we got married Georgianne turned 23, guess how old she will be this year? Stop by Deks American Restaurant on Friday June 10th to wish Georgianne a Happy Birthiversary!

The Homegrown String Band -The Family That Plays Together

Deks American Restaurant & Taproom

Rte 25A & Eagle Rd Rocky Point, NY

Friday, June 10, 2016

9pm 'til Midnight 

Edwards Farm Day Sunday June 12th

EDWARDS FARM DAY HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED FOR SUNDAY JUNE 12 DUE TO THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDER STORMS

 The Sayville Historical Society will host its "Afternoon on the Edwards Farm" at the corner of Edwards Street and Collins Avenue one block south of Butera's Restaurant in Sayville, NY. This is a great event for families that includes baby animals, hands-on quilting and weaving activities, churning homemade ice cream, planting seeds, grinding corn, and old fashioned games. The Home Grown String Band will be playing their signature high-energy acoustic Americana music! All are welcome. Admission is $4 per person and $15 for a family of four. Call 631 563-0186 for more information.

Happy Birthday Wells

 

We had a great time with 86d Records, Long Gone, Trifles, and Matt the Maniacal Accordion Player at the Checkmate Inn. Happy Birthday Wells!

Irvington Library Saturday April 23 at 2pm

The Homegrown String Band™ brings their high energy American roots music back to the Hudson River town of Irvington, NY this Saturday with a 2pm show at The Irvington Public Library. This an all ages free show.

The Irvington Public Library

12 South Astor Street
Irvington, NY 10533

HGSB at Deks American Restaurant & Tap Room

Thanks to everyone who came out for our Homegrown Two duo show in Wilbraham, MA. Georgianne and I had a great time sharing or music and stories to the full house of enthusiastic listeners. This coming Saturday night we will be back with the full band, The Homegrown String Band™ quadrupelo, at what seems to be becoming our home base, Deks American Restaurant & Tap Room in Rocky Point. The show starts at 9 pm and goes 'til midnight as always there is no cover charge and the craft beers will be flowing.

Homegrown Two in Massachusetts April 10th 2016

Homegrown Two (Rick & Georgianne), AKA "Cackle & Crow," will be peforming at the Wilbraham Public Library in Wilbraham Massachusetts on Sunday April 10th at 2 pm. This will be a free concert of original and traditional music performed on guitar, banjo, ukulele, doumbek, harmonica, and mountain dulcimer. Songwriters, songcatchers, and the spirit of American music

Wilbraham Library
25 Crane Park Drive
Wilbraham, MA  01095
413-596-6141
Sunday April 10, 2016 

The April Fool

World Poetry Day

Today is World Poetry Day. I celebrated by lending my voice to The Long Island History Project's "Long Island Power Ballads" which features various people reading old Long Island poems & ballads from obscure/forgotten poets. My contribution was reading a couple poems by Si Tanhauser, a depression era poet who moonlighted as a LIRR Ticket agent.
The Long Island History Project is a joint effort of Dowling College and the Long Island Television & Radio Historical Society. Last year our band, The Homegrown String Band™, was featured in the series about Long Island music.

HGSB - The Commack Library Sunday March 13th, 2016

This Sunday, at 2 pm, The Homegrown String Band™ will be returning to the "pocket" theater at the Commack Public Library in Commack, N.Y. This is a great listening room and we will be performing or usual mix of traditional and original acoustic American roots music; featuring banjo, fiddle, doumbek, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, and jaw harp.

Backyard Micro Maple Sugaring 2016

First Drop - photo by Rick Jackofsky

February 20, 2016 - Day 1, Year 4: Sugar season came early to Long Island this year. I tapped 7 trees on Wednesday morning. I actually could have started a week earlier, when we had above freezing daytime temperatures, but I decided to wait until the predicted cold snap and rain storm passed. The sap flow has been prodigious. I collected about 40 gallons from my 7 taps between Wednesday and Saturday. I got an early 7am start this morning and worked 'til about 5 pm. It was a beautiful day, temps in the 50s, and I had a good supply of seasoned wood. I estimated that I boiled down about 30 gallons of sap. I was expecting a yield of 2 1/2 to 3 quarts of syrup, but was disappointed to only end up with 2 quarts plus a few ounces.

Movin' to the Pantry - photo by Rick Jackofsky

February 22, 2016 - Day 2, Year 4: I did a short day of boiling today since I won't be able to get back out till Friday or Saturday. Another pleasant day, sunny with temps in the high 40s. I only collected about two gallons of sap today, I guess it didn't get cold enough last night for a good flow. All told I boiled about 20 gallons of sap in 6 hours for a yield of 3 pints of canned syrup and another 1/2 cup for the fridge. A little less than a gallon so far this season. I'm not getting as much syrup per gallon this year. I wonder if the lower sugar content is because of the unusually warm, short winter.

February 28, 2016 - Day 3, Year 4: Weird weather this week. On Tuesday the temperature shot up to 60 degrees and we got hit with a big thunder storm.  A three foot square 3/4" piece of plywood was blown off my evaporator and landed about 20 feet away. My sap collection barrel got blown over. It only had about five gallons of sap in it, but still must have weighed about 40 pounds. A wooden swinging glider that weighs about 40 or 50 pounds was also blown over; yet my barrel of kindling and an empty recycling bin stood firm. ???? With the warm temperatures this week sap flow was pretty much nonexistent, but the sap started flowing again on Friday and I managed to collect about 22 gallons of sap over the weekend. On Sunday (sunny & 60 degrees) I boiled it down (7hrs) for a yield of three pints of syrup.

Watching the Pot - photo by Georgianne Jackofsky

March 7, 2016 - Day 4, Year 4: Today was my last day of boiling. I pulled my taps and boiled down 28 gallons of sap to yield  a few ounces more than a half gallon of syrup in a nine hour day.

2016 Totals:
7 trees tapped
100 gallons of sap collected
32 hours of boiling
2 gallons of maple syrup

2015 Maple Sugaring Blog

2014 Maple Sugaring Blog

2013 Maple Sugaring Blog

2016 Syrup Supply - photo by Rick Jackofsky

Homegrown String Band at Deks Rocky Point - 3/5/16

Good Times and Good Tunes with The Homegrown String Band™

Deks American Restaurant & Tap Room

Rocky Point, NY

March 5, 2016

9pm to 12am

HGSB at Deks Rocky Point, NY - 9 pm January 29, 2016

 

The Homegrown String Band™

Deks American Restaurant

605 Route 25A

Rocky Point, NY 11778

631-821-0066

Homegrown String Band @ Longwood Public Library