Howdy Folks!

We hope you are having a good summer and managing to stay cool. The Berline Band has stayed pretty busy this summer --- we really enjoyed our performance in Gillette, Wyoming, which was followed by a two-day festival in nearby Buffalo, Wy. in mid July. Several of us drove up and made a mini vacation out of it. The scenery was beautiful, the folks were welcoming and appreciative, and we all had a great time. A few weekends later, all six of us piled into Byron's new van and drove to Amarillo and Albuquerque for a couple of quick gigs. Then on August 8th, we celebrated Sandy and Richard's anniversary by traveling to Caldwell, Kansas and the Sumner County Fair. All the families went and had a REALLY big time!

NEW CD

It seems our fans are enjoying our new CD, "My Oklahoma", as they have been selling very well. If you haven't picked one up yet, we included sixteen of your favorite songs so order yours soon. You can also download it on our website here.


DISCOUNT TICKETS

We are continuing to offer bargain discount tickets for our Music Hall shows; 6 shows for $48.00 ($96 per couple). That is $8.00 per show and covers September through December. You also have the privilege of selecting your reserved seat. The tickets will be ready by the time you read this. Remember it is first-come, first-served for the seat selection, and we hold your seat for you only until show time.

OIBF

I do want to mention our main focus for this fall is the 12th annual Oklahoma International Bluegrass Festival, October 2 - 4. Many of you have received your information brochure about this year's festival, but my group "California" did not get listed. They (we) will be performing Friday evening only; and don't forget our special guest on the penny whistle also. We have another great line up for this year with Mason Williams, Claire Lynch, the Gibson Brothers, Edgar Cruz making his first festival appearance, the David Munnelly band from Ireland, and Red Wine from Italy. Frenchie Burke is also on the bill playing lots of Cajun and Country fiddle, and as usual on Thursday, we will have many of our fine Oklahoma bands, including the Hunt Family Band.

We didn't offer the early bird tickets this year, but you can still get discounted advance prices of $25/Thursday, $30/Friday, 35/Saturday and $65/3 day. Prices at the gate are a bit higher. Make plans to attend --- camp out if you can and you'll be able to enjoy all the jamming and fun that goes on throughout the campground.

THE BYRON BERLINE BAND

will be playing out and about in the next several weeks. August 31st we'll appear at the Cultural Arts festival on the campus of OCCC in SW Oklahoma City. The "Hot Club of San Francisco" a fine jazz group, will also be performing there and the whole thing is free. Then on the 19th and 20th of September, our band will once again appear at the big Walnut Valley festival in Winfield, Kansas. That is always a big event with loads of entertainers and jammers. And on Sunday evening, the 21st of September, we will close out the Summer Breeze series of free performances at Andrews Park in Norman, Ok.

LESSONS

Jim Garling continues to teach beginning and intermediate fiddle and guitar students. He can be reached at 405-306-4182. John Hickman works with banjo students and Greg Burgess teaches advanced fiddle students. Call for information: 405-282-6646


I encourage each of you to come by the shop whenever you get a chance just to say hello, see our inventory of instruments, or join the jam. Andrew and Jonathon Hunt come in often and we can't resist a couple hours worth of good pickin'. In addition we have a wonderful variety of instruments and music accessories, and don't forget I like to buy and trade instruments. If you have some old relic lying around, bring it in and I will evaluate it for you.

Our new and improved website is now up and running. There are many new features we think you will like and appreciate; one such feature is the opportunity to hear some of our sales inventory being played. Take a look!

Upcoming Music Hall Shows:

Aug 23
Sept 13
Oct 25
Nov 15
Nov 28 (friday)
Dec 13
Dec 20

OUT of TOWN SHOWS:

Aug. 31 ` OKC Community College Arts Festival FREE
Sep. 19-20 Walnut Valley Festival Winfield, Kansas
Sep. 21 Summer Breeze Andrews Park, Norman FREE
Sep. 26 Celebration downtown Tonkawa, Ok. 3 - 5pm



INSTRUMENTS AT THE SHOP

We have lots of new and vintage instruments at the Fiddle Shop; new guitars, fiddles, mandolins and banjos. Now that school is beginning again, get your string instrument here --- we will make sure it is set up and ready to go.


GUITARS :
I have a nice Collings D2H, previously owned, but like new. This model is very difficult to find and takes many months to order. It is in excellent condition and you can save some money on it. We also have a Taylor 710CE; it is also previously owned, but doesn't have a scratch and plays like a dream. It has a Fishman onboard pickup, is a cutaway, a really beautiful guitar. We also have a Gibson Songwriter with pickup, in mint condition, a really good playing instrument. Another in stock is a 1953 Martin 00-18, a really good playing small guitar, a collector's item. There are several price-minded guitars for those wanting to learn starting at $100 --- just too many to mention. I even have a few electric guitars (a Gibson Les Paul, Gibson Switchmaster, a Fender Telecaster, Fender Bullet, and a Gretch model 75).


VIOLINS, VIOLAS, BOWS :

I always want to mention Lukas Wronski’s very nice violins, some of which he made right here in Guthrie. I think you will be impressed with his work. I have four of his instruments here to chose from. As always, I have several Italians, French, American, Germans, etc. and some really good Chinese violins for a good price. We still have the beginners outfit for $150, all sizes In addition, we have some groovy electric violins by Yamaha, Bridge, Zeta and others. We also carry cellos, basses, violas and all string accessories. If you are looking for a good deal in a fiddle or bow, cases and all violin accessories, come in and we’ll help you out with something.


MANDOLINS :

Weber is making a really great mandolin these days. I have a fantastic-sounding Yellowstone model honeycolor, radius fingerboard, cedar top, tortoise binding that is just beautiful! Eduard Kristufek makes an incredible mandolin; in stock I have a Fern varnish and a Fern lacquer with cedar top. They both sound great. Others available: a Collings F model with satin finish and a big sound; an F-5G Gibson; and several affordable mandolins from Eastman, Kentucky, Johnson, Washburn and Rover.


BANJOS :

We still have a good selection of new and used banjos. I just picked up another old Gibson, late ‘20s or early ‘30s, TB-1 with a 5 string neck, really nice. Also have 2 old tenor Gibsons from the ‘20s or ‘30s, plus Ridge, RB-3 Gibson and Kristufek banjos from the Czech Republic which are very, very nice. Check out the new Recording King, Gold Tone and Gold Star banjos. We can also get you started on some nice entry-level instruments.


MISC :

You can find all kinds of accessories at the shop: tuners, straps, picks, rosin, strings, capos, pick-ups, chin rests, shoulder rests, pitch pipes, books on how to play, DVDs and CDs of the band and solo CDs

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