Post edited 11:36 pm - December 24, 2009 by Stewart

Howdy Folks,

It’s that time of year again: to reflect upon and be thankful for the days we’ve left behind, and to look forward to the days ahead.  In doing so, we’d like to share where we’ve been these last twelve months, what we hope for in 2010, and, of course, to wish all of our wonderful Fans, Friends, and Family the very best holiday season and new year.

It’s been a busy year for Mountain Drive, beginning right at start of 2009 with a live performance on KKUP 91.5 Cupertino’s Monday Night Bluegrass Show on January 12th(http://www.kkup.com/).  This was not only our first time on KKUP, but our first live radio show ever! Norther California Bluegrass Society president Mike Hall happened to hear us jamming months before at the Johnson Farm Pickin’ Party held in Boulder Creek every fall, and invited us to be on the program. We jumped on it! 

We had a blast playing live, huddling around the single studio microphone with Mike Russell at the station controls. NCBS president Mike Hall was also on hand and did fine job mc’ing the show by introducing the band and throwing us questions between songs. To top it all off, we recorded the show and (after some homework) produced Mountain Drive’s first live CD recording. 

That was not to be our only trip to the South Bay this year, though.  We were invited back to KKUP in February to play during the station’s fund raising event. We’re not sure if we helped the cause, but later in the year KKUP moved their station to brand new studio…hmmm.

Next up for us was the Brookdale Bluegrass Festival (http://www.brookdalebluegrass.com/) on March 13th (yes a Friday!), but there was no bad luck to be had for our first appearance at this well-known local three-day festival. We also met up with D.J. Scoutabout from Free Radio Santa Cruz (http://www.freakradio.org/) for a recorded interview and performance for the radio waves.  As March came to a close, we once again found ourselves over in the South Bay performing two back-to-back shows at the Bluegrass on Broadway Festival in Redwood City (http://www.scbs.org/events/bob/). Wow! What a month! 

Spring came and we were invited to make a return appearance at the Boulder Creek Art and Wine Festival held over the Memorial Weekend (http://www.bcba.net/art-wine.html). Remember that KKUP live show we did back in early January? Well, we finally had the live CD finished and ready for the first time at the Boulder Creek Art and Wine Festival. Time to kick off summer, Bluegrass style!

The dog days of summer landed us a whole slew of new gigs and venues including the Poet and Patriot Irish Pub in Downtown Santa Cruz (http://www.thepoetandpatriot.com/) and the Beauregard Vineyards in Bonny Doon (http://www.beauregardvineyards.com/).  The best was yet to come, however, for August was to be our busiest month in 2009.  

We took the main stage as the first act and opened the three-day Good Old Fashioned Bluegrass Festival in Hollister (http://www.scbs.org/events/gof/).  Four days later, we made our first appearance at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall in Felton (http://www.donquixotesmusic.info/), opening for the national touring bluegrass band from Colorado, Spring Creek (http://www.springcreekbluegrassband.com/). What a show that was!  On the heels of that gig we landed a spot on 107.5 KPIG’s Sunday Morning Live Show, “Please Stand By” (http://www.kpig.com/) and finished out the summer playing another first, The Crepe Place, also in Santa Cruz on Soquel Ave (http://thecrepeplace.com/).

Daylight begins to wane while the ebb and flow of the seasons once again brings Fall and with it, return gigs at KKUP’s new studio, the Poet and the Patriot and Don Quixote’s, this time opening for Oakhurst, another touring band from Colorado. 

December 1st hit us quickly with a new gig at Phil’s Fish Market in Moss Landing (http://www.philsfishmarket.com/), compliments of the bluegrass band Bean Creek(http://www.beancreekbluegrass.com/). We’d like to send a special thank you to Bean Creek for asking us to play at Phil’s. 

Finally, as the holidays quickly approached and with the year soon to be a yester-year, Mountain Drive entered the Gadgetbox recording studios (http://www.gadgetbox.net/) for three full days to work on several original songs. Some we’ve been playing throughout the year and some are fresh ones, ready in earnest to take us into the New Year.  We recorded six tunes, which you can hear by visiting our MySpace page athttp://www.myspace.com/mountaindrive.

This year has been great for us and we have enjoyed all the gigs mentioned and many others that have peppered this year’s calendar including our monthly gigs at Bocci’s Cellar, the B.O.B party, Berzerk Glasswork’s show at the Cayuga Vault, Bruce and Laurie’s wedding, and the Live Oak, West Side, and Scotts Valley Farmer’s Markets. Also, we’d like to thank Sam Sternlight for being our occasional fill in mandolin player; always ready to help out and play with us when needed and with the musical talent to pull it off. 

We love to play music and we are not only blessed with this gift, but also with all of the people who support, share, and enjoy with us the music we love. We are excited about the New Year and what is in store for Mountain Drive.  Thanks for all your support this past year, and we look forward to seeing you all as we usher in 2010!

Please visit our MySpace page to check out the six original songs we recently recorded in style at Gadgetbox Studios in Santa Cruz, CA.  Thanks Andy and Gabe for engineering the mixes and providing those valuable extra ears to help us get the sound right.  http://www.myspace.com/mountaindrive.

Happy holidays and may the New Year bring with it many blessings, one of which will be Jered’s baby boy, due in a matter of months!

Thanks for supporting Mountain Drive and local bluegrass music in 2009.

Sincerely,
The Boys of Mountain Drive