Howdy bluegrass fans and friends,

Hey everybody,

How's winter treating everyone?  Surf has been up here in Southern California and it's given rise to my musical muse as well.  Video production is getting underway for my 2008 "banjo lessons on video" new years resolution.  Stay tuned to chriscairnsband.com for more news and info.

A special note to all my personal friends out there who are on this e-mail list.  I've felt a little distanced from all of you the last few years and it's likely my own fault.  Caught up in the business of music, I've neglected having a personal e-mail address or contact site to share pictures, videos and the like with my friends.  Music has been a big part of my life but it's not the only part.  I want to let all of you friends out there know that in addition to my Chris Cairns Band website and my Chris Cairns Band myspace page and my FireHeart Records CD Baby webpages, I've now got my own personal e-mail address: chriscairns1@mac.com and my own personal webspace where I'm able to post pictures and videos of all the other fun things in my life you might have missed.  Please feel free to check it out.  Here's the link to my surf movie.

Surf Movie 

Ok, back to music news................. 

• Whiskey Chimp Concert at Boulevard Music in Los Angeles
• Chimp fans rejoice.  We're back at it and in a practice run for our Parkfield Bluegrass Festival appearance this year, we're hitting the LA scene again at Boulevard Music in Culver City March 1st, 8:00 PM.  See the concert announcement details at left for more info!
  

• Door County Bluegrass Camp, Summer 2008!
  
• Chris Cairns has been invited to teach banjo this summer at the first annual Door County Bluegrass Camp in Door County, Wisconsin on the shores of Lake Michigan.  Two week-long sessions will be held.  For more information on the camp and setting, please check out the camp's website at Door County Bluegrass

• Stolen Banjo Recovered!
• It's strange how things happen.  So, my banjo got stolen in Santa Cruz in August. I let it go but I had a funny feeling that I'd see it again some day. Then, in October, the Santa Cruz Detective assigned to my case calls me. "I think we found your banjo" he says. He runs through quite a few questions asking me to describe the case, the instrument, etc. and then says... "Well I guess this must be your Stelling in the yellow fiberglass case, it has your name printed on it..." What a strange phone call. It turns out that they had been using telephone surveillance on some guy who had attempted to solicit a value for a Stelling banjo over the phone. And then, just like Emeril, "Bam!" he's arrested and in jail. See.. wiretapping works people... who would've thought.Then, after some Abu Grabe-type Congress approved tourture techniques, the thief admits that he has a storage facility with tons of stolen items inside it. One of them was my banjo in the yellow Calton case. I retreived the banjo and it is in excellent condition. The thief will be facing 15 - 20 years behind bars since he was connected to at least 9 felony burglaries in and around the area where my banjo was stolen.As the detective said, it is rare that stolen merchandise finds its way back to the original owner. I am truly grateful for everyone's good wishes and prayers that have now been answered. What a treat it is to have my baby back in my arms again!
  
  

• FireHeart Records Website Offline
• The FireHeart Records Website www.fireheartpro.com has been permanently shut down for financial and technical reasons.  We appreciate your continued support of the FireHeart artists and encourage you to visit our artists webpages at CDBaby.  A quick search under "FireHeart" should bring up all of our artists pages where you can listen to the CD's and read about the artist's history.

• New E-mail Address for Chris
  
• Because the FireHeart site is down, our old e-mail addresses are not working.  If you've recently sent e-mails to me at  chris@fireheartpro.com or at sales@fireheartpro.com, it's likely I haven't received them. 
  
• My new e-mail address "chris@chriscairnsband.com" also seems to be not working... dag gammit! 
  
• SOOOOOOOOOOOOO..... I have yet a new address for all y'all and this one I PROMISE will be working since I paid really good money to make it work.
• EMAIL: chriscairns1@mac.com
  
• Just as a fun little treat to those of you who have been frustrated by this e-mail fiasco... here's a link to my "dotmac" personal account where you can view my very latest and also first surf movie!  It's pretty fun..
• SURF MOVIE!
  

• "Bluegrass Hootennany" Concerts
•  Jensen Mainstage in Santa Barbara, California is the venue for "The Bluegrass Hootenanny. " Held on the first Saturday of every month, the Hootenanny is a collaboration of local bluegrass musicians who are seeking to get together and make music for our own enjoyment.  Come visit the brand new stage and great sounding room at Jensen Guitar's Electric Shop on De La Vina in Santa Barbara.  I'll be hosting this once a month concert session where the audience is invited to "sit in" on music making as it happens.  Special guests are always showing up to perform a song or showcase their talents and the magical moments are being enjoyed by all who attend.  Please join us on the first Saturday of each new month (next show April 5th) and watch the magic unfold.  Don't miss it!