Congrats! Wow! What a babe! You are a lucky man. Since you can't make it, maybe you should send your fiancé. I'm sure the guys would love her company! It's OK. She will be safe. I won't be there!

No Ed, go ahead and feel bad that you can't come. Just kidding, of course. We know you will be there in spirit. I'll even dedicate a song to you.

We are all happy about your MBA and your engagement.

We also know that family and work come first before other things.

So, you ask, how come I'm taking time off from work and leaving my wife at home to go to the Collings gathering at the end of the month with my favorite guitar???

Hmmmm..........

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Hey Gang,, Hope this note finds you in tune. Just confirmed plane reservations. Pick up some clod hopper rental wheels when we get there. You will recognize me I'll be the funny looking tall guy in the lobby strumming a collings. For those who would like some Major "Mojo" tucked into their guitar's ,send them beauties on down.
We will see to it that each instrument gets focused attention.Not to be missed and perhaps a once in a lifetime oportunity.That same offer could go for fiance's but would have to ask the wife,and then you could all attend my funeral.Regrets to those who can't come. Fred

i'm not sure you're good-looking enough to deserve a girl that pretty. she's obviously after your guitars! [g]

/guy

I drove down to Wimberley this afternoon and checked out the Wimberley Inn. I think those of us staying there are going to really enjoy it. The rooms are nice, the place is clean and they have plenty of outside places for us to sit and visit and jam. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate that weekend.

A couple things: 1) I'm planning to have the fingerstyle and bluegrass clinics outside at the Wimberley Inn weather permitting. The backup plan is to use the breakfast room in the main office building if the weather dictates. 2) Wimberley is located in what we call a "dry" county. That means you cannont buy liquor or beer in the county. We can bring our own and there are stores located nearby in the next county where we can buy what we need. In the restaurants you have to buy a $1 membership if you want liquor or beer.

I'm really looking forward to this gathering. This is the first time we have had a designated Inn as the headquarters for the gathering. For those of you not staying at the Wimberley Inn I have been assured you will be perfectly welcome to hang out there for socializing and jamming. Additionally, the Inn is not very far from Hill Country Guitars and "downtown" Wimberley. It's going to be a blast! I can hardly wait.

Allen

Thanks for all the hard work Allan! I am sure everyone will enjoy it a lot!!

As usual, please do take more pictures and I shall create a section on the Website for it! Now.. you make me feel extra bad.. may be I should quit the job.....

I think my fiancé will still marry me even I am jobless..... but only if she find out its due to a Guitar Gathering..

Well, there's no telling right now what hurricane Rita is going to do to our gathering next weekend. Depending on how it tracks inland we could very well get hurricane force winds around Austin. Keep an eye on the weather and I'll update everyone after it passes.

Allen

Hopefully you're far enough inland that Rita does not affect Austin as much as Houston and the other places even closer to the Gulf. We'll be watching.

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It looks like it is tracking farther east than earlier yesterday. On the track it was on yesterday they were saying it would still be a category 1 hurricane as it passed close to Austin. They were predicting 70+ mph winds in Austin if that happened. Thankfully for us at least it looks like it'll be far enough away that we won't get much wind from it.

We're about 200 miles inland from the coast. Jackson, MS, is about the same from the Miss. gulf coast and they got hurricane force winds there during Katrina. Lots of trees down and no power for a couple weeks. The danger with storms of this size is not isolated to the coast. East Texas and west Louisiana are going to get hammered by this storm big time...very far inland too.

The gathering is still on. We didn't even get any rain from Rita. Just a minor gusty breeze and some high clouds. Other than it still being hotter than hell, it's a beautiful day in Austin. I wish I could say the same about east Texas and west Louisiana.

Anyway, the forecast for next weekend looks okay right now. It might even cool down into the high 80s and lower 90s for high temps. Hopefully, it'll hold out and we can all have a nice visit. I've been working on a couple more songs for the jam so you'll probably get to see me do my John Hiatt and Neil Young impressions at some point during the weekend...complete with harmonica accompaniment.

I confirmed with Steve McCreary at Collings about the group tour next Friday at 10:30 a.m. He said he's really looking forward to it. I hope he'll be able to join us at the jam at Quincy's Friday night.

All of you coming from out of town have a safe trip and don't hesitate to contact me if you need info or help with anything. Email me directly if you would like my cell phone #.

Allen

I've had the question from a few folks about costs. THERE ARE NO COSTS INVOLVED WITH ATTENDING THE GATHERING OTHER THAN YOUR PERSONAL FOOD AND DRINK AND ACCOMODATIONS. The workshops are free, the jam is free, the tour is free. Just be courteous and thank those who are giving their time to host us at these events as well as those putting on the workshops. They are doing it because they are just good people.

I chose to add the cost of new strings - got to be sounding our best for our friends, don't we?

Allen, if you have room, would you bring your National? I've got a new itch that needs scratching. If too much trouble, some other time.