Once again, lots of music, old friends, new friends, incredible hospitality, and new Bill stories.

Mostly, I want to thank our 5 hosts -

Pat Skrovan throws the happenin'ist jam in all of Austin, and doesn't even cringe when his brand-new guitars come off the walls and get passed past all the glasses of wine he's poured.

Kevin Drew Davis, for hosting an incredible shop concert with Tim O'Brien and Danny Barnes. To be that close and watch guys of that caliber play, and as Dave Raney said, to be able to get past being star-struck and just say hi to the guy.

To the Wimberly Inn - Saturday night they let us stay in their dining room (waiving the usual fee). The only cost to us was to let them listen. The young choir director from Round Rock and her family who came in and sang a few with us added to the occassion.

To Joe McColley, who showed us 10 incredible flat-pick licks in just 1 hour - if I practice nothing else, I might be able to learn half of them, still with no idea of how to integrate them into songs.

Mostly to Steve McCreary and his crew at Collings. KDD gives Steve the credit for getting Tim and Danny for us. We were at the factory for over 3 hours, Steve was at every event (granted, he had as much wine as anyone else at Quincy's), and bought dinner for those that went to dinner after leaving Kevin's shop Saturday.

So everyone has great guitars, I've confirmed that I have one that's great for me, Ed's married, Ace kept his new job, and by writing and answering a few e-mails, I saw old friends, met new friends, and made music with them all.

Looking forward to next year,
David

And we all have to thank David for coordinating the twenty or so parties involved in this thing. Without him, it wouldn't have happened.

kdd

Great report, David. Plus one on Kevin's comment. Even though I didn't attend, superb job by David for coordinating. I know it's a lot of work. Allen did a great job last year and this year it's you. Both of you are stand up guys. The same goes for the people mentioned by David. It really feels like we're all in the same team and that's more than I can say for other "groups" out there. I'm just happy to be a part of it.

I'll start saving up for next year.

Ace
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Sorry I missed the fun on Saturday but I was travelling back home. It was nice to meet you guys. Thanks to David E. for organizing. Thanks to KevinDD for getting me from Houston to The Salt Lick without one wrong turn!!! Thanks to the Collings crew for letting us crash their workday for 3 hours.

And the funny thing is, I didn't see/hear one guitar that I'd prefer over my current stable of Collings...though my hearing ain't what it used to be. Phhwewwww! That was a close one.

Hey guys,
Thanks to everyone who was involved in putting this together. It was cool meeting everybody. Sorry I had to cut out of the Collings tour early, but I had a bunch of other commitments this weekend. Getting to hang out and talk shop with Bill Collings was an unbelievable, pricess experience. Hopefully I'll be able to be more involved in the next one.

What a great time! Where are the pictures goin to be posted? Can you believe we saw Bill Collings personally set-up at 1993 Clarence White?

Great to meet everyone....


Bill

Hi all!

Great to put faces and playing to names. What a wonderful tour and vast time spent with the Maestro himself. What a lesson in so many things.

The jam at Pat's was good fun,(and LOUD, mea culpa...). Quincy's Pat is a great host as well as a gracious shopkeeper - I believe 1 or 2 of his guitars are now more "opened up" than they may have previously been... (1000X thanks Pat). Of course, all of them on the wall got vibrated sympathetically for a few hours.... .

Loved the (jazz) mandolin playing!!! Must...not....give....in.....

I regret I didn't get to Hill Country - anyone want to give a little review (eg. what instruments and styles did Danny B. play??).

As for some pics, Dr. Bill, I have mine (mostly of the shop tour)e-developed on my HD at home (dial up, unfortunately), and I'll try to post them via photobucket. Includes documentation of the CW work and a certain '36 D18 assessment. Emandnatesdad suggested I mail a cd to him or Ed for general assimilation, so I'll try to make that happen soon.

Allen W., you're a Soul Man! Lots of great players in the crowd!!!

Bass solo.....

Huge thanks to David E. and everyone who made it a fun and informative time! Regards, Mark.

What a fun weekend! Thanks to David Ely for all the organizational work. Thanks to the boys at Collings for letting us invade their turf. Thanks to Kevin and Steve for the most incredible and intimate workshop I have ever attended. Such a treat to be that close to one of the icons of acoustic music. Tim and Danny were so gracious and giving of their talent and time.

Great job and thanks to David for pulling it all together. And of course thanks to Steve, Kevin and Pat for being great hosts. And thanks to Dale for letting me bang on that Braz/Adi varnish D2H Friday night. Wow!

The jam at Quincy's was kicking! It is a noisy room for sure. We struggle with that at our regular monthly jam. Oh well, it's as much a social gathering as a musical one. Some great players there for sure (Mark El definitely being one of the great ones). I was glad to do my part to make each and every one of you sound that much better...at least when compared to me.

Sorry I missed Joe's workshop Saturday, but that Don O'Brien guy was pretty good over at Hill Country Guitars.

Let's do it again next year!! Steve said he might be able to get Robert Earl Keen to hang out with us next year...

Allen, that Don O'brien comment will always make me laugh. You thought I'd lost it!

Seconds to everyone's comments.

Joe's workshop kicked me in the ass and I played for four hours straight on Sunday. First time in a long time I've been thankful for my wife's nap habit. Hope to keep it up.

First time I had met Kevin. Kevin, you are a wonderful guy and great ambassador for these guitars. You should tell the "Taylor Killer" story here. Thanks for the case key and for letting me rifle through all of your Tortis picks. Hope I got them squared away.

Pat's place is always a great time. I think I'll make the drive up more often. No Beatles this time .

Thanks to Bill for my new strings. I may never change the 6th string that he put on himself! Also for the lesson in quarter sawn. Finally makes sense to me. How about that old "B" grade rosewood!?!

Great to meet everyone who attended. I think this is definitely a case of "The more the merrier", and I hope lots of folks can attend next year.

David E. - Big thanks to you. I've already blocked the second week of November on my calendar.

Even though I only could get to The Salt Lick (before some long scheduled out of town guests arrived), I thoroughly enjoyed my brief encounters with the other attendees. Look forward to more picking with those who are "local." It was impressive to see and hear so many great Collings instruments in one place. Serious guitars and mandolins...indeed.

Looking forward to next year. Our place is available for jamming "out in the woods" (and "down by the river").

Geoff aka Clem

Sounds like a great time. I would love to be a part of a Gathering some day. Maybe that trip to USA that my wife and I are talking about should include a Forum Gathering in the itenary. By the way, during the Collings Factory tour, did anyone see a D1A varnish with a "dancing lady" headstock inlay (bound for Australia)??? Oh well, it was worth a try.