This is really sad….how could a musician make music knowing that they are participating in the extinction of a species?  Please people, use synthetic…the only reason this black market exists is because there is a demand.

Woman accused of importing turtle-shell picks

By KERRY BENEFIELD
THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

Published: Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 3:45 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, March 28, 2009 at 3:45 a.m.

A Santa Rosa woman has been indicted on federal charges of illegally importing guitar picks made from endangered turtle shells.

Qing Song, also known as Christie Song, 54, is charged with two misdemeanors and a felony count of trading endangered species. She is accused of selling 74 picks and possessing 899 made from the hawksbill sea turtle.

Hawksbills are one of seven distinct species of sea turtles that have been listed as endangered under either the Endangered Species Act or an international treaty on the trade of endangered species.

Song is scheduled to appear in court April 14.

She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $200,000 fine and three years of probation on the felony charge. She faces an additional $100,000 fine, a year in prison and a year of probation on each of the two misdemeanor charges.

“Guitar picks made from the shell material of sea turtles are highly desired by skilled musicians, despite their illegality, because they are believed to produce a tone that is superior to that produced by plastic guitar picks,” the indictment states.

Music chat rooms are filled with questions about synthetic products that claim to mimic the sound produced with turtle-shell picks. There are also discussions about whether heirloom picks can be sold and whether it’s legal to convert existing turtle material found in jewelry boxes into guitar picks.

Song is accused of selling 24 guitar picks made of hawksbill sea turtle in March 2007, according to the indictment.

She then sold 50 picks in August 2007 for more than $350, according to the indictment. The following month, she was in possession of 899 picks made from the turtles, the indictment states.

– Staff Writer Kerry Benefield writes an education blog at extracredit.pressdemocrat.com. She can be reached at 526-8671 or kerry.benefield@pressdemocrat.com.

Filed under: My Journal

Mandolin Practice in L.A.

I went out to L.A. this week for a couple of days of training.  I was really looking forward to this trip – not for the training, or for going California – but for the chance to get some alone time with my mandolin.

I did get in some good practice.  My homework from Taterbug from last week was to compose a solo to “When You Are Alone” using the licks and techniques I have learned over the last 6 weeks or so.  I had fun with this, but I also ran through some basic exercises and played some fiddle tunes.

I brought the Carver mandolin with me.  I acquired the Carver mandolin with the express intent of making it my travel mandolin.  Indeed it is a great travel mandolin – it sounded wonderful in that little hotel room.  I know it was the acoustics playing inside a thick walled square, but man did that mandolin sound great.  The Carver mandolin really reminds me of the Dudenbostel that Chris Thile plays on his Mandolin Techniques DVD.  She has a modern sound, but she can get dirty.  She likes a soft touch, but she really loves to chop also.  Probably what most reminds me of Thile’s Dude is this mandolin sounds so good all the way up the neck.

So I had a lot of fun getting to know the Carver mandolin.  I don’t know if I annoyed my hotel neighbors, but no one complained.

The other item I would like to comment on is mandolin travel cases.  I have recently acquired two new cases.  One Alpine Gig bag, and one Presto hardshell case.  I bought the Presto specifically for when I travel, but I have really fallen in love with the Alpine gig bag.  I have used the gig bag exclusively to and from jams the last couple of weeks.  It is light and has great pockets.

So before the trip I convinced myself that I didn’t need to take the Presto.  I figured that the mandolin would be with me the whole time, and besides, I was only going from taxi>airplane>taxi>hotel.

Well I learned my lesson on this one.  Basically the new rule is that anytime you are in situation where someone else will be handling your mandolin, you better use the hardshell case.  Not that anything bad happened, but I did have a incident where a taxi driver tried to pack the mandolin on its head in the trunk.

All in all a good trip, and I got a great idea for a blog post that I will be putting up soon.

Filed under: Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal, Practice Session Notes, Traveling Man , Carver

03-09-09 Charley’s Jam

I was able to attend the bluegrass jam at Charley’s this past Monday.  I brought the new Carver mandolin with me to put through the paces. I was pleased with it.  This mandolin has a great chop and chords very well.  I did decide that she needs heavy strings and the action lowered.  I showed the mandolin to Gerald Jones and he liked it, and even commented on how loud it is.

I played pretty well at the jam.  I was able to use some licks that I have learned from Taterbug.  I am attaching two sound clips from the jam below.

The first is 9 Pound Hammer.  I like my playing on this solo because it is very rhythmic and raw.

9-pound-hammer-03-09-09

The second is Red Haired Boy.  I have been practicing this one a lot, and it is nice to hear what it sounds like.  I also pulled off a little improv at the end.  I also liek this clip because at the end you can really hear the chop on the Carver mandolin.  It is not a big woofy chop, like with my Weber, but instead a dry, scratchy chop.   To me it sounds like a lot of the chops you hear in modern bluegrass music.

red-haired-boy-03-09-091

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music Clip, My Journal , Charley's Jam

Argyle Wrap-up

The Argyle bluegrass festival came and went this past weekend.  I have been battling the flu all week, and I was to debilitated to enjoy most of the festival.  I do have a couple of comments though.

First, I don’t have much experience with bluegrass festivals, but I can say that this is a special one.  Argyle always books top talent and the venue is great.

I was able to catch most of the Carolina Chocolate Drops on Friday.  I was really impressed that Argyle booked them – and put them so high in the lineup.  I think it is a great thing that the Argyle organizers are willing to stretch the festival mold and expose people to something different.  I was happy at the warm and embracing reception the crowd gave to the band.

Also Friday night I saw Tony Rice and Friends.  This was good – Tony was GREAT…but the band (Mountain Heart) seemed very nervous.  My highlight of the show was “My Guitar”. I only regret that I didn’t make it to the Tony Rice guitar workshop.

The next day I brought my son to the festival.  He brought along his mandolin…it was so cute.  He played on the playground and I jammed.  He lasted about 4 hours and then was tired.  I was tired too – still sick – so we went home and I didn’t really get to see any bands.

So, I didn’t get the most out of Argyle, like I did last year.  I did notice one thing though…I listened in on a couple of jams with experienced players.  It seemed to my ears that they were not really playing that fast!  They certainly weren’t playing as fast as the “fast” level on the Brad Davis DVD’s.  If this is true then my winter practicing might have really paid off.  If I can come to jams being able to hang with the big boys who play at bluegrass speed, then I will be really happy.  We’ll see…the Garland jams will be starting up again very soon.

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, My Journal, Show Reviews , Argyle

Bed Time Song

It’s been a while since I have posted some audio on this blog.  I also wanted to showcase my new Brian Dean mandolin.  I put some jazzmando.com flattop strings on her, and I think she likes them.  This mandolin has such a smooth, hornlike tone.  Really great for jazz – I need to get on top of learning some exotic chord voicings.  I really love jaming on it when I am putting my son to bed.  That’s what this audio is from  – I sit in the dark in his room and just improvise something.  I mess up a couple of times in it, and if you listen carefully you can hear my dog Mojo chomping away at a bone, but at least Jude thinks it sounds nice (listen to the very end).  Family life is good.

bed-time-song-02-28-092

Filed under: Jam Reflections, Music & Mandolin Meditations, Music Clip, My Journal