Ruth and Max Bloomquist

We just posted a video of our performance at the South Florida Folk Festival Singer-Songwriter Competition. We performed Daddy Was An Old Man and I Don't Remember a Waltz. We had a blast at the festival. It was a great honor to be there on its first re-emergence since hurricane Wilma. Headlining the bill were our friends Bill and Kate Isles and Jack Williams along with a lot of other great talent. The weather was cooler than optimun, but few seemed to care.

Ruth and Max Bloomquist It's less than a week until the equinox and the nights are getting chilly. We hope you've had as good a summer as we have enjoyed. We are so thankful for all the friends and fans that have come to our shows all around West MIchigan from Holland to Mackinaw City, from May to Labor Day. It has been a blast whether we played as a duo or with our dear friends and musical collaborators John King and Daniel Seabolt. L-R Max, Ruth, Dan, John at Coast West Music Festival. Photo by Joe Gee. In other news, the "Michigan Girl" Youtube video posted by Terri Pippen-Grannis of Zellie's Opry House surpassed 300,000 views on September 5th. Thanks to Terri and to all the folks who have gone to take a look. Meanwhile, we had a few art projects floating around our house. Here's one: September and the rest of autumn has us slowing down a bit, but there are some fun things in the offing none the less. We're heading back to Ann Arbor and the Crazy Wisdom Tea Room on Sept. 21, and then we're off to Raleigh-Durham NC to attend the IBMA World Of Bluegrass business conference. We've been away from IBMA for a couple or three years so we're really looking forward to seeing old friends, making new ones, and learning what's new in the bluegrass music business. We're also playing a couple of private house concerts in September. If you're invited to one of them you know who you are. If you've never been to a house concert maybe you should think about holding one. It doesn't have to be hard and it's a fun gathering on a Winter's night. Let us know if you're interested in talking about it.  The rest of Autumn looks like fun, too. We have some concerts and appearances lined up that will support some of our favorite charities including Muskegon's Mission for Area People (Oct. 14), The New Muskegon Farmers' Market (Nov. 9), and the Giving Tree of White Lake (Dec. 15). Details are in the links below and you'll hear more from us in the months to come. Happy Harvest everyone! Ruth and Max ps. We'll be out playing one of those house concerts on Sept. 20, but if we weren't busy we'd go to Seven Steps Up in Spring Lake, MI to hear Kenny White. Try it. You'll like it.   MUSIC > Play Songs      > Share Songs      UPCOMING SHOWS Crazy Wisdom Tea Room Ann Arbor, MI Sat Sep 21 13 08:30 PM   9th Annual Taste of Music! At Trillium Events Center Spring Lake, MI Mon Oct 14 13 06:30 PM Tickets Frauenthal Center for the Performing Arts Muskegon, MI Sat Nov 09 13 07:30 PM   > See More / Details   SITES  ReverbNation       Artist Website       Facebook      Share

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Ruth and Max Bloomquist Dear ,   Though most of July was hot and dry around our house, it was a very productive month for us on several fronts. In addition to meeting some very nice people while playing some very nice shows around Western Michigan, the garden began to produce some very nice vegetables. Gallons of green beans, lots of lettuce, and somewhat less than a zillion zucchini have graced our table of late.   While the garden is likely to continue to increase its yield as we pass into what is starting out as a cooler wetter August, we are a bit less busy on the music front. That doesn't mean, however, that we still don't have a few fun opportunities to get out and play.   We were recently asked to participate in the National Night Out on Tuesday August 6. Our part will be done on the lawn (weather permitting) at First Christian Reformed Church in Muskegon, MI. and is organized by the Sheldon Park Neighborhood Association.   On Saturday August 10 the whole band will be in Mackinaw City for the Music in Mackinaw Series. On the shores of Lake Huron and very near to the "famous in story and song" Mackinaw Bridge, this promises to be a winner.   On Wednesday August 14 Max will be sitting in on bass with the Blue Water Ramblers for their concert in Big Rapids. We're performing in the Big Rapids bandshell at Hemlock Park. The bandshell is located along Riverwalk and behind Big Rapids Middle School. Stop out to see if Max can hold his own.   Saturday August 17 brings us to the Boot Scootin' II Dinner Dance benefit for the Father Jack Foundation. Tickets must be ordered in advance by contacting Mary Jeanne Silvis at 231-755-6570 or mjsilvis@yahoo.com. Held at the Hampton Green Farm in Fruitport, MI, this is a lovely and FUN event. Dinner is catered and BYOB with pop, mix, water, and ice provided. There will be a horse show/dressage demonstration before we play. This one is a lot of fun. Western Wear is optional but encouraged. John King will be joining us with his famous guitar.   We are now available on Pandora intenet radio. We know that there has been some controversey regarding this streaming music service and how they pay the artists, but that doesn't mean that you can't enjoy our music and that of similar artists. Oddly, you must search for Ruth Bloomquist And Max to create the appropriate music stream.   That's the news from us. The full schedule with details and more is below. It's still high summer folks. Come on out and enjoy live music.   Thanks for reading,   Ruth & Max     MUSIC > Play Songs      > Share Songs      UPCOMING SHOWS National Night Out at First Reformed Church Muskegon, MI Tue Aug 06 13 06:00 PM   Music In Mackinaw Mackinaw City, MI Sat Aug 10 13 08:00 PM   Hampton Green Farm Fruitport, MI Sat Aug 17 13 05:30 PM   > See More / Details   SITES  ReverbNation       Artist Website       Facebook      Share

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We hope you're having as good a summer as we are. We're feeling good, playing a lot, and enjoying it so much. Our garden is growing and beginning to produce some salads. The beautiful local deer have done some damage, but we think (hope) that we've got them fenced out now. (There's plenty of wild forage for them without them eating ours!) We even had a fawn born last month in the tall grass in our back yard out near the woods.

Also, here's a shot from our June 29 show at the Book Nook & Java Shop in Montague, MI. A great venue, a packed house, and some help from Daniel Seabolt's fiddle made it a fun filled evening.
 
July looks like a fun time with shows at Coast West (Muskegon's new music festival), Camp Blodgett's Acoustic Sunset Series (an evening a on a huge deck overlooking Lake Michigan), the Summer Sounds Concert Series at the Michigan Legacy Art Park, a Saturday evening at the Bayview Grill in Frankfort, MI, and a Tuesday night at Muskegon's McGraft Park as part of their summer series. All the details are in the schedule linked below. We hope you can find some time to spend with us.
 
We want to prevue one of our August events because it supports a cause near to our hearts. On August 17 we will play for the Boot Scootin' II Dinner Dance, a fund raiser for the Fr. Jack Foundation whose mission statement is: "To respond quickly, with dignity and respect, to those in our community with unmet needs." This dinner and show is a BYOB event catered by The Hearthstone at Hampton Green Farm. Gates open at 5:30. Dinner and a beautiful horse show begin at 6:30 with music and dancing to follow. Tickets ($35) must be purchased in advance by contacting Mary Jeanne Silvis: 231-755-6570 or mjsilvis1@yahoo.com.

We attended this event last year and are proud to be a part of the festivities this year. Western Dress in encouraged but not required.
(You can probably pull it off better that we did last year. See photo.) Tours of the impeccable barns are worth the price of admission, dinner will be great, plus a demonstration of horsemanship by the Hampton Green riders, and a concert by yours truly. We hope you'll give this one a try. Again details are in the linked schedule below.
 
Happy summer!
 
Yours truly,
 
Ruth & Max
 
 
 

It's suddenly June. Our vegetable garden is all planted and we look forward to bringing the results to the table. First to be picked will be the snow peas or perhaps the radishes. This is our first time to grow potatoes and we're excited to see the results in time. Beans, squash, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, lettuce, and more... it's all in the ground. With a little loving care and help from Mother Nature it will feed us well.
 
We love this time of year because there's lots to do. This very day we head out to play shows at two of Michigan's historic lighthouses. Next weekend Max will be involved with the Midwest Banjo Camp as a Muso bassist for the various jam sessions and leading an ad hoc bass workshop. June 15 we play the Music and Arts in the Parks Series in Reed City. June 23 we head north for a memorial festival for local legend soundman Jan Waling who died of cancer this winter. On the 25th we'll be playing the Tuesdays In The Park Series in Grand Haven, and on the 29th we step indoors for a concert at the wonderful Book Nook & Java Shop in Montague.
 
Looks to us like a pretty good start to the summer.  Come see us if any of it strikes your fancy.