November 2011

With Thanksgiving just weeks away....Jorma and I would like to express our deep gratitude to all of you for your support over the last 14 years. When we were still building the Ranch and knee high in mud everywhere, it was a daily occurrence to panic about whether or not we were doing the right thing. Would anyone come? Would we get musicians to share their knowledge of their instrument and share their stories? Was there even a market for what we were offering? Could we keep it running? Would we go broke trying? I am sure everyone that ventures into a start up business experiences what we experienced. It is overwhelming. The vision was the easy part....making it happen was the challenge. It is with complete confidence that we say it was our students that showed us the way.

Throughout this journey we learned more than we ever thought we would in a lifetime, about ourselves and our commitment to the music. Mistakes were made and some things just didn't work. They were all gifts wearing a disguise of pain. I don't use the phrase "pain" to say that it hurt. The pain is the glory and the glory is the gift. Nothing should come that easy otherwise why would we ever try? At least that's what we teach our children. But we also teach them that the bigger the gift is when we commit ourselves to our passions. That it is all part of living a righteous life and at the end of the day when you've worked hard for what you believe in.....your soul in full.

Our collective souls are full today and the Ranch is our gift for trying to live well.

Thank you all! Have a Happy Thanksgiving and we will see you all out on the road this winter...hopefully in Maui walking down the beach with us in the early morning before Jorma's class.

Aloha....

Vanessa

• March 17, 2012  John "The Hurl" Hurlbut and Acoustic Hot Tuna
• March 31, 2012  Bill Payne and Friends, plus an interview with long-time Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally.
• April 14, 2012  Teresa Williams and Larry Campbell
• April 28, 2012  Guitar Masters: Clive Carroll, Laurence Juber, and Frank Vignola with Vinny Raniolo
• May 12, 2012  The California Guitar Trio
• June 2-3, 2012  Tommy Emmanuel
• June 16, 2012  "This Land is Your Land" A Woody Guthrie Tribute in words and music with Country Joe McDonald
• August 11, 2012  Hot Tuna Duo and The Persuasions
• August 25, 2012  Jesse Colin Young Band
• September 8, 2012  Steve Kimock & George Porter Jr.
• September 29, 2012  Roy Book Binder and The GE Smith Band
• October 12, 2012  Verlon Thompson and Chris Hillman with Herb Pedersen
• October 27, 2012  The David Bromberg Quartet
• November 10, 2012  Electric Hot Tuna with special guest Bill Kirchen

 Fur Peace Ranch On The Road Royal Lahiana Resort Maui, Hawaii January 16-20, 2012 And January 23-27, 2012

Week 1: January 16-20, 2012

Jorma Kaukonen: Acoustic Guitar: Engines Revving; Now Shift Gears: Level 2/3

This workshop invites participants at the middle/higher end of level 2, as well as more experienced players (level 3), for a solid ride into technique and repertoire building.

Songs will be taught in their fully decorated versions, but the class will include breakout groups and individual sessions with the instructor, to custom-tailor the experience for each participant. At minimum, there should be some experience with using alternating thumbpicking for establishing a bassline. We will also focus on adding the melody line as a counterpoint, and expand on the use of chord inversions and variations that add spice to the pieces covered.

Week 2: January 23-27, 2012

Jorma Kaukonen: Acoustic Guitar: Songwriting: All Levels

Jorma will teach his first ever Songwriting workshop in Maui! Jorma will illustrate in a workshop setting how he charts the path of a song from his heart to his hands and voice.

Week 2: January 23-27, 2012

Chris Smither: Acoustic Guitar: Let Your Guitar Be Your Voice: Level 3

The two major influences on Chris Smither's guitar style were Lightnin' Hopkins and Mississippi John Hurt. This workshop will demonstrate how he has combined aspects of their playing to form his own style. 

The goal is to show students how to make a guitar arrangement that is an integral part of a song, as opposed to mere accompaniment; how to use these techniques as a stimulus to song-writing in which the guitar part becomes the song instead of an after-the-fact embellishment.

Join Jorma Kaukonen and Chris Smither in Maui at the Royal Lahaina Resort from January 16 - 20 or January 23 - 27, 2012 for a bucket list experience and a winter break that will leave your friends envious and wanting to join you.

Join us in Maui... It's well worth the trip!

Tuition*: On Site: $2200 at the Royal Lahaina Resort 

Off Site: $1800 (For locals, or make your own lodging accommodations at one of Maui's many fine resorts or inns.)

Tuition includes 12.5 hours of workshop instruction, All Meals (Monday dinner, all day Tues, Wed, Thursday and breakfast on Friday), Lodging (with on-site tuition), concert with instructors!

*Please note that airfares are not included.

Extended Stays: You may extend your stay at the Royal Lahaina Resort for up to 3 days on either side of your workshop (for a total of 6 extra days). Fee: $200/night (based upon double occupancy), add $35 for each additional person.

Last winter much of the nation was pounded with heavy snows!!   . . . But not Hawaii!!

Bring the loved one(s) too . . . 

Guest Fee: $325/pp includes lodging (with enrolled student), meals, student performance, instructors performance, all other activities excluding workshops.

Sign up now and be apart of the FPR On-The-Road Hawaii 2012 workshops and escape the cold, dreary winter and experience the Hawaiian sunshine and Aloha spirit!

Practice Aloha!

This is your last chance to buy a ticket!

 Up for raffle is this rare print of the cover artwork for the new Hot Tuna recording Steady As She Goes!

Artwork: The cover artwork was designed by Kevin Morgan, of Kevin Morgan Studios, who has been creating artwork for Hot Tuna and The Fur Peace Ranch for over a decade.

Paper: The print is full color, printed on Strathmore 400 series drawing paper described as acid free, heavy weight, durable, medium surface.

Printer: The print was printed by a Hewlett Packard Design Jet 1050C Inkjet Printer/Plotter which will have you believing it was printed on a large commercial printing press.

Frame: Black border frame with conservation glass.

Measurements: 19.75" x 25".

Signatures: Kevin Morgan (artist), Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady.

Rare: Only 13 prints were made! Most are in the hands of band members, album producers, recording industry executives and promoters, but this one could be yours for a $10 raffle ticket!

All proceeds from this raffle will be donated to Good Works Inc., of Athens Ohio. Good Works, Inc. is a COMMUNITY OF HOPE for those struggling with poverty in rural Appalachia. Good Works helps those in need by providing housing, meals, and skills-training among many other activities. Find out more about Good Works, Inc. and how you can become involved by visiting: GoodWorks

The winner will be picked/announced during the Hot Tuna Allstars performance at the Fur Peace Station Concert Hall on November 12, 2011. (You do not need to be in attendance to win.)

Purchase tickets here!

Hot Tuna puts a wrap on 2011 with two nights of Electric Hot Tuna at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, December 9 & 10, 2011.

They had such a great time playing with theirfriends last year for Jorma's 70th, that they decided to bring along some friends they have collaborated with in the past year along for the ride.

Charlie Musselwhite, master of the harmonica, who toured along with Hot Tuna and Jim Lauderdale earlier this year on the Hot Tuna Blues tour will be hanging with the guys.  Charlie's talented harmonica playing and history steeped in the blues is a perfect blend to the Hot Tuna being served!  So if you missed Charlie with Tuna earlier this year.  Now is your "second chance!"

Steve Kimock will also be joining in on the fun.  Steve played with the guys last November at the Ranch, and taught a workshop as well.  (You can listen to the second set of the show online from the WOUB website). Steve adds a new element to the Tuna stew with his wide range of playing styles that can progress from jazz-influenced rhythms to Roky Erikson (13th Floor Elevators) styled psychedelic leads.

(Steve will be returning to the Ranch in September 2012 for another workshop and performance with one of his many accomplished cohorts, George Porter Jr, who will also be teaching.)

David Bromberg, often referred to as the guitarist's guitarist, will be joining Hot Tuna at the Beacon too!  Jorma and David find themselves performing together a few times each year, and their roots run deep.  It will be interesting to see if he comes acoustic or electric . . . only one way to find out!

Steady As She Goes collaborators, producer and multi-instrumentalist Larry Campbell and vocalist Teresa Williams, will be joining Hot Tuna.  Larry's playing skill and ability to lend his talents in the form of different instruments gives the Tuna performance an added, fifth dimension.  Teresa's vocals are beautiful, emotional, but beware she can reach down deep and pack a wallop when its called for. 

When she and Larry performed at the Ranch this spring she just 'bout tore the roof of the Station!  If you haven't seen Larry and Teresa on stage with Hot Tuna, you owe it to yourself to do so!  Just ask anyone who has!

(Larry will be returning to the Ranch next April for a workshop.  Teresa will be joining him on Saturday, April 14th for a performance in the Fur Peace Station.)

This will be a great way to recap the year with Hot Tuna and their special guests featured in 2011!

Saturday is just about sold out and Friday isn't far behind!

Get your tickets now!

And get to the Beacon Theater!

We'll see you there!!!

Read more about what's happening at FPR and On-The-Road

• Jorma - Cracks In The Finish
• Vanessa - The Labryinth
• Hurl's - Checkin' The Levels

If you haven't already seen the FPR Youtube Channel, be sure to stop by and rate our videos, or become a subscriber.

We are excited to have reached the 200,000 viewers mark! We hope to keep you coming back for more videos of from the Fur Peace Station.

Thanks to all of you who subscrbed to the FPR channel. We appreciate all your support.

back to top ^