The Hartley Family

Northern Trip 2011

2011-07-28T16:28:00.003-05:00

We're so excited about our upcoming short-tour! I'll try to post some pictures along the way.

I can't help adding this: If you're anywhere in the area, try to make the Lake Itasca Family Music Festival. If you're into family-friendly entertainment that honors God, you'll enjoy yourself there! www.familybluegrass.com

Come see us! We're always thrilled to meet new people and see old friends!

Updated Schedule

2011-04-02T06:52:00.002-05:00

Our website is currently locked (I can't update it right now) so until I fix it, our schedule will be right here.

Today we'll be at God's Little Acre in Simms, TX, and I think Rock Creek Baptist is actually in Maud. Diamondhead is a community in Hot Springs.

New Videos from the Hope Festival 2011

2011-02-23T12:12:00.002-06:00

Someone posted videos on YouTube of us playing at the Hope bluegrass festival last week, and I just had to share them here! One is Micah practicing for his debut on the banjo. (actually, it was his second time to play banjo on stage) The other is a video of us doing one of the new songs I've written, "The Hitchhiker."

Feb. 6th performance

2011-01-31T16:24:00.003-06:00

It's 2011! This is just a quick announcement to let y'all know that we'll be at Oma Community Church here in Arkansas on February the 6th at 11 AM. I can't change our website's schedule right now because we've got the computer I normally use for that down at our cabin-studio hard at work on our new CD!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-20T14:20:00.007-06:00

It's already Christmastime and almost 2011! We've had such a great year. Right now we're getting started on a new CD, which we're recording in our new cabin-studio! We can't wait to get the tracks laid down so we can hear the difference in the sound quality! All but one of the songs on this CD will be Hartley Family originals.

We couldn't take a family picture since Aaron's in Afghanistan, so we made a collage of pictures instead for Christmas. Aaron has been safe so far--for the past couple of months, he's been building schools and doing guard duty instead of fighting. Anna just finished her first semester in college at Henderson State University with a 4.0 GPA. (She's a sophomore because of the CLEP tests she took last year.)

Micah will soon be 8 years old. It's incredible how fast the time has gone. He was 1 year old when we first started performing. When we were in Texas back in the early fall, someone gave him a banjo, and he has been learning how to play it a little bit. (We hear "Cripple Creek" regularly. That's the song we all started out with on our instruments 7-8 years ago!)

Daddy/Tom has been getting excited about the thought of being self-sufficient and just put a fence around our garden so we can eat our produce instead of giving it to the deer. He has watched this video and other like it countless times for inspiration.

These people grow all their food on 1/5 of an acre! If we all did this, there would be no recession.

We've also been reading books like The Moneyless Man, A Year of Freeconomic Living, by Mark Boyle (for anti-materialism inspiration), and The Irresistible Revolution, by Shane Claiborne (for faith-into-action inspiration.)

Christmas is all about Jesus, and while gifts are nice, it's important to remember why we celebrate! Have a very merry Christmas!

Picture of Mom & the boys of the band at Fort Ticonderoga during our tour this summer:

Tupper Lake in NY (we camped near it, on the Bog River, during a break between performances!)

June Ramblings

2010-06-13T15:31:00.004-05:00

Summer is here for good now. Our garden's doing well--Daddy's super tomatoes are much higher than my head, although we've only had one ripe tomato so far. (?)

We had such a great time getting to hear and meet the Kenny and Amanda Smith Band at Hope. (Yes, I have pictures!) And we made lots of new friends up at Silver Dollar City. (The Jed and Harry Clark Band won the contest--and they're fellow Arkansans!) Check out the band Lonesome Meadow from Ohio [the Jackson family]. . . they're great people who have a great sound!

We're looking forward to our trip up north during July and August! We'll be in Wisconsin, Minnesota and New York. A little cooler weather for a change! We hope to see some familiar faces--please check our schedule to see when we'll be in your area!

Please pray for our brother, Aaron. He just turned 20 years old on his way to Afghanistan, and he'll be there for another year. May God bless and take care of our soldier boys.

Happy Summer!

--Anna

Banjo Players Have a Brain! (and other facts)

2010-03-01T16:39:00.003-06:00

At the Hope Bluegrass Festival a couple of weeks ago, we got to see Eddie and Martha Adcock, the legendary "Sonny and Cher of Bluegrass." I thought y'all might enjoy seeing this video of Mr. Eddie's brain surgery to help combat the tremors in his hands. He played his banjo during the surgery. I've been joking that there is now conclusive proof that banjo players do have a brain! VERY EXCITING NEWS: at the next Hope bluegrass festival on May 8th, we'll be one of the bands in a list that includes KENNY AND AMANDA SMITH! Woo-hoo! We have all their CDs; they're some of our musical heroes! If you can make it to that show, you really should because it's FREE! :) Here's a video of their band:

I've got another link to share:

GoodSearch allows you to give money to a charity/religious organization/political organization (like Gospel for Asia, or National Right to Life) by simply using it to search. It's powered by Yahoo, and I think they've got a great idea. Even if only one person's searching activity doesn't produce a lot, if enough people join the cause, it'll stack up!

New Bluegrass Festivals in Arkansas!

2010-02-01T15:44:00.005-06:00

Just a quick announcement: the North Central AR Tourism Council is starting up some new Arkansas bluegrass festivals! At the 2nd Annual Horseshoe Bend Family Band, Gospel & Bluegrass Festival on May 28-30, family bands can sign up to compete, and there will also be a fiddle contest, jamming and workshops. We'll be at the one in September, the First Annual Hardy Bluegrass Festival on Sept. 11. (Tickets are $10 apiece for adults, but children under 12 get in free, so this could be a great family outing!)

Visit Mrs. Glenna O'Neill's blog to find out more information. (She's the main contact person for these festivals.) http://glennaoneil.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year 2010 from the Hartley Family!

2009-12-27T20:38:00.004-06:00

Christmas is just past, and now we're looking forward to a new and exciting year! Thanks to all of the folks who have been so supportive and encouraging all the way through 2009!

Some highlights of this year:

1) We visited Wisconsin for the first time this year and found out that folks there are some of the friendliest, most welcoming people in the country!

2) We got to visit New York City for the first time. I think all of us except Daddy enjoyed his reaction to being gypped out of a 20 dollar bill by the machine at the subway station. (And I'm very happy to announce that several months ago, the state of NY sent him a 20 dollar check!)

3) All of us kids said, "The Trips," when we listed this year's highlights, like everybody in the family knew what we were talking about. (They did!) That includes Oklahoma, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Texas, and in each place we were made to feel at home. (Of course, we spent most of our time in AR, and I still have to say it's the best place in the world to live!)

And some things to be thankful for:

1) Aaron got safely through Air Assault training and whatever else the military does!

2) Daniel got his appendix taken out BEFORE it ruptured. (Thank God that he got taken to the hospital, because that's not something our family normally does!)

Plus way more things that God does for us every day, like giving us our next breath and letting us do the thing we love most (playing music) all the time and giving us some great friends scattered across the country!

Happy New Year!

Keep Watch Lyrics

2009-12-05T16:09:00.002-06:00

Two men working in a field; one looks around and the other man is gone . . .

Two women walking up a hill; one looks around and the other woman's gone . . .

Chorus:

So keep watch, take heed

So you won't be the one left standing all alone

Keep watch--we all need

To be ready and awake; our eternal soul's at stake

Ten virgins lighting up their lamps; five fall asleep and the other five are gone . . .

Two armies setting up their camps; one falls asleep and the other one is gone . . .

(Chorus)

Bridge:

Like lightning in the east, He is coming back for us

Don't hide, don't run, don't try to crawl the other way

Will you be at His wedding feast or have your face down in the dust

Live all your life in preparation for that day.

(Chorus)

Keep watch . . .

This was requested by Ms. Sally Paul from Wisconsin! I posted the video of the song HERE.

Random News

2009-10-27T15:37:00.004-05:00

I know, I promised videos from our NY trip. However, we had technical difficulties at first and now I've lost all gumption for it! :) We've been playing locally now, seeing a few familiar faces and still meeting a lot of new ones!

We're starting to do some thinking about our next CD. Right now it's mostly just playing around with songs, trying to figure out what would go best, where to put it if we use it. Some requests we've had are: "Keep Watch" and "Muleskinner Blues." The first is almost certain to end up on the CD, but the 2nd will be harder. Abby sings MB with so much emphasis (one way to put it) and so piercingly (and I mean that in the best possible way--I love to hear her singing this song) that it will be very hard for us to figure out how to record it right! Any sound engineers with helpful tips?

More personal news: Daddy/Tom has invented a new piece you can attach to a chain-saw to help make a straight cut, Anna/I took the biology CLEP test last week and passed, gaining 4 college credits without entering a classroom, we're still getting bell peppers from the garden, and Micah's getting a new tooth!

The picture of the gravestone is one I took in Thurman, NY, in the Adirondack Mtns. It's for a Civil War soldier who was killed in VA, and it made me stop and think . . . I forget about the horrible casualties in the North because we're Southern. Thank God it's over. (I can just hear my Pappy debating that last statement!) :D

God bless and keep you and may we see you soon!

--Anna

Buy "A Million Things" Online!

2009-09-01T16:45:00.004-05:00

Something exciting: you can buy our new CD online now! County Sales just featured our CD on its "New Releases" page. Here's where you can get A MILLION THINGS: http://www.countysales.com/php-bin/ecomm4/products.php?product_id=5857&prev_id=&next_id=

County Sales has the best collection of bluegrass CDs that I have ever seen, and we have ordered probably hundreds of CDs from them in the past. Now they have one of ours to add to their stock!

So, if you can't make it to one of our performances, you can still get a CD! (Or you can always email us to ask for one! We just don't take credit cards!) :D

New York City!

2009-09-01T15:51:00.004-05:00

We just got back from New York City! All our neighbors were wanting to have a video of us in NYC--that had to be the ultimate rednecks-meet-the-big-city picture! I uploaded a few of the pictures from our trip (I had mercy on you folks and tried not to include TOO many of the hundreds I took!) on our facebook page. You can see them right HERE: (http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=119367&id=121763012096.)

We had a great time at each of the places we've played at--thanks to everyone who has given us such a warm welcome to the state of New York, both country folks and city folks! We're so excited to be able to do this!

When I get back home, I'll start posting a few videos from our trip. Right now, we're still getting ready for more performances in New York state and trying to catch up on everything after our big weekend! Hope you enjoy the photos!

"Keep Watch"

2009-08-04T12:39:00.000-05:00

Recorded in Hewitt, MN on July 30, 2009 by Tom Blaha.

MN concerts

2009-08-01T20:50:00.002-05:00

We've enjoyed the last few concerts and are looking forward to a busy day tomorrow! Sorry if I have any of the times wrong! Yesterday's was at 7:30, and we thought it was at 7!

We're looking forward to seeing you folks again if any of you can make it!

Festival in Mondovi, WI

2009-07-28T14:38:00.004-05:00

We just reached Verndale, MN, where my mom was born and raised, yesterday! During the past weekend, we've played at Buffalo River Valley Bluegrass Festival in Mondovi, WI and in a park in Farmington, MN for the River Church. We had so much fun! At the festival, we laughed so hard and so late at night I almost lost my voice! :D Well, not quite, but I made myself not sing yesterday. All day long. It was hard--I kept starting up and then choking it back! We're going to spend the next week playing music (we'll be at six different places this week, so if you can't make it to one, there'll be another just a few hours later!) and having fun with cousins and friends! The photo above is of us with the Hershey and Wollman families, plus Monica (last name unknown to me) and her daughter, Sharis (and I'm sorry if I spelled that name wrong!) after our volleyball game.

Mr. Lorn & Mrs. Kristi Schultz, the owners of the festival, took great care of us (fed us, gave us a place to stay, etc.) and we can't wait til the next time! They have a great festival going on up here, and it's definitely worth visiting!

Invisiman!

2009-07-06T15:10:00.006-05:00

Saturday morning, while we were practicing for our set that night at Mt. Ida's July 4th celebration at the Front Porch Stage, Micah showed up in grand form. (Always the entertainer!) I just had to share this picture of him in his practice outfit. Note the holster, wooden pistol, and cowboy hat--and you can't miss that invisible camouflage cape!

We had a great time at Mt. Ida and got to talk to some wonderful people! Now we're looking forward to Old Union Baptist here in AR this weekend, then our trip up North! The Buffalo River Valley Bluegrass Gospel Festival in Mondovi, Wisconsin, looks like it'll be fun. If y'all are in Wisconsin on the fourth weekend in July, stop by the festival and listen for a while! We'd love to see you there!

The Hartley Family Wins Important Award!

2009-06-12T16:16:00.007-05:00

We received our very first trophy! The Hartleys are now the "Grand Champions of the Tim Bantle Family Bluegrass Competition." As you can see, we're the wrestlingest family band you ever saw. (Thanks, Mr. Tim!)
We feel very honored and encouraged to have won such a prestigious award, I can tell you!

Thanks to folks at Crossroads . . . and free downloads for "fans"! :)

2009-06-01T10:10:00.006-05:00

Last night, we played at Crossroads Missionary Baptist Church in Benton, AR. We wanted to say a big thank you to the folks there! They not only advertised the event well, but they prepared a wonderful meal for us to eat after the performance and treated us like royalty! We really appreciated it!

The CD should be here soon . . . I've already got the mp3 files for the songs from the mastering engineer (Eric Uglum), so I'm going to upload some of them so y'all can listen! I'll have extra ones, too, that you can download if you've signed up for our mailing list. (The sign-up thingie is right here on the sidebar of this news section.) I'll try to get that done today if possible!

Update: the way this thing works is: you just click on "become a fan" on our music thingie down farther on the sidebar, and it prompts you to sign up for our mailing list. Anyway, then you get to download "A Million Things," the title cut from our new CD, when you visit our Reverb Nation page. (http://www.reverbnation.com/hartleyfamily/) At least that's how I understood it to work from the instructions! :) (Ah, technology!)

Hope y'all enjoy the new songs on here! (Cathy Prayed & Were You There) The first one I'm singing, and the second is Abby. You can listen to a few more of the new songs, plus some songs from last year's recordings, on our myspace page as well. (www.myspace.com/thehartleyfamily) If you would like to preorder the CD, email us at: hartleyfamilybluegrass[at]yahoo[dot]com.

Enjoy your week!

Interview with Perry Buster

2009-06-01T10:08:00.001-05:00

This is actually the second half of the interview with Perry Buster. We were unable to use the first half because of computer issues! :( Hope you enjoy it anyway!

Jerry Rainey Interview

2009-06-01T09:51:00.002-05:00

Appendicitis

2009-05-24T13:20:00.005-05:00

Friday night, we were all packed and ready to go to Silver Dollar City for the Youth in Bluegrass Competition and then Daniel had to go to the emergency room. He had appendicitis. It was his first time to go to a doctor, and it was something major! So yesterday morning I (Anna) cancelled our motel reservations, etc. while Dan had his surgery in Little Rock. He was able to come home today. Everything went fine, but we're still in a daze.

Update May 13, 2009

2009-05-13T15:29:00.006-05:00

The Hope Bluegrass Festival on Saturday, May 9th went on through a tornado warning and heavy rain . . . a lot of people were blaming us for bringing it down there to them, but we had nothing to do with it! :) Saturday was also birthday-girl time. I turned 20 and Abby turned 14. Mom no longer has five teenagers! We passed out over a hundred birthday brownies (thanks, Mom!) and some of the cake our Aunt Susan made and brought over. (You can see it in the picture.) Alan Munde's group did a great job playing, as did the Hempstead Cty Melody Boys, High Mountain Grass, and Ray Wingfield's current lineup! The small picture below right (or is it left? You'll have to guess from the picture--I'm directionally challenged!) is of Alan Munde's band . . . not sure what happened to the pictures of the other bands!

News on the CD: The title of it will be A MILLION THINGS, and right now it's off being mastered by Eric Uglum, who has also mastered some great projects like Sierra Hull's Secrets, some of Ron Block's work, and Chris Stuart & Backcountry's Crooked Man. We're looking forward to hearing it when he gets finished with his part of the production. Next, we'll send it to Minnesota to be replicated and we'll get back 1,000 brand-spanking-new CDs in plastic wrap! I hope we'll have it out soon. I'll keep y'all posted!

We're looking forward to playing this weekend in Delight and hoping we're all well and singing our best! Thanks to everybody for the birthday wishes!

See Y'ALL down the road! :D

--Anna

Progress on our New CD

2009-04-03T20:59:00.002-05:00

We've finished all the recording parts on the CD (except for patch up work) and are down to the mixing and production part. Anna and Josiah have been spending a lot of their time mixing. And it's practice for the rest of us!(and school:P). ---Abby

Instrument Lessons

2009-03-25T19:10:00.003-05:00

We've just started giving lessons! If you're interested in learning to play guitar, banjo, bass, dobro, fiddle, or mandolin, contact us at 870-246-2646.

An Iowan Talks about Bluegrass & National Pie Day

2009-03-16T20:00:00.000-05:00

Tom Willard gave us a great interview here!

Interviews with Bluegrass Fans at the Mountain View Bluegrass Festival

2009-03-16T19:51:00.003-05:00

Interviewees: George Spangler, Wayne Choat, Andy Nichols, Ruby, Denver & Douglas (siblings)
Music by: Hartley Family, Stone County Connection, Timberland Drive

We had such a great time at the bluegrass festival this year again! We enjoyed listening to the other bands and getting to talk to all our friends. Hope y'all enjoy watching these interviews. (Sorry about the poor quality of some of the interviews. I had to make them black and white to lighten them so you could see Mr. George & Mr. Wayne at all!)

--Anna

Interviews with Bluegrass Fans at Hope's Midwinter Bluegrass Festival

2009-02-22T13:00:00.002-06:00

The Baptist Fish

2009-02-15T21:20:00.005-06:00

Today we played at the dedication of White Oak Lake Baptist Church. Check out that sign! We had to take a picture--it's the first Baptist church sign (or any denomination's church sign, come to think of it!) we've seen with a picture of a largemouth bass on it!

We are just getting our mailing list started. If you would like to hear when we'll be in your area, or when we're starting to do something interesting musically. . . (I know you're thinking, "Like stomping on tambourines while you strum your guitar and chew gum?" But I'm thinking more along the lines of, "We're coming out with our new CD!!"). . .Anyway, if you would like to hear about this kind of thing, then please sign up in the form at the side of this blog here! ;)

Y'all versus ya'll

2009-02-06T19:12:00.007-06:00

Hi! This is Anna. I thought I would catch y'all up on the news from the Hartley house. We're working hard on a new CD right now. . . Micah did his song today! "Oh, Susanna" has never sounded better! :) As his reward, I let him help me make pecan chocolate brownies for supper.
I just finished a noisy argument with Josiah and Abby on how to spell the word "y'all." I feel that it should be y plus an apostrophe that replaces the 'ou,' plus all. This is the supreme Southern word, although I have heard it in New York as well, and should be spelled with some thought. My siblings insist that it's ya'll. We can't look in the dictionary because our dictionary isn't from Arkansas. I'm looking for some supporters right now! :)
Okay, I just had to get that one out there for the record. Abby may write the next post, and then Y'ALL can get her side of the story! I don't think Josiah will write, even for argument's sake!
Speaking of Josiah--he's been inspired lately with his fiddle playing after seeing the fiddle player for the Isaacs when we opened for them last month. The weather has been nice enough lately that we can practice outside while recording continues in the house. Abby sang "Jesse" today while Micah was napping. Dan & Josiah & I played outside. (Played being the key word . . . I think today we talked more about music than we actually practiced it!)
We're looking forward to seeing people as we get busier playing in public! I hope everyone has enjoyed a healthy, wealthy winter! I'll be writing more as our CD progresses.
Talk to y'all/ya'll later! :)

---Anna Hartley

(Picture: Sonya Isaacs, Micah, Abby, & me)

Mailing List

2009-01-29T15:50:00.001-06:00

Happy New Year!

2009-01-16T17:53:00.004-06:00

We had the whole family together for Christmas! Aaron is back in Maryland for more training now.
We're excited about all the places we'll be playing at this year! We've missed seeing some familiar faces during the last two months. Two days from now, we'll be opening for the Isaacs in Hot Springs, about a half-hour from home! (More information: www.hartleyfamilybluegrass.com/Schedule.html
Right now, we're working on starting a CD. ("working on starting" because this project could take a very long time!)
During the last two weeks, we've had lots of celebrations: New Year's Day, Daddy's & Mama's 21st anniversary, and Micah's 6th birthday! He's so happy to be six years old and have a few of his teeth growing back! He even played "Happy Birthday" to himself on the fiddle. :)
I hope this year is going well for y'all and I know we're looking forward to some great things! Come see us when you can! I'll try to update the schedule as soon as I have more information!

---Anna

New Bluegrass Blog

2008-11-03T17:09:00.004-06:00

I'm starting a new blog! This one is just to promote bluegrass music and its bands, festivals, and songs! Check it for new band profiles, etc.
Thanks,
Anna

newbluegrass.blogspot.com

Road Trip 2008 Part 3

2008-10-08T21:11:00.001-05:00

Road Trip part 2

2008-10-08T19:09:00.002-05:00

Road Trip 2008 Part 1

2008-10-08T17:31:00.000-05:00

In New York

2008-09-03T11:08:00.003-05:00

We have been in New York for the last couple of weeks. We've had a great time! It was neat to see some of the same people and a lot of new faces as well!
Yesterday we just relaxed at Lake Ontario. The pastor of Williamson Bible Baptist (where we played Sunday evening) and his wife opened up their cottage there and fed us and let us enjoy ourselves! Above is one of the sunset pictures I took there at Chimney Bluffs. (I think that's the name of it!)
The Missouri bluegrass festival (Prater Family Music Show) went well, too. Our bedding got kind of wet in the rain Fri. afternoon, but a good wind dried most of it and we had such a great time jamming and listening to the jammers who went a lot later than we did that we didn't even notice it. (That tells you it really did dry well!)
We'll probably be heading home in about a week, on Mama's birthday. We've been too busy to even get her a birthday present! I guess she'll just have to enjoy the gift of being able to be with her beloved family for 25 hours solid!
May God bless all of you and give you a safe and happy remainder of the summer!
---Anna

In Minnesota

2008-08-09T10:48:00.001-05:00

We're in MN, and tonight we'll play at one of our last few churches up here. The weather is wonderful. The bugs are not. :)
No, they're really not all that bad. It just takes some time to get used to the gnats buzzing around your eyes!
The picture above is of part of the crowd at the Family Music Festival at Lake Itasca State Park. We had a GREAT time there! What a place! I have never seen so many big families together in one bluegrass-place!
We have met so many friendly people up here and are looking forward to meeting more. We hope to see you down the road!
---Anna

Correct Listing of Songs on CD

2008-07-14T10:43:00.004-05:00

1. Steppin' on the Clouds (Anna- lead vocal)
2. Just Any Day (Anna- lead vocal)
3. I Want to Live Beyond the Grave (Abby- lead vocal)
4. When I'm Safely Home (written & sung by Anna)
5. The Pilgrim (written & sung by Anna)
6. Wayfaring Stranger (Anna- lead vocal)
7. Listen to the Word of God (Anna- lead vocal)
8. It's Not Too Late (written & sung by Anna)
9. Workin' on a Building (Anna- lead vocal)
10. God is Good (Tom- lead vocal)
11. When He Reached Down His Hand (Abby- lead vocal)
12. Jesus Loves Me (Micah- lead vocal)
You can listen to 2 & 8 on our MYSPACE page.

We're leaving this week for our "tour" up North! :) First is MN, then the festival in MO (hmm...that's half North and half South!), and then we'll be in New York. We hope to see a lot of friends in each place, and to make a lot of new ones as well!
Happy Summer!
---Anna

Update

2008-06-22T14:40:00.004-05:00

We just got our gospel CD ("It's Not Too Late") in about a week ago! It looks great and sounds...like us! :) If you would like to hear a couple of songs from it, as well as from our mixed-bluegrass-and-gospel-and-original-songs CD, please visit our myspace page. (You'll see a link on the top right of the first page of this blog.) The title cut was written by Anna (that's me!) and goes along with a story Tom/"Daddy" tells that is so inspiring!
A couple of days ago, we played for the Campers on Mission up in Fort Smith and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Thanks to the Disaster Relief folks (hmm...did they know we were coming?) for feeding this bunch and to the Campers on Mission people for being wonderful to play for and talk with! The light of Jesus shines from your faces!

Micah

2008-06-22T14:21:00.004-05:00

This is such a cute video! I just watched it and thought y'all might enjoy it!
Mr. Mark Keith (Hope Chamber of Commerce, promoter of Hope Bluegrass Festivals) uploaded this video of Micah singing Amazing Grace and playing it on the fiddle.

Performance Schedule for the Next Few months

2008-06-07T15:14:00.004-05:00

JUNE
1st: Oma Community Church; near Amity, AR; 10:30 AM
5th: Private Engagement; Arkadelphia, AR
7th: Farmer's Market; Hot Springs, AR, 9 AM
14th: Front Porch Stage; Mt. Ida, AR, 7 PM
17th: Red Cross Benefit, 1st Methodist Church; Arkadelphia, AR, 6 PM
20th: Campers On Mission; Fort Smith, AR, 7:30 PM
28th: 1st Annual Freedom Fest; Glenwood, AR, 7 PM

JULY
3rd: Cypress Creek Bluegrass Festival; Adona, AR
6th: Foursquare Church; Benton, AR, 6 PM
13th: Old Union Baptist Church, Locksburg, AR, 1:30 PM
20th: The River; Farmington, MN, ~10 AM
25th: Prepare Ministries; Minneapolis, MN
26th: City Hill Fellowship; Eden Prairie, MN, 1 PM
27th: C.H.F.; Eden Prairie, MN, 10 AM

AUGUST
1st-2nd: Lake Itasca Bluegrass Festival; Bemidji, MN
3rd: Methodist Church, Menagha, MN, 8:45 AM
6th: Free Methodist Church; Motley, MN, 7 PM
8th: Nazarene Church, Hewitt, MN, 7 PM
9th: Free Lutheran Church; Bluegrass, MN, 7 PM
10th: Methodist Church; Sebeka, MN, 10:45 AM
10th: Covenant Church; Thomastown, MN, 7 PM
15th-16th: Prater Family Music Show; Fillmore, MO
20th: Sherman, NY
23rd: Bakersfield East Campground; Warrensburg, NY
24th: Baptist Church; Thurman, NY
29th: Bible Church; Naples, NY
30th: City Park; Walworth, NY, 5 PM
31st: Grace Baptist Church; Marion, NY, 10 AM
31st: Bible Baptist Church; Williamson, NY, 5:30 PM

May 2008

2008-05-14T12:20:00.007-05:00

There have been a lot of changes in our schedule since I (that would be Anna!) last updated the schedule below. I'm working on updating our website right now...adding places in New York and Minnesota mostly. Hopefully I'll get to this before long, but if not you can always check the website and our myspace page.
A friend of ours, Jerry Kirksey, just finished mixing and mastering our gospel CD, "It's Not Too Late". It seems like we've been working on it forever! Hopefully we'll have it replicated and ready for our table by the time we hit the MN/MO/NY round! :) Right now I'm working on the CD design.
We hope everyone has been having a great spring/summer so far!
Blessings,
The Hartleys

New CD---listen to some of the music!

2008-03-21T20:22:00.011-05:00

This is Micah having fun in the snow at Mountain View Bluegrass Festival! He had never seen so much snow! (Well...when he was a baby and we went to MN, but he couldn't remember that!)
We have a new MySpace page! (It's www.myspace.com/thehartleyfamily. Wow! We're getting a little bit of everything!) Click on the title of this post to go there and listen to some of the songs from our brand-new CD, "Family Across the Street". And then, after you've heard a little, please come to a performance and buy one or call us to order one. :) All proceeds go to feed hungry children. (They're ALWAYS hungry!)

Christmas party 2007

2008-01-29T20:28:00.001-06:00

2008 Schedule

2008-01-21T19:56:00.002-06:00

These are the dates scheduled for 2008 so far, and hopefully I'll get the new ones on more quickly next time! I mostly make sure our website is current now. (click on the title of this post to go there)
FEBRUARY
9th: Hope Spring Bluegrass Festival; Hope, AR
23rd: Scimitar Shriners Bluegrass Concert (with Spitn Image and Rock Creek); Little Rock, AR First set: 3 PM

MARCH
1st: Antioch Baptist Church
6th-7th: Mountain View Bluegrass Festival; Mountain View, AR
9th: Sylamore Baptist Church; near Mtn. View, AR

APRIL:
4th: The Church at Crossgate Center, 6:45 PM
12th: Now & Then Music; Magnolia, AR, 7 PM
19th: Gospel Saturday @ Benton Foursquare Church; Benton, AR, 1 PM
26th: Revival; Bloomburg, TX (behind Affliliated Grocery Store)
27th: Crossroads Assembly of God; Delight, AR

MAY
3rd: Hot Springs Farmer's Market; Hot Springs, AR
23rd: Murfreesboro Diamond Festival, Murfreesboro, AR
24th: Cane Creek State Park, Cane Creek Lake, AR

JUNE
20th: Campers on a Mission; Fort Smith, AR, 7:30 PM

JULY
3rd: Cypress Creek Bluegrass Festival; Adona, AR
6th: Benton Foursquare Church; Benton, AR, 6 PM

AUGUST
1st-2nd: Lake Itasca Family Bluegrass Festival; Bemidji, MN
3rd: Menagha Methodist Church; Menagha, MN
8th: Nazarene Church; Hewett, MN
9th: Bethany Free Lutheran Church; Bluegrass, MN
10th: Sebeka Methodist Church; Sebeka, MN
& Thomastown Covenant Church; Thomastown, MN
15th-16th: Prater Family Music Show; Fillmore, MO

2007-12-28T08:19:00.001-06:00

Our Christmas newsletter 2007

2007-12-06T10:19:00.002-06:00

Merry Christmas to everybody! This year was an exciting one for us. For the first time, we got to visit New York. We saw Niagara Falls, the Adirondack Mtns, and many other beautiful places there, but the definite highlight of the trip was the wonderful people we met. We also visited Minnesota, spending time with Deb’s family and playing music. People up north like bluegrass! After our New York trip, we headed to East Texas and as usual enjoyed ourselves there with very friendly people. We stayed in Arkansas for most of the time, spreading our brand of bluegrass music in churches, state parks, bluegrass festivals, on television, etc. We’ve had a great time!
Anna is 18 now. She decided to hold off on going to college because music is what she wants to do. Aaron is 17. He’s still working full-time for a surveyor in Arkadelphia. At age 15, Josiah has passed everybody else up in height. He’s 6’2 1/2” tall, and getting better on the fiddle all the time. Daniel’s 14th birthday is this month. He just got a new dobro in November, so he has been playing it as much as he plays the mandolin. (We used to keep him on the mandolin most of the time.) Abby is 12 years old, growing taller and becoming an accomplished guitarist and singer. And Micah, just a month shy of five years old, has lost both of his front bottom teeth already. He says that makes him a big boy now! He just started playing the fiddle on stage this fall.
The Lord has been so good to our family. Every year, we want to stop to say thank-you to Him, because He really is the author of all our blessings.
We really appreciate all of your support and prayers, and hope to see you down the road this next year! Our current schedule can be found on our website: www.hartleyfamilybluegrass.com. Anna did a great job on the website and even has songs on there that you can download if you have patience or a high-speed Internet connection.
God bless you. ---The Hartley Family (Tom, Deb, Anna, Aaron, Josiah, Daniel, Abby, & Micah)

"http://www.hartleyfamilybluegrass.com/"

The Hartley Family

2007-09-13T12:18:00.002-05:00

From the Hartleys/ Guestbook

2007-09-13T12:14:00.002-05:00

Thanks for visiting our blog!
NEWS: WE HAVE A REAL WEBSITE NOW!
If you want to hear our music, find out about our different performance formats, see photos of the family members, view our full schedule and/or read about our family, please visit www.hartleyfamilybluegrass.com. The title of this post doubles as a link to the website, also. You can leave comments or suggestions for us by using the comment tab at the bottom of this post. It's our version of a guestbook right now!
To contact us, please write to this address: The Hartley Family/ 1029 N. 15th St./ Arkadelphia, AR/ 71923 or email us at hartleyfamilybluegrass@yahoo.com. We enjoy playing at bluegrass festivals, churches, schools, et cetera. (Translation: we like playing to people!) We hope to hear from you!

SCHEDULE

2007-09-13T12:07:00.002-05:00

2007

-----JULY-----

1st: Methodist Church; Sebeka, MN, 10:15 AM & Thomastown Covenant Church; Thomastown, MN, 7PM/////////

8th: Lockesburg Old Union Baptist Church; near Lockesburg, AR, 1:30 PM/////////////

14th: Shady Grove Baptist Church; Curtis, AR, 7 PM////////////

21st: Bonnerdale Seventh Day Adventist Church; Bonnerdale, AR, 7:30 PM////////////

28th: Lee Gap Bluegrass Festival; near Clarksville, AR, 7 PM///////////

-----AUGUST-----

2nd: Crossgate Center; Hot Springs, AR (opening for the Gold City Quartet)//////////

3rd: Bodcaw, AR, 6:30 PM/////////

12th: Italy Naples Baptist Church; Naples, New York////////

15th: Thurman Baptist Church; Thurman, NY/////////

18th: City Park; Marion, NY//////////

19th: Grace Baptist Church; Marion, NY & Bible Baptist Church; Williamson, NY/////////

25th: Woodlawn, TX///////////

26th: 3 churches in Texas (contact us for more information)////////

-----SEPTEMBER-----

2nd: Liberty Methodist Church; Lou Ann, AR, 11 AM & Bethesda Cumberland Presbyterian Church; Camden, AR, 6 PM////////

12th: The Glory Barn; Hot Springs, AR, 6:30 PM/////////

24th: Atkins Celebration Hall, Paragould, AR //////////

30th: Cornerstone Fellowship, Little Rock, AR/////////

-----OCTOBER-----

20th: Rendezvous/Fall Festival (Pinnacle Mtn. State Park) Little Rock, AR, 3 PM [http://www.arkansasstateparks.com/park-finder/park-events.aspx?id=3]///////////

21st: Nazarene Church; Caddo Valley, AR, 10:30 AM/////////

27th: City of Gurdon Forest Festival; Gurdon, AR, 7 PM////////

-----NOVEMBER-----

3rd: Masonic Lodge; Conway, AR////////

7th: Good Morning, Arkansas, 9 AM////////

10th: Fall Bluegrass Festival; Hope, AR @ the Senior Citizen's Center////////

17th: Springdale Band Showcase (in the Holiday Inn); Springdale, AR, 11 AM

Josiah and Micah

2007-09-13T11:36:00.002-05:00

The two fiddle-playing brothers! Josiah is 14 and Micah is 4. Josiah helps Tom ("Daddy") teach Micah how to play the fiddle. Micah has been playing his fiddle on stage for the first times this month! During a performance, he usually sings one song. His "Mary Ann" has been a big hit wherever we go!
Josiah isn't ready to start singing in front of people (including his family members!) yet, but he is continuing to improve on the fiddle. He has his own high-energy style of playing.

Abby

2007-09-13T11:31:00.003-05:00

Abby just turned 13 years old. She has been playing since she was 8. Her beautiful style of flatpicking is highlighted on almost all of our songs. She does a wonderful job leading a few of our songs and adding 'high lonesome' harmony to the others.

Daniel

2007-09-13T11:26:00.002-05:00

Daniel is 14 years old and has been playing the mandolin since January of 2003. He has the ability to play a song almost as soon as he hears it! He picked up the dobro about two years ago. He adds alot to our songs no matter which instrument he is playing. He has really been growing and is now taller than everyone in the family except his older brother Josiah!

Anna---lead singer, guitarist, & songwriter for the band

2007-09-13T11:22:00.002-05:00

We have been enjoying seeing everyone this summer! Thanks so much to all of the people who support us by coming to see us play! I am the 'webmaster' in the family (minus the master part!) and if you have any suggestions for me on our website or blog or myspace (hey, we've got it all now!) I would love to hear them.
My extremely long title above serves as a link to our website. Y'all come visit us!