Day in Wisconsin

When I see the beauty of the world around us, I am constantly reminded of how amazing our God truly is!

We had some extra time before our concert, so we did some sightseeing along the way. I snapped with my cell phone - the best camera is the one you have with you!

...We enjoyed some candy bars in van en route to a scenic lookout...

It was a good, healthy treat, right?

The Tower 

(Hmmm... this looks sort of like something we've been studying about. More on that in the future.)

Shopping - MOST people in our family enjoyed this event. :)

Daddy took us out for a late lunch at the Copper Kettle.

Karen's egg

We all had to try some of the mussels - our family loves to try new foods or new food combinations and then duplicate our favorites at home. Did I mention that we love to cook???

The evening concert was held in the city park. Last year it rained. I'm thankful for the great weather we had this time!

They had a beautiful memorial in memory of our fallen heroes with a statue of a U.S. soldier in uniform from each big war our country was involved in.

Minnesonta

We are all worn out from our weekend travels, but our concert in Hinkley, MN went extremely well! Praise the LORD! People traveled to the concert from up to 4 1/2 hours away, coming from Michigan, Wisconsin, and up by the Canadian border! The church was packed with a responsive crowd and we sold a ton of CDs - we SOLD OUT on 2 of our CDs and were only left with a handful of the other two!!! It was fun.

The couple we stayed overnight with was so sweet. 

They had been dairy farmers. Here's a bit of humor from their house to brighten your day :)

 We stopped at the Mall of America for a few hours on our way home. 

The first neat store we spotted was a hat shop.

Oooo the fun of playing around! All sorts of choices!

Top hats, anyone?

Weird Bluegrass in South Dakota

On the way to our first concert, we stopped at one of our favorite restaurants - 

a French American fusion named Cafe Brule. 

 See our drinks? We had a blast choosing the flavor combinations for our cream sodas. The list of choices was quite long...I went with Kiwi Dark Chocolate, Karen chose Peach Toasted Marshmallow, Seth thought Blueberry Butterscotch sounded good, and Daddy liked Macadamia Nut,  while Mommy definitely liked the Raspberry White Chocolate better.

We unloaded, set up, and played an evening concert, loaded back up...

and then unloaded and set up the next morning for a church concert...

and loaded back up.... then we unloaded and set up for an evening concert...
and of course loaded up again once it was done. Some people ask us how we get our exercise...
I wonder sometimes.

 weird Bluegrass - nowhere near Kentucky. For us Iowans, it looks sorta fake.
But, maybe that's how it's done in Kentucky.
Anyway, we were playing bluegrass on the bluegrass - not something you do every day!

Seth and Karen are warming up before the concert on their duet, Limerock.

We had a great time and were glad to see old friends and meet new ones.

It turns out that not only does this guy have a cool, one-of-a-kind John Deere tractor car, but he also had a brother who wrote some of the gear software that Daddy uses at John Deere! It's a small world.

With such a unique subject, I had to have some fun with the photos!

On the way home the following morning, 

we stopped once again at Cafe Brule for the dessert we had skipped a couple days ago!

No Wasps! Definitely an improvement.

A random photo of Silas in front of one of the gorgeous stained glass windows we come across during our travels...

Two area churches combined for our concert at Floyd Methodist Church in Floyd. We had a great time sharing with them and of course, the potluck afterward was wonderful!

This is a photo that was hanging in the room where we stored our cases during the concert.

What a thought provoking picture! Do you recognize the building? It's the UN headquarters.

After our concert in Floyd, we headed into Illinois to our next concert.

Here, Seth is making an adjustment to his tuning - the weather often throws the tuning out of whack. 

Karen warming up her fingers

A quick photo before the concert

Isn't their new sign great? The top is a replica of their church's roof.

I have to say that God definitely blessed us with the perfect weather for this concert. In all the years we've performed here, the weather has never been this good. No sprinkles, no heat, no cold, no big winds, no huge swarms of mosquitoes, and no wasps bothering us during the concert!

Amazing!

Wow! What a SHOCK!

It all started out on February 8. Abigail was in a piano competition she had been working towards for months. For several hours per day on most days, you could find her at the piano, tickling the ivories or blasting out the impressive sections. Today was the first big day. The Terrace Hill Piano Competition. 

 There were many GREAT pianists.

After lots of deliberation, it was announced that Abigail and one other boy were the two winners!!!

That isn't all. 

After a late-night drive home, we were up early the following morning because this time, 

both Abigail and Silas had IMTA, another piano contest. (It was Silas' first piano competition!)

Warming up...getting ready to perform....taking theory tests...performing...waiting....and waiting for the results...

When at last the results were posted, we found that Abigail and Silas were both winners in their divisions and would advance to the state competition!

At the IMTA state competition, Silas won runner up (2nd place!), and Abigail won AGAIN!

On June 2, Abigail will be performing in the IMTA Honors recital as a result of her winning in her level at the state competition.

And that is the end of the story...or maybe just the beginning.

Praise the Lord! He is so good. No matter what happens throughout our lives, good or bad, He is always with those who have trusted in Him.

You're invited!

Join us as we celebrate the high school graduation of

Luke Reuben Johnson

Friday, the 17th of May,

at our barn.

Eighth Note Acres LLC

11389 T Ave.

New Hartford, IA 50660

319-983-9127

Open House: 5:30-8:30 p.m.

Short Johnson Strings Concert: 6:00 p.m.

To see more of Luke's senior pictures, visit my website: http://www.photofasttrack.com/people/seniors/ or go to http://laurasphotographyfasttrack.blogspot.com/2013/05/lukes-senior-pictures-by-cedar-falls.html and read how I created the images. 

Hope to see you there!

Rave Review of our latest CD, “Silhouette”

We were SO excited to receive the following email and review of our CD!

“Hello Johnson Strings
If you will go to the website just below this, you will see your record review as it appeared in the internet magazine "International Country Music" which emanates from Germany and goes all over Europe. Good job well done, see you”…
Bob Everhart
 “Country Music News International
Germany
RECORD REVIEW
THE JOHNSON STRINGS   Silhouette - It Is Not I That Live
La Rejouissance - Beaumont Rag - Written In Red - Dwelling In Beulah Land - There's A Peace In My Heart - The Merry Widow Waltz - We Believe - Power In The Blood - Lookin' For A City - The Old Rugged Cross - Mansion Over The Hilltop - Psalm 67 - Rock Of Ages - Gypsy Waltz - The Hallelujah Side - Fantomen - Near to The Heart Of God - This World Is Not My Home - Holy Holy Holy
This remarkable family is a wondrous musical group.  Violins, violas, upright bass, and keyboard is the majority, but expect the most remarkable sounds coming from these instruments, and much more.  "Beaumont Rag" to "Rock of Ages" is a transportation of the most remarkable kind.  Six children, a mom and a dad, make up the 'strings.'  I'm glad I had the chance to review this album when I did, because the Johnson Strings are going to make a very delightful appearance at the Oak Tree Opry in Anita, Iowa, on September 20th.  I'm also forwarding this CD to the Rural Roots Music Commission for 'instrumentalist' attention.  The entire project, and there are 19 great songs on this one, really allows the 'strings' to prevail and shine. They went to the Catamount Studios for the recording, and I have to admit this particular studio is producing some incredibly good music.  In the overall production, it's hard for me to find any negatives with a fine group like this.  I've listened to 'Beaumont Rag' played by old-time fiddlers so much, the Johnson's version seemed too slow to me.  Then I listened to it three or four more times, and the more I listened the more I liked it.  As a slower song it becomes quite beautiful.  The vocals throughout, harmony included are all wonderful presentations of a 'family' singing together, and there just isn't anyway this 'tightness' can be duplicated by the imitators.  "Old Rugged Cross" has an almost operatic approach, it is sad, deep, very classically adapted, for me it's a wonderful expression of originality.  "Gypsy Waltz" is another example of really good 'personality added' arrangement. "Fantomen" is also like this, a very beautiful 'Swedish' influence. If you've never heard the Johnson Strings, you should.  Their music is totally their own, and professionally and classically done, whether it's the Orange Blossom Special and the Beaumont Rag.....and to be sure, The Old Rugged Cross and The World Is Not My Home.
Bob Everhart, Reviewer www.ntcma.net”

 Visit http://countrymusicnewsinternational.blogspot.de/2013/05/the-johnson-strings-silhouette-it -is.html to see the review on their website.

Thanks for the great review Bob! We appreciate it!