The Gathering, Stateside 2008 was the second show in an ongoing series which started in August of last year in Kincardine, Scotland. The first Gathering was put together by Rick Allardice (DJay Buddha) as a way of bringing together some musicians and singer/songwriters who had become friends on an online acoustic forum. They all met at a local public house and made an all-day show of it, and in doing so, formed an alliance of real-life friends, making real live music. And from that, the idea has spread to the United States, where more acoustic forum members from Canada and all over the US met in Cleveland Ohio on June 21st to make some fantastic music with some of the performers from the first Gathering in Scotland. This Gathering, like the first, was an all-day event held at Verlie's Cafe in Cleveland, and just like the first Gathering, friendships were forged and musical alliances were created. We hope to continue the tradition each year! The next Gatherings are in July (Spratton, UK), and September (Miltenberg, Germany). Plans are also in the works for a further Scottish Gathering in November. 2008 promises to be a busy year for Gatherings!