Stone City Acoustic Showcase 3/31/19 One For Bruce Stanley

Setlist


Go Out And Get It
Long Black Veil
Games People Play
Good Time Charlie

(Glen Gardner: photo, 'cuse me while I kiss the mic)

Today is Bruce Stanley's Birthday.  He would have been 60.

I dedicated my set to his memory with the Guild guitar he sold me about 15 years ago.

I cannot shake this fucking cough whatsoever and whatever I did on my set of songs I have to deal with gobs of mucus and snot running down my throat and feeling like shit.  I crashed big time soon after my set and called it a night.  I think the songs turned out well, but I fumbled through a rough go at Games People Play.  I must be getting better covering up my mistakes.  I had a few people complimenting how well I did.  But I was so out of it, that I didn't have any pizza that Donna Jo ordered. But then again even if I was well, I would have passed anyway.


Notes: Glen Gardner returned back to Stone City, Other notables were Ray Larson, Bill Schlatter, Steve O, Bubs Mahones, Dave Bonham, Angie Marie, Rocky Smith, Bart Bock  Steve Black Wolf, and Donna Jo Elsner.  Lane Gaffney hosted.   Angie Marie might have taken a better picture of me, maybe she'll share it when it comes available.  And she provides this photo of me.

The Boy Scout Hippies played the Office Lounge, Dreams Of Arcadia recorded some songs with Brook Hoover producing and recording.  Ron and Dakota did arrive later to play after I called it a day.

Other events of the month (stolen from another blog)

Dan Johnson invited me to the Checker's 2nd Wednesday get together.  I told him about me helping the Boy Scout Hippies out and he asked who they were and I told them it was Ron and Dakota. Like many others he shook his head about Ron.  The guy has a notorious reputation around C.R it seems.  I'm not mentioned in any of the Boy Scout Hippies announcements, and didn't expect to be, after all, it remains their band, their vision.  I just filled in with the beat that's all.  I'm sure there's postings of us somewhere on the internet and if I can find them, I'll post them.  But I don't hold out much hope over that.   But I know Fran, Ron's wife did take some videos out there.  I'd be interested to hear how we sounded.  Despite the constant hacking and coughing, I played very well.

For five days, I struck up a conversation with Kraig Spratt's demented sister on Facebook.  I wouldn't mind hearing stories on her brother, but not at 3 AM in the morning and each day I posted something, she would reply for the praises of her brother.  The last straw was Monday, another bad day to which I almost freaked out the car wash dude trying to wash the salt off a rusting car to which she tried to hi jack my posting on Drums at Stone City.  After naming other great drummers, she insisted that her brother was the all time legend best and our opinion doesn't matter.  To which I said goodbye to Psycho and told her to piss off.   I'll grant Kraig this, he does wonders with the original Stone Garden band in town, but his tenure with Hostage, turned out an album of subpar originals and his Harvey Headbanger CD made Spinal Tap sound like Led Zeppelin.  He's good, but his originals didn't impress me much.  Kevin Sinmacher had mentioned that Kraig was the best that he's played with, that's saying something. But there's other drummers that can compete with the Wildcat, myself included. If I didn't think so, I would never post that, but you have Bruce Chadima, Don Timmons, Gordy from Cruise, Jim Viner, Bill Neff, Terry McDowell, Jon Wilson, Troy Mitchell, Tiffany Z, and a few others that I can't remember.  And to try to have somebody that I never known before come and explain otherwise will not help the argument.  I have no qualms with Christine Spratt and wish her well in her strange adventures in life and maybe she should put up a tribute page for her brother somewhere out there.  But you will not convince me of the importance of somebody, who from what I heard just didn't impress me and it waters down the significance of his contributions from a overzealous sister.  But it is hard for me to not go against my past and note of the drummers that influenced me to play.  And the best drummer from my time was somebody in high school that played in the pep band and did Ted Nugent songs better than the Nuge himself.  Only a handful of people knew about the talents of Lonnie Washburn and I kept his memory alive by playing in his style.  I'm not sure if Lon still plays drums (my guess is no) but he was the one that got me serious about playing drums.  Wildcat remains a rock legend around here, but my influences were from Lonnie and Neal Machen and the dude from Galen/Hallen band from Dubuque that played Garfields back in 1981.

Of course Wildcat's is better known than me. Life is like that. Some get their name in the lights, others toiled in the darkness of the garage.  It's too late for me to ever eclipse the legends but I have made a nice little discography of my own.

And I think I'm a damn good drummer too.

Checker's Acoustic Showcase 3/27/19 Glen's Return

Songlist:


Floodlands
Go Out And Get It
For What Its Worth
Cinnamon Girl
Let's Work Together

(Glen Gardner; Photo Credit)

Notes:


I have a mixed outlook when it comes to meeting famous people or well known musicians and radio personalities.   And it goes back of meeting Ed Podolak, the famed Iowa running back and former Kansas City Chief, now Iowa football broadcaster.   Around 1972 I think, he was down at Armstrongs or Smelokoff's and it was a meet and greet and we waited in line to see him.  He was handing out pictures and mentioning that he don't do autographs and basically was told to move on down the line.  The first disappointment that I met in my life.  After dealing with Bob Dorr's antics the other night,  I pretty much put him in the same league as Podolak.   For many years of seeing him play in the Blue Band and hearing him on the radio, I was wrestling whether or not he was a good guy or a douche cookie.  Great harmonica player indeed but his people skills leave a lot to be desired.  If you're a well known blues player or hall of famer he'll give you the time of day but if you're anybody else, you're wasting his time.  After last night and watching him scowl from the back of the bar and being anti social, I concluded he is a douche cookie.

I had fun and laughs with other musicians who are well known, most are friendly and will talk music with you..  I've dealt with egotistical ones and played in some bands with them, you can't please them all, but what you try to do is be cordial around them and respect their wishes.  No matter how much of a prick they can be.

With another night at work not too busy, I managed to return to Checker's to play for the first time in a month and had to borrow Steve Black Wolf's guitar for my five song set.  It was great to see Cathy Hart again and Jeff Gage and Donna Jo and Bill.  Kevin Moore hosted and we had more jammers this time than last month when I was the only one there. Without my songbook, I went with songs I could remember the words with, which were the usual ones, tho' Floodlands led the set off.   Kevin recorded For What Its Worth.

Glen Gardner and Lauren were back in town for three weeks, basically to finalize their sale of their home, get rid of unwanted things and then head back to Arizona on April 20.  But they gave me a hat and a Navajo magnet to hang on the fridge.  I know I will miss both of them when they leave but it might give me a incentive to go visit them in AZ sometime in the future.

I did okay on the vocals, tho' a bit gruff and gravelly.  But at least I didn't cough up a lung unlike last night at Parlor City.  But this flu crap refuses to give up.  Therefore, it's back to the Nyquil and about 4 different night time cold and flu pills.  It's either going to cure or kill me.

Parlor City Blues Jam With The Cranky Blues Hall Of Famer

With:

Dave Bonham-Lead Guitar and Vocals
Tom Giblin-Keyboards
Frederick Jones-Harmonica
Mark Awad-Bass
Dan Hartman-Guitar and Vocals on Call Me The Breeze and I'm Ready
Dave Morris-Guitar

Dan Johnson, Jeff Petersen and Bob Dorr were the hosts along with Gibby.
George Hanna and The Briles Family was there too.


Notes:

Still hacking and coughing, this fucking walking cold refuses to go away.  It was a light load at work so I managed to get the night off and hang with the boys for a while.  I'm learning how to slow things down with Gibby.  I think for the first time the slower songs actually worked for a change.

I'm not sure what songs Dave sang but Mark and I started out on a little blues excursion and then Dave did a couple of shuffle blues.  I'm surprised that I did so well despite the fucking coughing every five seconds.  Sure hope nobody else gets it.

A light crowd and light jammers tho' Drum Shop Mike was there.  We chatted for a spell and then talk about musical things with Dan Johnson.   I have yet to jam with Dan, for the last few Parlor City jams, I ended up with Mark Awad, fellow Wapsi Dreamer and bass player extraordinaire.  Dave played Ramey's earlier in the evening and then came to join us.  Which meant I didn't get to play with Jeff Petersen, of the Limestoners/Blue Band.

Being a fellow drummer, I have to respect the wishes of the host drummer and make adieu with what they have and have set up.  I don't not change anything, tho' there are some that will mess up the host drums.  A big turnoff I know.  Bob Dorr's cymbal lineup is that he's got the 18 inch crash ride down below my knees, and of course he told me in no uncertain terms not to mess with that.  To which I smiled in agreement, patted him on the back and thanked him for letting me play his drums.  And then withheld giving him 20 dollars for his IPTV donation that's happening right now.

Over the years I have always been a big fan of his radio shows and supported his Blue Band from time to time and his jams, and thought about leaving a good chunk of my record and cd collection to him but he tends to be a old crank.  He certainly showed that tonight.

He's a good harmonica player, one of the best, his drumming, that's another story. His version of Good Morning Little School Girl wasn't one for the record books and the melody he should have sang Howling For My Baby/Howling Wolf.  But it's a jam.  While he did provide that one pair of matching drum sticks, I bought my own.  Just common courtesy that's all.  And I played within the constraints of a gentle blues jam, no showing off, just keep the beat and keep it down.  I could see the glare of Dorr's eyes through darken sunglasses but I kept playing.  I thought about thanking him afterwards but he seemed to be in a hurry to leave Parlor City, so I kept my distance.  When  a famous hall of famer rubs you the wrong way, you tend to not back his efforts or jams.  I like Bob's music shows but I don't foresee us having dinner anytime soon, or making it up to  the Cedar Falls Blues Jam on Thursday Nights.  

He wouldn't have the time of day for me anyway.

Stone City 3/24/19

Songs played

Good Time Charlie
Let's Work Together
Tulsa Time
Bobby McGee
Ring Of Fire

With

Richard Budde-Drums
Sharon Eide  sang on Bobby McGee

(While Angie Marie didn't take any of my performance, she managed to snap this photo of Dave Bonham, Lenny Drake, Richard Budde and Danny Dias playing together-it's always fun to catch Lenny Drake playing a song or two)

That rare occasion that I played earlier than usual.  Had to, I was going to meet Russ and Debby at the Cancun so they can celebrate my birthday, two months later.  Weather and illness were the reason why we didn't get together sooner.  I don't hold much hope that John Field will join the band; he's living in Iowa City and can't drive and neither Russ and myself want to drive the extra miles to pick him up back and forth.

But we had a good dinner despite shitty service.  Good thing Russ knows most of the owners of the Cancun. This was the third straight time I got lousy service from the waitress.

The original plan was to go to Rumors and hang there but at the last moment I decided to bop on over to Stone City and do a early set.  Dick Budde bought his drumset, so I used him on my set list.  Mostly 4/4 stuff with let Budde play to the guitar and provide the beat.  As a drummer, I don't mind other drummers playing alongside me, in fact I actually enjoy it.  Dick was a bit loud and erratic on other's songs, but I think he did quite well on the songs I sang.

Again, I chose songs that people would enjoy hearing and yes everybody sang along to Tulsa Time and Ring Of Fire, and I even had Lane Gaffney cracking me up from behind the soundboard playing drums to Let's Work Together.  On Bobby McGee, Sharon popped up to help on backing vocals. Kim Trevillion was in the house and we could have done Gold Dust Woman to finish things up, but I decided on ending with Ring Of Fire, and left Everybody's Talking to Dave Bonham to play on his own.

Those in Attendance: Bill Schlatter, Danny Dias, Guy Petersen, Dave Bonham, Sharon, Maki Dervo, Lenny Drake, Angie Marie, Adam Keith, The Smith Kids.

Next week, Glen Gardner said he'll be back in town to play Stone City.  Carl Meiners will follow in a couple more weeks.  The hope is to hang with Glen a few more times before he returns back to the desert. I'd love to go visit him out there this summer.  Doubt if I'll get there tho'.

Boy Scout Hippies-Whiskey River 3/23/19

With

Ron LaFluer
Cali Jean Blake
Dakota McWhorter
Nick Lenicka

Cymbals Used:

14 Inch K Dark Crash
16 A Zildjian Rock Crash
16 S Zildjian Trash/Crash
19 Armand Ride

Quick Beat hi hats.

(Diana Koening Photo Credit)  (Ron Lafleur and Cali Jean Blake)

I changed to a smaller cymbal lineup simply of the fact of looking for some accented cymbals than what the 18 inch Crash Ride and 20 Sizzle Ride could offer.

I used ear plugs simply of the fact that I deal with tinnitus on a constant basis and I've been playing the price ever since crashing cymbals left and right 40 years ago.  Plus, the band is known for playing loud.

We had a good crowd and the place was 3/4th full. A few people danced, plenty of young drunk chicks also made it to the floor but to this old coot, I'm too old for them anyway.  I might be too old for their moms.

I think we did the best version of Can't You See, tho' I'm sure somebody recorded it and stuck it out there on the net.  Perhaps Fran LaFleur managed to capture the moment.  She captured a few others but they were not playing in my instant messenger. Except for one missed cymbal crash I managed to keep up with Ron on that rare occasion.

I remain committed to my regular job which I had to bow out of future gigs with The Boy Scout Hippies, Ron scored a couple more in May and July.  I'm remain adamant that I was there on a temporary basis and maybe if Ron catches me at a weak moment I may return to help them again.  I want to complete the next Townedger album as well as continue to do my acoustic guitar adventures. But I'm a lazy sod at practice and leery of any more drum openings, it's a shame that I didn't have this many offers about 35 years ago, but somewhere down the line, I'll be pounding away at a BSH gig this summer.  But I did tell Ron to give the new drummer, whoever he may be, a fighting chance.  If he's available to practice and play on weeknights go with him.  It seemed that Jeff, the drummer who played CRL didn't do a good job.  I would suggest Mike Lint, but he's more schizophrenic about his commitments more than me.   I had to turn down a offer to play for another AC DC tribute band.  I rather not play Back In Black since radio plays it every day.   Still, it's nice to be considered to play for another band since people think I do pretty good playing drums.  So far, Ron has promised at least a 100 dollars for everytime we play and delivered.  And he's been fair.   Which somewhere down the line, I'm sure we'll be on stage sooner than later.

Phil Bo and his wife, plus Katy Merrifield showed up.

I went into town earlier to catch Chain Reaction, the local band with Rocky Smith playing drums and managed to sit in on one song.  Can't You See was the song. ;)

Stone City 3/17/19 It Has Been A While

Songs played

All Along The Watchtower
Sundown
Greenback Dollar
Go Out And Get It
Everybody's Talking

Steve Black Wolf-sings background on Everybody's Talking

(Tony Potter: Photo Credit)

I haven't played guitar since the Kevin Moore MC'ed Checkers Jam due to work and being stuck with the walking flu but I managed to overcome the coughs to put together a somewhat decent five song set.  Since I played last night in the Boy Scout Hippies, I had no desire to go into town and deal with a massive crowd at Rumor's to see Crankshaft but Julie and Ryan went for my absence.  But they were going to go anyway.

The songs were safe and I still knew how to play them and the crowd liked them.  Plenty of folks were there, Maki Dervo, Ray Larson, Bill Schlatter, Dave Bonham and Sharon, Danny Dias, Steve Black Wolf and Rocky Smith joined in, and later Ron and Fran popped up before I decided to leave.  I guess it's not working out with the new drummer and tho' I have hoped that the new guy would fit in, Ron was basically begging me to keep open dates on for the weekend.  He admitted that I was the best drummer that played his music in the state, which I thought was quite nice of him to say that. Ah, all in the day's work.  So, I gather, I'll be continuing to be a part of their Saturday gigs for the time being.  After all, Ron has delivered in giving me at least a 100 dollars in anything that we do.  As long as I'm having a good time and as long as the drums hold up, why not continue.


The Wapsi River is flooding all over Stone City and they took down the flag that laid on the old Railroad trestle next to the General Store.  It's a shame that the railroad moved elsewhere but I can't recall ever seeing the railroad tracks across Stone City, that may have been before my time.  The Wapsi haven't fully engulfed the area but it is quite high and some roads are under water. The way it goes.

I let Dervo use my guitar since he forgot to bring his, otherwise I would have been long gone, off to Wally World to pick up more cold meds and grab a Pizza at the BP station.  But I spend a long while talking drums with Rocky and it was great to see Steve back into action.  It's been a while since I talked to him since he discovered his cancer has returned.  He's doing as well as he can but Steve did play a couple of songs I thought about doing.  I could have done them but I don't think we needed a part two of Knocking On Heaven's Door.

Boy Scout Hippies/Aces N Eights 3/16/19

Just when I think I'm gone and moved on to the next chapter of this rock and roll rollercoaster...

(The head Boy Scout Hippie)

I'm still dealing with the walking cold and spent most of the day washing three loads of laundry and then taking another nap before waking up to hear Ron frantically calling about me playing at Aces n Eights after all.   Thankfully he caught me before I decided to head into town to do my nightly grocery shopping.  Otherwise they would have to cancel the gig.  Well, they would have moved on without a drummer but I was too happy not to pass up another 100 dollars and four hours of playing music.

(Cali Jean Blake and Crabby and the amazing moving drumset)

Aces n Eights has a concrete floor, which meant the drumset would be moving and it moved through the whole time I played.  Nick came around to play harmonica for the final set and did his best to convince me I should go help him play for spare change at St Patricks' Day at Czech Village.  I told him sometime in the future when I'm feeling better.

As always, I always encounter somebody that wanted to play drums and impress their woman.  But this time this woman came around touting her boyfriend's drum talents and we decided to give Brian a trial by fire, the version of Can't You See to which it speeds up and ends the song on a train wreck ending.  For a first time, Brian did quite well since he never played with the guys before.  And on that, got all the women to dance with him through the gig.  It might have pissed off his woman but I'm sure they kissed and had make up sex later on.

Fran, Ron's wife shot a couple videos: a good version of Midnight Rider and then Hard To Handle.  I still cannot get over the fact that I look like I rather be somewhere else besides playing but the rhythm was quite good.   I'm adding more of the fire and fury of the Tyrus years once again but for the most part I'm throwing accents and drum fills through the songs anyway.  I was getting tired of pushing the drums back into place after each and every songs it seems and even the hi hat stand was moving away from me.   I dropped the drumsticks a few more times that I would like tho.  Plus I got another war wound on my knuckle and can't remember what song I did that on.

We had a crowd most of the night, tho' it wasn't as packed as Waubeek was last week but we had plenty of dancers.  Everybody was in good form tho' there were a couple missteps (For What Its Worth was started and then faded off before we went into a part 2 of that song).  I think I played better this week than the Waubeek gig but I was beginning to drag before the closing of the final set.
It also didn't helped that we had yet another fucking snowstorm that dropped three inches of snow on the cars and getting snow on the drums on the load out and on the way home.  But at this point, the weather has warmed up to the point that the roads weren't bad and the snow would be all melted this afternoon.  

And so it was decided that I would return to help them out next week at Whiskey River in Monticello as the other drummer tries to get over what he has.  But the impression that I got was the guy didn't do a very good job at CRL Friday Night.  So I agreed to help Ron and Dakota one more time and one more Saturday Night.  Maybe then, the new guy will be able to perform better.  All he has to do is to know when to rock out and when to make it mellow and not go all out.  Somehow I have seemed to be the only one that can read Ron's cues better and adjust accordingly.

But I'll be back again.  Cuz I'm the world's greatest drummer in town.

(All photos:  Fran LaFleur)

Boy Scout Hippies at F B Company Waubeek 3/9/19

(Cali Jean Blake, Ron LaFleur ,Mr. Smith, Dakota McWhorter.  Or Ron and the Hired Help Band)


I have been stuck with walking phenomena ever since Sunday.  I got a shot for that and my arm is sore as hell.  I'm also dealing with issues at work.  Everybody has been bitchy and we have been up to our ears in work but the F B Company show was planned three months in advance.  I have to hand it to our main boss for working double shifts to get the work out and I have never seen our place of employment to be this chaotic.  It didn't help being sick right off the bat.

I just rather sleep the day away if I can stop this motherfucking coughing.  When you only get 25 minutes of sleep, you tend to really get annoyed at the slightest thing.  Nevermind our senior bitching and clock watching and then gets her clock cleaned out for taking too many smoke breaks.  It's not the best of times and it's only week one of Spring Processing.   So to be an excuse for making the 10 oclock news the wrong way.

I've been trying to promote this gig on various Facebook music sites and getting the the usual indifference and ridicule from the ignorant.  This time out from some double chinned fool from Pennsylvania

"Come see Boy Scout Hippies play FB Company in Waubeek Iowa this Saturday from 7-11"

Whoever Dano Grille was/is made a few unflattering remarks about location and maybe reaching the six children of the corn,  And somebody called him being Mr. No Cool over that. Thanks Dan Artuni tor trying to explain the rules to the clueless.

So I was going to copy and paste the exchange but somebody at Cover Bands Central decided to take the promotion off.  So we won't be getting the Children of the corn coming to tonight's show after all.  And I left that group.  They're weren't helping at all.  They probably hurt the cause more tho'.

I'm not a big fan of the Facebook band promotions anyway.  Tho' DJ and Bob Miller did show up to play the Waubeek Jam, I hardly get anybody to show up to any of our gigs.  Of course the weather has been shit all year and I'm dealing with yet another fucking rain storm for tonight, and having walking Phenomia doesn't help either.    But Ron wanted me to finish tonight's show and I hope I don't let him down.  But the anger fueled from dealing with Dano Grille's Adam Sandler's antics on the promotion. might make this something to remember me by.  We'll see.

Notes;

Nick Lnenicka joined us for some wild harmonica playing and he did return the microphone that David Lam was looking for last week.   For the first time since the Ok Lounge Tyrus Dec 7th 1984 show, I played with reckless abandon, to which both Ron and Dakota were quite surprised of the results that we seen.  The cheap ass freebie cymbal stand that Uncle Ike's threw in on that Tama set that I bought a few years ago, would not stay tighten and the cymbal fell three times in one set.  I managed to have a drumstick get stuck in one of the S Cymbal's hole which drew a few laughs and giggles.  One of the cymbals got revenge on me and slash my finger but I survived, it was the first time this has happen since coming out of retirement.    However, we had a great crowd, and most of them stayed till the end.

I played great despite being stuck with the persistent cough and sweating and Ron went through four shirts, he sweats more than anybody I've seen.  For not practicing for three weeks thanks to my wonderful place of employment and being sick with walking Phoenomia we sounded good. I kinda wish that they would have held off on Can't You See till the end but still the people were so much in awe of what they seen.

For three hours we gave it our all.  The trick is to hang on to what Ron was putting down on the groove and let things work itself out.  After which we all hugged each other and thanked them for allowing me to hang with them during the worst three months of winter ever on record.  They got a new drummer for next week at Aces N Eights and while I'm happy for them to continue to play on, this gives me time to go back to my regular suck job and try to help a sinking company.  For now, I'm not playing jams due to work issues and being sick doesn't help either.

But I give Ron credit for being honest and up front.  He treated me great and like a member of the band and he came through the with the payouts.  And he was flexible for me to practice when I could.  This is probably not the end of my tenure with them and the door is always open.  Great drummers will leave an impression to always waltz back into the drum chair.  I do hope that Ron considers me to be one of the best drummers to ever play his music.  I knew about three years ago when he showed up at Rumors that we would cross paths in the future.  I have no arguments with him and consider him to be a friend. The Boy Scout Hippies will continue to get better and with a new drummer a new chapter will evolve.

But in my temporary position with them, I think I left a lasting legacy.
Probably longer than Dano Grille.

Waubeek Jam With David Lam 3/2/19

Songs:

Knocking On Heaven's Door
Let's Work Together
Old Time Rock And Roll
Rock Me Baby
Dead Flowers
Ever So Much (Attempted)
I Won't Back Down
For What Its Worth

With:

David Lam-Bass
Nick Lenicka-Harmonica
DJ Hovenstot-Drums
Bob Miller-Drums
Sharon-Backing vocal on Knocking On Heaven's Door
Dave Bonham-Guitar


Notes:

It was the first time I got to host a jam.  Maki Dervo had to work early so he couldn't stay the whole five or six hours, however, we didn't have many jammers and it was all over before midnight.  I didn't plan on singing anything, but once Dave Bonham got done with his set, we still have about an hour left, so I came up and did my best to do songs that I remember the words to.  Alas, the drummer, can't think of his name, couldn't play Ever So Much, so I had to abort that one song.  And I Won't Back Down I haven't practiced in about two months.  David Lam, helped me out on bass and Nick stayed a while to play harmonica up to Rock Me Baby.

It was nice to  see DJ and Sir Bob Miller come out from Cedar Rapids to help play drums.

I only played drums on

Kiss An Angel Good Morning
Sweet Magnolia Blossom
A Thing Called Love
Stairway To Heaven

David Lam-Guitar and vocals (the first three)
Dave Bonham-Guitar and vocals (stairway to heaven)

I did bring the drums but we had four other drummers besides me, DJ and Sir Bob so everybody got to play my drums.  A rumor's vibe so to speak.  Unlike last month, when I played three and a half hours.  I played more using David's guitar on the final songs we played.  David had a beautiful Martin guitar.  It worked fine for me.

No shows included Ron and Dakota,  Phil Bo King (mainly his wife's getting into trouble last night has kept them away)  Chuck, Lenny and Nelson  were not there either.  Steve O's been gone for the past three months it seems.   Greg and Brenda Mein were in sunny Georgia, and away from the crappy weather.  Surprisingly, it didn't snow like it has been the past five weekends.  The major snowstorm stayed south of here for a change.

Meanwhile Julie and Ryan soldered on with Lisa Harbit and played Bo Macs, in front of a pretty good crowd.  They made more money than I did hosting the Waubeek Jam, David just gave me a twenty for gas money and putting up with other drummers using my kit.  After paying the waitress for root beer and two maid rites, my pay was 3.20.   Hardly a money making deal but I had fun and mingled with the crowd.   Yeah I would have made a few dollars more with Dreams Of Arcadia, but David was first in line and I figured I'd help him out.  Perhaps another return to Bo Macs will have me behind the congas but I don't pressure Julie or Ryan on this. I benefit from dating her. I think.

I don't look at my music and drum playing as a money making venture but an extension of my hobby. If I get paid, fine, but most of the jams I show up and play a couple songs and go home.  This time, I loaded the drums in the car, got there at around 6:30 and set the drums up, and grabbed a couple maid rites and took things in stride.  I had some goofy guy asking if this was a karaoke bar, told him it's karaoke with real instruments.  He wanted to sing Amos Moses by Jerry Reed but nobody knew it and he and his gang moved on about an hour later.

I think my set was the most rocking. At least we had some people dancing.  Since I didn't have my notebook of music, I relied on songs that I somewhat knew the lyrics to. With Captain Kirksey not there, it gave us a chance to close up the jam early.  I was home about fifty minutes later.

Very unlike the usual Waubeek Jam.

This concludes my jamming for a while.  I had two gigs left with Boy Scout Hippies but they decided to find another drummer.   I really didn't have the time to sit and practice with them.  I think Ron did treated me with respect and did his best to accommodate me with practice time, but I said in the beginning this was a temporary fill in role and surprised I made it this far.  And he did pay me very well. I wish them the best of luck and perhaps when I get time I'll make it to one of their gigs in town

And for the first time all year, We had no snow on Saturday or Sunday.  .