Blues Rox Report From Brian Bries

 As 2021 ends, I reflect on all of the great happenings with our band, Blues Rox.  We typically play about once a month as our personal commitments take top priority.  A little over a year ago, we welcomed Russ Swearingen into the fold and he has been nothing short of fantastic.  Our drummer, Rodney Smith and him go way, way back.  Our first gig of 2021 was on February 19th at  JA Tap.  John and Amanda Hruby do a fantastic job of supporting live music every Friday night and taking a chance on a band that doesn't have a strong following like others.  We did have a gig scheduled the previous week at Prairie Creek Saloon in Norway, but cancelled due to the extreme cold.  Dawn Marie Oberreuter, who previously owned the bar, is a very strong supporter of Blues Rox.

Our next gig was at Checkers Tavern on April 9th.  Pam Harrington and PJ Pj Harrington are also great supporters of the local live music scene and typically schedule live bands every Friday night.

June 12th was a very memorable afternoon, as we were one of the featured acts at the local neighborhood event, FredStock.  Fred Stock is a popular local musician that plays bass for Palomino.

June 26th we played an afternoon show as a 3-peice back at Prairie Creek Saloon that was actually a farewell to Dawn Marie Oberreuter, as the bar was sold to another person. 

July 17th was our first event at the Artisan's Sanctuary.  James H. Jacobmeyer is another supporter of live music as the sanctuary holds weekly open mics every Tuesday.

July 24th was the biggest event in the history of Blues Rox.  We were invited to play a Saturday afternoon show at the Great Jones County Fair.  Thanks to Doug Langston.  It was very satisfying to see people walk past the stage tent, and sit down to take in a few of our tunes.

August 6th saw Blues Rox play at Smock Resorts/Wasserbahn in Williamsburg.  Another great show with an incredible sound and lighting system.

We returned back to Checkers for shows on Sept 24th and Nov 12th.  I do want to give a shout out to Chris Avey, Jeni Holtan Grouws, and Bryan West from the AveyGrouws Band who showed up at a weekly Checkers Jam on Oct 10th.  That was an epic night and a wonderful experience for Blues Rox.

We finished our year with a special December event at the Artisan's Sanctuary with fill-in drummer Michael W McMeins from the BassAckwards band as Rodney was dealing with some Covid issues.

Throughout the year you could find members of Blues Rox at various jams in the Cedar Rapids area, specifically Rodney Smith, as he is one of the biggest supporters of live music.

All in all it was a great year and I want to thank all of our family and friends that were able to join us at any of these events.  Also I want to thank all of the band members for the wonderful ride.

Our first event of 2022 is at The Bohemian on January 8th.  I'm not sure what the future has in store for us, but thank you to everyone for being a part of this musical journey.