Hey gang! Just wanted to share a little good news from a gig last weekend. I played a new venue, a barbecue restaurant with a full bar. They normally book country solo performers, and I was the first act they’ve had who is primarily classic rock (with a little country mixed in). I thought the first set went pretty well, but when I stepped off stage for my first break, the owner/manager came rushing up to me and said he wanted to book me for more dates — without even hearing the rest of my show! Needless to say, that made me feel pretty darn good. The rest of the night just kept getting better and better. It looks like I’ll now be playing there once a month. Always nice when a new venue turns into a regular gig!

So I have been bringing a black backdrop to my gigs for the past year. I find it helps make my set up look a little more professional. It hides the tacky beer posters and miscellaneous stuff that many bars nail to their walls. The backdrop takes about 3 minutes to set up, so it isn't a big hassle. Anybody else use a backdrop?

I am worried about my drummer who founded the tribute band we are in with me in '19, seems to be overwhelmed with his life, & NOT aware of it! It's incredibly frustrating as it TOOK me 3 years to find him! HE got together with this lady not long after we started playing, who's marriage had broken up BEFORE she gave birth to her daughter in late '19. It turns out he Ended up with a huge tax debt he was not aware of, so his work took precedence to pay it off! (NOT begrudging that!) in '24 I had a really GOOD keyboardist interested in joining us. WE only usually do monthly rehearsals, & I organised 8 that year. HE cancelled about 6 of them and forgot a few! Needless to say that dude bailed! (CAN'T say I blame him!) WE got another good player that's a bit Younger, but he too is a bit disappointed! The last rehearsal we had was in March! NOW! DuE to family/living arrangements, his step 'daughter' , spends 2 w/Es a month with her father & 2 with her mum & my drummer! (They are NOT married, but ARE Engaged...)The PROBLEM is, when the girl is at home with them, he CAN'T rehearse with us, cos she NEEDS him to help look after her, but can only do PAID gigs, but practice or jam nights for fun is out of the question! Seriously? CAN'T she look after 1, 7 y/o girl on her own for a few hrs? This has caused probs trying to book rehearsal dates. I ask him for dates, when he's free, he says 'I'll get back to you', but never does! His problem is, he tries to please Every1, and gets snowed under! I also feel he is being EXPLOITED by her somewhat! What dos Every1 Else think? The rem 3 of us, are going to have a practice to backing tracks, and think also do a conference call with 3 of us on the phone to him, cos my nudging doesn't seem to resonate with him, but from all 3 of us it MIGHT make it sink in! OTHERWISE, I will seriously HAVE to look at other drummers! Thanks for listening/reading!

I am decidedly not a singer. I am learning, a newly minted vocalist. I few years ago I was sitting at an open mic with two bandmates as we scoped out a bar for our band. We were listening to open micer and they started singing along, and I joined in. They stopped dead, turned to me and said "never open your mouth on stage, EVER". Last year I started taking lessons with my current bandmate, Stephanie. She is a marvelous talent, and an exceptional coach, teacher, and mentor. She has me taking center stage on songs. There is one song I would love to learn to sing. It's Mexico by The Dead Daisies. A killer song. I said elsewhere I have the lyrics committed to memory. I cannot find the emotional range to sing it well. I think of it as "acting" out the song. For the true singers on the list...... How do you reach that emotional connection with the lyrics to convey the intent of the song? Or am I just too needy?

Since we all have instant access to everything under the sun, mistaken lyrics aren’t as common as before. But I’m sure we all have had those funny moments when we learned we’ve been singing the wrong lyrics for years. I sometimes use these anecdotes as fun openers for songs. Here are two fun ones that I’ll share. Let’s hear yours. 1. I never understood why Neil Diamond was being so harsh to senior ladies. In Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show, why does he say, Pack up the babies and CRABBY old ladies?” 🤔🤓😂 2. On a road trip singing along to Elvis’ Greatest Hits and belting out Return To Sender, my friend’s wife says, “She wrote upon it. That’s how it goes? I thought it was She wore a bonnet!” 🙄😆😆