The latest from Bob Dorr
There's nothing like standing on an aluminum extension ladder with a three pound hatchet chipping away ice dams on the gutters around your house in a driving snow storm to put ya in the mood for a Blue Note! Unless it would be digging out from another 4" of drifted snow. This stopped being funny weeks ago on our return trip from Fairfield. I'll get to that later...
Wow, it's been almost 3 weeks since one of these notes. I've been flattered by the many (ok, it was 8, but that's alot for me) notes from people saying they were worried that they'd been dropped from "the list" because they hadn't gotten one of these recently. Lots of stuff is happening. I'll get to that later...
Tonight. Leap Night. Feb. 29. We're playing an open to the public, free of charge, anniversary party for Lynda and Dave Holliday at Checker's Tavern in Cedar Rapids (3120 6th St SW Cedar Rapids-8:00 p.m.-midnight www.checkerstavern.com) Yes, they were married on Feb. 29, so they're celebrating their 4th wedding anniversary. It only SEEMS like 15! (rim shot!) Lynda hasn't told Dave yet that this is how they're celebrating their anniversary! (double rim shot!) Join in the SURPRISE! And another surprise-it's been so long that we've played in Cedar Rapids that I'm going to celebrate and indulge in a SEVEN piece band! Iowa Blues Hall of Famer Tommy "T-Bone" Giblin will be the keys player and "Uncle Al" Naylor the trumpet player that joined us on New Years Eve and at Fairfield has promised to bring along a sax playing friend of his, so we'll have two horns, keys, and Jeff's guitar. This is gonna be FUN! (it'll be fun just figuring our how we're gonna get all 7 of us up on the Checker's stage!) remember, it's a celebration so BRING CAKE!!...
It's time for Iowa Public TV's Festival (fundraising) I've been invited to co-host a few of the music related nights starting with 3 cool shows next Thursday (Mar. 6) beginning at 6:30pm- The Best of Olde Time Country Music (I just love those old black & white takes of legendary performers in their hey day) followed by Johnny Cash-A Man & His Mission and later that night, an in-concert setting with Martina McBride. I'll also be co-hosting the Elvis Lives-25th Anniversary Concert on Mar. 12, and, on Mar. 13, Grand Ol' Opry's Vintage Classics. Need more info? www.iptv.org...
Next Friday, Mar. 7 is the next TGIF party at The Hub, 4th & Main, here is Sparkle City. Bunky Marlow is scheduled to join us again on saxophone. And then, two weeks from tomorrow, Saturday March 15 is THE FIRST OUTDOOR DATE OF THE SEASON!! (yes, I know that we've got 30" of snow and ice on the ground, but YOU'VE GOT TO BELIEVE! YES WE CAN!!) Anyway we're set to be part of the weekend-long St. Patricks Celebration, outside in a heated tent, at The Twisted Parrot, 6500 Hickman Rd., Windsor Heights, IA (suburban Des Moines) www.thetwistedparrot.com we play 7-11pm...
The good news: we continue to add a few summer dates each week. The bad news: we're hurtin' for work in April and May. Keep us in mind for that WELCOME SPRING bash on your deck at your acreage on the outskirts of town...
Oh yeah, the drive home from Fairfield (Feb. 16) First, it was exhilarating to play for the hip audience and dancers at the Hospital fundraiser. Everyone there was so concerned about our 3 1/2 hour trip home in the freezing rain that they helped us get on the road early. We actually made record time until we got 2 miles inside the limits of Black Hawk County (19 miles from house) where it seemed that the DOT had sent out the Zamboni machine rather than the salt truck. We started to come upon what looked like, in the distance, a parking lot full of flashing lights. The only way I was able to stop the band truck was by slowly inching to the side of the road so that the rumble strips caught my tires and the friction allowed us to slowly slide to a stop. I called 911 to let them know of the mess and that all we really needed was a salt/sand truck (or two) because the temperature was still about 30 degrees. We finally saw a salt truck SEVENTY FIVE minutes later. We snaked our way thru the cars in the ditch and the jack-knifed semis and made the final 19 miles in ABOUT AN HOUR! (and Holy Cow, did I ever have to pee!) (too much information?) But that's not the bad part. After that ordeal, I headed to my basement bedroom only to find about an inch of (very cold) water had leaked onto the floor from the pouring rain because of the damn ice jams that had formed in the gutters. (the same damn ice jams, now 5 inches thick, that I was doing the hatchet job on this afternoon) Two hours later I had sopped up enough water to reach the bed without having splashes of water over my slippers, but I was wound up from all the commotion (and the frequent cursing of Mother Nature and her unrelenting bitchiness this winter) so I decided (what was I thinking?) to get the two days of mail in my PO box at the post office a mile away. The only thing in the box was a notice that I was being audited by the Iowa Department of Revenue...
The "other" bit of news: I've been told that in order to be hip and happenin' The Blue Band needs a My Space page. (I've since been told that since people "my age" have finally caught up to My Space, that it's no longer "cool") (I might be old, but at least I'm slow) Anyway, I'm told that we now have a My Space location at http://www.myspace.com/bobdorrandtheblueband and that we have four whole friends. This is twice as many friends as I've ever had in my life! Altho' I think it's kind of creepy to get email messages saying "someone wants to be your friend" (it's kind of stalker like in an odd way, isn't it?) I'll be your friend if you'll be mine...
And finally, since there's no Blue Band gigs the next two Saturdays, I'll be doin' my Backtracks Rock'n'Roll History show LIVE on Iowa Public Radio 7-10p on both Mar. 1 and Mar. 8. Listen anywhere on the planet at www.kuniradio.org phone in requests, suggestions, or salutations at 1-800-772-2440, ext. 5. Talk to me babies...
See ya on the Blue Highway (find yourself a sand truck to follow in the freezing rain) Keep playing your washboard tie (the ripples in the tie could double as traction for your tires on the ice) Support Public TV, wish the Hollidays a HAPPY ANNIVERSARY tonight at Checkers and thank them for bringing The Blue Band back to Cedar Rapids by BRINGING CAKE! We love you, Bob Dorr & The Blue Band
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