Here it is nearly a week later and I'm just coming down from the BIG BUZZ of the Iowa State Fair. Four days as a Fair Go-er and two days as a Fair performer + LOTS of foods on a stick = one of the greatest natural highs of all time! You can call me honey butter cuz I am on a roll, baby! If I could just have one more porkchop on a sick! More on that later...
First, the biz at hand. Saturday evening, please join us for Brew-B-Q, River Walk Park, Independence, IA ,5-9 p.m. All details: www.buchanan247.com/bucn200908121.html Actually get there early because another great soul/blues band, The Dynaflows, start the afternoon's entertainment at 2pm. You can sample all the beers while they're playing and we can take advantage of your happy disposition later! (the drunker you get, the better we sound)...
And speaking of taking advantage of your tipsiness, Saturday of Labor Day weekend (9/5) finds us at The Grape Stomp (yes, you can actually stomp grapes) at The Park Farm Winery, Bankston, IA 4-6 p.m. More info/directions: www.parkfarmwinery.com This was a fabulous time last year on a very picturesque vineyard. Do the Stomp! (The Twist and The Mashed Potato too) And then SUNDAY 9/6 (not Labor Day Monday as in years past) marks our return to FB & Co. in Waubeek (20 minutes NE of Cedar Rapids) Holding this event on Sunday instead of Monday allows an extra day of recovery before the grim reality of the end of summer sets in! And I don't know about you, but recovery time seems to take longer and longer these days! The Mississippi Band (I think this band has been together longer than we have and we've been together 28 years!) starts the entertainment in the beer garden at 2pm, Blue Band starts about 5:30p (there is no time in Waubeek)...
From the unusually mild weather, to Jeff's prostate surgery (he missed one gig) (YIKES, how'd he do that?) to using five different bass players, this summer has been unique and fun in many ways. I am so proud of the band's depth of resources to be able to find qualified players to play the gigs when the "regulars" could not make it and to persevere through the roadblocks on The Blue Highway. (there's been a lot of construction zones on that highway this summer) Frankly, there were many gigs that I did not know how it would sound or how we'd get through them with all the inexperienced players (which is doubly frightening to a control freak like me!) But we did. And we sounded good! Thank you Blue Banders and Blue Band encouragers, we accomplished it all together...
Unfortunately, I spent so much time enjoying the summer (and rehearsing bass players!) that I have not put in the time to effectively find work for us in the coming months. Most of the clubs and casinos have the rest of their year booked and I missed it. In my 35 years as a band leader, I have learned that the best way to keep a band together (especially bands comprised of veteran, high quality musicians) is to keep 'em working! We have lots of open dates in the Holiday season and in 2010. Please help spread the word to corporate party planners, your town festival organizers, your favorite casinos, and nightclubs that The Blue Band needs work. I know we can make it thru lean times with your help. Consider having that end of summer or Holiday party on your deck at your acreage on the outskirts of town. Or if you don't have an acreage, consider that house party with us playing in your basement! Oooops, I was starting to sound whiney and begging there, wasn't I?...
I think the real reason that I have not been spending enough time trying to find us work is that I have now joined the 21st century and have a Facebook page: www.facebook.com/reqs.php#/profile.php?id=100000167776066&ref=name This damn thing takes WAY too much time. It suckered me in and now I'm addicted to checking it every 25 seconds. The webmistress has posted some cool stuff from the Fair on that page (Heath & I doing our duo performance of He's Back In Town on the TV8 News and little 10 year old Adam Todd playing guitar with us on I Dig Your Wig) (but I REALLY like the picture of she and I at the New Year's Eve party 1994!) She has also posted the web addresses for a gallery of her Fair photos on our chat page (www.theblueband.com/chat2.cfm) I am truly an analog man caught in a digital world. Curse you geeks! Next thing you know, I'll be asking for virtual CAKE!...
My sleep habits have gone from bad to worse. Why do I find myself singing Bunky's song I Just Can't Sleep at 4:15 in the morning? Must be that things are going so well that I don't want to miss out on a single minute! (or somethin'...) See yas on The Blue Highway, rub yer washboard while becoming my Facebook Friend, remember CAKE goes good with beer, barbque, and blues and never forget that we love you...Bob Dorr & The Blue Band
