Tonight (Fri. 5/6) is the final First Friday GEEeeeeeZER Gig for the season, at The Hub, 4th & Main, Sparkle City USA. Remember, we're moving to the second Friday when the series starts again in October. Kick off the weekend with pizza by the slice, a few adult sodas, lots of dances, and still be home for the 10 o'clock news! We play 6-9:30 ish. We're hoping that Avis' husband brings out the green guitar (or any of the other 399 guitars he has on the wall at Bob's Guitars) Eddie joins Al in the horn section and we're looking forward to the high school horn players sitting in on some tunes. What's not to like, right Avis? BRING CAKE! Stayin' with the mother theme, The Hub has been the mother of all Blue Band employers again this past year. More than 10% of all our gigs in the last calendar year came from The Hub. Thanks to Marcus and staff and house soundman Josh Hubrig for another great Friday evening season. Remember The Hub is also hosting the Blue Band's hometown Birthday Party on Sat. June, 11, 7-10p. Outside in the beer garden if possible, inside if necessary...
Saturday (5/7) Jeff and I are doing something we haven't done in over 10 years: Play a date as a duo. Fortunately, Jeff has some new fangled electronic gizmo that makes us sound like a 40 piece band with horns and slide whistles. I'll be the drummer/harmonica player/singer, Jeff will be the other 37 guys, as well as sing 3-part harmony at the same time. The event is really a fundraiser for The Food Chain, a new feed-the-poor initiative in Cedar Rapids. Most of the money they hope to raise is from the sale of the original works of art that are currently on display in the "gallery" part of The Sub City Sandwich Shop (421 1st Ave, SE) Have a sandwich, buy some art, feed the poor, and hear a 40 piece orchestra from 6-9pm. CheeseCAKE would be perfect for this gig...
Then we are not currently scheduled to play until May 22, with the big kickoff to the summer season happening over Memorial Day weekend (it'll be interesting to see if we can physically still do 3 full shows, and drive 300 miles in 36 hours!) Let us know if you need entertainment for that Welcome Spring garage/deck/block party in the next couple of weeks...
It seems that I have gotten the mother of all sicknesses. The antibiotics have taken away some of the sore throat and ear pain, but my sense of sweet taste and appetite seems to have vanished. This is not all together a bad thing, as I dropped another 3 pounds, getting ever closer to my high school football playing weight. (ya shoulda seen me throw that ball) (preparing for an attempted comeback in case the NFL has no season this year) I've been treated by a medical doctor, a chiropractor, and a dentist. The dentist says I need to go back to the oral surgeon. And I just want to taste some devil's food CAKE!...
So this week's Backtracks radio show is another rerun (the show that featured all the recently rediscovered vinyl in Iowa Public Radio libraries) I'm hoping to feel well enough to do a live call-in/request show on 5/14 and, thanks to so many people who responded to last weeks note, the Horn Band Special, scheduled for May 21, is already half done! The playlist, much of it suggested by people on this list, or people on my Facebook page, currently includes: Chase, Tower of Power, Sly & The Family Stone, The Buckinghams, Chicago, Average White Band, Isley Bros., Edgar Winter's White Trash, South Side Johnny & The Jukes, Blood Sweat and Tears, Isis, Lighthouse, Sons of Champlin, Delbert Mc Clinton, Commander Cody, Delaney & Bonnie & Friends, Joe Cocker, Willie Murphy and the Bumble Bees, The Fabulous Flippers, Buddy Miles, Cold Blood, and The Ohio Players. And that's just the first half of the show! Let me know if you have any other suggestions, I'll be finishing recording that show in the next few days...
My mother was an incredible woman. She could make unbelievable dinners for 8 people, out of thin air, anytime The Little Red Rooster Band or The Blue Band showed up at her door at 2am in the morning. I was a fat kid because of the bite size, special recipe, frosted, apple/cinnamon/chocolate chip cookies she would make. Her gardening skills allowed her to grow roses that flourished, outside, enduring year after year through the brutal midwestern climates that she lived in her entire life. She could manage a catered ballroom or special event like no other because she had a work ethic that was inspiring. I was her only child. I would give everything I have and mortgage the house twice if I could spend one more hour talking with her so I could thank her for everything she did for me...
Unless we get some last minute work, there probably won't be a Blue Note next week (you'll have to be on your own to remember to get those Riverboat/Blue Band Anniversary Party tickets on The Spirit of Dubuque Riverboat, June 3) See ya on The Blue Highway, rub yer washboard tie to the tune of Mama Told Me Not To Come, let all the mothers in your life know how you feel, strawberry shortCAKE makes the perfect Mother's Day dessert, and don't forget we love you (my friend Chuck commented that I really must have been sick last week because I forgot to remember to remind you of our affections) Bob Dorr & The Blue Band
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