Whoa, I am busy with a variety of stuff this weekend. Friday the 13th, The Blue Band is lucky to have been invited to this year's JayCees Live To 9 event right here in Sparkle City USA. Outside, along the bank of the Cedar River, in the shadow of the historic Ice House Museum, on the cool new stage in Sturgis Park (I just realized we've NEVER played that stage!) It's a fun way for the JayCees to raise funds for all the activities they support thru the year. Drink beer, have a bite to eat, dance, laugh, and benefit your community all at once? What's not to like, right Avis? The beer starts flowin' at 5:30, The Blue Band plays 6-9pm. Rumor has it that local rock stars might show up and play guitar or trombone or spoons or zydeco tie or kazoo or oboe or bagpipes. (ok, the bagpipes probably won't happen, but I'm still holding out hope for a little blues oboe) And after we're done, the party moves to The Hub where Checker & The Bluetones are promising to play until 4 in the morning (or is that the delusional thing happening again?) Now THAT is the way to start the weekend! This is the last Blue Band show booked in the Cedar Valley until The Wing Ding Thing on Sept. 6 so don't miss it if you can...
Saturday night I'm doing the Backtracks Rock 'n' Roll History Radio Show LIVE! I do not recall EVAH doing a live show on a Saturday night in the summer, so help me make thru the night! (on the other hand, I often have difficulty recalling what I had for lunch) (yes, I seem to have devolved into the Ozzy of the local music scene) The LIVE shows always seem to turn into RequestFests, so if you have music suggestions, reply to this email or call 800-772-2440 ext. while the show is on (7-10pm) I answer all the calls myself (it's a one-man operation) if you get thru, let it ring, I'll answer asap. More info or streamed audio, start here: http://iowapublicradio.org/studio-one/backtracks/ Remember, Backtracks deals exclusively in material that is at least 25 years old. You might want to get your request in early, as it seems like my Facebook Friends have already picked out half the show! More info on the Sunday Blue Avenue blues show: http://iowapublicradio.org/studio-one/blue-avenue/
And then, something COMPLETELY different! Jeff and I are doing our every-once-in-awhile DUO on Sunday afternoon at the Tabor Home Vineyard in Baldwin (about halfway between Dubuque and Davenport) (http://www.taborhomewinery.com/) We actually rehearsed for over 3 hours on Tuesday (about twice as long as my normal attention span) and both of us continually remarked how different the songs are with 2 people playing them rather than 6! This is further complicated by me trying to play drums, harmonica and sing at the same time while Jeff plays ACOUSTIC guitar rather than the Flying V! (why do I have flashbacks of Artie Johnson saying verrrrrdddy interestink...?) (oops, there's that damn Sex-Geniarian thing happening again) Fortunately, our trumpet playing friend from Nashville, Steve Smartt, says he's going to be in the state for pre-RAGBRAI training and is promising to show up and play with us! Steve is just the coolest, unpretentious, low key, genuine human being, you'd ever hope to meet. As a matter of fact, he'd be a little miffed at me if he knew that I told you he's done gigs with Delbert McClinton, Percy Sledge, Archie Bell, Bruce Channel, Steve Cropper, and Lee Roy Parnell, just to name a few. You'll want to catch this guy if you can. We play 3-6pm. Remember, there's vats and vats and vats of wine there. Sip until we sound good. They'll make more!...
Since my last note, Carolyn has been relegated to wearing the support boot for her foot. The good news is that she did not rebrake that same ankle she broke a few years ago. The bad news is she's got a hairline fracture in her foot. The worse news is that her pinky finger was really smashed when she tried to break her fall and now that finger, and the one next to it, have been totally immobilized in a cast that comes up to her mid arm. Despite all that, she came along to all 5 gigs last week, sang her couple of songs with the band, and generally maintained a smile on her face despite all the "hoppy" jokes (Hop on up here, Carolyn, and sing a couple songs; What's Hoppenin', Carolyn?; Is everybody Hoppy?) (you get the idea) (quick, if you've got anymore Hoppiness puns, get it to me soon, she might be out of that boot next Tuesday)...
And don't forget to make your reservations at your favorite spot around the Iowa Lakes next weekend, as The Blue Band gets to be part of the ReMax Weekend music series in Okoboji next Friday, July 20. We play real close to the Iowa Rock'n'Roll Music Association Hall of Fame. I hesitate to call us "Museum Pieces" but we were inducted into that HOF in 2007!...
And finally, I'm leavin' ya with a link to a really cool "arts segment" produced by Cedar Falls Cablevision, based around our appearance at this year's Sturgis Falls Celebration: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UKBZagFkns
So, after all of this, I just realized that I DON'T know what day it is, because apparently it's Wednesday night/Thursday morning and I usually send these notes out tomorrow instead of now! Hmmm, proof that I'm still ahead of my time! See yas on the Blue Highway (and airwaves) Bring yer mojo and yer black cat cat bone to the Friday The 13th show, no matter how confused I get, I always know that CAKE can bring me back! We love you, Bob Dorr & The Blue Band
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