Bob Dorr And The Blue Band Update

Well, recuperating from two, 14-hour, cube van rides and a day that included two settings and strikings of the stage (and one providing the entire sound system) five sets, one of which started at 7:35am and another that ended at 1am the following morning, all within a 77 hour time frame, was more difficult than I thought it would be. Particularly when I came home to the beginning of a total make over of my bathroom/shower area in the house, which may or may not be done by Saturday morning when I'll need to climb back in that aforementioned cube van (which, btw, demonstrated an insatiable appetite for quarters while parked on the downtown streets of Denver EVERY TWO HOURS-24/7, not to mention guzzling $1100 in gasoline) and head off to the greatest way any band could ever imagine to end the outdoor festival season: the annual Harvest/Anniversary party at The Tabor Home Vineyard in Baldwin IA. (about half way between Dubuque and Davenport, just a little west of Maquoketa) I think this is the Vineyard's 16th anniversary. I think we've been part of 15 of them. (does anyone remember if we played the First Tabor Winery Anniversary? That would have been at the tail end of my drinking days, so recollection is a little foggy) The event has become a Tabor/Blue Band, end of summer, multi-generational, reunion celebration. I hope you can join us again, this Saturday afternoon (10/6). Dress in layers, you'll get warmer as the wine starts motivating your dancin' shoes. The event starts at 1pm, Blue Band, 2-5:30p. And speaking of reunions, saxman Nathan Peoples is moving back to Iowa and will join Eddie in the horn section for this very special event. Wining? yes. Whining? no. CAKE? always. http://www.taborhomewinery.com/
I'm really looking forward to next week's (10/12) kick-off to another monthly Friday Night Geeeezer Gig season at The Hub, bub, at 4th & Main (a very notorious corner in the history of Sparkle City USA) We play 6-9:30p. http://thehublivemusic.com/
This past Wednesday, Oct. 3, I celebrated another milestone. It was the 40th anniversary of the night I did the first EVAH rock'n'roll radio show on an Iowa Public Radio station. Thank you for the years of encouragement and support. The shows live on: http://iowapublicradio.org/studio-one/backtracks/ and http://iowapublicradio.org/studio-one/blue-avenue/ remember Backtracks, the rock'n'roll history show has moved to 3-5pm Saturday afternoons and please help spread the word that the first, EVAH, live in the afternoon, Backtracks show will happen next Sat. 10/13. Advance requests for that show, just reply to this note or email bob.dorr@bobdorr.com Do keep in mind that all songs are at least 25 years old on that program.
I could not be more proud of the 6 guys who did the Colorado Tough But (REALLY) Dumb Tour. Six men, average age about 60 (thank goodness Eddie pulls the average down a bit) who did nothing but drive, set up, play, tear down, sleep, repeat, for 4 days and maintained their professionalism and courtesy right from the first note (and GAWD that first note was early in the morning!) (special thanks to "the other Bob Dorr" who drove up from Colorado Springs and brought pineapple upside down CAKE!!) The band was groovin' for the marathon runners in the morning and the wedding party at night. (Congrats to Kathleen and Jesus (Hey, Zeus) the bride and groom. The groom played three songs with us on guitar. I told him that if he ever wanted to give up his law practice to sit in a cube van for 14 hours to make $100, he's welcome to join) (neither he, nor Kathleen thought that was a good idea) (in retrospect, not too many band members thought that was a good idea either!) Personally, I learned some things that I didn't really want to know. I learned that I don't really want to spend another 14 hour day of my life just drivin' to the gig. I learned that, these days, it scares me feeling responsible for everyone's well being 800 miles from home for even a few days. And that makes me think too much about the cost of perseverance of my life goals and aspirations. Maybe the biggest problem is that despite all the challenges of Father Time, I relearned that I am still a gig junky. I love to play in a band. Please help spread the word that we NEED the work and have lots of open dates in the coming months. Jeff and I can supply our duo, all the way up to an 8 piece version of The Blue Band. Call me babies: http://www.theblueband.com/contactBob.htm
I have made at least one trip to Menards every day for the last 8 days in order to deal with my bathroom remodeling. I have purchased something from Menards, Lowes, Home Depot, and Ace Hardware in those 8 days. I am one with the wallpaper removal steamer. But at least I've been runnin' on 4 hours of sleep (does ANYBODY know a contractor/carpenter that works on musician hours?) The carpenter gets here at 8:15a. The bathroom is right next to my bedroom. As you can see, this note is getting out "early" (before 3am) so that I might be able to get 5 hours tonight!
See yas on the Blue Highway, rub yer washboard to the tune of Drinkin' Wine, Spodeeodee, Drinkin' Wine, remember cheese CAKE goes extremely well with the Tabor award winning wines, and never forget that we love you, Bob Dorr & The Blue Band