Codorus, Bushwaller's, Tarara Winery, Spanky's and my new journal plan

Let's start with the new journal plan. The originally planned discipline and regularity of creating journal entries promptly after each gig has unfortunately deteriorated slowly. Call it a time issue, call it a slacking issue, or call it just plain wrong. Either way, I think it's time for a change. From here on out I plan to make my journal more of a free form jazz exploration. I will definitely still update it with an attention-keeping regularity, but I will probably make entries that comment on multiple gigs and maybe even some entries that have to do with stuff outside of the gigs.

So, time to recap on the last two Saturday's gigs. First, the Codorus Summer Blast Festival:

Codorus State Park is absolutely gorgeous. A big lake with camping and boating and all kinds of great stuff right outside Hanover, PA. The Summer Blast Festival concerts took place right next to the lake in a bandshell. I got there pretty early, so I had time to walk around a little and check the festival out. All around the bandshell and this area of the lake were booths set up with food, art stuff, and other activities and services. I think I even saw some chainsaw wood carving stuff as I walked around.

I was kind of uneasy early as Ken ended up being an hour and a half late for setup/soundcheck (a new FLB record!) and some of the sound equipment was late to arrive. Everything came together, though, and despite having the early performance slot (we played at 12:30pm--some Saturdays I'm lucky if I am out of bed by then), we had a great audience full of great listeners. During a break I talked to some folks and walked around and looked at the lake I got that peaceful warm feeling about how cool it is that I have a job where I get to visit these wonderful places I've never been and share music with great people. I am truly one lucky guy.

Big thanks to Joe Alfano and everyone at WARM 103, 96.1 FM, WSBA, and Cumulus Radio for having us up to play at the festival. We had a blast. Also, our thanks go out to Steve, Brock (fellow Dutchman!), the Pentagon crew, and everyone else who helped run sound. It was great to meet you all and a pleasure to work together.


So, the FLB jammed at the Summer Blast, packed up our gear, and headed home for a quick layover before our night gig at Bushwaller's. My great friend Mitch came down for the gig, so I had a feeling it might be a wild night.


As usual, Bushwaller's did not disappoint. Great crowd, great time, but man, it was hot as hell in the joint. I was sweating buckets all night and kept having to literally towel off during and in between songs. The crowd got into it, and before you know it the stage was full of fun people dancing and jamming with us. I love this place.

I was able to speak with some folks who said they caught our performance in Baker Park the week before and came out to see us again. That was very very encouraging. Special shout out to a couple of very nice ladies who watched by the bar and had some very kind things to say about the music and the group. You all rock!

Getting back to the fact that Bushwaller's has only a couple ceiling fans and no AC, the heat and the modest amount of imbibing I did somehow resulted in a very interpretive version of "Piano Man." They might not have been ready for that one, but their kids are going to love it.

Thanks to all the friends/fans that came out to The Bush. It's because of you all that we always look forward to playing there. See you again on the 22nd!


After a little summer R&R in Ocean City MD, I was back to play a double header on July 1st. First stop: Tarara Winery. I had never been to Tarara and it was a picturesque place right in VA wine country. The stage was right by a lake and the audience gathered to drink wine and have fun in a nice big open space surrounded by wooded areas. What a cool setup!

Besides a little sound-related adversity, the show went quite well. The wine was flowing and people seemed to be enjoying the music and great weather. We unfortunately had to jet to our next gig and couldn't stay for Annie Sidley, but we did get a chance to talk to some folks and hand out a lot of CDs. We even had some hardcore fans follow us to Spanky's! (Special shout out Kevin and Lori--they could write a manual on how to have a good time.)


After getting to Spanky's, we rushed like crazy to set up, change, and choke down some quick grub before starting to play. The show at Spanky's went really well. We were all having fun and there was a great crowd with a lot of folks who had seen us before (some even from the wine fest earlier). Lots of great dancing and I am happy to say that I collected my very first pantyhose on my keyboard. I'm not quite sure whose it was, but does that really matter? Of course not.


So, there's the last two Saturdays in a nutshell. Two rockin' double-headers in two weeks. Our performance this past Sunday at the Harrisburg American MusicFest unfortunately was canceled due to all the rain and flooding PA received over the past week. I was really looking forward to playing the festival and being back in Harrisburg, but it was also nice to get a chance to rest.

That about does it. I hope everyone is enjoying the summer. Ditch work, stress less, be spontaneous, enjoy the sunshine--summer only comes once a year. Until my next "free form" post, see you at the shows...