If I Only Had A Brain and More Time to Watch YouTube

While in the middle of trying to make some serious deadlines, the last thing I should do is go on YouTube. I should have parental controls put on that damn site. You can fall in and get lost. One minute you're trying to find a ballad with something about "morning glory" in the title, next thing you know you're watching Phish's drummer's mom play the above-mentioned song on an Electrolux vacuum cleaner, and then -- this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZsj4jKkXoc&feature=related

Pretty smooth, eh? Check this out. The "morning glory" reference is to this song by Lizz Wright. Years ago, I listened to it all the time, then could not for the life of me remember the title or the singer. Today, thank God and Google, the phrase "she's just a morning glory" dug its way out of my brain and I found the title "Blue Rose." And then I found this. Get comfortable, it's a bit long.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rHqJCPvMnI

Heartbreaking. Humans can be so crude, cruel and vicious, and yet capable of something this beautiful. Until a second ago, I hadn't thought to look on YouTube for the song. Her performance is unbelievable, and the guitar player is tearing me up. Music like this gives me hope.

And now, back to work.

Weekend Update

Friday, the Amici Trio (or, as we were billed on the promo sign, "The Amici Bros") played for a packed house at Cantone's Friday evening. Under the watchful and I hope approving eye of Frank Sinatra, we knocked 'em dead. Watch for future bookings at this location. It looks like we'll be welcomed back.

Saturday, the Trio played for a wedding at the Harrisburg Country Club. Sorry, no pictures, but imagine a very happy couple and a full dance floor and you'll get the picture.


This is my little brother, with a genuine look of surprise on his face. This afternoon, his family and friends gathered at the Wallish house to celebrate 25 years of rawking by Dave. I'm not sure on the math, but if you added up all the musicians in the room, I think you could have fielded at least five complete bands, and all of them would be pretty darn good.



This is David realizing that he'll still be able to watch television after the digital switchover. On this TV, we watched a retrospective of Dave's bands from Spellbound to Leghorn, with all the skinny ties and eighties hair you could ever want. Kathy Wallish has a talent for scrapbooking and preserving memories, and it was evident in the DVD. Here's to 25 more, little brother.

Amici Trio at the Iberian Lounge and Other Stuff

I don't have pictures for this entry, but last night was another well-received Trio performance at the Hotel Hershey. The dance floor was filled with folks who: (1) appear to be mature enough to remember when the Sinatra tunes we do weren't classics yet; (2) dance like they know what they're doing out there; and (3) provide an answer to the question, how do you stay young at heart? Apparently, dancing has something to do with it. There are couples out there who have a 20 year head-start on me, doing dips that would blow out my lower back in a heartbeat. Playing for dancers is what I enjoy most, and we had a good time.

Thanks to my friend Sean Sanderson for coming out to the Lounge and making sure my guitar wasn't too loud. It looks like the Trio will be appearing at the Iberian Lounge again on Saturday, November 1st. I'll confirm that later.

Just Friends is on hiatus for what's left of September, and then we have an action-packed October. Unfortunately, most of the jobs are private clubs, out of town or both. There is a strong possibility that we'll be at the Casino on Thursday, October 30th. I'll confirm that later as well after getting the final word from Manager Jack.

The St. Catherine Laboure Choir started up again this morning, and we had so many new faces and voices that everyone, including Joreen, kept saying "Wow." There are a bunch of new sopranos and altos, and we have a pretty neat sound. I'm looking forward to this choir season, knowing that Joreen will come up with some cool music to take advantage of all the new firepower. We do the 11:00 Mass every Sunday. It's a Kelly family thing, now that Mary's singing alto again.

Quick musical recommendation: I just got a new CD, released in August, by a singer-songwriter named Emory Joseph. The disc, "Fennario," is all covers of Garcia and Hunter tunes, reinterpreted but true to the creative flash that inspired the Grateful Dead at their best. For a taste of what I'm talking about, check out this cover of Tennessee Jed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7rsjDY_AUk

It's been a while since I've heard something that made me do the Dead Twirl (nobody home but the dog, of course, who insisted on jumping around with me).

Chilling out with the Amici Trio

The Trio were cool in more ways than one last night, playing on the veranda of the Hotel Hershey as the sun set on a crisp, clear September evening. The above photo was taken by Joreen after dark. Thanks to her, Kathy, Angelina and Jack for listening. They were part of a small but hardy and appreciable audience who listened as we played a variety of smoothies, standards and pop songs.

A Trio gig is a very enjoyable guitar experience for me, because Gio and Vince do all the heavy lifting on vocals, keys and horns. All I have to do is try not to clam. The Hotel Hershey is a perfect location for the Amici Trio, elegant and classy ("classy" as in five bucks a beer).

We will be appearing at the hotel again tonight from 9:00 to midnight, this time in the Iberian Lounge, so you don't need an extra sweater. If you come to hear us, I'll buy you a beer. (Sip it slowly.)

Check out the above photo. I'm the one not showing off his chest hair.

So, How Are Things?

In response to good-natured prodding from my friends, I will begin posting again to the blog, and I'll start off with a sure thing: a recent grandboy photo. Cute, isn't he?

Many new things going on these days. Those of you in the loop know the details, but to summarize:

Just Friends has two new members, Jim Wallish on trombone and Craig Rankin on drums. Both are ace players and really decent guys, and we're busy preparing for a busy October, to include our annual Italian-American Society banquet at the Hershey Convention Center.

The Amici Trio has a new member, me, on guitar. We'll be at the Hershey Hotel tonight and tomorrow.

Joreen is taking grad courses on-line and getting A's, making us all proud. You can give her a dollar when you see her.

Joreen and I went back up to Cape Cod for vacation, and I have lots of cool pics to post, but here's my favorite:

Now I have to get back to work, because in other news, I'm up to my eyeballs in backlog.