Is This Thing On?

Riding The Storm Out

2011-08-30T06:43:00.003-05:00

We were spared the worst of the hurricane, thank God. The hype had me worked up enough to go buy a gas-powered generator, which kept my basement mostly dry while the lights were out for 11 hours and also saved not only my refrigerator but the fridge next door. Prayers go out to those who had it so much worse.

Evening air last night made it plain that it's close to September. Kids are back in school and time to pull out jackets. We got done a few of the things we planned for the summer, and saved a bunch for the fall, winter and spring. Joreen and I have been working on our duo shows and have one coming up at Cornerstone Coffeehouse on Saturday, Sept. 3. It's Labor Day weekend so we're looking for the staycation demographic.

I know my brother Bill checks this blog, so hey, Bill. Hope you're feeling better. I'll contact you later on today to see how things are.

What A Marvelous Night...

2011-07-15T00:30:00.002-05:00

... for "Moondance," "Old Time Rock and Roll," "Blueberry Hill" and a couple dozen other tunes played on a perfect warm summer evening. It's reassuring to have an outdoor summer show that doesn't involve swirling black clouds on the horizon, angry red blotches on the Weather Channel map and furious unfurling of tarps to protect gear. Tonight the most stressful thing was deciding whether to eat more WingDings (oh man they were good) or a second crab cake sandwich. We played down in Thurmont, MD for the Guardian Hose Fire Co. and the organizers couldn't have been nicer. Bob Oxendale, our contact person, turned out to be a great guy, and his wife Diane was a sweetheart as well. These are hardworking people trying to raise funds for firefighters, who in a perfect world would be fully funded and Jason Werth would need to have a bake sale to pay for his relocation costs to D.C., but let's not turn this into a rant. If there's no justice all the time, at least there's good people doing good things. Just Friends had a blast tonight. It's shows like this that make the good memories you take down the road with you.

Tomorrow night, we're back at the Dillsburg Legion for the first time since last Christmas. These are some serious dancers and we have to bring our A-game (what is this, the Sports Channel? But I digress).

Our Friend, Mr. Caffeine

2011-07-13T08:11:00.005-05:00

I just booked a few shows on the coffeehouse circuit, two at Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill and one at a new place for me, Warm Hearts Cafe in Mechanicsburg. (Thanks to Roger and Hemlock Hollow for the lead on this place.) These are smoke-free, alcohol-free and family-friendly venues, and it's always a treat playing for a sober, alert audience. These are no-cover venues, but donations to the tip jar go to a worthy cause, the Change The Strings Foundation, "... because strings can't change themselves." Show times are on my schedule.

Tomorrow, Just Friends plays the Guardian Hose Co. Carnival in Thurmont, MD. It's supposed to be a glorious summer evening, so if you're in the mood for a road trip, we'll see you there.

Life Has Its Ups And Downs

2011-07-12T14:52:00.003-05:00

Ups include finally releasing a project after years of preparation and anticipation and months of hard work. Downs include losing an opportunity to promote the sale of that project to a DJ. Hell, they don't even carry crates of albums in and out of venues anymore. "Mouse jockeys" is more like it.

Yes, It's Hot Enough For Me, So Buzz Off

2011-07-11T21:02:00.003-05:00

Man, it's a hot one. My little window AC units keep things bearable, but running errands today was a reminder how July in central PA can be. I spent a bunch of time trying to find suitable CD mailers, without success. Funny how life's lessons come at you in strange ways. I am learning why "shipping and handling" can add so much to the price of stuff. Those mailers are a bugger. I'm trying to find something cheaper on the Internet. I sent out a few discs to some folks, and that's cool.

Summertime, And The Livin' Is Easy -- But Cutting The Grass Is Not

2011-07-10T16:14:00.003-05:00

Sitting in my office AC waiting for the sweat to dry enough to type this entry, I am nonetheless grateful to be able to go out and do it. I have friends and acquaintances whose backs, knees and other equipment won't take the stress. I wish they were in better shape. Then they could come and do mine while I made blog entries.

Joreen and I had a great time at the New Oxford carnival last night. If you're a Facebooker, you can see the pics I took of Laredo and of my dear wife sitting in front of my CD. She was the only one to get within touching distance of the thing, but we still had a blast. Because of her Mass schedule she couldn't get there in time to perform with me, but we are intent on forming one of those husband and wife duos, like Sonny and Cher, only without the plastic surgery, the fur coats, the right-wing Republican politics, the divorce lawyers and, of course, the tree right in the middle of where I'm skiing. Ouch.

Time to go shower and play Mass. Tomorrow, a day in the AC just typing transcripts. I'm looking forward to it.

"I Do," She Did, We Still Do

2011-07-09T07:06:00.003-05:00

Thirty-five years ago today I did the smartest thing, maybe the only real smart thing, in my life. I made Joreen Howell Mrs. Kelly, and she made me a very happy man. In a previous blog entry an anniversary or two ago, I told the story of our wedding. We're getting ready to go to Mass this morning, then breakfast. Tonight I'm opening for Laredo at the New Oxford festival.

Last night we went out, not really planning to make it a full-fledged date, but just down to the ABC for a beer. I sold two discs (woo hoo!) and then we went upstairs and saw an amazing bluegrass band called Dehlia Low. My friends Bill and Roger were there and we agreed that there should have been many more people in attendance at this performance. Of course, there's no justice in music, there's only livin' the dream, selling the discs and making memories, like "the time we spent ten hours getting from DC to Harrisburg." Good times, good times. The show was great, the dobro and mandolin were both first class, and best of all the writing was awesome, so awesome that I spent most of what I made on my record to buy one of theirs.

There is new content on the website. Thanks to my wonderful wedded webmistress, the lyrics to the songs on the CD are up with the backstory to each song. When I say I'm the luckiest guy around, just look at my website. She did that for me. How many guys my age are getting nagged about not painting the bathroom yet? She's the best. I shouldn't talk about her too much, give other mens ideas.

This Thing Is Back On

2011-07-08T09:12:00.003-05:00

It's been some time, and the last post mentioned the recording process. It's finished, and here's what it looks like.

There's a lot to say about the whole thing, but to be honest I'm kind of pressed for time. The new website is up, thanks to Joreen, and I'm doing some content for that. I have a bunch of people I want to deliver the record to. There's an element of being reluctant to toot my own horn that I guess I'm going to have to temporarily just get over. The fact is, dagnabit, although the credit for anything good goes to Someone Else, I am kind of proud of what Dave and I have accomplished, with the help of Joreen, Bill Nork, Craig Rankin, John Wilson and the Amazing McGovern Backup Singers. I'll try to reactivate this blog. We'll see how successful I am. I'm going to need to get myself organized and focused if this is going to work. The ultimate goal, somewhere between pie-in-the-sky and fully blown hallucinatory, is to make enough from the sale of the CD to cover its costs and finance the beginning of the next one. Talk to you later.

Let The Good Times Roll

2011-02-27T23:08:00.002-05:00

Lent is coming, but first comes Mardi Gras. Joreen, Alex, Craig Rankin and I are going to be the entertainment at St. Catherine's Mardi Gras Benefit this Friday. We are going to do both kinds of music: rock, and roll. Plus some Hank Williams (Jambalaya) and Fats Domino and a bunch of other stuff. Music is still the best. Tomorrow, I'm going over to Davy's to continue work on the solo album. It's been a very musical weekend so far, including getting to sit in with Laredo on Mustang Sally. Again. What an amazing piece of music history that song is. Even if the people playing it would like to jam chopsticks in their ears rather than hear it again, the dancers just love it. Go figure.

I Told You I Was Working On My Solo Album

2011-02-21T14:46:00.003-05:00

I was over at Dave's studio again this morning. We had a very productive morning, doing the basic guitar tracks and lead vocals on "A Day's Drive," "Butterfly" and "Things I Keep Forgetting." At this rate, I hope to have a finished product before Memorial Day. Keep a good thought. We're having a lot of fun, which is saying something for me because I have always hated "the studio." Jerry Garcia's quote always resonated with me: "Playing live is like sailing a ship on the ocean. Playing in the studio is like building a ship in a bottle."

Love Is In The Air....

2011-02-12T11:51:00.004-05:00

... which is an improvement over last night at the Shippensburg VFW when stale cigarette smoke was in the air, but we had fun. Everyone had a little rust and a few pieces of gear, like the lights, were creaking and cracking a bit, but we still had a good time and were well received. I provided the night's comic relief by forgetting I had done Your Mama Don't Dance in the first set and not realizing it until we were almost done with it the second time. Today we're getting ready to play at the Zembo uptown, and it's a Valentine's dance. Instead of doing what I'm supposed to do, I quickly worked up a chart for this Nat King Cole gem, and it's going to take Copacabana or Billy Don't Be A Hero to get this out of my head. Now, time to make the donuts -- I mean setlists.

Rollin'

2011-02-09T18:02:00.002-05:00

That's what my little brother David says before he starts recording a track. We finally got down to business in the new studio this morning and before we were done we had the basic rhythm tracks and lead vocals for three tunes: "John Henry's Work Song," "Sparkle and Shine" and "Tryin'." We work very well together. David has a very keen ear for what's good and bad, and what's good and better. I trust his judgment, and he's only going to get better at this with practice. Hopefully I'll have something worth promoting and using for a demo by the summertime if not before.

Bowl, Super; Black Eyed Peas, Not So Much

2011-02-07T10:31:00.003-05:00

I've been posting comments on Facebook referring to that halftime mess as "Tron: The Musical." As is our tradition on Super Bowl Sunday, Joreen and I played 7:00 Mass (for all 90 people that showed up, and yes, I counted the house) and then went down to the brewery. The poorly mixed, poorly performed and poorly conceived blend of LED technology and B-movie LSD visuals was way too long and, in the brewery, too loud. The best you can say for it is that it introduced folks to the next generation of lighting technology, which if you've seen Phish lately you're already hip to. Radio controlled remote light rigs in costumes is interesting stuff. If only they had used their powers for good instead of evil. Remember when "Disco Sucks" days were held in ballparks and they burned all the disco records? I propose doing the same for vocoders. They should stack all of them (what are there, about 20 or so?) in a pile and burn the lot. Well, maybe one should be kept in quarantine, like smallpox, so if the vocoder is ever developed again we'll know how to destroy one most effectively.

The football game was pretty good, though. Congratulations to our friends who are Green Bay fans. Condolences to the rest of y'unz.

Cold Season

2011-01-28T10:53:00.002-05:00

I have a bit of a scratchy throat and the strong feeling that a cold is coming on. It's not a bad time to have it, since my hearing schedule is light and there's no Just Friends gigs for a couple weeks. In the meantime, I've never gotten around to sharing my Youtube channel with you all. There's not too much of my playing on it other than the Just Friends demo and the Moxie videos, which didn't turn out half bad. I was having a good guitar day that night, almost clam-free for a change. The drummer in those vids, Dave Splain, will be sitting in with Just Friends at the Carlisle Moose in March. We rehearsed for the first time with him last night, and he's a good guy and it went well.

Looking at the videos I've favorited, I can't help but think of Dee-Dee Kelly's record collection and the eclectic mix of records that were in it. I credit him with my pretty whacked out omniverous musical tastes, and I thank him for it. The downside is it's pretty difficult to go hear some of this stuff live or hope that stuff like "I'm Pau" would ever get played out live to large audiences in a world of Justin Bieber/Lady Gagag (might be an extra G there). Check out some of this stuff. Now that I'm inviting other folks in, I'll try to add to the favorites from time to time. There's a treasure trove of great music on Youtube and at least for now it's all available for free. I won't be surprised if that changes, but I'm enjoying it for now -- sometimes, like when I have transcripts overdue, maybe a little too much.

Speaking of which, I better hit publish and get back to work.

Oh boy. Snow. Whoopee.

2011-01-26T21:17:00.002-05:00

This is where I wish I could go back in time and put aside a dollar from every week I delivered papers and invest it in, oh, I don't know, whatever, and then by the time I was old like now I'd be a "snowbird" and I wouldn't have to dress like this and go blow snow. Oh, well. We have homemade bread and plenty of snacks and milk, and I did get the snowblower belts replaced today, thanks to Hornung's Hardware. Forget any other big box hardware store; Hornung's has saved my chestnuts more than twice, and today was a big one. They came, picked up the machine, replaced the belts and had it back here by 3:00, before the storm. They seriously rock.

Now we'll see if the weather will let me get over to Dave's to record tomorrow. We already postponed starting once, putting off till tomorrow what the snow wouldn't let us do today. I'm getting really antsy to get to work on this project. I don't have any delusions of being a big rock star -- there's only about six of them left at this point -- but it would be nice to have clean, studio quality versions of some of my tunes while we're all still able to care about such stuff. Stay tuned.

I Hit The Megamillions Lottery!

2011-01-05T12:19:00.003-05:00

Well, okay, I only hit it for eight bucks, but that's a four dollar net profit. Woo hoo! Who needs $330 million anyway? Nothing but problems, people pestering you to buy Rolexes (Rolices?), all those new relatives to get acquainted with... fuhgeddaboudit. I guess we'll have to go with Plan B, which is to go to work in Easton tomorrow.

As an aside, since I've been using Joreen's old ThinkPad to log in and post I've noticed some spam ads appearing in my text, underlined in green. I apologize for that although I don't know how to get rid of it. The kids have been playing on-line games on this machine for so long it's a wonder there's anything besides spyware on this puppy. Hopefully my Toshiba will be back soon, and hopefully the repair won't cost much more than four bucks. (Yeah, right!) Easy come, easy go.

Oh, Joy, Another Year

2011-01-03T21:43:00.002-05:00

We got off to a great start today. My computer's fan started making grinding noises, and I don't have the proprietary wrench to go in and mess with it. I had to pay a "bench fee" to find out how badly I was going to get "hosed." I hate computers. They're of Satan.

Joreen and I spent the day sending out promo materials on the band, and we managed to nail down one event in March, so there's something to live for besides the Farm Show. It's a little silly but I really do look forward to that every year now. It's great fun, good eats, people watching at its finest, and you can find items for sale that you won't see anywhere else.

Last year was The Year of Getting Around To Things, and overall it went well. This year is tentatively the Year of Clearing Out. I am going to take a hard look at my borderline Hoarders-episode-worthy house and do something about it. I'm currently working on one shelf at a time in the basement. It's a work in progress.

Something Good This Way Comes

2011-01-02T09:07:00.004-05:00

The New Year has promise. So did the Millionaire Raffle ticket that Joreen put in my stocking, an ingenious marketing ploy touting how high the odds are that you could become a millionaire by purchasing a $20 ticket. What does 1:125,000 mean? Citizens Bank Park holds close to 46,000 people. Put three of them side by side, put 41,666 people in each, and then pick which person has a winning ticket in their pocket. Oh, well, who needs the jackpot? I have the woman who bought me the ticket, so I'm already a winner.

Christmas was good. The music was especially fine. Alex and Bob and Joreen and I so totally pwned the traditional Christmas Prelude that Joreen arranged. I did something out of character and actually practiced the darn thing this year. What a concept. The outdoor decorations were as lame as the music was good, but on the bright* side it will take less than five minutes and no ladder to take them down. Next year I'm going Griswold. You'll need welder's glasses to drive by the place. (*That was unintentional, but I'm leaving it in on purpose.)

New Year's was a little difficult, I can't lie. Once again the band sat home due to a lack of an appropriate venue, and a last-minute miracle did not drop out of the sky. Oh, well, as the Chicago Cubs fan sign used to say on opening day, "Wait till next year." Most of you have seen the videos that Joreen made at Dillsburg, but here's a link for those who have not. We're working on our sound and also contingency plans for our drummer's knee surgery hiatus. We're confident that this year will be better. I've got this fantasy of having an event featuring Element 22, Laredo and Just Friends. That would be worth taking a swing at. Stay tuned for details. Meanwhile, we did have a little fun at midnight, crashing the next door neighbors' celebration. They gave the kids sparklers and let them run around yelling. Very old school, and very appreciated, especially the scaring away bad fortune part. We'll take all the help we can get.

The past year was a lot of things, good and bad, but now it's passed, and it's time to look forward. Challenges ahead, sure, but the song that comes to mind to start the year is from Dylan's son Jakob: Something Good This Way Comes. "Got my window open wide... got a good woman by my side... I know something good this way comes."

Weekend Update

2010-11-21T22:37:00.003-05:00

Saturday night, Just Friends played at the Iberian Lounge. We are pleased with the progression in the size of the crowd and the good response from the dancers. Despite using a stripped down system and going without a sound man, we have managed to keep the sound good and the crowd happy. The management of the hotel is going to a smaller band format for next year, but we will be making an appearance on the veranda during the warmer months. Stay tuned for details.

This morning the St. Catherine choir was in fine voice. We've picked up some new members and are up to 19 singers now. It's a fun bunch of people, and the sound is sweet. We did O Sacrament Most Holy and at one point the accompaniment dropped out, and it was all a cappella and very nice. People came up and complimented Joreen on the sound of the choir. Any more new members and we'll need to buy new robes. That's a good problem to have.

Tonight after the 7:00 Mass I went over to Dad and Rose's to celebrate Dad's birthday with him by watching the Eagles with him and David and sharing a pizza. That was fun. I may have to do it again, which means I better work on becoming a football fan. I left after I think it was the second inning.

On the way home, I stopped and got the ingredients for the most important dish of all on Thanksgiving: the green beans, mushroom soup and those dried onions. I love that stuff, especially for lunch the next day with whatever stuffing the kids don't inhale. Thanksgiving rocks.

I Know One Thing True: I Was Born To Play For You

2010-11-15T20:35:00.007-05:00

The title is from a tune of mine, "Steady Love," and it describes what I did pretty much all weekend. Friday, I played a solo acoustic show at the Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill, PA. It's a nice venue, and I stacked the deck by inviting a bunch of friends. Thanks to Ginny and Bill (Hi Ginny I said hi to you first!), Ed and Grace, Chris and Roger, my dear friend from back in the day Maria Gardner Reedy and her husband Ron, Terry, Alex and his buddy Mark, Sean, Dave Weyl, the multi-talented Karen Gray, the one and only Susie Carter from our first band The Cards, and of course my dear wife, the mighty Mrs. Kelly for their support. This show went more smoothly than the first, and thanks to Alex I actually have a bootleg of it. The above photo is from the CD cover. It's great to have technologically savvy friends.

Some of us went over to Ed and Grace's after the gig to help me celebrate my birthday. We sang and played some more, ate some of Grace's Pampered Chef creations, and did the traditional coconut cake and Jamison's thing (hey, it's our tradition, go get your own!). Before you know it we were partying like kids again -- well, maybe a little more intelligently than kids, but we had a blast. I've said this to all of them and I'll say it again here. There's lots of people with lots more money, but in terms of the friends I've made and kept over the years, I am one of the richest men in the world. It's been a rough patch in some ways recently, and this was a welcome oasis of fun and relaxation. Thanks to you all.

Saturday, my actual birthday, we attended the wedding of Vince's daughter Megan. Joreen played the organ at the Grace United Methodist Church and I accompanied her on guitar for the candle lighting song, "Grow Old With Me," by John Lennon. Nice touch, eh? The reception was a great time. Just Friends were invited as guests, which meant we could scarf hors d'oeuvres and hit the open bar without feeling guilty. We also brought our axes and did a quick set, ending with the father of the bride and I singing a duet on "Volare." Man, how cool is that? Laredo, featuring my brothers Dave and Bill, were the actual wedding band for the day, so we didn't have to load any gear in or out. Bonus!

Sunday was another peak musical experience. Fr. Sullivan organized a solemn vespers to honor those who have died this past year, parishioners and relatives of parishioners. The church was candlelit, with beautiful flowers on the altar and votive candles on a table in the front of church with the names of those who had passed away. My sister in law Jinny had a candle there. Joreen and I and a young man from McDevitt, Tony Bender, who has an amazing voice, did the music. It was deeply moving, and some of the family members of the deceased were visibly touched. Frank DiNatale, another friend from high school and before that, lost his father recently. He came up and embraced me with tears in his eyes. I felt honored to be a part of something so healing and consoling to people who need it.

And now it's back to the grindstone. We've been scaring up a few gigs for next year and hoping we can find the right audience for our band. If any of you know anyone who's getting married, let me know. There's at least a toaster oven in it for you. I hope that doesn't sound too needy.

I Dot a Code id by Node

2010-11-11T21:53:00.002-05:00

but I'm still able to sing, sort of. I'm still going to do the Cornerstone show tomorrow, hopefully coughing and hacking between songs instead of in the middle of them. Just Friends rehearsed tonight, and it's amazing how tight we're getting. The new material is sounding good and we're revisiting old pieces and refurbing them. There's an Italian swing tune called "Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano" which is a blast to play, and Vince just plain pwns it as you can hear here. We've been tweezing it up and it sounds even better now. We're going to "sit in" for Vince's daughter Megan's wedding, which is being played by Laredo.

Meanwhile, days are getting shorter and leaves are getting thicker. I'll have to get around to leafblowing one of these days, unless it snows first.

Now, Where Was I?

2010-11-11T08:47:00.002-05:00

It's time for the usual apology for not posting for a while. There's been so much going on and it's coincided with one of those spells where I just don't feel like blogging. The change of seasons is bringing more changes in our lives, and as many of you know I'm not known for hitting the "like" button on change. I know it's cryptic, but you'll get it in context as we go along.

I'm playing a solo acoustic show at Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill tomorrow, November 12th, 8:30 to 10:30: a mix of originals, off-the-wall covers and any requests I feel like taking, assuming I can fake my way through them. No, Freebird will not be one of them.

Still Rockin' After All These Years

2010-08-25T15:11:00.006-05:00

Turning 50 can be spooky. It can also be a lot of fun. Thanks to my little brother's wife Kathy, with an assist from his father-in-law, the lead trombonist for Just Friends, Jim Wallish, Dave showed up at his backyard on Sunday with a surprised look on his face like in the picture below:

You'd almost think those two were related. That's our Dad, of course, and in the background you can see his new Toyota.

Dave's birthday party was more like a summit meeting for musicians. I know my count is off, but there were at least four drummers, three keyboard players, three bass players and enough guitar players to change a lightbulb, and that's not counting Dave's students, some of whom are pretty darn good as well -- and a couple-three sound engineers for good measure. We could have fielded an all-day festival with no problem.

It's hard to make a living playing music. It's harder still to do it and earn a reputation of being a straight shooter, a decent human, and the kind of guy you're proud to work with. Dave has managed to pull it off. Many happy returns, little brother. Reminder: You're doing the Singles Dance with us on Labor Day Sunday. You can borrow my tux. Livin' the dream.

Got Dem Ol Lower Allen Blues, Mama

2010-08-22T11:15:00.009-05:00

Yesterday I kept up a mostly yearly tradition of playing for either Steve or Sandy's birthday party in their backyard, by the pool. This year we had a special guest, Blind Boy Carlos, on the harp. Carlos, aka Craig Milus, is a fine harmonica player who also is in the court reporting business on the side. We had a lot of fun on a perfect day to be out eating, drinking and playing music. Thanks to Sandy for inviting me to play, to Steve for his fine vocals, to Craig for his support, and to everybody there for making it such a good time.

These are some seriously good people, and I've had the pleasure of calling them not only colleagues but friends for many years now. There may be people who make more money doing what we do, but there's more to life than income level. I count myself as a wealthy man for having friends like these (although a few more thou a year wouldn't hurt.)

Friday I did something different, one of those other things I've wanted to get around to in this Year Of Getting Around To Things. I bought enough peaches to freeze a bunch, and when I say "enough," I mean a half a bushel. Anybody want some peaches? If yes, speak up soon. They are so peaking good right now it's insane, and the juice runs down your arm. I've given a few away already, but I have a couple dozen left. If you want some, give me a call. This is what's best about summer -- good music, good friends and good produce. Soon: peach pie. Mmmmmm... pie....

If You Stick Around Long Enough...

2010-08-15T20:46:00.002-05:00

... the improbable will happen to you. This was the case this week when Just Friends played Knoebel's Amusement Resort Thursday. When I was in the eighth grade at St. Catherine's, there were a few high-functioning kids who formed a band called The Invaders. One of the guitar players was a distant cousin of mine named Pat McCann, who went on to play in a band called Coventry and later Rudy Kazootie (don't hold me to the spelling.) I always wanted to be able to play in a band with Pat, and this week I got the chance. He sat in on bass while Mark Evans did a time-share dealie in New Mexico. We had a great time at Knoebel's. Many of you are old enough to remember when Hershey Park was not one word and it was a real park. That's how Knoebel's is. We got soaked to the bone during the loadout, but it was still a great time. Thanks to our family and friends who stopped by, including Dave and Kathy, Bill and Ginny, Peggy Davis, and our very own Parker Kenyon.

Friday night was a rehearsal for the next iteration of The Durable Goods, with Alex Harden on bass, JF's drummer John Wilson on drums, and Joreen and I. We're doing some of the sixties stuff we did at the benefit last year, but the real thrill for me was doing a few of my new songs. I finally heard "Busted Heart" the way I heard it between my ears. Muy cool.

Last night, Just Friends with Pat McCann on bass and Chris Novak on sound played the Minnequa, a private club in Shippensburg. This is an odd little venue which supports live music, although getting the crowd to dance, clap and interact is a bit like herding cats. They sit there all night and look at you, and then at ten of twelve they start going nuts and yelling for encores. Go figure. Anyway, it was a good gig, especially for Joreen and I because we indulged ourselves in a little rock and roll fantasy. The Minnequa is right across the alley from a hotel called Shippen Place. Rather than make Joreen play 5:00 Mass, zip down the road, play four hours, drive home, get up and play Mass at 9:00 a.m., we just get a room. That way we finish playing, have a nightcap, get a good night's sleep, do the continental breakfast and go from there. It's a business expense, a mini-vacation, whatever you want to call it. We even talk about throwing the TV out the window, although we never do it.

Today was the feast of the Assumption, and Fr. Sullivan had an amazing homily about St. Catherine Laboure laying her hands in the lap of the Blessed Mother. This guy can really preach. The hymns were pretty sweet, too, once I got some feelings back in my hands. They felt like oatmeal this morning, but I still managed to get a few hymns out of them tonight. Music is the best.

Now we have some down time until September with Just Friends. I'm going to try to get a recording together of some new songs and work on some new arrangements for Vince and Jim. We're starting to really get a sound. It's all good.

Market Day in Cleveland and the Ride Home

2010-08-05T15:21:00.002-05:00

Just to finish up the travelogue of our Cleveland adventure, we got up early Friday morning and packed the car before and after breakfast. The woman who cooked for us, Vi, was a real sweetheart and did her best to make every breakfast memorable. We enjoyed our stay thoroughly and would recommend the University Circle B&B to anyone who wants a break from the usual Hampton Inn-style rooms.

On our way out of town, we stopped down at The West Side Market on 25th and Lorain Street. It took us a while to learn that there's a 25th Street on both sides of the city. This farmers market makes the West Shore Farmers Market look like a 7-11. The number of high quality meat stands, cheese stands, specialty stands and produce stands was so impressive that as soon as we got there I regretted not bringing a cooler. This was easily fixed by running down the street to a Dollar Store and buying a soft-shell cooler which we filled with some of the best meat I've ever bought. Feeling adventurous, I bought a rack of baby-back ribs to do on the grill, along with some amazing bacon, Vermont sharp cheese, lemons and limes way cheaper than locally available, and other bounty.

We iced everything up and headed for home, with perfect driving weather and almost no traffic troubles capping off a vacation for the record books. Of course, I'm cheating when I say a vacation is a good one, because Joreen and I could have a great time anywhere, doing anything. But Cleveland does indeed rock, and so do we -- not bad for a couple of grandparents.

I Don't Know Art But I Know What I Like

2010-07-28T18:20:00.011-05:00

Thursday in Cleveland. We had another great breakfast to gear up for yet another long walking session, this time through the Cleveland Art Museum. We traded in my driver's license for a couple of headsets that would explain some of the exhibits. I feel like I earned three credit-hours that morning. I marvel at how I can look at something and go, "Hey, dude, that's old," and then by the end of the explanation of how significant it is I can barely believe I was allowed to see it.

We spent the first long stretch in the museum alternating between looking at old Egyptian, Roman, Etruscan, African and other people's stuff and running from the day care swarms. There's a special kind of annoying frequency occupied by 20 or 90 little kids in T-shirts looking at mummies. Isn't there a nice playground or water park to take these cherubs to? But I digress.

The kicker was when we had walked for two hours and my dear wife's back was starting to ask when we were leaving. Then and only then did we find the Picassos, the Van Goghs, the Monets, the Manets, etc. She got a second wind and I discovered something that might sound smart-alecky but it's not. You can just sit and look at one of those paintings and it's as entertaining as watching a movie, especially the Van Gogh. On some level it was as cool as hearing a great band, and I say that even admitting that I don't know half of the reasons why it was so great. Note to self: keep learning about art. I can't wait to go back there.

Okay, so after the museum we made another kind of ill-advised move. We had heard about these cool beaches on the lake which were to our east. After spending some time getting spun around (courtesy of "Lance," our GPS voice) and our innate ability to screw up simple directions, we arrived at this, uh, beach. Well, it had sand and it had a lake, but it was no Rehoboth. We stood there for a while and left.

By now we were getting hungry again. We had accomplished a lot in terms of getting our bearings but our lay of the land still had holes in it, so we stayed in our comfort zone and went back to Little Italy. We intended to try another restaurant, but looking at the menus at various eateries we realized we were going to pay a lot for cloth napkins and fancy place settings when we could get a perfectly perfect Italian meal at -- you guessed it -- Mama Santa's. Joreen had the chicken parmagiana and I went with the manicotti and meatballs. Good St. Rocco smiled on us again.

Now we had time on our hands and decided to go shopping. We found a mall which was almost exclusively exclusive. How exclusive? We were far and away the two worst-dressed people in the mall, and that includes the maintenance staff. We didn't spend a dime (I don't think they even take dimes there) but we had fun window-shopping and planning on how we would dress when we hit the lottery.

To cap off the night, we headed up a street from University Circle that we should have explored earlier. We were looking for a nightcap, and decided to check out Melt. This is a new restaurant that is hipper than hip in Cleveland, and has been visited both by the Diners, Drive-ins and Dives guy (who is a real d*****bag, but I digress) and the Man V. Food guy (Hey, I'm gonna try and eat five pounds of food! How cool is that?). The location we tried is the second Melt in the area, after the first one went nuclear. We arrived at 9:30 at night on a Thursday and found out it's about the only time there isn't a line to get in. Melt's founder has really hit a nerve, and it's genius. Combine a whole lot of kitsch and buzz with a couple dozen high end beers on tap and something as basic and comforting as grilled cheese sandwiches in a college town, and then just count the money.

Here's the kicker. We're having beers, and looking at the menu, and we thought it might be nice to have a bite to eat. Joreen ordered a small salad, and I chose this sandwich called The Kindergartner. It's white American cheese on bread. My brothers, you remember what Mom's grilled cheese sandwiches looked like? That's not what I got. This thing was about three and a half inches thick, and since I substituted Havarti for white American and had the grilled onions, and since I didn't look at the menu and realize it came with fries and cole slaw, I ended up doing what everybody does. I took a to-go box with me. Once again, I had experienced art -- the art of the entrepreneur, taking something as mundane as a grilled cheese sammidge and turning it into a goldmine. It was delicious. My only complaint is that we didn't go there when we were hungrier.

Next up: the farmers' market of your dreams and the ride home.

Here's Ya Pizza, I Got Ya Pizza Right Here

2010-07-27T18:14:00.004-05:00

Wednesday afternoon in Cleveland:

Heading back towards the bed and breakfast, we began to feel the call of the pizza. We had been told of a place called Valentino's which supposedly has the best pizza in town, but when we got there it appeared to be a tiny take-out place with some outdoor seating, not the air-conditioned pig-out refuge we had in mind. We decided to head back to Mama Santa's for pizza. It was tasty enough, especially with the sausage and mushrooms. The slow service, given the almost empty mid-afternoon state of the place, was a plus for a change as we got to sit in the AC and talk while our feet rested up from the zooathon.

We went back to the B&B and hung for a while until 6:00 when we fell into our next really good time. There is a concert series in University Heights called WOW, Wade Oval Wednesday. This evening's band was a group called The Speedbumps, an indie rock band ("indie rock" meaning they're an unsigned band working their gigi off trying to get noticed, booked and, yes, signed). The lineup is unique: guitar/lead vocals (also the writer), acoustic double bass, drums, keys and cello. The material was the usual introspective, melancholy, journey of self-discovery crap for the most part, but well played and nicely melodic. We bought the CDs -- hey, the show was free -- and it's not exactly the kind of stuff you'd play at a party, or the gym. Still, that's my new model as a music consumer, putting the cash in the hand of the guy who made the record. Some of the songs are really good, and some of the others are growing on me.

It was a flawless summer evening, warm but not oppressive, with local restaurants and even a bar, The Euclid Tavern, selling food and beverages including sushi (which I ate for the first time in Cleveland at the end of May), barbecue chicken that rocked Joreen's world courtesy of a lovely African-American woman named Ruby, and a nice cold beverage -- very civilized.

All full of ourselves (and good grub) at this point, we decided to go back to The Savannah to catch a dance band called Entourage. This was a bit of a mistake, in that they were kind of like going to see Just Friends on a real off night. I suspect at least two of the players were stand-ins, given the way they had to talk about beginnings and endings of every song. The lead chick singer -- er, excuse me, Joreen -- female vocalist was pretty talented and the overall sound was good, but the way the guitar player stomped on his overdrive during the solo on "Long Train Running" reminded me of me, and not in a good way. It was educational, but not as much fun as the oldies band.

The worst part was the tantalizingly cool T-shirt worn by the waitresses. Savannah's has live music almost every night, despite the funky economy. It makes me nuts that there's no place like that around here, but one consequence of having all those local bands booked is that one of the waitresses made a shirt that says on the back, Mustang Sally -- in a red circle with a line through it! They were out of them. I would have tried to buy the one off her back, but she had customized it with some pinking shears and I don't have the figure to pull that off. I'm going to pester these people until they finally sell me one, though. That is so frickin' cool.

Next entry: the art museum, another trip to Mama Santa's, an upscale mall, and the hippest grilled cheese sandwich in the world.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Who Needs 'Em?

2010-07-25T10:39:00.010-05:00

Picking up the vacation narrative on Tuesday morning, we had an early breakfast at the B&B, hung out with Gary the proprietor a while, then headed to the Cleveland Zoo. We were there at the opening, 10:00 a.m., and for the next four hours we walked, and walked, and said, "Holy crap, look at that!" and then walked some more. As with every cultural facility we saw in Cleveland, it was a first-rate operation and at least as cool as anything in D.C. How much was there to see? By the time we had visited every major area except the above-mentioned LT&Bs, we were worn out and left them for another day.

I have to mention two high points for me. First was the butterfly exhibit. As cool as the botanical garden's butterfly display was, the zoo's was an order of magnitude cooler. This small, Garden of Eden-like room was filled with butterflies, including the huge, gorgeous blue morphos, a non-descript brown when their wings are closed, but in flight an electric blue not seen since the hippie days. Despite being crowded, the setting, the Japanese music, these tiny floating miracles put me in a state of calm, and quiet awe. Nice work, Lord, very nice work indeed. Butterflies kind of make up for mosquitoes, almost.

As we left the butterfly building, right there was another personal favorite, the giraffes. Maybe it started back when I read Slaughterhouse Five, but I've always loved giraffes. Seeing them in person, the way they move in real-time slow motion, their weird grace and calm, the beautiful coloring, everything about them fascinates me. There were eight giraffes, including two young'uns, and there was one adult who did that eating-over-the fence-with-splayed-legs-and-bent-in-half posture that just makes me laugh. Intelligent design, all right, and with a sense of humor to boot.

To paraphrase "The Princess Bride," let me explain -- no, there is too much. Let me summarize. The lorikeets, rainbow colored opportunists, snatched little cups of nectar from shaking eight-year-olds and hopped on the hands of anyone who looked like they would buy them a drink. People watching? The best. Selected species: the swarm of T-shirted shrieking daycare rats, the acid-tongued mommy shrew, the Aeropostale-breasted teen whiner, the hollow-skulled tweeners, the black-clad pierced emo sulker, the soft-brained bottle-sucking stroller bunnies, and the sunburnt map-reading tourists (hey, that was us!)

The sun was getting to be too much and our legs were reminding us of our age, so we headed back to the gate. I couldn't leave without checking out the rainforest, though, a separate facility in a geodesic dome that contained fantastic animals in a beautiful setting. High point for me was when we walked into a darkened corridor of nocturnal animals, and what appeared to be a blank glass wall transformed, as my eyes adjusted to the dim light, into a habitat for fruit bats, flying right up to the window and roosting inches from us. Creepy, okay, maybe a little, but fascinating.

That's enough for now. I'll pick up the next post at lunch, back in Little Italy.

That's What I Call A Vacation

2010-07-20T22:15:00.005-05:00

This morning, we had a great breakfast with a side order of conversation courtesy of the inn's owner, Gary. We chilled in the room until midmorning, then headed to the Museum of Natural History. Covering the usual arc of "you are here, the dinosaurs were here before you," the facility was full of wonders: gems, artifacts, this and that. Early high points were pieces of equipment built as backups to the Mars landrover unit; a good sized moon rock; lots of fossils and dinosaur skeleton reconstructions. The soundtrack for the morning was full of youngsters squealing with delight at the dinosaurs.

We headed next to the Botanical Gardens. Anyone who has ever tried to grow anything in dirt owes it to themselves to make the trip out here. There are controlled environments with flora and fauna in them, like the one that really got to me, the Costa Rican environment. Imagine opening an airlock-type door and being greeted by about a dozen different species of butterflies. It was amazing. Later, we found our way to a Japanese garden where it was so quiet and peaceful you could ignore the construction and the chitchat of the other tourists and just zen out for a while.

Lunch, we finished off the sandwiches and potato salad we brought with us. This evening, we headed out to a suburb called Rocky River where the real fun started. Joreen indulged herself in a pedicure, coming out with a sparkly color red usually only found on Italian imported guitars. Next, we went up the street to a Pub where the men wear kilts (because if you call them skirts, ye'll get kilt) and the waitresses where what look like Catholic school uniforms except they're so short that Sr. Mary Oblongata would have called your Mom if you showed up wearing one. They had Koenig Ludwig on tap, a Hefeweizen near and dear to Joreen's heart. The fish and chips were spot-on, and it was cheap beer Tuesdays or something like that. Bonus!

And then, the payoff. We went up the road to a club called Savannah's. Located in a strip mall, if you looked at it you would have no idea how cool it was inside. There was a four piece band called the Geezecats. When I called to ask what they did, the guy said, "Oldies." He wasn't kidding. The set list:

At The Hop, Return to Sender, Oh Donna, Pretty Little Angel Eyes, Twistin the Night Away, All in the Game, Splish Splash, Chain Gang, Walk Don't Run, Rhythm of the Falling Rain, Save the Last Dance For Me, Since I Fell For You -- then they all put on Mickey Mouse ears and sang the closing theme to the Mickey Mouse Club, and then Goodnight, Sweetheart.

My musician friends and I have played these songs, but not nearly with the finesse and grace and sincerity of these guys. The tone was perfect, the crowd was absolutely into it, the walls were filled with glossy photos of bands that have played at Savannah's since God made reverb tanks, and we had a high, holy, serious good time. We also danced to the above-mentioned slow tunes. At the end of the night, the drummer, who was apparently the leader, said this: "We're gonna be here next Tuesday. We plan on doing the same thing." That gives me hope. Some good things are still around. The guitar player was playing something called a Duesenberg. All four guys look like they've been doing this a long time, and they're doing it just exactly perfectly. Live music is the best.

There are photos, but they're in the camera which I left in the car. I'm pretty bushed, because on top of all of this I managed to find a Planet Fitness and got a workout in while Joreen was getting her tootsies done. Tomorrow: the Zoo, and the pizzeria in Little Italy that is supposedly the best around.

Getting Ready to Get Out of Dodge

2010-07-18T00:07:00.002-05:00

An action-packed weekend here at the Kellys. Last night I got home just minutes ahead of the rehearsal time for the Reasonable Facsimiles, the newest iteration of the Durable Goods franchise. Alex, Joreen and I were joined by John Wilson on drums, preparing for a birthday party at the brewery for a friend of Alex's. Thanks for the gig, Alex, and thank you also for an excuse to crank up and play some sweet tunes in the basement. To listen to us you'd never know we were a bunch of old farts, some older than others.

Today I called Ed and we decided to get together for eats at Ed and Grace's, which is like being on a Food Network show without the bright lights and the rude, annoying judges. If Donald Trump ate better than we did tonight, who cares. Dan and Phyllis came over and we sang four part harmony while Ed did tilapa and steaks on the grill -- well, it took two grills, but the end result was might tasty.

Meanwhile, Roger called me at 4:30 and asked me to play his brother's birthday party with him. How can I refuse, especially when the consideration we finally negotiated was a case of Troeg's, which will provide a six-pack to take on vacation. The party was a blast, and Brian, Roger's brother, had some amazing food catered for the celebration. Imagine a white cake with icing that tastes like Creamsicles. Yeah, Creamsicles. Oh, baby. Roger and Chris play have found a niche playing intimate, living-room size places and keeping the audience entertained in that framework, which is harder than it sounds. Anybody can play loud, but to play softly and still keep the energy up is a nice trick.

As summers go, I'm really enjoying this one. There's a good balance of work and play here, and there's that sense of impending joy that comes when you're expecting another grandkid. Watch this space for coming events. Next stop, after Mass and a bunch of transcripts turned in: Cleveland.

Two-Day Long Weekend

2010-07-11T20:59:00.004-05:00

It seems long because it's been so action-packed. Yesterday we celebrated Roger Wilkinson's birthday, which is actually today. He turns 60 and had more than one guest for each of those years at his party, which was impressive. He found about the surprise party early and volunteered to bring his own PA system and do the opening set, which was impressive. He dealt with some serious failures to communicate among various levels of management at the brewery without going into Donald Duck mode, which was impressive. Now, if he really wants to impress me, he'll play and lug equipment at my 60th birthday party. Happy Birthday, Roger. We're glad you were born.

Today was Andrea's surprise baby shower, and unlike Roger's, it stayed a surprise until she walked in the door. She actually walked in the wrong door, but that's all right. Brian's family and friends were all there, and they are a really fine bunch of people. Joreen, Mary, the boys and I felt very welcome and at home with them. The food -- hold that thought. Andie just called while I was typing this. She's still smiling from today, and I could hear it over the phone. At some point I'll have to post a picture. She's really, really expecting. Anyway, the food was outstanding. It was a place called Mama's Pizza in Loganville, and everything from the stromboli to the wings to the pasta was great. I'm going to have to dial in an extra ten minutes on the exercise machine tomorrow.

And now, I'm going to go to bed and hope this bug bite on my left pinkie continues to subside without killing me or, worse, making me play with only three fingers and a thumb. I need all the help I can get. I think it was a spider, but not one of the recluse, skin-melting, yucky kind.

So That's What Pommes Frites Are

2010-07-10T07:19:00.004-05:00

We finally decided on Cafe Bruges in Carlisle for our anniversary dinner, and it was very interesting. They have authentic Belgian food and beers, in some ways too authentic. I always wanted to try the fries and they were really good, although I balked at the traditional accompaniment, mayonnaise. I have an open mind, but it's not open that far. I went with the horseradish sauce, which I'm sure was mostly mayonnaise, but tasty. I had a salad of green beans, little red potatoes and bacon cubes. I think Bruges is Belgian for "Let's go carbo-load till we blow up." Joreen got something whose formal name I forget but it was basically a beef stew. The meat was great. The gravy was even better on the fries than the horsey sauce.

And of course, the beer menu is ridiculous. It's about a ten page booklet, designed to be taken by the patrons and used to make notes and keep track of the beers tried, and also to know the ABV, which is important. I got the flight of 5 ounce drafts, and surprisingly the one that made the most impression on me was the raspberry lambic. I disparage fruity beers all the time, but this was amazingly good.

We ran up a moderately impressive tab and didn't feel we'd wasted a dime. I'd recommend it to anyone who wants a different dining experience. The ambience is not very formal. The location was formerly a regular bar and grille, I believe, and it's kind of noisy, especially on a Friday when you're next to a table full of people whose trippels and saisons are starting to kick in. Fruity, sour, bitter, malty, however else you describe these beers, they are also high octane, and we were very careful to stay away from the "big" beers since we weren't planning to spend the night there. I would also recommend, if you're going to get a salad with your fries, take note whether it has potatoes in it. I didn't, and ended up bringing a bunch of fries home, which is okay because I'll reheat them for breakfast as soon as I come back from the gym

Oh, that's the other news I haven't put up here yet. I joined Planet Fitness last week. That's another one of the things I'm getting around to here in the Year of Getting Around to Things. I'm still in the process of being trained on the different equipment and I'm concentrating on the low-impact cardio stuff right now, mostly the elliptical machine which is kind of a cross-country skiing deal. Too early to start kicking sand in weenies' faces on the beach, but the big thing is it really clears the head and improves the attitude. I should have gotten around to this a long time ago.

Finally, I spoke to Dad last night (hey, Dad!) and he got a new car after somebody decided they were too damn important to stop for a red light on Derry Street last week. He's fine except for a little stiffness in the neck and an ache in the budget from having to go back to car payments for the first time in ten years. He got a Toyota Yaris. He said he likes it so far, and I'm going to have to check it out. It's a shame about his 1995 Saturn coupe, though. The cost to repair it was just too high. That was a cool car, and it sucks that GM discontinued them.

In a little while I'm going to set up for Roger Wilkinson's surprise birthday party. The surprise was for his wife and son when he found out about it a couple weeks ago. It's in the Abbey Bar upstairs at the ABC Brewery. I intend to concentrate on playing and socializing rather than eating and drinking. One side effect of resuming exercise is that you want to eat like a machine, and I can't go for that, no can do. In fact, I think I'll go break a sweat now.

34 Years and Counting

2010-07-09T07:02:00.005-05:00

Today is our wedding anniversary, and the weather is just as hot and humid as it was back in 1976. Readers of the blog will remember this story from last year. Something very cool in the Patriot-News this morning: a Lower Paxton Twp. man and wife who make us look like newlyweds. When you get to the double nickel and think of all the cool things behind you, the temptation is to think that there's less road ahead than behind. Then I read about these folks who are still ribbing each other and flirting after 70 years, and I realize that I just got a great anniversary present, the best there is: hope.

Joreen and I will be laying low for the occasion. It's become a tradition lately to celebrate our anniversary on our vacation. Week after next we are going to Cleveland for the week. I know, not the first vacation spot that comes to mind, but there's a lot to see and do out there. There's a first rate zoo, for one thing, which the Mrs. is very into. We're staying at a B&B near Little Italy, and planning to check out the local attractions. We might even do the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame again.

Under coming attractions, Just Friends will be available to the public twice in August. Sunday, August 1, we'll be at the Hershey Antique Auto Museum for a one-hour show, from 1:00 to 2:00 p.m. They have billed us as an oldies show, so we're accommodating them. Tequila, anyone? Come check out the classic car competition and vote for your favorite. The event is a benefit for MDA, and we're in discussions with Jerry Lewis about having him open for us. Yes, really.

Saturday, August 7, we are at the Verhovay on 29th Street in Harrisburg. It looks like a dive from the outside, but it's really a very nice place to hear music. The drinks are ridiculously reasonable, the food is cheap and tasty, and of course there's Just Friends. Come hear some of the new stuff. Unfortunately, there's a conflict for some of our peeps that night, with Tom and Susan having a party, but there's ways to do both. Shuttle bus, anybody? We start at 8:00, so try to drop in for at least a set, if not the whole night.

Now, back to work. First, I think I'll go downstairs and kiss the wife. Check out the picture of us at Hummelstown. Isn't she cute? "We are the feeling you get in the golden state."

Summertime and the Living is Not Too Shabby

2010-06-22T18:22:00.006-05:00

Here you see the Kellys opening for Laredo at the Hummelstown Fair. Thanks to Dave, Bill, Brian and Scott for having us. There's some videos on YouTube of our performance as well as Laredo. The duet is a cautionary tale about trying to do a song you only think you know. Next time, Johnny, memorize the dang thing.

Father's Day was also pretty cool. Dave and Kathy hosted at their place and we ate hot dogs, hamburgers and the usual summer bounty. Thanks to them for their hospitality. Cookout potluck beats four star cloth napkin every time.

Let's see. Working back, Sunday the 13th of June we saw Phish in Hershey. It was a lot of fun, but not life-changing. I did not see God, collapse in tears of joy or max out my credit card buying every ticket on the tour. They were fun, though. They still can't write their way out of a paper bag, but man, can they operate those instruments.

The night before, June 12th, I did a solo acoustic show at the Cornerstone Coffeehouse in Camp Hill. It was something different for me, carrying two whole sets alone, with about three-quarters original songs. It was hard, but I managed to floop up every single one of them in some way, shape or form. The audience was kind, but since most of them were musicians, I was busted where I stood. Again, it was a lot of fun. Personal highlight was singing a song I wrote about Andrea and one that Mary gave me the idea for while they were there. It was a four-Kelly night. Brian, Andrea's man, was also there. He's just started playing guitar and is making great progress. Also, thanks to Ed and Grace for joining Joreen and I on Homeward Bound, and to my dear friends Rick and Irene Woodard for attending. Irene provided her V-8 vocal stylings on "Me and Bobby McGee." I've just booked another show at that venue for November 12th. It's so nice to play in a place full of sober, caffeinated non-smokers. Thanks also to TK, Mike Miller, Sandy Nork, Nancy and Bill Keener and those nice Camp Hill teenagers who were really into the music. There's pics floating around somewhere. I'll have to post them eventually.

And so we head into the summer. Joreen and the grandboys are pooling it up. Just Friends is playing a festival in Lykens tomorrow, and a wedding at Visaggio's on Saturday. As you know, we're not playing the fireworks at Hotel Hershey this year, but as the Chicago Cubs say, "Wait till next year." I'll let you know when stuff of interest comes up, and at some point I'm going to think about blocking off Greenwood Blvd. and doing a block party. That's something to get around to.

Big Weekends, Past and Future

2010-05-19T06:38:00.002-05:00

One of the perks in being in this band is that when one of our children get married, you have a built-in band for the reception. Ten years ago, JF played Mary and John's wedding, and they're still married so we must have been good. Last Saturday Just Friends' founder and leader, Vince Patti, was the father of the groom. Nino is a hairstylist whose celebrity clients include the female vocalist of Just Friends, Joreen Kelly. Autumn Patti (nee Miles) is a chef and caterer who teaches in the culinary department at HACC, which was the location of the wedding reception. You can guess where this is going, can't you?

If I told you in detail what made that meal one of the best I've ever had, this post would be too long. The staff at HACC really stepped up and created a dining experience to rival any country club or banquet facility we've played, and we've played a lot.

John Wilson is still recovering from knee surgery, so Craig Rankin stepped up again and held down the beat. The "first dances" or what we call the obligatos were a trio of sweet ballads: Unforgettable, with Joreen and I doing the Natalie/Nat Cole thing and Vince playing a nice third part on the sax; Just The Way You Look Tonight, a nice song with a nasty bridge that we finally got right; and Blessed, a minor hit for Elton John with a pretty melody and some unique changes. Learning and performing songs like that is what sets our band apart from the rest. Every challenge just sharpens our skills and broadens our repertoire. Sorry to brag a little, but when a musician of the caliber of Dave Kelly tells us he could have sat and listened to us for hours just doing cocktail music, we must have something here.

There's more to talk about, but I have to get to work. I'll tell you about the crazy weekend coming up after I get back from the hearings today.

Life Goes On and On

2010-05-10T22:39:00.004-05:00

Back from Vermont and back in the saddle. Rate case in Philadelphia today, was supposed to be big and fat, ended up short and ugly. Speaking in sentence fragments; not sure why, just seems right.

One thing that is very cool right now is St. Catherine's 40 Hours. Fr. Sullivan is doing it "old school," which means that there is round-the-clock adoration between now and the closing tomorrow at 7:00. If you want to see something exquisite, make a visit to the church tomorrow. The Blessed Sacrament is in exposition and it's a beautiful sight. Better yet, attend the closing. After years of being an afterthought to the Easter Season, 40 Hours has become something special in our parish.

Sad News

2010-05-07T05:18:00.003-05:00

Most of you already know, but Joreen's sister Jinny lost her battle with cancer, "the beast" as Jinny called it, Wednesday morning at 10:30. It was an epic battle and she went down swinging to the end. Joreen is already in Vermont. The funeral is Saturday, so Mary and I are leaving this morning to head up there.

If there's such a thing as a best friend-of-a-friend, mine is Don House. Don is a close friend of Tom Roller and I see him occasionally, most recently at the Havana Blue gig, which was really good. I've been remiss in blogging, but you already know that.

Don lost his lovely wife Marilyn suddenly some years ago. She was a sweetheart and her illness and death came out of nowhere. Once in a conversation with Don he just came up with this statement: Love your people, and tell them you love them. It's simple and profound and it always comes to mind at a time like this.

Since December 2009 Jinny kept a blog on caringbridge.org. You have to sign in to post comments but I believe you can just read it. CaringBridge is a pretty amazing thing as you can see, providing websites to link friends and families of those fighting cancer. You can read the story of Jinny's journey as a "warrior poet" there. Here is a link to her first entry, page 1 of 8:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jinnyallison/journal/8

I never knew Jinny was such a good writer, but I'm not surprised. It runs in the family. I'm still running across essays and articles that my mother-in-law wrote.

Jinny included this essay in her first entry, which today I think is worth quoting in its entirety.

"Hope is a state of mind, not of the world....Either we have hope or we don't; it is a dimension of the soul, and it's not essentially dependent on some particular observation of the world or estimate of the situation.

"Hope is not prognostication. It is an orientation of the spirit, and orientation of the heart; it transcends the world that is immediately experienced, and is anchored somewhere beyond its horizon.

"Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more propitious the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper the hope is.

"Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out."

Vaclav Havel, writer, dramatist, politician
Last President of Czechoslovakia
First President of the Czech Republic
Cancer Survivor

Pretty intense, Vaclav. I hope you're right about all that. Thanks for the quote, Jinny, and for the good times we had together over the years. I hope to see you again.

Time Keeps On Slipping Into The Future...

2010-03-01T16:40:00.005-05:00

... and some of us are slipping in real time. I made an appointment for a physical back at the beginning of the year. I knew it was for March but couldn't find the envelope/Post-It/newspaper I wrote the date on. Meanwhile, the doctor's office made the usual "hey dummy" reminder call on my home phone number, which I have all but stopped paying attention to thanks to that rat bastard Unavailable. (Until he tells me his name, I'm "unavailable" too.) Bottom line, the physical was supposed to be today, but they were kind enough to reschedule for three weeks from now. It might look like I'm stalling because my spider sense tells me what the doctor is going to have me do, but I'm not. I know it's important and there's no more putting it off. I'll keep you informed. Maybe I'll use that new networking service for all things digestive. I think it rhymes with Twitter.

Enough goofiness. I went out to see David, Bill, Brian and Scott at the Winner's Circle Thursday night. Thanks to the impending weather which never did anything but impend, the room was empty except for a few hardy souls. Laredo is sounding really good and their new material is very impressive. Personal favorite, "Sara Smile." Very sweet. These guys are great and getting better all the time. I get a kick out of Lonesome Cowboy Brian, too.

Friday, Joreen and I went over to Ed and Grace's house and hung out, ate Grace's outstanding guacamole and sang harmony (not while we were eating, of course.) It's nice to get together with folks and entertain ourselves, for cheap. Joreen and I are going with a classic fast for Lent, which is why the international flags at the brewery are all at half mast, but we had fun nevertheless. They've got the playpen and baby seat in the living like the rocking grandparents they are.

Sunday, I played with Hemlock Hollow from 3:00 to 5:00 at the HMAC. For the second time recently, I was there in the daytime and all the nice stuff I said about it in the last post still applies. I played bass and sang with Chris and Roger. Highlights were Roger tossing "Ophelia" and "Wall of Death" over his shoulder. I caught 'em both. (The Band and Richard Thompson, respectively.) During the set break, I played some of the new tunes I talked about last post and they went over well. I'm looking forward to branching out and doing some new things musically in the coming months and years, and this feels like a shove in the right direction. It's also nice to have a live bass in my hands again. Chris was also prepared with grandbaby pics for Joreen to dig. It's a grandma thing. Thanks to the Wilkinsons for letting me sit in and try to replace the irreplaceable Mike Miller (Wassup, Mike!). The HMAC is attempting to get an acoustic thing going on Sunday afternoons. If you're interested, do the Facebook thing and follow along.

Finally, Just Friends is playing what is becoming unfortunately one of our rare local appearances Friday at the Verhovay. We're still adjusting to shifting circumstances here and doing the best we can. Frankly, I get discouraged sometimes -- until we show up for rehearsal and kick off a song. Then it's All Good. "When this world turns its back on you, hang in and do that sweet thing you do -- you just roll with it, baby." If you're not doing anything Friday -- hell, cancel whatever else you're doing Friday and come dance with Just Friends. And as always, thank you for your support.

Happy Valentine's Day

2010-02-14T21:15:00.009-05:00

Let's try to summarize the last two weeks, which seem to have gone by in a blur. Sunday, Jan. 31st, Hemlock Hollow held their CD release party at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center. It was very successful, attended by many of the folks we've seen at Roger's house: Tom Cook, Jefferson Pepper and his wife Lauri (who will see this entry because they have a Google Alert set for Jeff's name -- hey, Jeff and Lauri!), Craig and Cari Longyear, Dave Kluz, and some other HollowHeads who I know by sight but not by name.

I've talked about this venue before. It's a different looking place in the daytime, but still cool. Mike Banks ran sound, I sang some harmony on a few tunes, and it was a nice Sunday afternoon. I am the proud owner of an autographed Hemlock Hollow CD, and it's pretty sweet. The tune selection is representative of the band's show, mixing traditional, acousticized pop songs and originals by Roger, all presented with pristine sound. Jeff Meglio did a great job on the recording. Roger is in great form vocally and the studio recording showcases how good he's singing. Mike Miller's harmonies, Chris Wilkinson's mandolin and the guest artists are all first rate.

Roger told me today that they will be at the HMAC the last Sunday afternoon of each month. March 28th I will be sitting in for Mike Miller on bass, and maybe doing a few songs of my own.

Speaking of my own songs, there must be something in the water. In the last three weeks I've written five songs, the latest being a reggae tune that just popped up yesterday afternoon. I'm shaking my head, and digging it big time. My little brother David just got the drywall for his basement studio. Watch this space for announcement of my own CD release party.

Speaking of something in the water, some of my close friends became grandparents this weekend. Grace McGovern's daughter Maggie had a daughter, Maria Grace; Roger's son Andrew had a son, Henry Thomas. Everyone's doing fine. Look for an uptick in the sale of digital cameras and picture frames in the area this month.

Speaking of my little brother Dave, his new band Laredo debuted at the Carlisle Moose last night, with my other little brother Bill on bass. Bill has a new bass and new boots and is doing a great job on harmonies. Brian Juran has stepped out from behind the sound board for the first time in 25 years (!) to play and sing, and apparently it is like riding a bicycle. The drummer Scott Powell is solid and sounds great, and of course David is picking and grinning and keeping the crowd happy like he always does. They sounded better than any band has a right to on their first gig, and they've got the firepower to really light it up. Check out their schedule. Maybe Dave will have you get up and play "Keep Your Hands To Yourself." (Thanks for the guest spot, little brother.)

Since today is Valentine's Day, I made the traditional heart-shaped Rice Krispies Marshmallow* Treats which I blogged about before here. The aforementioned reggae tune, specifically in the "lovers rock" style, was the rest of my Valentine's Day gift to my first wife, my girlfriend and my muse, the amazing Mrs. Kelly. She got me a silicone rolling pin, which may sound strange, but I used it to bake bread this morning and it really did make rolling out the dough easier. I had a nice rolling pin that went missing some time ago, and this is a great replacement. Ain't love grand?

Finally, we have a new administrator at St. Catherine's. Fr. Neil Sullivan, who was assigned here about five years ago, has been assigned to replace Fr. David Hereshko, recently reassigned to Abbotstown. Fr. Sullivan is a gifted preacher, an expert in liturgy, a musician and a real man of God. He's very happy to be here, and the feeling is mutual. He spoke at all the Masses and did a fine job of getting everybody fired up about the upcoming Lenten season. God bless him and us as, in Fr. Sullivan's words, "the adventure begins."

(*Edited this morning to correct spelling. Joreen is not only my muse but my spellchecker as well. What a multi-tasking babe!)

The Good Stuff

2010-01-30T10:13:00.009-05:00

If you go out to listen to music, no matter how skilled the player or how good the sound, it seems like there's distractions you have to zen through, things like people talking, and other people talking, and the people next to them talking. The better the performer, the more annoying this becomes. The problem is that there is no unity of intent in the audience. I intend to listen carefully and enjoy the song. The couple next to me intends to entertain each other and ignore the music, no matter how fine.

There are moments, all too rare, when this problem goes away and you have the convergence of a great performer, a quiet room, and an audience who values the music over conversation. Friday night was a perfect example.

You've never heard of Joe Crookston until now. He's a gifted songwriter, engaging storyteller, off-the-hook guitarist and, between sets, a great guy to hang with. Bill Nork introduced me to his music. Bill and Joe Milsom aka Robert Bobby met Joe Crookston at NERFA, sort of a Millennium Conference for folk singers, and maintained contact over the years.

Mr. and Mrs. Bobby graciously opened their basement for a house concert featuring Joe Crookston. All basements are not created equal. Mine is filled with crap. Theirs is a first-rate venue for acoustic music. Around 25 people sat facing a small, well-lit stage, with acoustics so good that Joe didn't even plug in.

After introducing himself, Joe played a beautiful song about why we were together, what we could expect, sort of an opening hymn whose theme was, "We have all we need here." That song, and the encore, a deeply moving song about Michelangelo's David, bookended the best concert of 2010 so far and one that will be hard to top. Neither of those songs are recorded yet, but hopefully that will be remedied on Joe's next album.

For the second set, Joe invited Mr. Bobby and Bill Nork to sit in on a Robert Bobby song, "Sweet Potato Vine."

Bill stayed up to play a few more songs with Joe Crookston, including "Red Rooster in the Mash Pile."

I'm an old Peter, Paul and Maryite, so for me "folk music" comes pre-loaded with some expectations. Joe Crookston meets and exceeds all of them. Folk music to me implies stories of real life, taking actual events and true stories and presenting them in such a way that they become universal. When every head in the audience nods in recognition and agreement at a line, you know you're getting it right. When a performer makes this process look effortless and natural, you can bet there's tons of back-breaking work that went into it. Go to Joe's website and look at his schedule, and imagine keeping that pace for a while.

Again, thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Bobby for their hospitality, and to the audience for zipping their lips. Jefferson Pepper, seated next to me, did sing a little harmony now and then, but he did it quietly and perfectly in pitch, so that was cool. Karen Gray (hey, girlfriend!) was in discussions with Mr. Bobby about doing a one-woman show there. If and when that happens, it will be a tough ticket, so talk to Ms. Gray about that deal.

Check the news on Robert Bobby's site for a reunion of The Speedboys in Lancaster on May 22nd. Unless you just signed a contract to play somewhere else (#%$#*!), mark your calendars and don't miss it.

It's been an amazing musical week. Two new songs showed up on my doorstep and were debuted at the Midtown Arts Center open mic on Wednesday, and then last night I experienced once again the beauty and power that can be created with "Hands, Metal and Wood." In the words of the prophet Zappa, "Music is the best."

And In Other Muse...

2010-01-25T18:26:00.003-05:00

I'm walking around feeling pretty smug about writing two little ditties this week. Joreen sits down at the piano and plays this four part choral piece that she's been wrestling with for at least two years, and it finally came together. It is exquisite, and it's going to sound even better when a choir sings it. There's something going on around here, and I don't know what brought it on, but I hope it sticks around for a while.

Maybe I should write a song about sump pumps, and how important it is to have a backup source of power for them so you don't have to go to Lowe's and buy a battery powered aquarium pump and try to move five gallon buckets of water all morning. Now, that's a hit record.

Be Vewy Qwiet. I'm Hunting Lywics.

2010-01-21T16:26:00.004-05:00

The recurring image that comes to my mind about songwriting is that of Elmer Fudd hunting wabbits, when Bugs Bunny is tip-toeing right behind him. Songwriting can be the most frustrating activity in the world and the most rewarding, almost all at once. Case in point: I've been carrying around a fragment, two lines -- two really, really good lines -- for about 20 years. Last night, on the way to the store, the rest of a song just marched up and said, "Okay, Doc, ya got me." Then there's that interesting time between the creative flash and when you can get somewhere to write it down. A few minutes at the laptop, a few simple chords and viola! Bonus: today while tearing down my equipment after a hearing, a second verse started materializing. I think it's done, and I'm pretty happy with it.

I think going to the open mic at the midtown arts center might be helping get stuff moving for me. I've been threatening to "work on my solo album" for a long time. This being The Year Of Getting Around To Things, I guess it's time. The material is all over the place stylistically, but we'll see what happens. I do know this new tune is going to be in there.

Fly, Eagles, Fly

2010-01-17T09:12:00.008-05:00

Just Friends made some new friends last night at the Carlisle Eagles. The club is spacious and the crowd is friendly and ready to dance. The usual "first-date" jitters gave way to a pretty good time, and before you know it the set list was out the window as "Proud Mary," "Saw Her Standing There/Slow Down," "For The Good Times" and other tunes just showed up. We had great feedback (from the people, not the amps, thanks to our ace sound engineer, Brian Juran) and we are confident we'll be back. Earl the doorman said, "You sound good and you're not too loud." I tried to be helpful and volunteered to play louder next time.

To those of you who are new to the band, hearing us for the first time or for the first time in a while, we appreciate your compliments and encouragement. The band is working hard in somewhat hard times to find venues and keep people dancing, which we see as a public service. People work hard and they deserve to relax, move around the dance floor and smile for a while. That's our mission.

If you frequent clubs or venues that have live music, mention us to the management. If you get any response from them, please let us know. We're more ready to play than we've ever been. As always, thanks for your friendship and support.

At Last, My Gig Has Come Along

2010-01-16T09:27:00.003-05:00

Last night, after what seemed like a lot longer than 33 days, Just Friends was set up, turned on and ready to play for a very packed Verhovay. The band was pumped and came out of the gate roaring. We had a great time. Many of the regular readers of this blog were there: Kathy Patti, Tina Wallish, Reita Wilson, Sharon Evans (the complete Band Wives Club!); some of John the drummer's family, including the brother who introduced him to the band; my little brothers Dave and Bill and sisters-in-law Kathy and Ginny; Ed and Grace McGovern, Karen Gray and Mike Dougan, Cari Longyear, Tom and Bob Roller, Mike Knarr, my daughter Mary and her friend Monica, and probably a few others that my guitar-player brain is forgetting. My apologies if you're one of them. *

Besides three members of the newly formed band Laredo (Dave, Bill and Brian Juran), two members of Jury of Five were present, Mark Sigouin (sp?) and Al Condit. It's always great when fellow musicians are in the audience; it makes me sit up a little straighter and try just a little harder not to clam. We saw many familiar faces at the club and many new ones, and we were very gratified at the positive response to the show.

Special mention goes to two of our long-time fans and friends of Just Friends, Tom and Betty Kresge. They have been following us and supporting live music in general in this area for as long as I've been in the band, and if this area had a thousand more folks like them, central PA would be a paradise for live bands.

Tom has been battling a serious illness recently. As we were setting up, I thought of the Kresges and called Mike and Dottie Miller to get Tom's number, just to let him know we'd miss him. I was pleasantly surprised to hear the Kresges would probably be there, and sure enough there they were at their usual table. As I told Tom, he looks to be in pretty good shape for the shape he's in. Everyone was glad to see him up on the dance floor, along with his wife, who as you know dances like a wild woman but is just as sweet and gracious as her husband. Tom is a real gentleman, and we hope to see him and Betty at our gigs for a long time to come, starting with March 6th when we return to the Verhovay.

There might be some folks around who think this band is not as good as it used to be. That opinion wasn't shared by anyone in the club last night. All we have to do now is rebuild and expand our list of venues. This is going to be a great year for the band, and we hope to see old friends and make new ones as we go along. Watch for some surprises. Do us a favor if you were there, and tell your friends. Befriend us on Facebook, check the website, and if you know any brides-to-be, tell them about us. I don't want to sound needy, but we're excited to be playing and want to do it as much as possible. Fortunately we don't have to wait long. Tonight we're at the Carlisle Eagles, a new venue and a new chance to make a first impression. I wish it was eight o'clock already.

(* I just remembered that Mike Liddick was there. Mike is a veteran of the Harrisburg music scene as a member of the Sounds of Gold and many other bands, including Just Friends. Sorry, Mike. Glad you could make it.)

Best. Leftovers. Ever.

2010-01-11T18:10:00.002-05:00

For those of you in the Pampered Chef cult, you may be familiar with the Deep Dish Baker, that ceramic thing that makes a whole chicken in the microwave in a half-hour. Joreen used one of the recipes that came with it, and served it with some misgivings. "It's either going to be good or not." The recipe is this:

Mix one can of whole berry cranberries with a can of cream of mushroom soup and one packet of onion soup mix. Pour over top of chicken in baker. Cover with lid, place in oven, bake for 1.5 hours at 425.

The little Purdue chicken came out as moist as could be, and the drippings left behind were delicious as a sauce. The best, though, was the leftovers tonight, chopped up chicken in the drippings (which thickened up nicely overnight in the refrigerator). Served over mashed potatoes with homemade bread. The blend of sweet and savory flavors was outstanding. It was one of the best things I ever tasted. No, there's no photo. I ate it all. Make your own and you can see what it looks like then. Next time, I'm going to make waffles to go with it.

We're getting psyched up for the Verhovay Friday. Hope to see all our friends there.

Joreen's Choice For Dinner Tonight

2010-01-09T18:09:00.002-05:00

We've been married too long. She said at lunch, "What do you want to do for dinner tonight?" I said, "Oh, all right, I'll take you to the Farm Show." That's where we're headed. It's actually one of our favorite restaurants and it's only open one week a year. I'm not thrilled about paying $10 to park, I can tell you. We might see if we can scam a free spot on Cameron Street and "stick it to the man."

I've been quiet on the blog, but one fun thing happened recently. I went down to the open mic at Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center and played some of my original tunes to a pretty large and very receptive crowd. I had mostly given up on the open mic experience, finding it not too satisfying, but this has a lot going for it. Mike Banks is a very experienced host and really keeps things moving. The stage is beautiful, very tastefully lit. The sound is really good (as long as you're playing acoustic). The audience is more than just people coming to play and there's talking, but there's listening as well.

Some years ago, Joreen bought me a Boss loop station pedal and for some reason I couldn't wrap my brain around its operation, put it away and said, "I'll get to learning it someday." I've declared 2010 The Year Of Getting Around To Things, and that's one I can cross off. In fact I don't know why I had such a hard time of it earlier. It's pretty simple once you get the hang of synching up the loop. I used it on stage and didn't have any train wrecks at all.

For you Facebookers, the open mic page is here. I don't know if this link will go right to Facebook for you or not.

Anyway, Joreen will be here soon. Better get ready to get in the potato donuts line. Mmmmmmmm.......potato donuts.............

Business/Pleasure to End 2009

2009-12-30T23:18:00.004-05:00

I have an assignment to cover hearings in Easton on New Year's Eve. Joreen and I have turned it into a mini-vacation. This evening we are in Bethlehem, having enjoyed a great meal at the Bethlehem Brew Works. Joreen had bratwurst, purple cabbage and German potato salad. She was kind of moaning at the table, but it was crowded so no one seemed to mind. I had the Thai potstickers and they were outstanding. Add in several different Belgians, and you've got a very nice evening out.

Tomorrow I'll go do the hearing, then come back to watch the Peep drop. If you're stuck in the burg and looking for fun, I can recommend Leghorn at the Winners Circle or Havana Blue at Suba. Both of them will do you fine.

Looking ahead, January 15th will be Just Friends' first gig of 2o1o at the Verhovay. Mark your calendars and make an effort. I promise we're going to show you how it's done. This year will be the year of the Kelly Brothers, with all four of us in working bands: Bill and Dave in Laredo, Steve in Element 22, and your humble blogger in Just Friends. This is gonna be great! Happy New Year to you all.

Christmas Tree, Already.

2009-12-15T18:44:00.004-05:00

Compared to past years, we're ahead of schedule on the tree. For the past several years we've gone to the Colonial Park Fire Company tree sale, and I can see why people don't wait until the last minute. It was pretty easy to find a fine little tree. We wanted a smaller one this year, and it's nice and straight and fresh. We even remembered the tree bag.

After 30-plus years, the ornaments become their own narrative, reminders of times, vacations, people who gave the decorations as gifts, a time-travel experience of sorts -- the seashell angel from last year's trip to Cape Cod, the cowboy from San Antonio, the Richard Nixon elf from my very first Christmas on my own that I bought at Murphy's downtown, along with the two we call "Overture to a Holiday in Berlin." The ornaments fight for placement on the little tree like minor league ballplayers trying to make the big time. Joreen announced just now the tree is done. She's right.

It's Beginning to Smell A Little Like Christmas

2009-12-12T16:30:00.002-05:00

I'm off to a later start than usual, but the first batch is done. I began this post earlier this evening, then got distracted and had to go play at the Hershey Country Club. It was a blast. But meanwhile, here's a look at the cookie making gear.

You notice the recipe propped up behind the irons. It's got a date of 12/90, which means I've been baking these fershlugginer things for 20 years now. And the worst part is, I never get tired of them. Especially with espresso. Oh, baby.

I started to get into the Christmas spirit tonight, listening to the Bruce Cockburn Christmas album. It's one of my all-time favorites. I bought it as a cutout years ago and don't know if it's still available. If you're interested, let me know and I can let you, uh, borrow it. Yeah, that's it.

Getting Ready to Begin to Get Ready

2009-12-11T20:57:00.003-05:00

Cleared the decks in the pizzelle production corner of the kitchen. Bought mass quantities of sugar, flour, eggs and butter. Got out the Christmas CDs. The first one this year, breaking with tradition, wasn't the Joe Pass disc I got for cheap at a drug store years ago and which always kicks off the season for me. I'm listening to a disc given to me by Cheryl Haviland, who passed away this year. It's a mystery disc, from a catalogue company called Figi's. The musicians aren't credited. It's pure smooth jazz, not my usual thing, but the arrangements are unique and beautiful and the playing is first rate.

For those of you who are family and follow this blog, I'd like to have you over the day after Christmas, Saturday, in the afternoon. I'll be calling you about it, but this is just a heads-up.

Butter's cooled down. Time to start mixing dough. Tomorrow the house will smell like Christmas.

What Aren't You Doing New Year's Eve?

2009-12-10T00:52:00.002-05:00

Maybe you've noticed that there hasn't been a lot of marketing going on here for Just Friends New Year's Eve gig. There's a reason for that: we don't have one. Despite our best efforts, the perfect storm of a stinky economy and further fallout from the turmoil the band went through this summer has boiled down to our first night off on 12/31 since 1997. We're bummed, but unbowed. Wait till next year.

To all our fans, especially those who've called in the last few days asking where we were playing, we'd like to say we appreciate your interest. Keep next year open. We won't let this happen again. In the meantime, there's this really cool band called Leghorn playing at the Winner's Circle. Maybe we'll see you there.

A. Thanksgiving, Turkey!

2009-11-30T19:10:00.003-05:00

The above title is the answer to two questions:

1. What did Ed McGovern throw at Thanksgiving Darts?

2. What's the best holiday of the whole year?

Thanksgiving Darts was a huge success on all fronts, unless you want to talk about my scores. I'm still eating leftover Mexican meat, cheese, hot dogs, and mustard dip, and that's in between leftover turkey, filling, mashed potatoes and corn. Somebody just cut a hole in the side of the house, will ya?

Thursday, we had a repeat of last year. Andie, Brian and Theo came up early and had brunch with Joreen and I, and then we switched gears and had Mary, John and the boys for dinner in the evening. Yes, it's a little unorthodox, but it works out best for everybody. I'm just thankful that we get to see each other at all. My daughters are the best, and I don't care who knows it. The above-pictured turkey gave Joreen a bit of trouble due to some defrosting issues in the drumsticks, but we fixed that up, and the meal overall was great. My compliments to the chef.

Friday evening, Just Friends played a surprise birthday party for Susan DiSanto at the Colonial Golf and Tennis Club. Thanks to the DiSanto family for contacting us and allowing us to be part of the celebration. Special thanks to Susan's daughter Lexi for requesting that we learn "Wake Up, Little Susie." Joreen and I haven't sang that since the days of the Cards, back when a cell phone was what a convict used to call his lawyer and a hard drive was Route 322 when Penn State had a home game. The DiSanto family are very supportive and appreciative of the band, and we are grateful for that.

A highlight of the night for me was seeing Mr. Frank DiNatale up and grooving on the dance floor. Mr. DiNatale may have blown his knees out years ago playing handball at the YMCA, but he was still up and dancing, and I was impressed.

On Saturday, Just Friends played another Thanksgiving weekend wedding. This makes about four or five in a row, I believe. Sara and Terry Faust are the first and second best looking people in this picture:

The reception was at the Lebanon Valley Country Club, and at the bride's request the band played "All You Need Is Love" during their introductions. Their first dance was "You're My Everything," a beautiful ballad sung by Nat King Cole that none of the band had ever heard before, and I thought we've heard everything. Thanks to Sara for expanding our repertoire, and for being so great to work with. This was the third wedding we've done since 2005 for the Haverstick extended family, and you know what that means: "Ring of Fire!"

At the end of the night, one of the groom's friends gave us a little grief for not doing enough "classic rawk." This inspired the Hotel California -> Not Fade Away -> Your Mama Don't Dance -> Mony, Mony/Wipe Out/Born to be Wild medley. That was fun. I was getting some tone. And now, back to work.

"...Forever Has Now Begun...."

2009-11-25T07:26:00.003-05:00

Just Friends had the pleasure of playing a wedding reception at Visaggio's on Saturday for Floyd and Amy, and it was one of the most enjoyable gigs we've ever done. This is where the shades of meaning between "work" and "play" get blurred in a good way. The bride and groom are wonderful people, and a joy to work with. The guests were from all over the country, and we had many compliments, which we really appreciate.

I've said it before. "Wedding band" gets used as a put-down by some musicians of other musicians, but if you have a group of players with the necessary experience, an open mind and the right attitude, playing a wedding can be a musical adventure of the best kind. 'NSYNC, Elton John, John Denver, Frank Sinatra, Abba, Louis Jordan, Louis Prima, and Sam the Sham all stirred up and served to a floor full of smiling dancers -- that's my idea of a good time.

Floyd and Amy and I are now Facebook friends, and we hope to stay in touch. Thanks again to them and their family for a great time, and a shout-out to Visaggio's for their hospitality. The food was so good I didn't even mind too much that it wasn't a club sandwich. (Mmmmm..... clubs.......)

Tonight of course is Thanksgiving Darts. Hopefully there'll be another Thanksgiving turkey like Greg Gerstner's last year. Tomorrow is a day full of plates full, my favorite holiday. Friday, we have a surprise party to play, don't tell anyone. Saturday, another wedding reception in Lebanon for another really nice bride.

Life is good. So much to be thankful for. Not everyone is having such an easy time of it. Some of our friends have had a rough year and are even now going through tough times. This is a good time to remember them, pray for them, and stay grateful for all the gifts we've been given.

Where'd The Last Two Weeks Go?

2009-10-23T15:19:00.003-05:00

Sorry for being dormant on the blog. We've been busy as all get out, playing the Columbus Society banquet and working on the new demo. Final mixdown tomorrow, and hopefully we can use this puppy to go get some work for Just Friends. I'll try and scare up some photos of the Hershey job and post them later. We had issues with some of the Italian material -- hey, it's been a year -- but David said we looked like The Who with all those lights on the stage, so that's cool.

I just saw that Soupy Sales passed away. Sad news, although I wouldn't have bet a lot on a game of "Live or Dead?" about him. One thing that cracked me up was the quote that, "He had a long and varied career after the show, with stints as a radio host and Broadway star (and, once, an expert witness in a court case that involved pie-throwing)." Man, I'd love to have reported that hearing. I do remember watching the show on 17th Street, in black and white, and him making the stick man out of the letters in the word Jello. What a shame they never kept those shows back then*; the DVD sales would have made his retirement a lot more comfortable.

*After publishing, I started poking around on Youtube and found this.

Prayer Request

2009-10-09T14:22:00.002-05:00

Please remember our drummer, John Wilson, and his family in your prayers. His son Cory passed away yesterday morning at home after a long illness. John and Reita and the whole family have been through a rough time of it, and now that their son is out of pain and at home with the Lord, they can get some rest and hold on to the good memories of their boy. It's a rough way to make saints, but thank God for goodhearted people like the Wilsons. Please pray for them.

Woohoooooo!

2009-10-09T13:59:00.004-05:00

I have a secret. I want to meet the Giant Foods "U-Scan Voice Lady" and kiss her full on the mouth. For years she's been nagging me, "Please place the item in the bag." "Please take the item out of the bag." "No." "You've done it wrong." "Please place the item back in the bag." "Can't you do anything right." "You moron." And then the kicker, "Remember to check for any coupons that may have been printed just for you." Of course, those coupons are usually for something about as useful as carbon paper, so I don't always do what the Voice Lady tells me to. It's my Sixties rebellious nature, I guess.

But today for some reason I decided to do what she said, and the coupon said, "Congratulations! You have won free groceries for a week." That translates to a $100 gift card, which is just all right with me. The customer service girl and some employees standing around got all excited when I cashed it in. Apparently I was the first winner out of the U-Scan, and one of the last ones for this promotion. The U-Scan cashier reminded me that it can be used for gas, too. What a day brightener. Thanks, U-Scan Voice Lady!

I promised you some pancake breakfast pics. Here they are.

Prince Theo the Hungry, finishing his third pancake. Grandma watches approvingly.

One of the better pictures of my little guy Travis. He was rocking the breakfast. Mary and Deven look like they're singing along to Mick Cochran, who was doing some great country songs while we ate.

Like the Carly Simon song says, "I had a dream, there were clowns in my coffee, clowns in my coffee...."

Facebook = Where Did The Last Hour Go?

2009-10-07T15:22:00.009-05:00

After resisting for as long as I could, I joined Facebook. Man, if you like receiving e-mails, this is the deal for you. I am inundated with requests for this and that, making requests for this and that, and getting dozens of itty, bitty, teeny, tiny packets of data about people I care about. Thing is, I think I prefer my big ole sprawling comfortable blog, where a sentence is a sentence and a paragraph is a paragraph.

So, what's been happening? This past weekend was another Minnequa-Valencia doubleheader. The lights were a big hit with the band, and by the end of the night I felt like I was getting the hang of running them. Sunday night we had a great evening at the Valencia. Sid and Pat, the gentlemen who run the dance, seem pleased with how we're doing. We did have one guy who complained that we only did one waltz instead of at least four. I resisted the urge to point out that we did sing Happy Birthday to someone, so technically that was two waltzes, not one. Can't please everybody.

So much happening this past weekend! Friday evening we had Andie, Brian and Theo over for dinner to celebrate Andie's birthday one day early. Joreen made crabcakes that were delicious, and even more remarkable when you consider that she doesn't eat them.

Theo spent the night with us, and the next morning Mary, Joreen and I took the three grandboys to the Tall Cedars pancake breakfast at the Zembo Mosque. It brings back memories of when I was a kid and Mr. Fels, the security guard at Town and Country, used to give Mom tickets for us to go and eat there. Thanks to my brother Billy (also a Happy Birthday this past Monday) for remembering Mr. Fels' name. The boys had a blast. It's fun to watch the young'uns put on the feedbag. The Zembo clowns were there, and tried to traumatize Theo, but it didn't work. I'll post the picture later.

That afternoon, I went to the Little Buffalo Festival and saw The Gliders again. This entry is getting a little too sprawling, so I'll just say they were at least as good as last weekend, with the added bonus of being outdoors on a beautiful early autumn day. Kudos to Bob Martin and the volunteers who made it happen. It was old home week for me, with most of my good friends in attendance. As for seeing The Gliders in the future, to paraphrase their encore, "That may be the last time, I don't know." I hope not.

Now Just Friends is girding up our respective girdables for The Big One, the Italian-American Society Columbus Day banquet on Sunday. Of course, what's an October without some obstacle to overcome? I'm dealing with a head cold right now. Hopefully it will pass in time for me to be able to sing Sunday. We're working in a couple new Italian numbers at the last minute: Eh Cumpari, a novelty song that you might remember hearing as a kid, sung by Julius LaRosa; and another Sixties/Italian hybrid, Nights in White Satin with some Italian lyrics. If all goes well, we'll have some audio or video record of it to share in the future. If not, que sera sera, or whatever.

GM = Idiots

2009-09-30T17:17:00.002-05:00

First look at this, then look at this. I haven't been this depressed since The Spot closed. I've been driving a Saturn for 16 years, never even looked at another vehicle. Back in 1993, after our Toyota Tercel was totaled in a terrible -- what's another word for "wreck" that starts with "T"? -- anyway, I was thrilled to be able to buy a car built in America that was of such high quality that it sold itself. Of course, General Motors, being the morons that they are, eventually found a way to screw it up. Well, whatever I end up buying, you can bet it won't say "General Motors" anywhere on it. Goobers. I suppose Saturn's going to have to update their website. "We're optimistic about the future" doesn't seem to have much of a ring to it.

Big Doings This Weekend

2009-09-28T21:14:00.007-05:00

Just Friends played at the Hersheypark Amphitheatre, closing out the official season of the park. Despite (or because of) the rainy weather in the afternoon, we had decent crowds who were very enthusiastic. I love it when they sing along -- especially if I'm about to blank on the lyrics. I can't memorize for spit but I can read lips pretty well.

Thanks to the mighty Mrs. Kelly you can now see us in action. Go to http://www.justfriendsband.com/ and check out the Youtube videos. They all turned out well for an unattended camera using "through the air" sound. I especially love Vince's Tu Vuo Fa L'Americano. No, you don't know what he's saying, but so what? Actually, the lyrics are quite humorous, about an immigrant from Naples who wants to be Americanized; that's what the references to rock and roll, baseball and Camel cigarettes are about. It's one of my favorites that we're doing these days, and Vince just tears it up.

We finished at 7:15. At 8:30 we arrived at the reception for the wedding of Stephanie and Zachary. They were very gracious in welcoming us even though we were about five and a half hours late (and I was wearing a bowling shirt). We missed most of the cool stuff like the vows and the toasts and the dances, but we did get to hear Steve sing "Sweet Caroline," so it was still all good. Best wishes to the newlyweds. You never know what the future holds, but may theirs be full of promise and hope, and surprises. Look at my first wife and me; we're still rocking after all these years.

The band continues to work on its promo package, recording a demo at Log Cabin Studios on Sunday. I've said it before and I'll say it again. It's impossible to record all the music and most of the vocal tracks for seven songs in three and a half hours, but Vince doesn't know it's impossible, so we keep doing it. Thanks again (I should make a macro for this sentence, I have to type it so often!) to my little brother David. He does all things well, including engineering a recording session in a garage.

Finally, as if all that wasn't enough, Sunday night I attended The Gliders show at the Harrisburg Midtown Arts Center. They opened for Adam Marsland, an artist from Los Angeles, who was also pretty good, but The Gliders were the best. I miss those songs and they've never sounded better. I mean it, the performances were spot-on and done with real love. I get a kick out of Bobby Martin, who sounds so much like Phil Lesh and is too humble to believe me when I tell him that. Mike Sgrignoli is one of the most powerful drummers I've ever heard, and these songs were made for his harmonies. Eric Zimmerman has less hair than he did back in the day but his songs are still compelling, original and honest, and don't sound dated in the least after all these years. And my friend Bill, with the Marilyn Monroe Strat and the spiffy Mesa amplifier, was hitting everything he aimed at. Such tone. Okay, I'm raving, but if you were at the show you know what I mean.

For a Sunday night in the Burg, the band drew a nice crowd of musicians and music lovers. For a little while it was like being in a city with a real music scene. The venue is beautiful and comfortable, just what Harrisburg needs more of, although they still need to do something about the sound mix. Marsland was probably singing in English, but I couldn't swear to it.

The Gliders will be performing at the Little Buffalo Arts Festival on October 3rd at 2:30 p.m. Unless you're doing something that can't wait, you should do yourself a favor and go see them. I hope we'll have other chances to see them, but this is a sure thing. Hey, there's no cover! That should make every cheap central Pennsylvanian's heart skip a beat. (Five bucks to hear a band? Sheeesh!) For more info on the festival, go here. To hear The Gliders tunes, go here.

Lights, Camera, Action, Run Away

2009-09-18T08:19:00.004-05:00

It took me a while to upload this for whatever reason, but here's the lights I talked about the other day. Thanks again to David for the help. The way he describes it, we can add on more lights, and more lights, and more lights, BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! -- uh, sorry.

Last night Just Friends had a great rehearsal, working on the Italian stuff. I'm having a ball singing the Louis Prima tunes especially, although they're a challenge vocally. Just a Gigolo is a hoot, and Buona Sera is also fun. Funiculi, Funicula is coming along, with Enzo acting as my Italian coach. We're going to have a blast.

Now I have to get back to work. This afternoon I'm leaving for St. Catherine's parish retreat, being Mr. Music for it. I hope I remember how to do this; I used to do it in my sleep. (I might be doing that again!) Anyway, for a limited time only, anyone reading this blog gets their intentions prayed for this weekend. It's a full-service kind of a blog. Just do me a favor and return the favor. I'll post back next week when I'm all holy and stuff.

Have Your People Call Our People

2009-09-16T04:35:00.006-05:00

Having spent 39 years learning how to play the guitar, I have now taken up a new instrument: the briefcase. Much of my time this week has been spent trying to book dates for Just Friends for 2010, and I'm acquiring a whole nother set of skills. Tough economic conditions have rippled down to the clubs and other venues we traditionally played, and competition from other smaller (and cheaper) bands is fierce. Looking at the band schedule may give you the impression we are slowing down. In fact, we are working on establishing new contacts, improving our promotional material and preparing to produce new audio and video to give an accurate representation of the quality and artistry that goes into a Just Friends performance.

We have heard through the grapevine that there are those who feel Just Friends was all but washed up and left for dead after the recent personnel changes. This is an inaccurate representation. In response, I would just ask that you give us a listen. Watch and hear us in action, and then decide. We are tighter, more focused and happier on stage than we have been in a long, long time. Happy players make happy dancers, and happy dancers fill venues.

Be patient while we build our schedule, which looks a little thin right now. We're excited and hopeful that 2010 is going to be a great year for Just Friends, despite the challenges and minor setbacks we're facing. There is a place for experienced, professional musicians in this area, and we are going to find it, or make it ourselves. Stay tuned, and thanks for your support.

Yesterday the UPS man brought my new light controller and some accessories to spiff up our stage lights. Getting gear delivered is always a day brightener.* My little brother David is going to come over today and show me how to not blow them up. "Dip switch"? Como se dice "dip switch"?

(*So help me, I didn't see that pun until after I published this!)

R.I.P. Cheryl Haviland, 1954-2009

2009-09-09T07:46:00.006-05:00

I received a phone call last evening that Cheryl Haviland passed away on Monday. She was living in the Middletown Home and had suffered from too many medical problems to recount. At the end, her liver failed and she could not qualify for a transplant due to the likelihood of rejection.

Other than relatives, I have known Cheryl longer than I've known anyone else. Here is the proof.

This is kindergarten graduation at St. Francis of Assisi on Market Street in Harrisburg. I guess the year is 1959 or '60. I am second from the left, and Cheryl is on the far right (I think). We are singing "Harrigan." Over the years this story came up between us again and again, but I don't believe she ever saw this picture. Until my Dad made scrapbooks for us one Christmas, I don't think I had ever seen it either.

Cheryl had a rough go in life, battling multiple medical conditions and carrying crosses so heavy I used to call her "Ms. Job." When she would call me, I would sometimes say, "Now what?" There wasn't much I could do for her except listen and occasionally get a laugh out of her. When she would get depressed and talk about the end being near (years ago) I would ask her to make sure and tell me where she buried all the Krugerrands she had bought with her stateworker's salary. I still remember her laughing at that.

Cheryl was a poet and loved to sing, almost as much as she hated having her picture taken. Somewhere buried in this archeological dig of an office is a photo she gave me of herself. She made sure I knew what a great personal sacrifice that was for her. It was frustrating to me that underneath the kidding aspect of that exchange was her embarrassment at her physical appearance. At least where she is now, she'll no longer have to be convinced of her beauty.

I'll miss her. Her funeral is Saturday, 12:00 noon at Seven Sorrows. I was scheduled to play the Sisters' 100th Anniversary Mass in Danville, but I called Sr. Madonna and explained that Cheryl had left a request in her arrangements that I serve as a pallbearer, and I can't say no to that. I've said it before: I wish there was an easier way to make saints. Anyway, Cheryl's in the Choir now, big time, and I know she's singing her heart out.

Minnequa and Valencia

2009-09-01T08:53:00.003-05:00

No, those are not two names from cashiers' ID tags at the Giant store. They are the last two venues where Just Friends performed. The Minnequa Social Club in Shippensburg is becoming our home away from home, and we played there on the 22nd. The crowd was a good size considering it's prime vacation time, and the folks there responded enthusiastically to us. Since it's a private club, you'll have to take my word for it, but we do well there, and we're returning on October 3rd. We broke out an old country favorite -- well, from the eighties; in country years, I still think of it as new -- Forever and Ever, Amen by Randy Travis, which segued into (all rise, remove your cowboy hats for the Anthem) Sweet Home, Alabama. The dancers loved it. The people who work there are great, especially Brandy, the world's sweetest waitress. The second we go on break, she instantly appears to take drink orders from the band. I wish she worked everywhere we do.

Sunday, August 30th, we broke out the tuxedos and sparkly dresses -- in a gender appropriate manner, of course -- for the Valencia ballroom and the New Singles Dance, hosted by Sid Miller and Pat Connor. The Valencia is an old, classic ballroom/theatre from the turn of the last century, lovingly restored, a very elegant place. We had a fantastic time, breaking out no less than five new tunes: Drift Away, At Last, Walking on Sunshine, Oye Como Va (a real crowd pleaser and the answer to a prior request to learn a cha-cha) and, for the last tune, a surprise to everyone in the band including me, Love Hurts. We were doing Amazed and Vince said, "We need four more minutes," and it just fit. Kudos to Jim and Mark for falling right into it, and to all the band. Not to pat ourselves on the back, but our sound is coming together, and there's smiles all over the stage. It's good, and it's going to get better. The vocal mind meld continues to improve as all the J's work on our harmonies. Vince's sax is starting to growl, which makes us all grin.

Considering the uncertain patch we hit in July, it's eight weeks later and we're forging ahead with renewed confidence. Music isn't always easy, but when it's good, it's almost the most fun you can have. Stay tuned for more developments. Our next performance will be at the Hersheypark Amphitheatre on Saturday, September 26th.

There is also a new, finally functioning e-mail address for Just Friends business and communication: jkelly@justfriendsband.com It only took three calls to PA Online's tech support, and we managed to get it working before my cell phone battery died, so we'll call that a success. Use that address as an alternate contact for me, or if you have any friends who are getting married, or even look like they're thinking about getting married. That doesn't sound too needy, does it? Too bad; right now, we all just want to play.

Just Friends at Knoebel's and other news

2009-08-20T11:15:00.003-05:00

Day job and other commitments have kept me hopping since last Wednesday, so this is the first chance I've had to post. Just Friends, with special guest Dave Kelly (relation), traveled to Knoebel's Aug. 12th for another successful performance. Perfect weather and a good on-stage energy set the tone for two really great shows. For the final performance, just as we hit the stage a truly nasty storm blew up. We began to tear down and give up, but then Vince's "the show must go on" circuitry kicked in. We cobbled together some mics and monitors and entertained a small but enthusiastic crowd sitting underneath the overhang in the back of the amphitheatre. Of note: I went out into the audience on Sweet Caroline and carried on with the audience a while. John Wilson and Jim Wallish continue to blend in on vocals, and our harmonies are good and getting better. My little brother, of course, tore it up like he always does.

The next day, we went down to see the aforementioned Little Brother and his band Leghorn at the Fuzzy Few in Hummelstown. They sounded awesome as usual. I especially enjoyed David's cover of the country song/inspirational pep talk "Don't Blink." Good advice and a good tune. Opening for Leghorn was Shawn Oliveira's band, Six Degrees South. They sounded really good. I recently met one of the guitar players, Dave Gang, who does a great job on guitar setups and repairs, according to my brother. Also, their lead singer, Jeff Seyfried, is someone I've met before, but only when we're both wearing suits. He's an attorney, and has an excellent voice. When he told me he's only been singing a little while, I just didn't believe him.

In other music news, the Durable Goods Version 2 or 3 played a benefit in Camp Hill last Saturday to raise funds for the Starzl Foundation in memory of Carol Carroll, Lee Carroll's wife who passed away this past year. It was a success, raising over $6,000 for this worthy cause. Charlie, Joreen, myself and a new drummer, Eric Lohr, played an early set for a small but enthusiastic (sensing a pattern here?) crowd early in the day.

There was much excitement all day long, some from the great musical performances and some from Charlie and I trying to get sound to come out of the cobbled-together PA in some kind of coherent fashion. A group of high school kids played after us, doing some Doors covers and other tunes. They were really good for their age. Of course, my personal local favorites these days, F-Dr., put on an even better performance than they did at the ABC in June. Keep an eye on these guys. If the wind is right and they get the break they deserve, they'll be playing Bonnaroo by next year. They're really that good. Of course, Krypton City closed out the night, and they played well, even if you couldn't hear it so good down the street. It was a learning experience, to be sure. I've learned that there's nothing like a sound guy who knows what he's doing.

There are some pretty heavy crosses being carried by some folks we know. Don't forget to pray for them. I once got some great advice from a good friend of a good friend who lost a loved one. He said, "Love your people. Tell them you love them." I can't be reminded of that often enough.

Better Late Than Never

2009-08-10T20:06:00.009-05:00

Sunday afternoon, the Just Friends Band had the privilege of playing for the most patient audience I've ever seen.

Due to "technical difficulties" which included a squirrel's nest in the distribution box

and a wiring job straight out of a Goofy cartoon, our 1:00 performance started promptly at 2:30. Thanks to all of you gentle readers who waited around for the show and were so supportive with your applause and compliments. Thanks also to Larry Mummert and the Tall Cedars of Lebanon for inviting us to play and being so appreciative. The Muscular Dystrophy Association has been a fixture in all of our lives, and I'm sure some of you, like me, have memories of watching Jerry Lewis as the summer winds down. Hopefully, there will come a time when kids will wonder what "MDA" stood for. Kudos also to WHP 580, to the owners of the classic cars who aided in the fundraising, and to Boscov's, who hopefully got that little ground and neutral wire thing worked out eventually.

Most of all, a heartfelt thanks to Riley Johnson, who opened for us again this year. Especially touching was his dedication of the song "Friends" to Andy Guest, who recently passed away from complications due to ALS. I've said it before and I'll say it again. Watching that young man perform is God's memo to me that says, "Now, what was it you were complaining about?"

Despite the snafus, it was great to see so many of our old friends and family as well as some new fans. Shout-outs go to my Dad, Dave Weyl, Dave Gang, Jeff Seyfried, Alex Harden and Ryan, my little brother and his lovely wife Kathy, Parker and Renna, Nino and Heather, Jack, Gio, Tara and little Gio, Sean, and all our friends from St. Catherine's. Thanks for your patience and support. Also, the MVP award goes to our drummer, John Wilson, without whose help the guys from the mall would probably still be looking at that wiring and scratching their heads. Honorable mention goes to Brian Juran, who at one point just started slashing cables open with a knife and said, "The show must go on!"

If you were there and I forgot to mention you, don't be offended. After all, I couldn't even remember that "Tequila" is in G. Go ahead and giggle. I deserve it.

Telegram from Busyashelltown

2009-08-05T22:58:00.005-05:00

Back from vacation stop Beautiful weather great bed and breakfast stop Jinny and Zane's granddaughter is wicked cute will post photos later stop Returned to huge stack of work and stuff to do stop Played gig with Roger and Chris at Midtown Art Center a nice venue which hopefully will do well enough so they can actually hire musicians stop Played Dead songs at open mic last night with Bill Nork and Joreen at Gullifty's to celebrate Garcia stop Getting ready to play the MDA benefit with Just Friends at Colonial Park on Sunday at 1:00 for one hour stop I'm tired and I want to go to bed so now I'll stop

Here's something you don't see every day....

2009-07-26T09:43:00.000-05:00

http://www.odditycentral.com/pics/meet-the-real-life-invisible-man.html

Just Friends in the Summertime

2009-07-26T07:56:00.004-05:00

Summer shows at picnics can be a risky proposition for bands. You have to keep tarpaulins handy in case the weather kicks up, as it has been doing recently. It's great when the venue has a pavilion that can accommodate the band and the audience, which is why we're glad we played for the Progress Home Association at Serb Park on Eisenhower Blvd. yesterday. The grounds are spacious, so all 200 guests had room to sit and listen, or hang out at the bar area, or just roam around and enjoy the day.

The band had plenty of room to move around, and we did a lot of that, as did the dancers. We were well received and we all had a lot of fun, and that's about all you can ask for. Well, you can ask for good monitor levels, and we had those, too, once we got John Wilson's drive-thru microphone on a leash. Thanks to Brian Juran, our sound man and his problem solving skills, John's debut on harmony vocals was a success. Solos are good, but harmony is the best. Pictures of the band and some of the audience can be seen here.

This week the Kellys are on vacation in Vermont. Saturday, August 8th, we are playing for the New Singles at the Valencia Ballroom in York. For our local fans, plan to join us at the Muscular Dystrophy Association fundraiser in the Boscov's Colonial Park parking lot on Sunday, August 9, at 1:00 p.m. This is an annual event for us, and besides helping raise funds for a worthy cause we get to gawk at the classic cars on display. Odds are, if you're of the same vintage as me, the first car you ever owned will be there, although it will make you grind your teeth that you didn't keep it and fix it up. This is a family friendly event, with no charge for admission, but free will donations to the MDA are accepted and appreciated. See you then.

In Other Music News....

2009-07-25T13:10:00.006-05:00

In addition to Just Friends, Joreen and I have been known to go hang with our fellow wizards, other local musicians. We have a side project called The Durable Goods, and that band played on July 19th at Camp Reily for the Historical Society of Dauphin County. It's a slightly different approach musically than Just Friends, but it's a lot of fun.

Special thanks to the Historical Society, especially Kathryn McCorkle and Tom Gacki and all the committee members, for the opportunity to play for this worthy cause. The theme of the event was the 4oth anniversary of Woodstock, and we learned a whole lot of songs from that era for the occasion, which explains why some of them got a little shaky in spots. From the beautiful tie dyes to the vintage VW microbuses to the twirling dancers, the atmosphere was great, smoke-free and not muddy at all, but great. The setting, the food and the audience were all wonderful. These folks put on a great event, and whatever they do next year, we hope we can be involved in some way.

Thanks also to Brian Juran and his assistant, Digital Dave, of PaProSound for good sound under difficult circumstances. As good as the soundboard recording is, the sound through the air that day was even clearer and sweeter.

My heartfelt thanks to my good friends Tom Vogelsong, Charlie Ruhl and Alex Harden for their hard work in preparing for this, our first actual gig together. Tom literally faced an uphill battle, leaning into his kit to keep from sliding off the back of the flatbed, and still played like the pro that he is. Charlie, not that long out of the hospital, gets the Rock and Roll Trooper Award for this month hands down. One tough hombre, that Charlie is. Alex gets double thanks, not only for his fine job on the bass, but for salvaging a listenable recording of the day when our video camera decided to put a nasty 60 cycle hum in the audio, rendering it useless. Of course, thanks to my lovely enabler wife, Joreen, who really makes everything such a joy, and just tore up on Somebody to Love.

Last but not least, thanks to Ed and Grace for attending and sitting in and making the harmonies shine, Terry Keating for grace under pressure during Lovelight, and for taking my guitar and stepping up when I handed it to him at the end of Deal. Thanks also to Karen Gray and all our other friends, new and old, who shared the day with us. Peace, love and frisbees indeed.

Music is the best. Music played with and for friends who share a passion for the songs is the best of the best.

Welcome, Friends of Just Friends!

2009-07-25T12:35:00.005-05:00

To all the long-time readers of this blog, looks like we're going to be having company. Joreen has just assumed the duties of webmistress (anybody else get an image of Nancy Sinatra boots and a riding crop?) for the newly spiffed-up Just Friends band website and has placed a link there to this page. In the past I've posted stories and pictures from Just Friends shows, but I've gotten out of the habit. I'll try to start that up again now. There's lots going on in the band. As our soundman Brian says, "Once in a while you've got to stir the soup." I'll go into details later, but for now, I've got to go get ready to play the Progress Home Association picnic at Serb Park. The PHA has had us do their Christmas party and picnic for several years now, and I'm looking forward to seeing them up and dancing. They're a pretty lively crowd.

Getting Good Reception

2009-07-12T09:57:00.004-05:00

Wedding reception, that is. Just Friends played at the Lebanon Country Club yesterday, with yet another variation in the line-up. Our drummer, John Wilson, was out of town attending his own son's wedding in Long Island, so his predecessor, Craig Rankin, graciously stepped up and did a great job. He drove up from the Lancaster area the night before and we had a quick rehearsal on the obligatos; for the rest, we just wung it. Again, Gio was unavailable, so I took the center mic again and my little brother Davey stepped up, and we rocked the Haverstick and Frederick families like crazy. To be fair, the band has a history with the Haverstick family. We played the bride's sister's wedding five years ago -- this is the family whose traditional family song is Ring of Fire, gotta love that -- and they were very receptive and enthusiastic, to say the least. By the time we got to "Shout," they were tuned up and as wired as can be. Yes, they did the "gator dance." Nothing like the sight of guys in tuxes laying on the floor on their back and flailing around to renew your faith in the power of live music. Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. Ryan Frederick, and best wishes for a long and happy marriage. May there be many Ring of Fire dances in your lives for years to come.

Thanks to the hard work of everyone in the band, we left everyone very satisfied and happy. That's good, because we'll see many of the same folks in November when we do another wedding at the same location for one of the bridesmaids from yesterday. Special thanks to Dave for playing the cocktail hour with me on guitar. I went through my old charts and we just smoothed our way through it. I was as nervous about doing that as I was about anything, but turns out the hardest part was setting up outside, then inside, then outside again. "They Can't Take That Away From Me" is now firmly stuck in my head, and that's a good thing. Another highlight: the bride and groom from five years ago were in attendance, and they requested their first dance song, "My Baby Just Cares For Me." That was muy cool. If we keep playing for this family, we can do a whole set just of their past first dances.

Also, I have to give credit to the staff of the Lebanon Country Club, under the capable leadership of Boris Gradina. He organized and executed an amazingly smooth wedding reception, placing a lot of people in a rather small space, dealing with the weather and many people's expectations, and he did it with such style and poise that he even had time to be a bit of a wise guy. "You want to know where to set up? I'm just a guy who golfs here." Thanks to Boris for all his help, for putting us at ease, and for keeping me guessing whether he was serious or not.

Next week, Saturday at the Minnequa with Just Friends, and then Sunday is the Durable Goods extravaganza at Camp Reily. If any of you gentle readers are interested in attending, please contact me by cell phone or e-mail. This is going to be a blast. After all these years of doing gigs the same way with the same lineup to the point of falling into a routine, all this variety is really keeping me on my toes musically, and that's another good thing.

For Better, For Worse, For A Really Long Time

2009-07-09T08:26:00.006-05:00

Thirty-three years ago today at about this time, Joreen and I were beginning a really nasty argument. No, of course I don't remember what about. Maybe she does. Go ask her. Her parents weren't entirely sure we were going to go through with it, I'm told. But since all the arrangements were in place, we decided what the heck, let's go ahead and get married.

Thinking back on it, the cost/benefit ratio has turned out to be pretty favorable. I've seen weddings over the years, especially as a member of Just Friends, where I'm sure the cost of the bridal party's shoes was higher than the whole tab for our reception. We were the last marriage held in the old Sacred Heart church, which had been severely damaged in the '72 flood. The parish had graciously put up some decorations for us, not just to make it more festive but to cover the cracks in the wall behind the altar. We don't have a fancy wedding album to look at, but we're still looking at each other, and we're still wearing the rings, and that's a good thing.

Rita Howell, my mother-in-law, was very active in church business and had made many priest friends. That's how a really nervous, long-haired, extremely skinny kid in a $50 suit (I refused to go through with this in somebody else's clothes) came to be face to face with Fathers Sawdy, Gross, Brubaker, Fee and Rigoli, who laid a mighty smackdown of a blessing on us, apparently. It's still holding.

Most of my friends and family have heard this story, but it's appropriate to tell today. My mother-in-law was not exactly thrilled about my wife's choice in a partner for life. Her wedding dress was half-black and half-white, not because she had mixed emotions about the marriage, as I always claimed, but because she waited till the last minute to go buy one, just to make sure I was going to go through with it, and the choices at Peck's were slim.

Fast forward to July 9, 1977. Joreen and I were celebrating our first anniversary, and in the course of conversation she said, "Well, Mom was wrong about you." I asked her, "What do you mean?" She said, "When we were planning to get married, Mom said it wouldn't last six months.'" That was all I needed to hear. I picked up the phone, called my mother-in-law and said, "Mom, what's wrong?" She was confused. I said, "It looks like you were actually wrong about something!" She was still confused. I said, "I hear you gave this marriage six months, and I'm still here." We had a great laugh about it, I ribbed her a little more, and I thought that was it.

July 9, 1978, about nine at night, Joreen's Mom called. "Is John mad at me?" Now it was Joreen's turn to be puzzled. Rita said, "Oh, I just thought maybe I'd be hearing from him today, that's all. Nothing important." So of course I called her back and laid into her again for being wrong about me. This began a tradition that lasted until July of 1992. Every year I would call her and come up with a variation like, in 1981, "Well, Mom, maybe it was six years, not six months, and I might still leave her, you never know." One of the last anniversary calls I made, I said to her, "Mom, I'll let you in on a secret. I really was ready to leave her after six months, but I stuck around just to tick you off."

My mother-in-law passed away suddenly in 1993, four years after her husband, Andy. She was far from perfect, but I loved her dearly. She and my father-in-law were supportive of us in many, many ways. It got to the point where I wasn't too crazy about mother-in-law jokes, because she was exactly the opposite of every nasty stereotype. We would sit sometimes and have a beer and she'd tell me stories. She was fiercely proud of Joreen's singing and playing, and she was always disappointed that Joreen never got into a working band. I like to think she might have had a hand in the Just Friends Band coming together.

Right now, I'm sitting at the same kitchen table where she sat. Joreen is in the seat her father always occupied. We're older, and yes, turning into our parents. Trust me, I'm still getting a great deal.

The Music Never Stopped

2009-07-06T08:21:00.008-05:00

Get comfortable. This is a long entry. There's been a lot going on.

This past weekend has been a guitar extravaganza. Friday afternoon, I played with the Jury of Five at the American Music Festival in Harrisburg, filling in for their guitar player, Al. We rehearsed about four times and put on a great set. Mike, Mark, Scott and my brother Steve were very supportive and good to work with. We had some laughs, played some tunes and rocked the crowd, so you can't ask for more. Joreen filmed the show and it's in "post-production" I guess. For a little taste of what it was like, go here. Thanks to all our friends and familly who showed up, and to Judge David Weyl who stayed for the whole show. He and I have worked together for a long time and we've talked about my musical sideline, but this is the first time he saw me play, and he enjoyed the performance.

Friday evening, the Durable Goods took over our living room for a "rehearsal" that turned into a bona fide party. Company showed up bringing food and drinks and it was kind of strange. We were a bit loud -- well, okay, we were bone splintering, face melting loud -- so nobody came into the living room, but I'm told we sounded great outside. Folks congregated in the kitchen and downstairs, and occasionally we would hear disembodied applause. We had a ball.

Thanks to Alex for coming over to help set up inside instead of out due to a threatened storm that never arrived, and for the tasty southwest salad; to the aforementioned Mike Miller and his lovely wife Dottie, for coming and bringing mac and cheese and cake (no, not in the same dish, smart-aleck); to the Rollers and their wings, Alex's friends Mark and Robin; Bill Nork and his pizza, I believe; Stevie and Patty and whatever they brought; Mark Knarr and the best tasting pork barbecue I've had in a long time; Terry Keating and whatever he brought, and for spreading the word about the get-together; the lovely and talented Karen Gray; our manager Sean Sanderson; and a special shout-out to our long-time friends Rick and Irene Woodard who went out of their way to contact me and get over here. I was so pumped to play that after we turned off the amps, I broke out the acoustics. Terry and I accompanied Irene in a Peter, Paul and Mary singalong (featuring "the V-8 vocal stylings of Irene Woodard"). We had a ball, and thanks to anybody else who was here not mentioned above for attending and filling the pot luck table with goodies. It's been too long since we've had a Fourth of July party, and it was worth the wait.

One dark cloud on the evening was that our rhythm guitar player, Charlie Ruhl, is on the DL, having burst his appendix for no good reason last week. He's had a rough time of it, but is recuperating and I hope is out of the hospital by now. He intends to be back in action by the main event, the fundraiser on the 19th.

Then Saturday, Just Friends did our annual performance at Hotel Hershey for the fireworks party on the patio. There was a huge crowd on the newly renovated patio, and again our friends and family turned out. Special thanks to my brother David who performed with us. Gio was unavailable for the show, so I moved into the middle slot and we pulled it off in style, hitting the end of God Bless the USA just as the finale ended. I love when that happens.

The big surprise was when Ron and Maria Reedy showed up. They were late, unfortunately, due to bad information in the Go section of the paper which said we started at nine in the Iberian lounge. The Reedys had moved to Florida and have since returned to the 'burg, so we caught up on kids, grandkids and the like. Another surprise: another workers' comp judge, Judge Frances Williamson, came up and complimented us, while ribbing me by saying, "I thought you were in a nice, conservative band." I didn't know he was there, but it was great to see him. One of the best things about Just Friends is that I'm proud when judges and lawyers I work for see us perform. We are a top notch professional outfit, just like Commonwealth Reporting, and that consistency is something I'm grateful for.

Then Sunday, Just Friends with special guest Dave Kelly played the Singles Dance at the Holiday Inn New Cumberland. Joreen missed the first set due to playing Mass, so again we had to think on our feet, and once again we pulled it off. The dancers hit the floor and pretty much packed it all night long. Thanks to Sid for booking us and all the dancers, even the ones who requested songs we didn't know.

Now, today, I think I'll just go do my day job. Transcribing, sitting down, with nothing around my neck and no gear to move: sounds sweet.

Summer skies

2009-07-02T22:14:00.003-05:00

Last night we were playing at the Rainbow Hills Swim Club as a storm was approaching. The sky before us was blue, bright and mottled with clouds. Behind us were clouds black enough to scare small children and those who have seen storms before. Fortunately, we finished the gig and loaded up before the gear got wet, although we got soaked pretty much to the bone finishing up. That's your summer weather for you: storms and sunshine.

Cool Web Site

2009-06-30T16:37:00.002-05:00

Someone on the Dead digest posted a link to this. I haven't had time to poke around much, but it looks interesting.

http://www.damnfineday.com/

Always looking for new or unjustly neglected tunes, and this looks like it's right up my alley.

Recapping my Gig Hog schedule this week:

Wednesday evening, Rainbow Hills Swim Club with Just Friends, 6:00to 9:00, open to the public, $6.00.

Friday afternoon, 2:00, American Music Fest, Riverfront Stage with Jury of Five, 2:00 to 3:00.

Friday evening, open rehearsal (I think Keating's calling it a "lawn concert") at my house, Durable Goods. Join us before 7:00, bring a lawn chair and provisions. Outdoors, weather permitting. Let's see if we can make the cops come!

Saturday evening, Hotel Hershey with Just Friends, the fireworks party on the patio. Get there before dark, and best of luck parking.

Sunday evening, Singles Dance with Just Friends at the New Cumberland Holiday Inn.

Durable Goods on the Third, Just Friends on the Fourth

2009-06-26T06:00:00.005-05:00

As I mentioned earlier, the Durable Goods are preparing to play at Camp Reily on Sunday, July 19th, to benefit the Dauphin County Historical Society. For those who can't make that show, we will offer a sneak preview/rough draft at our house on Friday, July 3rd. Think of it as a rehearsal with an audience. There may be a rough spot musically here and there, but it's not like you'll need to ask for your money back.

If you don't have anything to do that evening, pack up your folding chairs and come over to our place. Bring some beer if you're planning on getting thirsty. Hey, get me one while you're up. If you bring a little potluck to snack on and share, that would be cool. If you bring friends (and if they bring friends), bring provisions accordingly. Park on Greenwood Blvd.

Joreen and I will be down at the Music Fest in the afternoon for my guest appearance with the Jury of Five , so don't expect a lot of hosting from us, but if you're willing to be self-reliant, please come hang with us. Make some chip dip, say a quick prayer for decent weather so we can play out on the porch, and join us. I'd like to start playing no later than 7:00 so we can get a couple good sets in. The PA will be turned off around 9:30 so we don't tick off the neighbors, although I plan on inviting some of them as well.

Saturday, July 4th, Just Friends will perform again at the Hotel Hershey for the fireworks display, this year on the newly renovated patio. They've spent a gajillion bucks on this project, and hopefully they've put some outlets where we can get to them. We will be performing the Patriotic Medley, arrangement by Joreen Kelly, as we have since 2003. Come ooh and ahh with us, and don't plan on getting home in a hurry. The fireworks are impressive; so is the traffic jam afterwards. This is another opportunity to come see us without joining a VFW or throwing a wedding reception, so we hope to see you there.

Everybody in the Pool

2009-06-26T05:46:00.002-05:00

Just Friends was scheduled to play in Lykens at the gazebo on Wednesday, July 1st. That job was unfortunately cancelled, but we just picked up something that could be even more fun. Wednesday, July 1, Rainbow Hills Swim Club is having a Family Night Pool Party from 6:00 to 9:30, featuring the music of Just Friends for your dancing and splashing pleasure. (No running, or you'll get The Bench.) Admission is $6.00 for non-members. Here's the link. Put St. Joseph in the window and hope for a nice, hot, sunny summer day. It's a rare opportunity to see us in a setting open to the public, and we'll be breaking out some new material. Vince threatened to make the dress code Speedos and black ties, but I'm sure I can get a preliminary injunction on that one.

Do The Walk of Life

2009-06-25T15:14:00.002-05:00

I should have posted this earlier, but tomorrow night, Friday, June 26, Hemlock Hollow featuring Roger and Chris Wilkinson and yours truly on bass will be playing at the Relay For Life fundraising event, held at Susquehanna Township High School, 3500 Elmerton Avenue. We are performing from 10:00 to 11:00. I spoke to someone at the American Cancer Society's 800 number and was told that members of the public are welcome (he said no pets or alcohol, so keep Sparky's six pack in the car). You don't need to register unless you're going to walk in the event, but there will be opportunities to donate to this worthy cause if you are so moved.

I've played with the Wilkinsons in the past, and it's a pretty good looking setlist. We'll be breaking out "Wild World" by the Artist Formerly Known as Cat, and some other cool tunes. Anyone who shows up and wants to help load my bass rig back into my house is welcome to join me for post-gig refreshments.

Best. Blog. Comment. Ever.

2009-06-25T07:36:00.002-05:00

Of all the on-line comments about Governor "Walkin' Shoes" Sanford, this has to be the best:

David_in_Austin; Sanford outsourcing affair. What a slap to the face of American homewreckers.

I've Got Jury Duty and Other Music News

2009-06-12T06:07:00.006-05:00

Mike Miller of the band Jury of Five called and invited me to fill in for one of their guitar players at Musicfest this year, July 3rd. I jumped at the chance. Besides getting the chance to play with other people, which I enjoy, and learn some new music, I get to play with my brother Steve on keyboards. The setlist is shaping up to be mostly originals from Mark and Mike with some tasty covers thrown in. I can't seem to locate the band schedule right now, so I'll update later, but 2:30 at the Market Street stage is what I'm remembering. Of course, things are so busy right now, I wouldn't trust my memory. Two extra hearings came in this week, including the one I'm getting ready for now. Tonight is Fr. Tcheou's movie night at St. Catherine's and I'm setting up the PA for him.

Quick preview of the next post: The Durable Goods are the featured entertainment for the Dauphin County Historical Society's annual fundraiser, to be held Sunday, July 19, from 3:00 to 8:00, at Camp Reily. I'll comment more later, but here's the link.

Happy 100th Birthday, Nana

2009-05-13T09:04:00.007-05:00

Sorry for the long pause between posts. I've been keeping plates spinning.

This smiling face belongs to Frances Merlina, my grandmother, who recently celebrated her 100th birthday. All of the family and friends who could make it gathered at Holy Family's social hall for great food, dozens of photographs and a whole lot of smiling and remembering. Joreen played an updated PowerPoint show of pictures going back from Nana's parents to baby pictures of everyone, narrated by my Uncle Joe. The scope of the history was amazing, but not as amazing as the beaming smile on Nana's face. One of my cousin's children did an interview with Nana for a school project, and they played some of the DVD as well. I'll need to get that. At some point I'll try and post the group picture. That's something to see: five generations on one stage. My grandsons were duly impressed and Nana was delighted to see them, and everyone.

Return of the Kelly Trio

2009-04-20T07:17:00.008-05:00

Saturday night, Joreen, Alex Harden and I played Ed's brother's retirement/birthday party. There are no pictures on hand of us playing, but we looked like we did in all the other pictures you've seen. Jim is a fan of Dylan and the McGovern clan is into the Clancy Brothers, so the set list was definitely more folked up than we usually do. I whipped up a bunch of Dylan lyric sheets, including "Lay Lady Lay" which I've always wanted to do. We had fun, got good sound, and we're available for parties, picnics, whatever. Thanks to Ed for getting us the gig, helping with the equipment, sitting in and providing adult beverages. You're the man, Ed.

Coming up this Saturday: Nana Merlina's 100th birthday party. I've never been to one, and I've been telling Nana how cool it would be for years now, and here it is. Joreen is putting together an update on the photo PowerPoint she did some years ago for Nana, and it will be great. Minor drag: I went looking for pics of Nana and Theo, her great-great-grandson, from last year's birthday party and I can't locate them anywhere. They must be someplace.

UPDATE: Good St. Anthony helped me locate the SD card where those photos were. Here's one:

Why Do The Drums Never Cease?

2009-04-15T22:46:00.007-05:00

Because we need drums, that's why. September 6, 1984, we saw King Sunny Ade at the Tower Theatre in Philadelphia. August, 1991, we attended the best concert I've ever seen, Paul Simon on the Born at the Right Time tour, with all the Graceland/Rhythm of the Saints players, including the best drummer in the world, Steve Gadd. Tonight, Joreen and I had just as much fun as we did at those two earlier shows, thanks to Toubab Krewe. It took a while for the party to start, requiring us to sit through a solo acoustic player from Scranton, who was pretty darn good, and some Caucasian rappers from Harrisburg, who were pretty darn bad. I won't go into a long dissertation about the show. I bought their CDs and I'll be glad to play them for you. To summarize, for a day where I had to write a kidney-stone sized check to the Infernal Revenue Service, this day turned out all right.

I will say this. Once again, my one-man crusade against Arena Rockers in favor of small venue musical experiences is on track. We bought two tickets at $8.00 apiece, enjoyed a couple Belgian adult beverages (discounted on Wednesday at the brewery), bought two CDs from the band and had a blast five minutes from home -- for less then the cost of one ticket to see What's Left of the Dead. Granted, the Dead shows are getting rave reviews, and more power to those who attend. Right now, I'm going to keep checking out shows at ABC and hope for more pleasant surprises, like tonight. As of bedtime, which is now, there's no word on whether the ABC show was taped. For a taste of what they sound like on this tour, you can click here.

Old School Eggs; New Music Alert

2009-04-14T06:06:00.004-05:00

With no grandchildren available on Holy Saturday to color eggs, Joreen was ready to skip them this year. Instead, she and I sat down and created these masterpieces. I haven't colored eggs in years and years, and it was fun. As you can see, both Joreen and I have retained the styles we perfected back when Soupy Sales was still on TV.

In another quirky Holy Saturday tradition, Joreen attended the Dog Show at the Farm Show Building, and this time I went along with her. First off, parking is $8.00 (unless you park on Maclay Street and walk over, neener-neener), and the attendants are amazingly rude. When I went to drop Joreen off, I thought this generalissimo with the yellow vest was going to pull a sidearm on me when I asked to just drive over near the door. Oh, well, I parked for free and then we walked in a side door left open by a cigarette smoker, only to realize that we had just sneaked in. We stuck it to The Man.

Finally, before I head off to Pottsville for work, there's a band called Toubab Krewe playing at ABC tomorrow night. They're from North Carolina but they play a brand of world music that is pretty tasty. No vocals, heavy on the Afro-Cuban style percussion and a guy who plays a kora, which is a pretty whack looking thing. There's splashes of reggae, ska and surf music in the mix. It's a ticketed event, $8.00 in advance, $12.00 at the door. They've played here before, and it's expected to be crowded. Doors at seven, show at eight. You can buy tix at the ABC in person, or go here. To listen to what they sounded like at ABC last October, go here. It should be a great way to celebrate the income tax deadline.

Triduum

2009-04-09T21:55:00.003-05:00

Yes, it's Holy Thursday already. Best wishes for a holy and happy Easter from the guy who still has Christmas lights hanging out front.

It's late, and I'm a bit tuckered out, but if you're interested in checking out a web site with a very Catholic perspective, try http://sqpn.com/. I went looking for Triduum references and came across this. It's a big, sprawling thing with podcasts on a lot of topics. Somewhere in here I came across a link to a podcast (something I know very little about) called Praystation Portable, where they do an audio Liturgy of the Hours. Here's the link:

http://www.podfeed.net/podcast/Praystation+Portable-Catholic+Liturgy+of+the+Hours/2034

Tomorrow, silence and reflection, and several hours in church. Saturday, Easter eggs and running the sweeper. Sunday, ham, bread, daughters and grandboys. Monday, I am taking the day off and I don't care who knows it.

My Big Fat Greek Blog Review

2009-03-26T15:53:00.003-05:00

I've been remiss in not letting you know about a very cool blog, also on Blogger. Grace McGovern's daughter Allie is studying in Greece and is blogging the experience. Her narratives are fascinating and funny and the photography is first rate. You'll see stuff you haven't seen before, trust me. She's providing a real ground-level view of a foreign land and doing it well. Here's the link to From Thessaloniki, with Love. I suggest you read the earlier posts first and keep current as she updates. It's good stuff.

Quick Food Review

2009-03-24T09:03:00.005-05:00

Bill Wasch, local musician formerly with Rosie and the Naturals, recently opened a burger place in Strawberry Square. Joe Trojcak recommended I try it and yesterday I had the chance at lunch. My impression was that the burgers were cooked thoroughly but not too dry, more like hand-formed cookout burgers than fast food hockey pucks. The French fries are skin-0n and a lot like Five Guys. You'll either like them or not; I enjoyed them. If you go with someone, split an order of fries. I couldn't finish them and I was pretty hungry. Overall, I enjoyed my lunch as much as any I've had at Five Guys Burgers at a more reasonable price. On-line reviews are not completely favorable for Bill's, but I take those with a grain of salt. It's not inconceivable that the nasty comments in some reviews were posted by the owners of other businesses in the same Food Court. Maybe I'm prejudiced because he's a guitar player, but I give it two headstocks up.

Adios, Comcast

2009-03-18T15:53:00.002-05:00

The Verizon installer is just finishing up giving Comcast the boot. They don't know yet. It will be a surprise. Honestly, it's not that different from Comcast; a few more channels and a new remote. The big thing is that Comcast can't raise my rates anymore just because they feel like it. Also, we get a price break due to having Verizon for the phone, internet and television, which makes them... uh, what's the word... oh, a monopoly!

Tally Ho Again

2009-03-16T17:21:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday Just Friends played one of our favorite annual jobs for the Beaufort Hunt Club's Foxhunters Ball. Neither they nor we remember exactly how many years it's been, but when we go to set up it's like old home week. They're delighted to have us back, and their enthusiasm brings out the best in our band. For this show we broke out three new tunes: "It Had Better Be Tonight," the Michael Buble arrangement of a Henry Mancini chart from the Pink Panther series; "You Are The Best Thing" by Ray Lamontagne, a song so new they still play it on WXPN; and "Whisper Your Name," a Harry Connick Jr. chart that has horns and a spiffy guitar solo section. All three sounded pretty good for still being new to the list, and got a good reception from our redcoated friends. Just like last year, at the end of the night, we said, "See you next year."

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day. I know this for two reasons. First, it's the day after Joreen's birthday; second, Appalachian Brewing Company sent me an invitation for breakfast any time after 7:00 a.m. In their words, "Join us for: $1.99* Eggs and Corned Beef Hash, $3.00* Pints of Stout and Celtic Red and $4.00* Bloody Mary's (*Until noon )." And then they added this rather chilling statement: "Join us and show just how Irish you can be on St. Patrick's Day!" (Emphasis mine.) Apparently, you're not Irish enough unless you start drinking before work. Eggs, corned beef hash and beer for breakfast. Faith and begorrah, would ye be crackin' the window a wee bit for us, Seamus?

Free, My Favorite Price

2009-03-13T09:33:00.003-05:00

You may have heard that Phish just did three shows in Hampton, VA last weekend. Their fans are obsessive in a class with Deadheads, Trekkies and Westminster Dog Show viewers. Minutes after the rumor started of these shows, every single hotel room in Hampton sold out. The band has offered free downloads of these three nights at livephish.com. I'm not a Phishhead at all, but I do enjoy the quality of their musicianship. Lyrically, I don't think they can write their way out of a paper bag, but YMMV. If you've ever been curious as to what they sound like, this is a cheap way to check them out. Trey Anastasio is clean and sober (for the moment) and they actually practiced for these shows, which is always a good thing. These shows will be free mp3 downloads until tomorrow. After that, you either pay or come over to my house to hear them.

In other free download news, there is a band called Crazy Engine, led by Steve Kimock, a veteran of the West Coast jamband scene, formerly in Zero with John Cippolina, and a great guitar player. He's joined by Melvin Seals, the giant who played B-3 with the Jerry Garcia Band. Crazy Engine played a show in Hampton, VA that started after this Phish concert, and Kimock graciously made this show available for free download as well. I don't know how long they're available for free, but here's the link: http://tinyurl.com/dmq4gy. Great funky instrumentals, and Kimock's playing is very melodic and tasty.

Now, back to work.

Music, Music Everywhere

2009-03-12T07:13:00.007-05:00

The Hemlock Hollow show at The Good Life Cafe in Carlisle was a real blast. Roger, Chris, Bill and I played in a setting which I have described as taking a page from my "When I Hit The Lottery" fantasy: a venue with state-of-the-art PA, a soundman who is also recording the show, a good stage, an intimate setting to connect with the audience, good food, and a BYOB policy. The owner, David, is obviously committed to live music, to the point of coming up on stage and playing two songs with us. He's a pretty good player, and a great chef. The food is really outstanding, featuring local produce, organic ingredients and great flavors. You'll need to bring your own high fructose corn syrup, though.

Unfortunately, to this point I don't have a decent picture of the four of us to post. None of the shots we took are up to par. There are a few video excerpts floating around, and I'm told there will be a copy of the performance made available later. Special thanks to Sean, Alex and his friends, Ed, Grace, Maggie and all the friends and family of the Wilkinsons who make up the Hollowhead community for coming out and supporting us. I'm excited about this place and have discussed booking future shows there as the Kelly Trio with Alex on bass. Stay tuned.

In other musical news, Joreen and I went to see Theresa Andersson last night. The crowd was smaller than expected. This is a performer who plays to packed houses in New Orleans, and we were six feet away from her. Here is my first attempt at filming, saving and posting a video.

Yes, she's gorgeous, and she's got a great pair of looping pedals. I filmed the whole performance, and if you discount the shaky hand-held quality and the chitchat of the goobers in the audience, it's pretty neat. I hope to post this and other songs to YouTube at some point, another first time attempt for me. Until this morning I had never even opened Windows Movie Maker.

Cool Live Music Alert

2009-03-04T10:32:00.006-05:00

The ABC brewery has been booking some interesting music. I've made it a point to open the ABC Entertainment e-mails, and it's a good thing. This coming week, Wednesday, March 11, someone very interesting is coming to a no-cover show. Her name is Theresa Andersson and she's being billed as a "much cuter Keller Williams." The link is to her MySpace page and I just watched the Na Na Na video (these kids and their lyrics, my gawd, what's this world coming to.) Anyway, she is indeed a perky young lady, and she's a looping monster, which is the part that gets me the hottest. Also, snaps for recording the video in the kitchen.

This is exactly the point I had in mind in my earlier rant about monster rock star concerts and my decision to concentrate on new, local or regional acts on their way up. Somebody on the Dead Hour Digest said tickets in Oakland for Clapton and Winwood were $142.50 (yes, apiece), plus a $17.50 convenience charge PLUS a $7.00 "building facility charge." (WTF?) Put me down as a "no." Actually, put me down as a laughing-so-hard-I'm-widdling-my-pants "HAIL, no."

Kudos to Jersey Mike and Roundtable Presents for making a real effort to bring new and decent music to a room that also sells great beer, in Harrisburg. I don't know if this young'un has the buzz to fill the room up, but it wouldn't surprise me. Might want to get there early. Hopefully we'll see you there.

Ah, The Good Life

2009-03-02T12:44:00.010-05:00

Just got a phone call from Roger inviting me to play bass with the Hemlock Hollow this Saturday, March 7th, at a place in Carlisle called The Good Life Cafe, which has a pretty spiffy web site:

http://www.thegoodlifecafe.com/home.html

According to Roger, Bill Nork will also be playing, so it should be a pretty good show. Check out the web site. The Listening Room looks snazzy. There might be a cover charge, but I'll buy you a beer later. One hand washes the other.

Updated Blog Layout

2009-02-26T09:54:00.002-05:00

Having noticed the "followers" widget on other blogs, I decided to update my settings to enable that. Welcome to Ed and Mrs. Kelly. I also loosened the restrictions on comments. You may now fire away without being moderated. In the beginning I was getting comments about how much better my blog would look if I was wearing an Italian Rolex or taking herbal Viagra, so I shut the comments down. If I start getting spam, I'll have to put up the fence again.

Happy Ash Wednesday!

2009-02-25T20:17:00.010-05:00

This was a greeting offered to me this morning by Brother Mike Miller, which prompted me to reflect that I'm not aware of those words ever being put together in that order before. I got the visual of black bunting, black balloons and banners declaring, "You're All Gonna DIE!!! Have a GREAT One!!!"

One of the things I gave up for Lent was a huge pile of money getting my old Saturn inspected, with most of the cost centered around the emissions control inspection. By the way, let me offer a heartfelt thanks to McGovern's former boss, the former head of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future Car Repair Bills, for that little treat. (I didn't give up sarcasm for Lent, as you can see.) Oh, well, it's running better now. I'm sure not ready to buy a new car, especially since Saturn (or General Motors disguised as Saturn) isn't making anything I'm really interested in right now with the possible exception of the Aura. Alex drives one and it's a fairly sharp looking vehicle, but I'm still getting close to 30 miles per gallon in town and close to 40 on the highway, and that's after a nasty accident some years ago.

Just Friends played one of the most enjoyable jobs of our career at the Lawnton Legion last Saturday, and thanks to all who made it out. John Wilson just drove the beat all up and down the road, and the whole band was at the top of our game. My little brother David brought along his new boutique pedal, a Fulltone distortion/overdrive, and I had that plugged in and dimed out in no time. I was gettin' tone, good people! Unfortunately, most of our schedule for the coming months is private parties or out of town work. If something comes up where our local friends and family can attend, we'll let you know.

In the meantime, plan a field trip for Saturday, May 30th to Knoebel's Grove, one of our very favorite venues. Seriously, I'd love to see a lot of familiar faces up there. Hershey can claim to be the Sweetest Place on earth; compared to Knoebel's, not so much. For one thing, at Hersheypark you can't bring a picnic lunch, park for free, ride a carousel complete with brass rings, rollercoaster your gigi off if that's your thing, plus pay no dollars and no cents to get in the place. They also still have Teaberry ice cream, last time we checked, and Joreen just loves that stuff. Let's make plans. We're also there August 14th, a Friday.

Happy Ash Wednesday, everybody!

Just Friends at the Legion 2/21

2009-02-17T11:48:00.003-05:00

Just Friends will be at the Lawnton Legion on Derry Street Saturday, Feb. 21 from nine to one. If you're interested in attending and you're not a member of the American Legion, contact me and I'll have your name put on a list at the door. This is one of the few local appearances for us in the near future, so if you're into dancing, cheap drinking and meeting our new drummer, this is your chance.

Open Letter to Big Time Rock Stars

2009-02-04T16:02:00.005-05:00

Dear Phish, Bruuuuuuuce, what's left of the Dead, et al.:

In the last month, you have all announced that you're graciously going to come to town or somewhere within driving distance of my town to collect my money in return for smooshing me into a crowd of tens of thousands of people, with pretty good odds that the ones sitting near me will talk through the entire show. I will also have the opportunity to pay $10 or so to park, something north of six bucks for a glass of beer-colored swill, and it wouldn't shock me to find pay toilets. I must respectfully send my regrets.

I know you have a marketable product. Many of my friends are attending one or more of your concerts. In the case of Bruuuuuuuce, you could make the argument that I don't know what I'm missing. I'm sure the Boss will put on a truly spiffnificent show. But you know what? The last time I was in Hersheypark for a mega-concert was the Rolling Stones. Between the chick next to me singing at the top of her lungs and the jackass behind me spilling five bucks worth of Bud Light on us, "This may be the last time, I don't know" took on a new and deeper meaning.

Apparently you guys haven't set your price points too high yet, although I relish the thought of scalpers standing outside your venues whining with a fistful of unsold tickets. You have, however, made it easier for me to resolve to find musical entertainment alternatives. I will make it a point to go hear more local or regional artists. I will purchase music directly from them, knowing my contribution will go directly into their pocket. Most importantly, when it comes to making music, I'm reminded of one of my favorite movie quotes: "**** you, Jobu, I do it myself."

Weekend Update

2009-01-24T19:35:00.002-05:00

Joreen is back from Vermont. We're just hanging. Last night Alex and Tom of the Durable Goods came over to play, and we had the pleasure of the company of Bill Nork, his shiny red Hamer guitar and his Fender Ultra-Super-Dooper-Sonic amp. We tore it up for a couple hours. Very satisfying. Like the T-shirt says, "You can't beat two guitars, bass and drums."

Courtesy of Parker Kenyon, here is an interesting link for fans of Rush songs:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4vd9OVLO7Q&feature=channel

I haven't heard of this guy before, but he's apparently a Christian artist, judging by a video of another song called "Just Like You." Phenomenal voice, and the kind of live performance I aspire to.

Physical therapy continues on the shoulder, and there's been measurable progress. I attended darts Thursday, and my game is back to status quo, i.e. erratic to the point of being random.

Stuff Happens

2009-01-20T19:58:00.008-05:00

Around here, much stuff has been happening. Synopsis follows.

Just Friends has undergone another personnel change. Craig Rankin, who joined us after Barry left, has left the band. Craig is a decent, hard-working guy who will be an asset to any band he joins. Our parting was very amicable. Joreen and I wish him all the best, and I believe I can speak for the rest of the band in that regard. Our new drummer, John Wilson, is from Enola and is a veteran of the local band scene, having played in the past with Rosie and the Naturals and other local groups. John is also a really nice guy, and we welcome him aboard. He joined us at the Minnequa Saturday night, and we had a blast.

Joreen traveled to Vermont today to spend some time with her sister.

Saturday, the oven crapped out on me just as I was about to bake two of the prettiest loaves of bread I ever formed. The estimate for the part to repair the control panel is almost the price of a new oven. It's 15 years old, so it's not a big shock. We'll go shopping for a new one when Joreen gets home.

This morning, the last of our old pets, Cinders, passed away at home. As late as Sunday afternoon, she was climbing up on people's laps and yelling for meat. Yesterday, she began making a sound I hadn't heard before, and in my non-veterinarian opinion it seemed like she was having some kind of stroke. She died this morning. Making a sandwich this afternoon, I got a little lonely. I'm used to her running into the kitchen at the sound of the refrigerator opening and making a sound that roughly translated into something like, "Hey, down here!"

Between this, that and the other thing, I am behind in my typing, so I'm going to go "make the donuts" now.