What A Marvelous Night...

... 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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....

... 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'

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

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

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.

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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.