A Beautiful Spring Day In Late April Can Mean Only One Thing:

Time to take down the Christmas lights!  And also do a bunch of yard work, ably assisted by my daughter Mary.  We lopped, chopped and ripped up branches and weeds this afternoon, in weather conditions that made it almost fun.  Another couple sessions like that one and my house won't look so much like the Addams Family's.

Continuing to hustle for work, with mixed results.  The worst part is waiting for a response, because it usually means no.  I suppose it's an opportunity to practice patience.  Oh boy, my favorite thing. 

Early day tomorrow, heading to Upper Darby.  It's one of those Philadelphia-ish places, fortunately on this end of the Schuylkill.  I'm hoping for a nice fat day. 

Dust Off Those Rusty Strings Just One More Time

Once again this blog has gone dark for a very long time, and I can't see much point in apologizing or trying to explain what's been going on.  Life has been going on, and we've been living it.  Since Joreen and I just updated the web site this afternoon and there is a link to here from there, I think it's appropriate to take this thing off standby and start blogging again.

The big news for us this week is that my prayers to St. Joseph (the Worker) to go to bat for us have been answered big time.  Dovetail has received three bookings in three days and strong leads on two others.  It's lifting our spirits, because we really are enjoying playing, learning new music and tweaking our performance.  As we were saying last night, if this is the fourth quarter of our musical game, and we don't know how much time is left on the clock, we're going to play every second for all it's worth.

There will be more to say later, but for now -- "He's back!"

Back In The Saddle Again

This week marks the return of the old "gig hog" days.  Wednesday night, Just Friends played a reunion show at the Guardian Hose Company Carnival in Thurmont, Maryland.  It was just like riding a bicycle -- hot, sweaty and uphill most of the time :)  No, actually, it was a blast.  We really enjoyed each other's company and remembered almost all the important parts to almost all the tunes.  We're looking forward to another chance to play together again August 10th at the Verhovay.  That club has changed their policy about guests a little, so if you're interested in coming to that show, get in touch with me.

Tonight, I am sitting in with Deezle Church at Low Places in Lancaster.  I have learned the bass parts to a slew of "new country" for the occasion.  I have another show with them at Buck Wild in Camp Hill tomorrow, but there's a Dovetail show in between in Danville for the Sisters of Saints Cyril and Methodius.  They are longtime friends of ours, we are lay associates of their order, and some of them are really into my CD.  I'm totally rocking the nun demographic.

Just to put a cap on it all, I'm playing bass with Hemlock Hollow on Sunday in Hummelstown.  Anything worth doing is worth doing too much of.

Man, It's A Hot One

How hot is it?  I went out to cut the grass and halfway to the shed decided to skip right to the cold beverage part.  I have a bunch of stuff to do indoors anyway, such as getting ready to play bass on a couple-three dozen songs I've never done before, many of which I've never heard before.  They mostly fall into the "new country" category, which is kind of like Nickelback with a cheekful of Skoal.  Just about as appetizing, too, but you can't agree to go outside your comfort zone and then look surprised when it's uncomfortable.  Anyway, there's some halfway decent bass lines in some of them, and at the end of the day work is work, and now more than ever it's bad luck to turn it down.

Meanwhile, the grandboys and I made French toast out of a Giant baguette this morning and it turned out pretty darn good.  I did have to bust one of the little locusts for using up the last of the milk and not telling me, but there's no excuse on my part for not knowing just to buy an extra gallon from now on.  There's a little nostalgia at play here, because I remember my Mom putting two quarts of milk on the table at supper and just throwing the tops away (remember glass milk bottles, you old farts?) because she knew there wouldn't be any left.  They're good kids.

Here's a heads-up on a date I'd like you to reserve for me, and that's August 19th.  The Kellys (Joreen and I, Craig Rankin and Alex Harden) are playing at St. Catherine's parish picnic.  It's going to be a blast, and a rare opportunity to see Joreen and I cranking it up.  I'll be plugging this a bunch between now and then. 

Dinosaur, Jr.

I may hold the distinction of being the last human being to have a cassette recorder (actually two of them) repaired in central PA.  The company I contacted called me today and informed me that if I wanted my Sony transcribers repaired, I'd better do it now.  They're closing up show at the middle of next month.  It's been a day of reflecting on obsolescence, changing times, flexibility, and what the hell am I going to do next.  I know the answer, of course: I'll continue to be a lifelong, creative problem solver.  Some days that's more fun than others.

Joreen, Mary and the boys are down on the island watching baseball.  I decided to stay home and work for a while.  I have some transcripts I want to turn in, so I turned on the Flintstones machines and got down to it.  Also, I have a tune rumbling around in my head that is trying to get out, so I've been jotting down stuff there.  Meanwhile, it's 8:25 on one of the longest days of the year and I think it's time to go take Lucy out for a walk.  This weather is like Paradise, innit?

Another Week Underway

Saturday was every bit as much fun as I had hoped.  The American Roulette job was a blast.  I knew I was on the right track when they told the sound guy to take my guitar out of the monitors altogether.  Yep, that's about right.  Considering that we had never played together at the same time, ever, the show was pretty tight.  It's great to be with players who can think on their feet and keep their ears open.

Today, it's back to work.  I found a lead on someone who can repair Sony transcribers, the kind that use cassettes.  If I hear any of you kids say, "What's a cassette?" you'll get such a smack.  I know it's dinosaur stuff, but I've never had a cassette vanish into thin air with no explanation, unlike some of my digital recorder colleagues who have had whole days of work vanish and had to reconstruct them from -- you guessed it -- their cassette backup machines.

Travis and I just got done with an experiment.  We're trying to make our own slider rolls.  It's an effort to keep one step ahead of the grocery-inhaling children, but it's a lot of fun too.  One of my goals is to get the boys a little more involved in cooking and baking, which can come in handy in more ways than one down the line.  Travis was into it. 

Joreen's back from Vacation Bible School, which doesn't sound like much of a vacation to me from the way she's reaffirming how happy she is to not be teaching anymore. 

I'll try to keep this blog from stagnating in the future.  Hopefully there will be more shows to plug and things of interest to share.  Meanwhile, summer is here for sure.  I can tell because it's time to cut the grass again, already.

All Work and No Play, No Way, Jose.

Yesterday was action packed.  I did a whole day of hearings in Northeast Philadelphia, then got back in time to "put the band back together" for a Just Friends reunion gig coming up next month.  Considering that we haven't played together since New Year's, we remembered more than we've forgotten.  At my advanced age and with the memory of a guitar player, I'll take that as a win.  It was fun hanging with Vince, Mark, Jim and Craig again.  We'll be in Thurmont, MD on July 11th for a firemen's carnival there.  It would be nice to do a show locally so our local friends could catch us again.  I'll keep you posted.

Tonight I'll be working on fine-tuning some songs I'll be doing with American Roulette at the East Pennsboro Carnival, Ricci Park, tomorrow night.  This is a new project featuring Dave Brinkley and Dale Stipe, whom I've played with before, and Jon Hill and George Williamson, two other good players.  They all sing, and their songbook is impressive.  If you're looking for something to do Saturday evening, we're on from 7 to 10 and it should be fun.  You can listen to my guitar parts and play "spot the clam."  Fun for the whole family!

Hot Enough For Ya?

As the first day of summer comes sweltering in, it's interesting to see people's perspectives on the weather.  Mary, who until Sunday lived in Texas, is laughing at the people who are crying about a little 90-something degree weather.  Her definition of "hot" is when you sit under the air conditioner and you can't feel the cool air on your back.  It's all relative, I guess.  I was on retreat in upstate New York on Lake George, where the weather was warm one day but mostly cool, staying at or near the low seventies.  With the windows open day and night, I was in Paradise.  The lady who lives in Tampa was wearing a jacket all day and running a space heater at night and was less happy with the temps.  I just pray for a little more balance in the weather this year, and less torrential rains, at least until I get a new sump pump.  Like much of my equipment these days, I'm asking it to run a bit or a lot past its design specs.

Now, where were we?

The last time I was on this blog the interface was completely different, so I apologize if things go a little awry.  Life has been chockful of interesting developments, including the return of Mary and the boys to the house.  There's something nostalgic about watching two loaves of bread disappear, and it's a good thing.  I'm in a different place workwise, in that it's a bit scarce, but that's temporary.  I'm also back from a weeklong retreat at the Paulist Fathers summer home in Lake George, New York, which is one of the most beautiful places in the world.  There's some fun musical events coming up as well.  I'm sitting in with a band called American Roulette, and learning a bunch of songs I always wanted to get around to, such as Dancing In The Moonlight and Dirty Work.  There's a Just Friends reunion gig coming up in a couple of weeks and "we're putting the band back together" for that.  As if that wasn't cool enough, I'm going to be doing a gig with central Pennsylvania's most handsome country band, Laredo, playing bass and trying (unsuccessfully) to fill my brother Bill's shoes. 

I've been lax in updating this blog, and I'll try and do better.  First I have to figure out what all these new buttons are on this blog interface.  Why in the world do we have to update stuff that's already working?  I'm just askin'.

Riding The Storm Out

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...

... 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.