GM = Idiots

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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....

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

Just Friends in the Summertime

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....

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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.

Cold Enough For You?

What a great time to be indoors in my office, where all the heat rises. Yesterday Andrea and I took Theo to the Farm Show, as I mentioned. In my haste to catch the bus that was pulling up in the parking lot, I left my camera in the car, so no cute photos. The boy was enthralled with the alpacas, cows, goats, pigs, and the hot dogs at the Food Court. The apple cider was also a hit. We had a great time. Joreen is taking Mary, Deven and Travis this evening. Mary's personal favorite is the baked potato, and she was psyched when I spoke to her a few minutes ago, while they were outside, freezing, and I'm not.

Just in case you're not wasting enough time on the Internet, I just learned of a site called Googlefight. You can type in two names, like Fender and Gibson, Kirk and Picard, or Marilyn Manson and Marilyn Monroe, and see which one has the most Google hits. I would never suggest anyone engage in such foolishness, but if I did, I would recommend you type in "George W. Bush" and "box of rocks." The results might (or might not) surprise you.

(Update: later this same evening, for some reason the Googlefight site is showing zero results for everything. I don't know what's up with that.)

Say Hallo to My Leedle Frens

Here is the original "leedle fren," the Heritage, being played at the Hotel Hershey with Vince and Gio. The Amici Trio continues to please the small but elegant ballroom dancing crowd in this lounge. We will be appearing there next on February 28th.



This is my newest "leedle fren," a CNB pedalboard case from Rondo Music. It is much heavier and 25 times as expensive as my old pedalboard case, which was a hardshell suitcase from a flea market, but isn't it cool?



And speaking of cool, here's one of the Grandboys in what has become a traditional pose at the piano. We have photos of his mother, aunt and cousins all doing the same thing.

Today I'm taking Andrea and Theo to the Farm Show. Joreen and I already went down Sunday afternoon, and the place was packed to the rafters with people. Joreen thought it might be less crowded because of the football games. Wrong. I didn't get any pictures from that visit. It's hard to hold a camera when you're stuffing potato donuts in your mouth. And a roast beef sandwich. And broccoli salad. And fried mushrooms. See the blog entry of January 10, 2008 for a nice picture of Farm Show cuisine. Now I'm going to get ready to leave, because I'm getting hungry.

Up and At 'Em, Kids

Time to be productive again after the holidays, and transcripts need to get out of here. I'm not synesthetic, but as I headed out to the office this morning I could almost feel the flannel-soft quiet of no wind and the hush of not much traffic on 83, normally a constant running water sound outside our house. Then there was that mild depression that comes when Christmas lights are turned off, and in another flash of synesthesia I thought I could hear the gray blank landscape, the sound of something missing. As if in response to that, I did see some blinking colored lights, sitting behind some unfortunate commuter in Penbrook whose 2009 is not starting off well.

The holidays deserve more reportage than I'm going to give them in this post. I do want to thank the folks who joined Just Friends at the Sheraton Harrisburg-Hershey for our New Year's Eve party. Our attendance, like everyone's, was down but our spirits were up. We had a great time. Special thanks to Craig and Carrie (who's name I might be misspelling) and Mike and Karen (one of this blog's biggest fans -- hey girlfriend!) for their support and kind words. As I've said before, 2008 has been generally sucky, and it was good to bid good riddance to a bad year with such a good time. Stay tuned for next New Year's plans. Time marches on.

Also, a shout-out to my brother David who enjoyed only his third New Year's Eve off in 28 years. It was cool to watch him hit the cheese and veggies table, smiling like a guy on his day off. His band Leghorn did play at the casino New Year's Day night, with a new lineup. Chris Novak, one of the best keyboard players around, has joined Dave, Andy Alonso and Dave Brinkley. All killer, no filler. I'll try to give you a heads-up when they're at the Winners Circle next time. They sound better than ever. Don't go see them at the casino, though; it can cost you 20 bucks down the slot machine hole. It's not a bad venue for music: The stage is nice, the graphics on the ceiling are a guaranteed acid flashback if you're into such things, and the sound is pretty good and improving as Aaron the sound guy continues to fiddle with the levels. Just leave your wallet in the car.

Final serious point: This past year has left some real damage in its wake, and I'd ask you all to pray for each other and each other's families as they face the fallout and consequences of the last twelve months. Stay close to your people, and tell them you love them. It's important.

Apologies for the broken promise in the last post. Christmas was good in a lot of ways and I'll try to post about it later. In the meantime, here's one of my favorite images of the holiday:



I wonder how many Grateful Dead shows "Santa" saw.

Christmas Eve Eve...

... and we're still getting ready. I will do a full-fledged Christmas thingie sometime during the 12 days of Christmas, complete with picture of my tree and all the holly jolly you can eat. Meanwhile, the Work Fairy dinged me in the head with the West Shore water main break emergency hearing, and thereby paid for a lot of Christmas cheer. One man's soggy basement is another man's Troegs.

Still Watching The Wheels Go Round

Today is the 28th anniversary of two events I'll never forget: the death of John Lennon and the purchase of my first electric guitar, the Telecaster. I was on my way back from a hearing in Coatesville, planning to stop in Lancaster to pick up the Fender from Jeff Coleman's place, when I heard the news. It still seems unreal to me, senseless and sad, especially when I hear the song "Beautiful Boy." I still have that guitar, and I suppose the best I can do is keep trying to figure out how to play it.

Speaking of playing, it's back in the saddle again at the Dillsburg VFW this Saturday, then next week, the 19th, a rare Friday night at the Lawnton Legion. As always, anyone interested in getting into the Legion to see us can contact me and I can get you signed in.

Stir Crazy

As the 10th of December gets closer, I'm more than ready to get back on the move and be able to go somewhere without having "Mom drive me to the Mall," as I've been putting it. Last Thursday and Friday, I did some workers' comp hearings in Harrisburg. After three weeks plus of laying around in pajama pants, trying to decide whether to watch Robocop 3 or Ghost Rider again, it felt great to put on a suit and go be useful.

I'm expecting the doctor to tell me on the 10th that I can take off the sling and start easing into regular activity. Bill's wife Sandy, who had the same surgery I did, is back to driving, although exercises don't start for her until next week. It looks like this whole process from surgery to recovery is about 16 weeks, and I've got three and a half behind me.

Christmas is a-comin' and the pundits are getting nervous. Do you get the feeling that we have a civic duty to go spend money on crap, mostly made in China, to save our great nation's economy which was more or less date-raped by a gang of greedy corporations and bungling deciders? Again, maybe I've been watching too much TV, but at three in the morning on Black Friday I felt a little guilty for not going over to the mall and pushing someone out of the way to get my very own DVD of Robocop 3 or Ghost Rider for 87 cents (which is still twice what they're worth, trust me). Well, Christmas will come, and at some point we'll reconnect with its true meaning, which I'm pretty sure doesn't involve a made-for-TV movie starring Tom Arnold.

Since I was well enough to go to work this week, I have no excuse for not going to sing with the choir this Sunday morning, so I'm going to go start getting ready. Hopefully by next week I'll be able to play in church again. I'm planning to play with Just Friends next Saturday in Dillsburg. We'll see how that goes.

Break Time's Over...

... back on my head. (I never get tired of that punchline.) Thanksgiving holiday was a success, beginning with Thanksgiving Darts Wednesday evening, in which Greg Gerstner shot his first turkey:

We had the traditional spread and the traditional intrateam feuding, namecalling and file cabinet kicking (I handled that one).

Thanksgiving Day was also a blast, with Andie, Brian and Theo coming over for breakfast, to accommodate their dinner schedule, and then Mary, John and the boys coming to the turkey dinner later. Of course, I slipped into the traditional nod on the chair afterwards while they did the dishes.

I don't have pictures, but Friday evening Joreen and I went to the brewery to see Bill Nork playing with Soulgrass Freedom Junction, a local band with amazing harmonies. The show was great. I don't know about your chances of seeing them in the near future, because their female vocalist is really, really pregnant, like eight months' worth, so their schedule may be subject to change. They're really good, though, and it was good to hear Bill playing live.

And now, finally, today is my last day of goofing off. I have hearings tomorrow and Friday, and I honestly can't wait. I'm pushing it a little because I don't get out of the sling officially until Wednesday, but I really miss work. (There's a phrase I don't type too often!)

Live Music Again, Finally

Last Friday evening Joreen zipped up my coat for me and we went over to Eckel's in Mechanicsburg to see Ed, Grace, Steve and Mike play.

If you've never been to Eckel's, it's an attraction in its own right, a drug store so stuck in a time warp that it was used as a setting from the Sixties in the movie "Girl, Interrupted." There's stuff to look at all over the place.

Of course, the main attraction Friday was the performance, and I would rave about this act's vocal prowess even if they weren't all my friends, and one of them wasn't my brother. The harmonies were strong, creating and consistent all night -- well, as long as I could hang in, which was one set.

I'll try to give a heads-up when they're playing again. This is an act worth catching, if for nothing else than the fact that you can then claim to have heard a song about an Amish disco. See Mike Miller for details.

The Return of The Two-Handed Typist

My appointment with Dr. Bombay went pretty well. He had the staples removed and said the shoulder is healing well, but still won't let me start rehab exercises for another three weeks. He tried to keep me in the immobilizer and I negotiated a cloth sling out of him with the promise that I wouldn't push it. Well, the punch line is that the immobilizer is more comfortable and better support than the sling, and if I put the laptop at just the right height, I can type this paragraph in a minute rather than ten.

I told him I want to be able to play a gig by Dec.13th and his response was, "Well, I don't know how good you'll sound...." Everybody's a critic. Anyway, I turned in two transcripts yesterday, both prepared before the surgery but it still felt good to turn something in. The goofing off that I fantasize about while I'm working my ass off is more of a pain in the ass than work. There's a real Davey and Goliath moral in there somewhere.

Meanwhile, the calendar marches on. Thanksgiving Darts are still on, and Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, approaches. Time to gird 'em up and get down to business. Thanks again to all for your well wishes and support.

The Best Little Brother of the Month award goes to David for coming over and raking up those nasty curled up leaves behind the house, as well as filling in for me with the Amici Trio on Friday at Cantone's and with Just Friends on Saturday at the Dillsburg VFW. Thanks again, little brother. Stop up at Cantone's Friday evening if you can for a drink and make sure Dave isn't busting up my jazz guitar. (Easy on the windmills there, Townshend.)

Enough Sickie Talk

All right, I've watched "Bloodsport" twice. That's enough TV. (For anyone!) Went on Youtube and started poking around with the search word B-3. Check this out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU7Wkah_lQA

And this is just the first. I didn't try Jimmy Smith, Joey DeFrancesco or Booker T. yet. This guy is great at faking the bass player, too. No offense to my low-end friends, but in this economy....

Anyway, I'll find out what Dr. Bombay has to say tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Later that same search:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXcsM8MuDRY

There's a line for me in music, a border between passion for your art and just showing off. This is music all the way, although have to listen pretty fast at points.

"How's the Shoulder?"

Well, it's something like this.


This is as of Sunday afternoon when I showered. Getting ready to go to Mass now. I've got stuff to be thankful for.

Knitting Up

Shoulder feels like it's thinking about healing. Uncomfortable, but tolerable. Bill and Sandy visited today. She's 12 days ahead of me in the process, so we compared notes. Thanks also to the Norks for some jambalaya that I'm going to heat up in a little while.

Heads up: Just Friends is gearing up for New Year's at the Sheraton. Details to follow.

Surgery...

...went very well. In at 11:30, out like a light at 12:30, out the door by 3:00. I was finally convinced of the need for the operation as well as for the scalene block. Dr. Polacheck was pleased with the outcome. Not exactly Marcus Welby in the charm department, but he did put the tendon back together and that's what he's paid for.

Block is beginning to wear off, but still not as much discomfort as I was ready for. I'm relieved that it's over. On a positive note, yesterday Fr. Hereshko anointed me, what they used to call Last Rites. It was very moving and comforting, especially when he anointed my hands. Last night, Fr. Bruce Nieli, our parish mission speaker, had the crowd, about 150 of them, pray for me and the success of the surgery, another powerful and humbling experience and certainly why things went so well. One of the people was Alex Szeles, who has been in treatment for cancer for a long time, and for whom I've been praying. That was intense.

I'll be in touch with updates. One-handed typing is slow, but I've got a lot of time on my hand.

Finally, thanks to all my family and friends for their concern and offers of help. Reminds me of how blessed and lucky I am.

While I Can Still Type With Both Hands...

... I thought I'd just mention that the rotator cuff repair surgery is on for Wednesday. I've been soliciting anecdotal evidence from everybody I can and the bottom line seems to be Your Mileage May Vary. I don't mind admitting that I'm apprehensive about this. It's been over 30 years since I've had anesthetic (no, smartaleck, not counting beer) and I haven't had an incision since my appendix came out. The surgeon does come highly recommended and there's no doubt I have to do something, since normal activities of daily living in the last week, i.e. playing two jobs and typing like crazy, have left me with a pretty constant ache. So, here we go. I'll be in touch with folks as soon as I can; just don't look to this blog for long updates. They might be limited to something like, "Ow."

Keeping On Keeping On

It's been an eventful week for the guy with the "bogus shoulder" as Mark puts it. Wednesday I did a very contentious PUC hearing which got me on television, I'm told, although I was too busy typing to turn on the TV. Thursday, I did another PUC hearing involving some arcane natural gas crap. It was annoying but it helps pay the light bill. Friday, Just Friends played in Shippensburg at the VFW for a small but enthusiastic crowd. Someone yelled for "Hank Williams" and I know they meant Junior but I did "Hey, Good Looking" anyway and it was just as good -- if not better.

Saturday, the trio played at the Verhovay, and today the trio did a 4oth anniversary at the Harrisburg Civic Association, a venue that brings back fond memories from the early eighties of keg parties and loud rock bands. Somewhere around here I have photos of a very young Joreen and John playing while a very young Mary dances around wearing headphones to protect her tiny eardrums.

Coming up this week: Just Friends at the casino on Thursday, and the trio at the Hershey Hotel on Saturday. Meanwhile, the Phillies are winning and Joreen is a happy camper. Speaking of Joreen, she finished a post-grad course on line this week and got an "A." Yes, I gave her a dollar, and you should, too.

Another Radical Lefty Weighs in for Obama

Whichever way your politics lean, you've got to admit it's getting interesting when Colin Powell says stuff like this:

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2008/10/colin_powell_tries_shaming_big.html

I'm sure Palin will have a snappy comeback to this. You betcha. I have reservations and outright problems with some of Obama's positions, but I really think, after eight years of W. and his masters bringing the country to the brink of collapse, maybe we should try putting some smart people in the White House. The alternative? A vice president who shoots defenseless creatures and ignores subpoenas. Wait, I'm having a deja vu....

Status Report

Many kind folks have been asking how my shoulder is and what's going on with my working and playing status, so here's where I am as of today. Right now, I am able to type and play guitar as well as before (for better or worse). I had some trouble in the beginning with the acoustic due to its depth and the forward roll of the shoulder needed to play it, but I'm doing better. I do have some soreness in the arm, but it's very manageable. The tendon is a complete break and the torn piece has retracted back over the ball of the shoulder, as I understand the explanation. They're going to stretch that puppy back over, put in a couple screws and stitch it up on Nov. 12.,outpatient. As of that point, I will be out of action for four weeks, immobilized. After that, it will be a race to rehab in time for the holiday gigs including New Year's, the Big One. I hear it can be a painful recovery and rehab, but the doctor has convinced me at this point that it's not an unusual or difficult surgery for him, so that gives me confidence. I should be mostly back up to speed in two months.

As of now, I will be playing until the surgery date, then out of commission until right before Christmas. As for work, the doctor assures me that I will get back the movements I have now before I get full range of motion, so I should be able to at least proof-read. I could even envision reporting, although I would have to have someone take me to the hearing room. Driving stick may take a while to get back.

So there's the deal. If I stay in the condition I am now until the 12th, we'll try to find a time to get together and jam before then, but that's still tentative. I have a lot of prep work to do before this fandango on the 12th. Thanks for your concern and prayers, and don't forget to be grateful for things like being able to button your own shirt. It's the little things that mean a lot.

The Other Shoe

Turns out I did a real number on my shoulder, or rather on the supraspinatus tendon in the shoulder. Those charts in the doctor's office are chock full of information. I have surgery scheduled for November 12th. I'll be immobile for about four weeks, and we'll see after that. Oh, well, it could have been worse.

Tomorrow tells the tale

My appointment with the orthopedic surgeon is at 8:45 a.m. I'll know whether I have to do the rotator cuff tear repair or not. I'll post as soon as I can and let you know what's up. Having had some time to process the situation and look at contingencies, we might still be able to get through this in relatively good shape. We'll see.

Things have improved

The flu has pretty much passed, seven days on the money. I just ate an orange, which I've been looking forward to for days. Tasted like paradise.

The Italian job went well. All the patrons were pleased. I'm sorry for the lack of coverage, but I was still not up to speed. The band was in good form, though, and Craig and Jim really stepped up to the plate. We have the gig next year.

Speaking of the future, I go for my MRI results Thursday. We'll find out then what's in the cards. Like the Petty song says, "The waiting is the hardest part."

Now, back to typing. Thanks to everybody who's helped me through this, with prayers and offers to help, especially my little brother David who filled in for me at the Singles Dance in Lancaster. He must have been getting some tone; when I turned on my amp yesterday, before I even hit a note, it started growling. You rawk, Dave!

In case you're wondering

I took a bad fall Saturday and bunged up my shoulder, then caught the flu Monday. Say a prayer to St. Rocco that I can play the Italian job Sunday. Talk to you later.

In Bedrooms Everywhere...

... there are folks sitting and making music like this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qU9HiwmcLWQ

In a perfect world there would be venues (smoke-free with micros on tap and good house sound) where guys this amazing could play. I don't even know this cat's name or anything about him.* Surfing a Grateful Dead link (rukind.org) I ended up hearing his version of Weather Report Suite. Next break this morning I'll have to check out "Martha My Dear."

The tuning is DGCGCD. Who thinks this stuff up?

*BTW, here's the guitar player's blog: http://tonyrclef.blogspot.com/ Not a very prolific blogger, but there's an interesting essay on arranging songs that gives an insight into the process of coming up with covers this good. Pretty prolific video maker; nice version of "Martha My Dear."

To the non-guitar players out there, sorry if this is boring stuff. Hey, how 'bout those Phillies? They won yesterday! Joreen was in the car and made me narrate the end of the game to her. Instant heart attack stuff. These guys could make you crazy following them. Go Phils.