Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning...

I remember where I was...

I was sleeping until the last possible minute before getting up to go to work at Grigg's Music in Davenport, IA. Mom shook me awake at about 8:05 and said a plane had hit the World Trade Center. I wasn't quite sure what she was talking about, but I could see she'd been crying. I got up and we went into her bedroom to watch the Today show coverage. About 10 minutes later (8:17) I watched in horror as a second plane hit the other tower. I couldn't believe this was happening in America. The entire rest of my day seemed like a surreal version of my life. Work was spent watching the television coverage (and walking outside to see the F-14's and Air Force One fly over the Quad Cities as Pres. Bush made his way to Omaha, NE). I can't believe it's been five years...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile. My summer schedule was pretty busy and I guess I just haven't had anything I felt like writing about. Waking up this morning, however, I was moved to write when I turned on the TV and saw the tributes going on. Hearing all the names being read, seeing the footage again... makes me feel VERY blessed to be alive.

Lots of things have been going on lately. I'll take time to write more about them later, but for now I just want to express my condolences to all of the families who lost a member, all of the husbands and wives who lost their spouse, all the parents that lost their children, and the children that lost their parents. I cannot imagine the pain of your loss.

Live every day as if it were your last, and never forget...

The Waiting...

".. is the hardest part" - Tom Petty

Hey gang...

I know, I know... I haven't posted in forever, and for that I should be drawn and quartered. (Well, okay, maybe not THAT extreme...)

Anyway, I had some down time today and thought I'd throw a little update out there. Right now I'm hanging out in Cleveland, Ohio (Cleveland rocks, Cleveland rocks...) with Paul Sidoti from Tequila Sunrise. He flew me up from Nashville yesterday so that we could rehearse with Refugee.

Refugee is a new venture that Paul put together as a tribute to Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. It's featuring Paul as Tom Petty, with Billy Sullivan (Raspberries, Gary Lewis and the Playboys) on lead guitar and vocals, Jeff Beam (former member of Tequila Sunrise, now plays for Clay McClinton. Also traveled to England with me when I went with Bily Yates) on bass and vocals, and me on drums, harmonica and vocals. I finally get to play harp onstage!!! We are playing our first show tomorrow night at the House of Blues in lovely Cleveland, Ohio. Should be a great show as it's rumoured that Jim Bonfanti and Eric Carmen of the Raspberries will be joining us for a song or two! Our old friend Derek Brunschwieger will be joining us on percussion as well. It's always great to hang out and "talk shop" with Derek. He's a Berklee student and a great player so I always try to pick up some tips from him.

Speaking of old friends... I will be playing a show this Saturday night at Mickey Roo's in Franklin, Tennessee with Tim McDonald. We will be backing up Brooks Tucker. I've never played with Brooks before, so it should be interesting.

Then it'll be off to Vegas with Tequila Sunrise the following Saturday. We'll be playing Terrible's Casino in Pahrumph, NV. It was a great time last year, so this year should be totally off the chain. This time I'm going to party no matter how tired I am! After all.. it's VEGAS baby!

That's the current 4-1-1 on my career.. but here's a recap of the last couple weeks.

I ended up re-connecting with an old friend, Jason Van Wie, from the band Buck Wild. I knew Buck Wild from back in my days with Lonesome Road. I saw an ad on Musician's Contact that Buck Wild was looking for a drummer, so I gave Jason a call and was able to travel with them for the last three weeks. It was a blast playing in the bars again, but it made me remember why I like Tequila Sunrise so much!!

Well, tonight Paul and I are going out to the Blind Pig in downtown Cleveland to watch Gotham City. They are a GREAT cover band and Franklin Lanza from Tequila Sunrise is playing with them so it should be a blast.

Take it easy!!

That'll Be The Day...

Hey everybody...

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile, but I didn't have internet access the entire time I was out with the Larkins. The tour went well enough, but I just wasn't crazy about having to play with pre-recorded guitar tracks. Plus, three weeks into the tour, the tour bus broke down. So in order to get home from Wendover, Nevada, we had to rent two mini-vans and drive. The bass player and I drove 28 hours straight to get back to Nashville. Not fun! The Larkins went out for two more weeks this week and next, but I bowed out. It's just not financially sound for me to leave Nashville for that long for so little money. I managed to pick up a weekend date with Aaron Solinger & The Redneck Rhythm Band. It's not a lot of money, but it's something and it's a new gig with people I haven't played for before.

Today is a somber day for me, as it is the anniversary of the day Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson died in a plane crash in Clear Lake, Iowa. Actually, the plane crash was on February 3, 1959, but it was around 1 AM. The three stars played their last concert at the famous Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake. I used to go there all the time with Grandma Chrystol, as she seemed very happy that I was so enamored with Buddy. Aunt Grace always looked favorably on my obsession too, as she used to send me anything that the Clear Lake Mirror-Gazette published about him. So today I'll put on some Buddy, pull out my Fender Stratocaster and pay a little tribute to the man who taught me how to really love music.

We still miss you Buddy! Rave on!