Los Toltecos...She is finished...No??

AUGUST 12TH - We are celebrating my birthday as well as Downtown Saloon Bartending Extraordinaire - Lori Snyder!!!!  She turns 28 this month!

What a great project this is!!!!  This is what it is all about!!!

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Imagine my surprise when stopping by one of my favorite bars in Leesburg today and I see a sign, that looks a lot like my signs, for Ben Andrews at Downtown Saloon.  He is playing there on Sundays and going under the moniker of Ben's Juke Joint!  Hey that sounds a lot like Lenny's Juke Joint!!!!  Damn should I just send him my set list as well.  Nothing against Ben, I don't know who the hell he is and Google doesn't know him.  He may be a great guy, but could you come up with a little more imagination with your freakin' signs???  I have spent a long time, two and a half years building up Lenny's Juke Joint; and thanks to Scott for getting me started I have played hundreds of gigs, literally hundreds, of gigs since the December 10th, 2006 gig at Downtown Saloon that started it all!  Now with professional representation, James Turner Productions, I play in some of the greatest bars in Northern Virginia, including Downtown Saloon on occasion.  At first it didn't bother me but the more and more I thought about it, it makes my skin crawl.  Legally it may be ok, but it is very disrespectful to a performer who has put a lot of warm butts in barstools and money in the cash register at the Downtown Saloon!  I still like the bar, it is just a cozy place to go hang out! The staff is great, the beer is cold and the food is great!  And I encourage you to go listen to Ben and his friends on Sunday nights (if I am not playing somewhere else) but just realize, he has absolutely nothing to do with Lenny's Juke Joint!

Getting better at this!

Well as I roll in to Fall I am looking back at all the places I played over the summer!  Barry Charlton took me in to a new realm of lessons as he took me out on the road and we formed Free Draft!  Unfortunately we are not playing again until November and then only twice so far.  But I have learned a lot over the summer and my show is taking shape I think.  I have realized I need some faster songs, but i still don't want to just play classic rock either.  I am forging into country a little more and looking for some old blues and jazz tunes to round out my sets.  Any suggestions shoot me an email.  Barry and I are talking about the studio a little.  I have a few hours at Cabin Studios in Leesburg that I have been sitting on for a year.  We will get in there hopefully by the end of this year and have a cd out!  If any of you have suggestions on the songs that we or I do that you want on a cd let me know as well.

So....a new venue this week, The Zen Bistro in Arlington.  Back at Spanky's for my monthly show there as well as Fish Market!  Got some newer music coming at you at these gigs!  Some Tim McGraw and Tom Petty! As well as others so come out have a pint and listen to some blues!!!!! or country!!!!! or folk!!!!!

Hey Strangers!!!!

The Ruins at Downtown Saloon!!

Last night was the open mike at the Downtown Saloon as always.  Dave pepper played as well as Joe and Mike (together and solo).  My long lost buddy Jeff stopped by and simply tore it up on three tunes with the help of Tim on the harp! We gotta get Jeff out here more!  The big news of the night though was a new band called the Ruins!  They had asked to play a set last night and I agreed!  What a stroke of luck!  These guys were SO good!  Rob, one of their guitar players even joined me on a couple!  I am trying to think who they sound like but am drawing a blank.  There are obviously several different influences going on in the band.  They also look like they are having such a good time that they are a blast to watch!  Their drummer and bass player seem like they have been playing together for years!  And their singer/slant rhythm player has an incredible voice as well!  So I guess you can tell I really enjoyed them, so watch for the name out and about as they start getting gigs!

Thanks to all that came out! 

I am taking a a week off but will be back with a slew of JTP gigs!  The 28th and the 1st are with Barry!  Duo name TBA!!!!  Thanks for your support!

Playing at Tim's River Shore!

Well kind of a slow night at Maxwell's last night but what a great bar!!!  I finally met Paul the owner in person and got to work with Casey and the bartender that shall remain nameless:)  I had a pair of lovely dancing cousins that even danced to my first ever bluegrass version of Cats In The Cradle!!  I met a lot of people and hopefully will see them again if I get invited back:)  I will keep you posted!

  In the meantime, a busy week next week with Bungalow's, Downtown Saloon, Stonewall's and White Palace.....Damn I am getting tired just typing it!!!  And I haven't even gotten to my gig at the beach yet:)  I hope some of my NOVA friends can make it out to the gigs this week, there are plenty to choose from!

Happy Cinco De Mayo and have a great week!

Good Time at the Open Mike last night!  Not a lot of players but plenty of people to listen.  Fred was there as usual and played with me and David Smiley.  Dave played several songs without the use of his book.  She's No Lady and R.O.C.K. In The USA were among his tunes!  He is heading off to Germany I think he said so we may not here from him in a while.  He did invite us out there though so maybe we should take the open mike on the road!  A guy named Chris who I had never met played last night.  He started with my favorite blues tune, Deep Elem Blues and then played some originals!  "Here's To You" I think was one of them and I gots to tell you this guy has talent!!! We did invite him back so I hope to see him again and Chris you are welcome to play the Gibson!!

Tim was there to add the harp to the mix on several songs.  Another good version of Makin' Whoopee I will try to get it up on the site by Sunday or Monday! 

 Remember Barry and I are playing in Sterling at Cascades on Tuesday at Bungalow's!!!  Barry just got added.  I had such a good time at my lesson last week, I asked him to come Tuesday and he agreed!  So check us out!!! 

Have a good weekend folks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the last minute change folks!  Fabian at King's Court once again has screwed up.  He decided after making a commitment to me to play on Saturday that he can have a full band in on Saturday.  So after advertising on my site and sending emails and making posters for his venue, he has cancelled me with no offer for making it up to me except to reschedule on another Saturday night that he would probably screw me out of at the last minute again.  He then tried to tell me he had me scheduled for May 5th when Fred and I are playing in DE at Irish Eyes! 

If you were planning on going out to King's Court Saturday I would suggest Downtown Saloon.  They have good bands on Saturdays and the management and staff there are top notch.  It is less smoky and the prices are better. 

I honestly think that some people in this business forget they are running a business and also dealing with real people.  It is a fine line I know that, but if you give your word to be at a gig or as a club owner book a gig then you should stand by it.  I felt terrible last month when I had to cancel due to the flu.  And I am paying for it by not getting gigs there again.  Fabian decides he rather have a band and rather than talk to me to either to open for them and pay me less or anything, he will cancel me on a low paying gig that he scheduled more than a month and a half ago.  I passed up some sweet gigs for this one at King's Court.  I would strongly urge any of the musicians that play there to think twice about booking King's Court or Ball's Bluff.  Write a contract up maybe and save yourself some hassle!

Last night I played in the big leagues.....and I am not sure how I did.  The recording doesn't sound bad.  It appears the bar had a good night, which is why we are there after all.  The bars down there are just different.  I mean at Downtown Saloon, playing for a bunch of bikers, you know how you are doing right away usually.  They either yell and clap or yell and throw beer bottles....ok I am exaggerating a little but they are definately more vocal.  After each song in my first set, I didn't know whether these people heard me or not.  Later in the evening, after talking to a couple of waiters and a few customers, it sounded like they were into what I was doing "they just always are like that". 

Anyway, I want to say thanks to Lisa and Ben and all the other staff for making me feel at home.  I had a great time!  It is so fun to play places like that. 

This week I play at Downtown Saloon as usual, then on Saturday I am at the Cancer Benefit in Jefferson County in the early evening and then Lenny and friends at King's Court at 9.30PM.

John Macier's band, Stereo Goat, I believe it is are playing at Ball's Bluff.  If all of them play like John then they will be very good!  Stop by and hear some great music on Saturday.  One stop and two venues!!!  I hope to see you there!

Have a great weekend!

Well the voice is going in and out!  I had a good time though last night at the palace!!  It was just me...no Lenny B and friends!  I don't know where they all are.  Fred played in Charlottsville.  Barry was in Manassas and Jeff is on hiatus I think. (Where are ya Buddy???) 

 Thanks to Rob and the boys for coming out at the beginning!  Lisa brought a group out with her and Captain Morgan and his lovely first mate came out and had dinner!  What a beautiful night!  I am ready for summer!!!  Also some ladies stopped by after apparently visiting one of the local vineyards!  One of them went to school in West By God even!!!!

I did try some newer songs when the crowd thinned out.  I am stealing some tunes from my instructor Barry.  He and I are playing in Shepherdstown on May 11th.  So we are learning some of each others stuff.  I think he is having an easier ime of it than me:) 

The tip jar topped out at $63!!!  We have raised just shy of $600 for them this year!  $594.73 to be exact!  Thank you whoever put in the .73 cents:)  I will have to talk up the bucket for Habitat a little more.  My goal is $2000 by the end of the year!  One of my friends last night, Sean (not sure of spelling), mentioned her daughter (I think, could be getting story mixed up) is doing Relay For Life on May 12th.  I may take a charitable detour on the weekend of the 10th and 11th of May and give the tips to that.  Hopefully we can help them out!  I will keep you posted!  Thanks so much for the Habitat help though!  Go to the links page and you can go on their site and see what our money is doing!  :)

Tuesday I am auditioning sort of for Turner Productions at Shooter McGee's in Alexandria!  I am actually nervous about this one!  Gary Smallwood plays there and some other really good musicians!  I feel like a little league player wlking into Cambden Yards!  Hopefully from there I will get some good gigs and also play locally for them at Spanky's!  I will keep you posted!

I hope you all have a good week!  And I hope to see all of you in Leesburg on Saturday night!  I am playing King's Court!  Have a good week!

Open mike last night was a lot of fun.  The first player was a young lady and I am sorry I can't think of her name right now, Anna maybe.  Anyway, what a set of pipes on this girl.  She sang Shania Twain and Dolly Parton among others.  For a lady this young to come in and play an open mike at a biker bar took a lot of guts!  Fred invited her out to play on Saturday night with us so hopefully you will see her again!  David Smiley cam out and played as well as Dave Peppa!!!  David then joined Fred and I for some songs.  That is fun when you can sit in and play with two great players!  I had Fred on the right and David on the left and I tried to keep up!

Fred and I practiced for our upcoming gig at King's Court!  Played some new songs and butchered some old ones:)  Fred is at Cheeseburger tonight and I am at Maxwell's.  My voice is about gone so I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will hold on my busy weekend!

Thanks to all that came out!  It was a great Thursday night!  Fred is hosting next week so come help him out as well!  Hope all of you can get out in the snow tonight!!!!

Fred and I played at two hospitals on the 19th.  Fairfax INOVA hospital in the morning and Georgetown in the afternoon.  At Fairfax the crowd was small, only a couple kids but i think the two moms that were there enjoyed us.  At Georgetown though we went from room to room!  Matthew joined us on his 11th birthday and he played percussion and sang along!  That made the day even better!  This was for an orginazation called Pickleberry Pie, you can get their link on our link page.  All in all a very rewarding day!  I hope we get to go back often.

Fred's website is up and running and he is getting the hang of putting stuff on it!   I have hooked up with Turner Productions and am playing a gig in Alexandria next month for them.  It is a place called Shooter McGee's!   This is a really cool bar that I have not been to in a while.

I am excited about going into the studio finally.  Barry and I have been practicing and hopefully we will get with Les Thompson soon and i will have more news!  Stay tuned and I hope to see you all soon!

Friday night I played with Kim and Beth from October Skies at a place called Maxwell's in Middleburg! This is a very cool little pub! Great crowd and the staff was very nice. It is a really relaxed place right on the main drag which is Rte 50. It is easy to find and when the weather warms up, they have tables and chairs outside! Kim and Beth did some songs I have never heard them do and they sounded great! I couldn't hear how the crowd was reacting cuz I was singing along! Anyway Kim was nice enough to invite me and then let me hog the stage for a while. I want to thank Kim & Beth from October Skies and also thank you to Paul for having me there at your cool bar! I told him I would love to return so I will wait for the call:)

PartyDC booked October Skies there, so I may have to wait for them. Although they booked me at O'Faolain's in Sterling and then withdrew the offer, so I am not sure how booking through them is going to go. Some great bars on their roster but with schedule changes less than a month out, I am not sure how many of their gigs I can take. I hope to have some new venues for you folks soon though! So stay tuned!!!!!

Practice with Jeff last night and we worked on some Robert Cray tunes! Gotta love the blues! We will bring at least one of those to you on Saturday night --- Saint Patty's Day at the White Palace!!! We go on at 6PM and we will play til Jose says "GET OUT OF HERE!" I hope to see a lot of our regulars there! I will send out an email with April dates in about a week. I am having to rearrange some shows and I want to be sure they are a go before I email!

Have a great week folks! Remember open mike at Downtown Saloon on Thursday night!!

The White Palace turned out to be a great place to play!! Jose asked us to start early, around 6 PM, and that worked out well! We ended up playing an extra hour and then I ended up playing a little unplugged after that. All in all I was there until midnight and had a great time. I was asked to provide music there every other Saturday!!! I am working on that because I have been blessed with talking enough people into letting me play for them that I am actually busy in Saturdays through April.

Jeff and I will return to the White Palace on St. Patty's day though! March 17th! I am psyched!! Purcellville is closer to me, the bar is a cool hangout, the people who work there are nice, and some nice locals!!

Thanks to all those who came out to hear us! Thank you to Fred for playing a set at the beginning! Fred and I got our wires crossed on this gig and ended up playing less together than was anticipated. Jeff came out and BOFUS is coming back!!! We have practiced once last week and played twice this week. We have some times we are a lil lost but times when things went so well!!!! Bruce and Rita, old friends from the neighborhood stopped by and those FAA guys showed up with their better halves!!! Nice to meet your whole family Bob! Captain morgan and his lass took a break from moving and stopped by! My mid buddy Ron was there with his wife and it was obvious neither one of us got too much sleep. But Mrs. Meyers made you look good buddy! And I got to sing to my co-worker Mike and his wife! So thank you all, I hope to see you again!

We also raised $65 in our tip bucket for Habitat For Humanity! That brings our total to $215 for the year! this doesn't seem like a lot but will all add up by December! Thank you for that!!!!!

Jeff came out last night and played with me as BOFUS!!!!!! BOFUS is back!!!!! OK Jeff and I say we are gonna play together all the time. We get together for an open mike and have a couple good songs and we agree it is fun playing together and we stroke each other egos saying how much we enjoy each others playing then we don't see each other for several weeks! Jeff and I are totally different I think sometimes but alike in a lot of ways too! We both love to play obviously, but we have very different lives. Jeff is as busy as a long tailed cat at a rocking chair convention and I work for the government......nuff said! I am happy that we can get together and zone in on certain music after weeks away. I had a new song last night I was nervous about playing called the General. Once again a song with some meaning. It is about a veteran of many wars, who the night before a big battle has a dream, maybe a vision, and wakes up, walks out of his tent and says enough!!! He carries out his orders but with obvious regret but only have sending his troops home. Anyway, I am getting off the subject, this song just has a shitload of words in it! It is hard to sing and not to easy to play. Jeff played it once in his kitchen and then twice at the Curve. He picked up on the vibe of the song and just nailed it! That gave me a little more confidence singing it as well. Long story short.....too late....it opened possibilities for jamming and having songs that a crowd can sing along with! I always think I will not pressure Jeff to play too much cuz he is busy, but I think I may send out a few more emails this month. Look for some BOFUS gigs in March hopefully. And who knows maybe this summer we can add a band! Oh and by the way ....... not that Jeff and I do this for the $$$$$, but I always seem to get him to come out to gigs that don't pay (proceeds for last night's performance went to Habitat For Humanity) and he does them anyway!!!! Maybe that is why I always play solo:(

Money last night was raised for Habitat For Humanity! Here is the news about that gig! ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Last night was the first gig I played for Habitat For Humanity. A lot of joking around about Jimmy Carter and making houses last night, but when it came down to it we raised over $100 for Habitat For Humanity! LAMB Entertainment has opened an account with Habitat and I just pledged $25 a month to come out of our business account to keep a line open. This will come to $300 for the year. Now accounting is not my strong suit and I know this doesn't sound like high finance but if we can come up with $100 a month plus our base donation then we will have $1500 for the year. Now this does not sound like much maybe but Habitat for Humanity makes their money go a long way. Through donations of money, supplies, and time they do outstanding work. I really appreciate you guys that came out last night helping me help with such a great organization! I hope we can come up with a good year for them.

Last year we did a lot for the Salvation Army and we will still help them out in the fall for their Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Look for a post after every Horseshoe Curve Show for the totals for the Juke Joint's donations to Habitat!

I would like to wish everyone who has visited the juke joint and has played with us over the past year a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year!

I played King's Court last night.  Rob sat in and we played for four hours.  Although, it was not the smoothest of shows it was a good way to round out the year.  I do have one more gig at the Downtonw Saloon onWed.

I am looking back at the last year of playing and doing things with local music.  Some of the tapes from early shows are horrible but at least I see some improvement.  I have made some great friends this year as I have played around NoVA! 

The crew I have to be most thankful to though is the Downtown Saloon.  Scott has helped me out immensely this year.  I have had a great time and learned a lot by doing this open mike.  I hope it will continue.  I really appreciate the confidence Scott had in putting me in that position when I was just getting started.  I also have made the absolute best friend I think I could have made in the bar biz!  My Favorite Bartender!  Lisa and I have made a great team for a good part of a year.  She is a great sounding board for my new music ideas - some good and some bad - and I appreciate her opinion!  Definately has earned the rank of the World's Finest Bartender! 

This year I became an honorary Bastard!  Rob and Clark took me in and have taught me a lot.  I finally got to play a song with Tim although he has no recollection of it.   Fred has stuck with me as well and helped me progress!  Now that he officially retired he is the "old timer" that I play with.  I wish I could have retired with him:)

I started the year with a band and saw that band go into hiatus, just like Phish, as we pursue solo projects.  Hey the reunion tour will have cool t-shirts! 

And then all the faithfuls that come out all the time on Weds.  I don't want to forget anyone so I am gonna lump you all together, you know who you are!

Anyway - Thanks to all of you guys!  I am gonna play as much as possible this year and get better so come on out and see if I make good on my promise!  I will be back with Barry this year for weekly lessons and I am taking a class from Berklee School of Music this semester and hopefully playing as much as humanly possible!!!  I hope to see you all in the coming year!!!! 

Back from a trip to FL and spent the evening at the CURVE!

First of all, FLORIDA!  WOW!  Except for the whole FAA and work thing I had a good time.  Found an AWESOME place on the beach, right off of A1A!  It is called High Tides.  Go to the links page and check out their website.  I will also have pics up of the place by tonight.  Thanks to the staff at High Tides for a great couple of weeks!  Happy Hour with $3.95 for a half pound of shrimp and cheap beer......HOOOOORRRRRAAAYYYYY BEER!!

Last night was slow at the Curve.  My Bastard buddies showed up though.  Thanks to Clark and Rob and assorted guests.  Rob played some with me and WOW again, what a guitar player!  It is a blast to play with the people I have been following around for better than a year!  Then Rob and Clark played a short set!  I could have listened to them all night.  I will put one or two of those tracks on the jukebox as well as some pics tonight as well!

Remember folks, Wednesday night at Downtown Saloon.  The unofficial Juke Joint Christmas party.....Yes that's right CHRISTMAS!!!! The reason for the season!  No Kwaanza, no "holiday" greetings......Merry Freakin Christmas!

These views are the opinions of the author alone and do not reflect on the ideals or the opinions of the management of Lenny's Juke Joint!.........God Bless!

I am looking forward to reclaiming my spot at my favorite bar Wed. so come out and join Lisa and me, let's play some blues, and drink some beer.....HOOORRRRAAAYYY Beer!!!!

Next Saturday is King's Court -- I hope to see you there as well!  Have a great week!

By His grace,

Lenny B

Well another week of three gigs for me.  I played all week.  Downtown Saloon, King's Court twice, and the Daily Grind.  My voice was gone by Saturday night and feeling pretty drained by Sunday.  Maybe this business trip is a good idea so I can take a break.  I am afraid I did not get much for recording this week.  I just wasn't thrilled with Saturday's recording.  New music which was fun and playing with Rob was a good time, but the mix was off and voice was gone - or maybe that's just how I sing.....OOOOOHHHHHH NO!!!!

My dad asked for some recordings so I am gonna try to get something in my studio this week.  After this Wed. I will be gone for two weeks.  I am taking my guitar and have hopes of maybe playing an open mike or two in FL, but nothing is scheduled until the 16th of December at The Horseshoe Curve!  By then I hope I will be rested and psyched to play some new songs and have a GREAT TIME!

Please come join me there or back at the Downtown Saloon on the 20th. 

Without sounding too sappy I would like to thank all the people that have come out to support me in the past year.  I have been playing out for a year now.  I am having a good time for the most part and am looking forward to getting better in the coming year and playing some more venues!  It has been great though seeing some of the same faces time after time though.  And I have met some great musician friends and learned a lot from them!  Even met some hopefully new friends on Friday and Saturday.  Thanks for coming "tan boot girl" and your friends - nobody has normal names anymore- !  Also with a change if schedule I will be back taking lessons from my friend and guitar teacher Barry Charlton!  So hopefully all those Daily Grind and Horseshoe Curve tips will pay off:) 

In the meantime, have a good start to your holiday season!  Please put the 16th and the 20th on your calendar!  See you when I get back!!!

By His grace,

Lenny B

Well it has been a while since I updated the blog. I actually got busy with playing for a couple weeks! I had three gigs the first week of November and 4 the second. My fingers were HURTING!

Last night was a busy open mike at the Downtown Saloon. I had a lot of players come out and had a great time! I apologize if some people waited for a while. i do like to give everyone a chance to warm up a little and play 4 or 5. I think everyone got to play and some people twice! Fred was there with Miss Molly and the ladies from October Skies. It was fun listening to them and I got to play one with Fred. Dave Pepper was there playing for his lady! Mike and Joe and the LONG LOST MUDFLAP! Mudflap will be subbing for me in December I will let you know the date when it is available. Also hopefully Fred will do one too.

Anyway, worked out some new songs that are getting better! I am going to be out of town from December 4th through the 14th. The FAA in an effort to save money is sending all it's managers on every business trip under the sun, to FL, PA, OH etc. I get to ruin part of the Christmas season, miss my son's first ever Christmas concert playing trumpet, and sit for a week with a bunch of "Let's get ahead at the cost of others" assholes in FL. It doesn't even snow down there!

Anyway I digress! I will have a lot of yuletide celebrating to do when I get back. I have to cram my favorite season that usually lasts a month into two weeks.   I will be playin at the coffee houses and Downtown Saloon, King's Court, and The Horseshoe Curve after the first of the year so keep coming back and check those dates. Also check out the new pics in the photo gallery! Thanks to all that came out last night! Too all visitors of the Juke Joint --- Happy Thanksgiving!

I played last night on a rare Thursday night at the curve.  WOW, it was packed for a while.  Had a couple of the loyal juke joint fans!  Besides a visitor on that played along way too loud it wasn't a bad night.  I hope I can get back on another Thursday, very laid back! 

Wed. night at the Downtown Saloon was good as well. Rob came in and played at the end of the night.  I finally was happy with a version af Soulshine!  Mike played and I got to join in.  Dave Pepper played and I got to join in!  Fred played with October Skies and my long lost bald headed buddy played with a teio that I forgot their name, but you will here more from them, They were AWESOME!!!!  I will get some of the tunes up on the juke box by Wed. 

Tomorrow night at King's Court and I am excited!!!!  My first big Saturday night gig by myself.  We will see how it goes!  Thanks to all that have come out to see me this year!  I listened to some recordings from last year of my stuff and am surprised I still have some of the friends I do.  WOW!  I have got a long way to go but I think things are getting better!  Anyway I am rambling!  Come out and see me on Saturday, have a pint and listen to some blues!!

Last night was my first private party as a guitarist/singer!  Outdoors and it was COLD!!!  It was a great time though at a BEAUTIFUL location!  And I had an awesome helper!  I do want to thank Jo Ann and Lindsay for inviting me and taking good care of me.  Played some old songs I have not played in a while and I think they came out OK.  I will see if any are good enough for the juke joint jukebox.  Friday night I went and played at Rob and Clark's open mike.  Tim was there playing the harp with them.  These guys are just incredible!  They have morphed into blues with a hint of JAM band; and those are my favorite two types of music.  I think when musicians get that good they get bored with playing just the normal music and amazing things happen.  So if you get a chance to hear them any time soon then you should.  I will get their dates up on the juke joint.  Look for Bastards Of Twang!

I made a CD for my bartender and biggest fan Friday.  I evidently promised it months ago.  :)  Anyway, the first time I put a string of songs on a cd and it was fun.  I think I will try another but with a little more prep involved.  Don't want to infringe any copywright, but if you are interested in any recordings let me know.

Have a great week folks!  BIG week for me playing I will email something out tonight.  Check the dates page!!

What a weekend!  Well it started out good!  OK no it didn't, but the weather is nice!  Friday night I went to Rob and Clark's open mike.  I played a couple with Rob, which is always fun.  Clark, Tim and Rob played a few that I caught before I left.  I also heard a lady named Sally Foster!  She has a great voice and plays some good blues.  I listened to a couple of hers and then stopped by the Downtown Saloon on my way out of town.  Sally came down to return a capo and I got a CD from her.  She gave me permission to put some on the jukebox, so give me a day to do that and you can hear her!  Also she promised to let me know when she is back in town and playing; should be in November.  I met a lady named Diva who DJed for the company I used to work for, NARD's.  She hustled out to catch the last call at King's Court, but it was nice meeting you Diva!  Kareoke at Downtown Saloon on Fridays.  The place was packed! 

Rob played Saturday at the benefit and I heard it was good.  He asked me to play but I was VERY sick on Saturday, so I missed all the fun.  Sorry Rob! 

Anyway, it is 1 AM and I am rambling.  This week is another open mike for me and a short set at a benefit on Saturday in Waterford.  Check out the dates for details.   Rob talked to the manager at King's Court for me so I should be back in there in the near future.  I will as always keep you posted.   I think Mud Flap is coming to the Open Mike this week.  See you there!

July 1st I played a gig with Shotgun Ride in Sharpsburg MD!  WOW they have come a long way!  We split the duties and played about 2 hours each!  What a party!  I have put a link to their website up and I will hopefully have some MP3s up soon of their performance!  You know I record everything!  Hopefully we will play together again in the future, it is a good mix of Southern Rock and whatever I do!  Anyway check out www.shotgunrideband.com sometime. 

Condolences go out to Jeff and his family this week.  Last week his father passed away.  Jeff you are in our thoughts and prayers - my guitar slinging brother!

John is in a new band and they played their first gig on Saturday as well.  I am sorry I don't remember the name of the band and have lost the email.  Sounds like it is a big group and they play some cool music so I will get more info as they play out and about.  Did I lose my bass player you ask?  NO - It looks like Blues In A Blender might be making a reunion comeback appearance at the Downtown Saloon on Wednesday night.  I am hosting the open mike and Jeff is back and John is available!  So come out and here us play and get a half priced burger Wednesday night!