Vintage Woods

We knew right away that this was going to be a really fun gig. It's a retirement community and they were celebrating 6 or 7 years since they opened (sorry I can't remember). This is a really nice and pretty place to live. And, the staff was sooooo awesome to work with!!

I loved the sign that they had by the back door, "we're not old, we're just recycled teenagers!". That about sums it up!! They are a fun group that LOVES to dance and sing along.

Did WE have fun?? Watch and see for yourself. Steve and I laughed out loud through this whole video....note that Steve is filming the entire time...even when he is playing his harmonica. Now that is multitasking!

Diane's Hippie Party

When we did this party for Diane last year, it was originally supposed to be Michael and John as a duo. John invited Steve and me to join them. It was the very first gig we did together. So, last night was a sort of 'anniversary' for our band. And.....Michael is Back!!

On the left is Marty, Michael's wife. He was still not okay to drive to the gig and she was his Chauffeur. Marty is very supportive of Michael's music and of the band. It was fun to have her there.

Here is a little video of Michael Bowers being funny, and then Marty talking about Michael's surgery. Marty...you are adorable!!!

When we set up and tear down, everybody helps. Steve thinks he is so funny:



I call it "Dad" humor. Kinda corny...but I like it!

Sometimes it's hard to recognize people when they are in Hippie dress. I saw someone at at show and she asked me which one was my husband. I pointed to Steve and she said that she thought I was married to the "blond guy" at the Hippie Show. Hmmmm. Yep. That is Steve, also known as the "blond Guy".

Diane has a lovely home and very fun friends!


Peace!

Fun!!

Michael Bowers on drums.

Another first for us. Michael S and Steve played guitar together tonight. Steve only played a little. I am looking forward to some guitar solo duels in the future!! I understand that there is a lot we can do with two guitars. Steve can back Michal up on some of the songs. Won't that be great?



Mmmmmm can't say enough about the food!! Yummy! This party is so fun and Diane and her husband make us feel so welcome. I told her that it feels like we are not just playing for the party....we are "at" the party too!

And, did I tell you that this group loves to DANCE!?

Here is Michael singing "Hey Jude" by special request. Perfect for our Hippie Themed show.

They danced right up to the last song. Only 1 complaint from neighbors. A very good night!!

Connie & Curt

We love to play for private parties. So much fun. This party was for Connie & Curt's 50th Wedding Anniversary. We did a party for just their family back in June and this party was for family and friends. What a fun group.


Because Michael S. was still recovering from his eye surgery, we had to do the show without him. Steve learned to play some of the guitar parts just for this show. I can tell you that he was pretty nervous! Steve is always ALWAYS cool as a cucumber and never nervous....I enjoyed his being nervous. Is that mean?



Michael Bowers was our drummer that night, and he really helped fill the void left by Michael Samaritano. Two Michaels is confusing, so we call him Bowers, or as Johns says "Bowser'. Michael B. is a fabulous drummer. The best!! And, he sings too. He is a real "wisecracker", always trying to mess with each of us.


John doesn't really need anyone else in the band. He can be a one man band with his keyboard. Here he is in "control central". He is constantly "tweeking" the sound all night long.


He not only survived, he did wonderful. There were a few times when I even forgot that he was playing, it just sounded "normal". But, make no mistake about it, we were all missing Michael S.


Did I tell you that these guys are all jokers?


Michael B is always trying to get a reaction from me. So, when I asked him to pose for a picture, he made some pretty lewd gestures. I told him that I was going to put that on the internet. Well, I can't seem to do it. So, I will post this cheesy picture of him instead. I'm still keeping it "G" rated around here. So, use your imagination!!


Breaktime! Connie & Curt fed the band, and we (especially the guys), just love it when there is food involved!


This night was so fun. The people danced and danced. And, because it was a family event, there were children running around. And, there were some adorable little girls that kept coming up and hugging me over and over during our show. Precious!!

Michael's update

I talked to Michael today and he sounds great!! He is in full recuperation and is expecting and planning to perform with us next week. Yay!! He is supposed to be taking it easy and I promise you that is really hard for a high energy guy like Michael. Only one more show (tonight) without him. It will be so awesome to have him back, we really have missed him! Thanks again for all your prayers and well wishes.

Lodi Wine Cellars & Friends

We got a last minute call a couple of days ago to come in and play for the Lodi Wine Cellars. We are without Michael right now. Because of this, Steve has learned some guitar to "fill in" (a little...certainly...nobody can fill Michael's shoes!!). We jumped at the chance to practice. Lodi Wine Cellars is a wonderful place with lovely decor and fabulous wine....and Michael the bartender behind the bar, what a great guy...very fun!!

We weren't sure that anyone would even be there. There is a big wine festival going on in town. We sent out a last minute email and posted on Facebook and some of our very dear friends came to see us!! Wow. That really made our night!!




From the Left: Lou, Mike, Sara, Mike, Astrid, Chuck, Stephanie, guy from the restaurant next door (delivering yummy food), John and Steve. Michael, the bartender would be in the photo, except he was standing up high on the bar to take the picture. Told you he was fun!! They danced and danced and made the night a real BLAST!!


I love this picture of Steve playing harp with his guitar ready to go!!



Chuck requested an old country song and John was in his element, he kept them coming!

Thanks to everyone for coming out. It means the world to us!

Yay! Our email list just went over 500

THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!

We are so appreciative!

Michael is recovering

Mr. Rock N Roll, Michael Samaritano, our fabulous guitar player had eye surgery this past Monday. He is at home recuperating and we hope to see him out ROCKIN real soon.


Thanks for your continued prayers....I'll keep you posted.

Stockton Singles Club

It doesn't seem like a month since we were last here. Then I looked at this blog and realized that ...yes...it has been a while. We are so happy to play for this group. They are so nice to us and they love to dance!


We do this show without a drummer, instead John uses a drum machine. And, that is a lot of extra work for him to change the settings on the machine for each song. We call the drum machine "Herman", I think John named him. So, if the drum machine messes up, we can blame Herman of course!

I told you all the guys are funny, right? Here is John singing "Wooly Booly" and he surprised all of us with a new hat just for the occasion.


It's a treat to be up on stage and get to watch all the dancers. People don't often dance like this anymore. Here is a little clip of Tennessee Waltz. It seems as if the entire dance floor is moving together:




I almost didn't post this video because I didn't like my singing....ugh. But, it didn't seem to be a problem for all the lovely dancers!!

We are really looking forward to our next show for the Stockton Singles Club October 30. We will be in our Halloween Costumes and I can't wait to see what everyone is wearing!

Tahoe Biltmore

I was starting to wish that I had tried harder to get a booking for out band to play for Labor Day Weekend. Then, just a couple weeks before, Michael had a connection with an agent who needed a band for Saturday. And, he hired us! So, it was off to North Lake Tahoe to play for a Casino! Even though we filled in at the last minute...we were on the sign board.


After being in the car for a few hours, I was wishing I wore something nicer. Then I saw that everyone else was dressed comfy too! We set up with the new speakers and everything came together.


Michael left his hat in John's car and the best way to carry it was to WEAR it. What an outfit!!


John decided to rest and get ready for the show, but the rest of us were HUNGRY. Patty, John's wife was with us. We had to wait to order, wait for the food....time was getting away from us!
I love this picture...Michael is a very funny guy.


In fact, all the guys in the band are funny. It's jokes, jokes and more jokes.


It seemed like the bill would never arrive and we left Patty behind to get the check. (sorry about that!).


Time to get started. We were staying across the street from the Biltmore.


We loved this venue and had a great time.


Our guest drummer was Rich. He plays electric drums. I didn't even realize it until Steve told me. For the first 2 sets, John and Rich could not hear any of the music. I don't know how they played so well. Then Rich had the idea to plug his speakers in to the PA and after that we could ALL hear everything. I'm sure that made it much better for them.


Dancing Dancing Dancing!


Patty was in the band with John for many years. I wonder what she was thinking, being in the audience? I set my tape recorder on her table to get some new recordings of the band and when I listened, I could hear her singing along in perfect harmony. I just wish I could have seen them perform back then. It's funny because I remember seeing their posters around town years ago and I thought it looked like a lot of fun. But, I was in the middle of raising kids and didn't get out much...well ever. Darn.


Michael "emotes"!! Rock N Roll is serious business!!


When the harp player is also the photographer, he can come up with some really awesome shots. But, it can be startling to be in the middle of a song and see a camera right in your face!
And...it also means that there are never as many pictures with Steve in them!


John through in some new songs at the end of the night. We are all concentrating!


I love this picture of John and Patty. She is usually not at our shows. When he plays the song that he wrote for her, he often tells about how much he appreciates her for sticking with him through trying times, especially when he had his spinal injury. This night, he played the song, but didn't tell the story. I'm sure she knows how he feels. You can see it, right?


Four hours can seem like a long time, it makes me tired and my feet get worn out. But, when the music is going, we are all filled with energy and when John says it's the last song....I usually am surprised that it's over so quickly.



This couple stayed until the last song. They were awesome and so nice.


When people appreciate the music, it makes all the time and effort so worth it. Even the fact that we are ALL the roadies who have to pack it all up.

After the show, John and Patty decided to drive home. So, we helped Rich, the drummer pack up and we all went out for pie. This was Steve's idea, and he found out that there was only one place open all night. Rich said he knew right where it was and we followed him. When he turned on a street, it didn't match the directions we had been given. We went down several side streets and it just seemed like we were getting nowhere fast. He finally pulled over and admitted he was lost!! So, we went back and followed the directions from the hotel.

The desserts that we had were so HUGE, I wish I had taken a picture. And, we were eating this at 3am!! How crazy is that? It was 4am before we got to bed. Much too late for us old folks!



We spent the night and had a beautiful drive home.


We drove around the lake, a very scenic route. Pictures can not do it justice.

Pine Grove Farmer's Market

I love playing for the Farmer's Market. We played there last year every Wednesday. It was the place that I played (sang) in public for the first time ever, last June. The vendors are all wonderful people with fabulous veggies!! This year we were too busy to be able to play every week, so we play there once a month. On this day, we did most of the show without Steve, because he had to work. But, when he was done, he joined us.


Yep. You are seeing correctly. That IS Steve on guitar. This was his "debut". If you don't already know, Steve is our "Harp" player (harmonica). So, this was a huge stretch. He has been working on this for a few weeks. I can tell you he was nervous. And, he doesn't usually get nervous.


He was sweating it out...not from the sun. Ha.


Michael sat out and was super supportive! The reason that Steve is doing this is so that he can play in a show that Michael can't come to. It's won't be the same without Michael, he will be having surgery on his eyes (prayers please), in September and will miss one of our shows.


We put out a Facebook post to come out with friends and lawn chairs and enjoy a Free concert in the park. A bunch of folks came out and spent the afternoon with us. These folks were at our Hippie Party for New Year's. And, some other people that were sitting next to them were also at that show...but they may not have recognized each other without the Hippie costumes!! We were so grateful to have an audience...that makes it soooo much more fun.



It was so fun to have Steve (my hubby) playing guitar. I still prefer his harp....but he is so talented to be able to pick up this instrument and learn it so fast. His talent and John's teaching together is incredible.


Ah. Now he is back on harp and Michael is back on guitar and all is right with the world!!


Mr. Rock N Roll.


Thank you to my dear friend, Carolyn Fox for taking this great photo of me and Michael and sending it to me.


I just had to share this other photo from Carolyn, of myself and Virginia Manner. Virginia is a vendor at the Farmer's Market and we had to "ham" it up for the photo.

The weather was perfect and our new speakers were the BEST! We had no trouble with our set up and we are ready to go! The sound is so improved and I personally think that they look fantastic!

This weekend....Tahoe here we come!