Friday, December 31, 2010

New Year's Eve

I have been looking forward to New Year's Eve for months and months! We booked this gig waaaay back in May. I had my dress all picked out and plans for hair and jewelry. The songs all chosen. And, then the sad news. The Dr. told me that I have to have my gallbladder removed. This is what made me sick enough to miss a gig and now it's time for surgery. I was MORE than disappointed!

I'm so grateful that a friend of John's, Dana, was able to fill in at the last minute.

John also brought in Dave with his violin. Doesn't it look like a great party?

I was sooo sad to miss it. The good part is that I am now fine and won't ever have that problem again. So, bring on the gigs!!

I know that the show was wonderful. The crowd is having a marvelous time.


I will be back with the guys this Saturday and I can hardly wait!

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Hope you had a nice Christmas

Wow! December was a really busy month for the band. I have about a million gazillion pictures to share! There are 5 gigs that I need to add to this blog...so check back often...I will get it all caught up!!

We all hope that you had a wonderful holiday with your families and friends. Steve came across these two nutcrackers and when he showed me I agreed that we just HAD to get them for John and Michael. They look like them...don't you agree?



We have a lot of plans and goals for 2011 and hope to see you soon!

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Hotel Leger

I love to play at Hotel Leger. I often say it's my favorite....of course I love every place we play, because it's always fun. But, here at Hotel Leger...it's like "home" to me. I live right up the road and lots of friends and family are often there. And, it's a very unique place. The history is all around you and the atmosphere is friendly and warm.

And, we always have a ROCKIN good time!



This is Sue. She coached my daughter in gymnastics when she was little. She is a personal trainer now and she helped my daughter and me get in shape for my daughter's wedding. I remember that Sue danced the entire time at the wedding, so I was sure that she would do some dancing this night....and I was not disappointed!!



This is our dear daughter with her dad, the harmonica player!

My dear daughter and her wonderful hubby.


This is my friend Sue and her friends. I have seen these ladies enough times to think of them as "my" friends too!

Dancing!!

More dancing!
And now... a little rest! We will be back January 15th...come out and join us!!

Friday, December 17, 2010

Private Resort Party

It was a long drive in the rain to get to this party. I always help carry and set up...but I didn't want to get my hair wet, so the guys carried everything in without me. Aren't they nice?

This is our 3rd time to play this venue and it's always a pleasure. The music that they prefer is the kind that they can dance to, rhumba, cha cha, swing, waltz. And, this type of music requires a specific beat. We had Rich for that. You may recognize him as our drummer in Lake Tahoe.

They have an very nice area back stage for the band. On the right is Dorothy. She is a gifted Sax player.



We had a magical night.

And.....MICHAEL is back!!! Yay!! It just wasn't the same without him!! Welcome back!


It was a nice big stage.


We had a great time.

Monday, December 13, 2010

Hippie Birthday Party!

This is Martie's Birthday party. If you know our band, you will find this incredible. Martie already had a "Hippie Theme" for her party before she found us. Can you believe it? Of course, she was happy to learn that we have a "Hippie Show", and we were delighted to play for her.

Martie is on the left and her dear friend was the MC.

I was just bowled over by the wonderful decorations. I told Martie that they were just the BEST ever!!

They even had a VW bus. Steve and I have owned over 7 VW buses, so we were delighted with this one. And, Martie gave it to us!! We will bring it to our next Hippie Show!

Everyone was in costume and there were some really WILD ones!! And.....LOTS of dancing!

The setting is an old barn that has been renovated in to a banquet hall. The stalls are still there and tables were set up in them. It was a unique and different setting. I just loved it!!

We had a great time and made some terrific new friends. Thanks Martie!!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Company Party

This was a show that I have been looking forward to for a long time. This was a company party and this company is near and dear to Steve and me. We have been attending for many years and to be able to entertain our friends....wow...how fun. I was much better and ready to sing and dance.

This lovely tree was provided by a fabulous decorator, and a friend of mine, Marie Wiens. I just LOVE IT!!

This is the time of year for letting it all go and having fun!!


The dinner was delicious!


And, our friend, Duke, came up and sang with us for the closing song. Fun Fun Fun!

We had drummer Donny with us, great as always!


And Bill. He is a great guitar player and singer.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Stockton Singles

I've been with the band for over a year now....and I finally missed a gig. I really hated to do that, but I was ill that day and couldn't make it. AND, Michael was gone and we had Bill filling in. So, with all that, the guys did a great show! I can't wait to see the folks at the Stockton Singles at our next show for them in January. I was so sad to miss it!


These folks are great dancers!!

Dear friends of the band, Deter and Karen.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Sierra Belles

John and I played some soft background music for the Sierra Belles luncheon. What a great group of gals. They have FUN!


The President of the group read aloud from "The Night Before Christmas", a very special treat.


Someone requested a waltz. This lady is from Europe (Austria?) and her dear daughter was at the luncheon and had never seen her mother waltz. A friend of hers requested the song and danced with her. I grabbed my camera and filmed them while singing to them at the same time (so I was a little shaky at both!). It was one of those "moments".



Then Santa arrived! The ladies were all over him!!


And, they danced with him too!



And MORE dancing!




This is Shirley, our dear friend. She loves to sing and she came up to sing a song with John.



Here is the entire group singing the last song.




Fun group and we had loads of fun!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Wagon Train Country Party

Saturday we played for a 'barn dance' in a big (really big) garage. Our hosts were the NICEST people ever! They went out of their way to make us feel welcome. They even built a stage for us (held up by hay bales!!)

Here is the friendly fire pit.




The decorations were magical! Come on in....

Please allow me to introduce Bill Stevens on guitar. We were honored to have him play with us while Michael is away. Steve and I met him for the first time as he stepped up on the stage. He just jumped right in and played away. He's a great rock singer too! He'll be playing with us this coming weekend also.

One of the guests was so kind to take some awesome photos for us....too many to share!!


This guy won these JAMMIE pants in the raffle. Don't let them fool you...they are not jeans and chaps....but they look like it. And, may I say, the RIGHT person won these! He was hilarious!!


These guys were 'guest announcers' for the raffle.

They were REAL pros....you gotta hear this:



There was a never ending supply of home cooked YUMMY food! And, they invited us to join them. This season is hazardous to our waistlines!!


After dinner, they cleared out the tables in the front for dancing, and there was a LOT of that!

Sweet!





Funny thing. There was a lot more dancing whenever they turned out the lights. And, it was so pretty with all the twinkle lights and the Christmas tree. But, it did NOT show up on video...unfortunately (too dark).


But I CAN share one of my favorite harp player:




Steve wants me to post this one of Angel From Montgomery...because he loves to play harp on it:



Last song for the die hards who stayed until the end....and we thank them!!!



It was an awesome evening. And, on the way home we got another treat! Placerville has the coolest decorations. These are right along the freeway:



Love it!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Christmas Party Upcountry

We played for a private party on Friday and it was lots of fun. When we got there, you would have thought it was a ski lodge and not Mace Meadows. There was still a lot of snow piled up around the parking lot. And, it was rather chilly. They served dinner in the restaurant and had the band (us) in another room. You had to walk outside to get to it. We wondered if the folks would come out in the cold to walk over and hear us (they did!).



We enjoyed a wonderful meal (delicious!!) with the group. I didn't know the food was so great there. Nice surprise! Then we went over and got ready for them to come over and dance. And, they did!! We truly enjoyed the evening, this was a terrific group of people (and they DO love to dance!).


On this night it was only myself, John and Steve. Michael is in New York for 2 weeks staying with his elderly father. We truly miss him...it just isn't the same without him in every way! But, the show must go on!! Steve has been practicing his guitar so he could fill in on some of the songs. He did a wonderful job. I'm so proud of him. The audience complimented us and we felt like we accomplished what we hoped to.

I wish I would have taken a picture or video of the lady with the 'light up shoes'. They twinkled as she danced. Very festive!!

We added a little Christmas music to our show, here's some for you with Steve playing lead guitar (our first time to perform it):



Hope to see you soon!