Western Country Party

We had a private party booked for an assisted living community that we have played at before.  In fact, John and Michael started out there long before I met them.  I joined them last year for this same party, and it was so much fun. 

I got out my cowboy hat and dusted it off.  I have a very cool "vintage" cowboy hat, from the 80's when cowboy was in fashion for a while.  So, I bought this hat brand new back then and I think it's considered "vintage" now.  What does that make me?  I guess I'm vintage too!!

On our way to the gig, we realized that we were going to be late......very late!!  Oh my gosh...what a terrible feeling.  We wondered if we would arrive before the music started!  We called the guys and let them know and wow....they just took care of everything.  What a blessing!  We basically walked in with our microphones, plugged in and started singing.  Our fellow bandmates are so professional, they had everything set up and ready to go.  We felt terrible!  But, we put it behind us and enjoyed the show.

One problem that we had was a lack of monitors.  The monitors were in our car, so they did not get set up at all.  It felt like singing in to a microphone that is not even turned on.  I never realized how nice it is to be able to hear all of the music as we are performing.  Without that, we were running blind basically.  Jerry and John shared their monitors with the rest of us, but it was impossible to hear clearly.  It was time to just go on faith and rely on the "tools" that John has taught us.  It reminds me how much we have learned and how grateful I am for that knowledge. 

One of the fun things about this gig is the music.  We played a lot of Oldies from the 40's and 50's as well as more country music than we normally do.  These songs are so wonderful, each one is like visiting an old friend!

The crowd was loving the music and kept requesting songs.  John was a master at this...he knew most of them and played them much to the delight of the folks. 

The staff at this place is excellent!  It's like coming home every time we are there.  We feel so lucky to be asked back.  One funny thing, our friend Gae, who hires us, told us that she received many compliments on the band.  In fact, she said that several people told her that we were much better than the band they had last year.  Well, that's always nice to hear.   We are better than last year's band.  Hold on a minute!  The band last year was US!  Steve and Jerry were not there last year...so they must have made the difference, right?

The gig was only 2 hours, so we played right through without a break.  The problem with that was, that we were invited to have lunch and by the time we stopped, it was all put away.  They were SOOOOO nice that they pulled out the food and fed the band!  What treatment!  We were spoiled! 

Special thanks to Gae for hiring us and to all the wonderful people who stayed and made us feel so welcome.  When people enjoy the music....it makes us feel terrific!