Stephanie's Band Blog

Wild Katz update

2012-02-29T11:50:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a while since I updated Stephanie's Band Blog.

We've been busy! We had a wonderful time at the Carmichael Elks Valentine's Dinner Dance. It was a fun night and we enjoyed every second of it.

The Wild Katz are getting ready for our next show and looking forward to seeing everyone at the Lodi Moose Lodge for St. Patrick's Day.

Hope to see you soon!

Stephanie

Farewell....

2012-01-02T12:05:00.000-08:00

It's a brand new year and full of so many changes. For the past two years, Steve and I have been playing almost every single weekend with John and Michael as Crystal Image. It's been a wonderful experience in more ways than I can count. You can read about the first year by clicking on my story "How I got here" at the top of this blog. I was trying to think of my favorite times to recap, and I just can't. Every gig was a favorite.

I will always be grateful to John for all his mentoring. I was so fortunate to have him teach me everything I know about music. And I will miss that! He is a gifted musician and an even more gifted teacher. He can play almost any instrument really well. I've enjoyed the stories about the many years and many memories he has of his long and vast musical career. And, I look forward to continuing our friendship for many years to come.

And, Michael....I appreciate him so very much for playing with us when we knew nothing and being so patient and caring. Michael is so funny and fun to be around. He is a talented guitar player and a wonderful singer. I have so enjoyed performing with him and dancing on stage together! I will also miss hearing him talk about food. He is a wonderful cook and loves to talk about his latest recipe.

And, then there is Jerry. I have already missed Jerry for the past month when he went home back east to take care of his parents until his father passed away recently. That right there just says so much about the character of this man. From the first moment he joined us, I loved his energy and his drumming.

For the past year the 5 of us have had many great experiences.

As we all move forward, I am so thankful to keep these many happy memories with me!

The future? You can follow John and Michael with their new drummer Brian, who I have enjoyed gigging with these past few weeks. Brian is a truly nice guy and a terrific drummer, and their trio is going to be awesome. www.crystalimageband.weebly.com Jerry is back home now and I'm sure that he will be playing soon and I will let you know as soon as I know.

Steve and I have started a new band, Stephanie Farrell and the Wild Katz. We have been rehearsing for a while now and will be playing shows very soon. In fact, we are available for booking right now, just let me know!! If you want to get a taste of what's coming, visit our new website www.wildkatzband.com

When I look back on the past two years of performing, I CAN say without a doubt that one of my MOST favorite things is all the new friendships I have made at our shows. I look forward to meeting new people and seeing old friends in 2012.

Happy New Year to you!! Best wishes for a fabulous year!!

New Year's 2011 Eve at the Rancho Cordova Elks Lodge

2011-12-31T18:57:00.000-08:00

This show was booked way back in February. We were playing for the Rancho Cordova Elks and when they asked if they could book us for New Year's it seemed so far away. After all, in February it seemed like we had just had New Year's Eve! But, they didn't want to wait until everyone was already booked, so they booked us early! We were happy to look forward to this show all year.

When we arrived, they had tons of fun decorations filling the room. They had a full house and we were all ready to party til midnight.

They had a table set aside for the band, and we got decorations and party favors too!! All around the room the decorations were in all sorts of colors. For our table they were all in black. What an honor for them to think of us and even match our band colors! AND....they set out hats for the guys....but for me....

They gave me a tiara! Woo Hoo. I wore it all night.

We have always had so much fun playing for the Rancho Cordova Elks and this night was over the top! We were also blessed to see some of our band friends who came from other groups to spend the evening with us.

The only time Steve ever takes a video is when he is not playing harmonica....and that always seems to be during Sway. So I will play it for you so you can enjoy the dancers:

We love it when people dance. It makes it so much fun for us.

And this crowd danced all night long!

During our breaks, we relaxed. Michael brought a magazine.

And he shared it with Steve.

This is Yvette (hope I spelled that right). She is a very fun person and is always game for a line dance!! We played one during dinner and she and her friends got right up and left their dinner to dance!

Dancing and more dancing!!

Here we are playing around on stage. I will miss dancing with Michael!

Here we are at the stroke of midnight!

Towards the end of the show I could smell BACON cooking....mmmm I LOVE bacon. After the show, they served a yummy breakfast. Sooooo good!

There was a beautiful Christmas tree. We posed for a "farewell" picture with Michael. When we first booked this show, none of would have imagined that this would end up being our last show together. When we decided in October to split up, we all agreed to play together through the end of the year. It was a bit of a roller coaster of emotions (for me mostly), but when it came to the end, we were all happy and looking forward to a new year of fun and music. John and Michael have joined with Brian to form a trio and will be playing under the name Crystal Image. Steve and myself have joined with three great musicians to form a new band that is called "Stephanie Farrell and the Wild Katz". We will be continuing with same music we have enjoyed performing and look forward to seeing all the great people that we have met over the past two years.

And, that was it! Our last show together and it was fabulous! We all had a great time and it seemed like our audience was having a blast. We are all still very good friends and we are all rooting for each other. I'm thankful that our parting was happy. I think that I would have been sad if it weren't for the Wild Katz, I'm very much looking forward to the new year and the new band. Stay tuned, I will keep you posted about all the details!!

Lodi Moose Christmas Dinner Dance

2011-12-17T13:00:00.000-08:00

We had a blast at the Lodi Moose! It was such an honor to have so many of our band friends come just to see us! The Lodi Moose has a huge hall with a very large dance floor, so it's a great place for a dinner dance. And the place was packed!!

We started with some soft music while they ate dinner and later on we really ROCKED them!

I chose to wear this dress, because I love it and I've only worn it a couple of times.

Someone came up and told me she has the same dress! I told her that this is my MOB dress. (Mother of the Bride) and she said hers was too!!! That was funny.

A lady came up to me and said that it was nice to see me smiling and happy. What? I think I'm always happy. She told me that I didn't smile as much when we were there for Halloween. Wow. That took me right back. She was right. I wasn't happy at all. I knew that I wasn't going to be in Crystal Image anymore and I was heartbroken. It's hard to smile and act happy when you are so sad. It reminds me how far I've come since then. And, I'm truly happy right now. Yes, I'm sad to see my time with Crystal Image come to an end, but I did everything I could to fix that and it was not meant to be. I love the guys without a doubt and I will miss them so much. So, I'm not sad anymore and I apologize if it showed, I never meant for that to be the case.

Brian was so excited to try out his brand new drum set. It's beautiful and he has every reason to be proud of it!

Michael says he will miss dancing with me on stage. I will miss that too! He always makes it so much fun!

I wish I was one of those people who could remember names!! I feel so bad when I can't. I remember this guys name, Tom Jones. Unless he was kidding. I said I wouldn't forget that! They are great dancers. And, I really mean that. I have videotaped them many times so you could see for yourself.

Karen and Deiter (I'm sorry if I spelled that wrong!). They are so sweet! And, they gave us each a Christmas Card. Karen said she would have baked us cookies if she hadn't broken her wrist. I'm sorry for her pain, but my waistline is grateful....I happen to know her cookies are very yummy!

John has caught a cold and was having a hard time singing. For the last set, he lost his voice completely and we scrambled to fill in. So, there was more Rock N Roll than usual....and they LOVED it!

Another fun couple who LOVES to dance!

Girlfriends! Barbara and Laura.

It was a sweet and special night, playing music for wonderful people, a Christmas blessing and memories that I will cherish.

The people here are so appreciate and complimentary. It makes all of us feel so special.

Well, what is a Moose Lodge without a Moose? You gotta love this pic!

And, the countdown continues. Only 3 more gigs to the final one.

Stephanie Farrell and the Wild Katz

2011-12-17T00:54:00.000-08:00

We have a logo for our new band!

What do you think? We are practicing and getting ready to start booking shows. All of us are really excited about our new adventure. I hope to have a website with pictures for you to see soon. I can't wait to introduce you to the band.

We have only 4 more shows with Crystal Image. It's sad to see it end. I am grateful to have something new to look forward to.

After the New Year's Eve show, John, Michael and Brian will continue on as Crystal Image and you can see their schedule on their new website: www.crystalimageband.weebly.com

I admit it....

2011-12-09T12:45:00.000-08:00

I know that I have gotten way behind in my blog. To be honest with you, the last month was a hard one and I didn't feel like posting. Time has a way of fixing things and I'm anxious to go back and fill you in on the gigs over the last few weeks because we had some really great ones. I'll post them by the date of the gig, so if you do come back, scroll down to see what has been added.

It's funny. As we come to the end of our time together, our shows just keep getting better and better. We are having a lot of fun and are meeting terrific people. And, while it's sad that it's ending, it's also exciting that new things are coming. Our new band has had two practices and it already sounds great! I'll introduce you to the guys soon, you will love them!

I feel like I'm 2 different people

2011-12-02T14:06:00.000-08:00

When it comes to music, sometimes I am completely confident. I feel like I know how things need to be and what needs to be done to make them happen. Then in a flash, I feel completely insecure and ask myself "what the heck am I doing??". Have you ever felt that way before?

And, then there is the fact that I am literally in two different bands right now. Crystal Image, the band that I have been in for the past 2 years and my new band that is my future (we haven't settled on a name yet...any ideas?). In Crystal Image, I know what is expected of me and I'm comfortable.

The new band has members that are incredible! These guys are PROS and it shows. We had one practice and as I listened back to the recordings, I was amazed at how quickly they were able to make things work. This is all very exciting. I realized yesterday that I need to be careful what I say to people. If I don't sound confident, I wouldn't want my new band to think that I don't have faith in them, it's myself that I have doubts about....as I heard myself talking to someone yesterday and I realized that from this moment forward I have to have complete confidence because these guys deserve that. It's not fair to them for me to be the least bit wimpy. So there. Enough of that!!

And then there is Crystal Image. I am very glad that we had this amount of time to play together before it was over. It's been a roller coaster for sure. Jerry had to leave and a new drummer, Brian (who is very nice and an excellent drummer) took his place. I had to accept that they had replaced me with another girl and I found that pretty tough. And after all of that emotion, the replacement girl is now out of the picture. If she had quit sooner, things may have turned out differently....but God knows best and I think that things are happening the way that they were meant to. We (Crystal Image) are having some of our best shows EVER. And we are having fun. At this moment we have 9 gigs left.

And while we are playing these 9 gigs, my new band is practicing to be ready to play asap. So, it can be confusing. I'm looking forward to keeping the songs that I have enjoyed performing for the past 2 years and adding a whole lot of new ones too! Steve will be singing more (I think he's really good!) and our new guitarist is an excellent performer/singer/guitarist. We hope to be ready to play mid January. We have another practice soon and I hope to have pictures and songs to put on a new website soon. I can't wait to introduce my new band members to everyone!

If you are reading this...I thank you!! I have made some really good friends over the past 2 years with Crystal Image and I look forward to keeping those friendships and starting new ones too!

Stephanie

Blessed....

2011-11-30T10:07:00.000-08:00

Just a little over a week ago, I had no idea if I would have a way to continue to perform. I put out the word that I was looking for people to join my band....and magically, 3 great guys showed up. The are all 3 very talented PROS and super nice people. We have already had our first practice and we are well on our way! I can't wait to share more.....and believe me I will! Thank you for checking in....gotta go play with my granddaughters right now...

Stephanie

The next chapter....

2011-11-16T01:03:00.000-08:00

Pause. Deep breath. Ok. Here I go....I'm starting a new band with my hubby. Is that crazy?

I've been holding on to some hope for the past weeks that things would work out with my current band, but it's over for sure. And, I don't want to stop performing. That means we have to start something new.

If you know anyone who is looking for a band, please share our information with them:

http://www.whoisstephanie.com We are hoping to be ready to play in January. (fingers crossed!)

John and Michael will continue as Crystal Image with new band members.

I still love them both (and Jerry too!) and we are having a great time at our last few shows. We are all still friends, really.

I will keep you updated as we go along.....thanks to anyone who follows this blog....from my heart...I appreciate you!

Corvette Club Party

2011-11-12T12:08:00.000-08:00

What a fun party....with a great group of people. We had such a great time!!

We were delighted to get to play on a really nice stage with plenty of room. As we were setting up, this young man met Steve and as they got to talking, it turns out that he was visiting from Texas and really wants to get in to the music business. He was so sweet. He was really interested in all of our equipment and later on in the evening, I saw him watching our show from the door way. I wish I could remember his name!

Before we started our show, they had a special surprise for the group. A belly dancer performed and she was fabulous!! Her name is ....wait for it.....Crystal! How about that?

She gave a wonderful performance.

And she even persuaded some of the guests to dance with her!

This is Brian who came in to replace Jerry. He's a really nice guy and a really good drummer.

There was a lot of dancing and tons of fun. But what would you expect from Corvette owners?

It was such an honor to play for this group. They made us feel so appreciated!

As the evening progressed, we turned up the Rock N Roll.

Doin the Locomotion!

They gave us the biggest compliment of all by staying until the last song. It was one of those thoroughly satisfying nights for us.

A fun party and a sad goodbye....

2011-11-05T14:46:00.000-07:00

We played for the FFA again this year. It was last year at this same gig that we played with drummer Jerry for the first time. We all had commitments through the end of the year and he became a permanent member of our band in Jan 2011. But, it was at this gig that we all knew that he was the perfect fit for us. So, that made this gig an anniversary of sorts.

And as fate would have it, this was Jerry's LAST gig with us too. His parents need his help and he has moved back east for a time to take care of them. We had the best time ever! No sadness...just the joy of playing together for one last time.

They offered us dinner, mmmm mmm mmm, very good!

We wanted to be all set up before the people started arriving, which meant that we would have to wait a while to play.

The Weatherbys, very nice people!

Lots of dancing!

Our last band picture with Jerry. We sure miss him!

Happy Endings

2011-10-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

It was interesting to play the Annex in October this year, because it was two years ago that Steve and I showed up to "jam" with John and Michael with drummer Mike Cline at the Annex. And what a great two years it's been. Practically every Friday and Saturday night have been filled with gigs.

And, now as we near the end of 2011, it's coming to an end.

After our New Year's Eve gig, Steve and I will no longer be with Crystal Image. We are truly looking forward to each and every gig that we have left this year (and we have some really fun ones).

John, Michael and Jerry will continue on as Crystal Image and we (Steve and I) wish them nothing but the best.

What does the future hold for us (Stephanie and Steve)? At this time, we don't have any plans musically, but we are open to whatever the next chapter may be.

We have a lot of private parties in the coming months and a couple of public shows, so please come out and help us celebrate the final chapter of a great collaboration.

We still have a bunch of really fun and happy memories to create.

A beautiful Wedding in a meadow

2011-10-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

This was our last outdoor gig of the season. And, it was a truly magical night.

We got there very early so we could be set up before the guests arrived. The couple was so nice to have rented a stage for us and we truly appreciated that. They also had a dance floor. Both of these are hard to install in a meadow with uneven ground, but the both worked out great.

The ceremony was next to a pond and the bride asked Michael to play some acoustic music before the ceremony. He is perfect for this. If you haven't heard Michael sing James Taylor....oh wow...it's beautiful. He was so thoughtful that his entire set told a love story and culminated in a song "And I Love Her" as the bride walked the aisle. I get a little teary just remembering how pretty it all was. I took a quick video clip of Michael singing and playing on my Iphone:

He did a great job, and I wish I had videotaped more of it.

The wedding was held at a private residence and the guests arrived by bus, so there was a minimal of cars on the property. We could hear and see a lot of different animals just across the fence.

The couple got married by the pond and had the reception across the road. It was a beautiful setting for a wedding. Brittny was a stunning bride.

The are such a sweet couple

I have to say that Michael had superb timing. He knew just what to play and when. The bride trusted him to play what he thought was best and it just couldn't have been better in my opinion.

Pretty girls!

Doesn't she look so happy!

The first dance.

When the father daughter dance started, I looked over at the mother of the bride and she was crying so much that it reminded me of my own daughter's wedding. Someone came up after and asked if I was related to the family. I told him that I wasn't but that I am a "Mom" and I couldn't help feeling the emotion.

Here they are dancing to "My Little Girl" by Tim Mc Graw, played on my ipod.

The mother son dance. Such a special moment.

I just can't say enough about how pretty it was. The tables were draped in black and white with red roses and candleabras. It was very elegant.

The twinkle lights were strung all around the reception and as it got dark, it was so festive. They did not have electricity out in this area, so they had generators for the lighting and the band. We were a little stressed about running our equipment on the generators. The alternative was to run a long extension cord across the road to the pump house. The groom came over and let us know that the generators could barely handle the lights and he recommended the extension cord, which is what we did.

As the night came upon us the folks started dancing. My favorite thing!!

One really nice guy came up and asked us to play Tennessee Waltz. It's one of my favorites and we did it for him. He said that it was playing the night he proposed to his own bride and he wants us to play for their anniversary for 35 years. Special.

We always bring our own lighting. My invention! We put our lights up high on our speakers with velcro. One white and one red. It's perfect.

A lady asked us to play some Greek music. What? We don't know any Greek music. After a little discussion, Michael figured out that Reggae would do and we played "I Shot the Sheriff" while they did a Greek dance.

About halfway through the show, our music started to sound crackly. Someone came up and told us that we blew a speaker. That was freaky because one of the speakers is brand new and the other is nearly new! We tested it all out a few days later and we couldn't find anything wrong with it. We determined that it was probably the long extension cord going across the road and plugged in with the pump. Anything else plugged in can affect the power going to us.

Towards the end of the night the buses came and picked up the folks and all that was left was the Bride, Groom and some friends. We played one hard rock song after another and as they danced the dancefloor which was set on uneven ground started to come apart. It struck me that they really did "tear up the dance floor!".

Packing up in the dark is always difficult. We save our lights for last so they can help us see. All of our stuff is black, so it would be very easy to miss something. We pulled our cars up to help us see.

It was a wonderful time. I will miss the outdoor gigs.

The Annex

2011-09-30T17:36:00.000-07:00

The Annex is located in Sutter Creek in an Historic Building. The main building is the American Exchange Hotel and the Annex is located in the downstairs area.

Just two years ago, Steve and I visited John and Michael at their gig at the Annex. They were playing with drummer Mike Cline. We were both students of John, he invited us to come to their show. I just came to watch and Steve was going to play his harmonica on a couple of songs. Little did we know that we would participate in the entire gig. I don't even remember how that happened. But, it was a LOT of fun.

Looking back on that day, I did NOT have any inkling that we would have been on the journey that the past two years has been. So, it was really fun to be back there again with our band, complete with drummer Jerry! We had a BLAST!

What a fun night. This is my daughter singing along with us.

These gals were in town to celebrate a birthday, they were so much fun.

Catherine and Tim, a wonderful couple. Catherine is none other than the popular novelist Catherine Burr!

New friends from the Napa area.

Family! My son in law on the left, my youngest son in the middle and my dear daughter. They were so sweet to show up and it was a complete surprise!

There was some serious dancing going on!

My guys!

We were celebrating Susan's birthday too!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Here she is with Terry. My two favorite DANCERS!!

Susan said I had a TWIN in the room and I looked all over for someone who looked like me. She meant my daughter of course! I call her "mini me"....hope she doesn't mind! We are so alike.

This place has a very cozy atmosphere with original brick walls. They have pool tables and a dance floor. We'll be back on November 19th...join in on the fun!!

Private Party Celebration

2011-09-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

This was a return engagement for us. Last time we played with four of us without a drummer. Michael was out of town so we played with four of us again, this time it was John, Jerry Steve and myself.

For this group we play our Dinner Dance/Ballroom music. And they DO love to dance!

This is Mary and she loves to sing. She knew every word!!

We love this crowd. They are so nice and appreciative.

This is us with the ladies who organized the party. They were so nice. They even fed us! It was a delicious meal. They were celebrating their 10 year anniversary and had some yummy cupcakes! Mmmmmmm. I LOVE cake!

Barn Wedding

2011-09-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

We were hired to play for a wedding in Elk Grove at a "Barn". We had an address and we all ended up getting lost. We went around and around. Eventually we figured out that it was right in front of us, we just didn't see it. It was a huge barn that the couple had decorated, it was great.

I did not know the people personally, all I knew was that the bride was from Pennsylvania. When we were setting up, my friend, Talia came up to me (big surprise!) and told me THIS was her Brother's wedding! I was so shocked. I told her that this could NOT be a coincidence. She told me that she did tell him about us. How fun!!

I thought that everyone was soooo laid back, for a wedding that is. As it turns out, the couple had a wedding back east and this party was for the west coast (groom's) family. Many of the east coast folks came all the way for this party. Here is the happy couple:

The toasts were wonderful, here is the father of the bride:

I love the look on their faces. It was a really sweet speech.

Here is the father of the groom, his speech was also very touching. The mother of the groom in on his left. I really loved that when the "Mother/Son" song came, she invited all mothers and sons to join them. It was so sweet to see mothers and sons of all ages dancing together.

A toast!

Father daughter dance. The bride is from a very large family and she had several sisters at the party. They are all beautiful!

This family was so fun and happy. We started out playing some soft dinner music.

It is a family tradition for this guy to sing "Margaritaville". The band played it for him and he was really good!!

After a while, they were ready to ROCK and we played our entire last set of Rock n Roll. The dancing was off the hook!

I took a lot of video and I'll share it here when I get it edited.

What a fun time.

Rock n Roll at Gold Country Lanes

2011-09-10T18:11:00.000-07:00

When we finished playing for the Starz Campout for Cancer, we had some time to go and get dinner before we needed to set up at Gold Country Lanes. We couldn't decide what to do with our time, so we went to dinner and before we knew it, the time was up!

Steve, myself, Jerry and Michael all went to Thomi's for dinner and enjoyed a great meal and were also entertained by Rick Lipp who plays there every Satruday night. He is terrific and we enjoyed visiting with him.

When we first got to Gold Country Lanes, it was pretty quiet. We are always so happy to see familiar faces! Here is Tom and Kendra with the band. Tom is in a band too, Unkle Bean...love those guys!

This couple is so nice, they have been to many of our shows, including the Hippie Party last spring! They stayed with us up to the very last song!!

This fun group is having us play for their Christmas party and I know it will be sooo much fun. We were so happy to see them. They danced and laughed and had a great time. I need to get better at writing down names so I can share them with you!

I can put a name with this one...it's our son, Jesse! I was surprised to look up during a song and see him sitting there. That is so sweet.

I love to watch people dance.

The couple on the left came up from Stockton to hear us and they are really great dancers, it was so fun to watch them!

Here is the Stockton couple again. I wish I had video of them.

We didn't see this sign until we were leaving and had to get a picture of it! Thanks to John at Gold Country Lanes for having us. It's always fun to play there.

One thing that I've been working on pretty much forever is getting audio for our website. Steve got creative and taped the recorder to a pole and attached it to a speaker. Did it work? Yep, it did! Yay. So, we have brand new audio on our website. So, if you see a pole on our speaker, you will know what it is.

Take a listen: www.crystalimageband.com click on audio

Campout for Cancer 2011

2011-09-10T18:03:00.000-07:00

We volunteered for the 2011 Starz Campout for Cancer. We played for about an hour to entertain the people who were walking to raise money.

I'm not sure I explained this to the guys in the band, because they didn't know why people kept walking by and not stopping to hear the music. The cool thing is that they had speakers all around the walking area so people could hear the music the entire time they were walking.

There were so many musical groups that came and played that day. We had another gig to get to, so we couldn't stay and listen, but we did get to visit with a few other musicians.

They provided a sound system, so we didn't have to bring very much with us.

It was a really great event. I encourage you to visit their website and read all about it: http://www.amadorstars.org

Stockton Singles Ballroom Dancing

2011-09-09T17:50:00.000-07:00

The Stockton Singles are a great group of people who love to dance! They have a club that gets together every Friday for dancing and socializing. They are just the nicest people. We love to play for them, they make us feel so appreciated.

Here is some line dancing:

And, ballroom dancing!

Everyone dresses so nice...I love that! And, ballroom dancers wear the prettiest shoes. One of these days, I am going to go around the room and take pictures of shoes!

Many people don't realize that Crystal Image has a Dinner Dance/Ballroom show and a Rock N Roll show. For the Stockton Singles we play our Ballroom music.

If you like to ballroom dance, come out to the Stockton Singles and join the fun. You can see when we will be there on our schedule...you ARE on our email list aren't you? www.crystalimageband.com you can sign up on the front page.

And...I will be adding a Dinner Dance/Ballroom page to our website soon.

Rock n Roll Party at the Hotel Leger

2011-08-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

We love playing for the Hotel Leger. It's a beautiful Historic building in the Motherlode. The bar dates back to the 1800's and some people swear that the place is haunted!

For us, it's all about the ROCK N ROLL!

Susan and Hannah having fun!

This is the guy who actually created the indian carving.

Girls night out, Susan, me (Stephanie), Terry and Hannah.

Dancing Dancing Dancing!!

We were so grateful to see so many of our friends come out and have fun with us! Thank you Thank you Thank you!! Ed came with a bunch of friends to check us out for their Christmas party, thank you Ed! And we will be playing for party, yay!

Fun times, Hannah, Susan and Suzette.

We will be back at the Hotel Leger on October 15th. I hope you will join us!

Folk Music Camp Out

2011-08-27T17:26:00.000-07:00

We were invited to play for the Folk Music Campout at the last minute. This made it a 2 gig day for us. This was held at a beautiful place called the Blue Mountain Event Center. The setting is spectacular. Up in the mountains with a large meadow surrounded by tall pines. They took the barn and converted it in to a great big stage.

We had an awesome time. For more about the center, go to their website: www.bluemountainpresents.com

Since it was a Folk Music event, we played all music from our Hippie Show. We didn't wear our hippie costumes though. If you haven't seen our Hippie Show, visit our website: www.hippieparty.net

Returning to Fitzpatrick Winery

2011-08-26T17:10:00.000-07:00

We are so lucky to get to play at some of the most beautiful places in the world. This is one of them. Fitzpatrick Winery is an enormous log building with a huge wrap around deck. There is a brick oven in the corner of the deck and the owner of the winery, Brian Fitzpatrick makes mouth watering pizza. The setting is HIGH up on a hill with a view that seems to go on forever.

The people make a reservation for the evening and everyone comes for pizza and wine and stays for music. They sell out the place every Friday in the summer.

We meet the nicest people at Fitzpatrick. This couple asked us to sing happy birthday to her mom. In fact, there were several birthdays and we did the Beatles Birthday song for all of them.

See what I mean about the view?

Dick and Jeannie celebrated their 50th anniversary and we did a special song for them. It was a beautiful day!

Things get a little crazy!!

Here is a sweet couple with a tiny little baby, proving that you are never too young for rock n roll!

These folks were up from the Bay Area.

They always offer pizza to the band. It's soooooo good. I can not say enough about the pizza!

And....it was Jerry's birthday!! I ask you...is there any better way to spend your birthday? It just made the night all the more special!!

Two "Mikes", Michael our guitar player and Steve's brother Mike, who was visiting from Ridgecrest.

This is a night when I looked around and just soaked in the moment. It doesn't get any better than this!

Another Birthday girl, Ginny and Dave, Debbie, Rick, Jim and Kelley ALL celebrated birthdays with us! And Drummer Jerry of course!

Brian told us he would invite us back again for next summer. I'm already looking forward to it!

A Beautiful Wedding in Lake Tahoe

2011-08-20T16:54:00.000-07:00

What fun it is to play for a wedding. We had a terrific time at Nick and Lindsey's wedding. The location was right on the beach at a private residence. We were set up in a yard with a tent. They put out a dance floor, it was perfect.

The ceremony took place right down on the water. They asked Michael to play guitar and sing for the actual ceremony and he did an awesome job. He also learned a special song for their first dance that was so beautiful it would make you cry!

And, this beautiful tent? The bride bought it just for us at the wedding. So, we bought it from her. Now we have it anytime we need shade! Thanks Lindsey!!

At most weddings there is a break for people to speak and give toasts. We took this time to go out and enjoy the water and scenery. John stayed behind to run the sound system for them.

And then....there was dancing!!

and more dancing!

Us with the bride and groom, they are the nicest people! We wish them a lifetime of happiness!

Stockton Singles

2011-08-19T16:38:00.000-07:00

Everytime we return to the Stockton Singles, it's like coming home. Many people don't realize that our band plays two very different shows. For the Stockton Singles we play our Dinner Dance/Ballroom music instead of our Rock n Roll show. These folks LOVE to dance!

I don't know why, but I don't have any pictures from this show. So, instead I will share a short video of the wonderful dancing:

Jodar Winery Music on the Green #2

2011-08-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

We played for Jodar Winery for the 2nd Music on the Green of 2011 and we had the BEST time ever! This picture is of the band with Winery owners Vaughn and Joannie Jodar, the nicest people ever!

The setting at Jodar is beautiful. They have a lush green lawn area surrounded by beautiful gardens. And, they are right beside a lake.

As the sun goes down, it's one of the prettiest places to be, anywhere!

I wish I was better at getting names so I could tell you who everyone is in our photos. Here is Steve talking to someone....usually about his harmonica playing. There are a lot of people out there who play harmonica!

It doesn't take long for the dancing to start.

We feel so appreciated at Jodar, everyone is so nice. They usually have a BBQ dinner and they always feed the band. Mmmm. It was really good.

Doesn't that look like fun?

As the night goes on and the wine flows, the party continues. Lisa made a special desert and served it to everyone.

Dancing, dancing and more dancing!~

Earlier in the evening, owner Vaughn Jodar, told us he wasn't good at "public speaking". But, he was wrong. He took to the microphone like a pro!

Vaughn and his lovely wife Joannie.

We are already looking forward to next summer!!

Deaver Vineyards and Winery

2011-08-06T16:07:00.000-07:00

Playing at wineries is so much fun. It was a beautiful day with warm temperatures and a nice breeze. We were so happy that the winery put up some shade for us. We had a great day!

I love this picture! Setting up and tearing down can be challenging!!

Mr. Rock n Roll!

We had a lot of people join us for some dancing. There was also a large lawn area and we had a crowd out there most of the day.

We were so happy to see so many of our friends come visit us. One lady came all the way from Carmichael and this group is Catherine, her husband and her best friend.

We always have fun!!

It was also a funny day in that so many things kept happening. We set up our video camera across from us to tape our show and the wind blew it down after only about 15 minutes. We had to just leave it there and we got about and hour of our music in the background and the video part was of a pretty purple flowering tree.

About half way through the show, I looked over and Steve still had on his tan hat. He thought he had on his black one! Right after that he had a solo on his guitar and got flustered and forgot to turn it on. The cool thing is that the band will just keep right on going no matter what and most people don't even know anything happened.

It was a great day and one of our favorite places to play. We will be back for the Crush on October 2nd. Come see us and taste the wonderful Deaver wines.

Hotel Leger

2011-07-30T12:02:00.000-07:00

It was a night of friends, reunions and fun fun fun!!

We were honored to have Pat and Darcel there. They are a fun couple!

A bunch of Steve's high school classmates came to visit and catch up.

It was Sue's Birthday! I am so happy that she shared it with us! This is a gal that can DANCE all night!! I know this for sure because she DID that at my daughter's wedding. Go Sue!

I had to get out and dance with my girlfriends!! It was quite a surprise to see Susan. I knew that she had another event to go to and I knew that I would miss her. Then she walked in with her daughter Amber. Woo Hoo! When she walks in it's like the party has arrived! The next day we all went to the Steve Miller Concert at Ironstone. What a fun night! (more pictures on Facebook)

From left to right, Amber, Susan, Terry and me.

A couple of friends of Michael's came up just to see the band. They stayed the night. The Hotel Leger IS a HOTEL!! It was another birthday, Gloria, on the left. In her honor, Michael sang "Gloria". It was soooo great. And, we did the Birthday song for Gloria and Sue.

The guy in the white shirt celebrated his birthday. We HAD to repeat the BIRTHDAY song just for him!

Winding down.....current owners of the Hotel Leger far left, Darryl and Tracy Zellers.

Another Fun night at Hotel Leger. Join us when we return on August 27th....we will ROCK you!

AMADOR COUNTY FAIR!!

2011-07-29T09:11:00.000-07:00

Fair time!! We love playing for Fairs! And playing for our hometown fair...well we knew that this was going to be fun!!

We got there early (of course) and I was so happy and honored to find that there were 15-20 of our band's friends already waiting for us. Darcel and her hubby were playing with their band and our folks were just enjoying the show. So, I got out my chair and joined them to watch the show. They played some great music.

At one point, Lu (a dear friend of our band who LOVES to dance and brought a whole crowd with her), turned to me and asked me if I thought that Jerry, our drummer, would dance with her. I thought surely he would and told her so! Of course he did!!

I talked to the sound guy and requested that we be allowed to use our own sound system and he worked that out for us. His name was Ed, and he was soooo nice!! He helped us set up and helped us get our sound right. We so appreciated him for that.

It was hot...but it could have been much worse! I remember last year and it was waaaaay hotter. I wore a skirt so I wouldn't be hot, but I was self conscious in it. I usually wear pants.

We played for the Budweiser Stage and we just loved it. We had a crowd for most of the time that we played and there was lots of dancing (of course!!). We had long breaks in between our sets and got to wander around and take in the fair and the other acts. What a great night. And, because this is our home town Fair, we saw lots of friends.

Dear friends of mine, Susan, Carolyn and myself.

Me and Susan.

My friend, Virginia, has a big "Girls Day" on Fair Friday and if we weren't playing that day, I would have gone and had fun with the girls. They stopped by to dance with us!

As the night wore on, we had more and more dancers.

We had a magical night. We were all so happy!

The Fair Theme was "Dancing with the Steers". We were right next to the cattle, so we fulfilled the theme all night. Thank you to the Fair for having us and thanks to all of our friends who came to see us!

Sequioa Woods Country Club

2011-07-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

This was a brand new venue for us. I just love the elevation at Arnold, it smells heavenly with all the pine trees. It's a beautiful setting up in the mountains. The day that we played for them, they had just finished a golf tournament and everyone was in a PARTY mood!

The dance floor was packed the whole night!

We ROCKED the place!!

One of Steve's creative photos.

We just loved this crowd. When we walked though the crowd we received so many compliments. One guy told me that he has been coming to this place for over 20 years and we were the best band he had ever heard there. Wow. I shared that with the guys and it made us all feel wonderful! It's always great to be appreciated!

One funny thing....I set my tape recorder on the counter off to the side. I often record the shows so we can hear how our sound is coming out to the crowd and sometimes I use these recordings on the website. I can't tell you how many people picked it up and wondered what it was. I could see one guy pick it up and talk to it. Later as we listened to it we could hear his jokes, very funny!

As we were packing up to go, a young couple came in and were so disappointed that we were done. Turns out that they had heard from Tommy's Backyard that we were a great band and came out just to see us, but they made it there about 15 minutes too late. Bummer! Thanks to Tommy's for recommending us!! We hope to return to BOTH places!

Yep. That was awesome. We had a great time and hope to return.

A Magical Night at Boeger Winery

2011-07-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

This was a brand new venue for our band called "Sunset Sippin" at Boeger Winery in Placerville. When we got there I was amazed at how pretty the setting was. I just can't imagine a better way to spend a summer evening than sitting in a beautiful winery garden with a lovely dinner, wine and live music.
This is a picture I took with my Iphone when we first got there. Perfect weather! Beautiful "park like" setting.

There was a main wine tasting building at the top. Right beside the patio where we were playing was a very old building that was the original winery. It featured the original stone walls and was artfully decorated and staffed by these two lovely ladies:

People began arriving around 5pm with chairs and blankets. It was a mixed age group and we love that! And....our favorite thing....there was dancing!

And, more dancing!

It's always a treat when the children dance, these kids were having a blast!

Earlier in the evening, I was telling Jerry that because Steve is always taking pictures, he is never IN the pictures. Sometimes it looks like our band has only 4 members. Imagine my surprise when a lady who was dancing, reached over and took my camera and snapped these two pictures of us:

Isn't that crazy? I love it when something like that happens. Special thanks to our guest photographer! We appreciate it very much.

We had an awesome time and could have played all night. As we walked through the crowd during the break and after the show, we received so many compliments. We were all touched and honored. And, then, I received an email from the owner: "Heard you rocked the house last Friday night! Thanks!! We would definitely like to have you back." What a fun night.

I'm working on a video of this night...so check back to see it!

Music in the Park, Tommy's Backyard and a Concert in a Church!

2011-07-10T11:58:00.000-07:00

Whew! It was a 3 gig kind of weekend! We had a BLAST! It started on Friday night with Music in the Park "TGIF", hosted by Amador Arts. This was held in the Pine Grove Park, which is also home to the Farmer's Market that we have played many times for. They have a new stage area and it's just perfect!! John lives right down the road, so this gig was right close to home!

We were soooo happy to see so many of our friends there! I just can't tell you how much it means to us when we see folks that we know. Wow. And, YES! there was DANCING!!

After the gig, there was a lot of visiting with friends and making new ones. This brother and sister were particularly interested in the drums. Jerry was only too happy to share. In fact, he invited them to give it a try. This kid is a natural!! He went to town on the drums and held nothing back! Jerry gave them both a set of drumsticks to take home and they were just in awe.

And, then..... John gave them a quick lesson to get them started. How cool was that? They were both so excited.

And, on Saturday, we played for Tommy's Backyard. This is a very cool place behind the Camp McConnell Store just above Arnold. It has a creek running through it, with a huge lawn area. They served a dinner and the weather was perfect!! Steve is always taking pictures. Sometimes he just points the camera and shoots. This picture captures the moment, don't you think?

We started out the evening playing for the folks, and it wasn't long before they started filling up the dance area.

Yeah, there was dancing!

During one of our breaks, these people let us know that John's band played for their wedding over 30 years ago. John started his band, Crystal Image in 1968! He has had many different band members since then. Our current band is relatively new, Michael has played with John for over 7 years. Steve and I joined them almost two years ago and Jerry joined us in January.

This guy (below), came over to talk to John, he played with Crystal Image many years ago.

This young fellow LOVES to dance. I have video of him dancing up a storm. And, he had some great moves!! Follow us on Facebook and I will let you know when I have posted the video. www.facebook.com/crystalimagemusic plus we have more pictures!

We had the priveledge of entertaining Crystal's Bachelorette party!! I can't remember all the names, but I'm pretty sure that Crystal is the 3rd from the right (correct me if I'm wrong, please!) They were a lot of fun.

The darker it got, the busier the dance floor!

There was even a campfire.

We were so lucky to have marshmellows, roasted to perfection!

Here is the band with Tommy and the sweet girls who fed us yummy marshmellows and smores.

Tommy told us that he would love for us to come back and we can't wait!! I'll let you know when that is so you can join us, it's worth the drive!!

On Sunday, we returned to the Parkside Community Church in Sacramento for their summer concert series. These are such nice people, we were really looking forward to it!

We had a great time!! Special thanks to Anne!!

4 Shows for 4th of July

2011-07-04T11:04:00.000-07:00

We had a busy weekend for the Fourth. Because we had so much going on for the holiday, I wanted us to have the patriotic theme. Jerry and Steve got ties and John tied a bandana to his hat. Michael wore a CRAZY stars and stripes hat. I couldn't decide if I should still wear my "black" and just add something patriotic or should I wear "red white and blue"? I decided to go all out and wear USA colors. I also bought some garland to hang on our sign and some necklaces to give out. We were READY!

First up was Stockton Singles on Friday night. I had no doubt that they would be sporting the "red, white and blue" and I was right! I was amazed by all the pretty RED dancing shoes. I was tempted to go around and take pictures to show you, but I didn't. Use your imagination (and make sure to add sparkle and glitter to your vision). This group always dresses up for the dances and I just love that! For me, I have a blue dress and I wore it. I simply could not find anything patriotic in the stores, so I made a red vest and sewed some patches on it. I finished it just in time and was sewing the patches on in the car on the way to the show!

We always have so much fun with this crowd and this night was no exception.

On Saturday, we played at the Cannon Ball Run in Volcano. The weather prediction was for triple digits and we were so happy to find that they had put up a tent for us...yay!! The guys talked about possibly wearing shorts (Steve's idea), but that was quickly shot down as they all opted to stick with our uniform of black pants. Except for me. I was still going with the red, white and blue theme. I wore a white denim skirt with my new vest and whew! I was the lucky one for sure!

I suggested to Michael that he not wear his jacket, but he wouldn't even consider it. Michael will do anything to put on a great show. I just LOVE that about him. He probably sweated buckets under the black jacket and big hat, but he never showed a moment of discomfort. A while back, Steve and I found the funniest glasses that reminded us of Michael. He wore them all day!! And, he looked GREAT!!

We were joined by Jack Mc Gee, a guest singer. He did a great job! He also had a car in the show and opened the paraded with a terrific rendition of the National Anthem. Thanks Jack!

And, Santa Todd came too! He is a good friend of the band and is also a musician. He has helped us so much by listening to our sound system and giving us suggestions! We so appreciate his help.

We only had a couple of fans blowing and it was indeed hot. But, we were fine under our tent. The day was wonderful, fabulous cars, friendly people and we got to play our music for the folks. Perfect.

Right after our show at Volcano, we packed up and took a small break to eat and then it was off to the Amador Fairgrounds in Plymouth. We were booked to play for the Amador Fair Aid a "Battle of the Bands" to raise funds for the Fair which has lost it's state funding and has put the entire fair in jeopardy.

We were set to play at 6pm. It was pretty hot at the Fairgrounds too! By this time I felt like I was covered with a layer of dirt and grime. My white skirt wasn't so white anymore. We were all sweaty and maybe a little tired. And, we were also excited to have the opportunity to play for this venue. We will be playing for the Amador County Fair for the 2nd time this year (Friday night July 29th) and we wanted to support it in any way that we could. When I talked to the guys about playing for this, they were adamant that they didn't want to compete in the "Battle of the Bands" part. We all just wanted to play. We are already booked to play the fair, which was the first prize. I was so happy to see that they honored our request and we were not on the voting ballot. Our congratulations to the Winners, Freeze Out, a favorite band of Steve and myself. They are also personal favorites of John's, because he mentored them when they were just starting out. As a music teacher, John has mentored many of the musicians in our area.

We loved listening to Unkle Bean, who played on stage right before us. I had heard of Unkle Bean on Facebook, but I didn't know that it was our friends from the old Schoolhouse jams from a couple of years ago. They were GREAT!! (wish I had taken a picture of them for you)

We set up and did our 45 minute set. The people were dancing and we were playing and it was a magic moment. What a fun time!

Sunday, we all rested. Whew!

Monday, for the actual 4th, we were going to play for the Carmichael Elks Lodge. They have a big event every 4th of July, this was the 54th annual. We knew that we would be playing INSIDE for this event and we couldn't be happier about it. The weather was really HOT. I chose to wear white pants instead of the skirt. (I will tell you that I am so happy to be back in my black) White is too hard to keep clean. As I was setting up the cords that had been in dirt at the previous gig, it was making it hard to stay white. Argh.

This is me with Diane, who booked us for this event. Thanks Diane!!

As we we driving to the gig, Steve was commenting on all the people lining up and down the street. He said that there must be something going on. I told him, Yes there is something going on! It's the parade that culminates at the Elk Lodge where we are playing! Ha ha.

We got there and they had a big stage and a huge dance floor. John immediately determined that our chosen song list for the day would not work for this crowd. Luckily we play a variety of music and were able to switch to a more appropriate type of music for this crowd. Instead of our Rock N Roll plan, we switched to a softer music choice and added in lots of ballroom dancing music for the folks. John, with his years of experience was able to create the song list in the moment and we all followed. It was a challenge, but our band worked as a team and made it all seamless.

The folks danced and danced and this made us all happy!! We were bombarded with requests for our band to play for future events...wow, that's exciting. In fact, as I write this we already have one new booking from this event!

We had a wonderful 4th of July.

Jerry kept saying "Happy Birthday America!", I just loved it every time he said it. Hope you had a wonderful 4th too!

P.S. We have more pictures on our Facebook page....come take a look http://facebook.com/crystalimagemusic

Another fun Winery Day at Jodar!

2011-06-25T14:12:00.000-07:00

What a life! Saturday found our band at Jodar Winery in Camino. This wine tasting room is set beside a beautiful lake. They have a large lawn area and gardens all around. On this day the winery sponsored a golf tournament and this evening was the celebration part. The people at Jodar are so nice and make us feel so welcome. And, they make truly wonderful wine!!

It's a challenge band to set up on grass. Our drummer needs a level area and John with his keyboards needs a level area. Last year, when we played here, John ended up on the cement and was literally behind a bush. This time, Steve brought plywood and we could set up any way we wanted. To make room for the folks we are on the upper lawn area.

Michael was born to entertain!!

A beautiful Saturday, dancing on the lawn, fine wine, great BBQ, live music....pretty perfect!

Sitting by the lake, just taking it easy.

I did say BBQ, right? They fed the band!! That is always a great thing, and this was some yummy food!

Dancing.....

And more dancing!!

There was NO limit on the fun! As I walked around during our breaks, I met so many nice people. The were so complimentary to our band, and those comments just mean the world to us! Thank you!!

Mr. Rock N Roll!

And a few slow songs to get close and romantic to.

We are already looking forward to coming back to Jodar Winery August 13th for another "BBQ on the Green! www.jodarwinery.com

To everyone at Jodar Winery....THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! We appreciate you for having us back! See you soon!

On Top of the World

2011-06-24T13:03:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to be invited back to Fitzpatrick Winery this summer. The view is spectacular. The winery is up on a high ridge and the owner, Brian, built a lodge out of huge logs. And, it's an Inn, so you can reserve a room and stay the night! http://fitzpatrickwinery.com/main.html

There is an enormous deck that wraps around and there is a brick oven in the corner. They host Brick Oven Pizza Night on Fridays and have live music all summer.

I was looking forward to introducing Jerry to Brian, because I thought they had a lot in common....plus they look alike. See if you agree:

As they got to talking, they found out that they are both from New Jersey! In fact, they went to the same high school one year apart and they know a lot of the same people. How incredible is that?

Now a word about the Pizza.....mmmmm mmmm mmmm! Is that a word? I'm drooling just thinking about this pizza! If we weren't playing every Friday, I would be at this place every chance I had! They gave the band pizza and we got to try several different ones. For ME the salmon and goat cheese was THE ONE! Add to that some wonderful Fitzpatrick wine and you have a party of flavor!!

There are just moments when everything stops and I get to soak it all in. This night my camera battery wore out and the video wouldn't stay on. So, I just made an effort to take it all in and live in the moment. There were so many times that I just looked out over the view as the sun was setting, and we were doing what we love....making music....this made for a truly magical night.

This is John with Gary and Betty Overstreet who came all the way from Vacaville to see us! They are the nicest people! Just having them there made us all so happy.

Of course, there was dancing!! We made a lot of new friends that night.

If you would like to see even more pictures, we have them!! Check out our Facebook page: http://facebook.com/crystalimagemusic then click to "like" our page!

And if you see yourself or friends, please "tag" them!

We just played and played and had a blast!

This was the cutest little girl!! She was dancing and dancing!!

Thank you soooo much to the Fitzpatricks for having us out and treating us so special!! We are really looking forward to coming back Friday August 26th (which is also Jerry's Birthday...shhhhh).

Hotel Leger...change is good!

2011-06-24T00:20:00.000-07:00

The Hotel Leger has new owners, I think I told you that last month. The week before our gig, Steve and I stopped by on our way home from the Folsom gig to see my friend Susan, hang out and enjoy the band, Groove Union. Their drummer was Rich who played with us in Tahoe last summer and we laughed about getting lost in the wee hours of the morning in search of a place to eat pie! We danced and had a good time. But, I was pretty worried about the fact that they changed the place where the band played. I mentally tallied up the equipment of the band that was playing and figured that we have about TWICE the amount of equipment. How on earth would we fit in there??

I had serious doubts. We even came early to try to figure it all out. Well, change IS good. The new space worked out great! And, because they moved the band, people could walk out on the side porch and take in some of the summer air. It also made the dance area seem HUGE. The whole place has a fresh feeling. You can tell that there have been changes. Good ones.

New Owners, Daryl and Tracy Zellers got in on some dancing!

Mary and Dennis stopped by. Aren't they so sweet!

We had two big windows that were wide open. It really brought the outside "in". Kind of a 'magical' summer night feeling.

We had a wonderful night. We saw lots of familiar faces.

And this dog really wanted to join the band!

My son and Amber came out for the evening.

And, we played and danced the night away!

Pine Grove Farmer's Market and Happy Memories

2011-06-15T23:25:00.000-07:00

Playing for the Farmer's Market in Pine Grove for opening day was a sweet and special day for me. An anniversary of sorts. It was just two years ago that John asked me to learn to sing songs for this very same day. I still don't know why I said yes to that, but I did. I remember being pretty embarrassed that day. I learned a bunch of lyrics to songs and I didn't have any cheat sheets. I also had to learn harmonies and melodies. Some songs I had heard before, some were completely new to me. I had to purchase a microphone and a stand. I couldn't decide what to wear (whatever makes me look the skinniest of course!). The whole day was a blur. I survived. I kept showing up each week for the entire summer and it got easier. I ended up joining John in some gigs in different capacities, singing a little here and there. Later that fall, Steve and I joined John and Michael for a "real" gig. Then a couple more before the end of the year. When the New Year came, we were coming to all of their gigs. Just a little over a year ago, I remember being at one gig that was about 3 hours long and I sang one song, and that was it. As we did more and more gigs, I learned more and was put in to the show more. When the next Farmer's Market came up, the four of us and Sarah played once a month in addition to our weekend gigs. I always enjoyed the relaxed, informal feeling that we had at those gigs. And, these were the things that were going through my mind last week when we returned with our entire band and played in the park.

It's two years later and I'm not afraid all the time anymore. My "new" comfort zone is the band. Everyone in our band is supportive of each other, personally and musically. This is my second "season" of playing gigs and I am having the time of my life. I've met so many terrific people and I've been blessed to play at some pretty great places. Sometimes we are playing a song and we are all having fun and the weather is beautiful and the people are having fun....those are the perfect moments. Playing in the park for the Farmer's Market was certainly one of them.

We sent out our email list and invited our band friends to come out to the park and enjoy the afternoon with us. We were surprised and delighted to see the folks arrive and stay, that makes everything so worthwhile.

Mary and Dennis, such great friends! And, wonderful dancers...

Diane and her husband, we played two times at her house for a private party. In fact, it was at her house that John, Michael, Steve and myself played our first gig with just the four of us!

These friends saw us the week before in Folsom and brought their husbands spend the afternoon.

Ginger and her friends came out. They are also involved in the Music in the Park series, which we will be playing for in just a few weeks in this same park! And, later in the summer we will be playing for the Camp Out for Cancer that Ginger and her husband are part of organizing. It was wonderful to have them there.

And of course, there is the FOOD! What is better than fresh veggies, grown locally?? MMmmmm. Delicious!

Michael made his guitar "talk" to me. I think what his guitar was saying wasn't nice and sweet, but it WAS fun....

I'd like to see 2 guitars arguing...that would be great!

What is it about a sweet song that makes me want to sing with my eyes closed?

We are busy this summer and that's a good thing. However, it makes it too difficult to play the Farmer's Market every week or even every month, so this was it for this year. When we first booked it, it was supposed to by John and me alone. I truly hoped that the whole band would come and enjoy the day together and they did without hesitation.

We didn't wear our black signature clothing, we just wore whatever we wanted to. Truth be told, I'm happy in the black. It makes for a lot less stress deciding what to wear!

I will miss the Farmer's Market this summer. But, I am truly looking forward to some pretty great places that we are playing at and I hope to see you there!

If you are not already receiving our show list in your email, please let me know or sign up on the front page of our website: www.crystalimageband.com

2 Wineries and a Festival!

2011-06-11T10:46:00.000-07:00

What a weekend! It was as near to perfect as it gets! We love outdoor venues and this weekend we had 3 in a row!

First, Elizabeth Spencer Winery asked us to play at the last minute and we hopped in our cars and headed to Napa (Rutherford) to play at this beautiful winery. The weather was perfect and we had an awesome time!

Next we played for Sierra Ridge Winery out on the lawn. It was a beautiful night and the view there is spectacular. We weren't sure if we would end up playing to an empty lawn or not. What a pleasant surprise to see so many of our friends there! We sooooo appreciate all of you for coming out and enjoying the night with us. The wine was flowing and there was dancing on the lawn up to the last encore!

Here is a video with some clips from the evening:

Saturday we were at Historic Folsom for 2nd Saturday. It was a sunny day so we brought umbrellas and that was a life saver! A friend of the band had a professional video being made and offered to take some video for us that day. It wasn't the best gig to video, the sun was really bright and we were in sunglasses. The wind was blowing my hair all over the place and the background was just a brick wall. But, hey...video is video and we did our best!

They had us on a flat bed that was at a slight angle, so it felt a little dizzy to stand there. And, there was an opening in the front half that I was afraid my shoe would get caught in, so I wore different shoes than I had planned. The girls will understand this. And....right at the beginning of a song, Steve dropped his harmonica and Yep! it went right through that opening and down under the stage. To top it off, he was needed to sing harmony on this particular song. So, Michael set his guitar down and crawled under the stage, retrieved the harmonica and got it to Steve right before his solo. How's that for Teamwork.

Santa Jerry had a friend stop by to listen to the music. Notice any resemblance?

We have a LOT more pictures on our Facebook page, click here

https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/crystalimagemusic

and "like" our band page. And, if you see yourself or a friend in our pictures, please tag them!!

Yes, it was a wonderful weekend, we had a great time and are looking forward to a summer FULL of fun gigs. Hope to see you at one of them!

Private Party and Classic Cars!

2011-06-04T12:42:00.000-07:00

Saturday we were booked for a private party...a really fun BBQ. Our Host was Craig (below). And, they are also members in a car club....MUSTANGS!!

We played for this party last year when Steve and I were really new to playing music. John had already booked the show and he added us in. This year we came as our "band", now that Jerry has joined us we have made the decision to always play with the five of us as much as possible.

The problem was the WEATHER!! Last year we played the same day and it was so hot, we needed a fan. This year the weather forecast was RAIN!! What? Ugh. All kinds of fun events were canceling left and right, but NOT this party! Craig had a plan "B".

They set up tents all around and they had a fire pit going the whole time. Doesn't that look like fun? It was!!

There were heaters, but it wasn't really that cold. He had the band set up in his HUGE garage/shop. It's a very cool place with cool signs and lots of car memorabilia and parts. And, the sound was just great. And later in the day the sun actually made an appearance!

This is a very laid back group of fun people. It's just the kind of party I LOVE to attend. People wandered around visiting with each other, there was tons of yummy food and we just played and played.

I had a dilemma. To put out a tip jar or not. We all decided that we would NOT put it out at a private party. Craig came over and asked us where our tip jar was, and we told him. He told us to go get it and then he announced to everyone to show appreciation and they filled up our tip jar. How NICE was THAT? They were so very generous!

There was even a little dancing! Of course!! And, then there were the CARS!

This picture was fun. When I posted it on Facebook, John and Jerry had some funny comments to add. Jerry said "OK...who took the motor?", John said "I didn't do it". Ha Ha!

We simply couldn't resist a band picture in front of the classic beauty!

Craig and Amy had their family there among the friends. We knew that the party was also around the same time as Craig's Birthday, but Craig told John that he didn't want that mentioned. So, we didn't. Until the end, when Craig's daughter came up and requested it. Most of the people were gone by then, so we did the Beatles Birthday song for him.

John and Michael have played for this party for the past four years, and Steve and I joined them for the last two. These people sure do know how to put on a fun party!!

We love private parties!! If you want to have some live music at your next party...give me a call! (209)293-4254

Stockton Singles Love & Hugs!

2011-06-03T13:11:00.000-07:00

The Stockton Singles Club....why "Love & Hugs"? All of us in the band look forward to playing there each month. We LOVE it! And, when we get there and get all set up, we feel the "love" coming back to us. We get more HUGS at the Stockton Singles than anywhere else. After playing there regularly we recognize everyone and it's like we are playing for a room full of friends. How great is that? When we were getting ready to start, I said "Good Evening" and they applauded. How's that for a welcome?

It really doesn't get any better than this!!

Deiter and Karen were there. It's always a great night when we see them! Thanks for coming...and Deiter...thanks for requesting your special songs, we love that!

Steve went around the room and took pictures of the friendly faces that we so enjoy playing for, I wish I could put names with everyone...

These people all dress so nice and they love to dance. Line dancing, cha cha, rhumba, swing, waltz, it's wonderful to get to watch them dance all evening.

Our friends from last week!! Thanks for coming!!

On this particular night, Steve and I came early to run some errands in Stockton. When we had time to spare, it was off to the mall of course. I bought a pretty new ring to wear in the show (red sparkly butterfly).

While I was playing bass to Folsom Prison, I started to feel something stinging on my finger. Turns out my ring was banging against another finger and by the end of the song I looked down and it was bleeding (ew). At that very moment I could hear the beginning to "Sweet Dreams" a very tender song. So, I just ignored my hand and started singing, that was crazy. I'm sure I didn't do the song justice, but I was distracted after all.

When I was telling my story to the band later on, they thought it was even funnier when I swallowed the wrong way just as I was taking a breath to sing Tennessee Waltz and when I tried to sing, it came out like a frog croaking. I was convinced that I could just force my way back to normal, and by the end it was fine. I'm sure everyone was wondering about that!

Michael showed me his new gadget....I LOVE gadgets and technology (bet you couldn't have guessed that, right?).

Michael doesn't usually get much in to techno stuff, like email, internet, facebook. He only uses his cell phone for urgent things and most times it's not even on. So, I was very surprised to see his wonderful new "tablet". It does everything! Goes on the internet, gps...tons of stuff. Of course when something is new...there is a learning curve. I really couldn't show him all that much, because I don't have one of these. But, I imagine he will be an expert before too long! Then he will be able to read my band blog on it!! Go Michael!

These folks showed up and gave us hugs:

I knew right away that we knew them, but it took me a little bit of searching my brain to remember where we met. Turns out that they saw us LAST YEAR at the Lodi Wine Cellars. It was so nice to see them again. They even requested "Mean Woman Blues", one of John's original songs. That was great.

We had a really nice gal tending the bar, Jessica. I wish I had her picture, she was so nice. And she is going to recommend us to the Stockton Moose. We haven't played there in over a year and would love to come back.

We all truly appreciate the Stockton Singles and we are already looking forward to coming back on July 1st.

Hotel Leger

2011-05-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

The Hotel Leger http://hotelleger.com/ is one of our favorite places to play. It's the closest to home for Steve and me, so it's like a homecoming each time we get to play there! We had heard from tons of people that they were coming and then....a storm. Enough already! This weather is CRAZY! With that, we didn't know what to expect!

There have been some changes at the Hotel Leger. Introducing the NEW owners, Daryl and Tracy Zellers. We know Daryl's brother and we all live in the same small town. But, we had to wonder if we would still be playing there. And, YES! It turns out that they had been there before when we were playing and they wanted us to keep our scheduled gig. Yay! They are the nicest people and we are so happy for them and their new adventure!

I talked to Tracy and she told me that the Hotel was sold out that night and the night before. Wow! Did you know that people come to this hotel from all over the world? It's a really neat old place and rumor has it that it is HAUNTED! There are 3 ghosts one of them is a child and they are one of the reasons that people like to come here. I think that the ghost teased us last month when John's keyboard played something wacky right in the middle of a sweet song...he didn't touch a thing to make it happen. Was it a ghost?

We were so happy to see some friends show up to see us. Lisa on the right works at our Dentist office and Ginger and her husband organize the "Camp Out for Cancer" http://www.amadorstars.org/ , which our band will participate in on September 10th. It's a small world here in the country. Ginger's daughter and my daughter were on the same gymnastics team for several years waaaaay back!

This lady was up from Southern California, I'm pretty sure she told me she came in hopes of seeing the ghost.

There were also some folks from France. There is always a dispute as to the pronunciation of the Hotel Leger. We have always said "Lee Jay". But, lots of people say "led ger". When we took a vote, can you guess what the French people voted for?

We had a great time. Suzette came and danced with me, there she is on the left!

And, Susan showed up later on. It's always great to see you!!

We played and danced the night away and before we knew it, it was time to stop! We did an encore and called it a night. And, we are already looking forward to coming back June 18th. Come join us for the fun!

Elizabeth Spencer Winery

2011-05-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Now this is an amazing story...meet Charles.

Charles found our band on the internet and we connected about playing for the Elizabeth Spencer Winery http://www.elizabethspencerwines.com/ . We talked about possible dates etc.

The winery called me and asked if we could play Thursday because their band canceled at the last minute. We don't usually play on Thursdays so we were available and YES we would love to play this gig. I was pretty sure that they didn't know how they found us...but I knew...Charles. I called Charles to let him know that we would be there and he was so happy about that. But, he let his wife be suprised!

Charles and his wife are so supportive and wanted to help find live music for this venue. It's because of them that we were there and we are sooooo grateful!

This Winery Tasting Room is so elegant and lovely. They have pretty gardens, a patio area, lots of great seating and my oh my the wine....devine!

We had fun taking pictures...there were so many great backdrops.

And everything was blooming. Funny thing...the weather before this day wasn't great and it wasn't great right after...but for THIS day it was perfect!

We started out with soft music so people could talk and visit.

As the evening continued, we picked up the pace and before long we were ROCKIN.

The winery "mascot" wanted to get in on the act.

These fun people asked for some "Lady Gaga", I don't think the guys would go for that...but I would love it! We did some Bruce Springsteen for them instead.

And we had a Birthday Girl in the house! Yes....you know it!! We did the Birthday song for her.

Here is our Birthday Girl again.

This is the band with Elizabeth and Spencer, our hosts. We thank you so much for having us. It was a wonderful wonderful night!

And....we will be back on July 14 to do it all over again. Come on out and join us!

Gold Country Lanes

2011-05-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

After we played for the Motherlode Cruise car show, we had lunch in the park and rested....because....we had ANOTHER gig! Yep. We also played for Gold Country Lanes. We handed out fliers at the car show and lots of people said they would come to the bowling alley later on.

When we got to there and it was pretty empty. There were a few people there and when we started playing...they left. So, we played a song to the bartender and some more people came in...then they left. Wow. Kinda hard to not take that personally.

Then...Hallelujah... some of our friends showed up. And, some more people, and some more of our friends. Ah. This was going to be a great night after all! We so appreciate the folks who show up from our email list. It's the best!! If you want to sign up to receive our email blasts, you can sign up on our website: www.crystalimageband.com I send out our show list every week.

This couple knows us from the Stockton Singles Club:

And, this pretty lady (below on the left) had a birthday! We did the Birthday song for her and her friends. She works for a winery and hopefully we will play for them in the future.

Our Stockton friends asked for some slow music and that is always fun to dance to.

Fun as it was, we were really tired. The later it got, the funnier everything seemed. This wonderful couple from Stockton (man I wish I could remember their names!) stayed with us to the last song! They knew we had played all day and were cheering us on! Gosh we all just loved them for that! At the end, the guy came up to Steve and said that he knew we had played all day and were tired, but that we gave EVERY song EVERYTHING. Man it's nice to hear that. Yes, we DID play all day, but we had an awesome time and wouldn't have changed a thing.

Gold Country Lanes is a fun place with lots of room for dancing, easy parking, pool tables, food and bowling! It's a great place to spend a Saturday night. And, we love playing there.

Motherlode Cruise

2011-05-21T13:12:00.000-07:00

Wow. What an honor to play from the steps of the Historic National Hotel in Jackson. The Jackson Business and Community Association (http://www.jacksonbca.com/) hosted a classic car show on Main St. The car show was a huge success and it was a wonderful day. Again, we had terrific weather!

This Hotel is under renovation. I have had the opportunity to take a peek inside and I can tell you that it is going to be fabulous when it's finished this fall/winter. I can hardly wait!! And, this project is doing great things to revitalize the Jackson Downtown area.

We had a great view of the entire street from up there!!

The cars were really something.

We played a lot of extra oldies in our show to go with the cars.

John, Steve and I live in this area (Michael and Jerry live in Sacramento). So, we all saw lots of people that we know and that is always fun!

Thank you sooo much to the JCBA for having us. It was a day to remember.

Frogjump

2011-05-19T12:37:00.000-07:00

This particular gig was very personal for me. Well they all are, but this one ws special. We played for the Calaveras County Fair, it's our county fair and we have always called it "Frogjump". It's the famous home of the Frog Jump Jubilee. The whole idea of a frog jumping contest comes from a Mark Twain story. Mark Twain lived in the area during the Gold Rush and he wrote some great stories.

"Frogjump" is so important to the folks that live here. Every year our school would let the kids have holiday for Thursday and Friday of the Fair. I spent year after year going to the fair all four days with my kids. In fact, my daughter was 2nd runner up in the Miss Calaveras Pageant in 1999 (I think that was the year).

As soon as I knew that our band was going to play for the fair, I called my kids and invited them to come. My oldest has a family and lives in Eureka, and they have not ever heard our band play. They all committed to come and it was to be a family reunion for us.

We started playing at 6pm. The weather co-operated nicely!!

This guy was here to compete in the Frog Jumping contest. He has won many times!

We all had a great time!

Here is my dear daughter (in the middle), with two of her very good friends. In fact, the girl on the left was her childhood best friend. They rode rides and remembered the days when they were little girls at this very fair.

There was dancing!! Here is my oldest son, dancing with his daughter (my granddaughter). Both of my Granddaughters had their faces painted....how cute!

My girls!! From the left, Kelly (my daughter's good friend), Aurora and Tenaya (my Granddaughters) and my Daughter, January.

My son got his wife (my dear daughter-in-law) up to dance for a sweet romantic song.

My dear friend, Susan, came to see us. She is a terrific photographer and she won for several of her photos. I think it was 3 first place and a 3rd. In fact she sold some of her pictures right there at the fair! I'm sad to say that we had other friends (like Cyn) that I don't have any pictures of. Dang. It's so hard to get pictures of everyone!!

Later in the evening, there were less people, it was winding down, and a group of young guys came and they were FANTASTIC. They were fun and the energy was crazy with them! They kept throwing money on the stage...how fun is that? They stayed until the last song....

And, then they asked for one more....and we played another....then one more!! We could have played all night!! But, of course the fair was closing.

What a wonderful night. I will cherish it forever! If you are my facebook friend, check back as I will probably add some more fun pictures of this great day. You can find our band page on Facebook, crystalimagemusic.

Ciao Bella 05-14-11

2011-05-14T12:21:00.000-07:00

It was so much fun to be back at Ciao Bellas! And, there was a BIG Birthday Bash going on! Here is the birthday girl with her family. They took over the entire restaurant and had it decorated...it was pretty fabulous! We even did the Beatles "Birthday Song" for her and her whole family danced with her.

There was dancing NON stop all evening. We play until 1am...and the dance floor was packed up to the last song.

Some of our friends from the Stockton Singles Club came too. We play a "Rock" show at Ciao Bellas. So, it is pretty much ROCKIN the entire evening. Which is quite different from the music we play for the Stockton Singles which is more oldies, more soft music. Someone from Stockton Singles came up to me and said "Is THIS the SAME band that played last night????". Of course he knew it was us, he was just surprised at how different our music was. That was fun! We DO love to shake it up and surprise people.

It was kind of cold and rainy outside....seems like it's been that way forever. We were set up in the lobby with the front door behind us, so folks had to use the other entrance. At one point in the evening, I noticed the staff seemed to be rushing back to the bathroom and I could have sworn I smelled smoke. Jose came over and opened the door behind us to let in some fresh air. Turns out that someone thought it would be cool to light a trash can on fire in the bathroom. Jose and his staff were on it right away. The smoke alarm never even had a chance to go off. Who would do a thing like that?

This is Marquis, he's a DJ and tested me out to see if I would remember his name. I failed miserably and he made sure I would never forget again!!

Dance Dance and Dance some more!!

We will be back at Ciao Bellas September 3rd, so come out and join us. If you want all the information, sign up for our email list on our website: www.crystalimageband.com . I send out our show list every week with all the details.

Thank you to everyone who came out and partied with us!