Private Party Celebration

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

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

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

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

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.