Fallin' Back

Get to sleep in, or did you forget to turn the clocks back?
spring ahead , fall back, blah blah blah, O' you know.

I saw something last week that hurt my feelings. This is what's left-over from Fats Domino's piano. You can see more in the Wreckroom.(no pun intended)

Keep an eye open, I'm working on some changes.
And don't forget the Shanti or Huey's this week.

October 26

A couple of comments before we get going. If you're headed to the gulf coast toward Alabama, the sign to Hi-98(just south of Hattiesburg) is gone, Katrina hid it somewhere. I know this by personal experience and confirmed from others(it adds about an hour to your drive if you go all the way to Gulfport).
I've been hit with a ton of comment spam, so I've added word verification. Sorry, but I'm tired of the junk coming my way. Nuisance! Ok I'm done, back to business
What's happened on this date, hmmm:
2004, Elvis Presley came top of a list of the highest-earning dead celebrities. $40m.
2002, Jessica Simpson, married former 98° member Nick Lachey. WHO CARES!
1991, Ozzy Osboune broke his foot on stage at a gig in Chicago. Another Who cares?
1974, Barry White scored his only US No.1 album with 'Can't Get Enough'.
1963, Bob Dylan played a sell out concert at New York's Carnegie Hall.
1963, Born on this day, Natalie Merchant, 10,000 Maniacs
1953, Born on this day, Keith Strickland, The B-52's
1951, Born on this day, Bootsy Collins, bass player, James Brown, Parliament, Funkadelic, Bootsy's Rubber Band

Why said? and...

Whose birthday is it anyway?

Where's AFKAS?

I know it's somewhere on the trip to Gulf Shores, but where?
Yeah that's Stephen, thinks he can outplay AFKAS.

AFKAS went on to PR for the Shrimpfest. Unofficially becoming the event's spokesman. He's a man of many hats. What a ham!

Here he is hanging back stage with the Wes Loper Band.
Not a ham, just a downright groupie.
Thursday you'll find him and Dani at the Shanti. Friday night we'll be downtown at Isaac Hayes. If you bought an entertainment coupon book this year (05-06), there's a 2 for 1 dinner coupon.
Just wanted to share some more photos. See ya this week-end.
So really, Where's AFKAS?

Shrimp Fest

Oh man, what a week-end! Had such a blast, I almost forgot the back pain. That's us pictured with Ron Kutter in the VIP tent after playing Saturday. On Friday, we ate some great gumbo brought in from Lulu's and on Saturday it was BBQ and boiled shrimp. What a treat!
We drove in on Friday and played an hour later, whew. Bushed, we didn't stay to hear alot of music, but met the band backing Kim Carson, The Casualties.
Checking into our condo for the week-end was a nice surprise. Found out we were on the 10th floor over looking the gulf. Needless to say, we all checked-out early for the night since we'd been on the road since 4am. The place was packed Saturday. We met the guys from Foxy Iguanas and AFKAS snuck in some pictures with the Wes Loper Band. Did you check out the web cam I mentioned earlier? Or even the pictures Dave posted along the way? Those are some candid shots. The one below with Dani was shot with his camera phone.
Gotta send some thanks out. Ginger Parnell, your crew really treated us great. Rick, thanks for getting us there and back in one piece and the daily devotions. And thanks to our roadie, Justin, who was a big help to the band. Zack you're the king of "6 degrees of separation".
Don't forget to visit the photo album. AFKAS was there too, and he has his own pics.

National Shrimp Festival

Here we go again, another road trip. We're headed to Gulf Shores, ALA this week-end for the 34th Annual National Shrimp Festival. When you go to the Festival website, there's a web-cam you can control. You gotta check that out! Along the way, Dave should be posting photos on his moblog site. Oh yeah, I've replaced my old camera so I'll have some pics on our return.
Wet Willie is playing Saturday night and you know AFKAS is looking forward to getting his picture taken with Jimmy and Jack.

The guitar and mandolin have new strings(D'Addario's that is), got extra 9 volts, ibuprofen's packed, phone's charged up and I'm ready to go. See ya on the flip-flop.

On This Day (Oct 11th)

Do you know what today is? Do you know what song was #1 on your Birthday? Today is mine and my wife's wedding anniversary. well thank-you. And yes I do know what song was #1. But the only reason I'm familiar with it is due to K-tel records. You remember that label don't you?
"More than Words" by The Extremes was popular when we got married. Mariah Carey was on top of the charts. How do I know this stuff? Musician's Friend sends out a weekly and you can check dates that are interesting to you at "This Day in Music". You don't have to be a member, just click on Birthday #1 up top. The #1 song on my birthday was "Mack the Knife" by Bobby Darin. What was it on yours?

Green Room

Isaac Hayes has been a great venue for our music. While on break we get to chill out in the "green room". The question finally came up the other night, "why do they call it the green room?" I found several different answers, but this kept popping up on my research.
First, I'll address the room. Originally, the term referred to an off stage room where performers could rest while waiting for their cues. The first reference in use was in a play by Thomas Shadwell called "The True Widow"[1], performed at Dorset Garden Theatre of London in 1678. It mentioned a green room behind the scenes. A later example, in a book called Love Makes Man, written by the actor and dramatist Colley Cibber and published in 1701 was a little more clear in saying: “I do know London pretty well, and the Side-box, Sir, and behind the Scenes; ay, and the Green-Room, and all the Girls and Women Actresses there”. Cibber was closely associated with a different theatre, London's Royal Theatre on Drury Lane, Drury Lane? yep Drury Lane.

But, why the color green? It was not by accident because green was common in alot of theatres.
This is where I found a bunch of unsupported answers and guesses. Some thought because of colors associated w/ different royal families[2]and their actor troupes. Weak. Some found the color green to be soothing and relaxing, hence a break area for the performers. Green also gives the actors' eyes a break from the bright lights. 1700's, bright lights, duh, not hardly. In the limelight? not til the 1840's did that come about. So what gives here? In the 1800's, London theaters were decorated w/ a green curtain, green boxes, a green baize carpet for the tragic heroes to die on and the stage hands wore green jackets when changing stage props between scenes. Maybe just a popular color of the times? A little late, I'd say. Someone might have been misquoted as saying "let's go to the screen room". Whatever!
So the "green room" was already a commonly used term by the 1700's.

We do know it originated in England and when, but just not how.
Today we find green rooms in concert halls, tv studios and other performing places. They're just not all painted GREEN.

Henry Gross

Henry Gross was in Memphis last Friday night. He played for over 2 and a half hours. Man it was fun to revisit those songs! Those were the days. We wore grooves in albums and knew every word and note. I'd grab the guitar and play along with every tune. Definitely, one of my musical influences. It was a great time to step out and be entertained. We played this week-end too, but I'm still enjoying this memory. So "Show me to the stage, so I can hear the music"