Gig Notes

The Club Cafe' 9/5/08- It was so cool to be back in my hometown jamming the blues. I got to see family and some old friends I used to play in a band with. (It also did my heart good to see so much black and gold Steeler stuff.) It was a great night of blues on the Southside. The Club Cafe is a really cool place and they were great folks there. Our opening act-Jimmy Adler was a great guitarist and person. Tech Stuff- Once again I used my Black Les Paul for the whole set. I only used the Bassman and the usual array of effects. Hope to be back in the 'Burgh soon.

Rent One Ball Park 8/30/08- What a cool place. It was great watching the game (we won) then jamming for the crowd. We played an hour show after the game and the crowd really enjoyed it. It was a summer night so it was a little warm, but a really clear night and the music just added to it. It was a bigger stage so we used a little more sound and lights. That is always fun, no smoke machine though. Tech Stuff- I used the black Les Paul for the whole set. The Tele was there, but I didn't use it. I also used both the Bassman and Twin to put out a little more sound.

Fat Moe's 8/16/08- We make no bones aobut how much we enjoy playing at Fat Moe's. It is just a great place and the owners and staff couldn't be nicer people. This was a fun night for alot of reasons. For me, my wife Sonya was there and that is always cool. Also they have built a stage outside (it was a cool night so outside is the place to be) and they did a great job. For one of my bestest friends, it was his first date with his new girlfriend. After having been through a messy divorce, it was good to see him happy. A fun night all around and we look forward to playing in Paducah at Moe's all the time. Tech Stuff- A kind of different night for me. I used my '62 Tele for the first time in a long time. It has EMG pickups and just a great sound. It might make it to alot more gigs. Also on hand (of course) was the black Les Paul used fo the last two sets. The rest was par for the course- '65 Bassman with JHEP/TS10/DD3 plugged in for good measure. See you all back at Moe's on Oct. 11th.

Hwy 61 Roadhouse 7/19/08- Just a cool place in the heart of Webster Groves, MO. We had a great time there with the folks. Blues is what they wanted and blues is what they got. My good friend from high school, Dave Kness was there again so we got to look back on some good old days. Tech Stuff-I changed it up a litttle here-I used the black Les Paul, but I also had my white Fender Strat. Just to keep things interesting. I used the '65 Bassman and my sparse effects set up and it was sounding great. See you guys up there again real soon.

Black Diamond Harley Davidson 7/12/08- Well the rain and lightening may have scared some folks away, but not us. Wekept on jammin through the weather. It never really did rain that bad so it was okay with us. The guys at BDHD were really cool so we look forward to playing again sometime. Tech Stuff-Same as I have been using, although I have started using the Jimi Hendrix pedal for wha-can't go wrong there. I used my Les Paul for the entife set. Lots and Lots of fun.

Memphis on Main 6/21/08- What a great place. This was our first time at MOM and it was alot of fun. We met some great folks who wanted to hear the blues. If you live in Champaign and have never been there. Do yourself a favor and go. Tech Stuff-I used my normal array of things: Les Paul/335, '65 Bassman usual effects too. See you dudes again on Sept. 13th.

Blayney's of Westport 6/13/08- Balyney's is a legendary establishment in the blues. This was our first trip to Kansas City as a band and we had a great time. Blayney's is a great place with lots of blues-type vibe and the folks there enjoy the music. ( The owner, Dick, Is a cool guy too.) We shook off the dust of our vacations and got to jamming. It was like falling off a bike, you just don't forget how. Cool place and we hope to go back there soon. We did lots of originals and the people really enjoyed them. It has been awhile since our last gig, but that allowed us some time to enjoy family and other stuff. John and his family had a vacation. Edwin celebrated an anniversary and a baby baptism. Rich played some solo gigs and had some family time. Tech Stuff- It was Les Paul and 335 time again. The Bassman and the TS10/DD3 enjoyed all the voltage running through them. The wha pedal was acting up so it didn't get used. See ya soon KC, MO

Highway 61 Roadhouse 4/26/08- I knew this was going to be a great place because when I pulled up, there was a big Gibson Lucille guitar on the side of the building. My kinda place. Inside, even more great vibe. Once again, when you go to Hwy 61 you know what to expect-the blues. And we played them. It was great fun and the crowd sang along to pretty much everything and enjoyed the originals too. To cap it off, an old friend of mine from high school came out with his lovely wife and we got to talk about the old times-great fun. Great too see ya Squire (Dave). Tech Stuff-The LP and 335 stood up to the punishment. The effects and amp were the same too. (I'm keeping this one short since I ranted on the last one.) Se ya guys back on Saturday July 19th.

Fat Moe's 4/11/08- You can tell that Moe's is one of our favourite places to play in all of the world. It is jus a great atmosphere. It was a good night to play and John and Edwin were on. I had a great night too because my beautiful wife Sonya was there. We played more original material that night. We will probably be going more in that direction, as the world doesn't need more cover bands. I know that sounds strange as we do covers, but we pretty much have a policy of not doing "greatest hits (Skynard, Seger...). It's not that we don't like those bands, but we have played those songs enough and enjoy doing our own material. Tech Stuff- As always I used the Black Les Paul and Hamer 335. I guess the LP has made it's way back to being #1. I grew up playing a Les Paul (thanks mom and dad) so it just feels good, and keeps me from being an SRV/Hendrix clone. (That is not a slam on strats, I have 3 of them and love them, but I just want to stay away from the bluesy strat thing that SRV did so well, but I have seen too many "Vaughnabees". If I could do what Jeff Beck does with a strat I'd use it.) That all goes into the Wha-TS10-DD3 Bassman. All the rest is meat and steel. See ya again on Aug. 11th.

BB's Jazz, Blues and Soups April 2nd- We had a great time at BB's in St. Louis. It was a great place with a great atmosphere. The crowd comes to BB's knowing that they are going to hear the blues so they were ready. We did alot of original material that night and it was well received by the crowd. It was a great time and as a bonus for all the Cardinal fans the team won. BB's is a stones throw away from Busch Stadium and the Arch. So the crowd was in a good mood after the game. Tech Stuff- They have their own backline at BB's so we used most of their stuff. I still used my Bassman, but I also plugged into a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe that was retro fitted into a tweed bassman shell. I used the Les Paul and 335 into the trusty wha-TS10-DD3 combonation that has become a mainstay. See ya back on Sept. 16th.

Fat Moe's March 8th-I can't say it enough. There is no cooler place in Paducah, KY to hear music than Fat Moe's. We always have a great time there and Mary and Moe are the coolest folks. It was a fun night of jammin' and sweatin' the blues. The crowd was up for it and so were we. Few things in this world compare with playing the blues. John and Edwin are getting more comfortable with each other and that makes it lots of fun for the soloist guy (me).I also got to see my good friend Kieth Smith, who lives in Paducah so that was extra cool. I even met some people who knew and had heard of my hometown. I usually say I am from Pittsburgh, PA because no one ever knows where Moon Twp. is. I don't even think it shows up on most maps. But these guys knew where it was. It's not that small of a town, the Greater Pittsburgh Airport was there for many years, but it is still small enough to not get noticed. All my peeps from Moon Twp.-YOU ROCK!!! Tech Stuff-I used my black Les Paul and Kermit. They went into the small pedalboard and into the '65 Bassman. Nice and simple and cool!! See you April 11th.

Stevie Ray's Feb. 7th- What a great time we had at Stevie Ray's. It is always an honor to play there. Some of the musicians a admire have playes there and are still playing there. It was a great crowd. When you come to Stevie Ray's-you know you're gonna get to hear the blues. We were ready to play too. We broke in our new bass player-Edwin Rodriegez. Joe had to bow out due to ongoing health concerns. But Edwin had picked up and ran with the bass. We did lots of originals that night and it is always fun to do those. We video tped some of it and we may post that soon. We also have some new pics coming. Tech Stuff-I used my trusty black Les Paul for most of the night. I used the 335 for the last set. I also had the 1965 Bassman and 70's Twin hooked together. That is a hard combo to beat. Special thanks to the soundman there. He was a great guy and made us sound great too.