Jeff’s Blog

Another 3 day weekend….Friday at the Owls was a little slow but thank you to all who stopped out and made it a fun night just the same. Saturday was much better and we had dancers all night long. Steve Peck (Code band) was out Friday and invited us to the Afton Pub jam Saturday afternoon – which he was playing at. I stopped out and wound up playing for about an hour. It was a lot of fun and I caught up with a bunch of long-time musician buddies. There’s something to be said about “making music with my friends” that’ll make a person do what they do for nothing – well, they bought me drinks…which might explain why I was in a better mood Saturday night…or it was just the nap…
1st time for us at Rock Around the Block on Sunday. Perfect weather and a good turnout. We saw a lot of fellow musicians and friends there. The only bummer was that we had some sound, equipment, and tuning problems. Playing in the sun makes guitar strings go bonkers and I couldn’t see the “little red light” on my tuner due to the sunlight. The sound system had some distortion problems and Matt was having some trouble with his setup…the violin music starts now…and I didn’t feel I played my best to boot. Now that the whining is over…it wasn’t all that bad and I have to give a lot of credit to Jason and especially Cyndi for belting it out for two straight hours – and after two nights at the Owl’s club. You always want to be at your best, especially on “high profile” jobs like that. You could say we won the game but there were too many turnovers and interceptions – can you tell I’m ready for football season? I’ll be reviewing the playbook this week…
This Friday we’re at JD’s Prime Spot in South Beloit – I don’t much about this one. Check with Cyndi for more details – I know I will. And it’s back to Crazy Horse on Sunday. Not as hectic as in the past on Labor day weekend for us. I’d also like to mention former members Denny Wayne, Carey Farmer, and Charlie Gallagher were out this weekend – good to see them. Check us out in South Beloit this Friday if you get the chance. Have a great Labor day weekend!

It’s a rainy night at Tremors…Friday was Cyndi’s birthday and she had quite a few friends out. Deb Smith (former member) even drove from Indiana just to be there. We had a better than usual crowd for a Friday…musta been the Cyndi Meyer fan club. Cyndi also has a new keyboard which she debuted on Saturday. Both Tim and Trevor stopped at her house to help her with the programming which was nice of them. Speaking of events – Jason and Hannah celebrated their first year of marriage on Sunday. Hard to believe it’s been a year. They were married up in Rice Lake and the band played the reception. Congrats to them. Saturday was busy night even with the rain. We were ready to play and the dance floor was busy right up to quitting time. Keith Zweiful of the State Line Playboys was out Saturday night after they finished at the Moose club. I mention them because Keith has had that band since 1965 – 42 years now. They, not us, are probably the longest running band in the area. On a funny and embarrassing moment (I’m bare-assed in this case, and I’ll probably get in trouble for mentioning it…) but Jason split his pants while we were loading up Saturday night. Fortunately, the night was over and it was just the band who saw the show. But as Cyndi put it…the boxers or briefs question has been answered. I’m not going to tell as we guys don’t care and were just happy to see that there was something underneath…I wouldn’t want Jason to be the “butt” of any controversy…insert your own puns here.
Next week it’s back to the Owls Club followed by the “Rock Around the Block” in downtown Janesville. I’m not sure of the time on Sunday but this will be a first for us. Stop out and say hello if you’re heading that way. We’ll see you at the Owls club!

Another weekend for the books….Tim is now 40 and all is well. Friday at the Countryside was a pretty good night. People were still finishing their supper while we were loading in so we didn’t have time to set up the complete show. But we had more lights than usual. Rich says the bar is doing well and he’s happy with the turnouts – so thanks to everyone for supporting the band. Chris Johnson (Kath’s older sister) and husband, who live in New Jersey, were in town for her class reunion and stopped out. They would win the “farthest distance traveled to see the band” award – if we had such a thing. And Tim…..a couple of birthday nods but left before the night was over. We acknowledged him at Crazy Horse too, but I still think he needs to hear it some more. He’s taking the 40 thing way too easy….
Crazy Horse was fun too but a little disappointing when a large group of band friends were asked to leave over some site dispute. I don’t know the whole story but it was a misunderstanding. Cyndi talked to the management after they left and tried to straighten things out – she made a few phone calls but no one returned. We had a fun crowd and the weather cooperated but it wasn’t quite the same. Not really our business but I hope things get resolved. Anyway, on a prankster note – I have a hard plastic cover for my floor pedals and have “spanked” everyone in the band with it – except Tim. So….. Tim was packing up his sound board and happened to be “in position” so I felt a birthday spank was needed. I went easy on him – everyone else has horror stories of welts and swelling – he’s 40 now and I didn’t want to hurt him….
Cyndi’s Bday is next Friday (17th) at Tremors. Stop out and wish a good one to Cyndi and a belated 40th to Tim. (Did I mention Tim is 40?)
It’s not polite to divulge a woman’s age and she’s younger than I am so we’ll just say happy birthday Cyndi. (Hint: fill in the football team – San Francisco ___ers.) We’ll see you at Tremors!