Happy Halloween - Boo!

Happy Halloween - Boo! First let me start with a clip/song from one of my favorite movies "Nightmare Before Christmas". I love this movie from both an artist's perspective, appreciation of the creative mind of Tim Burton and musical creativity of Danny Elfman, and that it celebrates both Halloween and Christmas.


Upon researching the holiday further I found that Halloween was brought to the US by Irish and Scottish imigrants (yeah McFarlane!). Early on it was called "All Hallows Even" because this is the day believed to be when the veil between the alive and the dead was the thinnest or even. This actually is kind of a cool idea, remember the scene in Harry Potter where he gets to see his parents. Maybe we could use this opportunity to say hi to our friends and family members who have passed through the veil. My Grandpa Verdus loved playing tricks, even when it wasn't Halloween. His sense of humor was awesome, I see traces of it in Dan (when he teases his kids), Angie (with her love of water balloon ambushes), ... play a trick on someone for him and for Halloween.

In celebrations past, I remember fondly trips through the neighborhood to the homes of friends, who would lovingly craft popcorn balls (Grandma Vinnie), candied apples (Lulu's house), hauted houses (boyscout troup and/or Kathy & Shauna Davis' house (lots of big brothers)). My mother spent months making cool handmade costumes (jaguar, dog, vampires...). One year I decided to be a clown. I donned the sparkle top hat from my dance recital, taped colorful paper polka dots to my jeans, put desitin (white cream) on my face, and then for the shoes... after some creative improvising I took my Dad's size 12 boots, put my whole sneaker inside, and wore them like that. It was great, I thought I looked awesome! My older brother Dan and his friend Jason decided to go drag (like they had seen on Saturday Night Live) and wore some of my Mom's old dresses and wigs - it was hilareous!

We love seeing what you have done with your kids every year! Robbie did a great job getting Paige, Grace, Whitney, and Crew dressed and ready for their early halloween party - still amazed at how good he is with the girls hair (I remember my Dad hopelessly trying to do two EVEN ponytails for me when Mom was at the hospital when Robbie was born, he finally gave up and made one in the back after several failed attempts). Speaking of hair - OMG Jen (my cousin) the things you do with Karen's hair is awesome! The costumes and face painting for Karen and Michael were really cute!

Gary and I are headed out to West Chester, PA in the next few minutes. He's playing a venue called Vincents. Should be fun, wonder how many people will dress up and come out to party?

Send me pictures about your fun tonight - I'm dying ;-) to see what you've scared up for a costume.

Rootstime (a Belgium publication) reviews my CD "Live & Blue"

I received another humbling review from Rootstime today. This is a publication based in Belgium, and it was written in their language which is closest to Dutch. After utilizing several online translation services, I was truly humbled to read their glowing review. - Thank you Rootstime!
Here it is (both in Dutch and English) for your perusal. Please leave me (and them) a comment with your opinion of the disc and/or review. The website is http://www.rootstime.be/, and their myspace page is http://www.myspace.com/rootstime (in my top friends).

Bushmaster's CDRelease Party for Live & Blue

For years I've been hearing "Gary, I love the way you play at the shows, you get sooo into it, I can tell from your facial expressions that you are just in the moment...", then it usually gets followed up with "... I'd love to record your shows", or "... can I buy a copy of the board tape the sound guy recorded", or "... make me a tape...".

My new CD "Live & Blue" is just that. It was the right circumstances coming together at the right time, my desire to do a live album, and my good fortune to take advantage of the opportunity. Jay Turner and I choose the best ten tracks from two live gigs with two different drummers. Follow-up included mixing, mastering (Brad Blackwood - EuphonicMasters.com), artwork (again I'm fortunate to have an in house graphic designer - Trudi), and sending everything off to press. The day I sent the package off to get reproduced, I crossed my fingers, and choose a date a few weeks past when I was told they would be completed and back to me. Previous projects have been consistantly frustrating and last minute trips to pick up the discs the night before the release parties had me gun shy. I must have generated some good kharma this time, however, because I got them back a few days earlier than I was told. :-)

Our CD Release Party was held at one of our favorite venues - Ram's Head Roadhouse, in Crownsville, MD. We sent off hundreds of invitations on the email, websites, and phone messages. After only receiving two RSVPs, I was resigned to just let it be like a regular gig and not get my feelings hurt that my friends must be all busy with summer vacation and the like. All that was for naught though, because people came out of everywhere and each friend that surprised me with their attendance was overwhelming after a while. ... Cheryl Robertson, wife of long-time friend Steve Robertson, just happened to be in town from Keller, TX, and brought family with her... Joanne Walker, Al "Bundy" Austin, both with family and friends in tow, we haven't seen in years, but feel like no time has passed at all... other friends like Dan & Becky Rodgerson, and Paul Kuharick brought new friends with them to introduce them to the band...

Needless to say it was a wonderful evening that was way too cool to have actually happened.
Thank you to Jay for bringing his camera! (and playing his ass off!)
Thank you to Jessica for helping take pictures!
Thank you to Tiffany for loaning her video camera!
Thank you to Trudi for taking video!
Thank you to Paul for bringing his A game (and a whole bunch of friends!)
Thank you to Mike and the Ram's Head Roadhouse for hosting our party!
and mostly Thank you to our friends and fans and family for helping us ROCK THE HOUSE!!!!!

Here are some pictures and videos from our fun that evening - please send me a comment to this blog and/or the pictures - I'd love to hear your thoughts from our fun evening and your opinion of our new CD. :-)





Night Shift

Drowning on Dry Land

Arlington Blues

Bad Bad Pain

Sex Machine

Every Time I Turn Around

Nappy's Boogie

Mary Had A Little Lamb
Bushmaster - Mary Had A Little Lamb - 09Aug08
..

Love you all... thanks again for making our special night soooo fun!
Gary