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).
Wow! All I can say is Thanks Blues Bunny! :-) Blues Bunny (http://www.bluesbunny.com/) is a publication out of Glasgow, Scotland, that reviews all things blues. Here's what they have to say about my new album "Live & Blue", please read and then let me and them (in my top friends: http://www.myspace.com/thebluesbunny) know what you think.
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. :-)
I can't stop laughing... My dad said "how old are you anyway...are you 39 yet?" My nephews and nieces sang "happy birthday Aunt Trudi booty..." My friend's grandkids sang "happy birthday...", then "1,2,3... how old are you...", then "hey Trudi it's your birthday, we're gonna party like it's your birthday..." Love how they threw in the 50cent lyrics in their little kid voices.
So I turned 6 on Sunday (add the two digits together and you get a number that the little ones can grasp... lol)
Gary took me out for Mexican food, something that is surprisingly hard to find on the east coast. In DC we usually had to settle for Salvadorian, Puerto Rican, or Cuban. Purely by accident however, we found a really good Mexican restaurant here in our tiny-town Carlisle. By no coincidence it's right outside the gates of the Army Barracks. It is my favorite birthday food due to all the years in Las Vegas having authentic awesome Mexican dinners to celebrate all manner of birthdays and other celebrations.... Anyway small towns have small minds and we had several funny conversations going on around us as we tried to eat (took me twice as long to eat due to all the stiffled laughter). I never thought that I'd hear someone mispronounce the spanish word for "chicken" so many different ways.... also how in the heck did the next table over get on the subject of "Pablo Escabar"?... we had "Pollo Chilango" and "Carne Asada" and "Taquitos con queso" and all three were awesome (yes we had the leftovers after we went for a walk and watched a movie).
Great day - nice to not have to cook or do dishes - I was happy :-) Thanks for all the calls and ecards :-)
"Deep in the heart of the hundred-acre woods..." Yes - Winnie the pooh is my favorite Disney character, unless it's Tinkerbell (I forget). Either way, a recent excursion of one of our nearby nature reserves "Kings Gap" had me thinking of both Pooh and Tink. OK, yes I'm in my early forties, but sometimes I still feel ten inside. Might be one of the reasons I get along soooo well with my nieces and nephews. Here's some pictures from our day in what I like to call "Kings Gap Fairy Forest". Let me know what you think...
Hope this Independence Day finds you happy, healthy, and safe! Wish we could be there to share some watermelon, or water balloon fight... Here's something to get the party started - the music is Gary playing the Star Spangled Banner (Hendrix style at a recent gig), the pictures are from Fourth of July's past. Send us some pictures (or even just a note) about how you celebrated the nation's birthday this year, we'd love to share...
We love nature & politics our favorite tv channels are MSNBC, Animal Planet, National Geographic, Discover, and Comedy Central. We also have a guilty pleasure for boxing. Our favorite thing to do after a show (we are working musicians) is come home and watch the boxing we've taped.
Gary grew up in Palmer Park, MD (a DC suburb) just around the corner from Sugar Ray Leonard.
Trudi grew up in Las Vegas, NV, then did high school and college in Philomath, OR.
Both of us got our love of nature from our fathers - Gary's dad would stop on the way home from visiting family to help him explore every little stream or pond for frogs and turtles, letting him take a few home on occasion. Trudi's dad would take the family on several hiking/camping trips each year and enjoyed teaching the family about plants, animals, and even geology.
Our favorite thing to do when we have a day off is go to the woods or nearest park and explore the streams, trees etc for frogs, dragonflies, turtles, birds, crawdads, caterpillars, and (now that we've moved to PA) marmots (aka ground hogs). When we can't get away from the city, we take walks through the neighborhood chasing squirrels and bunnies.
