I'm thankful too.

November is the month for giving thanks. Everyone is doing a 30 day count on Facebook. Believe me I would rather read what your thankful for than some of the other nonsense that is posted. Bring thanks all month people. Please. I'm starting to tire of the whole FB world. I have one friend who is backing out and I can't say that I blame her. Maybe 2012 will be my year. I have enough to keep up with, with all of bands I like to follow and promote. I can follow all of them right here on my own blog, no FB needed. Wow I feel like I have more time on my hands already. But seriously I'm thankful too.

The Midwest is being blessed for the next couple months, so take a look down below at my live music calendar and go see a show. Hopefully Mother Nature will be kind to us and she won't blow up any of that "S" stuff on the days of the Nov/Dec dates. For my sake I hope she definitely steers clear the weekends before Thanksgiving and Christmas. There are a couple must see shows on those dates. Nov 17th at Lukes in Altamont is Chris Harley, Sons of Bill and The Departed, the 18th Red Wanting Blue at Bailey's Pub in Taylorville and the 19th RWB at Kemp's in Lexington and The Departed at The Crystal Palace in Pontiac. Dec. 16th The Damn Quails-Mike McClure Band at Otis Campbells & I also believe they will be at the Old 36 Inn, in Riverton the 17th.  "if i'm wrong about that, i'm sure someone will correct me" "Jeb".

It's going to be so special being able to spend time with my "music" friends and family, before both hollydaze. "inserts thanks here" And I can even do some Christmas shopping at the merch booths. I'm sure my kids will appreciate a McClure hoodie  or a gift certificate to Otis Campbell's, who wouldn't want that. So again, take a look at the dates and make your plans. If you need any information on the venue or a close hotel, hit me up and I'll help you find something.

I've not been to too many shows this fall. I've started a couple new jobs and they are taking most all of my time and energy. I'm loving both of them. One is helping some friends run their Mexican restaurant, El Amigo Casas. I am super loving it. I am highly passionate about Mexican food. When I was 25 someone in California introduced me to Mexican food and I was hooked. Oh , maybe I am part Mexican, because I love this stuff. I want to know how to cook everything. I've admired Chef Rick Bayless for years and would love to shadow him in Mexico. So yes this is the job for me. The other is a bookkeeping job at Lock 16, a visitor center for the I & M Canal. There is a great little cafe and gift shop and they offer some of the best coffee I've found here in the Illinois Valley. Both new gigs are giving me just the challenge I was needing and I'm really happy to be back to work five days a week.

On Oct. 21st, Stoney LaRue and The Midnight River Choir rocked the hell out of Joe's Bar for The Boot Campaign, hosted by Chicago Cubs' Randy Wells. It twas a great night for raising money, I'm not sure how much was raised , but the auction items were getting to be pretty pricey. My son is the proud owner of a Dierks Bentley watch. I wasn't able to get the signed Velvet guitar, because the bids were already at 2 grand and that was out of my range, dang it. It sure was pretty. This was my first time to see the Midnight River Choir. I enjoyed the heck out of their set and I'm enjoying their cd also. I see good things for their future. Very good things. They had a small problem with a guitar string, so Randy came on stage and auctioned himself off for a cool $550, during the little break. Let's just say that was one happy girl. :)

It's been too long since we've seen Mr. LaRue around here. It's been two years or more I think. He showed up with three new musicians and a bunch of new songs. Talk about changes. Possibly the reason he hasn't been around here much. Practicing all that new stuff. I loved hearing the new stuff live, it's a little different Stoney and it's fabulous. Several lyrics hidden in Velvet that hit home. I can't quit listening to the opening line of Look At Me Fly. "Well how was I to know that the dust in my soul was there for a reason." I love that and the chorus of Wiregrass, "I was told to get busy, roll up my sleeves. Shield your spirit in your time of need. Take wise this council. Man to man. Straight from the my heart. Friend to Friend." Along with, "OH this aint the gospel, but I swear its true. My brother how you use it. Man that's up to you." Great poetry in there. Definitely get yourself a copy of this cd if you haven't already. Again LIVE Stoney never disappoints, he knows how to keep the crowd happy, his smile alone shows he loves his work.

After the show Randy Ragsdale took the time to stop and say hello to Mike and I. Mike asked him for the set list and he replies, "seriously", to which we all chuckled. I (needed) it with all those new songs and this blog.  ha ha.

Randy looks like life is treating him very well. He just fits up there behind those drums. I have no idea how he is doing as a landscaper, but as a drummer. He's top notch. It was fun watching him and Jeremy Bryant, play off of each other. I did see the two drums at College Days in Stillwater, but it was such a large stage, it was hard to appreciate the double drumming. I dug it. It's cool. I met both of the other new guys, Casey and Allan and they were both great on stage as well. I did miss the fiddling by Jeremy Watkins, I won't lie. It was great to see everyone who travels with Stoney. Kyle, we will definitely do breakfast next time. Promise. After we said our hello's to Stoney we headed for said breakfast at the Hollywood Grill on North Ave. Do go after the show, yummy.

Of course all of the shows come here at once. I sadly missed Jason Eady, Wade Bowen, Jonathan Tyler and Hayes Carll, just to name a few. Luckily WWHP Radio Station hosted another fine show at Six Strings in Bloomington last night. Literally an hour from my house, I LOVE Six Strings for its locale. Reckless Kelly took the stage at 7:45 and played hard for over two hours. They too have a new cd out, called Good Luck and True Love. I've been listening to it for awhile now and love the St. Valentine song, It wasn't played but that's very much OK with me. They played all of the other great songs I love, like Wiggles and Ritalin, 1952 Vincent Black Lightning, I hold the bottle, you hold the wheel, Wicked Twisted Road and Wild Western Wind Blown Band. All of the new music they played was great. I love watching this group of guys play their instruments. They're so talented. Obviously they all have a life long musical background and it shows. I can't even pick one I like to watch more than another in this band. You really need four eyes to catch all that goes on with them on stage. They know how to work the crowd and they were keeping everyone entertained. It was fantastic to see everyone who made it out to the show and there were so many of you that looked familiar. There was no doubt some red dirt love going on in central Il last night. The boots were everywhere.

If you had to miss last night, then you'll want to catch Reckless in the next couple days, Milwaukee tonight and Chicago tomorrow. Another good show coming this weekend is Eli Young Band opening for Dierks Bentley in Springfield at the convention center. Better get out and get your Crazy Girl fix. I sadly will have to miss that one too, boo hiss boo hiss, anyhoo those larger venues leave little to be desired in my book. I have seen Dierks at the best venue in the US and I've have some great memories with the Eli Young band, so for now, that will have to suffice. Enjoy the rest of the week and I hope you'll get to here some new music soon.


one very thankful
xxmusicgypsyxx



Little side note about concert etiquette.

 The opening band Sarah Pierce, was trying to get their equipment off of the stage and asked the front row folks to move out of the way. We all moved cordially no problem. There was literally a very large area that they were using, UNTIL one girl decided they must have cleared that area for her. I believe she even said , look they must have cleared this spot for me. duh. She then called over two of her friends and stood right in the way of the band moving their equipment. I don't even care that they walked right into our "spots", I do care that when she was told why we were all standing back, she replied, "oh whatever". Lady with the brown shirt, that was just rude.

Lesson here, is be aware of your surroundings in all situations and stay the hell outta the damn way when a band is trying to load out.



NOVEMBER

1st THE RELEASE OF MIKE MCCLURE'S 50 BILLION, I am loving this new album to death. A  big thank you to Mike for sharing a copy with me.  hmmmm now, what to do with that signed copy I bought.   I'm thinking about giving it away here on the blog, so once I've decided who/how/what/when/why/where. I'll speak up. Until then, carry on.

3rd Reckless Kelly-Shank Hall-Milwaukee, WI
4th-Reckless Kelly-Joe's Bar-Chicago, IL.
Emma King & The Heartsets-Old 36 Inn-Riverton, IL
Eli Young Band-Palmer Civic Center-Danville, Il
4th Paul Thorn-FitzGerald's-Berwyn, Il
5th Eli Young Band/Jerrod Niemann/Dierks Bentley-Prairie Capital Convention Center
Josh Abbott Band-The Granada-Lawrence, KS
9th Todd Snider-w/ Elizabeth Cook-Fitzgerald Theatre-St. Paul, MN
10th Todd Snider-w/Elizabeth Cook-Riverside Ballroom-Green Bay, WI
Jason Boland & The Stragglers-Longorn's-Manhattan, KS
11th Todd Snider-w/Elizabeth Cook-Park West-Chicago, Il
16th Paul Thorn-Fat Fish Pub-Galesburg, IL
17th The Departed-Luke's Bar & Grill-Altamont, IL
Randy Rogers Band-George's Majestic-Fayetteville, AR
Paul Thorn-Sullivan Theatre-Rockford, Il
18th Red Wanting Blue-Bailey's Pub, Taylorville, IL
The Departed-Joe's Bar-Chicago, IL
Paul Thorn-Turner Hall Ballroom-Milwaukee, WI
19th Red Wanting Blue-Kemp's-Lexington, IL
The Departed-The Crystal Palace-Pontiac, IL
Paul Thorn-The Canopy Club-Urbana, Il.
20th The Departed/Sons of Bill-Off Broadway-St. Louis, MO
26th Mike McClure Band-Grady's 66 Pub-Yukon, OK


DECEMBER
2nd Jonathan Tyler & The Northern Lights-Grady's Pub-Yukon, OK
3rd Back Porch Mary-The Underground-Des Moines, IA
9th Back Porch Mary-The Stop Bar & Grill-Urbana, Il
11th FREE SHOW-Jason Eady (Acoustic)-The Stop Bar & Grill-Urbana, Il
15th Mike McClure Band-Bowmans Paint Stallion Club- Joplin, MO
16th Brandon Jenkins-The Woodshed-Leon, IA
The Damn Quails/Mike McClure Band-Otis Campbell's-Washington, MO
29th Jason Boland (ACOUSTIC)-Grady's Pub-Yukon, OK

JANUARY 2012
13th Red Wanting Blue-The Rathskellar-Indianapolis, IN
21st Red Wanting Blue-Windjammer Lounge-Bloomington, Il