It'll take some getting used to...

So I googled my husband's name in conjunction with his "new boss", and came across a site where the members were discussing the Tampa Bay show last Sunday.

They were surprised at the addition of the songs August sang, but the guy who went to the show said he did a "respectable" job.

If anyone says anything negative, I might have to make up a login ID and verbally kick some butt. So far, that doesn't seem necessary.

And as an added bonus, the guy posted these really, really good pictures!

I call this one, "August, this here is a guitar..."

August really likes his new friend, Jimmy.

And that's a wrap!

And so it begins...August's fantastic adventure

January 17, 2010 - St. Louis, Missouri - Stars to the Rescue, a benefit concert for ARF (Animal Rescue Foundation). Dennis was scheduled to perform a 6 song acoustic set with his guitar player, Jimmy Leahey.

But he insisted that August come, too.

August met Jimmy and they had an instant rapport. His first show was a success...


Obviously I better come to a show and get some close-up pictures, eh?

Here is Dennis with Jonathan Cain from Journey. (Styx, Journey...two out of three tributes bands are represented right here!)

Jimmy, Suzanne (Dennis' wife of 40 years), Tony LaRussa (manages/owns? St Louis Cardinals), Dennis, and my happy, happy husband.

Did I mention happy, happy husband? And so...the journey begins....

He will be rockin' the paradise...stay tuned!

Welcome 2010

I am proud of my husband.

...

2010 will be a big year for him musically. Playing music is his passion, it's been his paying hobby, but certainly he has always wished for it to be his livelihood.

...

He's not quitting his day job, but he finally got a project where he can showcase his talents in a BIG way!

...

He will be touring. He will be seeing cities he's never seen. He will be singing and playing guitar. (With a VERY accomplished singer/songwriter...I am in awe of the magnitude of this.)

...

He will be awesome.

I say ROCK ON

September...full of birthdays, school, and rock and roll.

This is August's new guitar. That he got for FREE.


Somehow or another I managed to make it to quite a few shows in September. Here is August on his birthday. He had a show that night, and a fan brought him a dozen DELICIOUS cupcakes.

One of my favorite parts of the show is seeing August & Vic (the keyboard player) interact.

The next weekend, we went to the Sagebrush Cantina. This was an "all ages" show, so the family went and had dinner first.

So many of our friends attended, what a surprise!

Here are the girls....

Have I mentioned how much I love our school? Well, some teachers came out for the show. Here is Brooke with her Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Mac.

Here is Brooke with her 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Diehl.

and to complete the set, here is Brooke with her second grade teacher, Miss Davis!!!!! Can you believe this? Also, our favorite babysitter/member of our family, Emily came out, as did Stacy and Josh, Joddie and Brooke, and Cathy, her husband and her sister! Lots of friends.

Last weekend was a show at the local rock dive, Paladinos.

Woo hoo, I'm partying now! Stacy came to this show and took this funny picture.

September was full of fun...I still haven't posted about the first day of school or our fun trip to Big Bear, so stay tuned!

When the LIGHTS go down in the city...

Friday night, this is where we were....the legendary Whiskey a Go-Go on the just-as-legendary Sunset Strip. The band is Lights, and it is a tribute to the music of Journey.




After a baby-sitter scare (our sweet Emily was in a car wreck - she's fine, her car is totaled), and a super-mom rescue (Shan took both girls for the night so I could still go to the show), August and I met up with friends for dinner and headed to the strip.

Our friends enjoyed the show...and they are good friends, too, because August didn't go on until after midnight! That's late for people of our advanced ages. So, thanks to Steve and Stacy, Barb and Rob, and Cynthia and Lee for coming out and staying up LATE!!!

We got to the Whiskey at the SCHEDULED start time of 11 p.m., only to learn that it would REALLY be midnight, so we went across the street to Hustler of Hollywood.

That was interesting.

Stacy almost bought some red sequined, fringy boots. But she didn't. They were very Dorothy Gale goes Girls Girls Girls (dancing down on the Sunset Strip). {Can't seem to get off the lyrics theme...}

She looks good in red, as you see here...but they weren't comfortable as it turns out.



Lastly, one would think that after all these years of going to shows and taking pictures and being a person that LOVES a good picture, that I would have a camera that takes a decent picture in a dark club.

But, clearly, that is not the case.



But you get the idea...cute guitar playing husband, excellent music, good times! The show was excellent! This is only his third show with this line-up, and he's happy to be playing with them and they are happy to have him!

It's Sunday morning, and I just now, after a good night's sleep, feel recovered!! Woo hoo!!!

Tongue Tied

Sometimes all you need to succeed is a gimmick.

Take, for example, the rock band KISS. They had their very own army, for crying out loud, yet when I listen to their 1970-something lyrics today, I say (right out loud to my husband who has a KISS belt buckle), "they would have never made it in today's time".

Their lyrics...are stupid.

Like for instance:

Get up
And get your grandma outta here
Pick up
Old Jim is workin' hard this year
And baby
Do the things he says to do

What? That doesn't even make sense. Perhaps the chorus will clear things up.

Baby, if you're feeling good
And baby if you're feeling nice
You know your man is workin' hard
He's worth a deuce

Yeah, well...not so clear after all. Who the heck is Old Jim, and if he's old, why can't Grandma stay?

And do not even get me started on that song "Love Gun".

But they had a gimmick. They put on loads of makeup, had cool costumes and huge platform shoes.

Well, as it turns out, we may have a young member of our family with a future in rock and roll. It's too soon to know if he has musical talent or songwriting capabilities, but that (obviously, see above) is secondary to the gimmick.

And, Cooper, you got the gimmick DOWN!!!

P.S. I will admit for the record that I DO like two KISS songs: Strutter and Beth. Those songs rock. They rock all night long and party every day.