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Happy 2022!!

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First I feel the need dispel some of the rumors and say that I feel great!! The last 10 years or so have been the best I’ve felt in ages!! I, in fact, did NOT leave the band due to my health as I’m hearing from various sources…

Yes – my wife continues to deal with the lingering after effects of cancer treatment – mainly Costochondritis (which feels like a constant heart attack but in her breast bone)… and both she and our daughter were diagnosed with Ehlers Danlos Syndrome a few years ago which comes with Rheumatoid Arthritis so they have joint pains, etc… my wife has deteriorating discs in her back and knee issues… yet with all that, they have never once said that I needed to be home instead of wandering the countryside with some merry band of minstrels… they have always been independent and very supportive of my playing… they also love music and especially love coming out when I play but their immune systems have weakened to the point where that is a risky venture the last couple of years… To be clear, I did NOT leave the band because of THEIR health issues either as I’ve also been told… if anyone has questions, please reach out to me and I’ll gladly give you answers. Moving on (in so many ways)…

As I begin 2022, it strikes me as funny how the same sentiments from the past couple of years seem to still apply… I guess the new year could hardly be worse than 2020 OR 2021 but I probably just jinxed myself’… AGAIN!! 🙂

And being home on New Year’s Eve for only the 3rd or 4th time in 44 years still felt strange but at least this year it was of my own choosing… I was happily playing some of our new games with my better half while our daughter was working…

And once again, the COVID numbers continue to climb… but at the end of 2021 and the start of 2022 it’s at an alarming rate!! And the new Governor of NY and President are doing absolutely nothing!! My personal opinion is that, if either politician were to shut anything down for any length of time, it would give the appearance / perception that their predecessors were doing some things right… yet here we sit – hospitals overflowing with COVID cases, the death toll rising and the daily infection rate setting new records every day… and everything is still open and allowed… masks are being ‘mandated’ but go anywhere and you’ll find people refusing to wear them and, just like a year ago, no one is enforcing or policing it – just pointing fingers at who’s responsibility they think it should be…

For me personally, I, my family – including my 89 year old Mom in assisted living – are all vaccinated and boostered for whatever good it may or may not be doing… I’m hopeful someone will grow a set, take a stand and do what needs to be done to slow the spread of COVID and it’s variants down at the very least.

On the band front, I’m just biding my time… one thing I made a point of doing after the last FE gig was a sort of ‘tempo detoxing‘… I haven’t listened to ANY music or watched any music videos – especially of FE… my theory is that any group I were to join or sub with would be playing songs at or near their normal tempos and if I jumped in with FE still on my brain I’m afraid I WOULD be rushing the heck out of everything – playing at Rocco’s tempos… I always have something playing during my daily 40 minute commutes but, since November, that’s been nothing but audio books, podcasts, game reviews and how-to-play videos – no music… I’m curious to see if it helps should the time come… 🙂

I appreciate the calls I’ve had but at this point I have a pretty good idea of the type of group I would fit in to / would WANT to fit in to and have politely declined. I don’t need the second income so it’s all about the music, the players and, at least to some degree, the venues (my heart won’t be broken if I never see Dango’s or Gaffney’s or for that matter, Caroline Street ever again) so I can be patient… maybe I was right and prospective bands heard me play with FE and assumed I was the cause of the frantic tempos and lack of groove… maybe they are hearing some of the rumors that have started getting back to me… hey – if I’m done playing full time, I’m done – and I’ve had a great run since 1975 and played some venues and with some artists that many only dream of… for now I’m content to keep my chops up and play the occasional fill-in… I’m still on call for one touring act (the night before my last FE wedding I was actually playing a packed theater in Minnesota)… 🙂 Time will tell…

Early February… nothing new to report… the horn / wedding band that reached out to last fall that I had hoped to land failed to materialize in the projected timeline… it took me 40+ years to find something remotely close to what I was looking for locally and I rode that for all it was worth for about the past 8 years… now I’m starting to accept that there may not be another one of those around here for me… I just have to decide how bad I really want to play… tick-tock, tick-tock…

One night I was beating Bud so bad that he let out a growl, grabbed me by the crotch and the neck, lifted me over his head and started banging my butt off the hanging ceiling!! 🙂

I have a ton of memories pouring in like our pinball matches, his frequently taking out walls or building a bigger stage (his remodeling prompted many to call it ‘Bud’s Day-By-Day Club’ because you never knew when you walked in what it might look like on a given night)… I also remember stopping in during the day occasionally to grab one of his fabulous sandwiches for my Dad… 🙂

But the majority of my memories revolve around Bud himself, the music and all the amazing musicians that frequented the place that I had a chance to meet and jam with and even form bands with several early on in my playing… I think every local musician owed him a huge ‘thank you’ for providing such a special environment to meet other musicians at… because of Bud’s, a ton of bands were formed – many making their debuts there – and a few are still together today!! That is why I believe so many like myself are feeling the pain today…

In recent years there were a number of reunion benefits for him as his health started to fail… Though I wasn’t able to stay for one of the first ones due to a band commitment, I was so glad I was able to stop on my way to the gig, spend a few minutes with him and hand him a few CD’s I had made of different groups I had played with that he and his very special club were instrumental in their formation…

Below left is one of his regular newspaper ads… and to the right, a group picture from what would turn out to be the last reunion benefit… thankfully I was able to attend that one… that’s Bud – left of center behind the woman with her mouth open and the surprised expression (I can only imagine)… 🙂

As I posted on Facebook, ‘RIP Bud Winchell…You and your place were both one of a kind… Countless musicians came through that door and climbed up on what would become a split level stage…Countless bands and friendships were formed there…It’s time to open a new place in your new location… time to host a bigger cast of players, throw in a VHS concert on the giant TV screen and maybe knock out a wall once in a while’… 🙂 Thank you for everything, Bud.

April 11… I’ve been through Body & Soul’s song list, have all the recordings on my MP3 player and have been reviewing for the past several weeks non-stop (a 40 minute commute both ways each day helps)… next up I’ll go through the list and update the leader on my progress… I’m good with the 90 ‘go to’ tunes he marked, but there are a ton of great tunes on the list I want to make sure he knows he could call without reservation in case of requests or timing or what have you… I feel like I’ll be ready though maybe a little rusty… oh – and I’m designing a new bass drum head because the last thing I want to do is roll in and unpack an FE logo… 🙂

May 20… Tomorrow is the day!! My first gig with Body & Soul!! I think I’m more anxious and excited than nervous… I’ve been reviewing the material for almost 2 months so that shouldn’t be an issue… it’s always a little unsettling to play with people for the first time but I can’t wait!! 🙂

Then I waited for the rest of the band and the sound engineer to arrive as well as a familiar face or two…

I soon learned that there was a sub on keys, another on bass and myself subbing on drums… this should be interesting… unless they’ve subbed before… I asked to see a set list in case I needed to run to the van for a quick refresher on something before we played but they don’t use set lists… even more interesting… this became the theme for the rest of the night as they would call tunes on the fly and if the keys or bass didn’t know how they began (after some awkward silence) a different tune would be called… and many of the songs I had learned from the list were parts of medleys that caught me totally off guard as we would be approaching the end and the guitarist or singer would turn to me and mouth the name of another tune and signal to keep going… I knew I was a huge fan of arrangements but this gave me a whole new appreciation for it… 🙂

On the whole it was a good time and kept me on my toes… it was nice to play jazz again (during dinner) – that’s been a long time… I was afraid my playing volume might have gone a little over the top as the dance set opened up but Chris (sound guy) said the volume was probably the quietest the band has ever played AND three other fire departments had inquired about booking the group because of the overall volume… and we weren’t quiet by any means… whatever that PA was he used thumped and my kick was fat and punchy… during the announcements I was at the far side of the room and behind the speakers but I could still hear and understand every word (something I don’t remember happening often in the past)… the lack of a set list was bothersome and many of the arrangements were pretty loose but no one seemed to notice… Could I deal with this on a regular basis should they offer me the gig?? Probably not… but I’d learn that that was a moot point anyway…

Probably the most disheartening news of the night was when I learned that this would be the male singer’s last gig AND the band was breaking up at the end of the year… I was really looking forward to working with this band but, all things considered, I guess I need to keep looking…

I did get a nice shot of the kit with the new front head… 🙂

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We had already paid for the banquet room at a local firehouse and had emailed them requesting a time for the food truck guy to see where he’d be able to setup, etc… but with only 9 days before the party they called back saying they needed a couple proofs of insurance from him… he was a former fireman himself and regularly appeared at several local fire company events but this was the first time he had gotten such a request and didn’t have one of the insurances they required… now we had a dilemma – find a different food truck or a different venue a week before school graduations and parties kick in…

My brother was a former fireman himself and still had a number of contacts (which was how we found the food truck) and as luck would have it, his brother-in-law was the current VP of another local fire department – one that we had hoped to use but no longer rents out their meeting hall… he and his wife were both guests at the party and related to my brother through marriage and he was able to get us in to that meeting hall… the department had no such insurance requirements and knew the food truck guy very well so our problem was solved… THANK YOU, RICHARD!! The only thing we had to do now was make sure all the guest were contacted…

Finally – it’s party time!!

Julie, Selena, Julie’s sister, my brother and I were the setup crew… the hall only required some minor rearranging to achieve the horseshoe table configuration Mom had requested (and we’re nothing if not obedient)… 🙂

And pictures… Selena had her pro camera setup but both girls had new Polaroid cameras and while the quality isn’t great, they were able to hand out pictures to those who requested them and thought it was pretty neat…

Of course I had to breakout some old pictures and plaster them all over the signage we put up…

The day was full of friends and family and food and fun…

It was a fantastic day full of memories that will last forever and we’re so happy we could do this for her… Happy 90th birthday, Mom!! 🙂

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June 11… my first double header in quite some time… Avant Garde Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps in the morning and afternoon then a wedding with Body & Soul in the afternoon and evening – this time with a much different result than my first gig with them… how would I hold up?? My day went like this…

5:45am – up and moving… heaping bowl of Wheaties and my doctor’s daily allowance (about a specimen cup) of Trop 50 orange juice to get me fueled up… I’d already packed my wedding attire (OK – 3 sets), laid out my corps uniform and polished my shoes… the only thing left to do was pack lunch, dinner and the day’s beverages so I had time to relax a bit before my ‘shit, shave and shower’ as they say… this also gave me time to print out some charts some drummers had requested…

7:45am – S-S-S and dress…

8:30am – munch a quick snack to top off my personal tank as once I arrived with the corps there’d be no time…

8:45am – hit the road with a quick Stewart’s stop for gas and a couple waters – one for the parade and one for the gig – then I was off to hookup with the 1975 World Open Champions!!

9:30am – arrive at the designated meeting site, finish some last-minute prep and cleaning on my drum, check that I have everything I need for this portion of the day, meet up with the rest of the drumline to clarify and play a few trouble spots…

9:45am – setup for the corps picture…

And then it was time to step off…

This year’s corps may have been one of the smallest in terms of numbers but the dedication was never better and when we crossed the intersection on to lower Broadway, you could feel the energy go through the roof!! Excellent job by all involved and I was very proud to be a part of it!!

Here’s the end of ‘America’, our bass line feature ‘SCV’ (giving the snares and quints a chance to rest their backs)
then an assortment of reps of the new walkbeat (revived from ’76 I think)… ‘I’m A Man’ by Chicago…

Here’s the full reviewing stand performance…

Oh – and our new friend and honorary member from yesterday’s rehearsal?? He was front and center – proud as a peacock in his corps shirt!! 🙂

1:45pm – parade is over… the corps KILLED IT at the reviewing stand… the shuttles are lining up so it’s time to load up and head back to the Elk’s Club…

1:57pm – I’m loaded up back in the van… off with the knee braces, off with the parade shoes and on with the sneakers and hit the highway to the wedding venue… I’m feeling better than I’ve felt in a long time and looking forward to whatever the rest of the day might bring though disappointed that I had to miss the corps exhibition for the Elks at 3:00… cool drink, light lunch and relaxing drive to Scotia…

2:35pm – arrived at Glen Sanders Mansion and start unloading… the ceremony is outside, the cocktail hour is in another room so I have plenty of time though I would have preferred to be her a little earlier to be setup and out of everyone’s way but it worked out just fine…

4:15pm – I was setup, tuned mic-ed, dressed and ready to go… sound and lights were already setup and a few members were arriving… with cocktail hour in the next room (and the settings saved from my last time with the group) there was no sound check so I made my way to the van for a little supper and some final review of the 5 special dance songs requested for the day…

6:30pm – let’s get this party started!! We played a couple jazz tunes while guest entered, then kicked it up for introductions and a few dance tunes before dinner and the dance floor packed!! The bride’s father stopped over to say how much everyone was enjoying the group which was nice to hear… we hated to stop but they needed to get dinner out so we invited everyone to find there seats and we settled back into jazz mode…

We took a quick break to eat (of course I always try to stay on or close to my schedule) then went right back to it… cake cutting to ‘How Sweet It Is’, parent dances that included Queen’s ‘You’re My Best Friend’ then it was party time and the group was really clicking despite having substitutes on keys, trumpet and the male lead vocal… to my surprise we were being hammered with requests for business cards all night then I realized that no one there knows that this group will be (sadly) done at the end of the year…

One more quick break then we headed back for a Hora medley then partied right up until the fireworks… the parents of the bride and groom stopped by several times throughout the night – the last time while I was packing up to say that everyone loved everything we played and that there were a lot of musicians in the party who said we were ‘hitting every note’!! Thank you very much!!

Here are a couple short videos…

Here are some pictures…

10:20pm – we’d played the last requested slow song and were wrapping up the last requested fast song as we invited everyone to make their way to the patio for a special surprise (a huge fireworks send off)…

11:25pm – as I’m loading the van, the 17+ hour day catches up with me but I manage to get the van loaded and settle in for the relaxing ride home after a day and night of drumming… a great time with great people!! I thank you all!!

July 16… Wedding today with Body & Soul at the Canfield Casino… I always look forward to playing with this group but dread loading in and out of this venue… they have a ramp on the other side of the ballroom but a few years ago when I played here and started loading in, a woman in an office nearby started screaming at me!! Saying we can’t load in that way because the bands are ruining the door sills – we had to use the metal stairs in the back of the building… this is never fun – especially in cold weather when the steps are frequently icy… and it’s not lit other than ambient light from the park… but, we do what we have to do and I lifted everything up the stairs and started setting up…

As I was putting everything together an older gentleman named ‘Bob’ asked if I was able to get everything in OK… I told him it was probably easier for me 20 years ago but I’m in and still standing… 🙂 He went on to say that they do have a ramp so I told him my ramp story… he waved his hand as if to say ‘ forget about her’ and told me to come see him anytime I needed to load in… WOW!! I guess there’s been a change in staff and a change in attitude… now I’ll look forward to returning… 🙂

The party was a great time – dancing and cheering from start to finish!! The people couldn’t have been nicer!! Congratulations!!!

Sure – when? TONIGHT?!? Of course I will!! Back to Ridin’ Hy Ranch!!

And as soon as I told Selena, she wanted to go… I think she was about 12 the last time she was here… 🙂

The place was packed to the rafters and on a Monday night gig!! Mike, George, Randy and myself had a blast!! The people are always appreciative and very nice and these guys make it easy to lay down a groove that brings out the dancers. Thanks all for a wonderful evening!!

Mario served as the parking lot attendant – telling everyone where to park, guiding them in and making them adjust if he felt they weren’t close enough… in the end everyone could barely get in and out of their cars… 🙂 I get it… small parking lot, big party… but the majority of the guests arrived in two shuttle buses leaving the lot mostly empty…

I was pounding down water as I pondered the best possible setup solution to Tetris all 8 of us into the designated area… Usually the drums would be centered in the corner but I felt that created a lot of wasted space behind me so I decided that the only way for this to work would be for me to go flat against the wall – leaving room for Matt’s keyboard rig to my right and Eric and Bill’s bass and guitar rigs to my left… I proceeded with the usual setup and tuning and took advantage of the extra time to tweak some tom angles and heights…

As the others began arriving they concurred that this was the best solution though I could have used another couple inches between my sample pad and the wall to get in and out… more adjusting and I made it work…

Despite multiple on-the-fly changes by the venue early on it turned out to be a great party and the food from 2 Shea catering was fantastic!!

I only have 3 more gigs with Body & Soul – including the band’s final performance on New Year’s Eve… it’s been a great time and I thank you all!!

August 12… while I’m enjoying being around for our anniversary weekend, I’m still twitching – trying to adapt to the lighter gig schedule and being home most weekends… I miss the weekly grind though it did take me 3 or 4 days to recover from the ridiculous load in and out at our last gig (further proof the venue owners give little or no thought to their vendors)… I will say that the biggest things I’m NOT missing are Caroline Street and band drama… 🙂

August 25… back when Body & Soul first asked me to fill in this summer Concert at the Crossings in Colonie was tentative for me and I asked if there was any possible way could have it since it would be the only chance for my girls to see me play this year… about a month ago I was told I was on it for sure!!

I was told by several people that the band was smoking and sounded great… this despite 6 out of the 9 people involved – including the sound guy – being SUBS!! Matt from NY Players on sound, Matt Donnelly on keys, a sub on trumpet whose name I didn’t get (sorry), local legend Todd Hanhurst on vocals, the amazing Georgia Jones from NY Players on vocals and myself on drums… and according to a number of fellow musicians in attendance we sounded like we’d been performing together for years which is always great to hear under those circumstances.

Julie wasn’t up to making the trip so Selena rode with me and she and a large number of those in attendance ended up sitting right behind me after the second downpour started… Matt on sound setup a rear facing speaker so they could here more than just me… 🙂

The highpoint to the night had to be a visit from some former bandmates… as I was warming up I hear someone calling my name and I turn around to find Justin and Josh and their wives Christina and Sarah!! It was wonderful to see them as it’s been a while and conversations with them always boost my musical spirits… 🙂 Thank you all for coming out!!

And in all my excitement about playing the concert and seeing familiar faces I never got a single picture… 🙂

August 29… I felt I needed to make a decision as to whether I intended to keep playing or not – driven primarily by potential van repairs… my 2018 Honda Odyssey recently tripped the 100,000 mile mark which means it’s due for the $3000 service AND it will need a set of tires before winter!! What to do…

Well… I really don’t want to stop playing… I feel like I’m still drumming very well and my former bandmates seem to agree… when my first Odyssey crossed this threshold I asked my favorite salesperson – Mike Powers at Della Honda – what he had and if I was in a position for a trade… the deal was done in 5 minutes though I was there for a couple hours as everyone in the place seemed to know musicians and we were all exchanging stories… 🙂 They gave me $14000 for mine with well over 100,000 miles on it!! But it’s a different time now and vehicles are hard to come by… Mike has retired but during my recent oil changed I found someone and asked the same questions as the last time but they had no ‘bare-bones’ model vans on the horizon… in fact they only had ONE very high-end Sport model coming in for the foreseeable future and that was already sold… it looked like I was going to have to bite the bullet and drop about $4000 total on this one (not counting a cracked bumper Selena had to point out that happened sometime last winter)… I decided to put in a call to Saratoga Honda as they were one of the highest volume dealers in the area and they scheduled me for a visit today…

When I arrived the friendly check-in ladies introduced me to John Fagen… I told him my story and why I was looking for a low-end model… he asked a ton of questions and made some notes on his form, we checked out my van and they came up with a value for it… but alas, they too had no low-end vans coming in… he didn’t believe they were being made anymore due to lack of demand… he showed me his spreadsheet on his Surface (OK – I’m trying to keep my ‘geek’ side in check) which showed all the models they are expecting including some that haven’t been produced yet but are due to be delivered later this fall… He copied my license and registration and spoke with the Sales Manager a couple times and came back with the numbers… bottom line is they would give me $15000 for mine with the cracked bumper towards a 2023 model TWO levels above what I’m driving with a power tailgate and a sunroof and there was no escaping leather seats… and my payment went up $12!! In the current economic climate I couldn’t be happier!! With any luck, it should be here by mid / late November which means I may still need to put new tires on the old one but I’m fine with that…

This will be my last van for sure… for my own personal satisfaction I want to be playing with someone full time at least through 2025 which will mark my 50th year as a professional musician… minus the 15000-18000 added miles each year from the last band’s schedule this van should last long after I’m done playing… then Selena can have it… she really wanted my old one… 🙂

As near as I can figure, the only time I let my guard down (my mask) was at the band rehearsal on 9/5… on 9/7 I started feeling like I had my typical fall cold coming on as I was stuffy and had a scratchy throat… 9/8 there’s a band group text – one of the members just got his booster, felt lousy and ended up testing positive… I was working at school when I got his message so I did an Antigen test there and less than 3 minutes into the 10 minute timer there were two bright lines… I texted the band, called my boss and came home to isolate – hoping to keep it from the girls and wondering what would happen with the wedding…

As the day went on 1 or 2 more members tested positive and we knew there was no way the band would play… they called the bride and groom and agreed that the female lead singer and her husband (guitar) (both negative) would DJ the wedding and play some acoustic tunes live… I’m glad they were able to work it out but I was really looking forward to making a deposit… guess not… 🙂

September 13… Well this has been fun… the bride and groom found another band… I continued to feel worse… sore throat wouldn’t go away and my body felt like I’d been tumbled around in a clothes dryer for a few days… head, joints, muscles… everything just had a dull ache… the afternoon of the 10th I felt like the fog had lifted and was able to get a few things done on the computer even though my sinuses were draining like a faucet but I was optimistic…

That lasted until Sunday morning the 11th when I woke up feeling about the worst I’d felt the entire time… I took it easy, rested a lot and let school know that a Monday return didn’t look possible… they told me to stay put until I was symptom free – don’t bother testing because I could test positive for weeks… once the isolation period is up and the symptoms are gone I can return…

I put in a curbside order at Walmart and Selena picked it up as I wasn’t able to make my usual shopping runs… When I have a bad cold the Alka Seltzer gels (purple) have always worked great for me… they didn’t have those but had the (orange) max gels so I tried those… then the thing we’ve tried to avoid the most since the beginning of COVID happened… late this morning Julie tested positive!!

We’ve been wearing masks whenever we’re around each other – even to bed – but all our precautions apparently weren’t enough… she tested negative multiple times each day since my positive and now was suddenly, sadly also positive… she followed up with one of my Antigen tests from school and, just like mine, it was obviously positive in no time… Selena and I tucked her into bed and tried to keep her comfortable and entertained and she was able to rest other than some coughing fits… I could tell her sinuses were doing what mine did and running right into her throat…

Yesterday – the 12th – I woke up around 5:30 (I’m usually up at 5:00) feeling almost normal… I had breakfast and connected to my work computer remotely and began catching up on emails… I started thinking I probably could have gone in today but then something would get me coughing again… maybe it was the Alka Seltzer that had me feeling this good… or maybe COVID had run its course with me and my 4 shots but I was feeling like myself again…

Julie put calls in to her doctor and oncologist as soon as their offices opened to see how she should proceed… she only has the first two shots – no boosters because they were causing problems with her pre-existing conditions that could expedite breast cancer so she was told not to get them…

As the morning went on the return calls started… she’ll need to get a pulse meter, start taking Magnesium, Zinc and Vitamin D, drink lots of fluid and check in every hour… that last part was confusing and hard to maintain as she normally falls asleep once her meds kick in… they said they were calling in Plaxavid(?) – a medication that is used to treat COVID… my brother couldn’t take it because of his blood pressure meds… my doctor didn’t offer it (just told me to ‘ride it out’) but I think it may be for more high risk patients… Julie called the office late in the afternoon because we still hadn’t been notified that the prescription was ready… then we learned that, with everything else she’s on (including Oxy, Morphene, Xyralta(?)), she couldn’t take it because it would make her body think it was overdosing on all her other meds!! I’m sure that would have been fun… glad someone checked… they also said that they were calling St. Peter to try to schedule her for a fusion treatment at Glens Falls Hospital… Selena ran to our pharmacy and picked up everything else Julie was told she needed and she had a fairly quiet night as near as I could tell…

I got a full day in remotely – spending the afternoon working with the Superintendent’s secretary on a revised policy… it felt great to be functioning again!!

Which brings us back to today – the 13th… I’m staying home – partly to make sure I’m symptom-free enough to return to school but primarily so Selena (who’s thankfully still negative) can go to class and to work and I’ll be available if St. Peters is able to schedule Julie’s fusion treatment… fingers crossed…

Of course I get a text for a fill-in gig the 17th… Not knowing how the rest of the week would play out or if I’d have any energy back I told them I’d better not…

September 23… I’m back at work and masked just in case (me OR them)… I’ve had a couple scattered days where I felt off or just exhausted and wondered if I had another bout with it but felt fine a short time later… a couple days ago I got home from work and mowed the front AND back yards with energy to burn!! This was a huge relief to me as I had moved the front a couple weeks ago and had to stop a couple times to rest…

Julie continues to struggle with it… her doctors got her scheduled for a Fusion treatment at Albany Memorial on the 15th… I’m up and packed – ready to take her and she’s up and moving and feeling almost ‘normal’ (her ‘normal’ for the last 6-7 years is constant pain, heavily medicated and a temp around 100)… the 103 temp was gone… she had energy and felt better than she has in a while… she called her doctors to see whether they thought she should still have the treatment and they said it sounded like she didn’t need it so they canceled her appointment…

It’s been over a week since then… her taste can be off occasionally but she has bursts of energy… she can’t shake the increased nausea or the constant itchy feeling and need to scratch which no one can explain and occasionally coughs herself into gagging… it could have been much worse considering what she was already battling… so we wait…

Here are some pictures…

November 13… Boy am I missing playing full time!! I committed to fill in with a group on 12/10 then, of course, I get a call from Body & Soul for a wedding in Brooklyn the same day and had to tell them I already had a commitment… a little over a week later that commitment falls through and I’m back to having nothing until New Year’s Eve… I’m hoping something might open in the spring but for now I’m left with the feeling that no one wants the old guy or they think I was driving the bad tempos with FE… I DO know that my efforts with Body & Soul have been recognized and very much appreciated… time will tell…

I must say though, as much as I want to be playing, I’m not ready to jump in with some of the groups that are looking for a drummers but run by ‘red flag’ leaders and are primarily playing little shit holes… I’m at the point where I’ve spent more than half my life getting out of those situations (and playing some larger shit holes) and I’m not ready to compromise – at least not just yet…

If you’re reading this, I hope to se you New Year’s Eve at Haystack Mountain as it could be my last night behind the drums…

I should mention that I do have two Holiday parades with the Alumni Drumline coming up… look for pictures and video… 🙂

As we were walking back to our cars all that could be heard were sirens and horns… if there were any other bands we never heard a note… sadly, this might be a good parade for musical units to avoid if that’s all the organizers think people want to hear…

Just before the parade stepped off we started playing our warmups and ran through the rep for the day… in that short time I could feel my body temp come back up and I was very comfortable by the time our division moved out…

As we hit the first signs of a crowd I noticed the wind had stopped and made the mistake of saying it out loud… as we approached the half way point I noticed a large black cloud approaching from our left and said, “Boys – I don’t see lightning or hear thunder but that’s SNOW and it’s gonna get us!!” Sure enough… for about the final third of the parade we were pelted with snow as the wind picked up again… You can actually see it in the first picture below with the guard and the American flag…

But the biggest difference on this day was the total LACK of sirens and horns drowning out the line!! The new organizers are lead by the local fire department and, while they may be struggling to line up the participants, they at least knew how to treat the musical units and we thank them very much for that!!

If you have a Facebook account, clicking the picture above will provide a short video… and here are some more pictures…

December 3… Today I finally took delivery (ordered back in September) of what will probably be my last van – a 2023 Honda Odyssey Sport right off the assembly line with all the bells and whistles I could never want but they apparently aren’t making the pedestrian low-end models that I’ve enjoyed over the last 8 years or so anymore… it IS beautiful inside and out and rides like a dream but then again – so did my budget versions… 🙂 Now all I have to do is find a group…

The goal is to be playing in 2025 for my 50th year as a professional musician but, at least at this time, the only groups that are looking are small rock bands playing nasty little joints which hesitant to return to… I’m content to keep the kit and my chops up and if nothing turns up I can always return to how I started – in the pit for some production somewhere… for now I’m just prepping for Body & Soul’s final gig on New Year’s Eve at Haystack Mountain in Vermont.

December 30… I’ve repacked the new van a couple times in anticipation of tomorrow’s New Year’s Eve gig at the beautiful Hermitage Club in Wilmington, VT. I recently learned that this is a PRIVATE club and band attire is FORMAL which has me even more excited because I was expecting a rowdy ski resort crowd…

As I’ve said previously, this is the band’s last gig – they’re breaking up after tomorrow night which is sad because each of the gigs I’ve played with them have included several requests for business cards and dates so it’s not from lack of work so they must just be burned out… I can’t imagine getting to that point as I still love playing that much though I’m a little more mindful of the types of places I’d be playing should I join another group…

At the beginning of the year I posed the question ‘is this the end or just the beginning?’… with 1 day left in the year I haven’t got an answer… I was hoping for a long run with Body & Soul but since they will cease to be in two days I’ve been keeping my eyes and ears open… the new van is ready for a run at it… come on 2023!! 🙂

December 31 – New Year’s Eve 2022!! It’s great to be playing again on New Year’s Eve rather than sitting home though I’ve been anxious about this night since it was booked as it’s at the Hermitage Club in Wilmington, VT – ski country… and seemingly a million miles from anything… and with the wacky weather we’ve been seeing I didn’t know what to expect… it turned out to be higher than normal temps – 50’s during the day and only dropping into the upper 40’s overnight so the roads should be decent… I’d checked Google maps a couple times and it seemed like it would be easy to get to…

The itinerary we received said load in was at 5:00 but I headed over early (of course) – arriving a little after 4:00 but not before traversing 6 or 8 little back country roads after leaving the main road… once inside I found two of the members already there setting up the PA and keyboards and went back to get the van…

The valets had me back right up on the large concrete area in front of the building which must serve as a loading zone for skiers… they told me to take all the time I needed which was a refreshing change from many venues (especially in NY)… Then, after I was unloaded, we were told to tell the parking guys in the lot up top that we were with the band… I did and they directed me one of several unused handicapped spots in about the only PAVED section of the parking lot… WOW!! Thank you!! No mud on my dress shoes!! 🙂

As I was loading out, different staff were stopping me to say how great the band was… said we added a lot of class to their Gatsby theme and they had lots of positive comments from guests but admitted that that was more than they could say about the kitchen… one said they were short staffed and another said they apparently didn’t have any prep time for the party crowd (after the ski crowd)… on my last trip out the young guy who first greeted me when I arrived was still there working and said they were ‘still learning’… new owners maybe?? They shouldn’t expect anyone who attended this event to come back next year after this fiasco…

I thought I’d be on the road around 1:30am but with the lack of space it took a little longer to pack until some of the other guys were packed so it was closer to 2:00am… I set my Garmin and Google maps to head for Troy rather than go home through the back woods and back through Cambridge and Greenwich… I use both when I’m out in the country because sometimes there’s no cell service but the Garmin usually can find a satellite…

I start back on all the little back roads that brought be in and I hear ‘turn right’… the sign says ‘do not enter’ but I don’t see another connection to the road I’m supposed to be on so I entered anyway… mistake number one as the road was either muddy or icy (it was 46 degrees) as I couldn’t keep traction and thought I was going of the road for sure… I managed to keep it straight down the hill and got enough speed to get up the other side and got to the road I wanted…

A couple more turns and a little further down a road I get another ‘turn right’… I stop, look, back up and turn down the road to be greeted with a ‘ROAD CLOSED – Seasonal road’ side… great… I start to back up in the now pouring rain and somehow end up off the road facing up a hill… every time I tried to inch forward I’d loose traction and start spinning in the snow, ice and mud… I tried calling the venue but no one was answering… I was about to call 911 but decided to try a couple more maneuvers on my own… good fortune was on my side as I was somehow able to roll out and back on the wet pavement and made my way back to the main road…

The next challenge was the 18 miles over the mountain from Wilmington to Bennington in thick fog which brought me to a crawl in some areas… once I reached Bennington, everything cleared and the rest of the trip was fine… I got home a little after 4:00 the following morning… 🙂

And that was the last gig for Body & Soul and perhaps for yours truly… there was talk about various band possibilities but no one has said anything to make me think that I might be part of any plans… time will tell… Happy 2023!!