First snow of the season on the day after Christmas.
Not much more than 5 inches of the white stuff.

77 degrees outside today. Fired up the bike and went for a ride. The leaves are still on the trees and look great.
Gotta get in a ride while the weather is cooperating.

The fall and the trees.

We played a gig on top of a mountain today. It was a very nice gig, a birthday party for a hard working guy. As we drove to Shelburne, Massachusetts, the roads got skinnier and more tree lined.

When we got to the address where the directions said was our destination, at first I thought they rented out a state park, as we drove up a mountain on a twisting tree lined road.

Being a city boy, I was awestruck with the views. Rolling hills, Bright crimson and orange colored leaves in the trees. Beautiful. Autumn in New England is really beautiful.

Arriving at the top of the mountain, I observed a cool house with a couple of interesting buildings scattered around the property. I parked our tour bus and scouted the area for the best way to load in out equipment.

Unfortunately for me, the roadie on this trip, the only way to the tent we were to perform in was up a hill, across a lawn. There was no paved access to the performance area. I humped the PA and our instruments up the hill and proceeded to set everything up.

Everything went well, and we were ahead of schedule. I fired up the ipod, which Janet had filled with cool tunes that the birthday party hosts had requested.

Every guest to this party brought a platter of food, and there was SO much good food and drink there. I felt like Dom DeLuise in a Mel Brooks movie.

We played all afternoon and had the birthday boy and his buddies singing backup vocals by the end of the show.

Doing these kinds of gigs makes me feel great, as everyone who attended had a lot of fun, and we did, too.

Ray did sound reinforcement for the Festival of the Hills in Conway, MA. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and the music was good. http://www.festivalofthehills.com/

The highlight of the day? Seth Glier & Ryan Hommell.

Heat Wave.

We did two performances today. The first show was in building that wasn't air conditioned. They squeezed a bunch of people into the room, and off we went.

Management did supply a window fan, which was better than nothing until someone fired up a charcoal grill outside the window, and the fan sucked the wonderful smell of the charcoal burning right into the room.

The people there were very appreciative, which made me feel better about the show, although loading in and out in one hundred degree temperature meant that it didn't take very long for me to get soaked.

The second show was held in a brand new space complete with a big ole honking air conditioning unit. I liked that performance lots more, although the load in and out still sucked.

Winter in western Mass

It seems like every place but here got whalloped by the snow.

All we got was a slushy mess...

I'm ready for spring.

I Muse U2

It happened way under the radar.

I read a link on the wires that said a band named "The Muse" was opening up for U2 on their latest tour.

Color me excited.

Then I read a bit deeper and the found out that U2 was schooling this new kid band.

Right.

Calling Mister Google.

He responds thusly:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PN6egPgazA&feature=player_profilepage#

OK, these guys get a slot. Damn,

Awakened the other night by a loud crash, I got out of my warm bed and went downstairs where I discovered that the gutter had been ripped from the eave of my house and was laying in my backyard.

It was very windy that night.

After a few failures, I gave up on the idea of replacing it, and I will wait until spring for my next attempt. My center of gravity has shifted over the years, and climbing up 2 stories doesn't really appeal to me...

Happy New Year!

Here's wishing you the best new year possible, filled with lots of great music, interesting people, and cool gigs.