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April 16, 2009

Amazing- only one week has passed and I’m doing a short update on the site. I know it’s hard to believe, but I’m going to make an effort to update at least once every week or so. I know that I’ve made this promise more than once, so I don’t expect you to believe it quite yet. I’ll do my very best, I promise.

Last Thursday, I went home to Minot. I hitched a ride with DeAnn and Eli back to the Magic City. I spent that night hanging out with Mom. On Friday, I helped Mom get a few things done around the house and around town. I played a show with Fat Daddy’s that night at Sports on Tap and Mom came out and stayed for the whole show, which was really cool. On Saturday, we did a few more things around the house, went to church, and out to dinner. I played a second show that night at Sports on Tap. On Sunday, we went down to Bismarck and had dinner with my Aunt and Uncle. Then, DeAnn and Eli picked me up and we came back to Fargo. That Sunday night, DeAnn and I went and had some Easter sushi. That was my long weekend in a nutshell.

While in Minot, I did buy another bass. I was looking for some other gear, but ran across a Peavey five-string active bass at Jacobson’s Music. The price was right and I wanted something with active pickups, so I bought this one after playing on it for about 20 minutes in the store. I played it at both shows in Minot, so I think it was a fairly good buy. This week, I also purchased an in-ear monitor system. I’m pretty sure that only me and about five other people that I know like those things, but I’ve always been a fan and decided to get my own system. Hopefully it gets here by Friday so that I can use them in Madison, SD tomorrow night.

The week has been kind of slow for me coming into today. The AFRC has been full of folks who are on State Active Duty for flood fighting. The Army Band got activated, but because I’m on Active Duty Orders already, I was told to keep doing my job up here in Funeral Honors. So, that’s what I’ve been doing. Tomorrow, I get to go to Minto for a funeral. I have one here in Fargo, too. Then, I get on the road to Madison, SD for a show with Fat Daddy’s. Saturday will feature a Jazz Arts Group rehearsal in the morning and a show in the evening. Sunday is church and then a little bit of hanging out time. I’m sure DeAnn and I will get sushi as we always do on Sunday.

Other than the usual routine and this and that, there’s nothing exciting going on in my life. Just doing my thing. More soon- perhaps something exciting and interesting and out of the ordinary will happen and I’ll be able to update you with more riveting news then!

April 8, 2009

I have to admit that I have laid off of the website for long periods of time before, but never quite this long- over four months. Honestly, things have been hectic with work, gigs, events, and most recently, a fight with a nasty river that has been threatening us all with massive flooding. While the flood threat remains fairly high at this time, and while things really aren’t slowing down at all, I have a lull in my work load, so that gives me a little bit of time to catch up on the site. I don’t know how often I’ll get back at it, but since I have the time now, I’ll jump in and get a few things done!

Since the last time I updated, some holidays have come and gone. I did get home for Christmas for a handful of days. It was basically just my Mom and I- Liz didn’t get home from Denver this year due to some financial strain during a time when she didn’t have a job. It was our second Christmas without Dad around, so that didn’t really make it a whole lot easier, but we did alright. Mom and I exchanged a handful of gifts and attended church together, and on Christmas Day, we had dinner with relatives from Bismarck in town. Over the trip home, I was able to meet up with the usual friends, the so called “tri-fecta” of DeAnn and Jessy. Also, Brad Jensen was home with his fiancé and her kids. It was good to catch up with him and to get to know his lady a little bit better.

New Year’s Eve was also spent in Minot, where I had a gig with Fat Daddy’s. It was fun to be in Minot for that show since my Mom could come out and watch. We played a show to a packed Sports on Tap. We had an incredible time and it ranked up there as far as my years of New Year’s shows had gone. It also gave me a chance to spend a little more time with Mom back home.

Shortly into the new year, we met up for Annual Training in back in Fargo and embarked on another Music in Schools Tour. The Blues in Green rock band took to the road and visited several sites. We started out with playing at a UND hockey game, then moved on to Minot and Kenmare. We also made stops in Crosby, Williston, Watford City, and Killdeer. Our final show took place where we started the tour- at another UND hockey game, this time for the biggest game of the season at the Ralph against the University of Minnesota. We had a good time on the tour and had a great deal of fun playing. The most notable thing about the tour was the fact that at the UND games, I mustered up the strength to say, “Go Sioux” several times against my true inner feelings. But, in show business, you have to appeal to the crowd, and I’m certain that if I would’ve yelled, “Sioux suck”, I would’ve been killed within minutes! Anyhow, hope you enjoyed my faux-Sioux support, Mandy and Tim!

The rest of the winter and spring has been filled with gigs with Helena Handbasket, Fat Daddy’s, and the Fargo-Moorhead Jazz Arts Group Big Band. Work in Military Funeral Honors has been busy as well, especially since Steve, my co-worker, was gone for almost six weeks at a military school leaving me (gasp) in charge of a bunch of stuff! February was a very busy month for us and March wasn’t too slow, either. The flood operations have slowed things up a little bit for us while it has also robbed us of a lot of the personnel we usually use for funerals. But, we’re still managing.

Helena Handbasket continues to move on little by little. I wish we could play more, but when you have seven members and lots of them are really busy doing grown-up stuff such as buying houses, having children, and traveling around the nation, it gets hard to schedule a rehearsal much less a gig. But, we still play once every 6 weeks or so, and that’s cool. Nothing is more enjoyable than playing a show with your friends. We’ve visited the Nestor a few times and also the Silver Dollar out in Elizabeth, Minnesota. We have fun when we get together.

The Fargo-Moorhead Jazz Arts Group has been alright overall. Since resigning from the Board of Directors, I have found it much less stressful to be a part of the organization. The new player representatives that were voted in have a lot more experience and bring a lot more to the table that I ever could. But, most importantly and the main reason I resigned, the handful of folks in the band can trust those reps unlike when I was there. They didn’t have any faith or trust in me, and I’m glad to no longer be what they probably considered an impedance in the path to progress in their eyes. When it comes down to it, I wish that politics didn’t trump the desire to make music, but in today’s world, that’s just the way it is. Nonetheless, the big band sounds good and the organization will evolve as it must as time goes by, and I hope to continue on in the group as a musician for some time into the future without getting caught up in the process. Anyhow, we played two subscriptions shows over the past few months and the fund raiser show in March. The January show was very cool- we featured ourselves and I think the crowd dug it. The band most certainly did. In February, we featured the band on the first half of the show and then Michael Kocour on the second half playing some wonderful piano.

Fat Daddy’s has become my main gig right now, and its fun to get up on stage and play for bar crowds. Billy Dablow is just a great guy to work with- I missed being on stage with him from my old Tripp 40 days. Also, Dan Miller is an incredible guitar player with a great ear and a creative drive that simply wows me each time we play together. We’re playing quite a bit right now, which is nice (and my checkbook appreciates it much), and we’ll see where we go from here. The future is a little unknown at this point.

And, as for me, well, not much really changes for me. I’m trying to eat healthier and trying to exercise more. I practice trombone as much as I can though I don’t have many gigs on the horn. I still watch ‘Scrubs’ religiously. I’m in the middle of the application and interview process for a full-time Guard gig working with Jennifer and Justen- wish me luck, I really want this job- I’ll stay on it until I retire for sure if I get it. Things in the Guard Band are the usual- we’re excited for Dave Stordalen to go to Warrant Officer School and become our commander- I see big things in our future with him fronting the band. Tim Knabe got promoted- very well deserved indeed. I’m hoping for a promotion soon- I was #1 on the promotion list and if I get this job, I’ll also get promoted that way. We’ll see what happens- time will tell.

Overall, things are ok. The flood is the big deal still. We prepared for it a couple of weeks ago. Eddie, Russ, Josh, and I did quite a bit of work together around the area. We worked with Al as well with help from many other friends in the area. Al’s house was spared by a lower crest than what was expected. JoAnn Miller’s house was not as lucky as they took water in the basement, and from what I understand, the other side of their duplex was destroyed by fire (if I read the newspaper article right and if the address in the paper is correct cross checked with the phone book). It’s a tough time for some- I certainly hope that as time goes on, things all work out for everyone. But for now, we have to prepare for another cresting of the river next week. Cross your fingers.

There isn’t too much I can complain about, though. Life is alright. There’s nothing amazingly crazy going wrong with me for now. With that, I take my leave. I hope to update sometime soon…