Sunday, August 30, 2009

Art Street 8/29/09

Green Bay, WI was getting rained on, and was in the low 40's by the time we were supposed to take the stage. There was no audience, and the festival more or less shut down while we waited for the weather to change. The only change that happened before we took the stage was the sun went down and the wind picked up. We played an hour and ten minute show to about a dozen of the festival workers before we left, feeling the inevitable colds invading our bodies.


Saturday, August 29, 2009

Czar's 8/28/09


Big Crowd
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group
We drove to this cool club in St. Joseph, MI to once again back up Duke Tumatoe. This club rocks, but it is fairly smokey. Joe kept having little bits of the foam, which surrounded him, fall in his eye. This crowd was there to party, and they danced as much as they could, right up to our last note!
Bill Ritter and Duke Tumatoe Dan Holmes and Duke Tumatoe Bill Ritter's Solo Joe Maddox's Solo


Friday, August 28, 2009

Zydeco's 8/27/09

A large group was in tonight to celebrate their daughter's 21st birthday. We had fun performing our songs, and the food was awesome, as always. Bill and I added a few new tunes and we revived the requested "Lost At Sea" track from my CD, "Burning Down". Fun stuff!


Sunday, August 23, 2009

Wilson Winery 8/22/09

We drove until the only thing we could see was soy bean fields all around us. We set up and started playing right on time, and Duke instantly had the crowd up on it's feet dancing. Duke's wife was there, as was most of Bill's family, so between sets, we all had a chance to talk and catch up. My wife stayed at home to mow the grass, and was stung 9x by bees! She's fine, but I worried about her all night. The people at Wilson's are great, and they took good care of us on this unusually cold August night (low 60's)!


Saturday, August 22, 2009

Spike's Beach Grill 8/21/09

Rain followed us to Warsaw. On our drive up, Bill and I stopped at a place on 31 we've passed a million times, and we took a few pictures. Our first set was dry, but it started coming down before we took the stage for set 2. Not a big deal, though. Most of the people just moved under the edge of the building, and the stage has a nice roof over it. Some of our cases got a little soggy, but we still had fun.
Spike's Beach Grill in Warsaw, Indiana Spike's Beach Grill in Warsaw, Indiana-1 Bill Ritter's Guns


Friday, August 21, 2009

Zydeco's 8/20/09


Deb Plays Dan
Originally uploaded by Dan Holmes Group
We started at about 6:45 tonight, mostly because the crowd wasn't coming in until after the Colts game. Bill and I performed a straight 2:45 minute set to the delight of the people who were listening. The few who weren't listening should've been listening because I'm not repeating myself again. I said, I'm not repeating myself again. Did you hear me? I'M NOT REPEATING MYSELF AGAIN.
Deb Plays Dan While Dan Plays Piano At Zydeco's in Mooresville, Indiana


Thursday, August 20, 2009

Concert Under The Stars 8/19/09

Rain forced our previously scheduled outdoor show inside. We set up in a school auditorium and had a good time. When we started, we were a little nervous because the average age of the crowd seemed to be 65+, and they billed Duke as "Self Styled Oldies and Jazz". Also, they asked us to turn down before we even took the stage (it was hard to talk over our ipod music). But once we began, everyone had fun and they told us they'd love to have us back!
Concert Under The Stars in La Grange, IL-1


Sunday, August 16, 2009

Chain O Lakes 8/15/09

Duke led us to the west side of South Bend to perform for the "Corn and Sausage Fest" at Chain O Lakes conservatory. We had a good show, and our P.A. was really sounding good thanks to the addition of a new pair of subs. The crowd was reserved, but they had a good time. The guy who showed up last year at a gig and did the worm, showed up to do the worm again this year. Awesome.

After the show, they set off a fireworks display. Somehow, the rockets began to shoot directly into the crowd. We took cover behind our gear, and as far as I know, no one was hurt.


Saturday, August 15, 2009

Howl At The Moon 8/14/09

Joe Maddox stepped up on this gig. I threw all kinds of new tunes at him, and he played them like he'd already played them a hundred times before. Bill Ritter took a bass solo, even though the red-shirted guy in the front row didn't want him to, and the crowd had a great time. I gave out several cards to people looking to book us for private events. All-in-all, one of the best crowds we've had at Howl!
Bill Ritter in downtown Indy Joe Maddox in downtown Indy
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Friday, August 14, 2009

Zydeco's 8/13/09

Deb danced almost all night tonight while we played our songs in Mooresville tonight. The first set, the crowd was more active. They seemed to enjoy what we were doing. The second set, I think people were dreading going home, or dreading work tomorrow morning, or dreading our next song. I never was too sure what the were dreading, but it was something for the last forty-five minutes. I still had fun.



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Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Howl At The Moon 8/11/09

I was called to fill in at Howl tonight in downtown Indy. Fun show, a little quiet, but still fun. The people were trying to stump us, and we had a good time trying to not let them. I spent some time behind the drum kit supporting the other players while I wasn't playing piano...


Monday, August 10, 2009

Half Price Books 8/9/09

Due to a scheduling conflict, Bill couldn't perform with me today, so Jack Joseph filled in. It was even hotter today than yesterday, and playing outside on concrete was a little brutal. That didn't stop all the people from browsing and buying bunches of used books from my favorite bookseller! It must've been in the low 90's, but it was humid and it felt much warmer. The gig went great, and everyone took copies of my new postcard to find our schedule online. Fun day!
We're At The End

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Sunday, August 9, 2009

Cheeseburger And Fun 8/8/09

As Duke says regularly, "I'm just glad no one was hurt." The ending of the big show in Danville, IL had the P.A. company's main amplifier arching and shooting flames. It sounded like gunshots going off behind my back, while I played a solo in "Stormy Weather". The soundman had to pull the power for the stage, so there ended the show. Up to that point, we had a huge crowd on a hot (upper 80's) evening. Thanks to everyone for understanding why we had to stop early!


Half Price Books 8/8/09

Amazing to think that we played the Grand Opening of this store a year ago, and now Bill Ritter and I were back for their one year anniversary. It was hot on the concrete in front of the store, and I got a little sunburnt. We had people standing inside the store (in the air conditioning) listening to us, then they'd come out in between songs to buy our CDs and find out what our upcoming schedule is, then hurry off to the air again. I know we did well because it was August and we sold Christmas CDs, but looking at the photo, it's like no one was there.

P.S. Vote for us (click here to vote) on the A-list! Remember, we're listed under "wedding bands".


Saturday, August 8, 2009

Square Fair 8/7/09

Duke took us to Lima, OH to perform at a huge festival downtown. We arrived a bit early, so we took it easy for a couple of hours before the show. The staff was great, and they helped us find food and drinks before we performed. There was a three-camera crew there, broadcasting on a huge screen so the people in the back could see the show. This is the warmest weekend we could've picked for all-outdoor shows! One down, three to go!
The crowd in Lima, OH Duke Tumatoe and the Power Trio in Lima, OH Joe Maddox in Lima, OH Joe Maddox and Bill Ritter in Lima, OH Dan Holmes in Lima, OH


Friday, August 7, 2009

Zydeco's 8/6/09

This week, we brought our video cameras and filmed our first three songs as a test for some performance footage. I sold a few CD's, and people were generally happy to eat and listen to us. It was a fairly laid-back crowd, but they were into what we were doing. I was into Chef Carter's shrimp chowder. Mmmmmmmmm......

P.S. Vote for us (click here to vote) on the A-list! Remember, we're listed under "wedding bands".


Monday, August 3, 2009

Zydeco's 8/2/09

I headed straight from the church service to perform at brunch in Mooresville, IN. We tried out a few new songs much to the delight of several regular fans. Everyone is starting to get a taste of the new CD I've been working on...and I got a taste of the most amazing shrimp and grits ever for brunch.

P.S. Vote for us (click here to vote) on the A-list, too! Remember, we're listed under "wedding bands". Ha!


7th & 8th Church Service 8/2/09

The General Assembly was this weekend, so I went in to perform "What A Wonderful World" for the church service this morning. My wife took a photo of me with my parents in the balcony of their church.
The Holmes'


Sunday, August 2, 2009

Madam Carroll 8/1/09

We headed to Monticello, IN tonight to perform with Duke on board the fun tour boat. We had a huge crowd for the first show, then we docked, and some people left. The second show was also fun, and Duke sold quite a few CDs. Joe's wife came along and took some pictures of the band.


Saturday, August 1, 2009

Howl At The Moon 7/31/09

Joe Maddox, Bill Ritter and I performed to a full house at Howl tonight. Quite a few fans came out, and we slammed through two full hours of non-stop music. The crowd brought up TONS of requests for the piano players (who were on after us), but when the players got there, they just threw them away. Huh. We had a bunch of people approach us about private gigs at this show, too.
 


P.S. Vote for us (click here to vote) on the A-list! As I've said before, we're listed under "wedding bands". Uhgg.