Back At Again This Weekend- A New Venue!

After shivering through the last few weekends with nothing to do but shovel snow then watch more come down, we're back at it this weekend, Friday night at BAR SEVENTY-ONE. For those of you who keep track of such things, it was called The Porch of All Sorts until a few months ago. It's right at the I-71/Fields-Ertel interchange, so it's very easy to spot and find. We're excited about playing there-it fits us well; a HUGE stage (we love that!) a spacious dance floor, and of course, great food, cold beer, a lively crowd, and a great staff. We want to make a great first impression there, so come on out and join us. We've been missing you!

Also, this Saturday evening, we're going to put on our tuxes, shine our shoes, and maybe even get Curt to comb his hair so we can properly entertain the members of the Wetherington Golf & Country Club in West Chester at their Valentine's Day Dance. We've played there a few times in the past for individual members, but we're really excited to be playing for the club itself. It's a fabulous facility, and the people there have been wonderful to deal with.

John has work conflicts this weekend, so we'll be joined by Bill Tipkemper at trumpet both Friday and Saturday nights. Bill has played in bands in and around the area for many years, most recently in The Barstool Gypsies. He's also a frequent fill-in for our friends in Bluestone Ivory. We look forward to working with him.

Speaking of Bluestone Ivory, we've just confirmed our second Blast of Brass date for this summer. Like last year, we'll be joining Bluestone Ivory for 2 joint concert presentations. Like last year, each band will present a solo set of their own tunes, but one change that virtually all of us agreed upon is that instead of just joining forces for a couple of songs at the beginning of the evening and a couple more at the end of the evening, the two bands will be playing a full set of music together. Both bands=17 playing members with an 8 piece horn section. Coming at you full-bore. We've got a bit of work ahead of us to get it together, but we're confident it will be even bigger and badder than last year! The dates are July 3 in Fairfield, and July 28 in Sharonville. We'll keep you posted.

Last (but, of course, not least) on the agenda, after being snowed out for several weeks in a row, we were finally able to get in our annual meeting of the minds to discuss band business, equipment issues, new tunes, etc. As usually happens in these meetings, a majority of the time was spent on what new tunes we want to learn and play this year. Everyone has their favorites, so we always end up with a long list. Here's your chance to chime in.....we've listed several of the songs we talked about adding (up at the top and off to the >>>>>right>>>>>>>). Check off the ones you'd most like to see us add-you can check however many you'd like. We'll change the list next week, so check back and vote again. You can also leave any other song suggestions you'd like for us in the "comments" below. Thanks for checking in on us, and we'll see you soon!