Tuesday, August 30, 2005

August-Bay City, Cafe Felix, Bloomfield Hills, New Job

Hello,

Well, August has been a relatively slow month as far as music goes. It has been a good time to catch up on work around the house, time with the family, and, of coarse, practicing. The gigs have been light. I played a 45 minute show up in Bay City, MI. with The Gratitude Steel Band out in a park for 200 kids. I think it was the second week in August sometime. We were playing the chicken dance, macerena, hokey pokey, etc. What ever keeps em' moving. Gratitude had another gig happening at the same time, so they had to split the band up. I ended up playing with Loretta on vocals and double seconds, (pans), Anthony on bass, and Dayjumbe on lead pan. I was impressed that Dayjumbe could hold it together so well, considering he is only 9.

Last Friday I played with Deep Blue again for the first time in over a month. It was at Cafe Felix in Ann Arbor. The gig was fun and laid back as always. I was very happy to see some of my students and friends come out. It motivates me to keep sending those bulk e-mails out to let everyone know whats up. Chris the bass player couldn't make the gig due to the fact that his wife had twins the night before. It was still fun to play with Paul and Scott. It is like we can all still feel the bass and play off that feeling. It gives the music a boost. Remember, we had been playing that gig for over a year without a bass player, so it was not so wierd this time. I look forward to playing with them again this coming up Friday. Not sure if Chris will make this one either...we'll see.

So the only other gig was on Sunday with Gratitude. It was the whole family and Guy Barker. We played for a fund-raising party at someones house in Bloomfield Hills. It was a fun gig. There was one lady that danced and enjoyed the band the whole time we were playing. Other than that everyone was pre-occupied with the silent auction, the food, and the schmoozing. Gratitude is used to playing for crowds like this, and it is one of the few bands that I play with that can keep the energy level high without the crowd having to feed it. The name says it...Gratitude. They truly play with it everytime they get behind the instruments.

Oh yea. I recently got hired as a music teacher at Go Like the Wind Montessori School for this upcoming year in Ann Arbor, MI. I will be teaching the 4th,5th, 6th, and 7th grade classes. It sounds like a lot, but because of the way they combine students together, it boils down to just 3 hours a week. I think that the ideas I have been coming up with will have to be whittled down a bit considering the time constraints, but I definitely look forward to starting my career as a school teacher. I got the job through a recommendation from Steve Osburn, the owner of the store where I teach my private students and workshops, not to mention a new World Percussion Ensemble Class that will be starting in a couple of weeks. Anyway, Steve is a teacher at the school and he wanted to lighten his load, so he gave me the nod. We will be working together alot in the coming year, and I look forward to it all.

Cool, I think that is it. I appreciate you reading, and I will write again soon.

John

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