My Regional Communicator friends from the PHiP Midwest Region, Dawnie and Jim, decided to put together a regional party during MOTM week. Lots of clubs have events but I think this was the first sponsored by a region. It was advertised as a potluck because each of the entertainers brought just a little bit to share. Though, one guy didn't get it and asked Dawnie where the food was.
I don't know whose idea it originally was but Barb Herzog was the workhorse as she tried to schedule and manage the entertainment. Her husband Dave was also invaluable working the equipment and played with several of the entertainers, too. He's a great pan player.
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| Big Jim, Mary Ann, Barb and Dave Herzog, Jim and Dawnie |
Oh, and there was sooooo much entertainment! The official party was from 7 PM to midnight on Wednesday night at Schooner Wharf Bar. Dawnie had to evict the last performer from the stage right at midnight, it was that full of an evening. Our gig was following up the CD release party for the band Homemade Wine.
Wow, Homemade Wine has a lot of fans. And, deservedly so. They were awesome! They had the place packed for their gig, played a slot in ours and also let us use their equipment for the event. Very cool.
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| Homemade Wine - Buy Their CD! |
Barb gave everyone except Homemade Wine just a 15 minute slot to play. That was about time for 2 to 3 songs each. As we got closer to the show day, more and more entertainers were asking for a spot. It was so fun to see that they all wanted to play. And, it was convenient for them as Barb worked them in around their other gigs that night. Have I mentioned how much work Barb did to make this all happen? A lot.
At my count, we had 16 different acts for the night. My count is from my pictures as I was the official event photographer. I'm bummed that my camera doesn't do as well at night as I wanted to so some of the pics weren't that great but I did get everyone. Barb was nice enough to tag all of the musicians on Facebook the next day so I didn't have to.
Our very own star musician, Sam Rainwater played the party. He was joined on stage by another Arizona peep, Dan Creed. Dan rocks at the harmonica and can join in with anyone.
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| Dan "Chili" Creed and Sam "Rocket Man" Rainwater |
The whole evening was great but I think the highlight for most of the crowd was when KD Moore showed up and brought along Greg "Fingers" Taylor and Amy Lee. Those are former members of Jimmy Buffett's band for those not in the know. They played with Mike Broward who really enjoyed the experience as well.
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| Fingers, Mike, KD and Amy - Awesomesauce! |
Poor Jim Hoehn. He had to follow the former Coral Reefers. As always, he was fun and a good sport about it.
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| Seriously, I have to play after those guys? |
The highlight for the night for my friend Norene was to pose with Fingers. He was just hanging around and she was fluttering around him when I asked her if she wanted a picture with him. "YES!" I don't know why she didn't ask herself but I think she was too starstruck. I wasn't. "Hey, Greg, would you mind posing for a picture?" "Not at all!"
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| We call her Wet Spot - Can you guess why? |
I posted the picture on Facebook and was holding it ransom until she signed up but I don't think that will ever happen so I'm just going to email it to her.
What a great evening it was. People were talking about it the rest of the week and I imagine we'll have even more of a bash next year. Can't wait!
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