How Bout Them Stillers?

What a fricken game! I just got done watchin the Steelers beat the Ravens and win the division championship and a first round bye. What a game! Fantastic finish and a great defensive matchup. The Steelers got it done when they needed to. Just like the Christmas party at the Irwin Eagles. We got it done when we needed to. Despite fighting a bad cold, I was able to put forth a respectable vocal performance although the cold did get the better of my equilibrium and I almost fell into Frank on the very first song. How embarassing! For those of you who don't know by now, I don't drink or do illegal drugs anymore so the thought that my balance was affected by other influences would be incorrect. I do on rare occasion enjoy a sip or two of Old No. 7, but I usually only enjoy that in front of a bonfire at home when I don't have to worry about anything like travelling. The guys sounded incredible last night and a good time was had by all. A relatively small but enthusiastically appreciative crowd enjoyed the show and the 8 - 12 show meant that we could all come home and be with our families a litttle sooner. Hopefully we can get the original material recorded over the holiday break and get this record deal thing squared away. We have two weeks off although we are presently trying to negotiate a New Years Eve gig. For those of you who aren't aware, I was making $600 vs. 90% of the door minimum almost 25 years ago in night clubs when things were alot less expensive. Today a good working band is making around 25% less than that because of the DUI laws and DJ's and karaoke. This is honestly one of the best and most talented groups of guys I've had the priviledge of playing with and the declining of both revenue and audience numbers are hard to understand. Its not just southern rock that we are representing, but classic rock, and live music. And that makes our form of entertainment special (yeah yeah, never start a sentence with a preposition......lighten up already). It is those people who get excited, follow the band and get to know the players who are going to benefit if this thing goes global as I hope it will. This is why we name names in this blog. While we love all of the people who come and interact with us, there is something to be said for the regulars. Not just the wives and girlfriends, but Kathy and John, Bill, John (a different John) and all of those people whose faces we recognize but names we may forget. When this band hits the big money circuit, it is you who will be rewarded with access, tickets and whatever else we can think of to thank you for being loyal from the start. In case I get tied up, or the family is using this $1500 deck of cards preventing me from posting something soon, have a safe and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. A great crowd makes it all worth while. Thanks for your support in 2008. Look forward to entertaining you in 2009! God Bless Us everyone