Author: Keith Blaney

For our August 2nd soiree, we met at Lion’s Park North Pavillion for a picnic. It was lightly attended; we’re guessing it was a combination of the ominous clouds early in the evening and the previous weeks’ rodeo activities. The clouds moved along, and it turned into a lovely evening.

Joining us were the entire Johnson clan, Edith Cook, Ron Labrecque, Brian Andreas, Judy Gilmore, and Maria Means. Pete Piatrowski came up from Fort Collins. Isaac Abeyta dropped by with a powerful lantern, just in case we ran out of daylight like last year. Steve did the cooking chores, making burgers, brats, and hot dogs. The rest of us brought side dishes. Of note, Kathy Abeyta’s coconut cream pie was so good that I think someone ate the pan it came in. Sorry Kathy, hope it wasn’t your good china.

The eating portion and playing portion of the evening overlapped a bit, but we finally found our rhythm. The photos this month are thanks to Remy. As the sun sunk lower in the sky, the photojournalism got a bit tricky, but the natural light made for some lovely shots (see above photo) ((well, TWO photos up maybe)) Thanks Remy! By the way, our group song was an acappella ‘Happy Birthday’, for Kristy and Nora Johnson, and our buddy Remy, who turned 84 on Saturday.

Upcoming Event

The Denver Guitar Festival and Competition is being held September 9-11 at the Lamont School of Music, University of Denver. Registration is currently in progress and ends Sept. 1st. Prize money totals $6000 in both adult and youth categories. For more information, visit www.du.edu/lamont/guitarfestival

Playlist August 2022

Keith & Justin, ‘Wake Up Little Suzie’, the Everly Brothers.

Justin & Keith, ‘Bojangles’, Jerry Jeff Walker.

Everybody, (mostly Justin), Wave on Wave, Jason Isbel.

Loren Woodin, ‘Cakewalk To Town’, Taj Mahal.

Rich Ryan, ‘Needle and the Damage Done’, Neil Young.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Suzie Q’, Dale Hawkins.

Ken Frederick, ‘Socky Bombs’, original.

Peter Piatrowski, ‘A Whiter Shade of Pale’, Procal Harem.

Pete, ‘Only You Can Love Me This Way’, Keith Urban.

Kristy Johnson, ‘Vincent (Starry Night)’, Don McClean (Ellie Golding).

Justin Johnson, ‘Hearts Content’, Brandi Carlisle.

Justin, ‘Only Children’, Jason Isbel.

Group, ‘Happy Birthday’, traditional.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Begin the Beguine’, Cole Porter.

Remy & Keith, ‘I Wish I Was Eighteen Again’, Ray Price.

Keith Blaney, ‘Along the Navajo Trail’, Dick Charles, Larry Markes, Eddie DeLange.

Loren Woodin, ‘Universal Sound’, Tyler Childers.

Loren, ‘Old No. 7’, Devil Makes Three.

Steve Gilmore, ‘I Know My Baby Loves Me’, Elliph Ino.

It was a fair turnout, for the 5th of July! No fireworks were harmed during the making of this newsletter. Welcome to Moshe Halfon, our newest guitar playing rabbi in town! Also back in the saddle this month is our friend Edith Cook, who has finally recovered enough from shoulder surgery to play guitar with us again.

Rick and Jeannie teamed up again for a couple of 50-60’s tunes. I’m starting to think Rick has more than one bass; the last one he brought was blue and this one wasn’t. He also brought us a couple more group songs, which always liven’s things up a bit.

Keep your ear trumpet out for the August meeting’s location. I think we’re going to have a picnic someplace. Steve, our grill master for such events, is already wearing his apron around the house. I’ll post the location as soon as I know, and then I’ll post it again in August. Of the picnic, not Steve’s place…

Playlist July 2022

Rick Memmel & Jeannie White, ‘Last Kiss’, J. Frank Wilson & The Cavaliers.

Jeannie White, ‘Desperado’, The Eagles.

Edith Cook, ‘Medley’, Lizt, etc.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Who’s Sorry Now’, Snyder/Kalmar/Ruby.

Moshe Halfon, ‘Ripple’, Grateful Dead/Thompson.

Rich Ryan, ‘Carolina In My Mind’, James Taylor.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Old Fashioned Love’, Bob Wills.

Keith Blaney, ‘Cheyoming Front Rear Daze’, original.

Paul Robertson, ‘dia de los Pinos’, Torroba.

Group Song, ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, Johnny Cash.

Jeannie & Rick, ‘It’s So Easy’, Buddy Holly.

Jeannie, ‘Don’t Know What To Do With Myself’, Dusty Springfield.

Edith Cook, ‘Lament of Orpheus’, C. Gluck.

Remy, ‘God Bless America’, Irvin Berlin.

Moshe, ‘Hofim (Shores)’, Naan Yonatan.

Steve, ‘Should We Tell Him’, Don & Phil Everly.

Rich Ryan, ‘Country Road’, James Taylor.

Keith, ‘Big Empty’, original.

Paul, ‘Torija’, Torroba.

Group, ‘Rave On’, Buddy Holly.

Jeannie, ‘Tears in Heaven’, Eric Clapton.

Edith, ‘Muss I denn’, German folk song.

Moshe, ‘In My Life’, Lennon/McCartney.

Paul, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy’, Reginald Heber (Paul’s arrangement)

Photo credits this month go to Rick Memmel and Rich Ryan.

The ‘report’ from our June 7th meeting, written here on the Summer Solstice, will be full of the same misinformation that you should expect by now. I’m just hoping to be done by sunset.

T’was a pretty good crowd for a summertime meeting, though I don’t think summer had arrived just yet. Welcome back to Paul Robertson, from up Torrington way, lending us a little extra class(ical). Edith Cook came down too, though her shoulder surgery needs a little more time before she’s ready to strum her six string again. Next time we see her she should be good to go.

Bill White got shanghaied into coming; he was looking for some lessons and ended up in the snake pit instead. He played a bit for us anyway, and I admire anyone that can do that. Playing in public is NOTHING like serenading on your sofa. We also had a guest, Bev Fontaine. You are both welcome to join us any time, it was great to have you with us!

As they say in talk radio world, ‘long time listener/first time caller’ Scott Gondzar joined us. He’s been following our shenanigans via the newsletter for some time, but finally got a chance to join us in person. He says his musical influencers are the Three Kings of Blues and Stevie Ray Vaughn. Three Kings, eh? Larry, Billy Jean, and Rodney, right? Shouldn’t give the new guy so much muck to wade through, but I jes cain’t hep micelff. He did play a SRV lick, and he’s quite good!

Rick and Jeannie teamed up for a couple tunes, and Rick brought us the group song as well. It’s a nice break between laps, where we all get to screw up something together.

Picnic planning for August??? Since we don’t have a room secured, we might just be eating out that month. Another housekeeping detail, Rich has been telling us for months now that we start at 6pm, but as musicians, we are legally obligated to ignore such horological restrictions. It’s giving him grey hair, so we should TRY to do better for his hair dresser’s sake.

Playlist for June 2022

Jeannie White and Rick Memmel, ‘Honey Don’t’, Carl Perkins.

Paul Robertson, ‘Squares Suspended’, Andrew York.

Bill White, ‘I’d Love to Change the World’, Ten Years After.

Ken Frederick, ‘And I Love Her’, The Beatles.

Ed Heffern, ‘Fiddler’s Green’, traditional.

Rich Ryan, ‘Leader of the Band’, Dan Fogelberg.

David Norby, ‘Fanny (Be Tender With My Love)’, Bee Gees.

Keith Blaney, ‘Fish and Whistle’, John Prine.

Russ Williams, ‘Nobody, Not Even The Rain’, Alan Thomas.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Folsom Prison Blues’, Johnny Cash.

Jeannie & Rick, ‘Love is All Around’, Troggs.

Group, ‘Old Time Rock & Roll’, Bob Seger.

Jeannie White, ‘It’s Not Easy Being Me’, David Gray.

Rich Ryan, ‘We Just Disagree’, Dave Mason. (moved for picture purposes)

Paul Robertson, ‘Oblivion’, Astor Piazzola.

Scott Gondzar, ‘Change It’, Stevie Ray Vaughn.

Ken Frederick, ‘Til There Was You’, The Beatles.

Ed Heffern, ‘Landslide’, Stevie Nicks.

David Norby, ‘The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down’, The Band (Robbie Robinson)

Keith Blaney, ‘Angel From Montgomery’, John Prine.

Russ Williams, ‘A Cowboy Rides Away’, George Straight.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Roadhouse Boogie’, Duane Eddy.

Jeannie White, ‘Time After Time’, Cyndi Lauper.

Paul Robertson, ‘Ode To Joy’, Ludwig van Beethoven.

Scott Gondzar, ‘San-Ho-Zay’, Freddie King.

Ken Frederick, ‘Penny For Your Thoughts’, Peter Frampton.

Ed Heffern, ‘I Am A Child’, Neil Young.

David Norby, ‘Kicks’, Paul Revere & The Raiders.

Rich Ryan, ‘Sister Golden Hair’, America.

Also joining us this evening were Bev Fontaine and Edith Cook.

Remy Abeyta and I kicked off the meeting at the library with some elevator music, though we weren’t even in the elevators. We did a pretty fair job of ‘The Girl From Ipanema’ too, if I do say so myself!

One of the things that fascinates me about this song are the legal actions that have happened over the years. In the ’90’s, Helø Pinheiro opened a boutique named The Girl From Ipanema, and the owners of the song took her to court for copyright infringement. But the public, and more importantly, the court, said she had every right to use the name because she was, indeed, Garota da Ipanema.

In 1964, Astrud Gilberto, along with Stan Getz, recorded the English language version of the song, the one we are most familiar with. In 2001, the same year as the above legal action, Gilberto tried to sue Frito Lay for using the tune without her permission to sell potato chips. It was another unsuccessful lawsuit, the court ruled in favor of potato chips.

Steve Gilmore is currently playing a steady gig on Thursdays, at the Wig Wam in the Plains Hotel. He starts around 7pm, if you’d like to hear some great pickin’. Also keep your ear trumpet in hand for house concerts and some great acts at the new auditorium out at LCCC. Things are starting to ramp up for the summer!

Playlist for May 2022

Remy Abeyta and Keith Blaney, ‘The Girl From Ipanema’, A.C. Jobim/V. deMoraes.

Russ Williams, ‘Prelude for musique de Salon’, Iznaola.

Jordan Evans, ‘Ripple’, Grateful Dead.

Rich Ryan, ‘Southside Midnight Lady’, Doobie Brothers.

Ken Frederick, ‘Not My Brother’s Jazz’, original.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Standing on the Outside’, Leo Kottke.

Jeannie White, ‘In The Wind’, original.

Ed Heffern, ‘I’ll Follow the Sun’, Lennon/McCartney.

David Norby, ‘Poor Side of Town’, Johnny Rivers.

Keith Blaney, ‘I’m Gonna Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter’, Ahlert & Young

Remy Abeyta, ‘Take These Chains From My Heart’, Hy Heath/Fred Rose.

Russ Williams, ‘In The Wee Small Hours of the Morning’, David Mann/Bob Hillard.

Jordan Evans, ‘All Used Up’, Utah Phillips.

Rich Ryan, ‘Brown Sugar’, Rolling Stones.

Ken Frederick, ‘Strawberry Moon’, original.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Busted Bicycle’, Leo Kottke.

Ed Heffern, ‘Don’t Think Twice’, Bob Dylan.

Jeannie White, ‘The Song Remembers When’, Trisha Yearwood.

David Norby, ‘Look What They’ve Done to My Song’, Melanie.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Los Ojos De Pancha’, Zapata/Elizondo.

Russ Williams, ‘Mimi’, Lemay.

Rich Ryan, ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, Joni Mitchell.

Ken Frederick, ‘Rocky Mountain Sweet’, original.

Photo credits this month: Remy Abeyta and Rich Ryan.

Pretty interesting meeting- AS USUAL!!! Welcome to Loren Woodin, who braved the ‘new guy jitters’ and played a couple tunes for us. I always admire newcomers; that takes some nerve when your previous gigs have all been from your couch. Loren did a great job of it.

There was a piano in the Cottonwood Room for the first time ever, and with a little arm twisting Ed plunked out Elton John’s ‘Your Song’. Really a top notch job of it too, I might add. All stringed instruments are welcomed at Guitar Society.

Rick brought ‘She’ll be Coming ‘Round the Mountain’ and ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’ for the group songs, and an interesting looking Taylor cutaway I haven’t seen before. We’ll have to play 20 questions if he brings it back. All photos this month courtesy of Rich Ryan and Rick Memmel.

Playlist for April 2022

Loren Woodin, ‘Walking Back to Georgia’, Jim Croce.

Keith Blaney, ‘Hot Air Balloon’, original.

David Norby, ‘Travelin’ Man’, Ricky Nelson.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Hello Mary Lou’, Gene Pitney.

Remy Abeyta, ‘San Antonio Rose’, Bob Wills.

Ed Heffern, ‘They Call the Wind Mariah’, Lerner & Loewe.

Rich Ryan, who wrote, ‘Unoun’, Guess Who. indeed…

Group Song, ‘Blue Moon of Kentucky’, Bill Monroe.

Loren Woodin, ‘Fast Hand’, Cody Jinks.

Keith Blaney, ‘Confused’, original.

David Norby, ‘Moody River’, Chase Webster.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Windy and Warm’, J.D. Loudermilk.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Faded Love’, Bob Wills.

Ed Heffern, ‘The M.T.A.’, Kingston Trio.

Ed Heffern, ‘Your Song’, Elton John/Bernie Taupin.

Rich Ryan, ‘Kodachrome’, Paul Simon.

David Norby, ‘Bette Davis Eyes’, Kim Carnes.

Group, ‘She’ll Be Coming ‘Round the Mountain’, traditional. YeeHaw!!!

Loren Woodin, ‘I Can’t Complain’, Todd Snider.

Keith Blaney, ‘My Girl’, Smokey Robinson.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Suzy Q’, John Fogerty.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon’, Tony Orlando & Dawn.

Ed Heffern, ‘Poncho & Lefty’, Townes Van Zandt.

Rich Ryan, ‘Joy to the World’, Three Dog Night.

Usually when the first Tuesday falls on the first day of the month, our turn-out is dismal. It just catches everybody off guard. But our March 1st meeting was fairly well attended, with 12 players and one guest, our friend Ron Labrecque. Mike Clark came up from Ft. Collins, Edith came down from Wheatland. Also some folks we haven’t seen in awhile were Larry Jacobsen, Jeannie White, and Ed Heffern. So it was a good (and talented) crowd for our March madness meeting.

Rick brought not one but two group songs. Only fly in the ointment was our last half dozen meetings or so have been sparsely attended, so we had to share the eight copies around the circle. The first effort, ‘Down On The Corner’ by CCR was pretty raggedy- you know, the usual… But The Youngblood’s ‘Get Together’ turned out quite presentable.

David not only brought us a tune we haven’t heard in awhile (as is usually the case) but he also brought us a visual aid, the album containing his musical offering! I might add, he did this at considerable personal risk; his better half was turning up the heat for this album to be returned to its proper place. He hung tough tho’, and said it would stay out until AFTER the guitar society meeting. We salute your bravery, sir.

Photo credits this month go to Rick Memmel, Rich Ryan, and Susan Blaney.

March 2022 Playlist

Mike Clark, ‘Dream On’, Aerosmith.

Remy Abeyta, ‘I Wish I Was 18 Again’, Ray Price.

Larry Jacobsen, ‘Silent Night’, Franz Xander Gruber.

David Norby, ‘Marrakesh Express’, Graham Nash.

Edith Cook, Medley of three songs, miscellaneous artists.

Ed Heffern, ‘Here, There, and Everywhere’, McCartney/Lennon.

Jeannie White, ‘Stay’, Alison Krauss.

Keith Blaney, ‘Rock Salt & Nails’, Utah Phillips.

Richita Ryan, ‘Wichita Lineman’, Jimmy Webb.

Steve Gilmore, ‘I Might Take You Back Again’, Jimmy Hadley.

Roland Peterson, ‘If I Needed You’, Townes Van Zandt.

Group, ‘Down On The Corner’, Creedence Clearwater Revival.

Mike Clark, ‘Scarborough Fair’, Simon & Garfunkel.

Remy Abeyta, medley ‘Moonglow/Picnic’, Will Hudson, Irving Dunning.

Larry Jacobsen, ‘Day Has Begun’, original.

David Norby, ‘Tiny Dancer’, Elton John/Bernie Taupin.

Edith Cook, ‘Lagrima’, F. Tarrega.

Ed Heffern, ‘Saint Brendan Had a Boat’, Brent Hoad from The Elders.

Jeannie White, ‘Cowboys Are My Weakness’, Tricia Yearwood.

Keith Blaney, ‘Daydream’, John Sebastian.

Rich Ryan, ‘Ain’t Misbehavin’, Fats Waller.

Roland Peterson, ‘I Still Miss Someone’, Johnny Cash.

Mike Clark, ‘The Claw’, Jerry Reed.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Stardust’, Hoagy Carmichael.

Group, ‘Get Together’, Youngbloods.

Our meeting was held Feb 1st in the library’s Cottonwood Room. Sort of like the ‘twelve man’ in football, where the crowd is a factor, Mother Nature was our ‘sixth man’ this month, with quite a snowstorm blowing that kept the reasonable among us at home.

Justin has a new guitar! It’s a Taylor 414 (I think he said) in tobacco burst. We all took a lick on it, pretty nice box. He played the frets off his last guitar, so it will need some TLC while he wears this one out.

Rick brought not one but two group songs. Good thing too, or we’d have been done by 8:00. Meanwhile, Rich brought not one but ZERO guitars. Didn’t stop him from sharing some of his tunes with us though. His air guitar playing was flawless.

Just a few days before, the library held its guitar contest. This year they added a new category, ‘Other Stringed Instruments But Not Piano’. It was hotly contested, with violins, ukuleles, electric bass, cellos, and even a banjo. Really enjoyable and eclectic performances by all the players. I think they will be keeping it; I certainly hope so.

Playlist February 2022

Keith Blaney, ‘When I’m 64’, Lennon/McCartney.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Hold To A Dream’, Tim O’Brien.

Rick Memmel, ‘Happy Birthday’, traditional.

Rich Ryan, ‘One Tin Soldier’, Coven.

Keith, ‘Yesterday’, Lennon/McCartney.

Group song, ‘As Tears Go By’, Rolling Stones.

Steve, ‘Hesitation Blues’, Gillham & Smith.

Justin, ‘Don’t Know Why’, Nora Jones.

Rich, ‘Mr. Bojangles’, Jerry Jeff Walker.

Group, ‘Heart of Gold’, Neil Young.

Steve, ‘Walk Away Renae’, Left Bank.

Keith, ‘Mother Nature’s Son’, George Harrison.

Justin, ‘Free’, Zac Brown.

most of the photos this month courtesy of Rich Ryan.

Happy New Year! Our meeting on January 4th was held in the library’s Cottonwood Room. We had a nice, albeit small group. Welcome to Tifanne Gerber, who tagged along with Steve and added some vocals. AMAZING vocals, I might add; she’s got quite a set of pipes! Welcome to you Tiffane, please come back again!

Both Roland and Russ sang for us, and Roland brought a guitar with steel strings, the first time I can recall that happening. With the small group we had, we didn’t mess with elections or such. However, dues were collected and we talked about the most excellent show by Sean McGowan and Martin Gilmore at the Surburgg/Prentice Auditorium from last month.

The library’s ‘One World Prairie Guitar Contest’ is next Saturday, January 22nd. There are new categories, with other stringed instruments invited, and higher prize rewards out to 4 places. Contest held during the day, with the winner’s performance the same evening. Admission is free to the public, and you can still enter to compete! More information is available on the Laramie County Library website.

Our 24th Valentines Romance dinner/concert will feature Johan Smith from Switzerland, the 2021 Guitar Foundation of America (GFA) International Competition winner. Dinner and concert we be held on Feb 14th out at LCCC. More information on this event will be in your inbox within the next few hours.

Playlist for January 2022

Roland Peterson, ‘Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain’, Fred Rose.

David Norby, ‘Darlin’, Beach Boys.

Jordan Evans, ‘Quite Early Morning’, Pete Seeger.

Rich Ryan, ‘Never Going Back Again’, Lindsey Buckingham.

Keith Blaney, ‘I Still Write Your Name In The Snow’, Chet Atkins.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Dress Rehearsal’, Jody Adams.

Russ Williams, ‘Walzer,’ Nikita Koshkin.

Roland Peterson, ‘Gulf Coast Highway’, Nanci Griffith.

David Norby, ‘Angie Baby’, Helen Reddy.

Jordan Evans, ‘IRA’, Nick Shoulders.

Rich Ryan, ‘Blackbird’, Paul McCartney.

Keith Blaney, ‘You’ve Got A Friend’, Carole King.

Steve Gilmore & Tiffane Gerber, ‘Steel Rails’, Allison Krause.

Russ Williams, ‘Christmas Valentine’, Jason Mraz/Ingrid Michaelson.

Jordan Evans, ‘Long Violent History’, Tyler Childers.

Rich Ryan, ‘Tears In Heaven’, Eric Clapton.

Keith Blaney, ‘Wonderful World’, Sam Cooke.

Steve Gilmore & Tiffane Gerber, ‘Every Day’, Buddy Holly.

Russ Williams, ‘Cayatina’, Stanley Myers.

Also in attendance was Rick Memmel.

We met at the First United Methodist Church downtown for our December Guitar Society meeting. Nice big meeting room and handy parking, more than adequate for our eight participants this month.

First I’d like to start with a thank you to Edith, who drove down from suburban Torrington just to share her Christmas cookies with us. Edith recently had shoulder work done and is recovering well, but unable to play her guitar just yet. Her cookies were delicious, so many thanks for making the trip.

Our other wounded warrior who surprised us was Ken, who recently lost the tip of a finger to a rabid car in Hawaii. Not to put too fine a point on it (too soon?), his middle finger on his strumming hand is rather tender, and you could see him wincing every now and then when it collided with the strings. Hats off to a brave performance by one of our stalwarts.

It seems to me, if you write a song it should AUTOMATICALLY just be there, under your fingers and in your memory bank, whenever you want to play it. But it doesn’t work that way; you have to learn them just like any other song. So while it seems like I am picking on Justin for his cheat sheet, I am really empathizing. It’s not fair, if you ask me.

The other wonderful thing that happened this month, on the 11th, was a concert by Sean McGowan and Martin Gilmore, out at LCCC’s new Surbrugg/Prentice Auditorium. Sean is a jazz guitarist, while Martin is a singer/songwriter. Both teach down in Colorado, both are top shelf musicians. The only reason we could afford to sponsor this concert is they aren’t famous yet. The new facility is stunning. Martin and Sean gave a free workshop during the day, where they swapped stories about their craft and took questions from the peanut gallery. Just a treat to get to rub shoulders with such talented musicians.

Playlist for December 2021

Remy Abeyta, Christmas Carol Medley, Williams/Oliphant/Gruber. (I have a video clip of this I will add once I learn how).

Rick Memmel, ‘God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen’, ‘Jingle Bells’, ‘Silent Night’, asst. authors.

Ken Frederick, ‘Two Of Us’, Lennon/McCartney.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Hallelujah, Hear The Angels Sing’, Martin Gilmore.

Justin Johnson, ‘Gentle On My Mind’, Glen Campbell.

Rich Ryan, ‘Jesus: Joy of Man’s Desiring’, J.S. Bach.

Russ Williams, ‘Estrellita’, Ponce.

Remy, ‘Limbo Rock’, Chubby Checker.

Rick Memmel, ‘Honey Don’t’, Carl Perkins.

Ken Frederick, ‘Something’, George Harrison.

Steve, ‘Wings of Angels’, The Stanley Brothers.

Justin, ‘Yuengling’, original.

Rich Ryan, ‘You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch’, Dr. Seuss & Albert Hague.

Russ Williams, ‘Let It Snow’, Jule Styme.

Remy, ‘Arizona Highway’, original.

Rick, ‘Amazing Grace’, played with harmonics, arrangement by Jaco Pastorius.

Justin, ‘Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters’, Elton John.

Group Song, ‘Silent Night’.

Just a half dozen of us had the library’s Cottonwood Room all to ourselves. It was still a most pleasant gathering, with plenty of time for stories, jokes, and giving each other a hard time.

Remy had me as a backing track for one of his tunes. We did Joseph Kosma’s ‘Autumn Leaves’ together. It was a tricky piece to play, with a bunch of cool jazz chords, but it was worth the effort. We did a presentable job of it; thanks Remy!!!

Russ sang one; Russ has been singing more often this year. Remy sang one, and played an original tune as well, both were a first for our group. Thanks Remy! David brought us a few songs we haven’t heard in awhile, as is his custom. T’was a very nice, low key meeting. That said, here’s hoping we have more folks show up for our December gathering and it’s a bit more chaotic…

Playlist for November 2021

Russ Williams started us out with Walzer, by Nikita Koshku.

Remy Abeyta/Keith Blaney, Autumn Leaves, Joseph Kosma & Johny Mercer.

Rich Ryan, ‘Cinnamon Girl’, Neil Young.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Sleep With One Eye Open’, Lester Flatt.

David Norby, ‘Brandy (You’re a Fine Girl)’, Looking Glass.

Russ Williams, ‘When First Into This Country’, unknown.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Sone Contigo (I Dream of You)’, original. (there needs to be a squiggle over the ‘n’, and an accent on the ‘e’ of Sone, but I don’t know how to make that happen)

Keith, ‘Miss Celie’s Blues’, Quincy Jones and others.

Rich Ryan, ‘Still, You Turn Me On’, Greg Lake.

Steve, ‘All My Life’, Pat Donohue.

David, ‘Who Will Sing Me Lullabyes’, Kate Rusby.

Russ Williams, ‘Canción Triste’, Farinae.

Remy Abeyta, ‘It’s Been A Long, Long Time’, Jules/Styne.

Keith, ‘City of New Orleans’, Steve Goodman.

Rich, ‘Blues Etude’, Keb Mo.

Steve, ‘How Long Have I Been Waiting For You?’, Jonathan Edwards.

David, ‘Viva la Vida’, Coldplay (Chris Martin)

Russ, ‘Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue’, Crystal Gale.