Author: Keith Blaney

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.

On October 5th, we were up in the Sunflower Room at the library. It’s been a long time since we’ve met upstairs in the silo shaped portion of the building, and I forgot how interesting the acoustics are up there. From where I was sitting, it sounded like Steve had a string section playing with him (like violins and such, not just the Mando on steroids) and Austin seemed to have someone harmonizing with him.

Oh yeah, meet Austin, the new guy. Once Jordan finally caught up with us, he decided we were ok, and invited Austin along as well. It’s a tough gig, playing for a bunch of guitarded folks sitting in a circle, watching you like a hawk, but Austin did a great job. Happy you joined us, and hope to see both you and Jordan on a regular basis!

I’ve blabbered about this before, but it’s always a sweet surprise when Dave Norby shows up. He always brings a song or two you haven’t heard in many moons. I don’t know where he finds them, or how he figures them out; I am just tickled he did.

Good to have Shane Wallace back, another player who comes at it from a different angle than our normal fare. Tangy, spicy, with a touch of madness. OK, I’m exaggerating, a little bit, just consider it poetic license at Shane’s expense.

Playlist for October 2021

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

Keith Blaney, ‘Dock of the Bay’, Otis Redding.

David Norby, ‘Son of a Preacher Man’, Dusty Springfield.

Shane Wallace,’Here Comes The Night’, Them.

Jordan Evans, ‘We’re Gonna Be Friends’, White Stripes.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Old Ebenezer Scrooge’, Bill Monroe.

Rich Ryan, ‘Little Martha’, Duane Allman.

Russ Williams, ‘Cavatina’, Stanley Myers.

Remy, ‘Sleepwalk’, Sango Santo & Johny.

Keith, ‘Angel From Montgomery’, John Prine.

David Norby, ‘Then You Can Tell Me Goodbye’, John Loudermilk (The Casinos)

Shane Wallace, ‘Still of the Night’, Sanford Clark.

Jordan Evans, ‘Corpus Christie Bay’, Robert Earl Keane.

Austin White, ‘Lonely Boy’, Black Keys.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Less & Less’, Tim O’Brien.

Rich Ryan, ‘MODOC’, Steve Morse.

Russ Williams, ‘The River Is Wide’, traditional.

Remy, ‘La Pecosita’, Lalo Elizalde.

Keith, ‘I Will’, Paul McCartney.

Shane, ‘Lonesome Me’, Don Gibson.

Jordan, ‘Not in Nuttingham’, Roger Miller.

Austin, ‘Midnight Special’, Credence Clearwater Revival.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Four Wet Pigs’, Bryan Bowers.

Remy, ‘How Great Thou Art’, Carl Boberg.

Can’t say I had much enthusiasm for the Sept. 7th meeting at the library. I’m glad I dragged my lazy (self) to the library, though. It turned out to be a very entertaining session. One of the smiles was a new guy; welcome to Jordan Evans! He also showed up to the library for the August meeting, but we pimped him out and went to Ernie and Melinda’s instead, and had ourselves a picnic in the rain. Jordan caught up to us this month though.

Jordan sat by the door, just to make sure we didn’t sneak by him again. Steve brought a 12 string, Rick brought a group song, two of our classical players sang for us. So lots of points of interest.

A brief aside: The Flat Earth Society claims members from all over the globe. Their words, not mine. I think there is scientific evidence that the Earth, is not in fact, flat. If it were, cats would have knocked everything over the edge by now.

The group song, Neil Young’s ‘Down By the River’ went about as well as usual (not that great). Apologies all around, tho’ none required.

Ernie brought a new song, and it was stunning. Most of us youngsters recognize it as a Blood, Sweat, and Tears tune, but they stole it from Billy Holiday. ‘God Bless The Child’ by Holiday and Arthur Herzog.

Playlist for September 2021

Russ Williams started us with ‘Homage to Villa Lobos’, Carlos Fonseca.

Roland Peterson, ‘Suite #2’, Leo Brouwer.

Ken Frederick, ‘It’s Over’, original.

Keith Blaney, ‘Dream A Little Dream’, Andre/Kahn.

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

David Norby, ‘I Say A Little Prayer’, Burt Bacharach & Hal David.

Steve Gilmore, ‘The Driving of The Year Nail’, Leo Kottke.

Ernie Brazzale, ‘God Bless The Child’, Billy Holiday/Arthur Herzog.

Jordan Evans, ‘I Remember Everything’, John Prine.

Remy Abeyta, ‘Moonglow/Picnic’ medley, Morris Stolloff.

Edith Cook, three short pieces, misc. authors.

Russ Williams, ‘Try to Remember’, Harvey Schmidt/Tom Jones.

Roland Peterson, ‘My Sweet Wyoming Home’, Bill Staines.

Keith Blaney, ‘As Time Goes By’, Herman Hupfeld.

Rick Memmel brought the group song, ‘Down By The River’, Neil Young.

Ken Frederick, ‘Here Comes The Sun’, George Harrison.

Rich Ryan, ‘Baby Blue’, Badfinger.

David Norby, ‘Early Morning Rain’ Gordan Lightfoot.

Ernie Brazzale, ‘You Belong To Me’, Price, King & Stewart.

Jordan Evans, ‘Sink, Florida, Sink’, Against Me!

Remy Abeyta, ‘Sweet Dreams’, Don Gibson.

Edith Cook, ‘Lagrina’, Francisco Tarrega.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Last Steam Engine Train’, Kirk McGee.

Photo credits to Rich Ryan, and a couple fuzzy ones by yours truly.

We got together August 3rd at Ernie and Melinda’s place for some burgers, brats, and tunes. It was thrown together quickly, so we were unsure just how many folks would show up. Turn-out was 15 or so (more than 10 and I kept my shoes on, so I’m just guessin’…)

Mother Nature crashed the party, raining steadily almost all day and night. Luckily Melinda and Ernie had cleared some space in the garage, and most of us were able to retreat indoors. Everyone but Steve, that is; he had duty on the grill outside. However, he claimed he’s been rained on before and it didn’t have a permanent effect on him, so we abandoned him out there until the cooking chore was done. And a fine job he did, too! The food was delicious, thanks to Steve and all the people that brought side dishes.

It was good to see Pete from Fort Collins. I wrote a song that prominently features Pete, so decided to play it for him. When it got to the part in the song that mentions him, I forgot the words and mumbled through most of it. Anyone that writes songs will tell you IT’S NOT FAIR. You have to learn the song, same as any other. You’d think it would be automatic! I doubt anyone noticed, except maybe me and Pete. Sorry, Pete.

Since we weren’t going to get kicked out at 8:45, we took some time for stories and extra laps around the circle. Edith needed to hit the road, so we started with the group song. Russ, on his third go-round, sang one for us, ‘On The Coast of Marceille’, by Jimmy Buffet. Always a treat when Russ sings.

August 2021 Playlist

Group Song, ‘Don’t Pass Me By’, Ringo Starr.

Edith Cook, ‘Si lo M’Accordio, scribble.

Russ Williams, ‘Recuerdo de la Alhambre’, Tarrega.

Ken Frederick, ‘Labor Day’, original.

Pete Piotrowski, ‘Couldn’t Get It Right’, Climax Blues Band.

Ernie Brazzale/Rick Memmel, ‘Somewhere Over The Rainbow’, Isreal Kamakawiwo arrangement.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Oh Mona’, Bob Wills.

Ernie Brazzale, ‘Misty’, Stokely Carmichael.

Justin Johnson, ‘Goodbye Carolina’, Marcus King.

Keith Blaney, ‘You’ve Got a Friend in Me’, Randy Neuman.

Rich Ryan, ‘Don’t Let Me Down’, Beatles.

Russ Williams, ‘Cavatina’, Stanley Da….scribble.

Ken Frederick, ‘Looking Out at Longs Peak’, original.

Ernie B., ‘Someone To Watch Over Me’, J.S. Bach.

Justin Johnson, ‘The Boxer’, Simon & Garfunkel.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Marvelous Toy’, Tom Paxton.

Keith, ‘A Little Help From My Friends’, Ringo Starr.

Rich, ‘Drift Away’, Dobie Gray.

Pete Piotrowski, ‘Joker’, Steve Miller.

Russ Williams, ‘On the Coast of Marseille’, Jimmy Buffet.

Ken Frederick, ‘July Rain/October Snow’, original.

Ernie B., ‘Minnie the Moocher’, Gab Calloway.

Justin Johnson, ‘Wave on Wave’, Pat Green.

Keith, ‘Karaoke Queen’, original.

Rich Ryan, ‘Me & Julio Down by the School Yard’, Paul Simon.

Also joining us this month were Ron Labrecque, Barb Williams, and our hostess with the mostest, Melinda Brazzale. Photos by Melinda and Rich Ryan.

Our group on the 6th of July was about as small as it gets, only 5 people. This is not unusual in the summertime, after a holiday. It was a very relaxed, most pleasant evening in the library’s Cottonwood Room. We talked about the origins of songs, songwriters and instruments we have known, and members that have recently shucked their mortal coils. We even managed to play a few songs.

We haven’t seen Remy in awhile, welcome back! Remy is the very definition of a musician: $4000 worth of gear in a $500 car, driving 100 miles for a $50 gig. Well, only some of that’s true; his car’s a little nicer and we don’t pay bupkis, but you get the idea.

Rick brought a lovely little Guild guitar, I don’t know if it was a parlor or a 000 or what, but it played smooth and had a big voice. To give it a chance to sing, we cooked up a group song, Johny on the spot, the Eagles ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’. It took about two minutes to go through the chords, and we were off and running. We may have repeated the lyrics a time or two, but none of the drunks at the bar even noticed. They rarely do.

Short notice, but Steve’s band ‘High Plains Tradition’ will be playing tomorrow, July 16th, from 1-3pm at the Chugwater Bluegrass Festival. If you’ve never seen them, try to go. They are a world class group and it’s really fun to watch them work that single microphone.

Playlist for July 2021

Remy Abeyta, ‘I Still Write Your Name In The Snow’, Chet Atkins.

Keith Blaney, ‘I’m An Old Cowhand’, Irving Berlin.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Doc’s Guitar’, Doc Watson.

Rich Ryan, ‘I Feel Fine’, Lennon/McCartney.

Remy, ‘God Bless America’, Erving Berlin.

Keith, ‘Cowboy’s Lament’, original.

Steve, ‘The Little Children’s Song’, Howard Parker.

Rich, ‘Long Haired Country Boy’, Charlie Daniels.

Rick Memmel (group song) ‘Peaceful Easy Feeling’, The Eagles.

Remy, ‘Tie a Yellow Ribbon ‘Round the Old Oak Tree’, Tony Orlando and Dawn.

Keith, ‘Crazy Love’, Van Morrison.

Steve, ‘Stars and Stripes Forever’, John Phillip Sousa.

Rich, ‘Friends in Low Places’, Garth Brooks.

Remy, ‘Stardust’, Hoagie Carmichael.

Remember, Chugwater Music Festival July 16-17!!!

Attendees:

It is with sadness we mark the passing of one of our stalwarts, Bob Fontaine, who passed in May. He was a quiet man with a quick smile, and a beautiful baritone voice. Our friend Larry Jacobsen played at the service, while some of the rest of us took turns at the wake, playing some of Bob’s favorite tunes. We are diminished.

Another sadness I have yet to mention: 2020 marked the 25th anniversary of Cheyenne Guitar Society. We couldn’t celebrate that milestone because of social distancing restrictions imposed by the global Covid 19 pandemic. We didn’t hold the Valentine’s dinner/concert, and have only just recently begun meeting again in person. So with much less fanfare than appropriate, happy 25th to us, I guess.

On to the June 1st meeting! Several things conspired against us. 1) it followed a three day holiday weekend 2) it is during the summer season, and 3) it fell on the first day of the month. All of these individually tend to reduce the attendance, but this triple whammy had us down to just 8 people for our June soiree.

On the plus side, the library finally lifted the mask restriction for meetings, so we were able to sing and be understood this month. The other positive note, Angie Payton drove up from Colorado, whom we haven’t seen in awhile, and brought cupcakes. We gobbled those up like a frog on a junebug.

Playlist June 2021

Roland Peterson, ‘Torija’, E. Moreno-Torroba.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Things’, Bobby Darrin.

Keith Blaney, ‘Mother Nature’s Son’, Paul McCartney.

Dave Norby, ‘End of the Innocence’, Don Henley & Bruce Hornsby.

Ed Heffern, ‘Fields of Gold’, Sting.

Ed Heffern, ‘Fields of Gold’, Sting.

Rich Ryan, ‘Mrs. Robinson’, Paul Simon.

Rick Memmel, Bass Medley. ‘Day Tripper’, Beatles, ‘Sunshine of Your Love’, Cream, ‘Come Together’, Beatles, ‘We Gotta Get Out of This Place’, Animals, ‘I Saw Her Standing There’, Beatles, ‘She’s Not There’, The Zombies, ‘Birthday’, Beatles, ‘Stand By Me’, Ben E. King, ‘Lady Madonna’, Beatles

Angie Payton, ‘Lemon Cupcakes’, original.

Roland Peterson, ‘Study in C’, Sor.

Steve Gilmore, ‘You Think You’ve Got Troubles’, Marvin Rainwater.

Keith Blaney, ‘Daydream’, John Sebastian.

David Norby, ‘Til There Was You’, The Beatles.

Ed Heffern, ‘Solitary Man’, Neil Diamond.

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

Rick Memmel, ‘Pink Panther’, Henry Mancini.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Baby’, Kenny Cornell.

Ed Heffern, ‘Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love to Town’, Mel Tillis.

Keith Blaney, ‘Blackbird’, Paul McCartney.

David Norby, ‘Just The Way You Are’, Billy Joel.

Rich Ryan, ‘From the Beginning’, Greg Lake.

Rick Memmel, ‘Amazing Grace’, Jaco Pastorias arrangement.

We were back in the library’s Cottonwood Room for our May 4th meeting. Turnout was good! Some folks we haven’t seen in awhile were Kristy Johnson with her great harmonies and stellar music stand impression, David Norby with his moldy oldies you haven’t heard in years, Ken Frederick with his draw dropping original tunes, and Steve Borin doing his best Steve Borin impression. Trust me, no one does it better.

For something different, Rick brought us an early 60’s Melody Maker by Gibson, a single pick-up solid body electric. He ran it through a battery powered Pig Nose and some type of pedal, and sounded REAL good. Rick also did some videos, and if you click on the red arrow you can hear and watch some snippets. Thanks to Rick and Justin for adding this new feature to our monthly newsletter!

The library currently requires masks be worn at all times, or lose your privilege to meet there again. For most of us, it just meant you really couldn’t understand the words being sung. For some of us, trying to read our music through fogged glasses proved to be insurmountable. For me, I had other problems… My ears are too far apart (aka fat head) for the generic sized mask I brought, so it would not stay in place. With one hand strumming, one playing chords, and no other appendage wishing to get involved in this fiasco, my mask slowly but surely made its way down my face and became a chin diaper.

Most everyone in our group has had their Covid vaccinations, so things will continue to evolve, but don’t expect the library to lift their mask mandate any time soon. They were one of the first to recognize the health danger and adjust their visitor policies. Still, it’s nice to be together and making noise again in real time.

Playlist for May 2021

Justin & Kristy Johnson, ‘1865’, original.

Keith Blaney, ‘My Road’, original.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Orange Room’, Leo Kottke.

Ken Frederick, ‘Watching the Snow Melt’, original.

Ernie Brazzale & Jeanie White, ‘Gambler’s Blues’, Dan VanRonk.

Jeanie White, ‘Love Potion #9’, The Searchers.

Justin & Kristy, ‘Chaos and Clothes’, Jason Isbell.

Rick Memmel, ‘Cry for a Shadow’, George Harrison & John Lennon.

Gary Krause, ‘The Circle Of Love’, The Seekers.

Rich Ryan, ‘Dirty Work’, Steely Dan.

Keith, ‘Karaoke Queen’, original.

Steve, ‘Panhandle Rag’, Leon McAuliffe.

Ken Frederick, ‘Happy Birthday To Me’, original.

Ernie B., ‘Sleepy Time Down South’, Colonel Sanders.

Jeanie White, ‘White Bird’, It’s a Beautiful Day.

Rick Memmel, ‘My Back Pages’, Bob Dylan as done by The Bryds.

David Norby, ‘Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town’, Kenny Rogers & The First Edition.

Gary Krause, ‘As Tears Go By’, Keith Richards.

Rich Ryan, ‘Shanty’, Jonathan Edwards.

Ernie B. ‘Misty’, I’m tired of looking it up.

Also joining us tonight were Steve Borin, Edith Cook, and Ron Labrecque.

We GOT TOGETHER for the April 6th meeting at the First United Methodist Church downtown. After some rumination on the subject, we decided it had been last October since we last met in person, so this was a treat. As more people are vaccinated the Covid-19 restrictions are being eased, and places are becoming available again for small gatherings.

There were some good collaborations tonight with our short dozen of players. Jeannie and Ernie teamed up for some tunes, as did the Zavorka’s and Nancy. Margene was worried about not playing a stringed instrument at ‘Guitar’ Society. When Rich and I first came in, they were already there practicing, and WE thought her recorder was a recording over the P.A., not a live performance. We assured her it’s all good, and most welcomed.

Speaking of Rich, his guitar had a wardrobe malfunction in the middle of a tune when it popped its G string. Most of us have been there; new strings, bridge pins on the move, you know how it goes. Justin got it sorted while Rich finished that song with a rental instrument.

As we worked around the room, it seems we had all stolen our selections from Martin Gilmore, who wasn’t there to defend his property. Even some originals by Justin turned out to be stolen from Martin. It’s dog eat dog out there.

Then there was Russ. I fall in love all over again when Russ sings. It only happens a couple times a year, but it’s always a treat. Russ sang ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed To Your Face’ by Lerner and Loewe. As Steve observed, he was also playing some $4.00 chords along with it too. It was just stunning; thank you Mr. Williams.

We attempted a (last minute) group song, ‘Do Wah Diddy’. It turned out more like Homer Simpson’s ‘Doh!!! Wha Just Happened?’ but it was fun, just the same, t’was nice to be together for a change.

Playlist for April 2021

Keith Blaney, ‘Song For You’, Leon Russell.

Ben and Margene Zavorka, Nancy McKenzie, ‘Star of the County Down’, Van Morrison.

Rick Memmel, ‘All My Loving’, The Beatles.

Steve Gilmore, ‘Ain’t It A Shame’, Leadbelly.

Ernie Brazzale, Jeannie White, ‘Fly Me To The Moon’, Bart Howard.

Rich Ryan, ‘Wichita Lineman’, Jimmy Webb.

Justin Johnson, ‘No Woman No Cry’, Bob Marley.

Russ Williams, ‘Sheebeg & Sheemore’, Turlough O’Carolan.

Group Song, ‘Do Wah Diddy’, Manfred Mann.

Nancy and Keith, ‘Rocking Chair’, Bill Harrell and Don Reno.

Ben, Margene, and Nancy, ‘M.T.A.’, Jacqueline Steiner & Bess Heard.

Rick Memmel, ‘And I Love Her’, the Beatles.

Steve, ‘Golden Vanity’, traditional folksong.

Jeannie & Ernie, ‘Summertime’, George and Ira Gershwin.

Rich Ryan, ‘Comes A Time’, Neil Young.

Justin, ‘Traveling Show’, original.

Russ Williams, ‘I’ve Grown Accustomed To Your Face’, Lerner and Loewe.

Keith, ‘This Masquerade’, Leon Russell.

Steve Gilmore, ‘I’m Gonna Marry A Lighthouse Keeper’, Erika Eigen.

Ernie B., ‘You Belong To Me’, Pee Wee King, Chilton Price, and Redd Stewart.

Jeannie White, ‘This Town,’ Niall Heran.

Justin Johnson, ‘Shells’, original.

Another Zoom meeting was in order for our March meeting. Welcome to Mark Allen, a.k.a. Snapper. In fact, that’s all I knew him by for years! The first time someone called him Mark, I didn’t know who they were talking about. Also, welcome to Richard (Dick) Blaney, who rode his keyboard all the way from Kingsport, Tennessee to join us. Good to see you brother!

You’ll notice some green, some clovers, and other March madness. Quite a few of us had Irish flavored tunes. Another offering by Rich was ‘Covid 19’, a parody to the Neil Diamond tune ‘Sweet Caroline’. We were all singing along ‘so bad, so bad, so bad’. Good job, Rich. Washing hands ,washing hands, don’t touch me, I won’t touch you’….

Nancy and I worked up a tune my dad used to sing, ‘Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder?’ It got Richard grinning, and I think I saw him singing along on the chorus. As a final thought, I added another song Dad sang to us, ‘Fifty Cents’.

With the warmer weather and more folks getting their Covid vaccinations, we might be able to start meeting face to face soon. Hey, it could happen! It might be outside, it might be in a gym or something. Thanks to Melinda Brazzale for hosting us all these months on her Zoom account, with a little luck we will leave you alone soon!

Playlist for March 2021

Gary Krause started us out with ‘The Shores of Avalon’, by The Seekers.

Rich Ryan, ‘Covid 19’, an original parody of ‘Sweet Caroline’, Neil Diamond.

Ernie Brazzale, ‘Blue Shadows’, 1928, Alter & White.

Nancy McKenzie & Keith Blaney, ‘John Ryan’s Polka/I’ll Tell Me Ma’, traditional.

Ben & Margene Zavorka, ‘San Antonio Rose’, Bob Wills.

Ken Frederick, ‘Cellphone Upgrade Blues’, original.

Edith Cook, ‘Se lo M’Accorgo’, anonymous from Renaissance.

Ed Heffern, ‘Sailing to Philadelphia’, Mark Knoffler.

Rich Ryan, ‘Christopher Robin’, Kenny Loggins.

Ernie Brazzale, ‘Hidden Blues’, Rick Doherty.

Keith Blaney & Nancy McKenzie, ‘Who Threw the Overalls in Mrs. Murphy’s Chowder?’, 1898, George Giefer.

Margene & Ben Zavorka, ‘Kilgary Mountain’ (Whisky in the Jar), traditional.

Ken Frederick, ‘You Are Driving Me Crazy’, (1993) original.

Edith Cook, ‘Rondo in A major’, Carcassi.

Ed Heffern, ‘Wild Rover’, Irish folksong.

Ernie Brazzale, ‘Unnamed Melody’, anonymous.

Keith Blaney, ‘Fifty Cents’, anonymous.

Also joining us were Dick Blaney, Rick Memmel, and Mark Allen.