Here's a link to photos taken Tuesday night.
You'll see Tony and Lydia, Hank and Linda Bowman, my wife Susan, and "Wild Bill" Pittman.
Tony and Lydia took a lot more, and I'll put them up if they send them to me.
We were using HankB's Ketron SD5.
Tony and Lydia came by again last night, and I'm sure glad he lives in Rhode Island, because the boss likes him a lot. Might lose my job if he were closer! www.donmasonmusic.com/TonyMads
DonM




[This message has been edited by DonM (edited 08-06-2009).]

Dom, Thanks for posting, nice to put faces to familar names.looks like eveyone had a ball.

Gilbert

Don great pics.........Tony I know that stage very well also after performing there a few months ago.......man you look so happy, I told you those southern folk will make ya feel at home. Now that you got a taste of Ernest's you gotta return January 23-27 for the jam & bring Steve M with ya ....we gonna have a good time for sure!! I'll see yu'all there!

Don,

Dare I asked why the Audya was parked up!

Regards

So Don you're glad Tony lives in Rhode Island. I was hoping you'd keep him there. Don't forget Rhody is smaller than some national parks way too much competition here. If he stayed there that's one less musician, but I would lose a friend, so send he and Lydia back

Neat photos. Spent a short time on the same stage myself, but there was never any fear of me putting Don out of work.

Cheers,

Gary

The Audya developed a buzz in the outputs.
They are sending a replacement for it.
I'm asking Ted to send it Fed Ex this time.
Both the Audyas I've had delivered by UPS, and also the last two other keyboards I bought all had a hole in the side of the box, in the exact same place. I believe they are handling them with a hook or are sticking a fork-lift in the side. It's ridiculous.
I was getting pretty comfortable with it. Can't wait for the replacement.
DonM

It was a very enjoyable night. It's always fun to get together with friends, and especially, connect with someone you've communicated with online for years. Tony is the real deal. He's very talented, I am impressed! He's a pro entertainer. Give me a guitar and I can compete, haha. Well, in a folky kind of way. And wife, Lydia is a doll. All of the women, Hank's wife, Linda, Don's wife, Susan, and Lydia, looked sensational. And Judy?, I think that was Conrad's babe. Conrad looked fine, too, but, then again, I'm straight. Conrad, the crooner! You go, head of the local union!

It was a fun night and I hope to get invited again. Next time, I am going to drag one of my trailer park queens to the gig, damn y'all. Whaddya expect from Plain Dealing, Louisiana? As long as a babe doesn't smoke and likes to have fun, I'm in. Of course, that's a tough combo to find, haha, especially, in Plain Dealing.

Life is short, make it your day.

And, yes, Don, I know you beat me on the golf course. I'm still not over it. God, I HATE that feeling. Next time... !

Bill, you take a second seat to no one, especially doing Johnny Cash!
As for the golf, I attribute my victory to Diet Coke. I drank DC and you drank a half dozen or so of Ernest's high-dollar cocktails!
To tell the truth neither one of us played very well.
We did give Tony an introductions to how 98 percent humidity feels when the temperature is 101! Lydia was the smart one, she swam in the pool while we sweated (literally) out the putts.
I do have some excellent recordings of the guys performances at Ernest's. I'll put them up when I get a chance.
DonM

Well, we are back from our visit to the deep South ... and surprisingly, with all the heat and humidity down there, the worst we felt was when we landed in RI just after a thunderstorm had gone through ... I sweat just as much from the plane to a taxi as I did playing golf ...

But about the trip - WHAT A GREAT TRIP IT WAS !!! ...

Getting together with Don, Bill (semilive - which he was playing golf the next day ), Hank and Conrad and OF COURSE their LOVELY ladies was VERY special indeed ... on the way back to the motel that first night, Lydia said it was like we had been friends forever ...
I was THRILLED to have the opportunity to 'take the stage' for a bit with Don and Hank, and as a 'solo', but make no mistake about it - NO ONE is going to unseat Don at Ernest's !!! They absolutely LOVE him there and rightfully so ... the man is in full command of his extensive talents ... I couldn't tell if he sings better than he plays or plays better than he sings, ... his voice is like 'vocal silk', he plays great piano, and when emulating a guitar - well, if you closed your eyes you would swear there was a 'picker' on stage ...

And it was great hearing Hank on vocals and keys also - and by the way Hank, I thought about it later, and I apologize for 'horning in' on 'Dock of the Bay', but that's a favorite of mine ... hope you didn't mind too much ...

For a musician's union official, Conrad sure makes a great showing for himself and all live musicians ...

As for Mr. Pittman, I know he is a songwriter and it showed when he was on stage with Don ... the man can turn a lyric even while making short work of Ernest's cocktails ...

Speaking of Ernest's - from the outside this has got to be one of the most 'unassuming' upscale restaurant you will ever find ... but INSIDE - nothing but first class ... the service was great and the quality and taste of the food absolutely won Lydia and me over from the first bite ...
And speaking of the food - Don has got himself the best gig I've ever seen ... he gets a full course 'chef's choice' meal every night!!! I have to say, if I lived there I would fight him for the gig and work just for the food and tips !!! ...

So Don shows me how good an entertainer he is at night, and then takes me out the next morning to his Private Golf Club - which incidentally sits in his 'back yard' - to show off on the links ... Is there NOTHING this guy doesn't do well ??? ... plus, he is playing with golf clubs he MADE himself !!! ... and even with his self proclaimed "$100 hangover", Bill put on a clinic as well - these guys can HIT a golf ball ...

And our thanks once again to Susan, Linda and Judy (? )) for making Lydia feel right at home, especially while I was 'on stage' ...

We would LOVE to come back, so some serious thought is going to be given about the Jan jam ...

and thanks for the kind words guys,
t.

PS to chas ... through a real foul-up by Continental Airlines, I had to fly back on Delta ... of course we had to stop in Atlanta, but there wasn't enough time to try to see you ... but, someday ...
t.

PPS ... While I was disappointed in not hearing the AUDYA, the SD5 ROCKED !!!