I have only performed a half dozen times since my first surgery in March. I have a LONG afternoon/evening job today. Private party on the lake that I generally do Labor Day, Memorial Day and July 4th.
I look forward to it, but with some trepidation about how I will hold up physically. If I were still an athlete, I would say I am very out of shape.
Fortunately this is a very relaxed atmosphere with good friends, great atmosphere and great food.
Don Patterson and Emma are driving up from Lufkin, TX, and I look forward to seeing them.

Give 'em hell, Don ... just take a break when you feel the need, and don't eat too much while you are playing ...
Let us know how it goes ...

Yep, pace yourself accordingly. Have a great gig!

Consider the job as "Therapy"....cuzz that is what it is to guys who love to play.
Enjoy.
Eddie

Good luck, buddy.

Ian

Good luck Don !!

WTG. But I understand the fatigue thing. I can barely make it through a 2hr rehearsal and there's NO pressure there. Good luck.

chas

Go get 'em, Don! If they're the friends you say they are, they will understand a few extra seconds between songs or a short break or three. Take your mp3 player and insert a couple well-placed special tunes while you catch your breath or get a drink. Whatever you do, DON'T overdo it. Enjoy yourself and the evening.

Wow, am I tired!! But it went very well. Perfect weather, great food.
Don and Emma came up and spent a few hours. He took video of me. Maybe it will be decent.
The party broke up a little earlier than usual because LSU is playing football on tv tonight.
There were about 50-60 people there. All ages from 6 to 76.
I booked two more parties while there.

The cream rises to the top!!! ... just can't keep a good guy down!!! ... way to go, Don !!!

would love to see some of the vid ...

Looking forward to you regaining your health and stamina!! You are appreciated and we wish you well!

Had a good visit with DonM yesterday! Had not seen him since before all his medical issues occurred. DA MAN was looking good and sounding good! This was probably the best venue to get started back. Nice summer day on the lake, cool breeze, a low key but attentive crowd, great food! And his rig sounded really good! The PA900 and Nanos are an awesome combination.

We stayed about two and a half hours, which was way to short, but my dear sweet wife does all the driving and this was about a six hour round trip not counting the visit.

I did get some video. I used my Zoom Q3 Handy Cam and a line-in from Don's rig. I think they'll be good. I'll send them to DonM and he can post them. I'm "technology challenged."

Anyway, it was really good to see you DomM, keep up the recovery. When you get back to Ernest's we'll have a better visit!

Thanks for the invitation we really enjoyed it.

Don P

Bout damned time you stopped lollygagging and got back to some serious music.

Stay healthy old friend,

Gary

Very well said! Don good luck hang in there!

Good to hear you're back in the saddle, Don. Glad it went well for you.

So glad for you friend.
Take care eh!

Don. Is. Back! Look out world.

Glad things went well for you. Best wishes for the future. Lloyd

DonP just uploaded one of the videos he made Saturday. It's on Dropbox. Here's the link to Polk Salad Annie. I must admit I seem to get prettier with age. Right.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/y9wr5exyiscuu7o/Poke%20Salad.MOV?dl=0

Yeah - DonM's in the house! YeeHaw

Hey, Don, ... looking great and sounding great ... as I said "the cream rises to the top!!!" ...
What board were you using, did you use the on board VH, what style??? ... not that I want to copy you or anything but I'm thinking maybe I will give these RI 'swamp yankees' some Louisiana cookin' when I play that picnic in a couple of weeks ...

Thanks guys,
I think the style was Open Rock 1 or something similar. Keyboard is Korg PA900 using built-in vocal processing and harmonizer. I didn't have the song set up, I just reached down and grabbed a style and started playing.

I thought that was the style ... I was just playing around with that yesterday ... well I've got the right board ... now will you come and sing it for me? ...

Pretty damned good for an old fart that was one step away from a dirt nap a few months ago. You need a Garth Brooks hat, though. Lose that old lid you're wearing.

Gary

Good job, Don. Yes, you are back. You really do a good job with those geetar sounds; seems you like to play them too. My Polk Salad Annie would have to have that lick covered with some drawbars.

DonM Ya giving up on country? That's about as much country as "Some Where Over The Rainbow" by Tony Bennett. That is low down pure D Funk, Funky, "FUNK." You sound like some black guy down in the Quarters in NOLA and they are like me. They don't know how to play 3 chord country tunes friend.

I used to live to play that stuff all over Algiers, Gretna, Harvey Marrero, Westwego, Bridge City and the entire Westbank of the Mississippi River near New Orleans, until I discovered Dexter Gordon.

That got my blood pressure up. I really like all your guitar playing but it was really nice to hear the "FUNKY, FUNKY" licks.

Do Mustang Sally too. Not the country style, do it the low down in the gutter Funky way. I hadn't heard much of this style here on the forum done right. Oh I noticed that you found the 4th chord too! Don I couldn't help the last comment. The Devil made me do it.

Boo, despite my SZ reputation, I never have done "just" country, but I do like to do it a lot. Seems the Swamp Rock stuff goes over pretty well with about any crowd. During the course of a 4 or 5 hour job, as this one was, I will do some of just about everything, including Over the Rainbow.
Glad you liked it though.

I especially like Don's version of "Summer Wind"...just sayin ... personally when I'm using my S-950 I like to mix up the stylings of many songs doing them in so many UN-traditional ways....and that is another plus when using an arranger KB styles on the fly for certain situations.

I'm never gonna get to heaven! You guys working all the time and making hundreds of dollars keeps me jealous.

Boo, if I have to retire next year, you can come here and I can put you to work right away. You probably won't like working 7 days a week, often 2 to 3 jobs a day, for very long, though.

Say Hi to Penny,

Gary