April 30th--Home--My
son, Nathan, and I are Cub Scouters and it was that time of year for the
Pinewood Derby races. Nathan built his car in the shape of a fiery
lightning bolt and came in second place for best-of-show. Dad's
get to make a car, too. So, I decided to try my luck. The
result was The Oreo Blue Express!!!
(And, by the way, The Oreo
Blue Express took first place in the Dad's division...it was almost as
fast as Gary picking on The Baritone Boogie!)
pic2,
pic3, pic4
April
27th--Cartoon's--Springfield, Missouri--It was a pleasant return to
Springfield for our CD release party. The best part was having our
good friend and Oreo Blue family member, Don Orell, and his family out
for the first set. As many of you long-time OB fans know, Don
reigned supreme on the drum chair off and on for the band's first seven
years. He can be heard nailing grooves on the Live
By Demand CD and its accompanying video that showcases Don's
masterful soloing skills. Unfortunately, the video is long out of
production, but bootleg copies have been known to surface for a generous
donation to the Rock and Roll Suburban Repair Fund!
Thanks to Joe and the crew at
Cartoon's for making us comfortable and feeding us well. The food
was excellent (I had the Sirloin...of course) and we are looking forward
to our next engagement.
April 25th--Jose's Streetside
25th
Birthday Bash--Fayetteville, Arkansas--The
only problem with playing a show at Jose's is that it has been my
favorite Mexican restaurant for over 15 years. So, naturally, I
have to rave about the food. Well, I'll tell you what...why don't
you just go down to Dickson Street in Fayetteville and find out for
yourself. You won't be disappointed in the food or the atmosphere
out on Streetside. Don't forget to load up on the one-of-a-kind
salsa and queso. Yummy! The show was a blast and the weather
was perfect. Right up until it started to rain on the last
note. Thanks to all of our friends and fans that came out to the
show and thanks to Jose's for the grub...
April 13th--George's
Majestic Lounge--Fayetteville, Arkansas--What was supposed to be a
regular show for us turned into a double-bill night with our new friends
from Little Rock, Superflux (www.superflux.cc).
Seems as if the inside room was booked up with a private party, so we
decided to share our stage with this new up-an-coming group. It
was fun having Steve, Cara, Colter, and Phil up in our town. Look
for them in a hot spot near you. We played a long middle set
sandwiched between their two and the awesome Chris Payton joined us on
stage for our set and I must say, she is Northwest Arkansas' best kept
secret. There are few finer vocalist anywhere. It was
wonderful to pull out some old Oreo classics as well as some fun
standards. Amanda Adams joined us as well for Proud Mary
and the like. A fun night had by all.
Gary as a baby...
April 12th--Danny's Blues
Saloon--Oklahoma City, Oklahoma--It had been a while since we
performed at Danny's at it was good to be back. The folks here
have a strong appreciation for the blues led by their esteemed owner who
is a great blues singer and harp player. We must have made a big
impression the last time we performed here since there were a number of
folks that had been looking forward to this night for about a year and a
half! Hmm. Well, I think that Brian and Gary wanted to make
sure they would get their money's worth, 'cause they spanked the
listeners with some blistering solo work and some real heartfelt and
soulful blues. The drive home after the show was particularly
interesting. It seems that just as Brian and I were discussing
never to drive home from OKC after a show again, a tire on the trailer
blew and then just disintegrated. We were without a spare, so we
limped on into a gas station and decided to fix it later in the
day. Besides it was after 6am by the time we got off the
road. This all in the same week we learned that the R&R
Suburban will require some more repairs (transmission, rear-end, power
stearing, etc.) So, love the tip bucket a little next time we play
in your town so we can cover some auto expenses!
image by John
Blair
April 5-6th--Cajun's
Wharf--Little Rock, Arkansas--What an exceptional setting to perform
live music in a club, and then the food, wow, add some wonderful people,
old friends, a packed house and great sound and you not only have a
run-on-sentence you’ve got a happy band. Our CD Release Party on
Friday night was great. We would like to thank Cryin’ Brian from
KABF in Little Rock for all the airplay he has been giving Oreo Blue and
for coming out both nights and introducing us. It was fun to have
so many people come up to us and say they had heard us on his radio show
Mondoblues. Cajun’s is one of the finest restaurants in the
state and if you read this newsletter very often you know we love good
food. Hat’s off to the staff of Cajun’s as it is a
professional and friendly place to play. Also, it was great to see
our old friends Mark and Marla Hayes. Happy birthday again to Bill
and thanks to all you guys in his crew for digging us so much--Special
Insert --Brian Crowne
(editorial note: Thanks
to the Boudreaux's from Conway for coming out to support cousin/nephew
Stephen, and to Miles and Judy Stone for hanging for the weekend as well
as braving the post-show Waffle House experience with us.)
image by John
Blair
April 4th--George's
Majestic Lounge--Fayetteville, Arkansas--This was our CD release
party at George's that was sponsored by the Ozark Blues Society.
We greatly appreciate the OBS for inviting us to perform in their
concert series. Oreo Blue is adamant about ensuring the success of
the OBS in Northwest Arkansas and proudly donated $5 proceeds from each
CD sold at our concert this evening. We were delighted to have
some good friends come out to the show: Jim and Suzie, Del Blake,
Jed Clampit, Jim Rose, Bruce from FPL, just to name a few.
Grateful, too, were we that some of our contemporaries in the local
music scene came out to support us and the OBS.
March
29-30th--Shapiro's--Hot Springs, Arkansas--First of all I would like
to say that it is always fun to visit “Spa City” and it had been too
long sense we last performed in Hot Springs. Mr. Schapiro has been
offering up a healthy dose of great Blues this season and it was a great
place for Oreo to have our Hot Springs CD Release Party. It was a
great show both nights with what has been a steady stream of inspired
performances from the band. This has been an amazing year and
doesn’t show any signs of slowing down now. We are truly having
fun making music. I would also like to thank my future family and
friends for making the trip over from Mena. The Yazzetti Clan
along with Lee, Mary Joe, Charlie and Claudia helped make our Friday
night especially fun. It was nice that they are still
going to except me after one of our more raucous shows. Thanks.--Special
Insert--Brian Crowne
March 23rd--The Two Frogs
Grill--Ardmore, Oklahoma-- "Fatigued" is probably the only
adjective that suits me this morning. It is about 7:25am on the
Monday after and looking back on this show conjures up quite a few
descriptive adjectives:
"Rushed"--the
Dallas show was from 3:30 to nearly 5:00pm and we arrived in Ardmore at
little before 7:00pm. The show was at 10, but we had to eat, shake
off 7 1/2 hours of driving, and load in all that equipment.
"Anxious"--With
the Two Frogs Boogie video, the release of the new CD to some faithful
fans, and the write up in the Daily
Ardmorite, the show wasn't coming fast enough.
"Giddy"--Well,
just being around Gary makes us all that way.
"Overwhelmed"--by
a few things: The strong performances by the band, the sold-out
crowd, the lack of rest, the Two Frogs hospitality, and the realization
that I had completely lost track of time.
"Honored"--to
perform with three world-class musicians in front of the finest fans on
the planet.
"Exhausted"--
Funny thing...we played our first set of about an hour and a half or so
and we took a break. It didn't seem long enough (about 10
minutes?) to get the rest before going on with the second set. As
the second set came to a close after what seemed like two hours, I was
begging for a longer break so we could rest up for the final push.
Having lost track of time, I didn't realize that the show was actually
over. It was just that kind of night.
The show went fantastic and I
know that we had a great time as usual at the Two Frogs. After
loading out, it was time to hit the sack and get up early to head
home. Tune in next week!
March 23rd--Dallas Guitar Show--Dallas, Texas--Whirling
in after a 5-hour drive and jumping up on the stage is my favorite way
to keep the butterflies from even following me out of the truck.
Those pre-show butterflies were too tired from the drive.
Besides...who had time for them? The Dallas Guitar Show is an
awesome event. Like a guitar player's heaven. Like a
desert-wanderer happening on an oasis, or a like a starving Somali child
at Donald Trump's Thanksgiving dinner, there were literally thousands of
guys in un-tucked shirts with guitar-shaped and flowered prints
wandering wide-eyed and aimless among hundreds of thousands of guitars
of all shapes and sizes. After a quick set, we flew off the stage
(bumping in to those butterflies) and zoomed north to
Ardmore.
March 21st--Home--Daily
Ardmorite Article...In anticipation of our show in
Ardmore this Saturday night, the Daily Ardmorite was kind enough to
offer up this article. Ardmore is home to the Two Frogs Grill
which has been immortalized by our new CD, Ten Down-Live at the ByPass
which contains both the song and the video, Two Frogs
Boogie. The song honors a special place run by special people;
frequented by great patrons; and which serves up the best food on either
side of the Red River...
The
British Are Coming
Things are heating up over
at CD
Baby.com where Ten Down-Live at the ByPass is getting bought
up by our friends over in the United Kingdom. Brian is scrambling
around to try and re-stock the CD Baby inventory so that the Brits can
continue to enjoy some great new blues from Arkansas, USA. Get
your copy of Ten Down right
here or visit CD
Baby.com for a jolly good
offering from Oreo Blue.
March 15-16th--The
Bayou--Rogers, Arkansas--This was our debut at the relatively new
Bayou in Rogers, Arkansas. Rogers is known as a conservative,
Republican-type town most well suited for business, good schools, and
frequently attending church. I can say this, because it is
practically my home-town. What it is not known for is a great
party time, rocking blues clubs, alcohol-inspired lunacy and the
like. Well...Oreo Blue was in town and things were going to change
at least in this little spot for these few people. As our esteemed
leader exclaims, "We are on a mission." Not the mission
from God as seen in the Blues Brothers, but rather a mission to go out
and SPANK every new listener with the hardest-hitting blues, the
phattest funk, the most powerful rock and roll, and the most brain-dead
swing known to us. Not just to sell the new CD, but more-so to
leave no doubt that we are very serious about bringing the highest
quality live entertainment to every town we visit. This weekend
witnessed some of our strongest performances in recent history.
Highlights included everybody on Rock Me Baby, Brian on Heaven's
Door,
Brick House, and the most intense, soulful and powerful version of
James Taylor's Steamroller Blues, Rod's requested bass solo on Killing
Floor, Gary on Hey Joe, etc., and my so-called "John Bonham"
solo on the swing thing.
March 13th--Home--Oreo
Blue learned this week that it would get a return invitation to the
prestigious King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena, Arkansas this coming
October. Through no small part by Brian Crowne and his continued
marketing efforts, Oreo Blue was awarded the rare return invitation
coming off the heels of last year's performances that created a buzz and
a stir throughout Helena and blues lovers from all over the world.
You can read about last year's highlights in the September-October,
2001 Issue of this newsletter and after October...read about
the 2002 hightlights. We are honored to get the invitation and
look forward to the show.
March 8-9th--Eureka
Live--Eureka Springs, Arkansas--As the CD release parties roll on,
we find ourselves sponging up new fans by the droves and giving new life
to old fans. Eureka Live is the kind of place where anything might
happen or maybe nothing will happen at all. This weekend was a
combination of both. When inspiration is not found in a crowd or
in the atmosphere of a venue, it is often found within. After a
mildly lackluster night on Friday, the band struggled to make certain
that Saturday night was more fulfilling. The great thing about
Oreo Blue is that musical energy can be found within the confines of the
four band members. So much so, that a performance for one can
equal the performance for ten thousand with regard to musical magic and
passion. IMHO, it is what makes performing with Oreo Blue so
special and I can imagine it is what makes each Oreo Blue performance so
successful night in and night out. I mean...Brian played so hard
that he snapped the neck of his prized tenor saxophone right
apart! That's giving it up...
image by John
Blair
March 4th--Online--Oreo
Blue learned this weekend that we were invited to perform at the Greater
Southwest Guitar Show (aka the Dallas Guitar Show).
This is an unbelievable honor for us and a great tribute to our own
fabulous guitarist, Gary Hutchison. For anyone that has seen and
heard Gary perform, it is apparent that he stands tall amongst
guitarists around the world. His is an audio and visual event each
time he takes the stage. A performance by Gary is studded with the
all the rich sounds of guitar history as well as his own storied
past. And he can bring the modern interpretation as well as the
youngest shredders around taking each note to its audible potential
either by cramming it right down the listener's throat or feathering
each note on the listeners ears like a butterfly kiss from a
six-year-old. As Oreo Blue is honored to be able to perform at the
Dallas Guitar Show, rest assured that the folks in attendance will have
been honored to see one of the guitar world's best kept secrets in Gary
Hutchison.
February 28th &
March 1-2nd--The Elephant Run--Tulsa, OK--With a three-day weekend
show, we decided to pull out all the stops and come out with three
radically different approaches for the folks in Tulsa. On Thursday
evening, we celebrated our CD Release of Ten Down--Live at the ByPass
and performed most of the cuts from the CD as well as like-genre tunes
that gave the show a blues flavor and an original composition
makeup. On Friday, the crowd was raucous and wild and was looking
for something strong and grooving. Oreo Blue became a power-trio
styled rock and dance band and pulled out a number of classics as well
as some fun dance songs to keep the people moving. Over night, the
weather went foul. Our hotel room phone started ringing about
8:45am (early for musicians) with people saying, "Man, you gotta
look outside!" and "Have you seen the snow?"
First of all, none of us were interested in getting out of bed even if
there were elephants running (get it?) up and down I-44. As you
have read time and again in entries past, Oreo Blue leaves nothing on
the stage during a performance and, well, let's just say we need our
beauty rest... After finally crawling out of bed we saw
that the snow was a good six inches deep and the forecast was calling
for sub 10°F temperatures. Prospects were grim for having a
decent crowd for Saturday's show. Fortunately, we had a number of
die-hard fans that had driven in from as far away as Parsons, KS and
Oklahoma City to see the band for the weekend and we all went to lunch
at the Mexicali Border Cafe (I must say it was excellent. I had a
mixed burrito con queso with beans and rice...yummy!). We were
entertained by the legions of automotive-challenged drivers attempting
to scale and descend the ice-covered hill outside our restaurant
window. Not long after lunch, Brian fell ill to some sudden fever
and was down hard. The show looked even more grim from here.
But it was show-time and it seemed a few crazies found their way to the
club to see what the buzz was about from the last two days. Brian
became the trooper of the night and performed like never before and Gary
stepped up any usual antics to get the crowd into stitches. Gary
had us and the crowd laughing so hard that we all had to catch our
breath before going on to the next song. Musical highlights were
many this weekend and probably too many to single out. Saturday's
show was riddled with quirky antics and songs we had never performed
prior such as Jumpin' Jack Flash and Tequila. It
appears that the crowd left satisfied and we left exhausted and content
with making folks happy and yearning for more.
image by John Blair
