Hi gang!
It’s been a crazy week and it’s not over yet! On Monday, Erika and I kicked off the 2012 Cleveland Music Club Jam-a-Thon Tour with a stop at the Cleveland Blues Society Jam Night at The Peppermill Pub & Grill in Brecksville. Great food and an awesome jam night!
Next, we were off to the Cleveland Music Club Jam Night at Doc and Louie’s for “Night 2” of the tour. Thanks to all of the musicians who played including John Powell, Carol Dieball, Jon Darling, Greg Kern, Justin Melcarek, Mike Cottom, Dan Haller, Jay Smith, John Kerver, Rob Hayes, Hayden Frosti, Skip Werke, B.C. Hudson, Luke Pernici, TJ Plechaty, Jimmy Deamiches, Bob Laeng, Mike Cottom Jr., Wally Marflak, George Shumway, Blake Kniola, Jason Neitenbach, Louis Johnson, Chloe Cottom, Dawn Bellini, Katyana Speckman, Mal Mapes, Charlita Anderson, Bob DeVries, and guest hosts Drew Doman and Steve Smith. Thanks also to all of the folks who came out just to support the jammers and participate in Jam-a-thon 2012 including: Lenna, Lisa, Amanda B., Vern, Stephen F., John B., Don, Jen, Ami, Cathy, Ron, Ro, Ken, Karen, Martha, David, The Dancing Marilyns and the rest of Doc’s music loving patrons! Thank you Guitar Center of N. Olmsted for sponsoring the eveming and congrats to the winners: JD (drumsticks), Dawn (strings) and Justin (strings.) Don’t forget Dirty Town Guitar and Amps who is sponsoring the Jam-a-thon tour. Keep all of our sponsors at the top of your “where to buy!” lists. Thanks finally to Tracy for breaking the news gently that the Christmas Ale was gone… and to Doc for not running out of shrimp!
On Wednesday the Jam-a-Thon Tour moved to The Parkview Nite Club with hosts Tim Askins and Michael Bay and the Bad Boys of Blues. Another great jam night! Erika and I stayed way later than we’d planned. ;c)
Thursday’s tour stop was Griller’s Pub with Butch Armstrong and the Tower City Blues Band. An awesome jam night and extremely well organized! If you’re ever at Griller’s, beware of the Black and Blue Tater Tots…they’re dangerously addicting! ;c)
On Friday, Shady Drive headed out to 42 Eighty Food and Drink with special guest Blake Kniola on bass. Thanks to Diane, Janet, Jen, Louise, Karen, Jo Anne, Phyllis, Brian and everyone else who came out to make it a great night!
Saturday’s crowd at our debut at Anthony’s was a bit on the light side, but thanks to Chris, Daryl, Rob, Becky, Rick, Sue, Sandy and Ken it was still a bunch of fun! Thanks also to Bill March for turning in an awesome performance on bass in Kevin’s absence. :c)
Coming up this week, the insanity continues as we kick off the second half of the Cleveland Music Club “Jam-A-Thon” Tour 2012. We will be giving away prizes (Thank you Dirty Town Guitar and Amps and Forcefield Entertainment) from small “party favors” at each jam to the Grand Prize (for the top finisher) at the end of the promotion. We’ll also be giving away some “tour shirts” at the finale on 12/20. You do not need to be a player/participant to win shirts or receive any “party favors”, however you must be a player/participant to be eligible for the grand prize. Attendance at all of the jams is not required to take part in the event. The remaining tour schedule is as follows:
Sun. 12/16 – Cebar’s Jam (Euclid) with Alan Greene (8:00pm-?)
Mon. 12/17 – McCarthy’s Jam (Strongsville) with George Hartwig (8:30pm-11:30)
Wed. 12/19 – Sly Fox Jam (N. Olmsted) with Eroc, Cy, JD and guest Billy Sullivan (9:00pm-12:30)
Thur. 12/20 – Brothers Jam (Cleveland) with Bad Boys of Blues and “finale prize give-away” (9:00pm-1am)
On Tuesday, I’m joined by guest hosts George Hartwig and Gary Stulak for the CMC Jam Night at Doc and Louie’s (24280 Lorain Rd., North Olmsted, 7pm – 11pm). This is our last CMC Jam Night of 2012, so come help us close out the year in style! The evening’s sponsor is Sonor Drums. Erika and some co-conspirators are baking lots of goodies for our year end jam, so come help us dispose of them properly! As always, Doc’s delicious burgers (w/fries) are $4.95 all evening and margaritas are $3.00 until 9pm. There’s plenty of parking in Doc’s front and back lots, O’Reilly’s back lot and their front lot after they close at 9pm. Bring your favorite axe, sticks or just your party attitude and dancing shoes and come join the fun! The CMC Jam Night at Doc and Louie’s will resume after the holidays on January 8, 2013. :c)
On Friday, Shady Drive will have Kevin back in the bass chair for our debut at The Upper Deck (375 W. Bagley Rd., Berea, 9pm – 1am) It’s a great venue with plenty of parking and a spacious bar and dance floor, so come on out and party with us!
That’s all for this week! We’ll talk soon…
Mike :c)