Party on the Ridge!

After the all-nighter in West Virginia we were all looking forward to a more standard 9-1AM Southern Maryland bar gig. What we found out, is that, as always, Rock and Roll knows no curfews or reasonable rest for driving. Boatman's turned out to be much more of a party than we expected. Located about as far as possible from everywhere in Ridge, MD, Boatman's Landing is the perfect spot for wild music and good times.

In our research of the venue we discovered that Boatman's offers live streaming video of performances, and Boatman's own team of smokin' bartenders. Thank you to those of you who tuned in, and to those who missed it, please visit the links below to see the show.

Fly Away Live
http://translate.justin.tv/boatmansbar

Did we say just how HOT the bartenders are?

Aug 3, 2008 | 0 comments

Millstock '08, July 26, 2008

Nine hours. Nine stinking hours. From 7:00 in the afternoon, to 4:00 in the morning, we played. We played our heart out. We played songs we've never touched before. We played old songs, new songs, ones we've just written, and ones we've yet to concieve.

Much like the first Millstock, this year's was magical. The repoitoire spanned blues, oldies, classic rock, hair metal, country, and modern songs. I can't begin to recall the amount of requests we played, but if it was asked for we did our best to get to it. Apologies go to the "Stairway" requestee... It was an accidental oversight that we forgot to do that one. After the epic "Freebird" there was little we could do to top that.

"Freebird," the dreaded request. Not only did we play it, but it was possibly the highlight of the night. Not because of our treatment, but because of the presence on stage during it. We switched Erich to bass, put Andy on slide guitar, and got some of the band family up with us. Glen Simpers joined in on acoustic guitar, and Christi Keefer on backup vocals. Once we get the pictures develop, I'll figure out if there's anyone missing in that list. In short, it was incredible.

I deployed my double neck SG on "Hotel California." Thankfully, Andy knows the chord structure, as Jimmy had no clue... which the video shows.

That's right, there is video of about three hours of the night. We see yours truly getting a little too "festive" a little too early, Andy leading the band in the songs they don't know like the oracle of music he is, Erich playing bass like a pro, and Gary climbing to the top of the stage, his step brother Kyle taking over the drums when in the seventh hour, Gary's legs decided to stop working, and we see the Madness return to form on an extended set of Broken Stigma material spanning both albums.

There is talk of the land here being haunted. If so, we appeased the spirits until they knew we could take no more. at 4 a.m., the rain came pouring down, and told us to turn off, cover up, and get inside.

We awoke to a beautiful morning, and an incredible homemade breakfast with the greatest extended family in the world. Millstock '09 is already scheduled. You should come, if only for the food.

~Jimmy

Jul 30, 2008 | 0 comments

July 4, Fire and Rain

Our fourth year at the Indian Head Fourth of July Celebration saw a plague of technical difficulties, the threat of a downpour, and an imminent inferno.

The set began with Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Fortunate Son", and a shortened version of our now 20-minute funky jam piece, "Red Lady." After rousing the crowd with "Kryptonite," Erich noticed one of the stage monitors smoking. After an attempt at disconnecting the monitor, and recieving a rather jarring electrical shock, our sound engineer swiftly moved in and eliminated the danger and the show continued.

With the talented Genie Lehman on backup vocals at this show, we played two songs that continue to defy time and stay on the charts "Paralyzer" and "The Pretender", and then returned to our original music, showcasing "Flower" from the new album, playing especially poignant versions of Jimi Hendrix's "Fire", and "Smoke on the Water", and finishing the set with our "Black Hearted Woman", and "The Road." We were lucky to be joined by Kevin Grimes on harmonica on "Black Hearted Woman", and Helen Coy, whose voice graces the title track of the new album.

Then... just as the last chord of "The Road" rang out, the rain came. Not just a little rain, but one much like the tropical storm in Jurassic Park, when Dennis Nedry gets killed by the Dilophosaurus. Hopefully, our equipment will work at the next show.

~Jimmy and Erich

Jul 4, 2008 | 2 comments

Party on the Ridge!

Millstock '08, July 26, 2008

July 4, Fire and Rain

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