Bluewine

That place looks " fancy". I'm jealous. Daryl

Not yet Dave, I'm not out of the woods yet. However I'm hoping I " doge a bullet " this time. I was able to walk to my mail box this afternoon. And yes, I have to be careful. I can't be walking around absent minded and aimlessly, hoping a fan might want to talk to me. Lol Daryl

That's cool Pete. That's a nice schedule.You have a lot of work. I hope we have more bookings in June than May. Daryl

Hi Guys, This was our second outside gig and the weather was great. Bad news, before we played I tripped walking down two flights of stairs and I fell. All I remember after that was people trying to help me up. I twisted my ankle really bad. I played the gig sitting down. I'm hoping it's not serious. My goal is to be able to leave the house by this Wednesday. I don't want to have to go to the clinic. We played well but I was disappointed in the turn out. For all you seniors and pensioners, don't fall. Daryl

I made myself accessible but nobody wanted to talk to me. 😮‍💨 Daryl

Back in 2005 I auditioned for a cover band that was re-grouping. They offered me the job. Two days later I got an email from them saying their old bass player was back in town and they were going with him. The band never saw a gig a broke up Daryl

Dave, Try and find the Return To Forever version with Stanly Clarke. Daryl

Exactly how I feel. Unfortunately if my band folded I could never find a band situation like the one I'm in with Maple Road. The nicer bookings. I'm driven to our gigs My bandmates and band leader are incredible. Very good money. Daryl

Agreed, however the baby boomers here are not giving up on going out.Many still indulging in their old habits. We draw an older crowd. A lot of them,like me in their 70s. They grew up when live music was a huge part of their lives (the Woodstock generation).These folks are still going out and thank God they don't know when to quit. I was talking to an 80 year old guy at our gig last Saturday night. He was talking about the fact that he still drives, lives independently. He said loves the grooves and loves to dance. Daryl

I had to play Spain in University jazz band. Fun but very difficult. Daryl

I've been doing this for a very long time. I'm sure a lot of you " old timers" are just like me. We can spot trouble before it happens. Daryl

So true, I've read that a lot of the Chess recording artists didn't know they were famous until they came to England Daryl

Here's my opinion on the core reasons guys get out of the game. 1. Getting too old to do it. 2. Health issues. 3. Younger guys getting married and starting a family . 4. Guys that have a long history of poor band experiences . 5. Guys that were really never in the game. Daryl

Sounds cool but way over my head. Daryl

Dave , It sounds exactly like Paul McCartney's bass on all those early Beatle albums, thumpy and woody. Daryl

Thanks Dave, That's my made in Germany Hofner Club Bass with Cavern Club era pick up spacing. Daryl

We have an acoustic gig this Saturday. Daryl

2009 was the year I joined Maple Road. I've been gigging almost weekly ever since. Daryl

Another beautiful crowd shot with proper lighting. Daryl

We have a saying too, " We're going to bring it way down so we can bring it way up." Daryl

That's about 90% of what our show is about. We had a dep drummer Saturday night, a real nice guy and I told him; " keep your eyes open and watch for the ques and what we're doing." He had a great night. Daryl

So what I'm hearing is, it's not going to be like the re-runs of Top Of The Pops and The Beat Club. I'm not going to see guys in dark tailored double breasted edwardian suits and attractive ladies in colorful mini skits going to The Marquee Club ? I guess I missed all that by about 50 years. Daryl

I've played those S holes too. And at 71 I love the fact that we mostly play the nicer venues. I'm talking about the upscale Winery's Brewery's and clubs. The larger festivals and fairs. It's cool when you arrive at a gig and someone from management introduces themselves, answers any questions. They understand bands and what we need for a successful evening. As opposed to arriving at a venue and the staff ignores you. And on the other side of the coin I don't like it when a band shows up acting like Prima Donna's thinking the world revolves around them. Daryl

Time moves fast Pete. To me it seems like that British Invasion period happened yesterday. I keep thinking if I ever get to visit London it will still be like the "swinging 60s" you see on those old black & white news reels. Daryl

Being on stage playing in a band is the only time when I feel completely in charge and know exactly what I'm doing. That's excluding " the invisible bear " incident. Daryl