Winstock Country Music Festival 2010!!

Welcome to White Creek News! “Ladies and Gentlemen, they’ve rocked Winstock before… let’s welcome… White Creek!” OK so that’s so cool!!
The Winstock Country Music Festival kicked off on Friday June 11th on the edge of Winsted, MN. Each year the event just seems to get bigger and better. This years Winstock was no different other than the rain and mud. I even heard it referred to as “mud stock” this year! Part of the White Creek members rolled into the campgrounds on Thursday, June 10th and the rain that was happening in South Dakota had not moved east yet to Winsted. In fact, it missed Winsted but the next wave did not. It was a really good thing that we made it early and was able to mow the lots and get campers and tents set up for the Thursday folks. My bride and I rode over with the Hogies and the kids rode over with Mike & Tanya in their camper. They thought that was pretty cool because it’s one of those over the cab campers and they got to look out over the road.
Then, here it came. Simply put, it rained like a son-of-a… pup!! I mean, this was not just an ordinary rain. Lightening and thunder were the opening act for the three inches of rain that watered the grass at Winstock. Not only did it water the grass, it covered half of our campsite but the ground around the tent stayed relatively dry. It’s a really good thing that we covered the top of the tent with a tarp to help shed off the water. I was up at 3:25 A.M. checking on the “tent troopers”. All was ok but I had to dump a bunch of water off of the canopy and decided to leave the center pole out so the water could just run off. If you ever get to the point where you think you can outrun the water when you dump it off the canopy, think again! At 5 A.M., Haley came for some towels because the water just started to come into the tent.
Friday morning, we woke up to a real mess. Half of our campsite was under a couple of inches of water. Down by the souvenir tents, they had a mini lake where all the water ran in. They brought in some pumps to get that pumped out so that they could continue to use those tents.
The band was scheduled to play on the Emerging Artists stage at 4:15. The Winstock shows however kicked off on the main stage with a group called Rocket Club at 3:15. I think they are based out of the Minneapolis area and from what we could hear, they were quite good. We were pretty busy at the time getting our stuff set up. I appreciate the help of Radar and my daughter Nicole in set up. That was REALLY helpful!!
There were really no mishaps on the EA stage except my kick drum kept walking away. It’s hard to play that sucker when it’s trying to escape. Luckily I got Matt’s attention (sound guy on the EA stage) and he was able to duct tape that rascal. Red Green would have been proud of him!!
After Rocket Club on the main stage was BlackHawk and you KNOW they will be good any time you see them. Of course, this time was no exception. Good stuff Maynard! Following BH was Trailer Choir. Double K… that would be Kid King from K Country 102 FM here in Brookings attended and had VIP tickets so he was able to actually meet Trailer Choir. Also G man met them as well. Real down to earth people so I’m told.
Following White Creek on the EA stage was a new group called Her & Kings County based out of the Brooklyn, NY area. I had a chance to meet a couple of the guys: Justin, Nick on Bass, and “Brother Love” on drums. These guys seemed really nice and we chatted for a bit before the gigs. These folks will go far. They were really good singers and musicians.
On Saturday, David Nail and Randy Montana performed on the EA stage but I was so busy with all the other stuff going on, I missed their shows. I’m sure they were equally as good as the rest. There was no absence of great music at this festival. Now the sun, that’s a different story.
Back at the main stage, I happened to be back stage when Sara Evans was about to go on stage. She was sitting in a golf cart ready to go on. I was probably 25’ away but they frown on you just walking up to the artists back stage and threaten to take your passes away. Also back stage, I was giving my youngest daughter Haley and her friend a little tour and off to the right I saw Dierks Bentley and someone else step out of a courtesy camper and walk right towards us. Dierks said “Oh hey guys…” and walked passed. We said hi to and he walked over to the meet and greet tent. I think the girls were stunned that Dierks Bentley was no more than two feet away! Dierks was the closer Friday night and WOW what a show he put on! It was awesome.
Friday night after the shows, there were some BONEHEADS in a trailer that thought they needed to play some Crappy RAP type Crap (I won’t even acknowledge it as music) and they thought they needed to provide entertainment for the entire campground. It was so loud that we couldn’t have our usual campfire sing along with an acoustic guitar.
Saturday morning guess what? More rain. What a pain in the… ok I won’t go there. We got up rather early to set up in the beer tent. The band was to start at 10:30 however, we wouldn’t have time to get our chairs situated if we waited so we got up early and made the journey down to set chairs with my Brother Jim’s pick up. It was really nice that the folks at Winstock let us do that. Thanks!
At any rate, the rain may have actually helped us with our crowd. There was a ton of people in the beer tent and it was a lot of fun. The guy that announced the event from K102 out of the cities was really funny and the crowd had a great time. White Creek was to entertain until noon but we were asked if we could play an extra half hour which was absolutely no problem with us! We need to say thanks to Joe in the beer tent for setting stage flats for us etc.
Some of the other performers on Saturday were the legendary Ronnie Milsap, Jake Owen who did an awesome job, Phil Vassar who NEVER fails to entertain but doesn’t get near the recognition he deserves, Josh Turner whom my bride and I have seen a few times and would go again, and of course the show closer Saturday night was the great Alan Jackson. Each and every one of these shows was well worth the price of the tickets and the hassle of a little rain.
I mentioned the souvenir tent earlier. Did you know that the list of entertainers was on almost each and every t-shirt that was sold at Winstock 2010? The part that is so cool is that it was on the mugs too but that is not the best part… wait for it… ok. So the part that was the absolute coolest was the fact that the first group listed on all of these neat items was White Creek!
This editions Thanks! will be quite long as there are so many whom we need to recognize. First and foremost, thanks to the Winstock Festival Committee for allowing White Creek to entertain at your event again this year. It is both a privilege and an honor to be asked back to the Winstock Festival. Thank you to Judy L. for being so gracious and helping us out with passes etc to get sound guys in etc. Thanks to David S. for your assistance with the band when we need help with chairs etc. Thanks to all the people who volunteer (over 500) to help with this event which started as a fund raiser for the local Catholic Church. Thanks to Nicole, Radar, Jim and others who were “instrumental” (Hah!) in helping with drums at set up and tear down.
Thanks to Mike & Tanya who were blessed with my kids and their friends in their camper on the way to Winstock. Thanks to Steve & Andrea for allowing my bride and I to hang out with you in your camper. Thanks to my fellow band members and friends who made this Winstock very fun and memorable. Thanks to Dean and Lana for letting the family “clean up” at your house.
It was great to meet Chad (Ole) and Missy and to have you at our campsites. Also, it was good to have Radar & Karla, Sabrina, Bobbi, Brittany, Chris and Jim & Susan and Keith & Candice back on our sites as well. All in all, the fun outdid the rain so it’s all good. Happy Anniversary to Dave & Mary.
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“There’s a little piece of music in everyone’s soul.”

June 12, 2010

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May 22, 2010

Welcome to White Creek News! Working up to the start of the busy season, the band prepared for a concert in White River, SD. If you’re not sure where White River is, just go west on I-90 until you reach Murdo, (Home of U.S. Senator John Thune) and head about 30 miles south and you run right into it! I think it’s over yonder in Mellette County if I remember right. I also believe that there were 598 folks in this town back in 2000 when the last “round up the cheating votes”… I mean census was taken.
Rockin’ Rod Ward booked this event actually under his and Dave Ford”s name but somehow it got advertised as a White Creek event so Rod brought T-Man and me into the picture. So, all in all, it was Rod on lead guitar, harmony and vocals, Travis on vocals and acoustic, Mike on electric rhythm, Harmony and vocals, Dave on Bass, and Neal Farin and I traded off on Neal’s drum set. When one of us was not playing drums, we played percussion instruments like claves, bongos, cowbell, wood blocks, etc. Wouldn’t you know it; we drove off without the tambourines though! It was a little strange playing on Neal’s 1968 Classic Ludwig drum set versus the Exotic DW’s I gotta tell ya.
In addition to these pieces, I had seen a drummer on TV playing a “drum box” or what’s otherwise known as a “cajon”. It’s even sometimes known as an “ass box.” This instrument has roots that go back into the 1800’s and was used by the afro-Peruvians, the Spanish and Cubans. So, I decided to check these out at the music store downtown. What I came up with was a little shocking. Basically the nicest one they had was about hundred and ninety bucks and wasn’t really THAT nice. So, I checked out how it was made, researched it on the internet and built my own with oak plywood and now have a nicer cajon made out of some really nice oak. Man when you stain that oak, the wood grain just pops baby!! I’ve basically got about $26 into mine plus some time. Now, I’ll admit its not perfect but as fellow musician Phil Vassar would say, “You don’t build your best wagon on the first try.” (That quote was taken directly from Phil when we talked before opening his show in Milbank, SD.)
Now, T-man and I drove out to WR because we wanted to head back after the gig. T had some stuff going on Sunday and to tell the truth, I wanted to get back home too so we drove the Stud Dodge Van out to White River because we could. T asked me that if I could keep him awake on the way home, we would drive. OK. So, T drove out, and I drove home. Sorry man, I gotta give you some crap, guess who fell asleep? Its OK buddy, I made ‘er just fine. Weird thing is, we drove in freakin’ wind all the way out there, (248 blessed miles one way), then, just like that, the wind like died as soon as we got there and it was dog-gone hot (like it was 90 somethin’), and to top it all off, we left way too early and sat around like three hours waiting for the sound company to get their stuff set up before we could set stuff on the stage. So, we finally get our stuff set up on stage and what happens? The stinkin’ hurricane winds kick up and a storm blows in. I’m in the john right and I hear this tink, tink, tink on the tin. I made a mad dash to the stage to start getting gear covered and put away. Well, it sort of stops for a while… almost… and then, decides that it should kick up again. Me and Rockin’ Rod the Real Kind were hanging on to the tarp so it wouldn’t blow off and the wind would kick a big bubble under it and it would splash water right up in my face. Dang it! Oh well, SECOND shower of the day for “P”. Eventually, we did get to perform the show and it was fun switching off and doing some different things for a while.
I should also point out that this event was put on by a really nice couple by the name of Roger and Joyce Glynn. Our appearance at this event was really an honor because it was part of the Memorial Graduation Concert & Party put on by the Glynn’s and the Michael Glynn Memorial Coalition. The event featured a several drawings throughout the evening for college scholarships for high school seniors who attended the event. The highest one I believe was a $500 scholarship! That’s AWESOME! It was meant to be a fun, non-alcoholic event that would benefit area seniors and yet give them something fun to do on graduation night.
In addition to the music, there were also events like the frozen T-shirt contest. What they did was freeze a t-shirt all crumpled up in a ball. A few kids took on a few of the adults to see who could get theirs unfolded the fastest. The fastest group won another prize. There were also some generic prizes like a random $20 bill to the first person who made it up to the stage. One young gal won that one in a hurry! The band also provided the last 7-10 CD’s that we had with us and gave those as prizes as well.
This edition’s Thanks! goes out to the Glynn’s for allowing us to entertain at your event. I know that what you went through is just unimaginably tough but it is incredible how you have turned a bad situation into a very positive event for area kids. I heard that there was an anonymous donor from Texas that had heard of the event and donated a large sum of money for some of the scholarships and for this, we are also very grateful. Thank you! Since most of the band members took this as sort of a vacation type deal, almost everyone drove out there which was pretty inefficient. The band had some rooms in Murdo so some members brought there kids and let them swim etc at the pool. Rockin’ Rod brought his boat out and did a little fishing out there over the weekend. My sister Donna was home from Oregon so I was happy to get back on Sunday and spend a little more time at home. It was good to see Donna again since I only get to see her once or twice a year. I rolled into the driveway at about 4:20 A.M. so it was quite a haul.
Thanks also to the parents who continue to see the importance of the memorial and attended the events with their kids. Thanks for your support of what we think are an important and fun event. Thanks to Beal Distributing/Budweiser out of Sioux Falls, SD for your sponsorship and support of the band. Finally, one last thanks to our friend Kid King on our sponsor K Country 102 FM in Brookings for your work on our website, radio spots and for everything else you do such as getting us on social networks etc. By the way, Happy Birthday Bud!!! Here are a couple more birthdays… Happy Birthday to my good friend Nancy out in Gettysburg who just happens to be married to my cousin Vernon! Happy Belated Birthday to Marlyn in Estelline too.
Speaking of fun events, make sure you make your way to the Winstock Music Festival in Winsted, MN next weekend. White Creek will be entertaining on the emerging artist stage on Friday at 4:15 PM and also on Saturday morning we will kick things off for the day in the Beer tent. You can check out all the artists such as Dierks Bentley, Alan Jackson, Josh Turner, Sara Evans, Phil Vassar, Ronnie Milsap, Jake Owen, Blackhawk and more at www.winstockfestival.com or click on the link at our website www.whitecreekband.com for more information. It WILL be a hoot!! Oh hey, while you’re at it, make sure to check out Phil’s site and become a Phil Phan!!

“Opportunities are like fresh cookies out of the oven, you’d better grab ‘em while you can or before long, someone else snags them up!!”

May 22, 2010

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Castlewood Lake Preston Nov09

Welcome to White Creek News! T’was the night before Turkey day and all through the land, turkeys were nervous of about the ax in the hand… Ok then, if you didn’t make it to Flinners in Castlewood on Wednesday evening, you missed out on some great food and some great fun!

Mike & Lori do a great job with their business in Castlewood. We had most of the tables full, but there were a couple left available which isn’t usually the norm for Castlewood. I guess considering it was the night before Thanksgiving, there could have been some folks out of town etc.

Anyway, we ended up bringing a fleet of vehicles to the gig as T-man had used the trailer to go out west deer hunting. SS and the Levi-guy packed most of the smaller stuff into the van and headed for Castlewood. T hooked up to the trailer which had some of the speakers etc inside. Rockin’ Rod took the Expedition from Volga to Castlewood as he had all of his gear in his truck. Speaking of Rockin’ Rod, if you were at the gig, you would have noticed him playing a new (new to him) Gibson Les Paul guitar that has some of the sweetest tone you can imagine. This baby is in mint condition and Rod thinks the former owner kept it as a collector. At any rate, it sounded awesome coming through his newly acquired Marshall amps. G force and I drove too because I had the DW’s in my Envoy so we figured it was just as easy to take a road trip.

Speaking of guitars, RR also bought a Taylor acoustic guitar and I’m really not sure how he gets such great leads out of an acoustic but I guess that’s what makes him The REAL, Rockin’ Rod! A few months ago, T-man bought his new Takamine guitar and that is sounding pretty darn good also.

I know I’ve mentioned the food at Flinners before but WOW, was that good. SERIOUSLY, it is definitely worth the trip to Castlewood if you are not from there. I just ordered a burger and fries but the burger was HUGE and tasted just like steak. It was awesome! So what I’m saying is “Get your BUTTS over there and take in VERY good food and fun!

Three days later, the band entertained for the re-grand opening of Four Lakes supper club in Lake Preston, SD where Lana the new owner had some really good grub as well. Wow, what a crowd at Four Lakes!

OK, so here’s the deal. You’ve got two new owners of both of these existing businesses. Make sure that you keep them in mind when you are looking for places to go out and eat or when you are ready to go out for a drink and socialize. Please support your local businesses so that they are there when for you.

This editions Thanks! goes out to both Flinners in Castlewood and to Four Lakes in Lake Preston for hiring White Creek to entertain at your events. We had a GREAT time and wish you well in your endeavors. Thanks to Neal Farrin for helping set up and tear down drums and equipment. Next time I’ll need to have him sit in on more songs. It’s neat to hear what everything sounds like from the fan view. Thanks also to the owner of Billy Bob’s Texas for the great seats at the Josh Turner and Travis Tritt concerts while my bride and I visited Ft. Worth, Texas. The words largest honky-tonk is definitely something you should not miss! Thanks to Andrea and Steve for informing us of the NASCAR race at Texas Motor Speedway. Everything from the concerts, the race, the tours of Cowboy Stadium and Ranger Stadium were a blast! It was an awesome trip!

“Live for the moments you can’t put into words.” ..Unknown

November 29,2009

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Falls Park Cafe SiouxFalls 10/10/2009

Welcome to White Creek News! Ladies and gents, boys and girls, if you were looking for the band last weekend, you would have found us in a new venue that we have never had the pleasure of entertaining in before and it really was quite fun. We made our way to the Falls Park Café’ In Sioux Falls last Saturday evening for a surprise birthday party for Micah. His bride Lindsay hired the band to entertain their private party and they do know how to have a good time!

With food catered in from Chef Dominique and an open bar all night, how could you NOT have a good time! At any rate, we showed up at the given time of 4 PM to get all our “STUFF” hauled into the Café’. We basically took over the front corner of the Café and got everything set up and did our sound checks just in time to be out of there by 6:30 when the guests started arriving.

The band actually took off for a while and went to grab ourselves some grub before we had to start entertaining at 8PM. We ended up having a little fun with T-man who was driving. As we went passed restaurants, we said maybe we should go to _____ and would say the name of the restaurant we had already gone by. Finally he caught on and decided we were going to Taco Bell. I ordered a chicken quesadilla but it sort of tasted like it may have had a little Chihuahua in it. Whatever happened to that little pooch we used to see on the commercials anyway? Ok seriously, it was really good.

I tell you what, you get some guys together and you know already where most of the conversations will eventually gravitate to. Why is it that farts and other bodily functions are so funny? It was an interesting van ride to Taco B’s talking about what you go through when your body tells you it’s time to go. We’ll leave it to your imagination what happens with cold hands, coveralls, zippers, fishing and/or hunting and waders. “Sharts” and “Racing stripes” were not out of the question.

So back to the party… The folks at the party were very nice and we greatly appreciated all of the awesome compliments that we received during and after our show. I spoke with Tom K. there and actually found out four of his daughters were there and it was his family that hired the band. Tom sure knows how to grow ‘em if you know what I mean!

This editions Thanks! Goes out to Lindsay for hiring the band to entertain for your party. We also would like to thank Terry Church for sitting in with some extra percussion and playing a couple songs on the DW’s. It is pretty cool to hear what the band sounds like from the spectator point of view once and a while. We would be remiss if we didn’t say Happy Birthday to Micah and also to our very own T-Man (Travis Denison). Evidently T-man shares his birthday with Vikings new quarterback Brett Favre. Happy Birthday guys!

“Actions cannot deny where your loyalties lie.”

October 10.2009

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Welcome to White Creek News! If you happen to be keeping score, the band entertained at a couple of different venues over the last couple of weeks but for some reason, the guy writing the newsletters has not been keeping up very well. The band should probably fire the bum!

White Creek could be found on September 18th and 19th at Finner’s in Castlewood. It was formerly known as the Castlewood Steak House and Lounge. We have entertained at this location many times in the past but it had been a while since we had been there.

We actually made it to this gig without too much extra drama happening like some sort of vehicle problems etc! Imagine that!

The gigs went really well both nights. Saturday night there sort of a competition and people were going back and forth between two bars as there was a 40th birthday party in town and another band at the other bar down the street.

I would have to say that the food was excellent like usual. We grabbed a quick bite to eat before starting the show and everyone was pretty happy with the food. We would like to thank Jeff and Lori for having us entertain for your re-grand opening. We had a great time.

Skipping ahead a week to Sept. 25th, we were to have been entertaining for a surprise birthday party at a farm place near Clear Lake, SD but we woke up to rain and it never stopped all day. The farm evidently was mostly mud so they moved the party to the hall in Goodwin, SD. This would be the first time we ever entertained in Goodwin. I guessing there is a dairy farm somewhere close to Goodwin or else some farmer hasn’t bathed in a few years!

At any rate, the family told Deb, (the birthday girl) that there was a huge rummage sale going on at the hall. Evidently someone knew Deb was looking for a certain piece of furniture and so they told her that this sale had exactly what she was looking for. I think they buzzed down to Royal River first to give the rest of the party time to set up the food and decorate. When Deb walked in to look at the furniture at the made up rummage sale, she got a surprise Happy Birthday” instead! Yes, she had no idea!

This editions Thanks! Goes out to Jeff & Lori (hopefully I got names and spellings correct, it’s been a week ago already!) in Castlewood and also to Eric for hiring us to entertain for Deb and your party. It was a great time. Thanks also for allowing us to partake in your excellent and endless supply of food at the gig. It was all very good in BOTH locations!

Thanks also to the party crashers, Lori, Stacy, Billie Jo, and Richard, and Nancy & guest (sorry, didn’t catch a name). By the way, Happy Birthday to Richard too.

“Sometimes we can’t see the big picture. At times we have to re-focus and repaint it!”

September 18,19, & 25, 2009

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The White Creek Band

Welcome to White Creek News! Hello White Creek Fans! You know it’s getting pretty bad when the guy who writes the newsletter can’t remember when the last one was! Actually, I will take the heat for not getting one out to you in a while. Life can find its ways of getting away from you at times.
First off, I’d better say CONGRATULATIONS to Mr. & Mrs. Roland Trottier on their recent wedding. Also, CONGRADULATIONS to my daughter Nicole on her high school graduation and CONGRADULATIONS to my daughter Haley on her graduation from 5th Grade at Hillcrest Elementary. Yes, I’m getting to be an old fart I guess and I’m going to blame that graduation on my not getting to the newsletter. We spent a couple weeks insulating and OSB sheeting the garage getting ready for a graduation party so I apologize for not getting to the newsletter on a timely basis. Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about Roland’s wedding!
May 9th brought about a hitchin’ party. Roland & Diane joined together in marriage and we celebrated by having a dance at the Montrose, SD American Legion Hall. It was a little stuffy going in but it was nice enough for the most part to leave the doors open, even through the occasional showers to air it out some. G force bass man Graslie was in the wedding party so SS (yep, the “sound stud”) Dave Ford played bass part of the night for us.
Roland, Diane, and the wedding party came cruising up in a really long limo. It appeared that they were having a pretty good time already. We let the party begin and cranked up the tunes after a quite tasty meal. Most of the wedding party and the guests hung out in the back room by the back bar. Heck, we would have too but the stage was on the other end of the building. To say the least, it was hard to pull them away from the bar! We did have some dancers right away which always helps. Like usual, they finally came to dance once the liquid courage started kicking in and of course, you can’t get them to stop but for Roland, what the hell…
On June 6th we could be found entertaining at the New Horizon Bar on Main Street of Lake Preston, SD. By the way, Happy Anniversary to my dear bride. Anyway, it was supposed to be an outdoor gig but crappy weather forced the event to be held inside. I’m ok with that anyway. I’m not fond of having $’s worth of drums sitting outside anyway. Hey, did you check out T-man’s brand spankin’ new Takemine? Pretty Sweet!
Turns out we had better than 160 people in that small bar. We appreciate our fans that drove from Castlewood, Bruce, Watertown, Brookings, Hetland, and White to see the show. Of course, I probably missed some towns so thanks to all the rest too!
This edition’s Thanks! goes out to the folks at the New Horizon Bar for having us out. It appeared that you did well. Thanks also to the awesome crowd who stayed “into” the party all night long. The show you give us is as much fun as the show we give you. It was a great time and was really fun for the band too.
Hey, come check us out at “The Lanes” in Clear Lake, SD. The Crystal Springs Rodeo is just around the corner and we all know how much fun that is!! It’s guaranteed to be a great time. See ya there… Thanks Winstock for some AWESOME shows again this year. Hopefully we can entertain for you next year!

Peace and perseverance be to the monkeys in the tree…

June 21, 2009

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Welcome to White Creek News! Hey Rodeo fans, what did you think of the performances at the Crystal Springs Rodeo and at The Lanes in Clear Lake, SD the week end of June 26 & 27? I don’t know about you but the band had a great time crankin’ out some tunes. Friday night was about as expected for crowd but when the bus rolled in from the camp ground on Saturday night is when the real party started! The place went from a so-so crowd to a packed house and the people hit the dance floor. As long as we are talking about the folks, we need to say thanks to the fans from surrounding towns for making the trip to see us. We apologize to those who tried to see us from Watertown but were turned away at the door. My brother drove up and tried to get in but had his teen-agers with him. His kids had friends with and they wouldn’t let them in the door. I would not have imagined that since it’s a bowling ally but I guess you have to have some rules too with the alcohol sales etc.
I must give Kudos’ to our sound man Dave Ford for doing an excellent job getting the music dialed in. The sound was excellent. The acoustics in at The Lanes were good and that makes a huge difference. As far as drums go, “something must have been aligned right with the stars because they sounded “GOOD” according to Dave.
Rockin’ Rod also sounded good as he was running two amps in stereo. Of course he thought that was pretty cool and it looked pretty kick-ass on stage as well.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the quality of the food at The Lanes in Clear Lake. Wow, what a great burger and fries. I tell you what, if you walk out of that place hungry, it’s your own fault because it was AWESOME!
July 3rd found the band entertaining on a gloomy, rainy afternoon/evening at Lake Norden, SD. We had set up in a semi trailer that had a side that folds down to create a stage. Even though we set up back in the trailer part, the rain which we had hoped would stop, proved our decision to be futile. It was almost stopped, just a few sprinkles, so we decided to go ahead and set up. Unfortunately, the rain got worse after set up. I ended up putting a tarp around my drums so they wouldn’t get wet. Now, there aren’t too many bands who would continue on in a situation like this but we did. It made me think of Trace Adkins at the Winstock Festival a few years back. He kept playing for quite some time until lightning closed the show. At any rate, it was interesting watching the few dance in the rain. As the show went on later into the night, some more folks came out of the Bullpen and joined us. Well, you know what happens when T-shirts get wet. We’ll just leave it at that… So, other than being a miserable night, I’d say that I would recommend watching the first step off stage and the rest will be fine.
On July 11th, the band made history by entertaining at Ray’s Corner in Brookings. This was the first time a live band entertained in this establishment due to its size. It was an interesting venture to say the least. We entertained for Brian & Kris in celebration of their wedding on July 5th. Brian and Kris both work at Ray’s and Brian or “G” is our bass player so our gift to them was a couple hours of music. We set up with a limited amount of equipment and entertained for a little over an hour. Then, Jeff Reed took over with some DJ tunes. This was actually planned this way and it worked great. See, T-man and Rockin’ Rod are into the UFC fighting and the Brock Lesnar / Frank Mir fight was on last night. Turns out it wasn’t much of a fight. I hadn’t watched too much of this sort of thing in the past but it was sort of neat watching Brock fight as our band entertained for him at his wedding celebration.
Anyway, after the fight, which was over only about a minute into the second round, we went back over to Ray’s corner and took over for Jeff and provided music up until about 1:45 AM. Of course the place was packed and our security helpers Lucky Leroy, Dan’l Denison, and the Roland-meister had to keep people backed up so that T, SS, and the famous Mr. Smith had room to play.
If you haven’t been to Ray’s Corner, it is a neat bar. Lisa, the owner is about the sweetest gal you could ever meet. So when you get a chance, make sure to stop in for a beer or two! The rest of the staff was also very nice and Darla was our bartender most of the night. She also kept an eye on our stuff when we weren’t there which was very cool.
This week’s Thanks! goes out to The Lanes in Clear Lake, the Bullpen and the city of Lake Norden, and to Ray’s Corner for hosting the White Creek Band. We appreciate entertaining for you. Maybe next time the Lake Norden event will be a little “dryer! Thanks also to all the fans both long time and brand new who came out to see us at our shows. I know there were many new faces at Ray’s.

What’s better in life than having the peace of the good Lord, a great family, awesome friends, and some favorite tunes?

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