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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