tonight's the night...

There could 30 of us tonight on the outdoor deck - including the band - as we hunker down to pull this fund raising house concert for RAICES together. Already about $300 has come in so... we'll do our small part for the cause of compassion and justice at the border. NOTE: for those who can't join us for whatever reason, we're going to try live streaming this gig at our Famous Before We're Dead Face Book page. There is also a button to make a donation, too: please go to: https://www.facebook.com/famoushal/ .

For those new to the band, Famous Before We're Dead, it began when singer/ songwriter, Hal Lefferts, and I decided to make some music in our retirement. We met in 8th grade, played rock'n'roll in Creepin' Jesus in high school, and did some acoustic gigs later as Folk U and Dave and Chuck (a white boy play on Sam and Dave; sorry for the earlier error.) After 35 years of doing our own thing in various parts of the country, we reconnected and have explored music making on and off ever since.  With my retirement from ministry we were able to kick-up rehearsals, auditions, etc. From time to time we've been able to add long time friend and musician, Win Riddabock on flute and percussion, as well as Jon Haddad on percussion and harmonica. Last month we welcome guitar virtuoso, John Burns, into the fold and he will debut with us tonight.

Most of tonight's material will be introspective original songs. We'll cover the great Fred Neil's "Other Side of This Life" as well as John Hiatt's "Through These Hands" - and maybe have some fun at the end with an old, sassy blues song "Evolution Blues." Last night we worked out the bugs for most of tonight's performance. There's a few logistical issues to resolve re: equipment placement and microphones and modest set revisions, but we're just about ready to go. Another special treat is the return of Terre Lefferts, Jon Grenoble and Dianne De Mott to the stage singing their sweet harmonies.

If you're going to join us, please park on Oak Hill and walk to our house as we share a drive and are reserving most of that space for the band and the front lawn for those with special needs. It should be a great cool evening in the Berkshires. Our mosquito halos are working, we have additional repellent spray as well so please let me know if you're coming and we'll have a blast together. 

Come on over @ 7 pm for refreshments and drinks. The music starts at 7:30 pm and we'll try to wrap up about 9. For those who want to visit more, we'll move inside after the tunes are done for a bit, too.