Hey, y’all.  Teenage Rust played at Coins on Memorial Day Monday and I was there along with so many other faithful friends - and we had a blast!  You should have already viewed some pictures from that day including one of keyboard/singer Crystal Grandel who just radiates joy.  God has certainly blessed her with so much talent.  Her hubby Paul does a lot of the vocals and is the bass player,  while Howard Wimbrow plays lead guitar.  Howard also plays with No Byscuyts and Comfort Zone.  Holding down the bottom is T Lutz on drums, always having a good time back there.  Center stage is the couple we all love to love, Maddy & Billy Carder.  Billy plays guitar, too, and sings a few; he does a great Johnny Cash.  I always call Maddy our ‘Dancing Queen’ because she does just that while providing backup vocals and tambourine.  What a fun show they put on each and every time.  Let’s all get together again to hear them play at M.R. Ducks on Sunday, October 4, at 4p.

It’s been a wonderful weekend of music for me.  I managed to pry myself lose from my comfy lifter/recliner chair on Saturday to go to Harborside Bar & Grill to hear one of my favorite bands, Dunehounds.  These guys stand out for me by having a broad and eclectic repertoire, often playing the more obscure tunes from popular artists.  Case in point: “I Second That Emotion.”  Arranged and performed a la Dunehounds, I wasn’t even sure I was hearing right at first.  But, yes, that is the same song made famous by Smokey Robinson & The Miracles back in 1967.  Genius to pull that out of the musical ether.  Then there was “Handle With Care” that I immediately attributed to George Harrison (yeah, I was thinking The Beatles); but he recorded that tune with The Traveling Wilburys, which famously included Roy Orbison, Bob Dylan, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Jim Keltner on drums.  I’d like to hear the Dunehounds do “End of the Line,” too; which was reportedly a tribute to Roy Orbison who passed on prior to the release of The Traveling Wilburys Volume that included “The Wilbury Twist.”  Fun stuff.  Anyway, I digress.  Here’s one you won’t hear anywhere else: “It Don’t Come Easy.”  You may be surprised (I was) to learn that George wrote that one but gave it to Ringo.  “Golden Years” by David Bowie is another favorite that they play along with Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” and Jackson Brown’s “Runnin’ On Empty.”  So much talent in this group: Sean Loomis (guitar; also Full Circle), Troy Mawyer (guitar), Kasey Briggs (bass) and Adam Bilenki (drums).  All four sing with Adam and Sean carrying most; and with wonderful harmonies, I might add.  Actually all four sing and all four have solo gigs too.  Go hear them next time you get the chance.  You’ll be as impressed as I always am.

Sunday I had the privilege of hearing Lauren Glick perform a live mini concert for guests at (Tranzfusion) drummer Bobby Malaby’s house.  What a deck party that always is - fabulous musicians.  His son Scott Malaby plays guitar, Will Davis plays sax, bass and sometimes keyboard, and Sarah Robins who plays flute and backs up Lauren on beautiful harmonies.  Glick has indeed assembled a most excellent band to help her arrange some of her songs and take them to the recording studio together.  Albums to date include LUSH and Maybe I’ll Run.  I’ve been to a lot of solo gigs with Lauren on keyboard; so I was familiar with them but hearing the band play them was so fulfilling.  I felt the full weight of the witing as well as the musical structure of each song.  I know she is grateful for the contributions the band has made to her compositions.  In a quiet setting as this was, it was so cool to be able to hear and appreciate all of her lyrics, many about her personal life experiences or about social issues.  I’m looking forward to her next album as she continues to write entertaining and meaningful music.  You can find Ms. Glick’s schedule right here in Who’s Where When or on her website, laurensings.com

Many of you may have already seen the facebook post about Gavin Hades and his incredible adventure at the Mountain Music Festival in Gatlinburg, Tenn. (thanks to dad Jeremy Brink, Cecilia’s Fall).  I watched the entire video and was so impressed that I had to include a bit here in case you don’t know.  Gavin participated in the “So You Think You Can Shred” competition that was judged by five world renowned guitarists; Joel Hoekstra (Whitesnake) and Brad Gillis (Night Ranger & Ozzy) among them.  Each competitor was given only 30 seconds to play/shred for the judges and several were most impressive and received some 10 scores.  Gavin was last and the judges were so blown away that they wanted to give him 10.5 and 11.  So why, I wondered, didn’t he win?  Turns out performers in the festival were excluded from competition and Gavin was there to play with his band The Gavin Evick Band.  So many great things happening for this young man and we are all so proud of him.  Rock on!

That’s it for now.  Hope you enjoy our beautiful second season in Ocean City.  Be kind to one another and always party safe!