MAY 30TH 2008
You've probably figured out by now if you've checked into
this page over the last few months that I haven't been updating it much. Myspace has pretty much taken over as a promotional
tool for me and all the projects that I'm involved in. Please check out these sites if you want to keep updated.
thanks for continuing to support us and we look forward
to seeing you all soon!!
Marty
JANUARY 23RD 2008
Sorry I haven't updated this page for such a long time.
I've really been doing most of my work on the 3 Myspace pages. I started an official Kooltones MySpace page a few weeks ago
but I realize that not all of you have access to myspace. But having said that, you can still see where we are playing and
hear music there. See the link to the site on the main page of this website.
2008 is going to be a fun year. We've got new tunes to
roll out for the Kooltones, We'll be returning to PUB 181 for the first time in well over a year, Mac's Blue 5 will be playing
in March and the mighty DUNG BEATLES will return to HINGS in June for 2 full weekends!!
I'm sure there will be many jamming opportunities between
us and the Dogs and the Hipwaiters and ...? who knows!! So we hope to see you all soon. We'll be at HINGS starting
February 15th.
Marty
AUGUST 21ST 2007
Wow, it's been a long time !! Well, most of you
who actually take the time to read this stuff already know what's been going on anyway.
We had a very busy June with Mac's Blue 5 (which was a
great success again) and a week of gigs with the Kooltones. As some of you know my daughter Jessica is a dancer and has been
for 20 years. She is a principle dancer and assistant choreographer for a group called "Extreme". The had a series of
shows down at the Crown Ballroom in downtown Portland the week of June 25-29 and asked the Kooltones to be a part of it. It
was a great experience and very different for us but the guys and I really enjoyed it. Then we did a show for the Baby Boomers
which is always a blast !
I turned 50 in July and celebrated at HINGS with our good
friends in the Junkyard Dogs who graciously let me jump up and play with them all night. I'll never forget what a great time
we all had that night. Plus the gift that was given to me was amazing as well. Thanks again for those of you who were a part
of that. Mostly took July off. Dana and I celebrated my birthday and our 10th anniversary by taking a cruise which was
wonderful. So far, August has been great. Played for our friends Gary and Linda's annual party without Jon who was in
Conneticut for his son's wedding. We also played without Jon at the annual Neighborhood Night Out in my area. We got our good
friend Jim Butcher to come out of retirement after having some major surgery last year to play Sax with us. It was really
fun and Jim did a great job for as long as it had been since he'd played.
So now we just did our first weekend at HINGS and had
a blast. We'll finish up this weekend and then we're away from the Club scene til October. I'm already booking dates
for 2008 and we're hoping to maybe get into another club in addition to HINGS. With all the band options, MB5, Dung
Beatles, Kooltones, etc, it's tough to figure out what to do !! STay tuned...
Marty
MAY 29TH 2007
Hey everyone! The 2 Dung Beatle
weekends were amazing as I've said before. This was definitely the best time we've had doing it so far. I thought we
played well all the way around and we were all healthy and ready to rock. We were a little hesitant about the attendance factor
being as it was 2 weekends in a row but all 4 nights were virtually "sold out". What a great feeling that is for us. Thank
you to all of you that chose to come out. I'm working on a little thank you gift for our "special" fans. You know
who you are.
Now it's time for Mac's Blue 5
again this coming weekend. We are really excited about it. We had one short rehearsal with Cliff but our only full rehearsal
with Cliff and Dan got canceled at the last minute so we are going in a little bit rusty but that's the challenge of it. Everyone
is so good at doing homework that I'm not worried in the least.
I know that the blues thing is a little outside what we
normally do but for a musician, there's nothing quite like playing blues. It's one of the only forms of music where you get
to put all of your passion into your solos. Whether it's a keyboard, guitar or harp solo it's a total free release of expression
and it's great for us. I hope it translates to you, the listener as well.
So, this weekend at HINGS. I hope to see you there.
After this we've got a couple of weekends off and then
it's the return (finally) of BILLY SCENE AND THE KOOLTONES!!!!
More to come...
Marty
APRIL 17TH 2007
We are READY!! The Dung Beatles are ready to emerge!
The last couple of rehearsals went smooth and sounded great. Once we got comfortable with the parts it becomes alot of fun.
Lot's of laughs too!We can't wait to get out there and play this wonderful, challenging music for you. Then we're taking
May off except I'll be playing with the Hipwaiters one and possibly 2 weekends after our D-Beatles shows. Then Mac's
Blue 5 will be back the first weekend in June. After that things start getting back to normal and busy for the ol' Kooltones.
I gotta say thanks to our guitarist Jon Lindahl for allowing Jeff and Andy and I to go off and do these side projects. Jon
is busy himself with his studio and playing with a couple of other artists so he's not sitting on his hands waiting for the
'tones to get back in the groove. Well, that's about it. No more rehearsals. It's down to business...dung business
Macca Dung
APRIL 5TH 2007
Hi everyone! We sure had fun doing our oldies weekend
at HINGS. Ex-Kooltone/Last Kiss guitarist and our cousin Dean Gleason stepped up to the plate and did a fantastic job. Dean
is pretty much retired form live performing so it takes alot of homework and sweat to get those callouses back to playing
strength! Saturday night our other cousin Randy Royse-ex Last Kiss frontman also came out of retirement to sing a couple
of sets with Jeff and Dean and I as well as with Tom Ealson, another Last Kiss alumni. It was a night of reunions and fun
music.
Now we're rehearsing for the 2 weekends of Beatles music.
This is pretty intense stuff. There's close to 50 songs on the list and we try to re-create them as close as possible to the
originals. I hope you can make it out one of the weekends to hear it! Other than that, enjoy the coming weather and
be safe. We'll see you soon.
MM
MARCH 7TH 2007
The last couple of weeks have been fun. I've been busy
in the recording studio. My cousin Dean and our good friend Oscar completed a studio version of the classic Turtle's song
"Eleanore". Wow, that was tough but lot's of fun! Dean and Jeff and Andy and I rehearsed for our oldies show last week and
will again tonight. Jon is also busy in his studio. Last week he asked me to try some ideas on a beautiful new songs he's
written called "Twilight". Great song. I conjured my creative juices and added some keys and bass and string parts to
it and Jon liked it. If you're reading this and you're interested, ask Jon about it next time you see him. I also
went into an outside studio called "Good Job" Studio owned and operated by our old friend and ex-Kooltone guitarist Johnny
Martin. He has a brand new state of the art studio and wanted me to come in to record a song so that he could gain more experience
working with different genre's of music. So I chose a blues tune that I eventually want to do with MB5. I did all the parts.
Drums, bass, guitars and vocal and then had Cliff Ashmon come in to play blues harp on it. I left it with Johnny to mix and
have fun with but am looking forward to hearing the final results. So we'll be out at Hings with the oldies show in
a couple of weeks. Til then stay safe ..
Marty
February 27th 2007
Well, the beginning of 2007 has been great so far. Our
shows have really been fun and the new tunes were really fun for us to play. I think the majority of them were good for you
too!! Now we're into the part of the year when all these projects are coming around. The REAL Kooltones won't be back in the
clubs until the end of June!
In the meantime, we'll be doing our "oldies"
show with our ex-guitarist and cousin Dean Gleason on guitar in March. I (Marty) will be filling in with our good friends
the Hipwaiters on a few occasions here and there, the DUNG BEATLES return in April and we'll be
off in May. Then Mac's Blue 5 will return the first weekend in June. Whew!! Lot's of rehearsing
to do. I'd better get started. See you all soon.
MM
February 8th 2007
Had a great rehearsal last night in spite of me being
sick with a bad cold. I'm lucky that Jon and Jeff and Andy take our music so seriously that they take the time to do
the homework that gives us all the advantage of coming into rehearsal totally prepared. The new songs all sounded great right
out of the gate!! Just needed some tweaking here and there and of course we will tighten them up in front of you very soon!!
We had so much fun with Mac's Blue 5 a couple of weeks
ago that we inked another weekend at HINGS on June 1st !!
On the personal side, my Grand daughter Kylee turns 2
years old today!! As always, time flies when you're getting old....
See you soon..
MM
January 30th 2007
Hi everyone!! Our Mac's Blue
5 weekend out at Hings was overwhelmingly great!! It is such a great feeling knowing that when we want to throw
something different at you that you not only accept it but you really like it!! We're looking at booking another
weekend in the coming months.
Now we're learning a few new songs for the KOOLTONES
to kinda freshen things up a bit. Even though we won't be playing much this year it's still nice to bring in some new music
as often as time allows. We're playing a private party on Feb 10th and then back at HINGS for the weekends of the 16
and the 23rd.
Thanks again for supporting our love for so many different
forms of music. It wouldn't be much fun without you!!!
Marty
January 8th 2007
Well, another year is upon us and time once again
to reflect on this past year. We had SO much fun playing for you all. And we picked up a bunch of new friends along the way.
That is a wonderful thing. We became great friends with the Junkyard Dogs and have turned alot of Kooltone fans into "Dog
Fans" as well. We played our first weekend with Mac's Blue 5 and reprised the Dung Beatles. Both of which were very
successful and musically satisfying. So much so that we're doing both again in the first 4 months of ' 07. We played
for the Baby Boomers Club which hopefully will lead to some more fun gigs with them. They are a great bunch of people to work
with and play for. Oh yeah and I can't forget Jeff's heart attack!!! Boy was that a scare. But he's doing great
and playing better than ever..
So yes, we're cutting back on normal Kooltone shows this
year to make room for other projects and for vacations and honeymoons and all that stuff. But you those of you who know me
know that I can't stay away very long. Plus this is the first year that I can remember that I'm going to need some extra cash!!
I'm hoping to pick up a few "guest shot" gigs with our great friends, the Hipwaiters. It's always fun for me to fill in and
play with Frank and Norm. So stay tuned and you know I'll always let you know what we're doing. 2007 will mark
some important Birthdays too! Andy and I will hit the 50 mark along with alot of other friends and fans that were born in
1957!! We're gonna be partying hard for that!! Our first weekend this year is of course at HINGS as Mac's Blue 5. That
will be on the 26th and 27th of January. I hope to see alot of you there. It's gonna be fun!!
Happy New Year
Marty
December 1st 2006
Seems like the time between Halloween and Christmas always
just flies by doesn't it? We're winding down 2006 already. It's been a great year for us. We've made alot of new friends
among the club scene. It means alot to us. Next year will be a little different as I've said. We won't be playing
nearly as much but will be doing other projects in between Kooltone weekends. We've go 2 more gigs at HINGS the weekends
of December 8-9 and 15-16 then we're playing NYE at the Holiday Inn near Lloyd Center for the Baby Boomers Club. In January
we will be bringing the blues back to HINGS with Mac's Blue 5. If we don't see you before then the KOOLTONES wish you all
a very happy and safe Christmas Holiday and New Years Eve!!
marty
October 30th 2006
Well, our 2 weekends at Hings were wonderful as usual.
Thanks as always for your support and friendship!! Last Saturday was the annual Halloween party at HINGS and we had
a blast! There were some really incredible costumes this year. I'll have photos up asap. We're off for a couple
of weekends and then it's back for our last appearance at PUB 181 for this year. Have a fun and safe Halloween!!!!
Marty
October 5th 2006
Wow it's been a LONG time since I updated this hasn't
it?? Sorry about that. You've been faithful right?? ;-)
Let's see if i can catch up. It was a long HOT summer
and our weekend at Hings as the DUNG BEATLES was a major success once again.
Thank you to all who came and shared the great music of
the Beatles. I always whine about how much time and effort goes into one of these performances but in the end it is well worth
it as it stretches our musical abilities and is very rewarding in that respect.
We then did a weekend with the great Norm Whitehurst on
drums filling in for Andy who had other commitments. That was fun and Norm did an incredible job as usual. Not only having
to learn and rehearse for 6 weeks for the Dung Beatles but also boning up on all the Kooltones songs since he hadn't filled
in with us for a couple of years.
We just got thru doing 2 wonderful weekends at Pub 181.
It's funny, we are a little indifferent about playing at the Pub because it doesn't bring in our " normal" crowd (except for
those of you who know who you are) and we have had a couple of kind of boring nights in the last couple of years but the last
6 or 8 weekends we've played there have been packed and really fun. We're still re-thinking our schedule for next year concerning
the Pub.
So here we are. Fall is back. My favorite time of year
and we're going to finish out the year having fun as the KOOLTONES. Halloween is fast approaching and that has become
one of our favorite weekends to play. So we're looking forward to that!!
As always if you're reading this, thank you for your interest
in me and the band and all the different projects I try to bring forth. Next year the Kooltones will be scaling back just
a bit to make room for some other things. January will see the return of our blue project Mac's Blue 5, In March we
may be doing an all 50-60's weekend featuring Dean Gleason and members of the now defunct Last Kiss and then in April we will
be doing TWO full weekends as the Dung Beatles.......
Gee I guess i'd better start rehearsing......
July 31st 2006
Well, after nearly 8 weeks away from the clubs we're about
to jump in head first starting this weekend with THE DUNG BEATLES at Hings.
Those of you who read this obviously already know about
it so I won't go into detail again (read previous entry). We have one more rehearsal tonight and then we set up and sound
check on Thursday. Hopefully everything will run smooth and we'll ALL have a great time.
We played a beautiful wedding reception for our good friend
Renee's son Joel and her new daughter in law Candace on Saturday night. Tomorrow night we are playing for my neighborhood's
National Neighborhood Night Out celebration. This will be our 3rd or 4th year for that. It's a great event that brings alot
of people together for a good cause. Then we'll be off to Dung land!! We can't wait!!!
Marty
July 18th 2006
Today as I start the 50th year of my life (I turned 49
yesterday) my head is full of BEATLES!!!!! Dean, Jeff, and Norm have really been working their tails off preparing for
our upcoming Dung Beatle weekend on August 4th and 5th. As I've said before, it's alot of homework and rehearsal but it's
so fun and fulfilling when the songs actually come together and the harmonies are blending. Andy will be joining the
rehearsals on the 19th and we will be in the home stretch. We are so thrilled about the fact that HINGS received so
many reservation requests for both nights that they had to stop taking them in order to save a few tables for walk ins and
regulars! How cool is that?? Thank you.
We have to start thinking about the KOOLTONES again too
because that's all starting up as soon as the Dung thing is over. Norm will be filling in for Andy on our first Kooltone weekend
after the Dung show. Then it's back to regular rotation starting at PUB 181 in Sept. We're sorry to say that our wonderful
soundman Marty Vincelli will be leaving us after our August dates. Outside of running our soundboard and taking great
care of us he is a musician and a recording engineer so he has alot of other irons in the fire that require his time.
Marty taught me alot in his year with us and I hope that we can continue to put forth a good sound out front without him.
We're pretty spoiled since he came on board!!
Well, it's back to plotting the Dung!!
Marty
June 20th 2006
Hi everyone!! Well let's see...alot has happened
since that last entry!!
We had 2 great weekends at the Pub and then had some fun
with our new friends the Junkyard Dogs when they debuted at Hings. Then we had our 2 weekends at Hings which was a blast as
usual thanks to all of you. We're in an extended time off period right now. Dana and I went to Las Vegas for a week
and saw the "Love" Circ Du Solei Beatles show at the Mirage. Absolutely amazing. And not only that, we found out that Paul
McCartney was sitting about 20 rows behind us the whole time!!!!!! So close...
Now I'm getting ready to celebrate the 30th anniversary
of HIGH VOLTAGE. This was the band that Andy and I were in in 1976. We are all getting together this Saturday for the first
time in many many years. Should be alot of fun. THEN 5 weeks of rehearsals start for the DUNG Beatles!!! Yep, the weekend
of August 4-5 at Hings we will be doing an entire show of Beatle material with Norm Whitehurst from the Hipwaiters on drums
and Ex-Kooltone (and cousin) Dean Gleason on guitar and vocals. Andy will be singing and playing percussion along with Norm.
It's gonna be FUN!! Yeah, Yeah,Yeah!! So take care and I'll be sending more emails as that get's closer...
MM
May 4th 2006
Boy, the months pass by so fast it's amazing!! Well
we had 2 great weekends at Hings and then I stayed over one more and filled in for Dave with the Hipwaiters. Really had a
great time despite blowing up my amp on Friday night. We rushed to Franks house to get a substitute while Norm did one
of his amazing drum solos. We were back in time to start the 3rd set without missing a beat! Fun stuff.
So we've been off a couple of weekends to recharge the
batteries once again. Pub 181 is looming right around the corner. We've got a DUNG BEATLES WEEKEND in the works for the August
4-5. This time it'll not just be a Sunday 2 set show. We're gonna do it up bigtime this time. A full night of All Beatles
stuff. It's gonna take alot of homework and rehearsal but we hope you'll all come out and enjoy some great music with us.
More on that later. Enjoy the sunshine and we'll see you at the Pub on May 12-13 and 19-20
Marty
March 30th 2006
Hi Everyone!! First off let me say that the Mac's
Blue 5 weekend went off perfectly and we had an amazing time playing some good old rockin' blues for you all. Thanks to those
of you that were able to make it. We'll hopefully do it again before the years end.
Our 2 weeks at Pub 181 were wonderful as well. I think
we picked up quite a few new fans! It's been a VERY busy season for us so far and now we're taking a couple of weeks
off to rest and spend time with the family and to pursue our other projects. There's things in the works coming up.
A possible Dung Beatles weekend!! We're in the planning stages right now. Otherwise we'll be back at Hings on the weekends
of the 14 and the 21st of April. Take care and enjoy spring fever!!
Marty
February 24th 2006
Well, alot has happened since my last entry!! Wow.
It's been a tough month. Of course most of you who read my updates know that on the 13th Jeff had a mild heart attack.
Luckily it was caught in time and he was taken care of right away and is back to his normal self though new and improved
since he will be leading a more healthy lifestyle ! He's had some time to rest and heal and he will be back with us tonight
at HINGS.
My other good friend Jim Butcher also had bad news over
the last few weeks and went in last week for cancer surgery. Jim is a wonderful Sax player that I've worked with over the
years and one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet. It's still a bit touch and go but we're hoping for a full recovery.
He has alot more studio work to finish with me!!
Because of Jeff's situation last week Norm and Frank from
the Hipwaiters stepped in and took our first weekend at Hings and had me play guitar with them. That was great. Had a great
time as usual. SOOOOOOO....we are back THIS weekend at HINGS. We are so excited to have everyone back on stage and to
see all of you again.
We will have a couple of special guests on Saturday night.
JR Stevens is a friend of ours and designed our new drum logo. He has just recently discovered
that he has quite a talent for singing Elvis tunes and is breaking into the Elvis Impersonator business. We'll be having him
up in the 2nd set Saturday to sing a couple of tunes with us. And hopefully an old friend of ours who plays keyboards will
also be coming up to play with us. It should be alot of fun!!
THEN.....MAC'S BLUE 5 on March 3-4. We are really looking forward to this our first official gig.
Hope you'll all join us to see what we're doing with that.
Anyway, we hope to see you soon!!
Marty
February 2nd 2006
Hi everyone. Our first weekend back at the Pub was great.
Thanks to all of you who came out. We're still working out the bugs and shaking off the rust of our new gear/songs,
and sound. But I think we finally got it together last weekend. Can't wait to get back to it this weekend.
Rehearsals for Mac's Blue 5
are going great! I'm really hoping that you all come out and give us a shot. We probably won't do this very often and
we've put alot of work into it. And don't worry, it's Blues but I'm making sure that the songs we're playing will be ones
that you all know and will be fun to listen to or dance to. If nothing else, just come to hear the great performances by Dan
Pettis on a REAL Hammond organ and Cliff Ashmon of Harmonica. What a kick it is to play with these guys. I've been wanting
to do this for many years! Anyway, that's about it. Back to the PUb tomorrow night. Hope to see you all soon.
Marty
January 17th 2006!!
Well thank goodness the holidays are over huh?! We had
a great time playing at the Thunder Ranch but Thursday nights are a little tough on us old working guys! So other than
that Jon has been super busy in his recording studio and Jeff and Andy and I have been planning and rehearsing for our one
off gig with my project called Mac's Blue 5. See the special page on this website for more info.
This Friday I'm filling in with the Hipwaiters at Hings and then it's back to good old PUB 181 for 2 weekends. Then things
are really going to get busy for us all the way through June. Hope you can put up with us that long! We're looking forward
to getting tight again and seeing all of you, our FFF club, friends, fans and family out there on the dance floor. Who knows
how much longer we can all keep this up!! I guess you're never too old. McCartney and the Stones are proving that!!
See you soon.
Marty
December 15th 2005
Hey everyone!! Hope your holiday stress is low and this
finds you all well. We had a wonderful 2 weekends at Hings over the Thanksgiving holiday. We also had the pleasure
of playing at a 40th BD party for our good Friend Tom and his (now) fiance Mary. He actually proposed to her on one
of our breaks!! It was very touching and wonderful. Good job Tom!!
Found out a few weeks ago about a new club called THUNDER
RANCH which is actually opening tonight. Visited it last Saturday and got a look around and met the owner Tyler. It will be
primarily a Country themed club but they are going to have Live Classic Rock Thursdays. They have asked us to be the first
band to play next Thursday the 22nd of December. From what I saw, it is going to be a fantastic club. They're spared no cost
in making it state of the art all the way around. Looks like they are sponsored by Jack Daniels and also have a link to Latus
motors so there's all sorts of incredible decorations, murals, motorcycles, a mecanical bull and lots more. The lights
and sound system are state of the art and it looks like the food is going to be top notch. Check it out even if you can't
make it out to see us. We'll be there in January too and if all goes well we may do one Thursday a month. So that's
about it. We're looking forward to the new year. If we don't see you next Thursday at Thunder Ranch, you all have a wonderful
Holiday and a safe New Years Eve!!
Marty
November 15th 2005
Wow, I didn't realize that it's been this long since my
last entry! I guess we've been pretty busy. Our 4 weekends at Hings so far have gone wonderfully. Thank you all for
coming out and having fun with us as always! Marty V, our soundman is really doing a great job. We've gotten alot of great
comments on our sound and it will only get better with time. The reason I chose to only play Hings til the end of the
year was to make sure we get all the bugs worked out and get the new material tight before we go on to other venues in '06.
But we feel right at home at Hings. It's always a fun place to play. I had the pleasure of filling in for Buckster, the guitarist
for FOG last Friday at (where else?) Hings. Boy that was fun! Thanks to all of you who showed up to heckle me! It went
well considering I only had about 10 days to learn their set! And those guys are real taskmasters! They only let me have ONE
drink per set!! ;-) Other than that we've been doing lots of recording projects, some vacations and just spending as
much time with our families as we are able to do. Next year will be pretty busy for the Kooltones but we're looking forward
to it. Hope you are too! So, we'll be back at Hings on Thanksgiving weekend and the weekend after that and that will be it
until we show up at PUB 181 at the end of January. See you soon!
Marty
August 22nd 2005
Hi again everyone. Well we've only one full rehearsal
to go before we take some time off for the Labor Day weekend and then we will be at Hings! Rehearsals have gone extremely
well. We've got 14 brand new songs to play for you and I think you're gonna like em all! We've really done our homework and
we're more than ready to play! We got to play a private party for our good friends Linda and Gary a couple of weekends
ago and we debuted most of the new tunes. It was good for us to do that as we don't get to play full volume in the studio
when rehearsing. So check out our "current song list" and see if you can spot the new tunes. Spent this past Sunday
out at Hings with Tom from FOG and Norm from the Hipwaiters tearing the stage apart and rebuilding it. It's going to be alot
better for all the bands involved. Tom and Norm did all the work. I just made sure they did it right!! I do swing a pretty
good vacuum cleaner though!!
WE ARE READY...ARE YOU???? See you soon...
MM
July 22nd 2005
Hi everyone! Hope your summer is good so far. We've been
hard at work doing our homework on new tunes to play for you starting in September. So far we've had 2 good rehearsals and
8 out of 16 new songs are coming together well. We are all real busy individually with our families
and "normal" lives but we're really looking forward to getting back on a regular club schedule. Forgot to say that Dana and
I became Grandparents in February! Her daughter Kelly gave birth to a beautiful little girl named Kylee Marie. She loves her
Grandpa! Grandpa??? Wow.
I actually finalized our main club schedule for
2006 already! (See the "Here's Where We Are Playing" link) Mainly Hings and Pub 181 of course but I left open some
weekends in case we decide to play somewhere else. But since we really only like to play 2 weekends a month, it works well
to bounce between our favorite 2 clubs. We're only about 7 weeks away I think!! Time flies. Jon and
I have been working in the studio on various recording projects both for ourselves and for other people. Keeps us busy as
well!
So while we are busy buying and testing new gear
and working with our new soundman/lightman, you all be patient and I promise we're going to have a great time in the fall!
I'll be posting new photos soon too so stay tuned.
Marty
June 22nd 2005
Well, things are heating up in Kooltone land! The weekend
at Hings was amazing and considering that Jeff had a major loss in his family the day before he had to play, it was great
therapy for him. Thank you all for coming out and making a "fill in" weekend one of the best!
We are now in our planning mode for the fall of 05 and
for 2006. We've started purchasing new equipment, Marty (our new sound/lightman) is working with us to help put everything
together to bring you all the best sound we've ever had. It's fun and exciting to put it all together. I've narrowed
the list of new songs down to 16 and we're all doing our homework before we start into rehearsals in a couple of weeks. And
I've already started booking the clubs for '06. It's nice to be wanted!! ;-) Jon is doing alot of fill in work
with some other bands and really enjoying that along with all his studio work. Andy is no longer in the Touchables so we won't
have to worry about finding a sub for him. But I want to thank Norm Whitehurst and Mark Wills for doing such a fabulous job
when needed in his absence!! You are both official Kooltones!
So, less than 3 months to go and we'll be back in rotation.
Hope you'll all still be around when that happens. Enjoy the summer!!
Marty
