Thawed, at last

We took December and January off for family time and personal projects.  We couldn't have guessed the hiatus would include February, too, thanks to the ice and snow and sub-freezing temperatures that just wouldn't go away.  That's enough of that, thankyew.  

But we're back, hell yeah, and still up to our old tricks.  We're always updating the song list, of course.  In upcoming news,  our manager, Eddie Spaghetti,  will be competing in the Muttminster/Meowminster Resuce Dog and Cat Show this Sunday (2/22) at Main Street Station.  Richmond Animal Care and Control sponsors this charitable event, and it is a lot of fun that generates awareness and $$$ for a great cause.  Eddie will be competing in the Best Sploot category.  Next up, we're joining our pal Dan Lancaster to support Jimmy Catlett at his new CD release party at the Northside Grille on Saturday, March 7th.  We'll be doing songs from the new release as well as favorites from Jimmy's previous works.

We return to S B's Love Shack on Friday, March 20th.  Closing out Ramadan with the Big Time we always deliver.

Almost forgot:  we play at Washington and Lee in Lexington on Friday, 3/27 for a party the School of Dance is having.  We'll visit the Heliotrope Brewery for Pizza and other delectables first and then head to the university for a rocking good time.

FALLING FOR AUTUMN

Been a minute, hunh?  Yours truly is a slack dog when it comes to blogging.  Not good at it.  No, sir, not good at it.  Anyway, let's move on to NEWS.

Our bud of buds, Jimmy Catlett, has a new release at hand!  The most accurate details are at his FB page, I'm sure.  I think there is an EVENT scheduled for somewhere in MARCH, but don't hold us to that.  And, yeah, we may have had the opportunity to provide some instrumental  assistance.  But the  compositional excellence and majority of instrumentality  is all Jim.  

Birthdays galore!  Jan, John, Bill,  Chris, David, Jimi, John,  etc.  

We're trying to get into most of the hip venues in town, but it's not easy.  Who are you, who have you played with, do you play what people want to hear (do you play what people have heard over and over again)  and do you have grey hair?  

And speaking of FB:  expect our presence on FB soon.  Me and Zuckerberg don't see eye to eye, but modern times….

We're back at the Love Shack pretty soon.  11/21.  New songs!  And don't forget to participate in the Go Fund Me for the Love Shack.  Come on, folks, do I have to explain?

DOG DAYS OF A RICHMOND SUMMER

Most of us have been affected by or know someone who's been affected by the tropical weather hovering over Virginia recently.  We here in Dumpsterland are not exempt.  As some of you know, our last show was shut down before it started by a monsoon that chose SB's Love Shack to be ground zero.  Sad news for all, especially the Love Shack.

We are always writing and learning new songs to keep our list fresh, and we hope to have some new ones ready for our August gig at SB's.  BUT, AND, ALSO, we are as excited and as giddy as little girls to announce that we are opening for our friends, Blood, Sweat, and Years at the Reveler in Carytown on August 14th.  OMG, right?  You will go to the show, and you will love it. okay?

ALSO, TOO,  the 14th is the birthday of a special someone beloved by one of the DFS guys, so the partying will probably reach levels of intensity not seen in the recent past.

Stay cool if you can.  Take care of each other. 

JUNE BUG

Hello to all.  June is around the corner, and Summer's here and the time is right for rising in the streets, as the song says.  We are still up to our old tricks of selecting unconventional tunes as well as doing conventional songs in a unique way.  Variety being the spice of life, and all that.  

We experimented with new pickups in a couple of the acoustic guitars, and we really like the results.  The stock pickups were between the bottom of the saddle and the top of the guitar, hence the name under saddle pickup, or USP for short.  We thought they sounded spiky, stiff, brittle, unnatural, quacky, you get the idea.  Doing research and reading reviews proved educational. Other players thought as we did, and liked bridge plate pickups better.  These attach inside the guitar directly to the reinforcement plate under the bridge with super glue.  We got some, and we like them much better than the stock USPs.  Now the guitars sound like acoustic guitars, just louder.

We played our first outdoor gig of the season at SB's Lakeside Love Shack a week ago and it was great fun, as usual.  The weather was fine, if a bit cool towards the end.  We launched some new tunes, made some new friends, and ate the best chicken salad in town.  Thanks to SB and Kat for having us on the schedule.  

Honorable mention to all the dogs that come to our show.  They are always well behaved and sweet.  Obviously dogs of sagacity and discernment.  Fine taste in music, too.

That's it for now.  See you at the next gig.

WINTER TIME WINDS

Well, here we meet again, despite the attempts of weather, politics, viruses, and happenstance to keep all of us down, out, and off balance.  Three cheers to all.

It's early March, and signs of life, hope, and fun are visible.  Speaking of fun, our last two shows at SB's Love Shack were a blast.  Friends old and new attended, making merry in the deep midwinter and not minding at all while we tried new songs.  Special thanks to Jimmy, Jackie, and several others for the table top percussion ensemble.  

We are busy writing new songs and arranging more covers for your entertainment.  We have new shows and venues to share with you, so stay tuned.  Meanwhile, take care of yourself, stay positive, wave that freak flag, and hang with people you love.