Been a great July!

Here we are, Mid July already! Man… Time does fly, but I don’t need to tell you that… Picnics, yard work, get togethers with friends, gigs, road trips, and….

July 2nd, Grass Attack played a gig in Brodhead, Wisconsin. A ton of fun, for us, and the people who started off the Independence Day celebrations, by joining us.

We celebrated the 4th, by heading up to Wisconsin again, to Sharon, where my brother in law’s band, Fast Lane, was playing. Great time. Great band.

Fast Lane, the cool band!
Cool Fast Lane T-shirts!
My sister Jeannine- Tammy was wandering about, and us, at Stan’s gig

Our good friend, Ray Cygrymus ordered up a batch of T-shirts, so, we got them. Look pretty slick!

On July 6th, we- the Magtones– played the Midtown Market. a lot of fun. great vendors, and a good day, all round…

The Magtones getting ready to play

On Sunday, July 9th, Grass Attack played a great 3. hour set at Hawks Mill Winery. That… Was fun. For us, and the crowd, it seemed…

Just me… Everyone else was checking out the wines…

And, our good, no, great friends, Denise and Keith, made the drive up to listen/watch. I’ve known Keith for 51 years. Great guy…

Denise and Keith

We went blueberry picking, on the 15th. Got a good haul. Didn’t take any pix of the berries, but, we got to see some day old baby goats… And a cat…

So cute!

Our year is going nuts this time of year, as it should. Here are a few of the flowers that came up…

Today, we played the Midtown market again.

Tomorrow, we are lucky enough to play for ‘Brat Days’, for the Alpine Kiwanis. A great local/civic event.

Fun at the Market

Hi. So, this morning, we played one of our favorite farmers markets. The North End Market, here in Rockford… Great vendors. Good customers. A nice experience. We’ve shopped there for 10 years, and played for two… Something fun to do…

Us, getting ready to be entertaining…

Great Vendors

Our Favorite Honey

Some of the best produce this side of….anywhere… Broadview Farms

Magtones performing ‘Friend of the Devil’
Rocky Road Blues

A Couple Gigs

Hey there! We- The Magtones- have a couple gigs in the next week or so… First one is this Saturday, at the North End City Market from 10am-12pm. Great local market. Produce, baked goods, flowers, pickles, etc… All good…

Then, next Thursday, the 6th of July, we play at Midtown Farmers Market also, from 10am-12pm…

Stop by, pick up some great items, and say hi!

Ireland 2008… 🍀

So… When one goes through drawers, files, and boxes, one finds things you’ve forgotten about… As, the video we put together of our first trip to Ireland, in 2008. My god, fifteen years ago…. Yeah, time must really fly. Anyway, here’s the video I put together to be our slide show, w/ music…. Brings back so many memories, and, a few tears… But, how lucky we were/are, to be able to share adventures with each other…..

PorchFest 2023

Hi there! So, it’s that time of year again. Time for the big fun of Porchfest. This Saturday, June 10th. From 1-5pm, in Mt Morris. We- The Magtones– play from 2-3pm. The ‘new grass’ band I play in, Grass Attack, play on the SAME porch (handy for me), at 1pm… Our good friend RuthAnn Lillstrom plays at 3pm. And there are a ton of fun/talented other musicians.

Happy Birthday, Michael August!

Hi. We know this guy… Known him for 20ish years. Met him standing in a circle, in the dark, in the country, playing tunes w/ a bunch of other people… Nice guy. Great musician. A lot of fun… So, we became friends. Playing at different jams and such. Then, around ten years ago, we went to a ukulele fest in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and there he was. We had dinner, hung out, and became closer friends. Since then, we have been all over the country, on musical and non musical adventures. We’ve played together at gigs, and at parties. He’s a stand up guy, that, we count ourselves blessed to have as a friend. He’s rescued us at the airport at midnight, when travel was FUBARed. We’ve discussed, and ‘solved’ the worlds problems, talking for hours. But, today is his birthday… So, we wanted to say a VERY happy birthday to the amazing Michael August… Check out his tunes, on that Youtube thing…

BCUF Adventure

Hey kids… A little while ago, we went to a ukulele fest, in S. Indiana. The Brown County Ukulele Festival. Good times. Great friends. Fab tunes…. Got to see peeps irl, that we hadn’t seen in a long time, and hear some amazing musicians… If you are interested, keep your eyes open, for the dates, etc…

Hangin’ in the bar, with Greg, Mike, us, Sharla, and Diane
In Class
Us, Diane, Sharla, and Jim
The very talented Diane Poole, Sharla Rae Stephens Weins, Michael August, and, the killer Jim Allen
The amazing Mike August
Backing up Mike
One more…
Headed to the airport, to drop off Diane and Sharla,
then home

Again….Good times. Good friends. Great tunes. Lucky to be alive….