So many people have been asking me how things are going with our band.
The answer is....
Our band didn't work out. It was not for a lack of trying, I assure you, but nonetheless...I am not in a band anymore. I hope that it is just the end of a chapter and not just "the end".
After being with the Crystal Image band for 2 1/2 years, in January, Steve and I found ourselves trying to start a new band. We bought all the equipment and did what we could to get ready to put something new together. And, we found a variety of truly talented musicians. Meanwhile I had venues calling and asking for us to play. Each time we played as Stephanie Farrell and the Wild Katz, it was with different people. We had trouble finding players who like the same music that we do.
I even tried hiring established bands to back us up and while they were terrific, I couldn't afford it. There were gigs where after I paid the band and it ended up costing me money to do the show. I know that musicians don't make much, but I don't want to pay to play.
I appreciate everyone that we played with and both Steve and I learned a lot from all of them.
We both miss the shows, the music and all the friends that we made while playing in a band.
We remain optimistic that something will still work out and we will be able to stay in music in some form or another. I'm still looking for band members (if you know someone....let me know!)
For now, we are not in a band, we do not have any upcoming gigs.
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You! for all the support over these past few years. Thank you to those of you who have continued to email and call me to see if we have any shows coming. That means the world to me!
Please stay in touch! My email address is isastephanie @ yahoo .com and you can find me on Facebook too!
I will let you know when the next chapter begins....
We had such a wonderful night at the Lodi Moose Lodge. I was so happy to see so many familiar faces.
As we left for the St. Patrick's Day show at the Lodi Moose, it was snowing at our house (it's kinda rare for us). We knew that we would be coming home to MORE snow later that night, so we brought our snow boots and coats with us.
Down in the valley, it was raining. The Lodi Moose party was a full house. A little rain didn't bother these folks.
The night went by so fast. We had so much fun.
It was a blast. Thank you to each and every person who gave us encouraging
words and compliments. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
I so appreciate the folks for coming out and supporting us and dancing.
It means the world to me personally. At the end of the night, the room
was still mostly full. And,when we stopped at the appointed time, Bud,
the fellow who booked us asked us to keep playing! Wow. Are you kidding? We could have played ALL night. That was the best thing we could have heard.
We had such a wonderful night at the Lodi Moose Lodge. I was so happy to see so many familiar faces. And nervous too.
It's been a while since our last gig and a lot has changed in the meantime. It's been hard, actually. There have been many times when I thought about just letting it all go. But, then I think about how much fun performing music is, and how much I love the people that we get to play for. That's when I realize that I just have to find a way to keep it going.
After we went our separate ways from our last band, Crystal Image, I had to decide what to do next. The only option open to me was to start something new. Believe me, that was a scary thought. Way Way Way out of my comfort zone.
We started out with some great guys....the originalWild Katz. And, then, it just seemed like one thing after another happened. At one point, Scott Berian, one of the original Wild Katz and an excellent guitar player and performer, suggested to me that I hire a trio, Unkl Bean to be my band. After a lot of thought, I took his advice. He and Dave Dommes (another original Wild Katz) went on to form a brand new band, "Backslide", you can hear them on Facebook.
We met with Unkl Bean and just loved their energy. Each one of the guys are so nice! Unkl Bean is Will Barnes on guitar, Tom Staniford on bass and Chuck Procopio on drums. (we played with Chuck a few times back in our days with Crystal Image). They worked hard to learn our music and get it just right. Their band plays mostly original music, you can listen on their website www.unklbean.com.
As we left for the St. Patrick's Day show at the Lodi Moose, it was snowing at our house (it's kinda rare for us). We knew that we would be coming home to MORE snow later that night, so we brought our snow boots and coats with us.
Down in the valley, it was raining. The Lodi Moose party was a full house. A little rain didn't bother these folks.
Joining us this night was Kendra, Tom's girlfriend. She was so sweet! She pitched right in and was a "roadie" with us, lugging equipment!
When I saw so many people I knew from my time with the Crystal Image band, I got really nervous. I wondered what they were expecting. I knew that I was in good hands with my guys, but this band is very different from my last band. No keyboard....we have a bass player instead.
Another huge difference for us is that THIS is my band, and I am totally responsible. If it goes great...well that's good. But, if it doesn't, it's all on ME. Steve is our "soundman" by default (he he), and he does a great job. We have an enormous sound board with about a million knobs on it, and he is in charge of making sure that it's all set just right. Kendra was so helpful that she went out during our sound check to listen and report back.
Being the leader of the band, I had lots of responsibilities. In the past, I was always pretty happy to be a supporting member in a band. I followed what the leader told me. Bliss. Now, I had to keep thinking the whole time. I had to set the beat to my songs. Have you ever wondered why each song starts with "one, two, three"? However fast those numbers are spoken is the cue to the rest of the band as to the beat of the song. So, now it was up to me to count in my songs. I also had the task of giving cues to Steve and Will for taking solos. And, I had to cue everyone when the ending was coming up. I'm getting the hang of it and it's actually very fun.
Sometimes I have to tell myself to stop thinking so much in the moment and have fun. The whole reason that I'm there is to have fun. And, it's the reason the folks come out too. I just want to sing, dance and watch the people having a good time. It's why I continue to do this.
When it was time to start, I was pretty nervous. Have you ever had that feeling when your mouth goes dry and feels like it's full of cotton? Yep. Like that. But, that's okay, the show must go on! After the first couple of songs, I was fine. It's music after all. What's better than that?
We all made mistakes and goofs. But, we all supported each other as a team. I love that about Unkl Bean. They never get upset or mad. Never. It's pretty comforting. At one point, I kept trying to sing the wrong song. I turned to Will and asked him if he was playing the right key. Lol. Finally Steve nudged me and I realized that I had the wrong song in mind. Problem solved. Ugh.
I still have a lot of homework to do. One couple asked for a certain dance beat. None of us really knew what song would be good for that. I need to learn the dance beats and equate them to our song list. I learned a lot of that from John. He was a master at it. But, I don't know enough yet by a long shot.
The night went by so fast. We had so much fun. It was a blast. I can't wait for the next show. I wish it was tomorrow! Thank you to each and every person who gave us encouraging words and compliments. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!
One of our band friends commented that we have a lot of new songs that we didn't do in our last band. I told him that we have a lot more coming!!
I so appreciate the folks for coming out and supporting us and dancing. It means the world to me personally. At the end of the night, the room was still mostly full. And,when we stopped at the appointed time, Bud, the fellow who booked us asked us to keep playing! Wow. Are you kidding? We could have played ALL night. That was the best thing we could have heard.
Stay tuned. Much more is coming! Thanks again.
And, yes. I will start sending out emails again very soon.
It's a brand new year and full of so many changes. For the past two years, Steve and I have been playing almost every single weekend with John and Michael as Crystal Image. It's been a wonderful experience in more ways than I can count. You can read about the first year by clicking on my story "How I got here" at the top of this blog. I was trying to think of my favorite times to recap, and I just can't. Every gig was a favorite.
I will always be grateful to John for all his mentoring. I was so fortunate to have him teach me everything I know about music. And I will miss that! He is a gifted musician and an even more gifted teacher. He can play almost any instrument really well. I've enjoyed the stories about the many years and many memories he has of his long and vast musical career. And, I look forward to continuing our friendship for many years to come.
And, Michael....I appreciate him so very much for playing with us when we knew nothing and being so patient and caring. Michael is so funny and fun to be around. He is a talented guitar player and a wonderful singer. I have so enjoyed performing with him and dancing on stage together! I will also miss hearing him talk about food. He is a wonderful cook and loves to talk about his latest recipe.
And, then there is Jerry. I have already missed Jerry for the past month when he went home back east to take care of his parents until his father passed away recently. That right there just says so much about the character of this man. From the first moment he joined us, I loved his energy and his drumming.
For the past year the 5 of us have had many great experiences.
As we all move forward, I am so thankful to keep these many happy memories with me!
The future? You can follow John and Michael with their new drummer Brian, who I have enjoyed gigging with these past few weeks. Brian is a truly nice guy and a terrific drummer, and their trio is going to be awesome. www.crystalimageband.weebly.com Jerry is back home now and I'm sure that he will be playing soon and I will let you know as soon as I know.
Steve and I have started a new band, Stephanie Farrell and the Wild Katz. We have been rehearsing for a while now and will be playing shows very soon. In fact, we are available for booking right now, just let me know!! If you want to get a taste of what's coming, visit our new website www.wildkatzband.com
When I look back on the past two years of performing, I CAN say without a doubt that one of my MOST favorite things is all the new friendships I have made at our shows. I look forward to meeting new people and seeing old friends in 2012.
Happy New Year to you!! Best wishes for a fabulous year!!
This show was booked way back in February. We were playing for the Rancho Cordova Elks and when they asked if they could book us for New Year's it seemed so far away. After all, in February it seemed like we had just had New Year's Eve! But, they didn't want to wait until everyone was already booked, so they booked us early! We were happy to look forward to this show all year.
When we arrived, they had tons of fun decorations filling the room. They had a full house and we were all ready to party til midnight.
They had a table set aside for the band, and we got decorations and party favors too!! All around the room the decorations were in all sorts of colors. For our table they were all in black. What an honor for them to think of us and even match our band colors! AND....they set out hats for the guys....but for me....
They gave me a tiara! Woo Hoo. I wore it all night.
We have always had so much fun playing for the Rancho Cordova Elks and this night was over the top! We were also blessed to see some of our band friends who came from other groups to spend the evening with us.
The only time Steve ever takes a video is when he is not playing harmonica....and that always seems to be during Sway. So I will play it for you so you can enjoy the dancers:
We love it when people dance. It makes it so much fun for us.
And this crowd danced all night long!
During our breaks, we relaxed. Michael brought a magazine.
And he shared it with Steve.
This is Yvette (hope I spelled that right). She is a very fun person and is always game for a line dance!! We played one during dinner and she and her friends got right up and left their dinner to dance!
Dancing and more dancing!!
Here we are playing around on stage. I will miss dancing with Michael!
Here we are at the stroke of midnight!
Towards the end of the show I could smell BACON cooking....mmmm I LOVE bacon. After the show, they served a yummy breakfast. Sooooo good!
There was a beautiful Christmas tree. We posed for a "farewell" picture with Michael. When we first booked this show, none of would have imagined that this would end up being our last show together. When we decided in October to split up, we all agreed to play together through the end of the year. It was a bit of a roller coaster of emotions (for me mostly), but when it came to the end, we were all happy and looking forward to a new year of fun and music. John and Michael have joined with Brian to form a trio and will be playing under the name Crystal Image. Steve and myself have joined with three great musicians to form a new band that is called "Stephanie Farrell and the Wild Katz". We will be continuing with same music we have enjoyed performing and look forward to seeing all the great people that we have met over the past two years.
And, that was it! Our last show together and it was fabulous! We all had a great time and it seemed like our audience was having a blast. We are all still very good friends and we are all rooting for each other. I'm thankful that our parting was happy. I think that I would have been sad if it weren't for the Wild Katz, I'm very much looking forward to the new year and the new band. Stay tuned, I will keep you posted about all the details!!
We had a blast at the Lodi Moose! It was such an honor to have so many of our band friends come just to see us! The Lodi Moose has a huge hall with a very large dance floor, so it's a great place for a dinner dance. And the place was packed!!
We started with some soft music while they ate dinner and later on we really ROCKED them!
I chose to wear this dress, because I love it and I've only worn it a couple of times.
Someone came up and told me she has the same dress! I told her that this is my MOB dress. (Mother of the Bride) and she said hers was too!!! That was funny.
A lady came up to me and said that it was nice to see me smiling and happy. What? I think I'm always happy. She told me that I didn't smile as much when we were there for Halloween. Wow. That took me right back. She was right. I wasn't happy at all. I knew that I wasn't going to be in Crystal Image anymore and I was heartbroken. It's hard to smile and act happy when you are so sad. It reminds me how far I've come since then. And, I'm truly happy right now. Yes, I'm sad to see my time with Crystal Image come to an end, but I did everything I could to fix that and it was not meant to be. I love the guys without a doubt and I will miss them so much. So, I'm not sad anymore and I apologize if it showed, I never meant for that to be the case.
Brian was so excited to try out his brand new drum set. It's beautiful and he has every reason to be proud of it!
Michael says he will miss dancing with me on stage. I will miss that too! He always makes it so much fun!
I wish I was one of those people who could remember names!! I feel so bad when I can't. I remember this guys name, Tom Jones. Unless he was kidding. I said I wouldn't forget that! They are great dancers. And, I really mean that. I have videotaped them many times so you could see for yourself.
Karen and Deiter (I'm sorry if I spelled that wrong!). They are so sweet! And, they gave us each a Christmas Card. Karen said she would have baked us cookies if she hadn't broken her wrist. I'm sorry for her pain, but my waistline is grateful....I happen to know her cookies are very yummy!
John has caught a cold and was having a hard time singing. For the last set, he lost his voice completely and we scrambled to fill in. So, there was more Rock N Roll than usual....and they LOVED it!
Another fun couple who LOVES to dance!
Girlfriends! Barbara and Laura.
It was a sweet and special night, playing music for wonderful people, a Christmas blessing and memories that I will cherish.
The people here are so appreciate and complimentary. It makes all of us feel so special.
Well, what is a Moose Lodge without a Moose? You gotta love this pic!
And, the countdown continues. Only 3 more gigs to the final one.
