Sober Musicians: Treating Life Well

Freakin' Hurricane Season

Gabe — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 22:32:10 GMT

Blargh, I don't like this time of year.
Get this...250 swimmers were rescued due to rip tides on the shore of Ocean City, Maryland this weekend.
250!
That's crazy.
That is due to residue rip tides from Hurricane Danielle.
I have to give the life guards a lot of credit.
Out of all those people in trouble, they only lost one.
They called off the search for him today.
Blessings to his loved ones.
Now, here comes Earl, looking to menace even more of the East Coast and it's shores at the end of this week.
I'm glad the kids and I will only be "by the Bay" instead of "by the ocean" for our family gathering the weekend after Labor Day.

Linnie Gotzes a New Guitar!

TomTerrific — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 04:41:55 GMT

Stumbled onto it while hanging out at the BRDhouse last night. A buddy and I got to checking it out and beating up on it and decided that it played and sounded well beyond its price point. Linnie got that Hmmmm...... thing going and.. No, I'll let her tell it:

"I've gone over to the dark side. I just bought a new guitar. It's purple. Crafter GCL 80, Grand Auditorium body, tiger maple top, maple back & sides, mahogany neck. L.R. Baggs pickup & a built-in tuner. My resident guitar expert tried it out first & confirmed that it played well & sounded great, and the guitar tech at the BRDHouse (the one what's got the same last name as my ex-husband) tweaked the neck & pronounced it in fine shape. Did I mention it's purple??"

Notice the ghostly image, on the guitar's top, of an aging hippie who appears to be holding a camera. It's on the body, just above her arm ;)

Discussion Thread

Gabe — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 21:36:44 GMT

I heard this line watching the show "Memphis Beat".

"What we got etched in our minds when we were six, seven-years-old, that's the deepest truth we know."

Do you think this is true?

August 29th Gloucester MA SoberConnections.net & Cape Ann YMCA Camp Spindrift Event

SoberConnections.net — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 13:01:31 GMT

Hey everyone!
Well just a recap of what’s going on for the August 29th 2010 upcoming event called “The End of Summer Splash”. We are scheduled to open the Gates around 12-12:30 PM to offer the live music and events from 1-6PM. The Weather is looking to be around 88 degrees and sunny so bring your bathing suit and a towel for the pool! There will be two lifeguards on duty. The picnic tables will fill up fast, so please feel free to bring a chair or a blanket to throw out on the ground to enjoy the festivities. People have been asking about can they bring food or snacks even though the barbecue is provided, and we say “Sure!” The Barbecue is just the basics, burgers, dogs, & soda.

We also have heard back from a few of the vendors and local merchants, and it looks like there will be at least 10 or more showing up for those who might have missed the sidewalk bizarre and wanted to break up their afternoon browsing and buying the wares they have to offer. We definitely have a few clothing, jewelry, and bag vendors coming, as well as a massage therapist (5 dollar massages & a chance to win a 90 minute massage!), as well as a character artist, and the Slush people! We are hoping that Dan the Sand Art vendor will confirm as well. I had hoped to have the class of 2013 Gloucester high school girls come and face paint, but that hasn't been confirmed yet. Anyone Like to face paint?..lol

We have also been informed today that Camp Spindrift will allow those people with their pooches in the festival, but they have to be leashed at all times, and they must be picked up after. We hope to see as many of you there this weekend!

Remember this event is designed to be an event to have a great sober time, but it is also in support of Camp Spindrift, as well as our own cause to help meet our goal of raising funds to start the much needed Non-Profit status we seek. Below is what we sent out to the different supporters and local media outlets in order to spread the word for those who are not on Sober Connections or in Cape Ann.

This Event is the vision of SoberConnections.net being hosted at Cape Ann’s YMCA Camp Spindrift. We at Sober Connections are striving to create activities for the sober communities here on the Northshore, and hope to expand across the state. Our Social Website, www.SoberConnections.net has started picking up people from all across the country! Our goal is to offer the sober community a sense of awareness that there are fun things to do without the use and abuse of alcohol and/or drugs. Our website provides a forum for people to find or share these events, whether it be simply a group of people heading to the movies, or a large event like we are pulling together for this venue. We hope that you can take advantage of this site in doing just that!

We have created smaller venue events for about 8 months now, mostly local bands and dances, but are stretching our wings to do this outdoor "Bands and Barbeque Family Time" event in the hope of raising funds for Camp Spindrift, and also for our quest to become nonprofit. To achieve our long term goal, we hope to gain the important sponsorships that can only be reached with a Non Profit status. This will allow us to expand and incorporate our event building and outreach to those in sobriety to help realize that there is a life second to none without the use and abuse of alcohol and drugs. We hope these good experiences for the sober individual, as well as the community they live in, will re-enforce that they too are recognized as active and productive members of society.

Ok enough said. Our venue for August 29, 2010 incorporate the following

• Local live bands and music from 1-6pm
• A barbecue included in the ticket pricing
• Children’s activities and games
• The use of Camp Spindrift’s pool with lifeguards
• And we will also have vendor and organization information stations, set up around the event grounds, to help the parents and kids break up the afternoon and do some worthwhile shopping or organizational awareness!

Some of the local merchants and organizations that have contributed or are sponsoring us currently without the benefit of us having a Non-Profit status yet are:

The Common Crow – Gloucester MA, The Lone Gull Coffee House – Gloucester MA
Sunbanque Tanning Salon – Gloucester MA, GimmeSound.com (Internet - Music)
Jalepeneos Restaurant – Gloucester MA, Fatima’s Hair Design – Gloucester MA
7 Seas Whale Watch – Gloucester MA Eric's Place - Restaurant Gloucester MA

Many other helpful contributions of direction, insight, and encouragement from Cape Ann’s Merchants and Organizations have helped us to get this far.

Sober Connections & Cape Ann YMCA Camp Spindrift's Summer Splash!
Location: Camp Spindrift - 13 Atlantic Avenue, Gloucester Massachusetts 01930
Start date: Sun, Aug 29, 2010 1:00 PM Duration: 5 hours

Come Join us for an End of Summer Live Music and Barbecue at Camp Spindrift in Gloucester MA.

This Event will feature live local bands, a barbecue (which is included in the ticket price), Full use of the campground facilities, use of the Camp Pool with Lifeguards, Activities for the Kids, as well as some vendors coming to show some of their wares. We have two admission prices to help cover the costs and to support Camp Spindrift.

Single Admission is $15.00 and a Family Admission is $25.00 The Family admission is for two adults and children under 16 (bring em’ all!) Tickets are on sale online as well as at the door!

Feel free to contact Dan Driscoll at 508-468-7556 or call Rick at Camp Spindrift for more information!

Ticket Sales:
http://www.ticketriver.com/event/462...ummer-splash!/

Sincerely,
Daniel R Driscoll

Cell: 508-468-7556
Home: 978-515-7036
E-mail: Danield@SoberConnections.net

painting

blizzardm17 — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 17:17:11 GMT

one of my latest

A sign of the end times?

TomTerrific — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 23:40:24 GMT

The Mythical Fire-Breathin' Reptiles, my hapless Dayton Dragons, had a home losing streak that has to be some kind of record. They didn't win a home game from June 28th to August 20th. In fact they'd only won 11 games total since the All-Star break. Snake-bit doesn't even begin to describe it.

So, last night they finally broke the streak and won one at home. Today, they won another one, despite the bullpen's best efforts to give it away in the 9th.

Linnie and I were quick but careful getting out of there, lest the earth open up and swallow us. That's the 15th game we've been to this year and the first winner we've seen. This has to be the precursor to something big, being such a drastic change in the ways of the world and all.

Anniversary sunrise

bassis — Sat, 21 Aug 2010 02:02:10 GMT

Shortly after we got there
[

wow

blizzardm17 — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 22:11:23 GMT

YouTube Video
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i am in awe

Welcome Tensenz

bassis — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 17:45:42 GMT

Welcome to a great group of people. Sit back, relax, grab a cup of coffee and look around.

Newly Sober Musicians And Music

Gabe — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 19:49:34 GMT

Can Newly Sober Musicians Make Good Music?
Snoop Dogg Kicks The Chronic, Gin And Juice

By Tom Sinclair
Entertainment Weekly

A writer friend of mine likes to tell an anecdote about a jazz musician he once interviewed. They were discussing the relationship between making music and using drugs and alcohol. ''I guess there are musicians out there who've never smoked no reefer, never took no pills, never drank no whiskey,'' the jazzman mused, before fixing my friend with a sardonic stare and asking, ''But what kind of musician is THAT?''

I was reminded of that story a couple of weeks ago during a surprising interview of my own with rapper Snoop Dogg in which he informed me that he is now clean and sober. That's right: Snoop -- once dubbed ''the Maharaja of Marijuana'' in the pages of Entertainment Weekly -- has forsworn the devil weed, gin and juice, and all other intoxicants.

This is impressive. As Snoop told me, prior to his decision to clean up his act he had been going through between three and four ounces of pot a day, spiking his high with liberal doses of alcohol. So much of Snoop's mythology has been based on his being perpetually loaded (he was awarded the Stoner of the Year Award by High Times magazine some months back) that the notion of his opting to live the straight life takes some getting used to.
Drugs have claimed greats

Personally, I wish him all the luck in the world. Getting clean and sober is a brave step for anyone to take, whether they are famous or not. It's certainly no secret that drugs and alcohol have robbed us of scores of greats -- from Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, and Elvis Presley to, most recently, Alice in Chains' Layne Staley and Dee Dee Ramone, to name but a few.

Of course, not every musician who uses drugs or alcohol becomes an addict or an alcoholic. But an unhealthy dependence on chemical substances does appear to be an occupational hazard. There's a famous quote by the French Symbolist poet Arthur Rimbaud about making oneself a seer by ''an immense, long, deliberate derangement of all the senses,'' and plenty of musicians seem to be following that program -- or at least Gregg Allman's simplified version of it:
''Just leave your mind alone and just get high.''

Worse, all too many fans feed into the myth of the self-destructive artist, romanticizing and emulating their heroes' bad behavior and winding up with soul-crushing alcohol and/or drug habits in the process. I've actually known people who claim to have started using heroin because of the Velvet Underground song ''Heroin'' -- or because Charlie Parker or Art Pepper or Kurt Cobain or whoever their fave icon might be did the drug. Likewise, I've known folks who've sat around getting blind drunk while spinning Gil Scott-Heron's ''The Bottle,'' a devastatingly graphic song about alcoholism.
Will fans keep listening?

Of course, the causes of addiction run far deeper than a song or some rock or rap star's image, but only a fool would deny that musicians' lifestyles often have a powerful influence on their fans. It'll be interesting to see how Snoop's constituency reacts to his recent announcement. My guess is, if he can keep producing quality music, they'll keep buying it. And who knows? Some of them might even be moved to follow his example.

Certainly, giving up intoxicants hasn't hurt converts to the clean and sober life like Eric Clapton, Aerosmith, Korn's Jonathan Davis, or Lou Reed (the guy who wrote ''Heroin''). As Snoop told me, ''I've driven a lot of brothas over the cliff'' by espousing the stay-high lifestyle.
Now, let's see how many he can save.

Sunday Mornings

Big Rob — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 15:24:51 GMT

Just got back from a nice romantic brunch with my sweetie at The Waffle House !!
Hash browns...scattered, spattered, chunked, flipped, spanked, and whooped up on !!

No throwin' up, no need to wake and bake, no apologies to make, no "missing" couple of hours to try and remember, and a little money still in my wallet.

Thanks God

Happy Birthday Gooch!!

Gabe — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 11:02:17 GMT

Have a wonderful day celebrating yourself.

Richie Hayward Goes To The Big Show

Gabe — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 22:21:46 GMT

This band is a part of the music of my soul.
(Little Feat, if you are not familiar)
I had the downright pleasure of seeing this amazing drummer perform this solo in the middle of "Fat Man In The Bathtub" at the original Warner Theater.
It was an honor.
Happy trails Richie.

NEW YORK � Richie Hayward, co-founder of the Little Feat, an eclectic jamband that maintained a strong cult following throughout the decades, has died. He was 64.

The drummer had been suffering from liver cancer and died Thursday at a hospital near Vancouver, Canada, after complications of pneumonia, his publicist, Bridget Nolan, confirmed Friday.

"He was waiting for a liver transplant," said Nolan. Over the past year, benefits had been staged on Hayward's behalf; he had no health insurance.

In a letter to fans last August, Hayward wrote about his predicament, but sounded hopeful: "My intent is to come back to the band, as soon as I am physically able. Your love and support will mean a lot to me, more than I can say. I love and will miss you all, and I will see you again on the proud highway."

He last performed with the band on July 11.

Hayward helped form Little Feat in 1969, along with frontman Lowell George, Bill Payne and Roy Estrada. The jamband mixed a variety of genres including rock, country, jazz and blues, and were known for songs like "Willin." The group fell apart in 1979 after George died, but reformed in 1987, and had been a fixture on the touring circuit.

Besides his work with Little Feat, Hayward also performed with acts including Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, Buddy Guy and Barbra Streisand.

YouTube Video
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7AM Storm From Hell

Gabe — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:28:33 GMT

WHAT?
What is up with all the freak show weather?
I had to pull over on the way to drop boy off at work,
because it was raining harder than the wipers could keep up with.
After I dropped him off and made sure his job site had power,
I had to turn around and go home for an hour because both main roads through town were in gridlock due to traffic lights out.
Trees are down everywhere.
Power is out everywhere.
Cars are stranded in standing water.
My twenty minute commute took an hour and five minutes because I had to keep
going around roads that were closed.
ENOUGH!!!!!
:swear::swear::swear::swear::swear:

How did YOU find Sober Musicians?

Shugrr — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 23:34:30 GMT

Thanks to a new visitor, and a suggestion from Big Rob, and well, my natural nosiness...

I just shared this tidbit with Gabe, in a recent message after hearing how Dave (Welcome, Welcome!) found us:

"...this site is where I first flirted back with the then single Big Rob....I kinda like it here for the same reasons Dave does, ya'll 'get me'."

We Private messaged a little and he asked me over....the rest is TMI, but SM will always be special to me.

Now, I play in the arcade some, and read/comment/share on occasion.

Who's next?!