JOURNAL

I LOVE TO JAM WITH WHIT SMITH!!! Just had to throw that out there. Okay...back up a sec. The trip to California started out great with a stop in Phoenix! We pulled up to Ruybal Ranch where we were scheduled to play a house concert for friends of Nancy and Wes Ruybal, aka Katy Creek Band. Many thanks to Sue Williams, Nancy and Wes for helping to set up a place for us to play! We enjoyed entertaining the folks and truly appreciated the great crowd that came to support us. Ah, we hit the road from the Land of the Desert to the Land of the Desperate (Los Angeles...but I can't talk, I'm a starving artist too, haha...j/k) and the fun continued. The first thing that happened when we settled in at the Marriott in Santa Clarita is I ran into Whit Smith in the lobby. He wasn't doing anything...I wasn't doing anything...we hatched a plan, two ever-changing amoebas (?), and decided to meet in a half hour (Of course, so Whit could enjoy a quick bowl of cereal. Musicians need constant energy to grow big and strong) for jAmMiNg FrEnZy. Glenn, Whit, and I played all afternoon into the early evening, retiring only for adventure in L.A. for the famous Pad Thai at the Palm's Restaurant. The rest of the weekend had Glenn, Ricky Turpin, and I running all over Melody Ranch Motion Picture Studios, playing crazy-fun sets for music-hungry folks, and just enjoying the heck out of ourselves! Blastola!!! Oooh, ooh, and I met Jeremy Wakefield ('JW'), steel guitarist magnifique, as well as Sourdough Slim, fellow 'squeezer.' Huge thanks to Mike Fleming and the City of Santa Clarita for having us out!

Floyd Domino knows how to bring a band fave and a crowd pleaser. So this year, it was RICK MCRAE! What an incredible addition to the Allstars band. Rick plays guitar for George Strait's Ace In The Hole Band, so you can imagine how thrilled we were to snag him for the LCCS weekend. And oh...the music! Between Floyd, Rick, and the rest of us, we really made some swingin' sounds this year. What an honor to play beside Ron Knuth, Richard Helsley, Billy Mata, Greg Hardy, Harlan Kubos, Del Puschert, and Roger Edgington. Sweet! My brother Glenn McLaughlin and I enjoyed playing a couple of sets this year, and we performed a lot of original music, some of which we had written together. He really wowed the crowd with his much-improved guitar skills. I keep telling him, after only a year at UNT, he's teaching ME tons of things! Pretty soon I'll pay him for lessons, haha. His lead guitar skills are also very impressive for such a young age--he keeps on listening to the greats. Of course, down at the ol' Three Rivers Ballroom stage, The Sidekicks were keepin' it live all weekend. I enjoy playing with Wendell Sollis, George Uptmor, Ronny Dale Shultz, Jim Loessberg (ROCKS), Mark Lowe, Terry Thompson and our guest singers. You gotta catch us for a little swing, country, and plenty of CAJUN! One of my personal thrills this year was hearing my friend Ryan Martin pick with Lynn Anderson. He's so good…>sigh<. And ladies...he's tall and handsome. Not a bad deal to watch him play. But don't get any ideas--or I will have to slap you (and I say this while sporting a sweet, innocent smile). I've got to thank Ryan for sharing in my little tribute to Tom Morrell...Tom always wanted to buy me my first drink, but he passed away before we had the chance. Well one of Tom's favorite places in Ruidoso was Win, Place & Show, a little bar in Mid-Town, and I was always too young to join him. This year, a bunch of the festival folks were headin' out, so I told Ryan, "There's something I have to do." He obliged, so we headed in and Ryan bought two shots of Wild Turkey. We toasted to Tom Morrell and it went down easy. Miss you, ole friend. So...The Texas Playboys were in fine form. We celebrated Leon Rausch's birthday (and he even gave me his last bite of cake on his plate...he's not so ornery, see???), and I just love the boys: Bobby Boatright, Tommy Allsup, Bobby Koefer, Curly Hollingsworth, Mister Larry Reed...they rock. I also loved seeing Austin Allsup out there, my good buddy. He headed out this year with his girlfriend Chelsea. If you can believe how small the world is, Chelsea and I GREW UP together! She was my very first friend ever, and took care of me in preschool (I was such a little mama's girl and afraid to be without my mama! Chelsea took me under her wing and made me feel better). Just love her to pieces. Hey, this one's for Tommy Allsup: "Who's Bob??"

Whew. Let me start off by saying thirty-one hours in the car with my kid brother and my pops may seem a bit strenuous, but we had a blast. The trip kicked off without a hitch…just good times in the van, jokes, snacks, little sleep, and plenty of trail tales. First, we headed out to west Texas to the family home in Turkey, TX. We figured we'd get a good head start that night, arrive by 2 a.m., get a little shuteye, and start the long trip to Vegas once the sun kissed the hills. Of course, Pops was a bit excited about the progress he'd made on the house, so we got the 'grand tour.' I was impressed! Needless to say, a grand tour and a little excitement can't go without a celebratory beverage, so we all kicked back for jokes with a favorite beer while Glenn made six (or was it seven?) sandwiches for himself. Gross. We woke up…early enough…and hit the open road! Our goal was to make it to Vegas on that Saturday so we could rise early Sunday morning and make the last seven hours north to Elko. We stopped in Boulder City by evening, around 9:30 or so, and the boys were hungry. It was actually a good thing that they wanted to head out to grab a bite. To make a long story short, we ended up talkin' with a truck driver who told us that if we didn't get on the road to Elko immediately, we wouldn't make it for four days because they were going to shut the roads on account of a snowstorm headed right for us!! So much for a relaxing night of sleep. Goin' on the 48th hour or so as insomniacs, we loaded up and made the long, winding, mountainous drive in billowing snow. Let's just say I started tellin' a few people how much I love them…. Ok, it took us awhile. We made it to Elko by 11 a.m. the next morning, but hey! We had the whole day to relax before the fun began next morning. The next three days, it was all music and fun. We played educational programs for local elementary schools along with Banda Orquesta Hermanos Rivera, a 104-year-old family band from Sonora, Mexico! Each generation, the family passes along the musical legacy to keep the band going. Fascinating! They became our good friends, and we're so proud to know them. We were so happy to perform on shows with Juni Fisher, Brenn Hill, Pop Wagner, Sourdough Slim, The Gillette Brothers, New Frontier, Paul Zarzyski, Wylie & Wild West, and others! Yours truly ended up coming down with the flu, but I wasn't gonna throw in the towel, no sir. I saddled up, so to speak, when I made about four hot toddy's, wrapped myself in long thermal underwear, scarves and blankets, and sweated out my sickness as best as I could. It wasn't easy, but somehow I came through for myself, with the support of my brother Glenn and my good friend Joshua 'Idaho' McGrew who came down from Idaho for a visit that Friday. We did well and we were thrilled to play for the folks in Elko! We had an AMAZING time and hope to return to Elko someday! Ciao, see ya down the road.

Wow. This past weekend was the greatest Turkey experience byfar. Of course, a few years ago the kid, me and the family bought a little house and spread in town, and daddy has been fixing it up nearly every weekend for years! It looks great!! He built an upstairs bunkhouse for musicians, and we have friends and family stay with us during the festivities. Good times!

Thursday, Apr 24 ~ We kicked off BWD by settling in at mi casa, and then I headed over to the gymnasium to hear Dave Alexander and his Big Texas Swing Band. WHOA! Fiddle section included Randy 'Snuffy' Elmore, Bob Boatright, Ricky Turpin, and 15-year-old Jess Meador, along with guitarist Tommy Nash, Johnny Cox on steel, Russ Rand on bass, Paul Laymon on drums, and Dave's awesome horn section (Finally got to meet Jon Stutler! Great player). They sounded great and Dave sang sweet as ever. I was excited because my dance card was full...I don't think I sat out on a single tune! I had good times seeing old friends (including Gene & Glenda Sue, Bill & Donna, Tammy & Jerry, Bob Summers, the lovely Stacey Rand, and many others)! I rushed back home to catch Glenn and our friend/bass player Matt Skates, who rode up later together on account of school and work and lots of stuff I wasn't gonna wait around Fort Worth for (haha), and we waited for the magic to unfold. We hosted a jam session that evening consisting of brothers Austin & Coleman Smith on fiddles, Justin Williams on fiddle, Matt Skates on bass, Buster Redwine and Glenn on guitars, and yours truly on Gino (my squeezebox). Man, it was K I L L E R. Sometimes you play with folks and the chemistry is just there. It just is! It doesn't matter if you don't have arrangements or structure, you just sit around and create and somehow it's very easy and most enjoyable. >sigh< Moving right along....

Friday, Apr 25 ~ We had stayed up 'til 4 a.m. jamming, so naturally we all slept in 'til about 9:30 or so and daddy cooked up a big breakfast for the household. Our guests included mama and daddy, nana and her long-time Italian friend Mirella, Uncle Eddie & Rhonda, our friend/bass player Lee Barlow (whom we treat just like family...equally like crap! Haha), and of course Glenn, Matt and me. We jammed a bit at the house, and then ran into the Smith boys and Justin, all planning to jam at 'The Slab' around 2 pm. The Slab is hosted by Tammy & Jerry Maguire, and is basically a little concrete area near their RV with a nice covered awning and sound system set up for jammers! We threw together our band of young folks, joined by a nice gentleman on the drums, and we played for about an hour to a big group of gathered folks who were so appreciative and welcoming! Fun times. Glenn and I jetted back home and prepared for a gig we were set to play out in Crowell, TX (about 90 miles from Turkey) that night with The Sidekicks, featuring Tommy Allsup, Ronny Dale Shultz, George Uptmor, young fiddler Colby, Wendell Sollis, Terry Thompson, and brother Glenn and me. We had a nice time playing for dancers at their class of 1953 high school reunion!! And who should happen to be in town but my dearest sweetest truest friend Neal Daniel and cousin Colton Daniel! Gosh, I was glad to see those boys! Funny, Neal's grandaddy dared Colton to walk up to the front of the stage and ask me to dance and I would have done it except we had two Cajun tunes to play next and I sure wasn't gonna miss those!! Those pranksters...hehe. The kid and I drove back late, by about 1 am, but you think that stops the night owls in Turkey?? Matt, Justin, our friend Dustin Ballard, and Coleman and Austin were waitin' for us, so the big lot of us young jammers headed over to Gary Beaver's for a little late jam. "HYAH!!!"

Saturday, Apr 26 ~ Again...those early mornin' jams that go 'til 4 or so can take their toll (haha!) so we rolled outta bed about 9 am and soon smelled coffee, flapjacks and sausage on the grill. Mmmmm.... Saturday is a big day at BWD, and I wanted to take in the sights! Happy people everywhere, music, laughter, the fiddle contest that morning, and the Texas Playboys concert on the lawn late afternoon (*Sidenote: the fiddle contest was a great success this year, with tons of entries in the 0-12 category...meaning that more youngsters are taking a liking to this kind of music! In the adult category, 1st, 2nd and 3rd places went to our friends Coleman Smith, Justin Williams, and Austin Smith, respectively. I'm SOOOO proud of them!!!) . I ran into my old friend Armando who lives in town. Good to see him! When I got back home my good friends Tommy Allsup and J.W. Sollis were at the house, enjoying the shade of the front porch with a nice brewsky and chatting with the family. Sure good talkin' with them awhile. Tommy, Glenn and I enjoyed a bit of some fine Irish whiskey, for old times sake, and then the men headed out to watch the concert. That evening things got busy, and we just loved seeing the house jam packed! Daddy and Uncle Eddie cooked pork ribs, brisket, smoked chicken, and a variety of veggies including (my favorite) Grandma's potato salad, green beans, homemade macaroni, grilled potatoes...you name it. All our dearest friends showed up for dinner - Ann & Bob Baker and their granddaughter Lauren, Dustee & Wendell Sollis, Mr. J.W. Sollis, Tommy Allsup (ol' TA, as I call him), Chuck Curtis (TCU class of '52, NY Giants football star, coach, and NFL Hall of Famer who played for Vince Lombardi & Tom Landry!), Coleman & Austin and their folks, Joann from Jacksboro and some of her friends, Gigi & Lee Barlow, and all of our fam. The house was livelier than ever. I like it that way. :-) The crowd slowed down a bit and soon a handful of folks were gathered for a light jam with Tommy, Dustin Ballard, Glenn, Lee Barlow, and Joann and I singin' a few songs. It was so peaceful and wonderful, sitting out there on the porch while Tommy played our Taylor guitar, smoked a little cigar, and we all called tunes and told stories. Great memories. (*Sidenote: there is a pole smack dab in the middle of the living room that we've designated for musicians to sign when they jam at the house, and I find it oddly humorous that at one point I was goofin' off in front of guests by 'pole dancing' while a Tom Morrell record was playing. I'm sure Tom was lookin' down and getting a kick outta that! Haha!!) Late that night, most of us youngsters headed over to the Church of Western Swing with Doris & Henry Baker to hear the music, dance and b.s. with friends. I actually got Coleman out on the dance floor! Ha! We couldn't help ourselves once it was late enough...we hit the road to Gary Beaver's and struck up a jam over there, this time including 'Okie' from Tokyo, Japan on guitar. He loves Western Swing music, and has a vast collection of recordings and is one heck of a picker himself. You bet....our heads hit the pillow about 4 a.m., concluding our final night of seeing old friends, beer, dancin', romancin', Irish whiskey, homemade wine, and jam session frenzy.

Sunday, Apr 27 ~ Still, things were not over! Monty Green over at the Hotel Turkey asked the lot of us youngens if we would play before Wayne 'The Train' Hancock that afternoon when he was playing a show at the hotel. Man, would we ever! We played an informal set of fun tunes to a crowd of eager showgoers while they ate brisket sandwiches and sipped their Lone Star beers. It was quite fun with Austin, Coleman, Glenn, Buster, and Buster's young boys who play fiddle themselves!! We stayed to hear Wayne 'The Train', knowing that the show's end was bittersweet. None of us wanted to part ways! Still, it was a great way to end a beautiful weekend. So there's the Turkey rundown. Thanks for reading! See ya soon.

Ciao Rigazzi, sono arrivata in Nashville, TN!!! These past few weeks have been a blur! I bought a new car May 16 and it was one of those things where 9pm the previous night I was just laughing and carrying on with Chef (Bella Italia) and Glenn--a little wine, a little salmon--all the while my folks were stirring over the fact that my truck had been acting a little funny (hey, don't knock Vinny, he's nearly 8 years old now and still in fine form, but they start to wear down a bit). We all knew I had a long weekend ahead playing gigs in Oklahoma and Texas, and then Monday I would hit the road to Nashville! We didn't believe Vinny could handle it all, the poor soul, so I hit the dealership to scope out my future baby: a 2008 Suzuki SX4 Crossover. Okay, she's no Lamborghini, but she purrs!! I loooooove the folks at Neal Suzuki (8200 West Freeway, Fort Worth, TX) and they made my first-time buy a pleasant, seamless experience. I mean sure, I paid off Vinny all through high school and he's mine even though he's in Daddy's name, but this little looker is in my name! Woohoo! Pearl and I have already covered about 4700 miles or so and there's more where that came from.

The show at Quartz Mountain Resort in Altus, OK with The Sidekicks was absolutely fantabulous. We played a beautiful performance hall at the resort, and I'm tellin' you, this place is Oklahoma's best-kept secret. I definitely recommend a weekend or week-long retreat to anyone who enjoys beautiful comfortable rooms, mountains, peace and quiet, swimming, a hoppin' lounge, and a lake you can literally step into from your back patio. Not to mention, a gorgeous performance venue across the bridge which hosts a number of cultural events. The Sidekicks that night included the regular gang: Wendell Sollis, Ronny Dale Shultz, Terry Thompson, George Uptmor, and yours truly, but with special guests Randall on steel, Jimmy Young on fiddle, Tommy Allsup on lead guitar, and actor Barry Corbin as our spokesman/emcee. AWESOME. We all had a blast that night, piled in Eugenie and Jerry Bob's room, passing around the scotch and crown and telling stories, jokes, fables, follies, and fiction you could sink your teeth into. :-) :-) :-)

Hey TA, could you walk that dog around the other side of the island?? Hahaha

After the show at Quartz Mountain, we played the newly renovated Ritz Theater in downtown Wellington, Texas to a packed appreciative audience. What a gorgeous venue.! The folks are so nice, and the theater is comfortable, lovely, and quaint. The dressing rooms backstage make you feel like a princess, with dazzling red leather couches, animal print throw rugs and pillows, and antique-style lighting. Meeoooowww… And the music…

Got home late Sunday and had to pack for three months in Nashville. There is no way to pack for a trip like that! I don't need furniture because I'm renting a room from a dear long-time friend… I figured so long as I had my accordion, fiddle, piano, and an ol' guitar, all other things like clothes, accessories, etc wouldn't matter as much. I packed a modest number of bags (made sure I had my favorite old crown royal ballcap), tons of CDs and music, a bag of books, kissed Mama, Daddy, and brother Glenn and hit the road, Jack.

Moving along...I've lived and breathed and jammed and driven and gotten lost and taken in the sights and worked my little tail off and met enough amazing folks to make the entire summer worthwhile! A nice surprise is that Woody Paul's son Jacob Chrisman was here visiting from San Francisco for a couple weeks, and he knows all the great young musicians who have the jammin' bug. We hit The Station Inn to hear The Time Jumpers play the first night I arrived--boy, they sounded good (Paul Franklin ROCKS). The next night was an interesting adventure...we headed over to Derek Pell's place for his birthday/jam party, and it was a blasty blast playing with Jacob (mando), Derek Pell (fiddle), Zander Wyatt (guitar), William Dyer (banjo/guitar), Bobby Holland (guitar), Brad (bass) and a number of other inspiring players. Turns out Derek plays fiddle for Ray Price, and he of course knows my ol' Texas pals Dale Morris Jr. and Tyler Jackson who also play for the Cherokee Cowboys! Small world. After the jam, Jacob, who incidentally is an incredible dancer, taught me how to tango. Watch out Texas…

So far I'm leaning tons in my internship at PLA Media. Public Relations is an exciting field, and I'm so proud to work for wonderful artists such as Michael Martin Murphey, Deborah Allen, William Lee Golden, Orleans, Jason Brown, Joseph Sulkowski, Elizabeth Brandon, Donnie Brown, and many other PLA Media clients. We truly respect their craft, and work as hard as we can to create awareness about their talents!

So far, so fun!! More updates along the trail...