CONTENTS:

The Big Thing…
This Week
Salmon Days
Vino Bella
Last Month
The birthday bash tales
Next Month
Benefit Concert in the LC
#AlsoAlso
New Venues:
Collectors Choice
Georges in Kirkland
Calendar
Come see us!

The Big Thing THIS Week…..

JUST A FEW DAYS AWAY—

SALMON DAYS
SATURDAY OCT 2
Front Street Stage
5:00-6:00pm

followed by

VINO BELLA
SATURDAY OCT 2
7:30-11:30

The Big Thing LAST Month…..
The Big Birthday Bash on Sept 12 was fantastic. I really want to thank Ted & Lori Irwin – our most loyal Pack-Fans for making the hour-long trek to join us. Also my mom, Jan Wilson, who came all the way from Lincoln City, OR and my sister Vicky and her hubby Chuck drove from Bend, OR! Represent!

One of my high-school buddies, Larry Ross, came through as well. I hadn’t seen him in maybe 15 years!

The music was fantastic all night long. Surprise music guests were Jim Washburn – pianist at Daniels Broiler in Bellevue for 20 years and counting; Julie Davidson of Fleetwood Mac tribute band “Second Hand News” (she brought an Italian guy who plays the harmonica and he absolutely blew the room away! I cannot remember his name…) Diana Ruiz from Bobby Medina’s Red Hot Band; Elsie Cortes – the next J-Lo from Seattle; and Karen Motherway, one of America’s top Marilyn Monroe impersonators came up from Tacoma to sing Happy Birthday to Troy and I. Really cool!

ALSO…..

A couple new venues came into the Pack universe…

In Snohomish there’s a fantastic restaurant and lounge called Collector’s Choice. We were asked by their “booking dude,” Patrick Neill to come up and play to their evening patio crowd and we had a blast. They loved us and we’ve been asked back to their NEW place just up the road in November on the 6th and again on the 14th.

Every Kirkland resident knows George’s on Kirkland Ave (about 4 doors up from Lake Street on Kirkland Ave) but did you know that young Athina sort of gave the place a makeover and put in a swanky little bar and added live music every Thursday night? The Grain, Rocket and Mark are on the calendar for October 21 at 7:00. Come on down for a vibey little thang!

The Big Thing NEXT Month…

We’ve done a few concerts in Lincoln City, OR the past 2 years, to raise money for the Cultural Center there. Both years have sold out and gotten rave reviews in the press. Both years have had a lot to do with my dad – the first was his personal project to create the event, the second was in his honor and memory.

October 16, we’re taking my dad’s passion another step forward in a benefit concert to raise thousands of dollars for the music and arts programs at TAFT HIGH SCHOOL.

Budgets are being cut in every school and cultural departments are typically among the first to suffer. We’re entertainers and our tremendous regard for the arts inspires us to help.

Did you know that scholastic music students achieve higher SAT scores than non-music students? They also have a higher rate of post-graduate education, lower substance use (tell that to my horn section!) lower crime…. in short, they become more valuable and honorable adults!

Look for us to do much more of this into the future. For those of you who would like to come down for the event, tickets are $25 and it’s a magical time of year to spend a weekend on the Oregon Coast.

Buy your tickets HERE!

Use our name when you contact Bella Beach

OR

The Historic Anchor Inn

And you’ll get preferred rates and special treatment. Not to mention a really fantastic concert with our 11-piece band.

CALENDAR
SATURDAY OCT 2 – DOUBLE HEADER
Salmon Days
Front Street Stage
(corner of Front Street & Sunset)
5:00pm-6:00pm
22 Front St
Issaquah, WA 98027

Vino Bella
We really liked the idea of staying in Issaquah for the rest of the evening and sort of prolonging the Party with The Pack well in tho the night. You know it’s always a fun-filled evening when the Pack Attacks at Vino! Featuring Long Grain, Rocket and Doc Shtuvali

7:30pm – 11:30pm
Vino Bella
99 Front St
Issaquah, WA 98027
(425) 391-1424

SATURDAY- OCT 16

BENEFIT CONCERT FOR THE MUSIC AND ARTS
TAFT HIGH SCHOOL, LINCOLN CITY, OR
Featuring our bigger, 9-piece band with 6-horns! Hoo-ah! A full-on Vegas-style show for 350 fantastic supporters of Taft Music and Arts!

7:00pm-9:00pm
3780 Spyglass Ridge Dr
Lincoln City, OR 97367
(541) 996-2115

THURSDAY- OCT 21

GEORGE’S IN KIRKLAND

Mark Haynie with Long Grain and Rocket. Nice little place we’ve all known as a breakfast joint for the past 40 years… Athina has added her touch and turned half the place into a swanky little cocktail bar. 2 big plasma screens and really nice character. You’ll love it.

7pm – 10pm
108 Kirkland Avenue
Kirkland, WA 98033
(428) 827-6622

We also want to give a big shout out to Neil Culbert, who was a big part of the weekend’s success as well. We also want to thank “A Catered Affair” for the craft service and fantastic salmon-Caesar salad.

Back to the Pack… We played in the afternoon at the main stage in the festival center and that was just wonderful. Then we headed to our hotel rooms and Tracy had also booked a “rental” house on the Sunland Golf & Country Club for some of the band as well. What a fabulous place it was. Dave and Patty Mattingley – we thank you so much! What a beautiful place you have, thank you so very much for allowing us to stay in your guest home!

So we loosened up at the house for a bit then headed to The Islander Pasta & Pizza Shack on Washington Blvd. and got ready to play the Jazz In The Alley event. They had a sort of beer garden area set up out back and we were in an event tent right in front of the crowd. We did our usual thing and the wind did something new – Crazy thing about wind and lightweight music stands and paper music in gusty breezes… stuff like that (and event tents) have a tendency to leave their proper place. I’m just sayin’. We quickly remedied that and ended up with a wonderful performance and a really nice crowd shared their love with us. By the way, for those non-Sequim-ites… Ken and Debbie Seavy own both The Islander and the Oasis (across the street) and they are truly AWESOME people. If you live in Sequim – go there… often. And if you visit Sequim – GO THERE! it’s on Washington in the early part of town if you’re coming from Seattle. Tell them The Pack sent you. (because it will be true!)

Then we headed across the street to The Oasis Sports Bar & Grill for some mild dance and debauchery. There were rumors that Mark did some pole dancing… There is a structural pole smack dab in the middle of the dance floor and Mark just had this idea that the energy wasn’t quite hot enough so he swung around that baby in a way that would make a stripper smile. And the ladies screamed with delight.

Next day we headed up to the Cedarbrook Lavender Farm on Sequim Ave with the Medicated Trio for a little afternoon Lavender delight. We did songs like “That’s A-lavender” and “Lavender is for the way you look at me” and other mauve-ish favorites. Marcella was a grand hostess and the air was sweet with fragrance.

We were then back to The Islander for round 2.. This time it was pretty clear that the word had gotten out about The Pack because about half hour before show time the seating was full and people were standing around the outside and more had pulled up in their cars to do a little window-down listening – which was totally awesome for the band.

In all, it was a really great weekend and we want to thank all the people that travelled to Sequim, all the people OF Sequim, Tracy Blume, Neil Culbert, Dave & Patty Mattingley and Ken & Debbie of The Islander Pasta & Pizza Shack and The Oasis!

MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT COMING SOON – KEEP AN EYE ON OUR WEBSITE AND BLOG….

PACK ATTACK! – MAY GIG RECAP

May 15th the Pack returned to our band birthplace, Vino Bella for a night of musical debauchery. Vino is one of our favorite places to play because it’s always a little wild and the fun factor is hot as the temperatures this last week. And when we play there the joint is always… well, “Packed…” (I know!)

Let’s start with the band: Stevie “Long Grain” Rice, Garey Williams, Chris Clark and Travis Ranney. Not a good band… a GREAT band and these cats had chemistry with a capital C. LaVanda Turner (remember her from last month’s gig at Chasers in Mukilteo) was in the house and we brought her up to lend her voice on a number. Lena Bundy was also there and we were treated to a number by one of the premier vocalists in the region – thanks Lena!

Then it was off to Lake Chelan on the 23rd for a Champagne Uncorking event at Good Karma Wines. Stevie “The Grain”, Chuck Kistler, Devan Stovall, Travis Ranney, Kevin Seeley and Nathan Vetter (probably the hottest working band assembly in the entire region.) It was hot – about 80 or so and the glue on a string bass will melt in direct sunlight like that, so we brought an umbrella onstage to protect his bass – and The Grain – from melting. The lilac arbor provided shade and ambience for the rest of the cats. We had some pretty nice hotel rooms overlooking the pool. This was Memorial Day Weekend and as you may assume, there were a LOT of young, nearly-clad sprites running all over town. We headed for Senior Frogs for a few pops then to Campbells for some ribs. Oddly, we were all back to our rooms by midnight. We had a gig in Mirrormont of Issaquah at the Irwin residence…

“Quaff the Quah” is now an annual event at the Irwins and Ted and Lori go all out. Ted built a covered performance stage for us and from what I can tell, they even had professionals helping in the kitchen. The spread of food was nothing short of amazing – especially the pulled pork and Ted has been a craft brewer since the early 90’s. To say hi beer rivals anything to come out of Sam Adams is appropriate. Everything was delicious – especially the band. Mike West joined us at the sax position (Travis had a conflict) and it was a nice treat. We did a bunch of Motown tunes for the party and Jeremy Larcom,a friend of the Irwins, did a couple songs with the cats too. Thank you Ted and Lori, another great party. We look forward to next year!

On the 29th, we were off to Sprit Mountain Casino in Grand Ronde, Oregon for a client appreciation party thrown by the Portland Trailblazers for their premium ticket holders – suites and courtside. Joe Cocker played the stage on the previous night, so we thought it fitting to do my rendition of “Unchain My Heart” because, you know… why wouldn’t I? We travelled with “The Grain” but hired all of our players from Portland. We thought it would be appropriate to hire players from the city with the team that we were performing for. Ed Bennet on bass, Marty Higgins on drums, Pete Peterson on sax, Paul Mazzio on trumpet, John Moak on bone. These cats are no substitues – they are the hottest position players in Oregon and note-for-note rival the cats we play with in Seattle. GREAT performance – hats off guys!

The Blazer Girls were on hand and so were a few of the player alumni – noteably, Jerome “Mercy” Kersey – one of the longest playing careers in NBA history, 17 years. I had the chance to chat with him a few minutes and he’s a really nice guy. This was also the only gig we’ve ever played where our band meal was filet mignon and lobster. Not even kidding.

Then we were off to dance at the Raindrop Lounge and have cocktails with those little ice cubes that light up your drink. Swanky… I hit the casino floor for a little black jack and I left with more than I sat down with. Felt pretty good about that, it’s been a while since I’ve played…

A LOOK AHEAD

JUNE 5 – EMORYS LAKEHOUSE
June starts out at Emorys Lakehouse on S. Everett’s Silver Lake shores. It’s a beautiful place with great food, a sushi bar and a smokin’ hot deck overlooking the lake. We’ll swing it out at about 9pm. The Grain, Jazzy Chas and Devan will provide the notes.

JUNE 25 – SEATTLE AQUARIUM
David LeClaire is hosting a Wine Lover’s event at The Seattle Aquarium at 6pm. I suggest you click his link and get yourself tickets… Rachael Contorer, Tom Maeda and Devan Stovall as The Medicated Trio…

Take a look at our CALENDAR. We have a bunch of new dates and in the next several weeks we should be booking a lot more. Corporate events, weddings, festivals, concerts in the parks… Too much fun.

The Kings of Swing (yours truly) really look forward to seeing you all in June and July. Check out our gigs we have on the books so far in our online CALENDAR

COMING UP…
We have a major announcement coming soon, keep an eye on our website and by all means make us your FaceBook friend and join our FB FAN CLUB!

We had the same band as we did in Chelan, with the exception that Travis couldn’t make it for this one so Mike West filled that spot and he’s no slouch, I’ll tell ya. (The Pack has a reputation to uphold, so we only play with the very best musicians in the region – no exceptions) Did a very cool version of Route 66 that involved a “scat-off” with trombonist Nathan Vetter and myself. Very fun. Big thanks to Kevin Seeley to pull together a lot of new charts for the band and make sure that when we play we’re always stocked with the hottest horns in the business.

The Irwins really wanted some Motown so we broke the Pack a little and did about 7 Motown tunes and I must say we KILLED!.. Ted’s lawn… with the dancing feet thing. Sorry Ted, you knew it could happen…

Jeremy is a friend of the Irwin’s and he came up to do a Marvin Gaye number but sadly, the arrangement we had was in a different key that he could sing in, but that wasn’t eveident until it was a little too late for Jeremy. Sorry dude! But vindication was his a short time later when he did Barry White and that was very cool. Chicks dug it!

In the end there were no wild stories, just a lot of really great people, great food and fun to be had by all. Thank you Ted and Lori – I hope you have us back again next year – for the Third Act!

Our regular drummer, Devan Stovall, came down with the flu and he called me at about 3:30 to let me know he was really sick and didn’t think he should play. He felt terrible about not only having to “call in sick” literally hours before a gig, but also because he really wanted to be on with us. Vino is always our most electric gig. If you want to see the Pack at our best, this is where to see us. On Wednesday afternoon I got a call from a guy named Garey Williams out of the blue. He’s a drummer looking for gigs and was referred to us by Osama Afifi, a world-class bass player that we’ve worked with in the past. Osama toured with Yanni for 5 years and regardless of what you think about that music, you gotta have some serious chops to win that selection process and be on that kind of gig. This guy sold out stadiums all over the planet for a living…

So anyway, I figured if Osama felt that this cat would be a good fit for the band, then this cat would probably be a good fit. “Packish” is what we look for in our players. So when Devan went down, I called Garey and asked if he could make it for an 8:00 downbeat. There ya go. Packish he is indeed. Really great chops and seriously, for a guy who just walks right into a propeller of Pack, he was brilliant. We had a lot of great compliments about him.

Bassist Chris Clark, who used to tour with Bob Hope doing his big shows back in the 60’s and played in the band that you saw in the original “Nutty Professor” movie with Jerry Lewis, also played with Count Basie and other legendary band leaders, absolutely tore that dog to shreds. Amazing solos, incredible melodic lines, solid, solid chops. But that’s what happens when you’re that flippin good, you deliver with awe-inspiring aplomb. There’s a big difference between a good bassist and a GREAT bassist.

Stevie, “Long Grain” was playing with a sort of “out-of-body” elevation and frankly, was the glue and magnet that kept the Pack galaxy from spiraling wild into the universe. It’s such a treat to have him on our stage. I can’t really use words to describe his play, so I’ll give you a digital impression: 110100001010111010111000101011001011… That’s all I can say, and that’s a lot! The Grain is a blend of controlled recklessness and artistry that, when infused with the right ingredients (aka other great musicians) becomes something akin the the Green Flash, a rare seafaring phenomenon witnessed by very few sailors – and even then, maybe only once in a lifetime. ALL of the elements have to be in place, in perfect harmony to create the “Flash” and this is what Steve does. He creates that Flash. Lucky us.

Travis Ranney is just plain jaw-dropping. We’ve all seen live bands with sax players that are good and you say to the person next to you, wow, he’s really good.” But if you were in the audience when Travis bit the reed last night, you said nothing. You just allowed your entire body to become a gigantic blossom, a beaming smile, a warm – no, hot fusion of excitement and appreciation. This cat can flat-out blow. Amazing isn’t a word that can really cover it. There were so many open mouths and dropped jaws in the room it would have made a dentist nervous. What a delicious treat.

Then you had Troy and I. Probably the weak links in the big picture of things, but, we do what we do and people just keep loving it. Lena Bundy (Soul’d Out) had the night off from her busy performance schedule and I convinced her to join me in back-up vocals to “Let’s Stay Together” (Al Green). That wasn’t enough for me so I finally convinced her to do a solo number and she just KILLED with “Our Love is Here To Stay.” For those of you who don’t know her, she’s a world-class jazz and pop artist from Sweden also has trained with the same vocal coach that Celine Dion uses in Stockholm. I know… pretty amazing.

Claude, the owner of Vino Bella was finally coaxed up to the microphone to sing “Under the Boardwalk” to a very appreciative and gleeful audience. He can actually sing, he can… Good stage presence too and naturally everyone loved him.

GREAT night for the Pack. We’ll see about getting on the calendar at Vino again in the next couple of months. We don’t like to be away too long…