Overtime at work for the next few weeks. Will be working 7am to 8pm for the rest of this week. Photos of the Kathy concerts will be comimg in the next few weeks when I get some free time.

How Do You Spell Channukkahh

Back from three wonderful Chistmas shows by Kathy. Don't know how they do it but it keeps getting better every year. Photos should be up sometime this week.

Went to see Suzy Bogguss last night down in Sellersville, PA and wound up having a Kathy Konnection - Craig Brickhardt was the opening act and opened with Your The Power which Kathy recorded.

Got home at 3:20 am and made it to work for 8:00 am with no problem.

Kerry Fraser - Helmet

Got a busy month of December coming up.

Fri 12/2 - Bridgeport at Lowell
Sat 12/3 - Bridgeport at Manchester - Tax free shopping and a great sport card shop near the arena
Sat 12/9 - Suzy Bogguss at the Birchmere
Sun 12/10 - Suzy Bogguss at Sellersville, PA
Thu 12/14 - Kathy at Harrisburg, PA
Fri 12/15 - Kathy at Kingston, NY
Sat 12/16 - Kathy here in New Haven, CT

Thanks to all that have emailed me or posted on Kathys Clowns list. I do try to update when something comes up but if I don't do it right away, I have a habit of putting stuff off to the side then never get back to it.

For those that have XM, please visit Producer J's blog at http://www.producerj.blogspot.com/

CMA Perdections

Entertainer - Brad Paisley
Female - Carrie Underwood
Male - Kenny Chesney
Group - Rascal Flatts
Duo - Big & Rich
Single - Summertime
Album - The Road And The Radio
Video - 8th of November
Event - Brooks & Dunn
Musician - Randy Scruggs – Guitar
Horizion - Carrie Underwood

Did wind up going upto Keene, NH on Saturday for the Americian Songwriter Circle show and made a few requests which both Pat Alger and Richard Leigh did my Kathy releated songs (Goin Gone by Pat and a Killer version of Come From The Heart by Richard and everyone joining in with guitiar and vocals)

There is still 4 dates left on this tour and if you have a chance, please go out and support this as it is great that they are bringing the songwriters to New England to tell the stories behind the hits. The remaining dates are:

October 29 Rochester, NH Rochester Opera House

November 2 Amherst, MA Fine Arts Center Concert Hall

November 3 Albany, NY Hart Theater @ the Egg

November 4 Fitchburg, MA Monty Tech

Just happened to look at my google news aleart email for mattea and saw that there was a songwriter series tour hitting New England starting today so I just had to go and it was worth it. Got my ticket online at 2:30 and thought I had the 4th row. I got to the theatre around 6:15 for parking in the small lot near the theatre and went over to get my ticket and asked how sales were and was told not good. Couldn't go in until 7:15 or so as the artists didnt get in until 6:30 and were doing a sound check.

The 15 to 18 of us who brought tickets plus the staff of maybe 15 or so got to enjoy a great show with Ralph Murphy, Tony Arata, Darren Bessette, James Dean Hicks, Pat Alger and Richard Leigh. Each artist did 4 songs each taking turns like a songwriter in the round format.

Got to hear Seeds and after the show the artists shook hands with most of us and thanked us for coming. I wound up buying 3 CD's and a tshirt for this little tour. Thinking of going up to Keene, NH to see them again on Saturday, they are in New London, CT tomorrow but I am going to a SoundTiger game in Providence.. Oh well..

Kathy Mattea "House of Gold" CMT Studio 330 Sessions

Kathy Mattea

Ready for the Storm with Kathy and Dougie Maclean from the BBC Transatlantic Sessions.

Kathy Mattea at the North Carolina Women's Conference

Just got a surprise - God Aint No Stained Glass Window by Kathy Mattea on The Village XM15. I think that is the first time ever I have heard that on the radio.

What a crappy day yesterday. Headed to the mall after work and I move over to get by some sort of furniture in the middle of the road and somehow run over keys in the road with my rear tire. Decided to use Onstar Safe and Sound instead of AAA and someone was out there in about 15-20 minutes which was quicker that the 40 minute estimated wait time I was given. Would had done it myself but the damn lugnuts were so tight that I couldn't get them off.

Decided to take a half of day off from work and go see Kathy up in Barre, VT since her show in New Haven was rescheduled so suddenly on Tuesday to December 16th due to a scheduling conflict.

Glad that I did as this was a great show and the crowd up here was into it from song 1. Sat far enough back that I just sat there and enjoyed the music and didn't that the camera out. Did take a bunch of photos aftershow as Katarina had her parents over from Europe so I can get them put on a CD and send them to her.

Only bad parts of the day was the getting stuck in traffic in Springfield on I-91 due to construction where they had the highway closed between exits 10-11. Thanks to GPS, I got off a before the detour and went through Springfield and Holyoke and getting back on the highway at exit 18. Lost about an hour total in that mess.

Got to my hotel in White River Junction and the room they gave me wasn't cleaned yet so I had to go down and get more keys (They did offer to bring a set up to me). Got freshened up and because of the delay before, had to head up to Barre as I had made a reservation at Dels for 6PM. I didn't get there until about 6:15 as I parked down the street closer to the Barre Opera House where the show was. Had a friend from New York who was about 12 miles behind me who I was waiting for before I ordered but he ran into issues at the campground where he had a reservation for and then got lost or misdirected as usual so I finally ordered and ate. The bad thing here was that I had a dining certificate for $25 towards the bill but needed $35 minimum for two entrees so after tip I would up paying $35 instead of $10-$15 if there was the two of us.

If anyone is up in the Barre, VT area, I do recommend eating at Dels, it is well worth the money.

What a bad day, got a call from the Shubert Theatre that the Kathy Mattea show that I have 27 tickets for with people coming in from all over the US and overseas. Personally I think was due to poor ticket sales which I find hard to believe but was able to go online and really good seats are still available.

This is not the first time that CAPA of New Haven did this to Kathy. Years ago a show at the Palace was canceled and moved across the state to the Sub Base in New London.

Photos from Kathy at Vineland, NJ after show. Was too far back to take show photos.

http://www.parazz.com/albums/davebrz

Went to the City on Wednesday to see Dougie MacLean fron Scotland at Makor which seats 150-200 at the most. What a great show it was even though he was fighting a cold. Talked to him briefly after the show to tell him that it was a good week as I seen him and Kathy in it. He mentioned that he knew Kathy was in Vermont one week after he was but couldn't make it.

What a long weekend, drove down to Annapolis to see Kathy play at the Rams Head of Friday for two shows, drove back home the next day then went up to Massachusetts to see Lori McKenna then on Sunday drove back down to southern New Jersey for another Kathy show which was sold out and I didn't have a ticket going down there. A few tickets did open up from tickets that Kathy did not use so I snatched up one of those. Now I'm at work sleeping it off (I wish). Did I ever tell you I hate traffic? It seems every car in the world was on the NJ Turnpike last night. A 3 1/2 hour ride took 5 1/2 hours and that is after I got out of the traffic and took a different route otherwise I would have been on the road for another hour or so.

Wanted to go see Pam Tillis tonight but luckily I called and found out the show was canceled due to weather even though the storm has passed. Worst thing is the venue Lincoln Park which is a Greyhound Racing track and also has slot machinea have no mention of the show on their website. Did find the page where the show is listed but no links from their entertainment page. Wonder how they will let people the new date of the show. I was told to listen to the radio but I am two hours away.

Speaking of the CMA's, I was in the City on Tuesday night for at Joe's Pub for their songwriter series, this time it was a singer/songwriter spotlight with Jon Randal, Lori McKenna, Jamie O'Neal and Jo Dee Messina because the awards were being announced the next morning and they had a big banner behind the stage for the award show.

ABC had someone there interviewing the artists and taping the show for what I assume is stuff for online or to be used as part of promos. At one point, I caught the camera pointing at me out of the corner of my eye (he was at my table doing cutaway shots as I was near the stage and I was a party of one so I had the free area. Jessi Alexander was there also because the local dates she was with Trisha was canceled and she was taping some promo spots for the award show.

I had wanted to talk with Lori and Jessi after the show but the CMA person that was there made everyone leave. Tried waiting outside but had a train to catch to get back home (which I was listening to XM during the ride). Funny thing as I was driving home from the train station, I was listening to US Country and about 1:40 am, the station goes quiet and I'm thing why the dropout so I change the channel and the music comes on so its not a dropout. So I grabbed the Myfi and turned that on and no music on 17 and the pad data still showing the last song.

Cant wait for the next one there, Victoria Shaw, Gary Burr and Don Henry and guests. With those three, the crowd wont know what hit them.

Have to go to the local theater tomorrow and make my final payment on group tickets for the Kathy Mattea Fan Club and fellow Clowns from the mailing list/ Yahoo Group. I secured the first two rows and part of the third row whit everyone coming in from all over the US and a few from Overseas who are coming to visit their daughter and to see the shows.

Went to the City last night to see Lori McKenna, Jon Randal, Jamie O'Neal and Jo Dee Messina in the CMA Songwriter Series at Joes Pub.

In my opionion, the show was great but it really didnt have the feeling of a true songwriter show as I am used to seeing artists join in on other songs with either backround vocals or joining in with their guitiar.

Wanted to see Jamie per her request from me seeing her a few weeks ago but the CMA person who was there was making everyone leave. Also want to say to Jessi Alexander who was taking out in the hall with no luck. Tried to wait outside for a while but got the idea that they were waiting for the few of us waiting so Jo Dee wouldn't be bothered. Jessie was there becuse her shows with Trisha were canceled due to Garth Brooks older brothers passing.

Went to see Marty Stuart at the Casino last night. Wound up with the setlist being the last in the autograph line (mainly as I was talking with Mick who is Kathy Mattea's sound person who is helping out Marty when not with Kathy.

Cube Jinx!

Went to Podunk Bluegrass Music Festival to see Rhonda Vincent and the Rage. Had a great time and found the Martins which is a family band who I was really impressed with. It was there 1st time playing in Connecticut and it was ironic as the festival was at Martin Park.

Was a great show on Saturday at Joe's Pub in NYC. Bob DiPiero, Jeffery Steele, Tony Mullins and Rivers Ruterford.

Photos from Blunch 06 with Kathy Mattea are up at http://www.parazz.com/albums/davebrz

Some good shots and some not so great shots.

Have some photos up from Fan Fair week. Some are better than others. More to come from Kathy's Blunch this weekend.

If the photos are taking too long to load, click on the Icon that looks like a wrench and select normal for photo resolution and select fit to window to get the photos to load faster (especially for those of you on dialup)

Wow, just heard 3 Kathy Mattea songs in a row on US Country 17 on XM Radio. Nobodys Gonna Rain On My Parade, Ashes in the Wind and 18 Wheels and a Dozen Roses. Both Ashes and 18 wheels were studio versions which I was able to record to my MyFi.

Here is a review of my 2006 Fan Fair week. I did not do any of the events associated with the event itself as I did not get a ticket and didn't want to pay just to go into the Convention Center.

Tuesday:
Went to bed around after 1am after finishing up packing for my trip and got up at 5am for a 8:30am flight via Southwest.

Had a layover in Baltimore of 3 hours and wound up figuring out the new terminal and concourse there. Decided to have a quick lunch at Phillips seafood before heading over to get in line for the flight to Nashville.

Got into Nashville around 1:10pm and went down to get my luggage which was not there but then an announcement was made that if the bags were not there from the flight from Baltimore, some did come in early and was over by there office and mine was one of them.

Got my car and headed over to Raffertys for lunch and headed over to the 100 Oaks mall to see if I could find some clothes that I did not pack.

Got to my hotel and went to open the curtain and found my rug soaked under the AC unit so I reported this on my was out back out to the car to get a few things.

Went out to the Bluebird Cafe for the 1st time this week for their 24th Birthday show with the Jay Patten Band and special guests Deborah Allen, Roberto Bianco, T. Graham Brown, Vickie Carrico, Nanci Griffith, Jimmy Hall, Hal Ketchum, Mark Germino and Jonell Mosser. The official show was over at 11:30 but they were only taking a break and had a jam session until 1am and during that time, Gary Nicholson came in for a song.

Got back to the hotel and see my curtains blowing all over the place. Tried to adjust them so they wont blow when the AC is on the noticed the AC was off and it was a fan on high speed to dry the floor off. Had to shut it off and open the window to let some cool air in so I could get some sleep. Was wide awake so I sent off a email to a friend and did a few other things so I finally went to bed at 4 and set the alarm for 8:30.

Wednesday:

Got up at 7:15 and couldn't get back to sleep. Didn't have any plans so I sat at the computer for a while to see what was going on in town. Headed downtown to the Hall of Fame to check out the XM studios and stop to say hi to Producer J who I had been messaging with over at XM411. Stayed there for a while and a friend just happened to come through so we chatted for a while until her tour bus picked her up. Stayed a little longer as the Grascals were in the studio then I decided to head up to Broadway to see what was going on and ran into friends who were in line and was able to add me to their reservation for a taping of Music City Connection: Heroes Behind the Hits with Lee Roy Parnell, Gary Nicholson and Donnie Fritts.

After that I went back to my room to find that the rug was dry so I put the AC back on and sent off one final email before my computer decided to act up and not allow me to send or receive anything for the rest of the week.

At 7:30 I headed back over to the Bluebird this time to see Victoria Shaw featuring Hillary Scott who I really like a lot. Was disappointed when I found out that Hillary would not be there due to she was on vacation in Florida. Sat with friends of mine who are from Colorado and we had made separate reservations. She did have a few guests including Jim Brickman who played a few tunes and others who I can not remember their names. The show was over at 11 and we had tickets for the Marty Stuart's Late Night Jam to see Kathy Mattea who was scheduled to be on the show. Found parking and got to our seats around 11:45 when Connie Smith was on. I knew that Kathy was not on yet as their instruments were still set up on stage. Finally part of the band came out to do two instrumentals plus Jim Brock doing his thing with the drum (Cant remember what the correct name is) that he does. Kathy came out and did four songs. We left right after that and I got back to the room around 3am after dropping my friend off at his hotel.

Thursday:
Got up late today. Went over to Wolf Camera to have some prints made from the night before at the Ryman of Kathy to have autographed at her fan club blunch on Friday.

Went to Shopery Mills to see if anything was going on there at Tower Records and to maybe do some racing at the Nascar place there. Didn't do much there so I went out to lunch at Raffertys and then went back to the hotel. Went to get my prints just before 7 and found out that the machine broke and mine was next to be done on Friday as they close at 7. Was told they have a location at the Cool Springs mall open til 9 so I had to get my camera back at the hotel and get down the mall and go through what I wanted printed up again. Photos were done in 30 minutes but when I got back to the hotel and opened the package, my 8x10s were only there which was the main thing I needed for the party. Went right back out as I had won VIP tickets last week for Rhythm on the River at the Hard Rock Cafe at 11PM with Carolyn Dawn Johnson, Bob DiPerio, Brett James and Bobby Pinson. The show started at 11:30 and was over a little after 1am where we were taken downstairs for the meet and greet with the artists. I bid on this as I am a fan of Carolyn's and was not able to go her party or her performance on the riverfront on Friday due to a schedule conflict.

Friday:
Headed over to Cheekwood for "The Blunch" with Kathy Mattea which starts at 11am and is scheduled to end at 5pm but Kathy's partys never end on time. The schedule for the day was to eat first, then have Kathy do a Q&A then Kathy made a speech about her life around music, then want on to play songs from the obscure setlist which was started last year and was only 1/3rd done. Then it was time for the meet and greet part of the day.

We all left after 6pm and a bunch of decided to go Outback for dinner which was good for me as I had to go back to the mall there to pickup the rest of my prints and CD of the photos to give to the Fan Club president so it can be used in the newsletter.

After leaving Outback, I headed back to the Bluebird to see Danny Flowers, Gary Nicholson, Jim Photoglo and Bill Lloyd.

Saturday:
Decided to head down to Chattanooga for Riverbend to see Beth Nielson Chapman, Gretchen Peters and Suzy Bogguss. Din not get to see Beth as she was on the same time as Gretchen as a different stage but did get to see Alison Brown instead. Drove back to Nashville tired with a few stops as I was falling asleep at the wheel but made it safely back. Did get an extra hour because of the time zone change between Chattanooga and Nashville.

Sunday:
Wanted to get up early so I could go to Phonoluxe and get breakfast at the Pancake Pantry (first time in a many years that I did not get there once during my trips to Nashville). Needless to say, I got up a little late and had to pack up and head over to the airport for my flight home which was a little bumpy but I slept through most of it or when I was awake, had my MyFi on and was switching between music and checking out a few baseball games.

On the way home, stopped at Red Robin for dinner and that ends my week.

Me with Victoria Shaw in 2005 at the Bluebird Cafe

Me with Hillary Scott in 2005 at the Bluebird Cafe