Rayzz

Hi All,

Well, another year has passed by and I’m still hangin’ in. Not doing too many gigs these days. The Cancer and Parkinsons has slowed me down a bit, although I am still jamming and practicing 4-6 hours a week.

I am retired! I retired from teaching in February of this year. I have to pick and choose gigs to play now. I played a few gigs last year with a country band. That was a lot of fun and brought back some very good memories of when I used to play a lot of country music.

The Grey Men is still rehearsing every week. I’m still playing drums and singing lead vocals! Didn’t think I would be doing that at 70 years old. (71 in September) The biggest challenge these days is moving gear. Thank goodness my wife helps me move my drums.

Speaking of my wife – I can’t say enough about how lucky I am for her help and support.

I have a few gigs coming up in the next couple of months. Should be  fun. Howard and I are still kickin’ it. Hard to believe we’ve been making music together for over 40 years!

The Grey Men now consists of brother Webb on Bass, Myself on Drums and vocals and Howard on Guitar. Howard and I also jam with Marek Orszulik and George Hauser (Bass players)

I’m looking to see how this next year will turn out. I am getting older (Growing Old),and so are my friends. Our conversations are a lot different than they once were.

Cheers!

Hi All,

Another year gone by and it has been an eventful one, at least health wise. I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s and just finished 5 weeks of radiation therapy for Prostate cancer. I call it the ‘old guys cancer’. I know 4 or 5 other guys around my age that have gone through the same thing. Every one of us is still playing music. Haven’t been to a jam lately. That’s by choice. It is a lot more fun just jamming in the my studio in the basement. Myself and Howard Gonyer have been jamming together now for about 40 years and have played every style from jazz to country, rock to fusion. It’s been a real treat to find another musician you gel with.

I took two months off to deal with my cancer treatments and am just getting back to teaching. Haven’t done any gigs yet. Am very apprehensive about gigging. I’ve lost a lot of stamina both from the cancer and from the Parkinson’s. I practice or teach everyday and things are improving. This is very good … good for the mental state. It’s kinda scary when you realize that your playing days might be over. My Parkinson’s is well controlled with medication and hasn’t been an issue when playing drums or guitar.  My vocals seem to be most affected in a negative way by the Parkinson’s.

‘the grey men’ band still consists of myself and Howard. My brother Webb has joined as a bass player, but we are using Marek Orszulik and Peter Boxall as fillins also. Hopefully we will do more gigs this year. Been working on a tune called ‘Growing Old’. Appropriate?

Talk again soon.

Ray