Rayzz

Hi All,

It’s been a few months since I updated. It has been a very busy time playing and now, teaching also. Sophie and the Shufflehounds are gigging and we had a couple of very successful gigs in the last couple of  months. In September we did a Breast Cancer benefit which was titled, Edmonton’s Women of Song featuring six of Edmonton’s top female vocalists. That was a lot of work … and a lot of fun. Three of the girls used the Shufflehounds for their backup band and three brought their own bands. The whole event started at 2:00 pm and ended up about 10:00 pm. Once again, my wife T was there helping out. I married a spectacular woman!

In October we did a gig in Peace River for Halloween. What a blast! The people were all dressed up and we had a full house. It was a good chance to try out the new(er) truck I bought. It’s a 2008 Tacoma and, as expected, it ran fine. Hoping to get the new website up and running by Christmas. Talk to you again before the end of the year!

Hi All

Wow! It’s been awhile since I have updated! I’ve been very busy lately. I found out a few weeks ago that my day job is coming to an end. (Government cutbacks) I have ’till the end of this year to find another job. With this information in mind I find myself asking, “Do I really want to go back to work for someone else now that I am so close to retirement?” I’m going to be 59 in September and the more I play music, the better I get and find myself “automatically” going back to thoughts and attitudes I had when I was making a living just making music.

The “accessibility” business is what I worked at for the Gov. (making educational multimedia resources for mentally or physical disadvantaged people). I believe there is a lot of opportunity in this area of employment so I will likely continue to pursue opportunities there.

Sophie and the Shufflehounds are continuing to gig and get tighter. When we groove, we groove!! KickbacK went down to a jam at the GasPump yesterday and had a great time. We (KickbacK) still rehearse once or twice a week, whereas I gig a lot more with the Shufflehounds.

Just finishing up some demo mixes for Sophie and the Shufflehounds. Expect to see them here http://www.reverbnation.com/sophieandtheshufflehounds soon!

Our anniversary party came off very well. It is always nice seeing friends and relatives and catching up on “who’s doing what.” My wife and I would like to thank everyone who came and helped us share our good fortune. We were also happy to share our good fortune with the Edmonton food bank. We had asked everyone to bring a cash donation for the food bank instead of getting us any gifts. We raised 210.00!! That was great! I would like to thank Howard, George, Sophie, Mike and Tom for helping me with the musical duties. Hope you guys had as much fun as I did!

Talk to you all again soon!