Hey now, everybody!!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeew!!!! What a trip! For those who made it - you know...it was just a truly special weekend. BETTER than 'par for the course.' Typically we look at each other, smile and say, "Best year ever." It never ceases to amaze me how this thing just keeps getting better and better each year....this year was most certainly no exception.

Christa & I rolled in late Wednesday night & went straight to bed. With the construction, taking a wrong turn (for the first time in MANY years) and the detour - the drive was longer than normal and we needed to crash. We woke up Thursday to a call from home - lil' Max was sick, but not so bad that we needed to head home (thank goodness!!). We got cleaned up, hung out with our great friend, Mick and headed over to the party. There were a few people there already - mostly the 'usual suspects' who like to show up early and help get the place ready to rock. The property looked great and was primed for the occasion. It rained most of Thursday - apparently it had rained EVERY day for nearly 3 weeks leading up to Friday. A little ol' jam session broke out Thursday night with Ali Schelin, Jon Hoernig, Christian Salcedo & Pat Kelly, as Mike South was hooking up the sound system. The place was just itching to have music!!!

Friday, we woke up to an absolutely gorgeous day. The rain would not make an appearance for the rest of the weekend. Karma, again....

It was time for some live music and I was happy to have my old crew together for PAPPY'S BLUES JUNCTION. Every year, we get together at Potter and learn some new tunes, as well as some old classics we just love playing. No rehearsals, just goin' for it. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't - but even when we miss, it's still kinda fun! This year's Junction consisted of: Eric "Pappy" Weingrad (Guitar, Vocals), Ellen Salcedo (Vocals & Tambourine), Christian Salcedo (Bass, Vocals), Dave Gershman (Drums), Mike "Tour Pro" Tony (Keyboards) and "Captain" Pat Kelly (Drums). Here's how that list went down (to the best of my recollection) :

PBJ
Friday, July 4th, 2008
PCXV
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band > Joe's Garage > Pride Of Cucamonga, You Can't Do That, Dig A Pony, She Said She Said, Time > Breathe Reprise > My Generation > Tush, Call Me The Breeze, One After 909, Shine On You Crazy Diamond, Sultans Of Swing, Paperback Writer, The Seeker, Day Tripper > Please Please Me, I Feel Fine, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Reprise.

Next up Friday was the Potter County debut of THE MENTAL NOTES! Christian & Ellen Salcedo play around Delaware as a folk/blues acoustic act as The Mental Notes, but they decided to add a different flair to the act at Potter County - ELECTRIFY!!! Joining the Happy Salcedos were Jon Hoernig (Bass), "Captain" Pat Kelly (Drums) and spot appearances by Ali Schelin (AS) on vocals, David Tauberg (DT) on mandolin, Mike "Tour Pro" Tony (MT) on keyboards and Eric "Pappy" Weingrad (EW) on vocals. It was an absolutely beautiful set of music. Ellen was in top-notch voice all weekend and this was her spotlight set. Here's how it went down:

The Mental Notes
Friday, July 4th, 2008
PCXV
(Christian & Ellen acoustic duet)
I Want To Sing That Rock & Roll, Norwegian Wood, Shady Grove, Here Comes The Sun.
(Electric Mental Notes)
Comes A Time, Wake Up Little Susie, Hot Dog (DT), Stop Draggin' My Heart Around, Listen To The Music, Gold Dust Woman, Wasted On the Way (EW), Friend Of The Devil (EW, AS, DT), Midnight Moonlight (DT, MT), When Will I Be Loved, The Core, Dixie Chicken (MT).
Acoustic Trio Encore: Helplessly Hoping (EW).

Yes, there was still MORE great music on the way!! Following the Mental Notes was an acoustic set on the deck by CHERYLANN HAWK & FRIENDS. Cherylann was joined by David Tauberg on mandolin & bass, Ali Schelin on vocals, Eric "Pappy" Weingrad on guitar & vocals AND her beautiful, little baby girl, CHEYENNE on vocals for a few songs!! I haven't been able to get the exact list of songs from Cherylann, as I must have the wrong Potter phone number for her (phooey!), so I will not even attempt to recollect it. Maybe she'll put it up on her website - www.cherylann-hawk.com . It was such a pleasure (hey, I don't remember THAT being played!) to play music with Cherylann all weekend - she is an amazing spirit and an incredible talent!

After Cherylann's set was the big PIG ROAST. This year you'd have thunk it was time for the Saturday Pot-Luck by the amount of food brought to the table. We're all looking at each other saying, "I thought it was Friday!" Unbelievable spread of the finest food imaginable. It was an amazing dinner!!!

After dinner, it was time for the ol' boys to get together. DOUBLE DOSE (d2) - at least the attending members - were ready to rock. This year we were without our fearless leader, Michael Hoernig. Mikey was down in sunny Florida with his family riding the rides at Busch Gardens with our old friend, Johnny "JB" Bigham - who was playing with Chubby Checker! Word has it that Michael's son, Dennon, actually got up onstage and did 'The Twist' with Chubby in front of thousands of people!!! Way to go, D!! Michael - you were missed dearly!! It wasn't easy singing your songs without you...
The d2 set started off with a group of all-original songs - with the attending ORIGINAL members of d2 - "Captain" Pat Kelly, Jon Hoernig & Eric "Pappy" Weingrad. Then we brought up Dave Gershman (drums), Christian Salcedo (guitar, vocals), Ellen Salcedo (vocals) and Mike "Tour Pro" Tony (keyboards) for the rest of the set. It was great fun to get the old gang together and rip it up for the rest of the night. Here's what we did:

d2
Friday, July 4th, 2008
PCXV
(Jon, Pat & Pappy)
Smile For Me, Too Late For Tears, Children Of The Carousel > Gorilla Jam > Katie Moon, Feckless, Scape The Goat.
(Jon, Pat, Pappy, Tour Pro, Christian, Gershie & Ellen)
Uncle John's Band > Superfly, Cumberland Blues, Like A Rolling Stone, Not Fade Away > New Speedway Boogie > Sympathy For The Devil > Not Fade Away > Uncle John's Band.
Encore: Rossi.

Midnight....time to call it for the night. That's the way it goes on Fridays up there. And it's all good! Typically, Friday nights are acoustic, but we decided to shake things up a bit this year. We had the host and a host of others looking at each other saying, "I thought it was Friday?!" Sound familiar? Just keeps getting better & better every year....

Saturday at Potter. To wake up to sunshine is such a blessing, 'cause you just know people are gonna be smiling all day and all night - and into the morning....

NINE EYES kicked off the live music for Saturday. Their bassist, Jeff Evangelista, showed up just in the nick of time to start the set!! We thought Sheila was gonna have to take the bass duties, but she got spared. ;)
NINE EYES is a great electric band of hooligans from Delaware & Eastern PA and headed up by old d2 dudes Christian Salcedo (guitar, vocals) & "Captain" Pat Kelly (drums, vocals). Joining those cats are Erik Taylor (vocals), "Reasonable" Mike Roslan (guitar) and Jeff Evangelista (bass, vocals). GREAT classic rock. These guys rip - if you live out that way, or ever plan to visit - or just wanna check 'em out online - go to www.nineeyesband.com and dive in!!! More spot appearances by Mike "Tour Pro" Tony (MT) on keyboards and Dave Gershman (DG) on drums. Here's their setlist:

NINE EYES
Saturday, July 5th, 2008
PCXV
Can't You Hear Me Knocking?, Cocaine, On the Hunt, Fool In The Rain, Money For Nothing, Hush (MT), Superstition (MT), Long Time Gone (MT), Heartbreaker (Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo Doo) (MT), Dreams (MT, DG), Just Got Paid (MT), American Woman, Radar Love > Frankenstein > Radar Love Reprise, Sunshine Of Your Love (DG), Black Magic Woman, Black Betty > Flirting With Disaster.
Encore: Green Grass & High Tides > Spanish Moon.

Post-Nine Eyes, it was time for another acoustic set on the deck. The insanely versatile and wonderfully talented, DOUG McMINN took the deck and gave us a fantastic set of acoustic blues. Many of you have seen Doug - or at least mention of Doug - playing the sax. Well, he's also a phenomenal guitarist & vocalist and he sure proved it Saturday evening before the Pot Luck Dinner. I, unfortunately, do not have Doug's set list but I recall him opening it up with a great instrumental tribute to Leo Kottke, as well as performing a bunch of original songs and one of my personal favorite tunes ever - "On The Bayou." Thank you for coming, Doug - we loved listening to you as much as we loved jamming with you (which was coming up after dinner!!!)....

Saturday Pot Luck Dinner was stupendous!!! Another night of incredible foods; exotic delights mixed with domestic favorites made for a veritable cornucopia of edible paradise. When people decide to "bring it," at Potter County...."BRING IT," they do. Everyone who pitched in and 'did their thing', completely stepped up to a new level, this year. Not just with the food, but with EVERYTHING. That's something that makes this party unlike any other.

theCAUSE waited until about 9 pm to start our monster set. Now, everyone in the band had gotten to do some performing up to this point - EXCEPT our newest member, the incredible JILL PAONE SIMMONS. Jill was as patient as she could possibly be...okay, she was bursting at the seams, ready to rip it up!! We HAD to start with a Jill tune, the poor gal had waited all weekend to sing!! We were SO excited that Jill came up and we could introduce her amazing voice to this wonderful group of people who had never seen or heard her before. She did not disappoint. We were also incredibly pumped to have ALL THREE of our incredibly lovely ladies singing with us!! Cherylann, Ali AND Jill!!! We had spot appearances by Doug McMinn (DM) on sax & vocals and "Captain" Pat Kelly (PK) on drums - as well as the big finish with THE POTTER COUNTY CHOIR (joining us were Erik Taylor, Ellen Salcedo, Christian Salcedo & Jon Hoernig!). Here's how our 3 1/2 hour set played out:

theCAUSE
with Jill Paone Simmons, Ali Schelin & Cherylann Hawk
Saturday, July 5th, 2008
PCXV
(IF YOU CAN CLICK ON A SONG, IT WILL TAKE YOU TO ITS YOUTUBE VIDEO!!!)
Oh! Darling, Mississippi 1/2-Step Uptown Toodeloo, Hard To Handle, Get Back, Sugaree, What's Found > If I Could,Passenger, Tennessee Jed, Get It While You Can, Easy Wind, China Cat Sunflower > I Know You Rider, Lost Sailor > Saint Of Circumstance, I'd Rather Go Blind (DM), Scarlet Begonias (DM) > Fire On The Mountain (DM), Estimated Prophet (DM, PK) > Help On The Way > Slipknot! > Franklin's Tower, Runaway Blues, Piece Of My Heart, Sophia.
Encore: A Little Help From My Friends (PCChoir).

A lotta songs with NO break!!! After theCAUSE, we were graced by a wonderful fireworks display! As stated earlier...people were "bringin' it!"

After the fireworks, it was time for the All-Star Jam. Anyone who wanted to play, played. An exact list can't be compiled, but here's a list of a BUNCH of songs that were played (in no particular order!)....all I remember is that it opened with "The Midnight Special" and finished with "Sugar Magnolia." There were 2 total sets and we didn't stop playing until 5 am. It was a beautiful weekend and I'm already looking forward to number sixteen. Here's that list (again - no particular order) :

The Midnight Special, Julius, Good To Be Able, Cassidy, Bird Song, Me & My Uncle > Big River, Slow Train Coming, Hell In A Bucket, Second That Emotion, US Blues, Deal, Music Never Stopped, Big Boss Man, Bertha, Goin' Down The Road Feelin' Bad, Chain Of Fools, When The Levee Breaks, Gimme Shelter, Love Me Like A Man, Turn On Your Lovelight, It Hurts Me Too, Never Alone, Turtle Blues, Sugar Magnolia....oh, there's more, I'm sure!!!

Of course, I'm not even accounting for all the wonderful storytelling, hanging out and experiences we all had with each other NOT concerning the music!!!

Thank you to EVERYONE who came and did their thing. It wouldn't be what it was without your thing and we hope you'll be bringing it again!!! BIG THANKS to DAN & LAURIE TOMKINSON for capturing the whole sh'bang on video and still photo. You guys are wonderful. If you want to see some of their pics, go here: http://www.cardcreek.com/gallery/5352719_B2DQA . You MUST put in the password: P15 - make sure you use a capital "P". I will be putting up pictures taken by Christa & I and I'm sure the rest of the crew will also upload - onto theCAUSE's website - pictures from PCXV. Look out for VIDEO, coming soon, too!!!!

Love,

Pappy

"Once in a while you can get shown the light in the strangest of places,
if you look at it right."
- Robert Hunter