How-DEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

Obvious Fact Number 1: Man, it has been ages since I wrote to y‘all! Humble apologies once
again.

Obvious Fact Number 2: This article is the product of at least 4 somewhat-complete drafts, I
will attempt to piece the whole mess into something more or less, uh,
readable. I am no seasoned blogger by any means, nor do I attempt
to be. My writing style reinforces that fact.

Obvious Fact Number 3: It seems that a new article is posted every time there is a personnel
change… hmmmm…

Obvious Fact Number 4: Speaking of personnel changes, did you know that Little Ernie left?

Not-So-Obvious Fact Number 1: Haha, just kidding.

* * * *

First thing I wish to bore you with is the subject of Christmas vacation (three months after the fact).

Without divulging too much information, those of you who know me reasonably well know that I have experienced some interesting Christmas vacations.

Ahhhhh, but Finally!!!!!!

Yes, for the first time in my entire Kingsmen tenure, I had THE Christmas vacation I skeptically hoped for. I was exactly where I wanted to be with exactly who I wanted to be with (and happily vice versa), and enjoyed every single minute! After heading East for a couple of days and then North for the rest, I finally made it to where I wanted to be - and needed to be! I turned my cell phone off and promptly forgot all about Kingsmen, Asheville, Gospel Music, Organ, XLR’s, soundtracks, Instant Messenger, etc… for two wonderful weeks! It was exactly what vacation was supposed to be, and it did me more good than I ever imagined possible! My cell phone stayed off for the remaining two weeks (It was on permanent roaming, anyway).

With the exception of three days east of Asheville, I spent my two weeks in the role of Uncle Nick, playing ‘Teddy Bear Picnic’ over & over on the piano, reading ‘The Magic Jacket’, watching ‘Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer’, etc… I felt like a completely different Nick, and it was great!

But before I transformed into Uncle Nick, I had to give back my Frisbee-playing friend her shoes that I have been stuck with since National Quartet Convention in September!

Yes, Christmas vacation was wonderful.

On a side note, I hadn’t totally forgotten about gospel music… I listened to Gold City’s ‘Between Me And The Storm’ many times repeatedly for segments of my vacation. It is a beautifully constructed piece of music, one that holds new meaning for me.

* * * *

Now, for a story about our bass playing guru, Brad… Grant… Jim… ahhh, whatever his name is. Let me tell you a revolting story about him. Last October/November, we did the Singing At Sea Cruise-a-thon Jubilee Festival Celebration. The first time our bass player (Grant, I think) has been on a cruise. Cut to the final night, when the sea was rough and rocky. Most people were confined to their staterooms, where they could still watch the performances through a live feed to their televisions.

The Kingsmen performed to perhaps a dozen brave people in the Astoria Lounge. Deep into our rocky set with 2 songs left to go, our bass player swiftly unplugs his bass and runs backstage. And he doesn’t come back! We did the last two songs with no bass player. Let your imagination run wild.

Many people who were unfamiliar with Grant Barker became acquainted with him the final night of the cruise.

A line from MGM’s ‘The Wizard Of Oz’ comes to mind…

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!”

* * * *

The winds of change have once again blown through our bus, taking with it Tony Peace. Tony resigned in mid January (or thereabouts), and his last concert with The Kingsmen was in Palmetto, FL, on February 10th. Of course, with Tony goes “Some Glad Day After A While”, but hey, you can’t win them all.

There must be something about this baritone position. Since I joined, there have been 4 different people singing baritone on 5 different occasions (The one gentleman who sang baritone on 2 separate occasions was Tim Surrett). I don’t know what made me think of that.

Joining the group singing baritone is Bryan Hutson. Most of you recognize the name, but for those of you who don’t, Bryan sang lead with the Kingsmen from 1996 until 2001. Bryan’s official debut (this time) was on February 13th, in Tucson, Arizona. Welcome back to the fold, brother Bryan!

Another consideration to ponder: Three of The Kingsmen’s lead singers have all sung two tenures with the group - Jim Hamill, Tim Surrett, and now Bryan Hutson have all returned to The Kingsmen to sing a 2nd time; two of them returning the 2nd time to initially sing baritone.

Hmmmmmm. Does this mean we can expect Randy Crawford to return in the future? Just a thought, nothing more. (cue ‘Twilight Zone’ music)

* * * *

As I have never traveled with Bryan before, I really don’t know an awful lot about him, save for his musical contributions to the Kingsmen’s back catalogue (I think that’s what they call past recordings). Of course, since what I write is far from official news and is skimmed over by perhaps 12 people (double my original estimate of 6) I can always make up information about him, like Bryan was the original tenor for the Zioneers, and spent nearly 24 years as owner/micro-manager/lead singer for Wanda & The Gospel Bullets (before Wanda retired to become a wrestling referee in Cold River, IN.)

Ahhhh, but I prefabricated all of that. I will try to post somewhat more truthful information about Bryan as soon as I find out some - or when we have another personnel change, whichever happens first! Haha, just kidding again.

* * * *

As I am tired of editing and re-editing and struggling with an energy-zapping cold, I will let you go for now. I don’t want to flood you with too much stuff all at once. I will also save the situation of our soon-t-be-former tenor singer and other tidbits for another day.

Until my next misinforming article, Have a great day and don’t forget to have some fun!

God Bless;

Uncle Nick