Jeff Coffin & The Mu'Tet!

We had a great time listening to fantastic jazz music hosted by the WTAMU Jazz program featuring the music of Jeff Coffin & the Mu'tet!

The night was made better by the fact that Bryan was able to do the sound for the concert.

And, he would say it was even better because it was the debut of his new digital console.

I'd say the fact that Jeff played two saxophones at once made it a fairly entertaining evening!

Anniversary Celebrations

Bryan and I selected our marriage date of July 4 for a few reasons - some of which may seem silly to y'all. Our first date was on November 4, 2007. While we were dating, Bryan always tried to do something special on the 4th of the month, in fact, he proposed on November 4, 2008. When we thought about a date for our wedding, Bryan thought it might be a good idea (and easier for him) if we married on the 4th of a month. We also thought it might be best to marry in the summer because it would be easier for my family to travel from the midwest in the summer.

So, the calendar search began. It didn't take long for me to discover that the only 4th in the summer of 2009 that fell on a weekend was July 4. I asked Bryan if he thought that it would be crazy to marry on the 4th of July. We thought about it and both agreed that there would be no better date to celebrate our marriage.

At the time, we also had an honest conversation about how we would be spending our anniversaries for many years to come. Bryan is a sound man, and wanted to make a go of the audio company. We agreed that we could do this - but knew it also meant that our anniversaries for many years would be spent with Bryan doing some sort of outdoor event. In fact, we joked that if he did not have a gig on the 4th of July that there would be bigger problems in the marriage - July 4, is the one day every sound man should be able to find a gig.


And so, we spent our first anniversary as husband and wife - doing what we do - providing a sound system for a 4th of July party in the Colonies. I worked as Bryan's stage hand for the day. :) Honestly, I loved this gig - it was an easy, low stress kind of gig. Precisely the type of gig needed on our anniversary.

We enjoyed the music of local band AFK, and eventually (after a several hour delay) enjoyed the Amarillo Fireworks display.

Not a bad way to celebrate - Bryan jokes that the whole country celebrates with us.

Here's to many more celebrations!

Western Swing and Other Things

This weekend Bryan's biz took us to a gig at a ranch on the canyon rim. The Western Swing Heritage Band played for the party goers.

Luckily, the high heat of the week was lessened by the cool Amarillo breezes.

Ha, did I say cool Amarillo breezes? That's only true if cool breezes means gusts of 30-40mph. At times we felt like we were being pelted by a sandblaster. But, I'll take the gusts of wind over the 95+ heat.

As I look at this picture from the evening at the ranch I have to chuckle. What sign is there of the wind on the ranch - if one were to believe this windmill they would think it was a completely calm evening! I think this group of musicians were genuinely excited to have a sound guy to to look after them. These guys were certainly a chatty bunch - sharing many stories of years gone by.

The jamming continued well into the evening providing many hours of dancing for the party goers. Honestly, I had never seen a party quite like this until I moved to Amarillo. Western Swing dancing is not exactly common in Eastern Iowa.

Bryan enjoyed mixing audio for this group. The plus side is that Western Swing is not very taxing on the gear.

I was excited that the gig was big enough to warrant a load-out crew - this meant I had to move less gear. And that's a good thing!

Until the next big gig...

Bronc Riding in Clarendon

This past weekend Bryan had a gig running audio for an event in Clarendon, Texas. The event included music from 3 bands - and in the afternoon a bronc riding event.

I traveled with Bryan to this gig so that he would have a stagehand - once I had provided the necessary muscle (Yes, I am the muscle behind Digital-One, at least I was for this gig. I had the entire trailed unloaded - except for one speaker - by the time Bryan returned from connecting the distro to the generator), I went exploring and found myself watching the bronc riding events.

These are not pro-rodeo guys, these are honest to goodness cowboys practicing some of their crazy cowboy skills.


The afternoon also included a shetland pony bronc riding event. I didn't know a Shetland could bronc until today - some of those ponies were vicious! One kid was trampled pretty good - left the arena under his own power - but his white shirt left the arena in pieces and red.

There's something about the 5 and 6 year old crowd in chaps that just gets to me.

This young rider was a little sad that he couldn't ride - but he did have cool boots. Check out those spider webs!


Yes, I had a camera all day - and only took pictures of the cowboys - sorry rig! You are just not as photogenic as a pair of chaps.