December
Someday; Another "Bucket List" item is for The Mellow D's to perform live, on stage at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, Tennessee. I really don't care if it's 3:00 in the morning and nobody else is there, I just want to sing and play on that historic stage at the Mother Church of Country Music, and have someone videotape it and take photos to prove we did it. One funny thing, I wrote to the Ryman management to ask if I could rent the place for an hour sometime, and they wrote back a letter telling me I couldn't afford it! Who else do you know that has received a rejection letter from an auditorium?
Since then, I've contacted the folks that manage the tours of the Ryman, and they said I could take my guitar in if I wanted, and play a song or two during our tour! Heck, I'm up for that. I could have done that on this trip, but we packed light and didn't have my hat or performance clothes with us. We really didn't think we'd be coming through Nashville after leaving Chicago, but we did. Dangit! That's an opportunity missed, and I really hate that.
Oh, well, even if we have to make a special trip to Nashville just for that purpose, we will cross that item off our bucket list... Someday.
September 19, 2009; Performed live at the Midwest Country Music Theater in Sandstone Minnesota! This was on my "bucket list"; my list of things I want to accomplish before I "kick the bucket." Had an absolute blast, playing in front of one of the premier backup bands in the nation! Joe Savage on sweeeeeeet steel guitar; Larry Rose on rock-solid bass; Dan Lund on country lead guitar the way it should be played, and Bobby Vandell who controlled his rock influence and played great country drums! I really appreciate these guys for being fine gentlemen as well as terrific musicians. And of course, thanks Joe & Kathy Jensen, for all they do to keep classic country music alive! And Thanks to RFD-TV for airing one of our segments on nationwide TV! How cool is THAT!!
August 18-23, 2009; The Mellow D's were headliners for the Country Music Jamboree, Avoca, Iowa. That was cool!! We also garnered more awards in the songwriter, male vocalist, and harmony contests. This festival is one we'll never miss, it is just that much fun!
June 21st, 2009; Live Gospel Show, at the Double-D Ranch in Ashland, NE. It was an honor to be selected as performers for this Chuckwagon Dinner show, which regularly features such renowned performers as Rex Allen Jr., Roy Rogers Jr., and Michael Martin Murphy.
April 15, 2009; The Mellow D's performed a half-hour live radio show on KAWL in York, Nebraska! Great fun, nice folks.
August 21-24, 2008; The Mellow D's were honored to be selected as judges for the annual "Middle of Nowhere" Country Music festival in Ainsworth, Nebraska.
August 8-10, 2008; At the annual Country Music Festival in Avoca, Iowa, Larry won 2nd place Male Vocalist and 2nd place Songwriter honors. (His "band" placed 2nd in the Band Scramble contest. Whose band took 1st? KAREN'S!)
April 2007: Our friend Jerry Havemann and his wife Maria have decided we need to see Luckenbach, Texas. We've never been there either, so what the heck! We were on the road for about three weeks, sightseeing, looking for places to play and sing, and just kicking back for a while. Jerry’s been my friend since 1960, even before he played lead on a Les Paul Junior for The Casuals. Yes, he does wish he still had that guitar!
On our way South after surviving a nearly terrifying ride in our two motorhomes trying to navigate the traffic gauntlet that is Dallas, Texas, we stopped in Streetman, Texas, to visit our music friends, Tex and Mary Schutz. Unusual to find them home, they are usually out performing somewhere, from New Zealand to California and back.
We stayed in Fredericksburg in the heart of Texas hill country. It's an old German town with lots of tourist attractions and shopping opportunities. From there, we visited surrounding points of interest, scenic drives, the River Walk in San Antonio, etc., etc.
And now we can say we've actually performed live on stage in Luckenbach, Texas! What a neat little (and I do mean LITTLE) place, out in the middle of Texas hill country! Met some really nice folks there. We also performed live at the LBJ Ranch National Park, at the insistence of one of the park rangers. Lots of fun.
Ate the best chili-cheeseburger in the whole world at Hondo's in Fredericksburg. We stoked up on Tex-Mex from the time we got into Texas until we left. Austin was the best!
We went to visit Beenie and her husband in San Angelo, time for more Tex-Mex! Beenie was instrumental in being our remote tour guide. She is primarily responsible for the wonderful time we had in Texas. Thanks, Beenie!
In Lubbock, we went to the Buddy Holly museum and learned a lot about this fascinating entertainer and creative artist. For a guy whose career only lasted 18 months, he sure had an impact. Did you know that the first recording ever made by the Beatles was Buddy Holly's "That'll Be The Day"? And yes, we did see Lubbock in our rear view mirror. Made us think about Mac Davis and Waylon Jennings, who also hail from there.
Just South of Amarillo, we toured Palo Duro canyon in a rental car. I know I could have navigated it with my 38-foot motorhome, but my wife would have waited for me in Amarillo. In order for her to go with me, the rental car was an absolute necessity. Palo Duro is known as the Texas Grand Canyon, and is a fascinating place with incredible scenery.
From Amarillo, we decided to come back home by way of Colorado. Hey, it CAN be on the way, if you want it to be bad enough! With everything greening up and the snowcaps just beginning to melt, bright blue sky and millions of wildflowers, it was just plain spectacular!
On the way home, we visited Monument Rocks just South of Oakley, Kansas. 6 miles of bad dirt roads, but really very interesting formations out in the middle of the Kansas prairie. I always thought Oakley was Annie Oakley's birthplace, but discovered she was born Phoebe Mozee in Ohio. But they do have an "Annie Oakley Motel". Oakley is actually Buffalo Bill's birthplace. There's an impressive huge bronze statue of him on the West side of town, astride his horse at full gallop taking aim at a buffalo.
We also went to see Castle Rock, South of Quinter, Kansas. More bad dirt roads, but another really interesting place.
Then we went to Waldo, Kansas. My mom's maiden name is Waldo, so I was curious if it might be a good place to host the Waldo family reunion. It does have a post office, but that's about all. The only sign of life we saw was three old ladies in a car that followed us no matter where we went. So I went up and down alleys and around the block several times. Once I stopped and got out and began walking toward them just to see their reactions. They nearly burned rubber getting out of there, but only for about a block. They made sure they never lost sight of us. I guess we were the most suspicious or exciting people to visit Waldo in a long time. My bet is they're STILL talking about us!
We were hired to go to Avoca, Iowa for a terrific music festival there, and we just had a ball. Great folks to be around, treated us like family, and a great crowd!
From there, we were invited to perform at the Midwest Country Music Theater in Redding, Iowa, and in spite of tornado warnings, we put on one heckuva show. Those folks were just terrific, as well.
Sometimes I think the people we get to meet is the real blessing we get from being involved in music!
March 2007: At the Cotner Center in Lincoln, Nebraska for the Lincoln Area Agency on Aging’s “Extravaganza of Country Music” concert, we performed before one of the most responsive audiences we have ever encountered. “It was one of those satisfying performances that I dream about”, says Larry. “After being rewarded with a spontaneous and lengthy standing ovation, I was flying high for hours!”
October 2006: At the annual Nebraska Country Music Foundation’s awards ceremony, The Mellow D’s achieved Top Gospel Group of the Year.
August 2006: Perhaps the biggest achievement of our lives was our induction into America’s Old-Time Country Music Hall of Fame before an encouraging crowd of standing, applauding country music fans! Being invited to join an institution that included country music superstars that were our inspiration was truly an emotional experience. My lead guitar player from our 1963 band, The Casuals, drove across country to attend the induction and take pictures of the ceremony, making it an even more personal and exciting day! Wow.
October 2005: The Nebraska Country Music Foundation awarded The Mellow D’s 2nd Place Gospel Group.
September 2005: The Mellow D’s won 3rd place in the International competition at the annual week-long National Traditional Country Music Association’s event in Missouri Valley, Iowa.
October 2004: The Nebraska Country Music Foundation recognized Larry as Top Songwriter of the Year, and The Mellow D’s as Top Country Duet. Karen’s first trophy!! That was truly gratifying, because it validated my claims that she was a highly talented harmony singer with a style all her own. She finally had to accept the fact that there were others who shared my opinion.
May 2004: At the Cornhusker Country Music Club competition, Larry won 3rd Place in the Top Male Vocalist category.
October 2003: The Nebraska Country Music Foundation selected Larry as the Semi-Pro Male Vocalist of the Year, and runner-up Songwriter of the Year.
