|
|
|
July 25, 2005
The GKB played its annual summer show in downtown
San Jose at the “Music In The Park”
concert series on July 21. My son’s band K2
opened the show, followed by Aja-Vu (a Steely Dan
Tribute band that’s scary good), then the
GKB. I got there early to watch every note of the
K2 set and let me tell you, they were great! Ry
played his new Gibson Les Paul (a beautiful black
one) and it gave the guitar parts a hefty lift.
He didn’t use it during his stint with the
GKB later that evening, so I am assuming that the
Les Paul is a “K2 only” guitar. It doesn’t
matter of course, that boy could play a $29 Ukulele
and make it sound good. Their set was all originals
with a rousing version of Jimi Hendrix’ Fire
to close the show. Several songs in particular stood
out: Kiss It, Science Fiction, and Neighborhood
Bully. It was the best first gig I ever saw. Expect
Ry to be playing around the Bay Area with his new
band very soon.
My literary agent Lori Perkins still hasn’t
found a home for Rubber Soul (my new Beatles novel
set in the 60’s). I sure hope it gets published
soon. It’s bad luck to start your next novel
when the one you just finished isn’t published
yet. Of course, I already have. I’m either
going to finish the novel I was working on before
Rubber Soul, or continue to work on a brand new
one. The novel before Rubber Soul is called The
Memory Maker. The new one I just started is tentatively
titled Buddy Holly And The Headless Chicken. And
still I write. Radio syndication is just around
the corner (a matter of weeks, I think) and I’m
excited as hell. I am blessed to bring Chris Jackson
(my producer for the morning show) and Laurie Roberts
(program director at KFOX) into the fold. Now the
same team that brings you my morning show will be
directly involved generating a new show for syndication.
It’s the only way this thing was gonna happen.
If I’m going to be successful, then I want
these guys to share in it. If it tanks, well, that’s
life. Look for the new show Big Rock Beat, to start
running right here on this website soon.
Julie DeMaria and Cookie Crissman at Operation Care
And Comfort (The American Red Cross) tell me that
they are close to realizing the $20,000 I didn’t
win on Hit Me Baby One More Time. The last time
I checked, we were around $16,500. So, it looks
encouraging that we’ll raise the money anyway.
They’ve been collecting at gigs and the fans
are responding, eager to show their patriotism.
I’ve often said, it doesn’t matter whether
you’re for the war or not, there are young
Americans out there in harm’s way. They need
our support. At the San Jose gig, the Red Cross
presented me with an Award Of Appreciation for supporting
the troops. I want to thank the fans, for it is
truly their support that makes the whole thing work.
I’m just the middleman. God bless you guys.
And finally, this. I found an Atlas of WWII in the
remainders bin at the local Borders. The book has
many actual battle maps. There, in one of the maps
dated Battle Of The Bulge Dec.24-26, 1945, I found
my father’s unit, the 289th Army Infantry.
My dad was wounded in battle on Dec 26, 1945, the
day after Christmas. There, on the map, you can
see that on Dec.24-26, the 289th Infantry was completely
surrounded by Germans. There were tanks and heavy
armor on three sides, and a German SS Division directly
behind, blocking any retreat back to Bastogne. It
was bitter cold snowing constantly. I found a picture
on the Internet of the 289th walking up a snow-covered
road on Dec. 24, two days before dad was shot. It’s
hard to imagine my father among those men trudging
through the snow, but he was. I think I’m
going to have that map framed. One of my father’s
favorite expressions was, “A man’s gotta
do, what a man’s gotta do.” It’s
as true today as it was in 1945.
Life goes on.
-Greg Kihn
|
