music with my dad

I just played a really fun Happy Hour show at the Brookdale Senior Living Community! They had a Renaissance Fair just before I arrived. Those guys know how to have a good time! I hope to play there again soon.

Speaking of having a good time, I got to see two concerts with my pops last weekend. He is a good concert buddy! He didn’t get too drunk or anything.

First we saw Cyndi Lauper and the Indigo Girls on Friday night. Then we saw Smokey Robinson and Arsenio Hall on Saturday night! Smokey Robinson!!!! What a great songwriter and performer.

Here’s a shot of me and my pops.


Me and Papa

I did it!

Well, I survived and absolutely had a blast during my Spotlight Performance. The audience was incredible and very generous with their support and enthusiasm. I sent a video recording to my folks and my brothers and they enjoyed it as well. Whew! My family is so great. A great big THANK YOU to all who came out to see the show and also to Tony Grange, Jack Brown and Heather Steele and Kathleen McDonald from Marimba Boise for working on my tunes and joining me on stage. And I can’t forget to thank the Idaho Songwriters Association for giving Idaho songwriters a place to gather and share our love for original music.

Also, if you didn’t already know or you haven’t had a chance to listen yet, Jan Reed and I recently sat around a microphone she set up in her living room and did a few rough recordings. You can find these recordings on her Sound Cloud site.

Photos by Jill AnnieMargaret
Who knew being out of tune could be so much fun?!
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The Madacsi+Cunningham+VanDeGrift Gallery Open House
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The Community Progressive
Lisa Marie and I rode our bikes to the Garden Stage with all of our gear… Bike Band!
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From bikes to stage:
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June Happenings

June is going to be a busy music month for me. Why, you ask? Because JACK will be BACK for two and a half weeks!!!! And on top of the gigs I have with Jack, I will also get to play the spotlight performance at the Sapphire Room on June 30th. I will have several friends joining me for that 25 minute set. The Songwriters Forum is such a supportive and fun setting to play at, I hope you can be there with us.

Here are some photos (taken by Steve Woychick) from a recent gig at Shangri-La. If you missed me and Jan Reed at the Shangri-La this time around, you can catch us there on August 14th. Thanks to those of you who were able to stop by, I had a fun time with you all! PS Putting it all on red was NOT good advice ;)

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Catch up!

Thanks for making it out to the various shows this summer. I really appreciate all your support and kindness! It really means a lot to me.

I can’t believe I went so long without a post! Here’s some stuff that has happened between June and now…

On June 29th I finally fulfilled my dream of having a birthday celebration in the park with friends, music and food. My actual birthday is December 29th, so I decided to celebrate my half birthday! It was the perfect day and much fun was had by all.

Lots of local musicians came by to partake in the celebration. Including Marimba Boise!
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Folks even sang happy birthday to me! (Check out the “HALFY BIRTHDAY” banner in the background.)
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Hello, My Name is Bill played a few… that’s Brenda on the fiddle.
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And Cheatgrass & Chickadee played a couple too! (photo by Steve Woychick)
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In July/August I spent 12 days in Argentina…

There was a lot of graffiti in Buenos Aires.
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We also headed up north to see Iguazu Falls. The hike to the falls was beautiful. We saw some coatis!
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Then the Falls.
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Tour de Fat was in August and I did the bike parade for the first time.

Katherine Jones from the Idaho Statesman snapped this photo.
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Did you know they let you feed the giraffes at Zoo Boise every day from 1:30 to 2:30?! This won’t be the last time for me.
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As far as music goes, Tony Grange, Lisa Marie and I had a super fun and successful show at O’Michael’s last Saturday. We’re trying to come up with a name for the group… Insignificant Others? Bite the Panda? Mixed Tape? Any suggestions???? Let me know!

Hello 2014!

2014 just arrived and here we are already nearing the end of January! Thanks to all who spent part of their Saturday evening with me at the Buzz recently. We were all treated with a musical surprise! The Sather-Smiths (Erika and David) played a few songs for us between my sets. They sounded great! In addition to getting to hear the Sather-Smiths, folks also heard a review of goals realized and other special events I experienced in 2013.

Me at Shoshone Point on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon
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The Sather-Smiths
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The magic Sather-Smith hat…
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Farewell 2013

2013 was and will continue to be a year full of music, fun and adventures! I will finish out the year with a trip to Las Vegas, the Grand Canyon and then on to visit my loving family in California.

Thanks to everybody who made it out to the Buzz last Saturday. It was fun to have you make up my playlist. Schimbke kicked us off with some Michael Jackson and Russ closed out the requests with that Billy Joel song I like to dedicate to my pops.

Happy Christmas out there! I’ll keep booking shows so hopefully I’ll get to see you again soon.

A mystery gift came to me via interoffice mail… what is it???

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High Note on 10/11/13

The Bills (aka Tony, Don, and Jean) from Hello, My Name is Bill will be performing at the High Note Cafe tomorrow night! Join us for a fun Friday evening out and find out what two of Tony’s favorite things are. Speaking of evenings out, thanks to everybody who came out to the River Room in Whole Foods last month for my show. I had a blast! I love the audience participation. I like that people can feel comfortable and relaxed at my shows, but I think some folks got a little too relaxed at my last show…

Chillin' at Whole Foods

It’s official!

Marimba Boise will be playing at the Hyde Park Street Fair on Sunday, September 15th and at the Capitol City Market on Saturday, September 21st! And for those of you who don’t know, I recently joined Marimba Boise and have been working on my parts so I can keep up with the group.

Thanks to everybody who came to Hyde Park Pub on Thursday night for Bill’s show. We had a great turnout! We really appreciate your support! Here is a photo from that evening.

HMNIB at Hyde Park Pub