Vertical Tales Blog Now @ GentryAve.com/Vertical-Tales
Bob Dance Texas Blues Festival 2017
Excited to share my latest project which I am co-producing: The Bob Dance Texas Blues Festival 2017 benefiting Homeless Veterans of Dallas! https://www.regogo-records.com/blues-festival
Regogo Records and Paul Rego
Present
Bob Dance Texas Blues Festival 2017
Benefiting Homeless Veterans of Dallas
Join us for the 2017 Bob Dance Texas Blues Festival presented by Regogo Records benefiting Homeless Veterans of Dallas!
Our inaugural event features live performances by Texans playing Texas Blues, featuring the Buddy Whittington Band (John Mayall, Point Blank, The Sidemen), just returning from a European tour with the John Mayall Trio, and opening act Boxcar (Armstrong, Roller), the emerging Regogo Records Studio Band. This 2017 event is only the start of our new annual tradition exploring Texas rhythm and blues music and artists!
The night will include complimentary award winning mini-margaritas, taco bar, and light bites from the amazing La Comida in Addison, spirits by Sauza and favourite assorted brands, beer by Peticolas Brewing Company, and many other goodies and surprises. Dress code is casual party FUN.
Our 2017 Bob Dance Texas Blues Festival will welcome and collect coats, blankets, and sleeping bags for the Homeless Veterans of Dallas. Each person attending is invited to bring a new or lightly used item to be contributed at the event entrance.
General Admission:
All-inclusive tickets are $30.00 per person ($35.00 at door). Limited number, subject to availability.
This is a private event and is by invitation and acceptance only.
Entry at 5:15pm. Food and beverage service begins at 5:30pm.
The bands will play from 6:00-9:30. The party will end at 10:00.
Bring your ticket stub to La Comida in Addison and receive a free house appetizer!
Tickets ON SALE now at https://bobdancetexasbluesfest.eventbrite.com
This event will be about the Music, so come prepared to respectfully listen to the bands while performing, and eat and drink and talk and party in between. Come support Texas music and artists and have fun!
Our Sponsors this year include:
Paul Rego
Regogo Records
La Comida
Sauza
Peticolas Brewing Company
Please remember to Drink Responsibly and use a ride service if necessary. All Guests must be 21+, with a Valid I.D. 1715206
Located just north of Uptown Dallas and the Design District, Regogo Records is a state-of-the-art recording studio that hosts live performances for up to 400 people in a premier private event space with a bar and lounge area.
https://www.regogo-records.com/blues-festival
A Flight of Dreams
Gypsy Jazz Adieu
Sunny day turns cloudy night
expect rain by morning
who really knows what
tomorrow holds
Leaves hang still overhead
dreams dance gypsy jazz rhythms
tapping across pearl skies
Rascal chews a boney bone
I savor a spring pint
drifting off to sleep
we bid adieu
©2017 GWMIII. All Rights Reserved.
Twilight
A late winter blast chilled north Texas as I left the studio
the other night, beckoning distant journeys…
Twilight
Beyond the crisp starry twilight
Where angels sing sweet memories
Moonlight splinters winter’s shadows
Dancing round snowbound evergreens
Whispers warm my heart in twilight
©2015 Gentry Avenue Productions. All Rights Reserved.
Celebrating 13 Years of Radio Airplay!
Amazing how time flies! This week marks thirteen years since Vertical Leap debuted on the air. “Time Standing Still” and “Inner Sanctum” entered regular radio rotation on January 31, 2003 and I’ve been extremely fortunate to see these tracks continually broadcast on both domestic and international stations as well as SiriusXM satellite and various internet channels.
The fanfare actually started a couple of months earlier with a great album review by Les Reynolds for Indie-Music.com (you can still read it here: http://goo.gl/zTL9vb ). His response proved that I wasn’t totally crazy!
Soon I partnered with Marketing International to amp up my grass roots promotions for Sanctuary and the comprehensive media campaign lead by publicist PJ Birosik opened doors to the future. Recording station IDs was fun! The title track of my next album, A Passing Moment, and “The Ruse” expanded the mix followed by tunes from The Winter Palace and Reflections.
One sheets and radio reports only tell part of the story, of course. Digital media transformed the marketplace and now data for streaming services appears alongside radio performance statements. I’m astounded by the interest of listeners worldwide!
We lost PJ some years ago but I am forever grateful for her insight and guidance for a DIY unknown launching an indie artist career at the dawn of the new millennium. From composing and recording to film scoring and producing other artists in the studio, I still love life and music and exploring new ideas.
As always, I appreciate every one of you who travels through time with me!
Elevate and Celebrate!
All’s Quiet Tonight
Reflecting on an autumn evening…
Nothing new to report. I pulled back thick patterned curtains this morning to see another season, another dawn, another moment watching for sunrise to usher peace into my soul. Alive. A wonderful blessing, today.
I’ve pushed a lot aside over the past year or so yet even as the blog has fallen idle and new music silent my spirit still sings amidst this crazy race of life. In the true spirit of The Tower of Travail, managing a recording studio and producing projects for other artists has been quite exciting, albeit demanding, in addition to the responsibilities of running my own indie music biz. Creative ideas continually germinate and there’s so much to write and compose, time permitting.
Fortunately, I was able to get away this past weekend for a wonderful visit with dear friends during an annual party in the Texas Hill Country. The home fires burn constant at Bennett Ranch and everyone is always welcome. Oh, and there’s the thrill of shifting the Audi into Sport mode all along those winding country roads! Woohoo!
If distant winds don’t raise your wings once in awhile then you weren’t born to fly. So here I am again in this fantastic year of travel and what a panoramic flight I’ve enjoyed, from Dallas to the ozark hills of Missouri and onward to a haunted hotel in Eureka Springs, the busy streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan, the rain forest volcanoes of Maui, the desert valleys of Phoenix rising to the mint-strata canyons of Sedona, a cozy log cabin outside Cobden, back to the Show Me State, and southbound to a stone ranch house west of Fredericksburg.
Awesome adventures! Alumni weekend, mini holidays, family vacations and friendship celebrations, I am grateful for so many benevolent people in my life. Plus my Silly Rascal barking impatiently until I return home!
Just yesterday I landed in the unique quietude of a charming Italian styled estate B&B featuring rustic luxury antiques, working hearth with real fire-resistant logs (I prevailed), an underground chapel with adjoining grotto, a theatre, spa and so on. Where might one find the “world’s largest” cap gun museum, inquiring minds want to know?? Yep!! And by some odd stroke of luck this bachelor got upgraded to the Bridal Suite (must be the full moon…upon returning from dinner this evening I was greeted by an amorous exotic feline lounging on my stoop)!
Ah yes, then there’s the mosaic tiled rooftop veranda where I presently sit perched among sleeping flocks while writing a bottle of indigenous wine. Over the lengthy cement driveway below arises amazing views of the pink granite pluton batholith known as Enchanted Rock. I climbed E-Rock last summer though I first stood at the base twenty years ago…but that’s another story.
Now, just a couple of days relaxing and writing, placing events and ruminations of the past few years into context. Space to stretch and time to reflect, free from distractions, not to escape but to prepare, clearing a way through the forest to see what lies ahead.
Here autumn arrives later and spring sooner. Golden brown sun dried leaves pave rocky stream beds where obscure deer trails open through tall yellow grassy meadows leading toward rugged mountainsides. Beautiful serenity. There was a time when I appreciated so many hours alone. But the hours have passed too long, leaving the dreams of youth scattered across the milieu where mortality looms insignificant in the shadows of ancient rocks and trees.
Among the many wonders and phenomenon of earth and sky, I’ve seen the greatest joys shine in the eyes of love. How she could not speak the love in her eyes vexed my heart long ago. I suppose everything arrives in its own time. After my father died I quit worrying, waiting. He often quoted my grandfather, “If you can’t laugh then you’re defeated.” I’ve learned to laugh across both the mountains and the valleys. I don’t count my blessings, I contemplate them.
Indeed, I’ve learned to savor the moment. Only God knows what the future holds and the fiery sun fading over this luminous horizon offers no guarantee of tomorrow. Far from the mirrored city a gazillion stars pierce midnight sky and dawn approaches just over the white oak bluffs. Each tells its own tale and taken altogether shares a promise of wisdom and hope written into life. I might drift off before sunrise and that’s ok. All’s quiet tonight.
©2015 GWMIII. All Rights Reserved.
Silly Rascal Steak Fries
Walked in at 3:00 with dinner in hand,
Silly Rascal sniffed out other plans…
How could I ignore those puppy eyes
When she looked up and begged,
Please??? Give me fries!!
Aussie sat on her stub tail
and stood on her pretty head,
Danced all over but still to no avail.
Oh Silly Rascal,
Burgers aren’t for you!
Instinct jinxed her brow
And before I could even blink,
Aussie chomped another chew!
Bye bye steak fries,
Rascal’s on the prowl!
Dreams
Stars drift across horizon
Fingers brush lives entwine
Dawn sings a new song
Snow Day for Rascal
A happy Rascal means life is good! Let it snow!
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