Arnie Newman Band at The Ranch, 2/24 and 2/26/16

Hello friends,

I guess this gig report starts a little early. That's because I'm playing on a Friday at The Ranch with my friends in the Arnie Newman Band featuring Kellye Huff. We had another paid rehearsal the Tuesday night before so I snapped a few pictures.

First of all, I got a new amp and tried it out at rehearsal. I loved it (GK MB500).

This is John (keys), who works at Jim's Music in Tustin and got me a pretty good deal on my new amp, with Randy on steel, and Paul, one of the original members of The Buckaroo Strangers (long story), working this weekend as the utility guy on acoustic guitar, fiddle, and mandolin.

I don't think Arnie wants to be seen in this amp-selfie.

Here's John in his natural habitat.

And the lovely Ms. Kellye, sweetness personified.

While the band works with a new bass player, Brad, I took a couple of shots from the sound booth.

I'm just filling in until Arnie works in a permanent replacement. Brad is a good player and is a super nice guy. I don't know if he'll be the new permanent guy but they are going to use him this Saturday since I'll be gigging with the KRB.

A few days later I arrived back at The Ranch after a frustrating Friday at work, knowing that I'd be able to blow off all the stress and have fun pickin' with my friends. This is the load-in to the stage door. It's pretty handy.

Arnie was putting new strings on his Tele. That's his mid-90s guitar. The 1951 Esquire is in the background. Actually that's Arnie's Dad's Esquire. His Dad was 17 years old when he bought it in 1951 for $175. Can you believe it? It's been appraised at almost $40,000.

I had spinach salad with grilled chicken and deviled eggs for supper. The food at The Ranch is top notch!

Here's a shot of the soundboard, dance floor, and stage about a half hour before downbeat. You see the decibel meter and the extra monitor speakers that Mark (soundguy) uses to mix when the crowd noise gets too loud. We have a pretty strict 90db limit there and sometimes the crowd is just about that loud too. They like to talk, you know. Mark uses those studio monitor speakers to get the mix a little closer to him in order to hear better. They are delayed properly so that there's no slap between them and the mains. You could hear a subtle but distinctive difference when he toggled them off and on. It gave the mix more presence right there in the booth.
 

Look out! Paul brought his banjo!

It'll be OK, he picks it pretty dang good.

I think Randy is a little too close to that banjo. He seems worried.

Jason wants to stick it to me. He really lays it down. I have no trouble locking in with him.

John is ready to dazzle us with a proficient piano prestidigitation performance. All these guys are monster players.

Here's the man, the myth, the legend, turning that 1951 Esquire upside down.

This amp-selfie picture has become known as "Beauty and The Beast, and the bass player".

Kellye says "Hi" to Paul. She ain't afraid of no banjo.

Our dear friend Reets came in tonight to see me and the band. She gets out to see us despite her working late. She's a real fan and a good friend.

Here's a look at our song list for set four. We had a fun night.

Oh, those pesky line dancers, right in front of me. What's a poor bass player to do?

Kellye grabbed my camera and caught me in mid-bassface.

Here's a picture from early in the night, taken by a friend on her cell phone.

How about a few photos from The Ranch's social media?

Randy was smiling all night long. He must've been having a ton of fun.

Paul played acoustic guitar, fiddle, banjo, and mandolin tonight. He also plays steel. He's a handy guy to have on your team.

Arnie is in the groove.

More line dancers!

Andrew, the owner, sang with Kellye tonight. Club owners like to have fun too. Andrew is a great person to work for.

And that was last Friday night. On Saturday night I have a gig with Kelly Rae at Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells, the Palm Springs area. I'll be back to give you the lowdown on that gig. Thanks for looking!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

The Ranch 2/19-20/16

Greetings!

We had a fabulous Friday night, that is until Kelly Rae lost her voice. The guys had to pretty much cover the last set without her. In fact, Kelly is not feeling much better today so Kellye Huff will be joining us tonight. She's always great to work with.

Anyway, here's my set up. I didn't even turn the amp on because the band has started using the IEM system here at The Ranch. Art didn't even bring an amp this weekend.

Mark, the sound guy, left the floor wedges in place just in case we needed them. We didn't.

After our sound check we retired to the green room for a pleasant repast. I again had the fish tacos and some mixed greens with grilled chicken.

Here's my amp-selfie showing off my in-ears. I use my own earbuds, Shure E215, with the club's wireless IEM pack. It sounded fine. It just didn't have the "kick in your pants" feel that you get with a fully powered up back line. But everyone I talked to said it sounded great out front. Mark is a REALLY good sound guy.

Yay! Jeff is ready to put on the show. He also uses a wireless mic headset and his wireless key-tar.
 

Mario is happy he doesn't have to play a set of crummy old V-drums.
 

Art and Daniel join Kelly and Heather, the entertainment manager, for a picture just before Heather announces us.

I had the pleasure of showing off for a bass player friend of mine, Chris, from the Fab 8, and his wife. We had a great time hanging out for a couple of breaks. They were very complimentary of everything about The Ranch, the food, the atmosphere, the sound and light system, the band, and made me feel that I was doing a good job. It was great having you guys there.

Here are some pictures from the staff photographer, ripped from The Ranch's Facebook page. Kelly puts on the show, before she lost her voice.
 

She was the only one on stage who was not using IEMs. It must've been weird for her not hearing much on stage. Daniel still used his amp but no one else did. Kelly had to put all the instruments in her wedges.

Then there's this guy. What a goof. I suppose every band needs a bass player and since I was holding one, I played it.
 

Jeff was sounding really good last night even though is was a little under the weather too. But he's feeling better today.
 

Here we go again, putting on a show. Sometimes we have our fun.
 

Art and I used our acoustics for a couple of numbers tonight.

  

 Daniel used his Tele for a few numbers during the performance.

Here's a couple of action shots. Five, six, seven, eight!

Another one of the dozens of line dances that this crowd knows. I don't know how they keep them all straight.

This is Shelly, one of the dance instructors, taking part in the conga line while I sing "Love Train".
 

Do "The Wobble"!!!

Here's a few pictures from Saturday night. Like I mentioned before, our dear friend Kellye Huff filled in for Kelly Rae tonight. Kelly had lost her voice the night before and is on the mend. Here's my amp-selfie with Kellye.

This weekend the backline bass amp in The Ranch is only a camera stand. I didn't even turn it on tonight because the whole band was using IEMs. It's working out really well. Kellye has been using IEMs for a while now.

Here's our entertainment director, Heather, with Kellye just before Heather announces the band and we begin the festivities.

I took this picture through the plexiglass drum shield. I guess Mario thought I was having trouble seeing him.

We celebrated Art's birthday tonight. Daniel's wife had baked a pie for Art and we made sure he enjoyed it.
 

Heather took a few pictures with her phone and shared them.

Kellye did such a great job. Some of the tunes we never even rehearsed but we all kept our ears open and played off of each other and had a ball. Then the night was over. It seems I still have a lot of stuff to load out even though I didn't bring an amp or a PA.

It really was a fun night. We all felt like we were cheating on Kelly Rae. (Nudge, nudge, wink, wink!) But you know Kellye has worked with us several times before. We were all glad she was available and could do the gig. I think the crowd would've gotten pretty board listening to us hairy legged boys all night long.

I've got a few more gigs to get caught up with so I'll post them up as soon as I can. Thanks for looking!

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff