Wednesday, July 27, 2005

More Photos of The Blowholes at da Vinci Days

Special thanks MM for the photos!!






Monday, July 18, 2005

Blowholes at da Vinci Wrap

The Blowholes on the Shady Stage - da Vinci Days 2005! Click to see the QuickTime Movie excerpt!



John Bliss - Guitar
Andy Nelson - Tenor
Jim Guynn - Alto
The Viking - Drums
Rob Birdwell - Trumpet
Cheryl Leckie - Tuba/Bass
Mike Bevington - Trombone

It was fun to play at da Vinci Days. I especially enjoyed hearing all the other musical acts too!

Thanks to all our family and friends for being there - that means so much!

The brief QuickTime movie clip is not exactly the most flattering sound or picture quality, but at least you get to see how we all groove and move! Ha!

Tuesday, July 12, 2005

Preparing for da Vinci Days - Blowhole Style

Preparing...what have I forgotten? Must remember clothes pins for the stands - it will probably rain too, but I can't control the weather...or can I? Got the t-shirts, festival passes...need to get some more parking passes for everyone in the band or figure out how the loading/unloading stuff will work...borrowed a 50" x 11" piece of wood from my neighbor - it's light and somewhat sturdy - it will serve nicely as my music stand extender. (The charts are long and page turns were ill-conceived!) Going to paint it some funky shade of blue from an old can of paint I found in the basement - will duct tape it first (wouldn't want it to look unprofessional!)...it's slightly ridiculous to need such a wide stand...oh well!

I started writing lots of little musical bon-bons when I was in Sweden last summer with my family. (I was inspired to try to put together a little on-again, off-again ensemble after hearing a concert in the park by the Benny Andersson Orchestra - what a great songwriter and composer!!) Anyway, I scribbled and scratched and clawed my way through the writing process which I so much love. A little ditty by the lake in Sweden turned into "Swedish Beach Party." Further explorations in the Autumn lead me to draw from a funny confession from my mom (a true beauty) a couple years ago which inspired "Grandma Was A Go-Go Dancer." Our sweet little puppy dog (who has chewed up several cables and at least one important mute of mine!!!) inspired "That Is Not A Chew Toy" - and there are others too, all with their own story, sometimes personal, sometimes random, with many more on deck in sketch form or simply in my head - other day. Saturday we'll perform the first nine. Come listen!

Here's our set list for da Vinci Days 2005!

Rob

Monday, July 04, 2005

Peace Is Patriotic

Peace Is Patriotic words and music by Rob Birdwell

Just a little song to sing
On the fourth of July
A simple tune with simple words
So give it a try

You can play it slow
Or play it fast
But either way the sentiment
Is bound to last

'‘Cause everybody knows
Peace is patriotic
Everybody knows
Love is all we need

(Jam, Sing, dance, repeat as needed...)

Copyright (c) 2005 Rob Birdwell, BirdwellMusic.com

Download the sheet music to "Peace Is Patriotic" as a PDF.

I encourage anyone who wants to perform this song for private/non-profit events to please feel free to do so - I only ask that you contact me when and where you performed it. Additionally, I'd love to hear a recording of your live performance (nothing fancy!) so record it if you can and send me a link! This is a simple sing-along song for everyone to sing and perform, regardless of musical ability. Simple percussion, gazoos, a guitar or two, voices...even a Flugelhorn, etc. will all work fine. Thanks. Rob Birdwell

For commercial use and/or commercial licensing of this song and/or the lyrics, please contact me.