"A guitar makes more sense to me strung backwards. The highs are on the top and the lows are on the bottom." - Stevie Ray Vaughan

Ranger Report- Sept. 12/2005
Greetings and salutations. Well what can I tell you? That last night at The Bell House/ Rising Sun was quite fun. It's nice to go out with a big bang. John Bion, from the band 10 Feet Tall, and sometime Manatee saxophonist, sat in as did Rev. Bebop "Bull" Brunner, a sometime Manatee saxophonist in his own right.. Kara the bartender brought the house down with her version of "Me & Bobby Magee". The place was packed. Even Kathleen's parents were there. (It was Kathleen's mother who prodded us into learning the song, "Don't Let Go".) I think we played our first show at The Bell House during the spring of '99 as an acoustic duo. We will miss the place and want to wish Ned and Tracy all the best in their future endeavors.
A week later we were headlining at the now legendary Labor Day Weekend at Pete's Barn. People started camping out early Friday and by night fall a few hundred people had gathered to listen to The Doug Markley Band and The Sarah Ayers Band. The next night our opening act was The Michael Smith Band which featured our own Ras Michael on drums. We went on at about 10:30. We finished our last set at about 3:15. Then we sat around the campfire and sang songs until the sun came up. Randy and Joe brought their Taylor acoustics, Karl brought his stand-up bass, and I brought my mandolin. Singer/songwriter Dance Wareham also played and Kathleen sang until her voice was gone. Pete Allen told me that the head count on Sat. night was 500+ making it his biggest barn party ever. He said that the only incident was George Burns accidentally driving his truck into the pond and that whoever threw the plastic chair into the fire is an asshole. At one point during our show the p.a. system started breaking down so Randy put down his bass and started trouble-shooting. Karl got up from his keyboards, put on Randy's bass, and we continued playing until Randy fixed the problem and order was restored. Well done Karl and especially well done, Randy. I mean, do you have any idea how hard it is to stop playing and singing in the middle of an insane barn party and start rewiring an entire sound system while drunks and blissed-out freaks are dancing all around you and a wild acid-test light show is going off right over your head? (By the way, mega-thanks to Bob Rominiecki and Stephanie for their killer light show, those projections were mind-blowing.) Special guests that evening included drummer Tim Campbell, blues harpist Aaron DeAngelo, singer Big Daddy Scott Gourley, and saxophonist John Bion. Kathleen's sister Ginger took some photos of the party and they can be viewed right here. We here at Manatee Headquarters want to thank Pete for the chance to continually play this annual bash and for letting us use his barn for our band rehearsals all these many years. Somebody buy this man a drink!
Seven days later we played a private party in the back yard of the president of JefDam Records. We started around 4:20 and didn't stop until the state troopers shut us all down later in the night. Then it was another sing-around-the-campfire scene with all the usual suspects. Musical guests that day included Ray Adkins on guitar/vocals and Myles Rothwell on drums. Some musicians drove up from Maryland to play the party and they wound up sitting in with us and we wound up sitting in with them. One fellow's name was Roy Bell and he played pedal steel and keyboards, and the other fellow's name was Mike Garris and he played banjo, mandolin, and guitar. Aaron, Bebop, and Dance played as well. The entire show was recorded by Unkle Ronkle who also did lights and sound for the day. Also thanks to Dorrie for the black cherry Jello shots and Garry Best for stage design. They tell me I had a good time…
Alright, well that brings us up to date. Now as you all know, this Wednesday is Wagner's Birthday @ The Whitpain! Yes it's Randy's special day so come on out and celebrate but don't ask him how old he is. Then this Sunday, Sept. 18 we play outdoors at Lock 60 in Phoenixville from 2 to 3 in the afternoon, and then it's down the canal a couple of miles to the last outdoor Fitzwater Station show of the year from 4 to 8. Some folks are bringing their canoes and/or kayaks and are going to actually paddle from one show to the next. Both shows take place about a hundred feet from the water. My own dear sweet mother is flying down from Canada for the show because the next day is my birthday. On Sat., Sept. 24 we will be playing the annual Asher's Chocolates Fall Fest. This takes place in front of Asher's Chocolates in Franconia, PA. We play from 11 in the morning to 3 in the afternoon. This is a family event. There will be free drinks and hot dogs, face-painting, a moon bounce, clowns, firetrucks, raffles, etc. Bring the kids. This will be one of our last outdoor shows of the year. We finish the month of September with a return to the infamous Cloud Nine on Friday, Sept. 30th.

As ever,
Will

Wed. Sep. 14 - Whitpain Tavern - Trio - 9:30-1:30
Thu. Sep. 15 - Salford Pub - Quartet - 9:00-1:00
Fri. Sep. 16 - Dutch Cottage Tavern - Quartet - 10:00-2:00
Sat. Sep. 17 - Bridgeport Rib House - 6 Piece - 9:30-1:30
Sun. Sep. 18 - SCA Fall Music Festival - 2:00-3:00 - Info Directions
Sun. Sep. 18 - Fitzwater Station - Trio - 4:00-8:00 - Acoustic
Wed. Sep. 21 - Appetites On Main - Trio - 8:30-12:30
Thu. Sep. 22 - Finn McCool Tavern - Duo - 6:00-10:00 - Acoustic
Fri. Sep. 23 - Big Head's - Quartet - 9:30-1:30
Sat. Sep. 24 - Asher's Chocolates Fall Fest - Quartet - 11:00-3:00 - Directions
Sat. Sep. 24 - Tex-Mex Connection - Trio - 9:00-1:00
Sun. Sep. 25 - Bridgeport Rib House - 5 Piece - 7:30-11:30
Wed. Sep. 28 - Whitpain Tavern - Trio - 9:30-1:30
Thu. Sep. 29 - Carver's Pub - Trio - 9:30-1:30 - Acoustic
Fri. Sep. 30 - Cloud Nine - 5 Piece - 9:30-1:30
Sat. Oct. 01 - Jeff Daniel's Jeeps - 2:00-7:30 - La Banda Grande & The Rhino Horns w/ Debbie Calton from WMGK and a Fireworks Finale!
Sat. Oct. 01 - The Funhouse - 5 Piece - 10:30-2:00

Bob Denver 1935-2005
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown 1924-2005