Rollin' Through the Parade Route

I have no idea if this is true, but I believe that each year most small Midwestern cities (or towns, depending on the local definition) dedicate a portion of a week to celebrating something that makes their communities special. For Forest City that means celebrating Puckerbrush Days to honor a bush that used to abundantly cover the hillsides in and around the community. (Or so I've been told.) Evidently, local farmers even used the prickly bush as fencing during years when barbed wire was scarce.

Now local families and visiting tourists can choose to join in Puckerbrush festivities of all sorts: inflatables, kiddie train rides, a craft show, a car show, food stands, ball tournaments, church fundraisers, dance recitals, a variety show, a fly-in breakfast, fireworks, gazebo concerts and, of course, a parade.

I don't know when our band, Until Further Notice, first was in the parade. Back when we were the worship band for Immanuel Lutheran Church's Wednesday night service, we were part of the church's entry. We sang and others threw candy. But in recent years, we have ridden as the entry for Advanced Door Systems, our drummer's business.

I don't think it has really mattered who we have represented along the parade route. Years of riding in the Puckerbrush Parade have convinced me that people like to hear a parade, not just see one, and that is how they take it all in. Plus, it seems that an auditory experience mixed with a visual one makes for a memorable parade entry. People might even stop you in a crowd later to tell you how much they enjoyed singing or clapping along with you.

That's nice. Really nice.

I hope you get to experience some of that through this vlog. Be careful, however, if you get motion sickness easily. I've discovered that watching full screen helps eliminate some of the Blair Witch Project effect. Plus the smiles are easier to see.

I don't know if our band will get back together again next year. In the meantime, I can watch and listen to this video to help me remember the fun of this day.

Thanks, Jeff, Dave, Roger, Greg, and Mark. It's an honor to be in a band with you. I'll show up again next year, if you are willing. I'm still committed to doing what we know how to do - until further notice.

Welcome back, Gregger! We've missed you

Earlier this summer, our band - Until Further Notice - got back together after a lengthy hiatus. As I told in the first UFN blog earlier this summer, our group has been together for more than a decade, playing quite regularly until four years ago. Then, last year, we played one summer concert. However, only five of the six of us performed. Greg Owen, electric/lead guitar, could not get back from Wisconsin for the gig.

This summer it's a different story. Greg timed his vacation well this summer, and last night, we enjoyed practicing with the whole band - all six of us.

Greg said it felt like being thrown in to the deepest part of diving pool. That would be awful for someone who doesn't know how to swim. But, as you'll see, where guitars are concerned, Greg is an excellent swimmer.

Last night, he might have felt like he was working to keep his head above water, but he certainly was far from drowning. In fact, we all dove in to attempt some cover tunes. It's the first time we've ever done something like that, so please listen with kind ears. We'll work on polishing them before taking the stage (i.e., flatbed truck) this Saturday.

Welcome back, Gregger! It's wonderful to have you home. And thank you for the presents. We'll not only be rockin', we'll be stylin' this weekend!

Riding the Storm Out - June 17

Our band's rehearsal this week turned into a time of shared survival as we waited out a threatening storm. While our community - and even our physical location in the community - fared well (only severe wind damage with downed power lines and trees), others were not as fortunate.

As you can see from my vlog, every person reacts to threatening weather in a different way. But we knew that already, right? What you won't see here are the vast number of text messages and phone calls that were being made by each one of us to our loved ones. We all needed to be assured and reassured that our children and significant others were safe and acting responsibly.

What you will see in the vlog is how a married couple - namely Mark and me - can act fully opposite of each other during a time like this, and how we likely weren't fighting about it because we didn't want to fight in front of our friends. That is simplistic thinking - totally - as I'm not acknowledging all the other dynamics at work. I believe there is likely a testosterone v. estrogen ratio at work, guiding reactions during a storm, as well. I'll leave you to hypothesize about how the ratio may or may not manifest itself.

Anyway, I know this: If I have to be hunkered down somewhere riding a storm out, and I'm not with my children, I can think of no better place to be than with my husband and a handful of really great friends, and I can think of no better situation for my children to be in that where they were last night. Stross - with a nurse/friend in our basement; Skye - with faculty friends and their son in their basement.

Not gonna lie, wasn't thrilled about the sheet metal roof over my head, but at least the building had a cinder block bathroom. And we could have all fit in it if we had to! Just so you know ...

Since last night my thoughts and prayers have been with families whose lives have been changed forever by the tornadoes and severe storms that blew through. My paternal grandparents had to rebuild their farm after a tornado when my father was 7 years old. My Aunt Lois' and Uncle Chuck's farm has been hit by a tornado - twice. One of my cousins has also had to rebuild a farm after a tornado, and another cousin has in-laws whose quality of physical life has forever been altered because of a tornado. The danger and impact of nature's atmospheric turbulence is all too real sometimes.

When I think of tornadoes - or twisters, as some like to call them - I also think of this line: "It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt." Indeed.

I pray you are feeling safe and well-cared for today. And, perhaps like me, you have appreciated the reminder that - truly - there is no place like home. No place at all.

UFN - Getting Closer to the Sound

Well, our band, Until Further Notice, (which we lovingly refer to as UFN or 'just a little mixed up fun') had another night of rehearsal recently. We got through the remainder of the songs we think we might be able to have performance ready in time for our local Relay for Life concert.

We're still searching for harmonies that, at times, seem hopelessly lost. Mark and I are pretty confident we're not singing things the way we used to. We just hope the new way we are singing them will eventually sound just as good - or maybe even a bit better.

I was reminded - yet again - of the joy there is in simply letting music and lyrics take you to another place in time. I think that is part of what happens to each one of us when we get together. We connect with a part of our past that resonates with some sort of musical memory - kind of like muscle memory only with music.

For Mark and I, it's likely that our musical frequencies tune to the days when we met as singing waiters at Carver's Restaurant. On some level, singing equates flirting to us, and mingling our voices in harmony is a bit of an intimate experience. Don't worry. I'll stop there. Or if you'd like to know more, read how I describe those days in Chapter 2 of Involuntary Joy. (Yes, another shameless plug, but it's my blog. I'm entitled.)

As for Dave, he sings melody and plays bass for us, but he began with the guitar. So Dave's musical memories might connect him to times in college when he pulled out a guitar and began playing with roommates or dorm mates or whomever wanted to discover what sounds there were to be made during a late night jam. Even I can envision that kind of night in my mind, and I never managed to learn guitar chords well enough to play. Ah, good times.

What is there to say about Gremmer, our lead guitarist? He is a drummer at heart but taught himself to play the guitar, in part, because we needed him to. That says a lot right there, doesn't it? Have you noticed that he is one of those guys who can't help but smile with his entire face? And on rehearsal nights, Gremmer smiles a lot, and he dances with his guitar a lot too. He's got this sway-and-weave sort of movement that indicates he's "feelin' the groove." That makes us all smile.

And then there is Roger. I don't know you if can tell (you should be able to), but Roger is like, well, a real drummer who used to play in real bands. The kind of bands that had scary names and car loads of female groupies. That stick twirling you see him doing from time to time? He can probably do it in his sleep now. In fact, I think he could drum in his sleep.

I wish you could see and hear our other guitarist, Greg Owen, as well. He and Roger share a rock 'n' roll past. They were in two different bands together. Our band, Until Further Notice, is their third. And while we might not have the hardest and loudest sound of the bands they've been in, we've been together the longest and might have the tightest sound. That counts for a lot.

So here we are again with different songs this week. Still the same crazy fun, however. I hope you enjoy. Oh, and if you missed the excerpts from last week's rehearsal, you can check them out here. (June 3 UFN Rehearsal) Enjoy!

Continuing to play "until further notice"

Sometime in the late 90s, Mark and I became part of a worship band – first known as Band-Aide – that facilitated our church's Wednesday evening worship experience. More than a decade and several versions of that original band later, five of us, who have been known as Until Further Notice for at least 10 years, continue to find our way back to the music that first brought us together:

• Roger Lyons, drums
• Jeff Gremmer, acoustic guitar
• Dave Melby, bass guitar and lead vocals
• Mark Newcom, vocals
• Joy Newcom, vocals

and when we are fortunate enough to get on his schedule so he can join us in a reunion concert: Greg Owen, the man who can make a guitar sing.

Last summer, we got back together after a four-year hiatus for a reunion concert as part of Forest City's Puckerbrush Days. We had so much fun that we agreed to do a concert again this year on July 17, and we even added a concert on June 26 for our local Relay for Life.

I think the music is a tonic. We feel younger when we play - almost invincible again - at least for a little bit. And how we interact with each other is a good medicine too. We can talk about anything that comes to mind and have fun with it, even if it's serious business. In the time we've been Until Further Notice, we've survived a couple divorces, a bankruptcy, surgeries (for ourselves and our children), serious illnesses, career shifts, career ends and beginnings, child craziness and much, much more.

Last night, after our gear was stored and our minds began to shift out of musical mode, we sat on the floor talking about baseball (perfect games, bad calls, catching equipment, wild pitches, crazy teammates, and groin injuries), and we laughed and lingered as long as we could.

Our sound isn't fully back yet. But it's very close. Maybe we will even work up some new tunes this summer. Who knows? I'm just glad we've kept our covenant to one another to keep getting back together as opportunity allows - even if it's for a few concerts every summer. And I'm grateful we all still feel like we want to keep making music together - until further notice.