Happy New Year !!!

Looking Back 2005

The year 2005 was an awesome year for the Lava Lords. We have been together as a band now for 5 years! Even though we still lay claim to being a hobby band we had set goals for the year and pretty much accomplished everything we had set out to do. We practiced about once a week all year. We performed about a gig per month. (13 to be exact) We upgraded some of our gear. We got to play our first outdoor gig. We got to perform at our 30 year high school class reunion. We got wild and crazy at the Halloween gig. We got to the point where we have so many songs we want to do and have practiced that we can’t play all our songs in one night !!! (without bleeding fingers and cramps anyway) We weeded out some of the weaker songs. We got this blog up and running. (Thanks Skip !) We worked on a couple new originals. (not ready for primetime…maybe 2006?) We got some digital video clips of us performing. (Thanks Todd!) It is going to be pretty tough to top 2005 but heck we ain’t even 50 years old yet so we got some energy left!!

Musically, outside the Lava Lords lead guitarist Andy joined forces with the band Open Element and has been working with them all year on a CD’s worth of all original tunes.
We will let you know when Open Element releases the CD or where they will be performing in 2006!! Lonzo continued performing the usual 4-5 gigs with the Jameson Drovers including the annual GOOSE gigs. It’s been 18 years jamming with the Drovers !!! Pete went “solo” and played guitar at a few acoustic gigs /weddings. Thanks to EVERYONE who came out and supported us over the last year. U ROCK !!!!!! If you are new to this blog or are curious about the evolution of our band you’ll have to start with the March 2005 archive. The very first entry is called “Beginnings”. You got a lot of reading to do !

2005 New Year's Eve gig weekend

Here we are in the midst of the Holiday Season and New Years Eve approaching.
If you did not already know the last and FINAL gig for the Lava Lords in 2005 will be:

Fairmont American Legion Hall
Fairmont, Minnesota
Friday & Saturday December 30 & 31 2005
Evenings 8:30 to 12:30

NO COVER !! (as far as we know)

For now the Fairmont Legion is located on State Street.
We have recently discovered that the Legion in Fairmont is moving to a new downtown location effective January 1st 2006 – The Lava Lords have the honor of being the LAST BAND TO EVER APPEAR at this venue as it is known today. Over the last 40 some years the Legion has been host to multitudes of bands / wedding dances / class reunions and the like. Kinger the drummer in the Lava Lords has gigged there many times with several bands including the Bakin Powder Biscuit Band. (now there is a blast from the past)

If you live in Martin County come on down and enjoy one last favorite beverage, party with the Lava Lords, bring in the new year and say goodbye to a venue that has been a Fairmont tradition.

Shrimp Feed Lava Lords Meat Raffle Bingo !!

As the title for this blog implies there was something for everyone at the New Year's bash at the American Legion in Fairmont. (that is if Bingo, Meat Raffles and Rock n Roll are important to ya) I guess it is not exactly what would appear on a marquee at say Madison Square Garden or First Avenue for that matter....but "it is what it is". We of course had a great time BOTH nights and a pretty good turnout both nights. Saturday evening was especially awesome. We closed out 2005. We helped the Legion have one last hurrah before moving to a new location in downtown Fairmont. We got a really nice article about the band in the local Fairmont paper the Sentinel and our band PIC was on the frontpage ! A lot of people who came out commented about the front page picture. Finally we got to do a gig in Fairmont and not have to compete with the local band Sinister as they were OFF that weekend. Got a lot of offers from people to perform Fairmont gigs this summer !!!

From the weekend:

Turn ON's =
having FUN !! seeing old friends, receiving many kudo's, playing well, female dancers flashing the band (and one male - you know who you are.... DOH !!), drinking responsibly...hmmmm, getting our picture on the front page of the newspaper, having your band mates put grocery bags over their heads (like the unknown comic) to make a point

Turn OFF's = Ted Nugent's song Stranglehold was a TRAIN WRECK, one LOSER trying to steal some of our gear at end of the night, having to throw your clothes away due to the fact they smell so badly of cig SMOKE !

Anyway it was yet another memorable gig ....first time playing New Years eve and at the same time the LAST time we will ever play the Fairmont Legion.

2005 New Year's Eve Legion pics

Lava Lords Fall 2005 gig Schedule

Long time NO BLOG.....we have all been busy this summer finishing our vacations, remodeling our houses and whatever else it is we do in our lives outside of being rock star wannabees.
If you want to review the history of the Lava Lords please click on the links under "previous posts" or under "archives". We started the blog in March 2005 so if you have never been to this blog you got a lot of reading to do !!!!!
We are happy to report that we are still mostly on track with our commitment of once a week practices even during the busiest of summer months. Rather than wait for ALL our potential gigs to be etched in stone before posting the dates we figure we better at least publish what we got going for this Fall. Many people have been asking us about the next upcoming metro area gig but so far the dates have not been working out. BUT .... If you live in Martin County farm country come on by and sip a cold one or twenty with us.
(then take a cab home please)
The Oct 29 gig will be a Halloween party of course. Maybe we will all be costumed as KISS ??
That would be interesting !!!

October 28 & 29 - Fairmont American Legion
Fairmont, Minnesota

December 30 & 31 - Fairmont American Legion
Fairmont, Minnesota

LavaLords Halloween weekend

See you at the Fairmont American Legion Hall.
Let's ROCK !!!!!!!!!

Here are a few pics of the two nights in Fairmont. Once again several "firsts" for the Lava Lords. First ever playing back to back nights. First ever Halloween gig. First ever Radio ad on FM radio. First time ever getting a request to play a Dolly Parton song !!!!!!! DOH !!

Halloween Afterglow

"We laughed, we cried....it was the best of times, it was the worst of times"
We actually laughed UNTIL we cried Saturday night when the festivities were over and we were back to the Lava Lord crib sipping cold ones. We had a great time playing at the Fairmont Legion and want to thank everyone who came out to support us. It's hard to thank each and everyone here on the web but there are some who deserve honorable mention. Thanks Wayne for having us back at the Legion and having the first EVER Lava Lords radio ads on KFMC radio ....thanks Rich & Kenny Sill for letting us camp out at your pad on Blue Earth Ave for the weekend "almost free". By the end of the weekend we were feeling quite at home not at the Hilton... but the "Sillton" Thanks to Lonzo's bro Todd for taking some good digital photog and some awesome video clips. If you ever get a chance...bug the band members to play the video clip of "Jumpin Jack Flash". It has that psychedelic MTV 70's look and feel to it.

Lava Lords July 2005 gig Schedule

Here is what we got going for the month of July !
Hope to see you there. We are really excited
and just "happy to BE HERE" !!

Friday July 15th, 2005
the Short Stop - Coon Rapids, MN
8:30 - 12:30 pm
NW corner of Foley & Northdale

Friday July 22nd, 2005
American Legion Hall - Fairmont, MN
8:00 - 12:00 pm

Expectations minus Reality equals Frustration !

We kind of stole that quote from Corporate America. It is so true. As a band and as individual members of a band we all have high Expectations for our ourselves and our music. We Expect to be able to pick any song we like from the seventies Rock era and if we like it be able to play it as a band. We Expect to be able to show up to a show and not suck. We Expect our gear will perform as it is supposed to. We have been finding out that the Reality of it is that there are some songs we just cannot perform at a high level.......yet. We Expect to be able to sing and play like Geddy Lee on any given RUSH tune. We Expect to be able to play any of the guitar leads, bass lines, vocal harmonies or drum solo's. As a band we have pretty much been on an even keel or perhaps even flying high for the last 5 years but the last two Wednesday night practices before our July 15 Short Stop and July 22 American Legion gigs were FRUSTRATING !!! Maybe it was knowledge that the gigs were upon us and we were "out of time" as far as polishing any of the songs further. Maybe it was the fact we have been going at it pretty hard for the last 6 months. Maybe being in a band is a lot like being MARRIED!!! Somedays are better than others. We were having hardware issues. Channel #1 on the P.A went out. The CUZ's main vocal mic was losing it's punch. The CUZ was having tube problems in his amp. Kinger wasn't happy with the skins on a couple of his drums. The CUZ had recently spend thousand's on a beautiful GIBSON but dropped it TWICE in practice due to the strap not cooperating with the layout of the new guitar. (some minor damage by the way) We were all having issues in our "real life" with stress in our careers. After playing together for 5 years we finally have gotten to the point where we have MORE SONGS on our list than we can play in a single night. (when did THAT happen ????) We have been struggling to finalize which songs make the cut and which ones get the axe. Lonzo finally came to the realization that HE CAN'T SING "RADAR LOVE" worth a damn!! As a band during these two WED practices we lacked energy, disagreed on various things, got moody, got pissed at our gear, never got in any sort of groove, had NO FUN ! and generally just sucked all the way around. Maybe this is EXACTLY what we needed !!!!!!

July 15 Shortstop pics

Here are a couple pics from our most recent Shortstop gig! You should be able to click on the image to get a larger view of the pic! Feel free to add "comments" or "flame us" in the comments button at the end of each blog entry! Kinger, no good shots of you at this gig. What is up with drummers getting no respect !!!

Fairmont Legion July 22 Pics

Here are some pics from the recent Amercian Legion gig in Fairmont. The gig itself was AWESOME. This was the largest crowd we have ever played for!! The biggest dance crowd we have ever had also. There were many 1975 Fairmont High grads in attendence. Thanks Bruce Simmons for the B & W pics and Todd Miles for the color pics.

a Tale of Two Gigs

We played our two July gigs and had a great time at BOTH !
If you have been reading this blog you probably realize that sometimes after a gig the "recap" is quite lengthy. Sometimes late at night after a gig there is the notion to "blog right now" "strike while the iron is hot". This type of blogging could potentially capture the passion of the night.
This type of blogging could also get bogged down in detailed minutia or beer induced blathering embarassing idiocy which would have to be redone in the morning anyway. (maybe that is what this is anyway ????) After all who really wants a song by song analysis of whose vocals were pitchy and who came in at the wrong time during any given song. BORING ! (unless the masses YOU out there want this) We played the Shortstop in Coon Rapids and also the Amercian Legion in Fairmont. Here is the "Tale of Two Gigs"...

Shortstop = we have played there a dozen times
Fairmont Legion = first time ever playing there

Shortstop = drive one block from Kinger's and unload gear
Fairmont Legion = drive 3 HOURS and unload gear !!

Shortstop = no stage, bar patrons using tables where band is to set up
Fairmont Legion = has stage with plenty of room

Shortstop = plenty of waitresses, but DON"T MOVE OUR TABLES !!!
Fairmont Legion = Is there a waitress in the house ???

Shortstop = no dance floor
Fairmont Legion = huge dance floor

If there is a point to this it would be that each gig you get to do is different. Each venue has its perks and "issues".

"a LIVE GIG is worth 3 practices"

"a LIVE GIG is worth 3 practices"
We are giving credit for this quote to Mark "Bedford " Nelson banjo player Jameson Drovers. Not sure if this is a Bedford original or if he got it from somone else but this quote ROCKS !!
You can practice as much as you want but once the gig starts their is no turning back.
If someone forgets a part or comes in at the wrong time you can't just start the song over. You can learn way more during a single live gig. lighting, sound, hardware, reading the crowd, appeasing hecklers, tuning on the fly, getting the set list to flow, playing the songs at the right time of the night, getting dancers, keeping dancers, trying to honor requests, remembering all the songs and lyrics, don't get "down" if you botch something, fighting off muscle cramps and dehydration during the live show, not DRINKING TOO MUCH beer!! also DRINKING ENOUGH BEER !!!!! hmmmmm........the list goes on and on.

Anticipation

The Lava Lords keep evolving. Our buddy Mitch has been promoted from:
“Lava Lamp Technician / Sound Tech Wannabee”
to
“Lava Lamp Technician / Sound Tech / Roadie”
In other words since Mitch goes to most of our gigs he may as well be put to work!!
Mitch fits right in as he has the same Rock mentality that we do.

We’ve had a bunch of great WED eve practices…..working on some new material that we are going to call ”Set Four” If we are at a gig and we get to “Set Four” look out these could also be called “train wreck” or “not ready for prime time”. Isn’t that all part of Rock n Roll? Even as it is now we have performed “LIVE” a couple songs that just ”came out” in the passion of the moment. Ted Nugent’s “Great White Buffalo” is one that comes to mind and also Chuck Berry’s “Johnny B. Good”.
People should not expect perfection from:

A) Live Rock n Roll
B) hobby band

Kinger just went out and bought himself a new Tama drum set !!!
Cuz and Pete always seem to be buying new toys too.
(except the bass player who needs a new bass guitar)

Have you ever had the sensation of anticipation when you have something looming ahead on the calendar that has a hard fast immovable deadline? Something like your “friend” is trying to help you get over your “fear of public speaking” and you joined ToastMasters and now you have to get up in front of 150 people (not NAKED) and give a speech? On the one hand you welcome the challenge. On the other hand you kind of dread it. Not that we would EVER dread playing a gig...especially the Shortstop but there are lots of mental gymnastics that go on.

A couple of weeks ago we played the May 7th ShortStop gig.

We knew that come that day we would need to show up, do our thing, have some fun and be as entertaining as possible. We practiced as many times as we could prior to the gig of course but did not really have any time to work on new material. Once the gig starts you pretty much go with what you have and the show must go on. Doesn’t matter if you had a fight with the wife that day, or the bill collectors are banging on your door, or you can’t get your stupid lawn mower working and your grass is 3 feet high, or your car muffler just fell off, or you really got hammered all week at work, or your allergies have kicked in and you can’t even breathe through your nose, or the fact that it seems the whole world is going to hell in a hand basket….you pretty much have to suck it up, leave it all behind and ROCK n ROLL!! Obviously the pro musicians do gigs and recording for a living. A lot of bands play every weekend and a couple nights every week. As time goes by it just becomes second nature. We are still trying to figure this out.

For a hobby band the day of a gig is like this:

“Honey, I’m going up on the roof to replace that one shingle that blew off during that last
storm” DOH !! Better not go up on the roof. What if I fall off and break my arm? How am I going to explain that one to the bar owner and the rest of the band????

“Honey, forget that one…I am going to go out and finish building the dog house”

DOH !! What if I smash my finger and it swells up the size of a grapefruit?
How am I going to explain that one to the bar owner and the rest of the band????

“Honey, forget that one…I’m going out to do some lawn mowing”
DOH!! Better not mow…might kick up to much dust and the allergies will kick in,
won’t be able to breathe tonight. How am I going to explain that one to the bar owner and the rest of the band????

“Honey, forget that one….I’ll be downstairs watching TV and drinking beer”
DOH !! Nothing getting done at home PLUS what if I show up to the gig DRUNK?
How am I going to explain that one to the bar owner and the rest of the band????

OK, I guess I will just practice / review a few of the songs that need attention.
DOH!! I already got blisters on my fingers from the last practice. What if my fingers start bleeding and hurt so bad I can’t perform?
How am I going to explain that one to the bar owner and the rest of the band????

OK, I may as well head over to Kinger’s and start loading up gear.
DOH!! It’s only 8:30 in the morning !!

Armed Forces Day

The Zimmerman American Legion gig went well. It was Armed Forces day so there was a good crowd already there when we arrived to set up. There was also a benefit going on downstairs as well. We got a lot of requests for songs we don't do of course. Seems like if you are playing Rock n Roll people just "assume" you know every Rock song ever written through 3 decades. We did shuffle our original set list to honor as many as we could. We had requests for "some Deep Purple", "ACDC", "FreeBird" and three requests at the end of the night to replay "Behind the Wall of Sleep"by the Smithereens" and Rolling Stones "Jumpin Jack Flash" and "All Right Now" by Free. We moved FreeBird to the middle of the second set. As you can see below the last 6 songs of Set TWO are KILLER !! Good thing we got a break after that set. We don't seem to have many "slow songs". Pretty much everything has got some edge to it. In set three we finally got a full dance floor for "Knocking on Heavens Door". It was almost like the crowd collectively thought "finally a slow song". It was pretty entertaining being on stage watching everyone groping each other on the dance floor. Lonzo of course butchered the 2nd rendition of "Behind the Wall of Sleep" after nailing it the first time. (nailing it is debatable but looks good in print)
Hey CUZ - Don't laugh you butchered "Smoke on the Water" the gig before
(just kidding of course - no harm done)
Pete kicked some booty on "Jumpin Jack Flash"and Kinger was making full use of his new kit. (and that new 8 inch........ "bongo tom")
Hopefully Wayner will have us back this Fall.
Would be nice if the stage was about two foot deeper.
But hey whose complaining !!!!
Thankfully we never made it to SET FOUR. We will be working on that set this month. Here is how it went down....

1

Red House – Jim Hendrix
I’m Eighteen – Alice Cooper
Be My Lover – Alice Cooper
Mary Had a Little Lamb – Stevie Ray Vaughan
Evil Woman – Crow / Black Sabbath
Louise – Jonnie Lang
Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix
The Ocean – Led Zeppelin
Simple Man – Lynyrd Skynyrd
Jumpin Jack Flash - Rolling Stones
Come Together – Beatles
Dragon Attack – Queen
Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
I’m Your Captain – Grand Funk
Pete’s Fuzz – Coon Dawgs

2
Steppin Stone – Monkees
Spooky – Classics Four
Thousand Dollar Car – Bottle Rockets
Behind the Wall of Sleep – Smithereens
Sunshine of Your Love – Cream
White Room – Cream
All Along the Watchtower – Bob Dylan / Hendrix version
Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
Last Days of May – Blue Oyster Cult
FreeBird - Lynrd Skynrd
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
Fairies Wear Boots – Black Sabbath
All Right Now - Free
Stranglehold - Ted Nugent
Cat Scratch Fever – Ted Nugent

3

Road House Blues – Doors
The Boys are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy
Stairway to the Stars – Blue Oyster Cult
Cocaine – JJ Cale / Clapton
Foxy Lady – Jimi Hendrix
Bridge of Sighs – Robin Trower
For Your Love – YardBirds
Knockin’ on Heavens Door – Bob Dylan
She’s Got Balls – AC/DC
Behind the Wall of Sleep – Smithereens (2nd time)
Jumpin Jack Flash - Rolling Stones (2nd time)
All Right Now - Free (2nd time)

Songs that were on the set list but got cut at the last second:

Can’t You See – Marshall Tucker
Johnny B Good – Chuck Berry
Good Morning Little School Girl – Ten Years After

Thank GOD we never made it to SET FOUR !!!
But if we had this is what it would have been.

4

Whiter Shade of Pale – Procol Harum
Career of Evil - Blue Oyster Cult
HeartBreaker – Grand Funk
Summertime Blues – Eddie Cochran (Rush version)
I’ll Make Love to You – JJ Cale / Clapton
Great White Buffalo – Ted Nugent
I Just Want to Make Love to You – Foghat
Radar Love – Golden Earring
House of Broken Love – Great White
From the Beginning – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
From Time to Time - Ken Hensley

These songs are "still on the radar"......
( Gone but Not Forgotten “wannabee’s” )

Free Ride – Edgar Winter
Born to be Wild – Steppenwolf
Godzilla – Blue Oyster Cult
House of the Rising Sun
I’d Love to Change the World – Ten Years After
Tuesdays Gone – Lynrd Skynrd
Detroit Rock City – Kiss
the Goose – Coon Dawgs
Blue Jean Blues – ZZ Top
Stray Cat Strut – Stray Cats
Walk Away – James Gang
Suzie Q – Creedence Clearwater Revival
Rocky Mountain Way – Joe Walsh
Paperback Writer – Beatles
Black Magic Woman - Santana

We ended up the night having a beer at Kinger's after unloading all the gear for the 4th time. Ended up getting home around 3:30 a.m.
Good thing we ain't doing this for the cash !!!
What a riot !!!!!
Can't wait to do it again.

Performing Outdoors GIG 101 - 4 credits

Well the much anticipated day finally arrived for the Lava Lords first ever outdoor gig.
Feel free to click on the “comments” button at the end of this blog or any of the previous blogs to add your own comments, flame us, inform us or set us straight !!

We ended up being able to pack everything into two vehicles including all our amps, speakers, PA, cables, guitars, drum set, miscellaneous gear, two racks of lights, tents, sleeping bags, chairs, camping gear, coolers and even a fan. Of course we had to have a “pod” on top of one vehicle for extra space. This was our first major accomplishment for the day. Somehow it all fit. We all agreed that before the next long distance gig we need to formulate some sort of check list to make sure nothing gets left behind. If we get any more gear we are going to have to have a trailer or third vehicle or so it would seem. There are many chances for forgetting something for any gig, but a camping gig presents added challenges. It was a fairly uneventful drive south. We kept one eye on the grey skies the whole way hoping that the sun would come out. We stopped in St. Peter at Taco John’s. (now there is a bit of really interesting blogging….NOT) We stopped at the Fairmont American Legion hall so we could check out the layout and the stage. Just as we pulled into the Legion “Radar Love” came on the radio. We considered this some sort of omen. Not sure if it was a good or bad omen. Radar Love is a song that we really want to do BAD, but have struggled with it, so it has not made it out of “set four”. Anyway, confirmed with “head bartender” that yes indeed we were still on the calendar for Friday July 22, 2005. The stage there is pretty typical American Legion hall kind of stage. It appeared to be a bigger stage than the Legion in Zimmerman though. We made it out to the farm with no issues. Craig’s farm is in a very nice part of Martin County and is in a beautiful setting with many outbuildings, lots of trees, a view of the lake, a very large pole barn, and of course the flat bed trailer that would hopefully, cross your fingers and hope against RAIN, be our home for the night. After checking out the place and saying hi to Craig, Dufai, Todd & Patty, and Spot who was roasting the hog, we set about putting up our tents and establishing a home base in the pasture. Extremely hot and humid so we worked up a pretty good sweat….one of many for the weekend. Then we unloaded the gear. More sweat of course. We had many discussions about whether we should risk setting up on the trailer or just go ahead and set up in the pole barn. Hmmmmmm…The pole barn was nice and big and pretty much cleaned out. We had been consulting the news airwaves, and other sources for weather information. Anyone bring a laptop with wireless so we can check the weather? Guess not, didn’t make the cut! Who could resist wanting to play on a flatbed trailer. We set up on the trailer. It was not too long after getting set up and most things in place that light sprinkling started to occur. Out came the tarps, we covered everything the best we could. The sprinkles gave up and we did a sound check using Maddy as a “sound critic”. After the sound check more sprinkles came so everything got tarped again. We retired to the pasture to regroup, drink some favorite beverages, cool off, strum some acoustic guitar, change from “roadie clothes” to “gig” clothes, finalize the set list and worry about the weather.
(Lesson #1 – be sure to have “travel clothes”, “roadie clothes" and “gig clothes” in case you accidently spill Taco John sauce on your “gig clothes” or it is 90 degrees and high humidity and you sweat like you are in a sauna).

The wedding party arrived and proceeded to go “hog wild” meaning of course, after all it was a hog roast, they were dining and toasting. The flat bed trailer was set up, tucked up close to the pole barn. If you were standing on the flat bed you would have the pole barn at your back. In a way, looking out from stage, it was almost like 4 parties going on at once. To the left up on a hill were many of the Walters family with 4-5 RV’s set up and a nice camp fire going. To the right was the wedding party in a group of garage buildings, tables, chairs and food. Slightly to the left of stage was the “keg trailer” and there always seemed to be lots of people hanging out there. Directly in front of the stage were many chairs, people chatting, and checking out the band. Finally around 8:00 we decided to plod forward as it was not raining and the skies did not appear to be too threatening although still grey and cloudy. Our PLAN B was that if we had to we would unplug everything as fast as we could and have people help us get stuff in the pole barn away from the rain. We had one humongous tarp that in theory could cover the whole flat bed trailer in case of dire emergency / down pour.
We started the first set as we always do with “Red House”. Shortly after that song is where the real fun was about to begin. About the 3rd song Lonzo blew out the low E string on his bass guitar. Had to finish whatever song it was on three strings. Of course since we were so worried about the rain, the extra strings were packed away under the flat bed. (Lesson #2 – have strings and string snipper close by, thought we learned that lesson already). Got the string changed pretty quick and away we went. A couple songs later the new string was flopping around and would not stay tight. Ending up finishing that song with 3 strings AGAIN !! (Lesson #3 – if you don’t have 20/20 vision have your reading glasses close by so that when you do have to change a string you can see what the heck you are doing). So we ended up doing a 13 song first set with NO RAIN!! Of course during the set we also learned another valuable lesson (Lesson #4 – when playing outdoors use bug spray). The bugs weren’t that bad but it seemed like every time Kinger went to hit a drum head or crash a symbol he would squish a bug or two. The bugs were JUMPING off the drum set all night. This was actually pretty funny until such time as the “the CUZ” went to get one last deep breath to belt out a high note and inhaled some flying bug. Actually that was pretty funny too!! We all sprayed ourselves with bug spray as a precaution between sets. Set #2 was fairly uneventful as far as “issues”. People seemed to be enjoying themselves. We missed the back to back Ted Nugent tunes at the end of set #2 since we cut the set short and played them during set #3. Just as we were going building to the climax to end Cat Scratch Fever, Andy blew out a string and we pretty closed that song with a whimper. More than likely most people in the crowd can be oblivious to these things. Kinger commented on how his drums heads seemed “soggy”. Didn’t have the normal pop or punch to them. During the first set the fingers on the various guitar strings seemed slippery due to sweat. The 2nd two sets was the opposite…the strings seemed like they had GLUE on them. Not sure if this was humidity or bug dope?? Some of things very different about an outdoor gig as opposed to an indoor bar gig are:

a) no cigarette smoke (yippee)
b) there is no competition of the music vs. the “loudness” of the bar patrons
c) BUGS
d) RAIN
e) Worrying about the RAIN !!!
f) HUMIDITY affects drum heads & strings
g) FIREWORKS

During ALL THREE SETS there was a pretty good bunch of fireworks being set off by members of the wedding party and others. This was pretty COOL !! VERY COOL !!!
Towards the end of set #3 people started commenting that they could see lightening in the distance behind the pole barn. We decided to play one more REQUEST and then around 12:30 we ended the last song of the night. Within seconds the first of many large rain drops started to fall. You have never seen so many people quickly jump into being roadies. We handed off our guitars to people who put them away and started madly unplugging cords, microphones, cables, lava lamps and turning off the power. Bro Todd grabbed van keys and went to get the van. People were grabbing speakers and hauling them away to the pole barn. There was NO TIME to neatly wrap cords or politely arrange gear efficiently. It was a mad dash. Within 15 minutes ALL THE GEAR WAS SECURED in the pole barn, the van or the truck. The drum set got some rain drops on the heads and so did some of the other stuff. NO REAL DAMAGE DONE !!!!!
It was a relief to know that even though we did not really know where each piece really was or how it was stacked….at least it was going to be dry. The skies opened up and it DOWNPOURED for over an hour. We huddled in one of the garages with the rest of the party goers and discussed whether we should back the vehicles into the pole barn and start the rearranging / packing process or wait til morning. We decided it had been a long day and just wait til the morning. During the downpour we pretty much stayed in the garages until such time certain brave souls had to trek to the keg trailer through the downpour of rain to refill the pitchers with beer. We sat around til 2:00 or so and then retired to the tents for some much needed rest. In the morning we cooked up a HUGE breakfast on the tailgate of Todd’s pickup truck using camp stoves. Hashbrowns, cheesy scrambled eggs with onions / peppers, sausage, pancakes, and coffee. Had the Bloody Mary’s available but never tapped into those. All in all the GIG was AWESOME.
“We laughed, we cried, it was the best of times, it was the worst of times”
(who are we quoting here???) After breakfast we unloaded EVERYTHING into the pole barn and repacked and discovered where everything ended up. Talk about a snake pit of cables!! Pete reminded us to look for his glass guitar slide. We found it shattered into a million pieces. It had rolled off during the last set and shattered. We also discovered bug dope and lacquer guitar finish don’t play well together!!! DOH !! Beyond that everything survived. Somehow we were short space and could not get everything re packed into the vehicles. Finally after some rearranging we stuffed the last few pieces in and quickly slammed the door. Remember to stand back when we go to unload as this stuff in back is going to JUMP OUT once the door is opened. Thanks so much to Craig and the Walters family for being such gracious hosts, kudo’s to Todd & Patty and especially Dave & Wendy and all the wedding party! U GUYS ROCK !!! We can’t wait to do it again !! (if asked)

Beginnings

In the year 2000 the Fairmont High School class of 1975 held a 25 year reunion party. Mark Peterson, Lon Miles and Randy Laffey all members of the class of 1975 were at the reunion party. After some discussion and many beers along with a whole lot of other fun it was decided that since the three were all musicians, and lived in the Twin Cities metro they should get together and jam, drink beer and just have some fun ! This indeed did happen with Mark (Pete) playing guitar, Lon (Lonzo) playing bass and Randy (Face, The King, Kinger) playing the drums.
The first couple "jams" were fairly uneventful. The trio used an old beat up cheapo PA and a couple monitors to get some vocals going. Much of the time was spent reminiscing about the old days, catching up on each others histories and trying to figure out what to play!

Beginnings "Two"

After a few more jam sessions Randy mentioned he had a cousin who played guitar and maybe we should invite him over sometime. The next practice he showed up and instantaneous friendships were formed. Andy Jerich "Cuz" was an instant hit with the trio even though he was much younger....in fact 15 years younger. Andy LOVED the 60's and 70's rock music and was enamoured with the likes of Hendrix, Kiss, Black Sabbath and Ted Nugent and many other bands of that era. Most of his peers were into Metallica and Heavy Metal type bands. Pete and Andy, both guitarists almost seemed like long lost twin brothers separated at birth and reunited for first time. They loved they same bands, played the same type of guitars, spoke the same guitar lingo, and instantly were able to forge guitar harmonies. When getting together for a practice both would comment that they had been thinking about and working on certain songs. After comparing notes they discovered that BOTH had been thinking and practicing some of the same songs !!! These two were definately on the same wave length. Many months were spent jamming and having some real good fun. Some of the neighbors who stopped by jam sessions started commenting that the four should formally be a "band" and maybe even have a REAL GIG !!!

Beginnings "Three"

The foursome practices in the basement of Randy's house. Randy lives in Coon Rapids within a couple of blocks of the neighborhood watering hole....a place called the Short Stop Bar and Grill also in Coon Rapids. The Short Stop's logo is a raccoon of course. After much discussion and some talks with Ray the owner of the bar it is decided that he is going to let us "jam" at the bar on a Thursday evening and call it "garage band night". The idea is that maybe he can draw some bar patrons on Thursday nights to see "unpolished", "non veteran rockers" "garage bands", bands that basically would probably never have a chance in hell of getting a real gig anywhere. Also Ray has many nights of Karaoke which is very popular but he really would rather have "live music" on occasion even thought the Karaoke is very profitable. For the first time the foursome is excited about playing out in public but with no PA system and no band name......many decisions need to be made.
Fortunately Randy has an acquaintance Donnie Erickson who owns a business where he goes around supplying PA sound for events like snowmobile races, high school track meets and anything else that would require a PA system. He agrees to offer his services FREE for the night. After much discussion about band names....
no one can quite figure this out....
many are thrown in the hat....
Pet Roxx, Orange Shag Orchestra, Garage Rockets, PA Blues Project
(because our cheapo PA SUCKS)
most having some 60's 70's theme....
no one can figure it out.
naming a band is way too hard !!
can we credit Mitch or was it Sara??? LuAnne ??

"You practice in Coon Rapids."
"The logo of the bar is a Raccoon."
"You guys are the Coon Dawgs !!!"
So the first unofficial name at least for the first "gig" is the Coon Dawgs.

Beginnings "Four"

So the "Coon Dawgs" played their first official gig on a thursday evening from 8-10 PM in December of 2003 to a very appreciative collection of friends, neighbors, wives, relatives, co workers and bar patrons. The "gig" ended up being two sets....pretty much everything the "Coon Dawgs" could play at the time. (and probably the 2nd set had a couple of repeats.) DOH ! But what is to be expected from an evolving garage band on "Garage Band Night" ?? Donnie ran the sound using one of his PA sound systems so whatever the sounds the band were making were "sounding" as best as could be made to sound !!! This gig was not the very first public appearance however. In April of 2003 the "Coon Dawgs" made the first public appearance at "The Goose" in Fairmont, Minnesota courtesy of the blue grass / new grass / folk band Jameson Drovers who are also Fairmont natives. Lonzo has played bass for this band for many years. The Drovers have played every Easter weekend and Thanksgiving weekend for the last 7-8 years. Now ....there is a bit of a difference between what the Drovers play and what the Coon Dawgs play but it seemed the crowd enjoyed the 5-6 song set. Many Kudo's to the Jameson Drover Band for allowing this milestone to occur !!! The songs played ???? were Stairway to the Stars (Blue Oyster Cult), Paranoid (Black Sabbath), Sunshine of your Love (Cream), Stranglehold (Ted Nugent) and "Hey Joe" Jimi Hendrix

Beginnings "Five"

Ray, the owner of the Short Stop was happy with the crowd of fans that showed up for the "Coon Dawgs" inaugural gig on that thursday for Garage Band night.
Ray decided to offer the "Coon Dawgs"
another gig slated for February 2004
This time he would pay the "going rate" !!!
Once again the 'Dawgs would have to recruit Donnie
as....huh....funny....
The Dawgs have no PA equipment !!!!
Thankfully Donnie agree's to provide the PA system once again
and of course expertise in running sound for the fledgling band.
The 'Dawgs have about two months to practice.
Learn more material
Promote themselves to potential attendees.
We want to make it a worthwile investment for Ray.
(are we impressing ourselves ???)
(us,us us, all about us)
Details are somewhat fuzzy....
Some things are for certain ....
Place is Packed!!!!!!!!!!! (small venue)
Standing Room only !!!!!!! (small venue)
Many of our comrades, neighbors, co workers,
relatives, family show up to offer support.
This time the "Coon Dawgs" play three sets.
Of course most of the third set is repeats from
Set One and Set Two.
Some of the songs are still marginal.
Still, Ray is very enthused for us.
Since Randy is a popular local character
who frequents Ray's bar regularly and
is well known in these parts....
Ray offers the band....

ONE GIG PER MONTH THROUGH AUGUST !!!!!!!
The band has a future !!

Beginnings "Six"

Coon Dawgs / Garage Rockets / Lava Lords
Official Business
03/07/04
(Be prepared for tongue in cheek along the way)

OK – The band of brothers known collectively as the “Lava Lords”
(insert way kewl logo here)

Officially Declare!
We want to be a band.
Officially, Absolutely,
Definitely, Make No Mistake !
To “break on through to the other side” we have to:
Take Risks, Invest Money,
have some Commitment, Determination
Practice !! Pride, Confidence, Sacrifice
(what is this Boy Scouts?)

We have already tasted our first blood,
experienced our first “ 15 minutes of fame”.
Are we cursed . . . or blessed to want more?
“crave the lime light”
“chase the fix”
"nothing beats being on stage"

Our Mission Statement !
(come on ...a mission statement...what is this Corporate America ????)

"Collectively we share the desire to explore our musical passion, to find out where our musical path may lead us and to share the experience with others."

In the evolution of a band...
as all bands experience...
we have been at many crossroads:

First Jam
Breaking the Ice
Learning of each song
Polishing each song
Playing for guests
1st maniacal drunken fan crashing repeatedly into gear
1st Public Appearance
1st Paid Gig
Heaving Naked Bosoms Thrust in our Face
(How did we miss those ???)(is that a song??)
Investing $$$$$
Now What ?????????????

Remain sequestered in the basement?
Stay committed to having a few beers,
jamming off some stress,
no real agenda or commitment?
OR

“erupting out of the basement !!”

Figuring out a way to balance career, family, everyday
life in the big city and “the passion”.
Unanimously we have agreed to take the risk and
"blast off" out of the basement.
We all agree that none of us can make the ultimate
commitment / sacrifice by quitting our day jobs,
divorcing our wives, abandoning our families
and jamming 12 hours a day… every day,
and play 6 gigs per week for the rest of our lives.
(DUH !!)

So our goals are simple.

Practice once a week
Do one gig per month
Sporadically do more than one gig per month
when schedules permit,
(but generally not more than 2 or 3 any given month)

Beginnings "Seven"

It was very exciting having a guaranteed upcoming schedule as a goal.
But with goals come commitment.
Decisions need to be made.
Plan's need to be formulated.
Some sort of structure is needed.
What are the goals again?
I thought we were a hobby band !!

The first thing had to be to invest in a PA and other hardware that would be good enough as a first step towards “hobby band” self sufficiency. With the budget set at $4000 and advice from Donnie, Adam at Metro Sound and others a PA system was purchased. Many other items were needed: a rack of lights, various extra cables, mic’s, mic stands.
Get our return on investment back by the end of the year !!!

Donnie ran the show at the first April 2004 gig,
making most of the initial sound settings and needed
tweaks and also establishing a baseline
for us to run it ourselves going forward.

We took our lumps.

On occasion over the next few gigs
we had some “issues”
including some points of annoying feedback,
“TOO LOUD” “CAN’T HEAR THE VOCALS”.
We tinkered. We kept practicing.
We had FUN!
We REALLY had fun !!
We also discovered real quick
there is a big difference
between
a hobby band jamming, drinking beer in the basement
a hobby band playing out in public.
We were challenged.
TRY to remember 40 songs instead of 15.
Lonzo...WHAT ARE THE WORDS ?
What about song starts and stops, harmonies,
arrangements and where the leads are,
set it up and tear down at 2 in the morning,
Should we be worried about HOW it SOUNDS !
What order should the songs be in ?
Will people show up ?
Do we SUCK and NOT KNOW IT ???

Who cares !!

We're having fun and THAT is the point.

Beginnings "Eight"

You can’t take these
memorable dates away from us !

Notice we pretty much stayed with the name
Coon Dawgs until March 2005.
We did one of these gigs as the Garage Rockets.
Mentioning the Drovers gigs as Lonzo played bass for them.

feb 26 2005 - Coon Dawgs - Short Stop - Coon Rapids
jan 22 2005 - Coon Dawgs - Short Stop - Coon Rapids
jan 15 2005 - Coon Dawgs - Legion Hall – Zimmerman
nov 26 2004 – Jameson Drovers - Goose – Fairmont
sep 24 2004 - Coon Dawgs - Bunkie's - Chisago City
aug 28 2004 - Coon Dawgs - Short Stop - Coon Rapids
aug 13 2004 - Coon Dawgs - Bunkie's - Chisago City
jun 26 2004 - Coon Dawgs - Short Stop - Coon Rapids
apr 24 2004 - Coon Dawgs - Short Stop - Coon Rapids
apr 9 2004 – Jameson Drovers - Goose – Fairmont
apr 3 2004 - Coon Dawgs - Short Stop - Coon Rapids
feb 28 2004 - Coon Dawgs - ShortStop - Coon Rapids
dec 13 2003 - Coon Dawgs - ShortStop - Coon Rapids

Beginnings "Nine"

Here is a copy of our set list from our most recent gig

February 26 2005 at the Shortstop.

We played all the songs except:

Robin Trower's "Bridge of Sighs"

Instead we were lucky to be able to

honor requests from the front row crowd at closing.

We did the Doors "Road House Blues" and ACDC "She's Got Balls "

1
Red House – Jim Hendrix
Jumpin Jack Flash - Rolling Stones
Louise – Jonnie Lang
Hey Joe – Jimi Hendrix
Sunshine of Your Love – Cream
White Room – Cream
The Ocean – Led Zeppelin
Come Together – Beatles
Simple Man – Lynrd Skynrd
Dragon Attack – Queen
Smoke on the Water – Deep Purple
I’m Your Captain – Grand Funk
Pete’s Fuzz – Coon Dawgs

2
Spooky – Classics Four
Steppin Stone – Monkees
I’m Eighteen – Alice Cooper
Be My Lover – Alice Cooper
Behind the Wall of Sleep - Smithereens
Last Days of May – Blue Oyster Cult
Stairway to the Stars – Blue Oyster Cult
Thousand Dollar Car – Bottle Rockets
All Along the Watchtower – Jimi Hendrix
Fairies Wear Boots – Black Sabbath
All Right Now - Free
Stranglehold - Ted Nugent
Cat Scratch Fever – Ted Nugent

3
Paranoid – Black Sabbath
Evil Woman – Crow / Black Sabbath
Purple Haze – Jimi Hendrix
Foxy Lady – Jimi Hendrix
For Your Love – YardBirds
Good Morning Little School Girl – Ten Years After
The Boys are Back in Town – Thin Lizzy
Knockin’ on Heavens Door – Bob Dylan
Mary Had a Little Lamb – Stevie Ray Vaughan
Cocaine – JJ Cale / Clapton
Bridge of Sighs – Robin Trower
Can’t You See – Marshall Tucker
FreeBird – Lynrd Skynrd

Beginnings "Ten"

The Lava Lords...
would be very pleased...
to see you at...
our next GIG !!!

Shortstop – Coon Rapids
Saturday March 19,2005
8:30-12:30 NW corner Northdale & Foley

Martin County Reunion Party !!

The Lava Lords are:

Andy Jerich = Guitar / Vocals
Mark Peterson = Guitar / Vocals
Lon Miles = Bass / Vocals
Randy Laffey = Drums / Percussion

Donnie Erickson = Sound Tech
Mitch = "Lava Lamp Technician" and "Sound Tech Wannabee"

Evolution

Evolution…..

The reality of life is that every day is an evolution.
We are constantly evolving as humans,
sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.
And so it also goes for a Rock band.

In our humble view the March 19th, 2005 Shortstop gig was our best ever.
We have played the songs enough to feel comfortable. We had the assurance of our “sound” being massaged by Donnie and Mitch.
(with the obligatory few glitches of course)
The place was packed from the very beginning until the very end.

Has the band reached its pinnacle?
Should we quit now while we are ahead?
Can it get any better than this???????

It truly was a “Martin County Reunion”.
There must have been at LEAST 20-25 people with Fairmont roots !!!
Also thanks to our friends from “work world”.
We would name you ALL here to be preserved for all of eternity on the web,
…….EXCEPT…...
We would no doubt have some sort of mental lapse and omit someone.
You know who you are!!
We know who you are !!
We cannot thank YOU enough.
Right up to the very end
you were in our face egging us on !
IT WAS AWESOME !!!!!!!
U GUYS ROCK !!!

We can’t wait to do it again.

Lava Lord Links

Have you noticed the "Lava Lord Links"? As you may have discovered many of the links are to other bands or organizations we support. For the most part these are friends or people we grew up with musically. Many we met during garage jams, campfire jams and the like. Just because we love ROCK music does NOT mean we do not like other forms of music. Individually we have varied musical tastes outside of ROCK, but collectively as a group we pretty much agree that two forms of music that we cannot seem to "appreciate" are OPERA and RAP. Some of the stuff we play translates to the "campfire" setting, but Black Sabbath and most others ....it gets a little tough. From this point forward ....as most blogs....we will try to keep you informed on what is going on with the Lava Lords, what we are up to, what we are thinking, upcoming gigs etc etc etc

Spring 2005 Upcoming Gigs

REVISED !!
May 2nd - 2005

We are still waiting to finalize some of our gig schedule but this is what we have so far for this spring / summer. One thing nice about being a hobby band is that you can pick and choose your battles. We DON'T want or expect to play every weekend. We are very excited about these events and hope to see you there !!!!

Saturday May 7th, 2005
Short Stop - Coon Rapids, MN 8:30-12:30 pm

Saturday May 21st, 2005
American Legion - Zimmerman, MN 8:00 - 12:00 pm

Saturday June 25th, 2005
Dave & Wendy Wedding party
Hog Roast / Walters family BASH
on "the farm"- East Chain, MN

Friday July 15th, 2005
Short Stop - Coon Rapids, MN 8:30 - 12:30 pm

Friday July 22nd, 2005
American Legion Hall - Fairmont, MN 8:30 - 12:30 pm

Thanks to Ray at the Short Stop for having us back. We hope to have a few new twists, possible guest appearences and some new songs.

Thanks to Wayne at the American Legion Hall in Zimmerman
for having us back. We played there this past January and had a great time.
We are looking forward to loading gear when it is NOT 15 below zero !!!

The hog roast / wedding will be the first outdoor gig we have ever played. If you are friends of ours who live in the Martin county area contact one of us and we will try to get you on the "A" list to come party with Dave & Wendy and the Walters family. Don't worry about us drinking and driving. We plan on camping out !!!!

The Friday July 22nd gig is the kickoff for the 30 YEAR - Fairmont 1975 class reunion weekend. This is also the five year anniversary of our band. We can't believe it is thirty years since we graduated from high school. I'm sure our former classmates are wondering if we ever will grow up !!! Guess we never quite made it to being career doctors, lawyers, or Corporate CEO.....oh well...
We are just "glad to be here".