Wheez's Top Ten Songs

Recently, I sent out a request to long-time friend, mod-squader, and Rock 'n' Roll historian, Wheezer Von Klaw asking him to list his favorite top-ten songs.

So this blog is dedicated to the brilliant mind of Wheazer Von Klaw (pictured in the middle) and his deep knowledge of Rock 'n' Roll, perversion and all things related.

Take it Wheez:

10. Terry Corin -"Twistin and Cryin"-I love songs where someone has a breakdown but just can't help doin the Twist anyways!!

9. The Milkshakes-"Tell Me Child" -Micky Hampshire, Billy, Bruce, and Big Russ Wilkins deliver a song that sounds perfect for 1965, not 1982.... They put out 14 lps in two years.. Proving that Rock n Roll should never lose it's urgency..

8. The Cookies-I wanna Boy for my Birthday".. Since the Beatles covered "Chains", then they also shoulda covered this and changed it to "Girls".. Sha la la la LA!!!!!

7. Screaming Lord Butch-"Time to Kill the Rolling Stones"- A song the Dictators should've written for their "Go Girl Crazy" lp, but with better production.. Written in a living room after seeing a commercial for The Steel Wheels tour.. Don Knotts lives!

6. Ricky Wilde-"Teen Wave" -Kim "Kids in America" Wilde's little brother, and the UK's answer to Donny Osmond proves that only being 11 years old doesn't mean that you can't top Bowie, T.Rex,and Gary Glitter in one fell swoop!!! Great fucking anthem!! Up there with Louie Louie and Surfin' Bird!! Bowie is WAY overrated anyways.. He also gave us the Mullet..

5. The Who-"It's not True." -Sneering Mod burner off the first lp where Daltrey confesses not to be "Half Chinese". And he didn't kill his Dad , either.. Good to know.

4. The Creeps-"The Whip" - Early 60's Monster Mash type song where a girl plays Hide n Seek in the woods.. Funny as hell! Sounds like Jello Biafra gone trick or treating.

3. Nora Guthrie-"Emily's Illness"--Arlo Guthrie's lil' Sister sings a creepy autobiographical tune about having a blood disease... Backwards vocals included)

2. The Damned- "Neat Neat Neat

THE TOP SONG IS:

1."Delicious"-Jim Backus --Thurston Howell "Magoos" his way through umpteen bottles of tipple in this hilarious cocktail opus!

Thanks Wheez!

Wheez Von Klaw is a former resident of Jamestown and Buffalo who is quite content being away from either city. A former drummer for the local rockers Irving Klaws and Screaming Lord Butch, Wheez finds time to draw amazing comics, watch 70's porn and live a happy life in Chapel Hill.

DWhiskin' Octoberfest

October is Dick Whiskey's favorite month.

The fall is here and that means cooler temps and the band not sweating our asses off at stuffy gigs. It also means Halloween kickstarts the holiday season to which our band has fitting songs that include vampires, psychopaths and a mascara monster waiting at the end of the road. And, most importantly, the band can sip on seasonal beers like Sam Adam's pumpkin seed, butter-nut acorn and sage ale. This October proved to be extra special for the DWhisks for the band found themselves with two contrasting gigs.

The first of the gig was a benefit for the Food Bank of WNY. Being asked by The Pillagers frontman, Gary Zoldos, the DWhisks gladly played a set to benefit those in need. Have to give it up to Gary because he organizes these events and donates money and not cans of year-old applesauce or corn to the Food Bank.

After DJ personality The Bulldog (of WGR 550's Schopp & The Bulldog fame) introduced us, we played to Club Diablo crowd that got into our music and by set's end, with a whiskey soaked stage, was groovin' to the sounds of the DWhisks with smiles all 'round. Cherry-toppin' coolness was when The Bulldog on his way out, stopped, turned around back and told us how much he really liked the band.

It was a rock 'n' roll bar gig and DWhisks emerged with some new-found friends, a good whiskey buzz and knowing the gig went well. All Kumbaya feelings aside, I'm not going to go into sloppy details of our second "Heroin" set or Bob "Mystic Cowboy" Kupczyk forgetting he offered guitar lessons to a chick until he was reminded on Facebook.

The second gig in October was a private Halloween party held at the old St Francis de Sales Rectory on Buffalo East side. The latter fits into the scary part of the DWhisks Halloween ride.

Upon arrival the scene was besieged by gay men in superhero costumes with directions to come and play in the dining room. This did not phase me in the least, but I find it interesting heterosexual women tend to hang out with gay men and this place was crawling with them. Kudos! We setup, told the nicely shaped superhero DJ to kill her house dance music and began to play our first set to a crowd of curious onlookers.

By the fourth song, we had the house groovin' and shakin' their costumed butts to the sounds of the DWhisks. We even threw in some on the spot requests with the holy clang of the cow bell. The night was truly complete when the band adopted our official mascot, The Sperminator, who did his best to get people to come and dance.

The true superhero in all this was Bob "Pleather" Rich III for fighting through his viral concoction of fever, sniffles and nastiness to play a marathon set. His efforts were truly rewarded in that all the heterosexual females stayed on his side and he got a fair share of cat & bat women.

Overall a fantastic evening to had by both superheroes partygoers and the DWhisks. I wanted to give the band an opportunity to express their thoughts on the evening and let you know in their own words how much they enjoyed it.

Bob "Pleather" Rich III: "Sperminator X, great neighborhood, whiskey and Sudafed, Batgirl, houseparty, marathon sets (didn't have to pee all night!), cool venue, flyin' tambourine, chips salsa with the percussion section!"

Thom "T-Bone" LaChiusa: "The maid...need I say more?"

Bob "Mystic Cowboy" Kupczyk: "Whiskey, batgirl & the Batman theme song, beer, beer & more beer, A great place for a party! Rockin' at the Rectory."

A special thanks to Sal (pictured on right with Joey Ramone) and Tim for having us down there and we truly look forward to doing more gigs at the Rectory!

The Blank Generation

Perhaps the biggest mistake of the generation I find myself part of is the thought that we are an nothing generation marked with a big X target on our backs.

Indeed, the words of Chuck Palahniuk's Fight Club reverberate through this generation in that we were programmed to believe that we would be rock or movie stars and now seeing those promises are being broken, in a white-wash of 9-5, washing the kid's ass and MNF, we are pissed off.

And where does that leave the Blank Generation?

Pissed off, white-washed and watching Brett Favre look like the a broken down 40-something playing in a young man's game on MNF.

We solemnly move along in this depressing entry into middle age with the unfortunate label of being the "Blank Generation" with nothing to show for our accomplishments.

The Baby Boomers? Hell, they have carved out and nice life for themselves in America's Golden Age of Reaganomics and find themselves riding into the golden sunset with Social Security intact as they ask us to pick up the tab and leave the tip.

The Me Generation? The quintessential picture of the American tourist. These are the self-centered, SUV driving saplings of the Baby Boomers. This group has grown fat off the cow and find themselves contributing in ways that drive the economy. Eat, drive, eat, buy cheap products from China, eat, drive and eat is their battle cry and an entire US economy has arose from this ever consuming blackhole of a generation.

The Love Generation? Take a look down any suburb street and see how well the Revolution went for them. They can claim victories in environmental awareness and new sections of organic foods in Wegman's along side their election of the very first American president who claimed to "smoke it but not inhale."

The Gen Y's and Z's? The spoiled offspring of the Me Generation cross-breeding with the Love Generation have a great time indulging themselves in the overwhelming onslaught of social networking, texting and all things technologically progressive. This generation doesn't need a purpose because their contribution to society is...wait, I got to take this text...sorry, okay, their contribution to...hold on, let me take this Tweet.

So then there is Gen X. The Blank Generation. The all too apathetic to be cynical generation inspired by the likes of Joey Ramone and Charles Bukowski. The only contribution is the award winning prize of knowing this generation has no contribution.

Or maybe not.

This "blank" generation has something to show.

Gen X has taken the rebellious stance of the Hippies but with anger have been able to stand alone with psuedo-compromise. One can still see the black shirt and ripped jeans through the white-wash and honestly claim many of us haven't sold out to the Utopia of Suburbia.

Gen X can say that the consumerism obsession of the "Me Generation" is lost on them and that cheap sneakers, a 10-year-old car and generic corn flakes does us fine.

Gen X can honestly say it has rejected rapid-fire technology or has used manipulated the source to get the message across as is demonstrated by the power of You Tube to effect National elections (or have blog sites to bitch about other generations).

So, put that in your pipe and don't smoke it.

This generation blank, the Lost boys and girls of X, the mohawk to combover rebels, have succeed in making a mark in society. Our legacy we leave for future generations and our Gen Baby X's is that its not our place in the 9 to 5 world.

We are a generation that doesn't need to throw out the mould after being made because there wasn't one to begin with. There cannot be another generation like us in that our generation is so unique because we are rooted in the of sensitivity of generations raised before the Great Decline mixed with the harsh realities of a 21st century fallen empire.

A space-monkey generation shot out into the vastness of space who are now returning to earth, (secretly cheering Brett Farve on MNF because he's saying "eat crap" to distractors) with clear knowledge of what makes our world works.

Now its up to us whether or not we care to share this knowledge or tell you to "eat crap".

Or both.

Matthew LaChiusa is the lead singer for the band Dick Whiskey who is composed of Gen Xers

God Bless Americana

When Dick Whiskey's talented bassist, Bob "Pleather" Rich III asked if the band would like to be the entertainment for a benefit for a junior league hockey team at a Southtown VFW, the immediate thought that popped into mind was a scene out of Hedwig and the Angry Itch or Flight of the Conchords.

Not that the cause or the gig was below us as a band (trust me, our standards are bar-room floor low) but the movie scenes of locals faces, in a combination of confusion, disgust and morbid fascination, looking blankly at the musicians doing their thing immediately flooded the imagination.

With this, the DWhisks jumped at the opportunity.

So off the band went to the Hamburg VFW Post 2985 to play a benefit for the Hamburg Hawks hockey team with no expectations apart from free beers and an opportunity to play after taking a month's hiatus.

When the band arrived the bar was packed with a mix of VFW regulars, supporters of the Hawks and a few tattooed sub-human species still undefined.

We promptly set up our gig, grabbed some beer and introduced ourselves to the onlookers. One of the organizers and sister of Bob Rich, Kimberly Rich Lupkin gave us a warm greeting and with this the band was confident to do their thing.

The DWhisks warmed up with an improvised rockin' tune with a good beat and nothing imposing in style or craftsmanship as part of a sound check and, in part, to feel the crowd out.

Well, we ended to exactly what I envisioned; blank faces and no applause. I turned to Bob "Mystic Cowboy" Kupczyk and in true DWhiskian fashion we shrugged, drank our beer, requested a whiskey shot then began our set.

For you see Bob and I shrugged in silent acknowledgement, because before we began, Mystic said to me, "This is a typical Dick Whiskey gig. We belong here." He's right. This is the type of Dick Whiskey and all other bands should play. The fact the onlookers didn't react wasn't the issue. It was the realization that no matter who you play to there will always be bias opinion and a sense of conventionality among listeners. As long as you do your best, be honest to the music and have a Goddamn ball up there, folks will open up to your sound.

Sure enough after our first set, the hecklers and those who were close-minded to our sound emptied out and we were left with a group of folks who began to like the music, tapping their feet to the beat and, by nights end, were out on the dance floor groovin' to the music.

Mission accomplished? Hell yes!

Would we do another gig like this again? Resounding HELL YES!

God Bless Americana.

Matthew LaChiusa is the lead singer for Dick Whiskey and thanks goes out to Kimberly and her gang for asking us to play. We did have a blast. And if anyone sees the guy who was wearing leather chaps, please tell him the Village People called and they want them back.

Murder Ballads

Murder Ballads will be a three-part piece featuring commentary/opinion from Matthew LaChiusa, Eric "Butch" Evinczik and Jason "Wheezer" Von Klaw.

We all know the ballad. Man or woman is jilted, kills their partner, buries them in a shallow-grave and is caught by the Sheriff eventually to be hung from a Live-Oak tree.

This is the Murder Ballad and this genre of folklore has been with us since the Bible recorded Cain taking down Abel, yet despite the centuries of cultural relevancy, literature on the subject cannot pin-point the exact origins of the Murder Ballad.

Sources I have researched, including the online Wikipedia, the Cambridge University Press "Victorian Literature and Culture" and Olive Burt's "Western Folklore" point to the sixteenth-century as the beginnings of this ballad form.

There are literary indications that Murder Ballads may have their origins in Scandinavia, the British Isles and the American colonies, but no source can credit a country or culture with giving birth to this distinct ballad form.

Now to clarify, Traditional Ballads been around for centuries with every country having some form of the spoken or sung folktale rooted in some type of oral tradition gone to mythology or legend. These ballads, much like their oral tradition forefathers, were handed from one generation to the next. Each time the tale undergoes changes in names and location.

Murder Ballads are akin to Traditional Ballad, but are not one of it's descendants.

"LITTLE SADIE"

IS AN AMERICAN MURDER BALLAD FROM THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY.

THE EARLIEST WRITTEN RECORD OF "LITTLE SADIE" DATES TO 1922 AND THE FIRST AUDIO RECORDING WAS MADE

BY NORTH CAROLINA OLD-TIME MUSICIAN CLARENCE "TOM" ASHLEY IN 1930. THE MURDER IN THE ST

ORY TOOK PLACE IN NORTH CAROLINA, WITH THE SHERIFF FROM THOMASVILLE

APPREHENDING THE KILLER IN JERICHO, WHICH IS POSSIBLY NEAR CHARLESTON, SC.

Their history is connected to the birth of the printing press and the introduction to European countries of a one-page news-of-the-day handouts called Broadsheets.

Initially these pamphlets provided folks with up-to-date news (a sixteen-century form of Tweeter) but soon this cheaply printed courier began to contain poems, rhymes and, eventually, ballads.

Eventually the term Broadsheet Ballad (also known as "Roadsheets") identified the form of this media, containing, according to A N Bold's The Ballad (Routledge 1975, pp. 5), "Tales of antiquity...that frequently crossed national and cultural boundaries."

Some tastes never go out of style in that Broadsheet ballads featuring murder, mayhem and punishment sold more copies. Soon Europeans from Scandinavia to Ireland were taking in ballads of avenging jilted lovers, cruel sisters and murderous ghosts.

"PSYCHO" WAS WRITTEN IN 1957 BY PAT PATTERSON BETTER KNOW AS SINGER / SONGWRITER LEON PAYNE. PAYNE NEVER RECORDED THE SONG BUT MADE IT CLEAR THAT ANOTHER MUSICIAN CAN RECORD IT AFTER HIS DEATH. THE VERSION YOU HEAR IS EDDIE NOACK 1968 RECORDED VERSION.

When American colonists settled the New World they brought the practice of Broadsheets as well as the Homeland fascination with ballads of murder, crime and punishment. Curiously enough the Americanization of these Murder Ballads changed the names and place to regional identification. Wikipedia points out that the Murder Ballad, "Knoxville Girl is essentially the same ballad as The Wexford Girl with the setting transposed from Ireland to Tennessee."

Additionally American versions of European Murder Ballads removed supernatural elements from the story instead implementing relationships and consequences between individuals as the main focus of the ballad. Wikipedia references the difference between the 1750 English ballad The Gosport Tragedy featuring a ghost of a mother and her unborn baby avenging her death and the Kentucky Murder Ballad, Pretty Polly, with a cruel murder ending in the victim's burial in a shallow grave.

As America expanded West, Murder Ballads followed along the settlers. By the eighteenth-century, Old World anti-heroes were being replaced by tales of New World murderers and their deeds. Numerous Murder Ballads of folk-heroes were created; however, the lack of printing-presses limited the recording of these infamous deeds. Olive W. Burt points out in The Minstrelsy of Murder (Oxford University Press, 1958), "With printing facilities scarce...these items were not published while others saw fame only briefly in the columns of the local newspapers."

Burt also points out that because of this lack of printing-presses, many Pretty Pollys or Little Sadies were lost because of the oral tradition of passing these stories along died-out when those who remember the tales also expired.

THIS VERSION PRETTY POLLY IS PREFORMED BY DOCK BOGGS, WHO IS CONSIDERED BY CONTEMPORARY FOLK MUSICIANS AS ONE OF AMERICA'S GREATEST OLD-TIME MUSIC PLAYERS. BOGGS ALSO STANDS OUT FOR HIS UNIQUE COMBINING OF APPALACHIAN FOLK MUSIC AND AFRICAN-AMERICAN BLUES.

By the twentieth-century, Murder Ballads were well-rooted in the American music landscape. Contemporary musicians including Bob Dylan, Elvis Presley and Mississippi John Hurt strummed stories of murder and mayhem on their six-strings. In 1958, the Kingston Trio sold nearly 4 million copies of their version of Tom Dooley.

More modern releases in the 1990's featured Nick Cave's Murder Ballads, Kristen Hersh's (of Throwing Muses fame) album Murder, Misery and Then Goodnight among other releases of the genre by modern musicians including Tom Waits, 16 Horsepower, Violent Femmes and the Pine Valley Cosmonauts.

Since the very first Neanderthal Frankie brained her caveman Johnny for doing her wrong and someone told their story, the Murder Ballad has been part of cultural fabric for centuries. The evolution of this folkloric genre is truly unique in that although the subject is very base, the fascination with murder and the consequences is ever intriguing and enduring.

Perhaps society takes solace in the punishment and/or redemption of these immortal anti-heroes with a lesson to be learned. Perhaps there is a morbid streak in each of us that is only satisfied when we hear these ballads. Whichever the case may be, Murder Ballads will continue to survive and, most likely, with some changes in names and places, will be around for centuries to come.

So, hang your head, Tom Dooley, your bound to die.

Forever.

Matthew LaChiusa is lead-singer for Dick Whisky. The band covers Leon Payne's "Psycho" and recently recorded it on their album "Drunkard's Lullaby".

Whiskey Dawn Summer Tour

Much to the chagrin of all the sun-worshipers, margarita sippers and DWhisks' followers, summer is in its last month and with it the Whiskey Dawn Summer Tour is coming to an end.

C'mon , you know all good things can't last.

Chin-up, Buckaroo, sure the days are getting shorter but Dick Whiskey ain't packing it in. No sir, the band is planning to keep this going throughout the year.

In the works is another EP of recorded originals, a Halloween party and return gigs to some of DWhisks' favorite spots, The Elmwood Lounge, Mojo's Music Bar and the Vault with future gigs in the making at the Tudor Lounge and Nietzsche's.

Before you know it, May will roll around and its onto the next Summer Tour.

We're taking suggestions for tour names, got any?

Onto the updates.

Dick Whiskey's final two Summer Tour gigs were on opposite sides of the rock 'n' roll spectrum. This is what one expects when entering into the Buffalo Infringement Festival.

The first scheduled show was an acoustic set at the newly established hipster gallery, The Vault. The set best exhibited the softer side of Dick Whiskey with Mystic, Pleather and Reverend easing along in a "dreamy" state (just go with it).

It was a daytime gig with a modest turnout of folks. I would say it was a combination of a deluge, Saturday afternoon laziness and the gig being before sunset.

You see a majority of our followers are vampires and this was a daytime gig. We didn't promote this one as much as the others because we didn't want to turn some of our followers into dust.

Anyhoo, the band made friends with funkette owner, Amanda and certainly all look forward to the band doing some more acoustic sets, preferably in the evening for our living dead friends, at The Vault.

The second show of the Buffalo Infringement Festival was at another timeless classic Buffalo Bar, Nietzsche's for the closing ceremonies of the festival.

I love this bar.

The band set up at 8 pm and was ready to roll, finding the opportunity to do so at 9 pm (classic BIF scheduling). Armed with a full, electric lineup the band played one of its most rockin' sets in the Whiskey Dawn Tour, prompting the Rock 'n' Rock Messiah, Butch Audacity to claim, "You guys rocked."

45 minutes later, the band wrapped up the set with an audio BANG (and the looming, threatening gaze of Eric Starchild), putting an nice exclamation point to a great summer tour.

Many thanks to those who came out to see the band do their thing. We appreciate the shots of whiskey and the support throughout the summer tour. This is a one-person-at-a-time fan base and we mightily appreciate this loyal following. So much that the next time we see you, drinks are on T-Bone!

Dick Whiskey is taking an August hiatus but plans to be back in September with some new material and the same ol' attitude. Trust us, we ain't going away.

Hope to see y'all around.

Two Nights & Whiskey Dawn

Urrgggh.

Okay, think I've have had enough rest over the last few days to sit in front of the screen without my eyes getting blurry to keep the Whiskey Bottle rollin'.

The Whiskey Dawn Summer tour continues to march with the DWhisks playing back-to-back gigs in hometown Buffalo, NY.

I have to say it is an honor and privilege to play at the club Lance Diamond built, The Elmwood Lounge. As soon as you walked in, there was this certain antiquity that spoke as clear as the mirrored dance floor. The place has an energy, and don't want to get too Shirley McClain on you, that brings out the entertainment spirit of those who walk the hallow parkay dance floor.

First up in the evening was a long-time friend from Fredonia NY, Mickey Dead. He strummed out his blend of acoustic Sid Barrett means Bob Dylan until his fingers began to catch on the strings. Not sure what this meant but he was done for the evening. The DWhisks appreciated his efforts and look forward to playing out with him again after his fingers heal and the blood transfusion takes hold.

Next in line was the talented Megan Callahan who brought her unholy cast of Macbeth to hear her brand of Americana folk-rock music. Being the show person she is, Megan did a fine job keeping folks entertained and drinking at the bar. She finished her set sometime after midnight with the bar patrons electrified for more music.

DWhisks went on at Midnight or so and played two of our best sets in the tour. The band had a blast, those who stayed with us until 3 AM danced and loved the music, and the whiskey kept flowing. A special Whiskey Bottle shout out to our friends Michael Wrona, Val Dunne, the black dude and his girlfriend that jived to to music all night and our old friend, Tom Doeseckle aka Rusty Jack.

Highlights of the evening included a well placed "That's what she said" by the legendary Lance Diamond with the low point being me spilling beer in one of our fan's lap.

Afterwards off the DWhisks went to Bob Rich's man-cave for more music, hamburgers and beer. Emerging from the cave at 5:30 am, it truly became the Whiskey Dawn tour. In hindsight, it was crazy to stay out all night considering we had another late-night gig at Club Diablo, but its all part of becoming immortal rock-stars, ain't it?

Club Diablo is the type of place Dick Whiskey belongs. The concept, the house of Satan and his evil vices, the stainless-steel bathrooms, and as many tattoos and body piercings as a carny working the Erie County Fair.

I just don't think the clientele belongs there.

Supposing after coming from the high of the Elmwood Lounge my expectations of playing this bar were set a tad too lofty. Don't get me wrong, I was grateful to The Pillagers for asking us to play in the evening and the band played one of the tightest sets to date. Overall, the gig was great for Dick Whiskey.

Sometimes you get that feeling that a great set with all the effort, sweat and work, gets wasted on a crowd? Kinda like "great music, wrong place".

Or as our illustrious Mystic Cowboy, Bob Kupczyk says, "It is what it is".

The DWhisks will be in action for the Buffalo Infringement Festival. One of the gigs will be an acoustic set, sort of the softer side of Dick Whiskey. Hope to see y'all there!

The Big D Lesson in Life

Well, my oh my, life is full of slippery ice and warm beer. And so it goes with the DWhisks' venture into Dunkirk for the Big D's Boogie Woogie Divorce Party.

To be honest, I kept waiting by the phone all day to hear if the shindig was cancelled due to the deluge of rain that cooled things off faster than an ugly nun. The phonecall never came and so the boys and I made another road trip into Chautauqua county.

After the GPS wound us through the beautiful grape vineyards and hints of aromatic piles of cow manure, we pulled up to the Big D's farm house out on Newell Road (should have known, eh?) and lo and behold, the garage where the Boogie Woogie was being held. Bro Thomas leans to me and promptly asked, "Is this the right place?" With a reluctant nod and spying Big D, I told him this was the place.

Now this is where I am trying, oh Lord, I am trying to learn those lessons that keep hitting me upside the head like baseballs caught-up in a hurricane breeze.

I am willing to go out on a limb and say Big D may not have expected us. I say this because of the sparsely populated "woogie" of all things "boogie". My first instinct was to flee under the guise of irritated bowel syndrome, BUT we drove an hour for the purpose of playing music. And so we set up our equipment and got ready to play to a crowd of 12 or so.

Then it dawned on me. It doesn't matter if the crowd is 12 or 1200. Its spirit of Rock 'n' Roll that matters. In this spirit is the idea of having fun, playing music you enjoy and sharing it with the other "woogies".

What also mattered was that the Big D wanted us there to play music to celebrate his divorce. Of course some of you may look at his reason for throwing a party as a way of lifting the middle-finger, but it was his party and he was crying if he wanted to (or drinking like a dehydrated sperm whale). The point is that Dick Whiskey setup the equipment, fired up the instruments and put on one helluva of a great show.

Afterwards, an acquaintance pulled me aside and said the gig was great. He told me this is what its all about, why we do those creative things. He went further in this by saying each one of the band members showed the creative reflection of themselves and this was embodied through the music we played.

Maybe this is true. Maybe he had too much to drink as well.

So pass the point of learning and 3 AM blog posting, I simply want say thank you to Big D for the opportunity to come down there and play for your party. We had a blast.

In the Merry Land of Oz

Okay, so the Whiskey Dawn Summer Tour has commenced and the boys and I are feeling just right about the direction of things to come.

The opening night of the tour began at one of our favorite gigs, Mojo's Music Bar, located in the strange, in an amusing way, city of Jamestown, NY. Now I love this town the same way one loves watching salt disintegrate a snail, so the gig proved to another decent welcome from the bar folks with the boys and I making friends with the other band slated for the evening, The Cobra Brothers.

Guess they were a bit confused with our name cause they kept calling us "Whiskey Dick." It happens. My momma used to called it "performance pressure."

Anyhoo, they liked our sound and we liked their "Blink 182" ala pop-punk original music. It made for a good musical evening. I think Bob "Pleather" Rich even bought a couple

of CD's from them.

Bob Kupczyk (on the right with Bob Rich) wore his fancy gig shirt (as seen in this photo). He was very proud of it and he told us it kinda made him feel like he was Superman (or was it Clark Kent). It must have worked because he had the bartender, Brandy, smiling at him like he was the cutest bedbug in the bar.

Bro Thomas and I had the opportunity to drive to the gig and back. Not only did we gorge ourselves on the disgusting food-things of McDonald's TWICE but shot the moon at our co-horts on the thruway.

We also stopped by a dive somewhere between Fredonia and Jamestown called "The Whiskey Saloon" in attempts to get a future gig. I mean the place had the right name for us and, judging by some of the Internet pictures, it looked like a perfect place for the DWhisks to play.

Entering in it seemed relatively safe with a few folks wearing cowboys hats and such. Bro Thomas and I went to the bar to find out who we could chat with about getting a gig. The skanky bartender looked at us and went on attending some other folks in the sparely seated bar.

We waited for her to come over and ask us what we wanted. Well...we waited. And waited. Finally, Bro Thomas says to me "We ain't gonna get served so let's leave," and so we did.

I'm gonna chalk that one up to the old traditional "We don't serve your kind around here".

With the first gig down and out, everyone got home safe and sound to which we jammed at Bob Rich's house until 4 am. It was a great way to put a capper in the evening's ass.

Next gig we got is the Big D Boogie Woogie Divorce Party on July 9th. This will be another road-trip to the Chautauqua area as Dick Whiskey heads to Dunkirk, NY. The band is honored to celebrate our bud, David Blogette's independence through rock 'n' roll, hotroads, beer and roller-derby chicks.

Hope to see y'all there