August 2009 News

Page updated on August 31, 2009

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Wow!! What a week it's been!! The five show stretch began a very special lunch time gig at Hopkins Plaza as part of the Downtown Partnership's First Thursday Series. What made is so special was that we got o share the stage with Mr. (Dominic) Selvi's Forest Lake Jazz Ensemble. You all may remember "Nick" as the band's longtime " reedman extraordinaire". Fortunately for his students, he brings the same talent, commitment, and enthusiasm to his current role as teacher and mentor to his students. Composed primarily of fifth graders and below, (with a couple of middle school alumni thrown in for good measure). It was pure joy watching these young musicians experience playing their first show on the "big" stage. The crowd really had a great time but no one had more fun watching these kids than we did. Those kids were a tough act to follow. Congrats Nick. Even bigger kudos are in order for Nick and his new bride Melanie who are expecting their first child.

Friday night continued the "firsts" theme as we made our debut at Cancun Cantina West. Jennifer and her crew have the premier entertainment complex in the state west of the Bay. They treated us like kings and we a great show. Can't wait to go back. On Saturday the them continued as we held court at Fort Gordon in Augusta, GA. Terrific sound system .. the royal treatment again and the opportunity to give a lil' something to the soldiers and their families who sacrifice much and enable us to live in a diverse, democratic and free society. Speaking of the "Bay", Sunday we made the long ride north to OC and Cowboyz and shared the stage with Nuke the Soup [whose line up that night included our former drummer, Spencer "Sweet Chocolate" Brown; Freddie's former bass teacher, Jimmy Charlesen and also his former Cubic Feet band mate and "Nuke" founder, Mark Davison. We still weren't finished however and concluded the long weekend (for us) with one last performance at the Army BOSS Conference which was held in Leesburg, VA. Five shows in five days up and down the Southern East Coast . Whew.

This weekend things are a little calmer as the band makes it's first appearance in the Raleigh-Durham area in over five years when we hit the stage for the Cary, NC installment of the Great Grapes Wine Festival. We look for forward to bringing back the Phat Blues to the Research Triangle area after a long absence. Hope everyone has a fun and safe weekend whatever you do. See ya next week. Peace.

Dear KELLY BELL BAND,

I am the mother of Douglas and Paige (pictured on either side of Kelly Bell in the first photo). You are all so thoughtful to have taken the time from your performance to allow Nick Selvi's elementary school's Jazz Band the opportunity to play on YOUR stage today. My children enjoyed this experience so much and it was made better by the positive interaction and attention that each of you so patiently gave to the children. That, my friends, builds life long memories and only reinforces the necessity and unity of music in each of our lives. Feel free to post any of these photos that I took this afternoon.

Sincerely,
Kelly
(Mom and music lover)

See more of Kelly's photos her Photo Gallery

The last two weeks have seen us mostly seaside ... at The PIt (Nags Head), Cowboyz (OC) and Quiet Waters Park (Annapolis) with a visit inland to Bunker (Leesburg, VA) thrown in for good measure. The shows were great and we covered a lot of ground getting to them but this week .... well let's just say we'll be hitting the road in a big way.

We start out Thursday with a rare show, both for actually being in town and also for being a lunch time event, with for our annual stint at the city's First Thursdays series as the first part of an afternoon/evening concert bill. We play at Hopkins Plaza and the afternoon concert takes place in Mt. Vernon. Friday it's out I-70 to mid western MD and our first time at Cancun Cantina West, though we've often played at the MD,. We have a lot of fans between Frederick and Washington counties and the surrounding areas so we're looking for it to be a real good time in Hagerstown.

Then the trip really gets into high gear as we leave home for a few days and head straight to August , GA and Fort Gordon to play the phatblues for the heroes there. This is a new region for us and there'll be a lot of well ... lets say ... "uninitiated" there who plan on converting to the cause shall we say. We are always honored and humbled to play for those who sacrifice so much so the rest of us can lead "normal" lives. From there it's all the way back to the Eastern shore to split the bIll at Cowboyz OC with our friends in Nuke the Soup. We top it all of with a final show in Leesburg at the Army Boss Conference and some more quality time with our service folks. So it's a rare 5-spot on the KBB calendar this week (though later this month we have a run of eight shows in six days comin'). Do what you can to catch one. You'll be glad ya did. Peace to all. See ya!!