One Eyed Parrot Updates

Another Boot Knockin’ and Butt Rockin’ Night

2012-03-03T10:39:00.000-05:00

Radio Ranch

It was another Boot Knockin’ and Butt Rockin’ night with the One Eyed Parrot Dance Club.

We had close to 40 folks show up for the lessons with additional friends coming in as the night went on. It was a busy lesson night and we started off by reviewing Baby Dance with Me (L) Played a few times last night to a chorus of women screaming “We Want Olly!”

(If you haven’t seen Olly yet you can Check him out HERE ) We then taught JeffersonExpress (P) and then taught A Wind Up (L) ( Errors on Video steps 17-20) and Something Fine (P) (Which we dance to Love Done Gone by Billy Currington). We even managed to fit in a very quick review of Wild at Heart to the song by the same name from Glorianna. (Nailed it. Restarts and all!)

For our entertainment pleasure Radio Ranch was back in Chicopee keeping the energy level high and keeping us on the floor till closing! These guys really make it happen. Like JP Said this morning

“ Another super night last night with Radio Ranch at the AMVETS in Chicopee. It's so great to look around on the dance floor and see so many couples doing partner dances. Makes the place look like a country dance club. “

Well, That’s the goal… ;)

It was nice to see our new friends Nicole and Glenn back, great to see how well all our new dancers are progressing. BTW Janet (Out with knee surgery) asked us to do a little grapevine for her last night and we want her to know we did more than a few. ;) get that leg strong and get back to see us.

See ya’ll Friday. Have a great week!

Dancing with the Ranch (Radio Ranch)

2012-02-04T09:27:00.002-05:00

Another good night with 30+ dancers on the floor for the lessons! We started off with a review of “MEAN” and the taught “Love is Better”, a new dance from Dan Albro (Mishnock Barn) to the song “Better Than That” by American Idols own Scotty McCreery. A LOT of good feedback on this one. It’s a fast but fun dance to a great song, there's no tags, and no restarts. ( and we’ll know it when we go to Mishnock. Yeah! ) For the couples lessons we taught the classic “Sweetheart Stroll” to the number one song on the Media Base Music Chart, “I Don't Want This Night To End by Luke Bryan” Another great song, gives this dance a nice feel. Click on the songs and take a listen!

To entertain us, our good friends Radio Ranch were back in Chicopee laying down those great dancing beats to keep us going till closing! What a great band! We missed Jim but it was good to see Penny & Kristen out and about and didja notice Kristen learned some couples dances? She got to do one with her Grandfather, how cool was that to see?

It was great to have our new dancers back and see how quickly they’re picking up the dances, nice people and great additions to the group! Good to have Diane and Kathleen out on the floor again this week (Great Dancers) and you had to see Jennifer at the end of the night throw off her coat and run to the floor when one of her favorite dances came on. (One More Dance Syndrome in action), yup she’s one of us! Nice to have, John & Sue, Roger & Sophie and our other new couples back.

We were really happy to get to see Janet out dancing one last time before Knee surgery. Good Luck, get better and get back.. ;) We didn’t get to see our house leprechaun and good luck charm Sheila last night (Normally stands to my left during the lessons) but she wanted me to tell everyone she couldn’t be there last night because of a family commitment but will see everyone next week. See ya’ll on the 10^th. Have a great week!

A Night to Remember!

2012-01-31T09:42:00.001-05:00

Last Friday we had the pleasure of welcoming back one of the finest modern country bands in New England, TRUE WEST!! What a fun night it was!! The floor was packed for the lessons and we did a whirl wind of reviews, walk-throughs and new teaches to songs that we know the band plays to ensure everyone could get up and dance.

They started out with a strong uptempo beat and kept it going all night long with songs like, Down in Mississippi - It Happens - Stuck Like Glue - Mean - Jambalaya - You Belong with Me - Cowboy Casanova - Suds in a Bucket - Act Naturally - Drink in My Hand.....etc, etc, etc... To say they were good would be an understatement, they were outstanding! Excellent artists, musicians and great stand-up people. We're glad to be able to count them as friends...

TRUE WEST... BACK AT THE AMVETS!!!

2012-01-23T17:57:00.004-05:00

This Friday, January the 27th John, Tommy, Jim, Laura, & Allyn will be making the trek West to keep you up and dancing to your favorite country Hits ALL NIGHT LONG!! Yes indeed TRUE WEST will be back in town after a much too long absence, playing your favorite country dance tunes. If you have never seen True West you're in for a treat! If you have, you know what a great time we have every time these guys come to town!

* Down in Mississippi and Up to No Good - Up to No Good
* It Happens - Sugar Kane
* Mean - Mean
* Jackson - Jambalaya
* Perfect Love - Heads or Tails
* You Belong with Me - You Belong with Me
*  Cowboy Casanova - Cowboy Casanova
*  Suds in a Bucket - Suds in a Bucket
*  Act Naturally - Love Trick
*  Drink in My Hand - Drink in My Hand.....

Just to name a few.... In order to maximize the fun we'll be teaching beginners line & Partner dances to songs they Play. See Ya there!!

Bi-Weekly OEP Update!!! (... I been goofing off )

2012-01-23T16:46:00.001-05:00

New Dancers & Whiskey Hill 1/20/12

Whiskey Hill was back at the AMVETS last Friday, mixing it up with a combination of Classic & Contemporary Country with a litter R&R mixed in. There was a good sized crowd overall and we had a full floor for the lessons. BTW we HAVE NEVER had this many beginners at one time for the lessons!! (Again with the HOW COOL IS THAT!) Good dancers (Picked up quick) and nice people. Great additions to the dance crew! We kept the teaches mostly beginners reviewing Heads or Tails & Let it Roll let it Ride then taught Little Squirt and the intermediate Partner Dance Six Pack Summer for the couples who showed up in force as well.

OEP Country Night 1/13/12!! YEAH!!

We kicked off the 1st OEP Country Dance night of the year on January 14th!. Another fun night of all request dancing all night long at Chicopee AMVETS. These nights really give us the time needed to teach an extra dance or two or spend a little more time reviewing the more difficult dances. We started the new lessons with a dance to a song that's currently topping the charts"Drink in My Hand" and taught the "Wichita Waltz" for the couples dance. Speaking of couples we're getting more and more couples showing up every week for the lessons. How cool is that?? It's great to see the floor with with couples EVERY SINGLE week. Next OEP Night is March 9th so mark your calendars.

What a Great Way to Start 2012!!

2012-01-07T11:14:00.001-05:00

RADIO RANCH

We really kicked off 2012 in style at the AMVETS, packing the place for the one and only RADIO RANCH! Joe, Justin, Matt, Jim and Art started the night out strong with a good upbeat tempo and kept us all up and dancing till closing! We had 30+ people on the floor for the line dance lessons and at some points of the night we had so many Partner dancers on the floor that people had to start a second circle in the middle. (How cool is that, Right?) It was a Outstanding night with High Energy and of course our regular "Party Crowders" and friends we don't get to see every week, Dave & Shelly, Gert & Guy, Rita & Ron, Denise, Diane from Canada, Kristen .....etc etc etc.. forgive me for not mentioning everybody!

For the lessons we reviewed the intermediate Line Dance that we taught on 12/30 "Don't Drink the Water" by Rachel McEnaney to the song by the same name by Brad Paisley and Blake Shelton. Got a lot of nice feedback on this one. We also reviewed the "Argentine Cha Cha" "As a partner dance, not a mixer" to "Trying to get to New Orleans" by the Tractors. (What a Cool Song!) Since we knew we were going to have a few more beginners join us for the lessons, we taught two beginner dances "Let it Roll, Let it Ride" and "Heads or Tails" which they did a great job of picking up. (This was evident by the smiles on their faces as they were able to dance them during the band break.) Good dancers and very nice people. We also taught the partner dance Jambalaya which goes EXCELLENT to Radio Ranch's version of "Hey Good Looking". Radio Ranch will be back on Feb 3rd so mark your calendars!

What a Great Night!!

2011-12-18T12:13:00.001-05:00

Everyone was in a festive mood last Friday for our last get together before Christmas and we had a great time as always with Radio Ranch! We didn't charge for the lessons as a Christmas Thank You for everyone supporting the club throughout the year. We Retaught "Footloose Again" and Dan Albro's partner dance "Jackson Strait" and for the 2nd week in a row the floor was absolutely filled for the partner lessons. Nice to see so many couples out dancing. We also got to celebrate Doreen's birthday! Thanks to all who came and make it one she wouldn't forget. Thanks also to everyone that brought in something for our Vets at the Soldiers home. You guys rock! Remember No Lessons on the 23rd, our next date is December 30th so we'll see you there. Have a Very Merry Christmas!

They're back.........

2011-12-14T14:19:00.000-05:00

Radio Ranch.

That's Right, RADIO RANCH

is back at the Chicopee AMVETS this Friday December 16th! Join us at 6:30 for a review of last weeks lessons and then all request dancing until 8 PM when we get to Dance to the Ranch!

This is our last date before Christmas so lets celebrate. Speaking of Christmas, Please consider taking a second to remember our Vets in the Soldiers home and bring some thing in off the Soldiers Home Wish List so they know they aren't forgotten. If you're interested in helping , this Friday is the last day to donate.

Dec 9th at the Chicopee AMVETS!

2011-12-10T11:46:00.000-05:00

What a Fun night!

It's was great to see everyone out having a good time before everything gets crazy for Christmas. We had a good group for the line lessons and filled the floor for the couples lessons. Speaking of lessons, we started off with a review of Alabama Slamming (Which BTW ) we're getting a lot of positive feedback on and then taught the Beginners couple dance Jamblya. We followed up with a teach of the high/beginners dance Footloose Again to the remake of Footloose by Blake Shelton and then did a teach of Dan Albro's Jackson Strait. The rest of the night we kept the beat uptempo, mixing it up with a a combo of all request Line and partner dances till closing. It's was great to get to dance with so many friends we haven't seen in a while as well as our friends we look forward to partying with every week. Silver & Gold, you guys Rock!

Last Friday at the AMVETS!! Stratos

2011-12-04T09:44:00.000-05:00

STRATOS

If you missed last Friday, you missed a great performance by Stratos at the Chicopee AMVETS. They started out with a hard driving up beat tempo never let up, keeping us up and dancing all night long! The female lead (Erica) sounded great and did a great rendition of Sin Wagon and even impressed us with her ability to not only line dance during the performance but to learn new dances while doing so. The band was down to earth and enjoyed performing and it showed.

This Friday December 2nd - Dance Lessons & STRATOS!!

2011-11-27T11:50:00.000-05:00

This coming Friday a local Country band called Stratos is playing the Chicopee AMVETS.

Click on their name above to go to their website and check out some of their music samples. I think you'll like what you find!

For the lessons this week we'll review the dances we taught on the 25th and then teach a new Beginners Line and couples dance.

Last Friday was AWESOME!!

2011-11-27T11:24:00.000-05:00

What a Great turnout!

Last Friday 70+ dancers turned out to work off that Thankgiving Turkey and dance the night away to a decidedly uptempo and primarily Country dance mix!

The floor was packed for the lessons and we reviewed the November dances and also taught a Beginner, Intermediate & Couples Lesson. It was great seeing everyone doing all our favorite dances and we even got a chance to celebrate Val's 29th Birthday again. Our next One Eyed Parrot Dance night is December 9th, so mark your calendars!

November 25th - One Eyed Parrot Line & Partner Dance Night!!

2011-11-14T14:50:00.001-05:00

It's Back!!! The last OEP Dance Night packed the house and got Rave reviews; check ‘em out!!

THIS NOVEMBER 25th at the Chicopee AMVETS

Bring your friends, bring your husbands, bring your friends husbands, but whatever you do don’t miss the chance to kick up your heels and party like Country Rock Stars to your favorite dance tunes. The fun starts at 6:30 with open dancing and then a brief review of the line and couples dances taught in November.

At about 7:15 we’ll kick the night off with a beginners lesson (Here's your chance to bring your friends that always wanted to learn.) followed by an intermediate line dance teach and topped off with a fun couples lesson! After the lessons, you’ll be dancing all night to our ALL Request playlist!

A fun filled night with something for everyone!
• November Line dance Reviews
• Beginners Lesson
• Intermediate Lesson
• Couples Lesson
• All Request Playlist till closing

All for only $8.00

See Ya there!!!

Veterans Day Rocked @ the Chicopee AMVETS!

2011-11-14T14:10:00.001-05:00

What a AWESOME Night & great way to celebrate Veterans day!

Radio Ranch was back at the Chicopee AMVETS last Friday, and they put out an excellent blend of country standards & top 40 country.

The place was packed and the energy these guys put out was infectous which made for a great night. Justin's rendition of one of my favorites, Private Malone was timely and outstanding.

For the lessons we reviewed the Couples dance Something Fine which we danced to "Love Done Gone" and then taught the New Line Dance Sweet Love to the Lady A song, "Singing Me Home". For the new couples dance we taught Screwalada on the Beach to Jerrod Niemans hit "One More Drinking Song". Don't Forget, Radio Ranch will be back at the AMETS on Dec 16th so mark it down!

UPDATE!! Met with the Bar Manager for the AMVETS and secured new dates for 2012. Going forward, in addition to holding lessons before every country band, we're also going to have a One Eyed Parrot Line & Couples Dance night 1 Friday a Month! YEAH BUDDY!! More Bands being booked as I type as well!!!!!

Next Dance is November 25th. The day after Thanksgiving!!

See ya there. We'll work off the Turkey and Mash Potato's with some Great Country Dance Tunes!

STAY TUNED!!!!!

2011-11-04T15:29:00.000-04:00

OEP's have 3 Fridays in November at the Chicopee AMVETS - Check Em Out!

November 4th 6:30 - Line Dance Lessons followed by Live Country Music with Whiskey Hill at the Chicopee AMVETS

November 11th 6:30 - Line Dance Lessons followed by Live Country Music with Radio Ranch at the Chicopee AMVETS

November 25th 6:30 - 11:00 One Eyed Parrot Country Dance Night Teaching & DJ'ing at the Chicopee AMVETS - Line & Couples lessons and Dancing.

December 9th 6:30 - 11:00 One Eyed Parrot Country Dance Night Teaching & DJ'ing at the Chicopee AMVETS - Line & Couples lessons and Dancing.

December 16th 6:30 - Line Dance Lessons followed by Live Country Music with Radio Ranch at the Chicopee AMVETS

Friday October 7th

2011-10-08T15:46:00.003-04:00

Had a GOOD TIME with Radio Ranch at the Chicopee AMVETS last night. The guys sounded terrific as always and they were having a fun time on stage which is always infectious.

For the line dance we did a re-teach of "Bouncing off the Walls" since the band does that song and taught a great new couples dance by Mishnocks own Dan Albro called ( Something Fine ). We taught it to the orginal song but everyone loved it to Billy Currington's recent hit Love Done Gone which fits it perfectly. I guess folks REALLY like this song! When they heard it they we're running to the floor. Next Scheduled event at the AMVETS is November 11th so mark your calendars!

See ya on the Floor

It's Friday!!

2011-10-07T05:45:00.000-04:00

Line and Couple Lessons starting at 6:30

http://www.oneeyedparrot.org/radio_ranch.html

Sept 16th Rocked!!!

2011-10-02T10:07:00.000-04:00

We kicked off the Fall Line Dancing season in true Parrot style, packing the place and staying till closing! Radio Ranch rocked the house as always (and though we missed Jim) they kept everyone up and dancing all night long!

For the lessons we taught Dan Albro's couples dance Sweet Delights and the Line Dance Walking Away as well as reviewing Love Joann which we like to dance to Long Way to Go by Alan Jackson.

His Self

It was great to see everyone back at the AMVETS after the summer break and we even got to celebrate Billy's Birthday!!

WAHOO!! We secured 2 additional Fridays in November & December for County Line & Couples dancing with yours truly playing your favorite line and couples music all night long. We'll be teaching 3 dances on those nights, 1 Beginners. 1 Intermediate & 1 Couples dance so between the all request playlist and the multiple lessons you'll definitely be getting your moneys worth.

The best part of the night for me however was having the honor of presenting Tieri with the $1,520 everyone contributed to help him out after the remnants of hurricane Irene devastated his home and vehicle.

For those that don't know the story, or what Tieri was doing during the storm, check it out on YouTube at the link below..

BTW Tieri has sworn to get me back for the speech... heh heh heh

Tieri's youtube video

Gale County @ the Hartford County 4-H Fair

2011-08-20T14:45:00.001-04:00

August 20th Don't Miss 'Em!! See Ya There

2011-08-20T14:41:00.000-04:00

Hampton Beach was Awesome!!

Besides the fact that we had great weather, ( Did I mention we were at the beach? ;) ) It was great to See True West (Who never sounded better) and of course Angela West! Great time, Great place, Great friends!!

Upcoming One Eyed Parrot Events

2011-05-23T05:15:00.001-04:00

June 3rd 6:30 - Lessons followed by Live Country Music with Radio Ranch at the Chicopee AMVETS

July 23rd - Country Camping Weekend at Partridge Hollow. Line Dance lessons with the One Eyed parrots followed by a Beef Roast and Live Country Music with Angela West and Showdown.

August 18th - Summer Fun Road trip to Hampton Beach! Live Country Music with True West.

What a Great Time at Mishnock!!!

2011-05-01T16:06:00.000-04:00

WHAT A NIGHT!!! 22 OEP's made the trek to Rhode Island for a great night of Fun, Dancing and General Mischief .

As always Dan & Kelly Albro were superb host and made us all feel welcome (As did the locals) The place was packed and they played a real good mix of Line and couples dances.

We closed the place down after midnight with Dan giving us a quick and impromptu teach of his dance Cowboy Town,which BTW every single OEP nailed on the first go round (You guys are awesome!) . If you don't know this one yet learn it , it really ROCKS. BTW so do Dan & Kelly, many thanks to them for providing a wonderful night in Rhode Island.

2011-04-17T09:13:00.001-04:00

Next 2 OEP Events

April 30th - Roadtrip to Mishnock Barn (See Flyer Below)

May 6th 6:30 - Lessons followed by Live Country Music with Radio Ranch at the Chicopee AMVETS

All weeks with no events scheduled the One Eyed Parrot’s will be dancing with our Friend Vance at Ichabods on Thursday’s

Coming Up - Mishnock Barn Road Trip APRIL 30th

2011-04-03T08:27:00.003-04:00

Click Pic Once,Twice or Three Times to Zoom in!

WOW!!! What an AWESOME TIME LAST FRIDAY!!!

2011-04-03T08:17:00.001-04:00

This Friday April 1st

2011-03-30T06:59:00.001-04:00

Lots of COOL things coming YOUR way!

2011-02-27T15:38:00.006-05:00

FIRST - NEW COUNTRY DANCE NIGHTS (Still on Fridays)

Although the AMVETS have decided to stop hosting country bands themselves, the One Eyed Parrots have been able to secure the hall on many Friday Nights that weren't already booked for April, May and June. Starting in April we will be holding lessons from 7:00PM - 8:30 PM with Randy DJ'ing your Favorite Country and Line Dance hits until 11:00PM. We're will be using the proceeds from the dance lessons to hire live bands as the funds allow. So......the more folks that attend the lessons the quicker we have the money to hire live bands! (Check out the Schedule HERE)

SECOND - New Lessons Offerings!!!!

Yup! That's Right. One of the cool things we're really excited about is our new lesson format! Starting on Friday April 1st, 2011 (No Joke) we will be teaching beginners, intermediate and couples lessons!! Over the past 6 years we have had SO MANY people come up to us and ask if we had beginners lessons. We always had to tell them no because we didn't have time on Friday nights to teach both beginners & intermediates in the time allotted. We also had a LOT of folks ask us to teach couples dances.

Well starting in APRIL, we now have the time to do all three. So now, with beginners AND couples lessons you can bring your friends, you can bring your husband... you can even bring your friend's husband for a great night of dancing, good music and the best (Sometimes Craziest, always delightfully irreverent) dancing friends in Western Massachusetts!

THIRD - ROAD TRIPS & MORE!!!!

Punxsutawney Phil's forecast for an early spring opens up the schedule for .....ROADTRIPS!!!!

We're going on a Road Trip to see Dan Albro & the Gang at the Mishnock Barn on April 30th! More are in the works, Stay tuned for the details!!

AND MORE!!!!

Friday March 11th The one and only Radio Ranch will be playing live Country Music at the AMVET's and we'll be on hand as always with lessons before they start! This will be the last Country event at the AMVET's until our new Session in April so don't Miss it!!

Radio Ranch

Friday March 25th we'll be teaching beginners lessons at a benefit for the Westfield Homeless Cat Project at the East Mountain Country Club followed by live Country Music by none other than GALE COUNTY. The first night our folks heard about it we sold 21 tickets!! It'll be a great night for a great cause so come on out for a night of Butt Rockin' and Boot Stompin' with one of New England's premier country bands. Click here for the Flyer.

Tune in tonight at the Chicopee AMVETS....

2011-02-25T05:36:00.000-05:00

Friday - February 25, 2011

This Friday at the Chicopee AMVETS

2011-02-02T05:36:00.001-05:00

Tried of Shoveling? Take off those snow boots, put on your Tony Lama's and join us for Line Dancing lessons this Friday at 6:30. This week we'll be reviewing Pot of Gold and re-teaching a real fun dance that a lot of our newer dancers don't know and that we do just about every other week.

At 8PM enjoy Live Country Music 8 Till Closing! This Friday is the Long Awaited reunion of Midnight Express!!!!

The AMVETS is Closed tonight 1/21/11due to snow

2011-01-21T05:48:00.001-05:00

No Lessons No Band

2011-01-14T14:53:00.005-05:00

Tonight at the Chicopee AMVETS

TRUE WEST - Three sets of swingin' modern country music and a beautiful venue full of good time music and dance lovers. Come out and have some fun!

Tonight's new Line Dance .... MEAN

Lessons & Dancing 6:30 - 7:45 $3.00
Band 8:00 - Closing Cover $3.00

One Leg Parrot Update

2011-01-09T09:06:00.006-05:00

Thanks!! for all the kind wishes and thoughts regarding Doreen's knee surgery. The operation went very well and Doreen's recuperating so she can get back on the dance floor with us soon. We're hoping she'll be back at least for the show by the 21st.

Randy will be at the AMVETS flying solo this Friday the 14th with a brand new Dance to a great country track that was just released!

True West (Featuring the one and only Laura Pratt) will be back in town this week kicking off your weekend with a mix of modern country straight off the charts and a few classic country standards. So come on out see all your friends, kick up your heels and hear the band that the New England Country Music Organization voted the Best Modern Country Band for 2010!

LATE BREAKING UPDATE !

The 2011 Country Camping Weekend at Partridge Hollow is July 22-24.

Ann & Don just booked the OEP's for lessons and a bit of DJ'ing followed by their Famous Beef Roast and then Live Music with Angela West & Showdown. We had a great time last year with Angela and we're looking forward to doing it again. More to follow Stay Tuned!!

Cancellation Chicopee AMVETS 1/7/2011

2011-01-07T13:53:00.000-05:00

I just received a call from Dick King canceling tonight at the AMVETS due to the pending Snow.

Randy

Happy New Year from the One Eyed Parrot Dance Club!!

2010-12-31T10:15:00.000-05:00

Holiday Lesson Schedule

2010-12-22T06:37:00.000-05:00

Here's a quick update to make sure everyone is aware of the Line Dance Lesson Schedule for the Chicopee AMVETS during the Holidays

December 24th NO LESSONS / NO BAND
December 31st NO LESSONS / AMVETS New Years Eve Party
January 7th NO LESSONS / Radio Ranch Starts at 8PM
January 14th LESSONS Start at 6:30 / True West Starts at 8PM

I'll be back on the 14th and the 21st probably teaching Solo while Doreen recoops from her knee operation and hopefully she be back to join us by the 28th.

Randy

New One Eyed Parrot Blog

2010-12-21T15:33:00.002-05:00

Welcome to the One Eyed Parrot Blog!

Starting in 2011 we will be using this BLOG and Facebook exclusively to communicate the latest happenings and upcoming events for the club and work to integrate them more closely with our existing web site.

So... if you'd like to receive the latest scoop of past or upcoming events by email, on your phones, etc, you can subscribe to this blog and you'll be notified when it's updated. We'll also be sending out the link to this blog to members of the One Eyed Parrot Group on Facebook whenever we publish an update.

That's it for now.

Looking forward to 2011 and our 6th Year dancing with all our Friends

You Guys Rock! See Ya on the Dance Floor

Doreen & Randy