Ol' One Eye

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Black Friday Mixer

Last Friday was Randy & Dor's first Friday back after their Long Weekend Excursion to Newport. Many Many Thanks to Jenn for filling in! We started off the lessons by doing a quick review of Shotgun Jenny, (man that song and beat is additive) we then taught the Western Barn Dance Mixer, which was lots of fun. Love that Song too.

The band that was scheduled to play the day after Thanksgiving cancelled so Stratos filled in for them. It gave us the opportunity to get to know Carol better (Female Lead singer with the band Stratos). We showed her a couple of our line dances (She picks up quick) and found out what a phenomenal voice she has. Once the band turned the music down and placed a monitor in front of her the vocals were  absolutely SPOT ON all night. Great rendition of some country classics. Really Nice girl, great talent!

Next week,  the Truck Stop Troubadours will be back on stage playing the Classic outlaw country sound mixed with hints of Rockabilly and Americana that you love. So come out and join us for a night of 4/4 foot stompin' two steppin',house rockin',diesel truckin', beer drinkin' music with a definite uptempo beat.... Lessons Start at 6:30 and the Band at 8PM.  facebook event  See ya there!

Reminder - All RED Text are Dance Links all Blue Text are Band / Artist Links

Saturday, November 10, 2012

Friday November 9th - Birds of a Feather!

What a Great night at the Chicopee AMVETS! We followed up a record breaking attendance on the 2nd with another record breaking attendance on the 9th! That record didn't last long! The floor was packed to the rug on all sides and it was GREAT to see that it was a good mix of brand new faces, Friday Night Regulars and old friends we haven't seen in a while!

We started off the night with a teach of a new beginners dance Shotgun Jenny which received rave reviews. A big shout out to our friend  Ernie Bastarache  for turning us on to that one. 

This weeks review was the Partner dance Long Long Way and we even got to do a quick Re-Teach of Huli Huli Chicken in honor of last nights band, Chickenwire . Speaking of Chickenwire, what an outstanding performance they gave.   Definitely a 3 Bandanna Night!   Great Musicians and all around great down to earth people. If you ever get a chance to see them, DON'T pass it up! Excellent addition to the band rotation for the Chicopee AMVETS.


Next Friday, November 16th will be an all request practice session from 6:30 till 7:45 to give everyone a chance to practice the dances we've taught in the last month of so. Just N Kase will be back on stage with a playlist of good Heel Slapping, Boots Tapping gotta get up and dance tunes that will keep you on the floor all night!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Friday November 2nd – Packin’ Em In!!

Wow! ... Wow!  For those that missed it, last Friday broke 7 years of attendance records with 55 Dancers on the Floor for the lessons. Great to see everyone coming out for the lessons and getting a chance to make a bunch of new friends.

This week we started off by reviewing the intermediate Line Dance Summer Sun to the song by the same name by Clayton Anderson. Great dance, well received, check it out. For our new partner dance we taught Long, Long Way to the song by the same name by Alan Jackson. Another cool partner dance, received lots of compliments on this one.

Besides the regular cast and crew, we had Kenn from Germany join us for a second week. For those of you who don’t know Kenn, he’s from here originally and joins us every year when he comes back to visit. Real Nice Guy. When he gets back to Europe, he’s gonna be sending us some of the dances that they’re doing in Germany to check out.

Also got to do a little more chatting with Pam & Jim and Mike & Cheryl who took our lessons at the Castle last week. Nice to see them again. Stop by next week and introduce yourselves and make them feel welcome. It was also really great to see John & Kathy Hunter out again on a Friday. Good Friends, Great Dancers/Instructors.


As promised, Radio Ranch came back from their performance at the Castle and really ROCKED THE HOUSE! Can’t say enough about these guys as musicians and friends. They hit all the Line Dance songs they know we love and kept people on the floor all night long. Great job mixing it  up with 2 Step, Cha, Cha, Swing, Rumba, Polkas etc etc etc. This band really knows how to work the crowd. Gotta Love Justin's solo cover of "Private Malone". Many thanks for Learning “The Wind” and their rendition of 1452 Beers Ago was Spot On! Great Job.  Much appreciated! BTW Thanks for the beer guys. ;-)

Next Friday Stratos will be back for their 3rd performance at the AMVETS check out their web page HERE! For the lessons next week we’ll be reviewing Long, Long Way and will be teaching a nice easy beginners Line dance to a wicked catchy song and…..... You’re Gonna Like It! It’s one of those easy dances that you get just into so quickly and is pure fun to dance to! See ya there!