Suggestion for Drummers

This is just a suggestion for anyone who's planning to bring drums to the Q-tenanny: In lieu of sticks, I'd recommend playing with brushes, or something like Pro-Mark Hot Rods, just to help match the volume of the drums to that of the voices and the other instruments. Thanks!

Fred Stockwell to Do Songbook Cover

Here's another morsel of news about the songbook: The very talented Fred Stockwell, known to list members as "Silver Fred," has agreed to design the cover!

I was recently recalling an excellent drawing Fred created a few years ago of Terry Adams and Steve Ferguson, to promote a performance by the two of them in Albany. Knowing Fred's enthusiasm for the Q-tenanny concept (remember, it was he who coined the name "Q-tenanny" in the first place, as well as masterminding the Magic Box portion of the '07 event), I asked him if he'd be interested in crafting a cover design for this year's book. To my delight, he agreed! I'm looking forward to seeing Fred's design.

Songbook Sample - "Me and the Boys"

Here's a little sample of the forthcoming new, improved Q-tenanny songbook: Me and the Boys. This will give you an idea of the increased level of detail that will be provided for some of the songs. (Most of the songs won't be quite this detailed; rather, they will be in the same old "lyrics and chord symbols" format as the previous book.)

Have no fear: You won't need to know how to read music in order to use this book! The extra musical detail is for those who do read music. In the case of Me and the Boys, I remember having problems with this song when we played it in 2007. Specifically, I didn't know how long each of the drum fills was supposed to be! Having it written out will help eliminate potential uncertainty. Also, the song's unusual instrumental introduction is included.

However, I've been trying to avoid over-arranging the songs. I know that most of you know this material very well. You were able to do quite nicely with the rudimentary charts I provided in '07. I've been trying to fill in just a bit more musical information than last time (mainly intros and endings), while still leaving enough margin for individual interpretation, so that the songs can "breathe."

The Clang! Thang Web Site, and the Songbook

Stacey has put up a Web site where you can read about the Clang! Thang and buy tickets. I've bought my ticket already! Have you bought yours?...

For various reasons, my progress on the songbook has slowed recently. However, I intend to pick up the pace, and promise to get the books to you in plenty of time before the event.

So far I've completed 40 songs. Last time I put the book together pretty quickly, and came up with a lot of the chords from memory, whereas this time I'm reviewing recordings of every single song (sometimes multiple versions!) just to make sure my changes are as accurate as possible. Another aspect in which this book will be an improvement over the '07 version: All the chord names will be typed in, not hand-written, making for easier reading!

The Clang! Thang Facebook Group

Stacey has created a Facebook group for the event. Your humble Blogmeister is not a Facebook user, but I figured I'd pass this information along for the benefit of those of you who are.

Event Information

Here's the latest information about the event, posted to the NRBQ Internet mailing list on Saturday, January 10 by Stacey Sandler.

---

Hey Everyone-

We wanted to let you know the rooms for the Clang! Thang are on sale. Additionally, while we can't definitively price tickets just yet, we think we've got it worked out to around $165 per person for all the weekend's festivities if you purchase by March 1st. We're waiting for the final budget for the sound/stage/lighting from the techies. As soon as we have that, tickets will go on sale. That said, we can tell you what's in store and give you some more info on the hotel.

The hotel is the Clarion Inn & Suites in E. Windsor, CT. Their telephone # is 860-623-9411. I am being honest when I tell you, I believe we will sell the place out so c'mon, if you're comin'! There are 110 rooms, including 10 suites. 5 of the suites were gone off the bat. Close to 35 of the rooms are gone for Sat. and about 27 for Friday (those are all ours so far, including the suites). The hotel is charging $75/double, $85/triple & $95/quad. . . . The suites are $95. Each room is furnished with either 2 Queen beds or 1 King. All of the mattresses and linens are brand new as part of the $2 million renovation. Book your rooms when you can BUT in the event that our hotel sells out, there are plenty of options within a few miles, so fear not!! OK, now on to the "event"

• Friday night ticket includes: pre-music Happy Hour, including hors d'oeuvres, as well as the evening's music: PJ O'Connell and the Lords of Eastham, Chris Ligon & Heather McAdams and featuring The Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet & The Whole Wheat Horns.

• Saturday afternoon's ticket includes a complete luncheon, afternoon music event with The Chandler Travis Philharmonic & Special Guests, and the Q-tenanny from 4 pm - ? in the hotel pub. The musicians who are performing will be invited to sit in, as well.

• Saturday night ticket includes the evening's music: PJ O'Connell and the Lords of Eastham, Chris Ligon & Heather McAdams and featuring The Terry Adams Rock & Roll Quartet Horns and Special Guests.

• Hotel guests receive a welcome goody bag assortment filled with cool swag & complimentary extended Continental Breakfast each morning.

• Parking is free for everyone and there is plenty of on-site parking.

Hope this helps to brighten your day! Next stop: Ticket Sales!!

-xo and keep warm!!

Stacey & Donna