2011 was indeed a whirlwind full of nonstop music, performances and fun with family. I wish I could replay everything and describe how happy I am for having had such a travel... There is just too much but I will do this; I will share with you how my wife talks every morning ( there's a point ). Every morning my wife's mom calls her and they talk about the day before in review.... and then Dana gets back into bed and proceeds to tell me everything her mom and she talked about.......Verbatim........ ;-)
 I can't say I remember everything she tells me, but I can say that I am glad to hear all of it because there is always a certain happiness in her voice when she talks about her mom and her family. So......... just know that there is also a certain happiness in my head when I think of all the memories from that last year.
 What I am most happy about is that I married a wonderful woman, and that I continue to try and remember what my dear friend Jack told me..... "enjoy the journey"

  Happy New Year and whatever your own journey is, enjoy it.

The holiday month was filled with many great memories...Guild Hall,Star Cafe on Shelter Island and a reminder as to one of the reasons I write -  The Maine night sky filled with thousands of stars in the middle of winter. There is something about it that is beyond words. I wish I could write a song that wouldn't interrupt the silence..... Maybe the silence is the song........

 If I were not allowed to look at my schedule book and say what event most stands out for me in November, it would have to be the Grey Horse Tavern Concert. A great job was done promoting it by everyone and Grey Horse owner, Linda Ringhouse made me feel very much at home.
  This was the first time for many things. J. P Vest, frontman for the band 'Last Charge of the Light Horse' brought his amazing talent to two of the new songs and they were very well recieved. I also asked Angela Steen, a local professional dancer to choreograph a number for 'Venus'.... It was so beautiful..!  Having Jon Preddice, Dave March and Miss Dana perform always keeps me in my comfort zone so I was very proud of the way the evening went......

Wowwwwwwww....October....Crazy........

 ......19 musical dates, including Festivals such as the Sag Harbor Music Festival, the Huntington Fall Festival and the Patchogue Arts Festival kept me very  busy in this Halloween month. Thankfully there was plenty of chocolate around at every pit stop for my more often needed sugar rushes.....!

.....One of my favorite things I did was providing music along with my buddies from Miles to Dayton for the Hope Children's Benefit in Port Jefferson. Such a great cause
and such truly wonderful people doing greatly needed work. Thank you Kevin Mann for having us.

........Many little punks celebrated their 1st birthdays in the September, October months this year. Life........I feel it has been a sign that things are good in my world.
My sister Holly's twins, Hannah & Ari........Dana's sister Kaaren's precocious little Clare.........Olivia, Leanne and Jason Strom's beautiful and wise-beyond-her-years daughter..... and of course the ever-smiling, Layla, Jon & Krista Preddices' little girl ........all made us realize how time flies.

...... The PBS documentary "Light in the Darkness" which covers the events surrounding the death of Marcelo Lucero, opened up nationally in September and I was honored to have the song "Perdonome Hermano" in it as part of the soundtrack. If you don't know already, when you download this song all the proceeds go towards the Marcelo Lucero Scholarship Fund. Please see the home page for details.

  ....If you come to one of my shows where I am doing a full set you will see a glass dish with a candle in it in front of my mic stand. This glass was given to me by my Uncle George who recently passed away. Uncle George was a big burly man who I never heard raise his voice athough he looked sometimes when we were playing poker that he would like to. Along with my Aunt Chris, he defined what it meant to care about the people you loved. No one in my family ever went without a place to stay in tough times, as his door was always open. Reaching out a hand whether it be by working on a project at a family member's home or hauling firewood was his way.
 Uncle George didn't need to tell you how to live your life, he wasn't the kind of person to boast or to think he knew everything. He led by example in everything he did and I mean everything. The way he loved his wife, the way he cherished his daughter & grandchildren and the way he worked in the woods.
.... Love is a funny thing, and I witnessed it in its most covert fashion a few years back when I stayed at my mom and dad's place for a while after going though some of my own sadness. My dad and Uncle George it seems, for being several miles away from each other, would gab on the phone almost every night. I think they talked low so that no one would notice that they would stay on the phone for quite some time. Love...doesn't care if you are 2 time- tested lumberjacks in your sixties. Love doesn't care if you are scared of getting old. Love somehow finds it way into every heart if that heart allows.
.... My Uncle George loved me and I loved him. We knew this and there was no need to say it, just like there was no need for him to say why he was giving away some of his prized things last year. One of those things was a King's Crown Dish which was manufactured in the early part of the last century. I honor him and his memory by keeping him close to me when I am doing what I love.......

  Wow...... I think I am having trouble keeping up with this musical life!!
July was such a great month. I got to go back to Northern Maine for the first time in 5 years and play in front of my home town at the Moosestock Festival over the 4th weekend. It was so great to see old friends and family plus do a road trip with Kelly, Dana and Laura.
 Musically, playing at the Great South Bay Music festival was such a great experience. Dave, Jon and Krista all sounded amazing and helped me go to a different level that day. It's wonderful to see the progress that has been made in such a few short years......

....... Time is flying and June was no exception. Earlier in the Month I was honored to meet the family of 1st Lieutenant Joe Theinert at a benefit at Claudios in Greenport.
While stationed in Kandahar, Afganistan last year Joe Theinert lost his life serving our country. While I was performing a song written for Joe and his family, the most surreal moments happened. An Army bomber and then an Army helicopter flew by just as I was into the bridge of the song. We obviously had no way of making that synchronize and it will be forever remembered. I actually had to extend the instrumental part of the bridge to accommodate for the blade sounds. I've left the song that way, with it's extension....Some things are meant to be... Thank you Joe.

.......14th 2011 was a day I confirmed to my friends and family that I had met my match, my best friend and my love. This relates to music in a certain way....
 My match, my best friend, and my love allows me to be me.... playing and writing music at all hours, and I mean all hours.....getting into bed and then jumping out 10 seconds later to write down a lyric idea... coming home late and leaving early, coming with me to every event possible.... allows me to bend her voice on harmonies to fit my idea of the female voice as it relates to robert bruey written music ( she rolls her eyes on this one ).... But most importantly....she listens and cares about my musical passion with me.

 May was a good month....not because of so many musical events, but  because it marks the beginning of a concert with Dana that will last a lifetime.....

........What I can tell you is that April 2011 was a great month and went by way too fast....!  I was invited to return to The Vail Leavitt Theatre in Riverhead by my good friends  Miles to Dayton and boy was it a fun night. Did I love playing there? Yes, but more so than that, Dana and I got to hear our buddies, M2D kickin' some butt...! They even had their dad, Mr. Phil Preddice up on stage and Jam with them on violin....... Music is such a joy and the Preddice family proves it....!

  Miss Bonnie Grice kindly had me back live on the air to help me promote some concert dates and I have to say, it is so much fun hanging with her. She is such a professional and makes it so cool that I have to remember that I am on air ...... just a lot of wacky faces and laughter....! I'm so glad that Bonnie and WPPB are in the place they are in, please continue to support them.

  The Custer Observatory Concert.......what can I say? This place will always hold a special place in my heart. It is my home base, my home sound, my home people and on that night, rain couldn't hold back all the magic of the evening. My dear friend Fred Raimondo opened up the evening with 2 beautiful songs of his own that set the mood for the whole show.
  I would like to say I knew what I was doing when I invited G P Lane to recite some poetry that night. I would like to say I told him how to show his wares..... I'll only take credit for wanting to add some diversity to the evening, and I will say that G P's performance was something to never forget. It was showmanship with a grasp of the English language not often enough displayed. What also made me very happy and proud was that Jon and Leanne performed with me again. I am so lucky to have such friends to share music with and I am thankful everyday for them.