BlueStoneIvoryBlog

It's official...Blast of Brass tour 2008 is a GO!

BlueStone Ivory & Second Wind announce the Blast of Brass tour for summer 2008, featuring the two local powerhouse “horn bands” on the same stage for free concerts on July 3 at Fairfield Village Green and August 8 at the Blue Ash Towne Square. The bands will take the stage and perform together to begin and end the concert, and each band will have an extended solo set to fill out the evenings.

                                                                The Blast of Brass Tour is the brainchild of Lee Heftel, bass guitarist for Bluestone Ivory, who drew his inspiration for the collaboration from the summer 2004 combined tour of national acts, Chicago, and Earth, Wind, & Fire.                                                          

Says Heftel, “I was blown away by the sight and sound of two of my favorite groups sharing the stage, and playing each others’ tunes together. It dawned on me that the concept could be just as effective and just as entertaining for our fans on a local level if we paired up with the right band. We talked about a few other groups, but there was never any serious doubt that Second Wind was the right choice”.

                                                                                                                                                                                                     Don Hudson, trombonist for Second Wind says, “We were honored to be asked to participate. We’re big fans of their band and their music, and we think it will be a treat for fans of both bands, not to mention loads of fun for us”.

                                                                                                                                                                        There you have it folks. It is official after this past Sunday at the VFW Hall in Sharonville. All seventeen members from both groups got together to put the finishing touches on this collaboration by posing for many photos (taken by Amy Schmidt). The above photo is the official photo that will be used for promotion of the 2 huge events.

                                                                                                                                                                               

The first Blast of Brass show will be on July 3rd at Fairfield Village Green. It will be the lead in for Fairfield's annual Red, White & Kaboom fireworks display. The second Blast of Brass show will be on August 8th, part of the Blue Ash Friday night concert series.

                                                                                                                            This weekend May 2 & 3, 2008 BlueStone Ivory will be appearing at the Moose Family Center in Middletown. 3009 S. Main St. Middletown, Ohio    Phone: 513 -422-6776.                                                                        (You must be a member or a guest of a member to attend. Sorry!!!) 

We have many future gigs coming up soon for all to come out and dance the night away to the Rock-N-Soul, Rhythm-N-Roll sounds of BlueStone Ivory.

BSI Fan of the Month

Each month we plan on featuring one of our loyal fans as Fan of the Month. We will, with their permission of course, tell you a little about them and why they were picked fan of the month.

For the month of April, 2008 our fan of the Month is Karen...                                                                        

She has been a fan of BSI for about 1 year now. She works for an advertising agency and has 2 daughters - 25 and 22, both semi fans of BSI, lol, plus 4 brothers and 2 sisters, and 40 first cousins which all live on the west side Karen says "we are all very close".

Karen loves to dance, play soccer, and volunteer work.
She says "I'm a klutz (lol, as if you don't know that already!!!)"  An example of that is that she broke her leg just walking down steps. She says "I wasn't drinking maybe that was the problem???"

Her new nicknames:  scooter girl, hot wheels & hop along.

Here's why...

Even with a broken foot, Karen came to every gig we played with her little scooter and danced the night away. She didn't let a broken foot stop her from having fun with her friends and favorite band.

                                                                                               

We all want to thank Karen for being such a trooper and showing up even with her leg in a cast. It is always a joy to look out into the audience and see all your smiling faces. Karen always has a great smile.

Congratulations Karen for being BSI Fan of the Month #1.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Earlier tonight several BSI members went to Win, Place or Show Sports Bar & Grill in Sharonville. Yes on our weekend off we couldn't stay away from live music. Doug & Debbie, Lee, Jim and Gary & Mary Jo stopped in to listen to a couple of sets of Second Wind.

Tomorrow all 10 members of Second Wind and all 7 BSI members are gathering together for our first meeting to shoot our promotional photo for the Blast of Brass Tour 2008. The Blast of Brass Tour 2008 kicks off at Fairfield Commons on July 3rd and will appear once again in Blue Ash on August 8th. It features both groups on the same stage together. Nothing like this has happened in Cincinnati since Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire played Riverbend in 2004.

So stay tuned and keep checking in on our Blog for more details.

We would love to hear from you. Simply click on this posts title at the top or click on the Comments just below this post and leave us your thoughts or questions.

BSI in rehearsal this past Monday night.

Although BlueStone Ivory is off this weekend... we are very busy working. We got together Monday night for our monthly rehearsal. That's right. We have a full band rehearsal every month. Our goal is to learn at least 2-3 new tunes each month. You can click on each photo to enlarge.                                                       We rehearse at the VFW in Sharonville. We would like to give a big THANK YOU to the wonderful folks at the VFW. (There is no picture of me...I'm taking all the photos)

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   We just put the finishing touches on 3 new songs. I'm not going to tell you what they are yet. We want to surprise you. We will play them at Jaspers on May 23rd. That is our next gig everyone can come to. We were scheduled there for tonight and had to change that date. We will also have had another rehearsal before we play at Jaspers and should have a few more new song to try out on you.

Everything is working on our Blog now. We were down a few days for new updates and repairs. Now you can leave comments as you wish without any hangups at all. So please ...go ahead and leave us a comment or two. Just click on the Comments below this post.

We would love to hear from you. Especially Teddy. He wants to know what everyone thinks of the new look on our website. www.BlueStoneIvory.com.

Stay tuned to our Blog. We will be introducing you to a new segment...The BSI Fan of the Month. Coming soon.

Some BSI Fun

Ted wants everyone to know that the Website has a new look. We would really like to know what you think about the face lift. If you haven't checked it out lately click on BlueStone Ivory and check it out. Feel free to go to the bottom of this post and leave your comments for us. Then we can all read your reviews of the new look for the BSI website.

Unfortunately BSI is off for the next two weeks. Unless we get booked somewhere last minute...however we all feel we need the time off to get ready for our very busy summer we have in store for you. When you hear us next we hope to be ready to play a few of the new tunes we have been working on. I don't want to tell you what they are yet. We really want to surprise you. Maybe we will play them and see who can name the new song we played.

We really try to have fun together. Besides playing music for all of our fans we try to surprise each other on certain events like...Birthdays. It has become a tradition to come up with a funny birthday card or cake design. Something that fits the individuals character.

The photo on the left is the inside of the birthday card the guys made especially for me. Rusty did his computer magic and has me playing a contra bass Sax. I still look at it and get a real kick out of it. I have never played on a contra bass sax before...but I do have it as one of my life goals to do someday. I may never own one but someday I hope to be able to say that I was privileged to play on one.

This is a video clip from YouTube of a real Contra Bass Sax being played. I hope you all get as much fun from watching and listening that I do. There are several clips about Contra Bass and Bass saxophones you can watch if you want to click on the menu button.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  We hope you are all enjoying the Blog. We are. This is the new way we can share special items with you. We plan on adding something very special at least once a week for you. We have a lot of ideas and they will all develope over time. So subscribe to our Blog to make it easier to log in and check it often for the latest news, updates and just plain fun. Please click on the Comments just under this post and share your thoughts about our new website look, the blog or anything else you care to share with us.

God bless you and pray for our troops.

Cheers, Gary Rossignol

BlueStone Ivory at Jim & Jack's this Friday & Saturday.

Jim & Jack's Proudly presents...2002 & 2003 Cammy Award winner BlueStone Ivory this Friday and Saturday nights April 11 & 12 from 9:00 pm till 1:00 am each night.

Make your plans to come early and enjoy a delicious dinner. The food is excellent.  Check out the menu... Jim & Jack's dinner menu You may want to call for reservations: 251-7977

Jim & Jack's is located at 3456 River Road in Riverside, Cincinnati, Ohio 45204.

We have been working on some new songs and will play a couple of them for you this weekend.

Also, you will see a new face on stage Saturday night. Gary will be playing with the West Chester Symphony Orchestra at their annual fund-raiser so Chris Rotshing will be sitting in for Gary for part of the night on Saturday. Gary says "Be good to Chris...he is a very nice guy and a great sax player".

                                                                          These are photo's of the West Chester Symphony Orchestra in concert at  Keehner Park last summer. If you look close enough you will see Gary playing clarinet.

Yes, Gary plays some real long hair music when he is not rock-n & roll-n with BlueStone Ivory. Actually the WCSO plays all types of music. Just depending on the occasion.

For example this Saturday night at Four Bridges Country Club in Liberty Township. The WCSO will be performing at their 6th annual fund-raiser. The theme is A Mardi Gras Evening.

Gary and several other musicians have put together a seven piece jazz group to play dixieland music. The Symphony will be performing a beautiful bluesy piece "Do You Know What It Means To Miss St Louis" written for alto sax with orchestra featuring Gary as well as other New Orleans style Jazz and Dixieland Music.

The WCSO is a not for profit organization...they are all volunteers for the love of music is why they do this. But they do have expenses. Therefore they have this fund-raiser to defray the cost to operate for the year.

Donations are $55.00 per person and that includes a gourmet Cajun inspired dinner, silent auctions, live auction and great entertainment. If you are interested call Sandy at 398-9581 or Donna at 777-9609.

Gary Puckett & BlueStone Ivory @ Jim & Jacks July 19th

(I posted this in a early section, before I knew what I was doing.. so im still learning the blog secrets LOL.. Lee)

As many of you know, I worked for Gary Puckett before playing with BSI. Well, Gary has been a good friend of mine for many years now. When BSI started playing at Jim & Jacks several years ago, I found out that Ennie Jim (he owns the club if you didn't know that) was a big fan of The Union Gap. So, I got Mr Jim a autographed picture of Gary,and ever since that day we have been working on a date to get GP here in Cincinnati. Well, trying to line up dates with both of our busy summer schedules was one of the hardest projects I have ever done.(Well almost: "The Blast Of Brass” TM will come on another blog LOL)

With my BSI brothers, Mr. Jim & GP w e pulled it all together.(WHEW!) 
BSI is also getting some "National" exposure and the band is really starting to take on new adventures. In fact, my friend Rhonda, president for Gary's fan club posted this.

Hi! Folks,
I have some info about the concert at Jim & Jack's On The River in Cincinnati on July 19th...It's going to be GREAT!!! I'm sure some of you remember Lee Heftel. He played the bass for Gary for a while before Woody joined the band. Well, Lee is now in a band called BlueStone Ivory that plays all around the Cincinnati area...and BSI will be Gary's opening act for the show at Jim & Jack's On The River!!! (There might even be a couple of surprises that night, too!!)

It's a small venue. Only seats 350-400 people...so tickets will be
limited...the cost is $40.00 VIP w/meet & greet and $35.00 standard
seating...Lee asked me to mention it to all of GP's fans in the Tri-
State area (OH/KY/IN) but I think this is one that we all should
consider...I'm going to do my best to get there, that's for sure!!!

~Rhonda~

So, I want to thank all of our fans, friends and most important, our family's (who have to deal with us overage "AARP" teenagers) for supporting us throughout the years..

My best to all, and God bless our troops..

Lee H

Another price for Tavern Owners Dance tomorrow

                                                                                                                                                       This is the very first sign we used before we had our BlueStone Ivory Banner.

Charlie Keenan a 1969 Moeller Grad and St Michaels grade school grad who excelled in art his whole life designed this for BSI in 2000.

Charlie, also a musician traveled to Cincinnati from California where he lived to participate in our Moeller class of "69" 30 year class reunion. He played guitar in the garage band that also performed at the event in 1999.

Charlie made a career of art. He worked in paintings and sculptors of many styles. Charlie passed away from medical complications in 2002. He has been missed however one of his last original works was our BlueStone Ivory license plate sign.

Updates for the Tavern Owners dance tomorrow night. They will have DANCE ONLY tickets available after 8:00 p.m. for $30.00 per person. That will include OPEN BAR all night long. They will have dinner tickets available at the door for $45.00 per person.

For all the information on the dance go to BlueStoneIvory.com or email me at Gary@BlueStoneIvory.com

We would like to say Hi to one of our loyal fans of many years...Tim O'Shea. He came home on Monday from having surgery at Christ Hospital. There was no cancer found but it will be about 4 - 6 weeks until he will be able to come out to see his favorite band BlueStone Ivory. Our prayers are still with you Tim. Hurry up and get better and come out and see us soon.

BlueStone Ivory in Blue Ash this Saturday night

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         

                                                    This is a funny pose that we turned into one of our favorite promo pictures. We do have fun together.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   Rusty worked his magic to end up with this fantastic promo photo.      Click on photos to enlarge                                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             And FUN is what we plan on having this Saturday night at the Tavern Owners Dinner Dance. It will be held at the Blue Ash Banquet Center. 11330 Williamson Rd. Just off Cornell Rd in Blue Ash.

Each year the Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association better know as the Tavern Owners get together and have an awards banquet and it is quite an affair. The food is absolutely wonderful. Patrick (Mouse) Carroll really knows how to throw a party.

The food consist of Prime Rib, Chicken & Ham with all the trimmings. Plus OPEN BAR all night long. Of course Mouse knows who to hire for the best entertainment.

You guessed it...Yours truly BlueStone Ivory. We will play all your favorite dance music this Saturday April 5th from 8:00 pm till 12:00 midnight.

You can reserve you tickets by calling 731-0123. The donation for this fabulous affair is only $45.00 per person for everything. WOW! Now That's a deal. They usually have tickets available at the door. But I would suggest arriving early to get a good seat.

The doors open at 6:00 pm and Dinner is served at 7:00 pm.

So put on your best dancing shoes, come hungry and thirsty and plan on dancing the night away to the Rock-N-Soul, Rhythm-N-Roll sounds of 2003 CAMMY AWARD winning BLUESTONE IVORY.

For more information & directions to the gig go to BlueStoneIvory.com.

I've had a few questions about the Blog.

"Gary, are you going to keep the present website with the photo albums, etc.?  Will the Blog be something separate?  Sounds like fun".

Yes! We encourage you to go to our website for all the information. The blog is just a more personal way to communicate with our fans. We may highlight one or more of the photos from our website with a little story behind it. But our website is where we encourage you to visit for our entire schedule, details of all the gigs and everything else our website offers. There is just too much to list. Ted does a very artistic and an absolutely wonderful job on our website. He is the best!

With the Blog our FANS can post comments about the band, the gig, our Blog or website. In fact we would love to hear from you.

"Gary, we notice we can subscribe to your Blog, is there a cost involved?"

NO, Absolutely not. That is Blogging lingo for setting up our blog in your internet main page. If you click on the XML feed. Then our blog will appear behind the gold star in the upper left corner of your page. As our Blog changes your feed will always be updated. In the near future our Blog will be linked to our website and you will be able to log into our Blog directly from our website also.

If you have any questions just click on the Email Me link. I will be happy to answer your questions.