It Felt Good to Perform Again

Thanks to my band-mates Matt Bruner (bass) and Michael Parker (drums), we put on a good show at the Tucson Folk Festival, if I do say so myself.

After a three-year hiatus, it felt really good to play for a large crowd of folks who were there for the music. They weren’t there just to drink and talk (although that’s part of the TFF experience too), they were there because they enjoy home-grown music by local musicians. And in that respect, Tucson has much to offer such folks. Tucson is a talent-rich town!

It was a treat to once again see performances by so many wonderful friends and get to spend some time reconnecting. Even those who always seem to be scheduled opposite me, whom I therefore don’t get to hear, were still available to meet and greet between sets.

Here are a few photos of us at our set (courtesy of my Bride). Thanks to all who came to see us!

///Darrell

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com

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Tucson Folk Festival Coming up this weekend!

It’s happening Friday through Sunday, 31 March through 2 April in downtown Tucson around Jacome Plaza

I perform Saturday, 1 April, at 1:30 PM on the Court Ave Stage (200 Court Ave, just beside Old Town Artisans / La Cocina).

I hope you can join the fun!
Visit the Tucson Folk Festival website and plan your day! (just be sure it includes the Darrell Elmer Rodgers Trio!!!)

///Darrell

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com

Valentine’s Day song for 2023

Hello there friends. Remember me? I used to post here, but of late, I’ve been “missing in action. I can’t say I’m yet ready to return to blogging, but I have a song video to share.

I’m hoping to “semi-retire” soon and turn my attention once again to music. Meanwhile, I’ll post when I can!

///Darrell

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com

Apology

I apologize. Eight full months have come and gone without a post to this blog. And frankly, I’m not sure if I have the energy to write one now.

Well, maybe energy isn’t the problem,. Maybe it’s just unwillingness to attempt dealing with the WordPress user interface that changed a couple years ago rendering my former skills obsolete. Maybe I’m just getting old and technology is beginning to irritate me.

Then, to be absolutely honest, I’ve been in a funk of sorts since last January when I failed, for the first time in many years, to make the cut for the Tucson Folk Festival. It took a lot of wind out of my sails. I didn’t realize just how much I counted on that event to revalidate my self-worth. Silly? Perhaps.

And we were on-pace to perform a great set with Michael Parker on drums and Matt Bruner on bass. Matt, who is a great singer/songwriter himself, agreed to back me up on bass (he’s multi-talented) and really worked the bass parts that Michael and I shared with him. He made them his own and with just a couple rehearsals, we sounded like a trio that had been together for years. So perhaps it was my anticipation that over-inflated my focus on the festival. Whatever the case, it was a deep disappointment. I have to admit though, the line-up this year was stupendous – really quality acts from around the country. And I was able to enjoy them on-line instead of making the 4-hour drive to Tucson.

Compounding the funk was the passing of our older dog Rocket whom we had rescued as a pup 14 years before. The younger dog Sally (11 years) had passed the previous August. Now dogless, we gave away a lot of supplies, keeping only memories. And work was bear. I worked a lot of overtime at NASA on testing a newly-launched satellite. I managed somehow to write yet another Valentine’s Day song for my Bride: “Another Good Reason”, written from the perspective of a single man ready to make the leap. I recorded it hastily in order to share it by Valentine’s Day, so eventually, I must go back and refine it. But that requires dealing with irritating technology.

Summertime brought a big lift of spirits when the great Eric Ramsey once again graced our home with a house concert. We reprised our duo show from 3 years before with newer songs and I had a ball trading songs with him before a live audience.

But, just after Eric was again on the road, I went “under the knife” for parathyroid surgery. It has taken the past two months to get my voice fully back where I think it should be, and even now, I’m not sure I’m dome healing.

After a month of healing time.

My younger daughter Sarah was kind enough to make the trip from California to be here during my surgery and we really appreciated her help and enjoyed her company.

So, it’s not like I haven’t been busy. It’s just that I’ve been “one poor correspondent”. And for that. I apologize.

///Darrell

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com

Reunion of the Original Trio

I promised a month ago to tell you about the reunion of the original Darrell Elmer Rodgers Trio. Well let me reconstruct some memories…

Back in September I got calls from both Michael Parker (drums) and Rick Heyman (bass) about doing a reunion show in Tucson. I guess the two of them had been reminiscing about our 10 years together and they were missing the fun. I was too. It had been over 2 years since I performed with a trio and over 3 years since I had played with Rick (who had to take a break back in 2018).

The idea was that they’d book a show for Mid-November and we would have a couple rehearsals before hand to knock the rust and dust off our performance. Well, things happen, and among them was my road trip back East, Michael’s schedule, and the rise of more covid cases. So it boiled down to a marathon rehearsal over Halloween weekend and a limited attendance house party at Michaels on the following Saturday – basically just family.

We had a blast. The rehearsals started rusty and quickly rev’d up to full speed. Well, better than half speed anyway. We played so many of our older songs (like Sailin’ and Second Chance) that we had to cut down the party play list to keep it at a reasonable two 45-minute sets.

The party was a gathering of about 20 people, all vaccinated, all masked, and a pot luck lunch. We played two sets and enjoyed ourselves immensely. Sometime next year, we’ll do it again. Before then, there will be Trio rehearsals with Matt Bruner on bass and hopefully a performance at the Tucson Folk Festival during the first weekend in April.

Here are some photos:

///Darrell

Darrell Elmer Rodgers

Singer, Songwriter, Performer, Humorist

http://darrellsongs.com