Short Change Band - Year End 2011

It’s the Final Week of 2011, and what a year it was. There was some good things and some bad things that happened throughout the year, but through it all we made it right to the end. From the Jamboree in April to the Floods of September, It was all there.

We made some new friends along the way and we lost a few that were near and dear to us.
We’ll let the year 2011 go down as the year of change - good, bad, or indifferent. Our 2012 Mission Statement will be “As the world of music continues to change all we can do as a band is hope to meet this change head on and continue to bring you all the same quality product we have been delivering all along each and every time you attend one of our shows. [Amen]

Reviews:
Last Friday night at the Hitchin’ Post – It was the last show there for the year. The crowd was light to start but actually picked up as the evening went on. It was good to see some of our "out of town" friends that we haven't seen in quite some time. The band played well and it was a good night.

This week’s shows:
Friday Evening - Davy's Last Chance Saloon in downtown Chenango Forks/Rt. 12 – The Show Starts at 9pm.

SATURDAY NIGHT- Hallstead Legion- Hallstead PA. The show starts 9pm. Come join us for New Year’s Eve just across the State Line in Pennsylvania. This event is open to the public with no cover charge and finger food provided. (yes we do travel from time to time)

Have a safe Holiday week/ weekend and god bless. We’ll see you in 2012.

Peace out,

Mikey Dee

Short Change Band - Just before Christmas 2011

Greetings everyone.

With just days before Christmas I will not take up too much of your busy time, so let's move on. We were off last weekend but we did manage to have our annual Christmas Brunch with the Short Change Band family at the infamous Silo restaurant. Say hello' to Gary.

(Hi Gary, Hi Santa)

We have made this a yearly tradition for about ten years and they are still as special now as they were when we started. Merry Christmas Short Change! Now we begin the countdown to the end of the year with our final two shows.

This Week - FRIDAY Dec.23rd- 8pm- Live @ the HITCHIN' POST- located on Rt.7 a top BELDEN HILL. Come out and share some glad tidings' with the band.

We'll see you there. Peace and love and have a safe holiday,

-Mikee Dee

Short Change Band - Mid December, 2011

Greetings everyone, with just a mere two weeks left before Christmas and counting I'm hoping we are all shopping furiously to "get ‘er done"

Last weekend I was thinking while driving {still legal} while I was on my way home from Windsor - I spotted a young lad walking his dog in the park with no jacket and the kicker here was he barefooted as well. It was 29 degrees that day.

Then another thought I had was - here we are in the next millennium with the age of 4G phones, etc. and we still heat our homes with 15th century technology. {Burning Wood}
It really makes you wonder where we place our needs and wants in today’s society. (What a strange group we are)

Anyway, another simple blog week ahead for this week.

1st-The band is officially "off" this weekend.

Last Saturday night we were at Gordy's and we enjoyed a fun evening of sharing good music with good friends in a party type atmosphere, along with some "killer" wings. Do I say more?
Then on Sunday we went back into the studio to continue yet more work into the new album. We also added one more final track that was written by a friend of the band – “Dave” and was given to KW to put to life.

What a beautiful piece of music entitled "Gods Angel". Once we fired up the band express, we knew we had another quality piece of music here. Nice job once again KW in catapulting a moment from someone’s past.

We now have 12 cuts in this session with a total running time of about 45 minutes. (nice)
So we continue to move along everyday closer to completion.

You will also notice a shot of digital music here from the studio and live. That's a picture of Jakes smokin' guitar leads {4th line} in the song "On my Way” the vivid graph lines are Jakes
leads - cool huh?

That is what digital music looks like today.

As we close , continuing shopping at a mad rate as it helps the economy.

Love ya's and peace out,

Mikee^^Dee

Short Change Band - Beginning of December, 2011

Greetings Everyone. How are you all doing a mere three weeks before Christmas? Wow, where did year 2011 go?

Once again KW has been busy with the almighty pen and paper along with DD and I setting the table for our latest piece of time and music.
We began this task almost a year and half ago and finally we are heading around the corner to completion. I hadn't listened to the demo's in probably six months myself- and actually that was a great thing to do- because now we can take a whole new prospective to the finished product.

The only other local talent on this album other then ourselves and our sound engineer Dean is Susie and Jake from the infamous Blue J's band. They missed appearances on the Full Circle' album so we wanted to include them on “Back to Basics”. Don't be surprised if smoke fills yours speakers when Jake fires up that strat along with some great background vocals by Ms. Susie.

We also have a few other folks helping us out with Banjo, Harmonica, pedal steel and piano from as far away as Corning, NY.

I am very excited about this project as we continue to round the final corner. Also with eleven cuts prepared we now have a need to include one more very special tune written by a friend of ours (Dave) titled "God's Angel".

Dave gave KW the lyrics to this beautiful tune with a ton of personal meaning associated with it and asked him to put music to it. What a fantastic job KW did achieving this goal. Now DD and I will put the final touch to it with full instrumentation. Do I sound excited or what? It’s the best material to date my friends, you will see.

Now on to business. Last Week we were at the Central Hotel. The show went over well but with so much going this last weekend in other local events, the crowd was a bit light. That was OK, by the second set we found the SCB groove and we put some fire to the show. It was our last Hotel show for 2011. We’ll see you back there in mid January.

This Saturday we head back to Damascus (Windsor area) at GORDY'S PLACE. The Show begins at 8pm.. We hope you can make it down for some good music, good friends and some great wings.

So as we wrap up another year in “Short Change-Ville” we want to thank all of you - THE FANS for your continued support in 2011. We never know how long the ride will go on for us, that is why we enjoy the Journey week after week year after year, It's all good.

If you see DD this week wish him a Happy Birthday. Veronica has a birthdaqy too and next week Pretty Patty P M squared.

Peace and love,

Mikee^^ Dee

Short Change Band - November 28, 2011

Hello everyone, I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. The year is short and before long we will be staring right at 2012.

I have a quick blog this week, and it goes like this:

Wednesday night we played at the Hitchin Post. It was a great show. The place was packed with standing room only. It was nice, as we had friends from as far away as the state of Illinois attend our show. (Sweet)

Thursday was Thanksgiving and I worked at a local Food Kitchen with my charming wife to feed the people of our community. (125 dinners were served) What a great feeling that was for me to help our community.

Friday night was Black Friday and we played at Davy's in Chenango Forks. It was a light crowd early on but a great show. We welcomed aboard Chris our new bar master.

Saturday I took a trip down to Pennsylvania to hook up with some friends I hadn't seen in twenty years. It was an awesome day as we had some lunch and did some gambling.

Sunday I had Thanksgiving at my house with the family. KW and DD went to Goble Studios to continue work on the new album "Back to Basics". KW says it’s our best material to date. The bad news though it that we're only in about 80% complete. But we will keep at it. Now we’re looking more to 2012 for a release. Oh well, it’ll be worth the wait I'm sure.

Shows: This Week – Saturday, December 5th we’re back at the "Central Hotel and Tavern" for our final 2011 Hotel Show. The Show begins at 6pm. We’ll see you then.

Have a great week. Peace and love,

Mikee^^Dee

Short Change Band - Thanksgiving Week 2001

Greetings once again. The weeks just keep flying by and before long this year will become history and then on 2012. (Wow!)

I just checked our event calendar for the year and we didn't perform 80 times like last year, but we're on target for over 70. That's not bad for a band that along with playing music and shows almost every week of the year, we maintain a pretty active social life with family and friends as well. The time spent internally is very important, so we do it wisely.
We played one show last weekend - Saturday night at the Central Hotel & Tavern as part on the "Encore" series of music. It was “Hunters Weekend” with great food and a great group of people to play for the entire evening.

We left everything set up and plugged in from the week before, so it made it very easy to take the show up another level from even last week. Hey if you missed it, you missed another "Stellar Performance” as Little Stevie would say, and we felt it too. Nice job again goes out to my band brothers - we were smokin'.

This week we have two shows: - one mid-week- and another on Friday.:

Show #1- Wednesday Evening at the Hitchin' Post - top of Belden Hill – The show begins around 8pm. (Get there early as this is premiere evening for a party night before Turkey Day)
Show # 2- Friday Evening {Black Friday} back up to Davy's Last Chance Saloon in downtown Chenango Forks. The show starts at 9pm.

So there you have it. We hope to see you all out and about this week. Come and share some holiday cheer with the band. Black Friday (you know) what that is the start of? (Oh Boy!)

Hey, get this - we are back in the Goble’s Studio this weekend to continue the final work on the “Back To Basics” CD. Santa may slide down your chimney with a copy before Christmas - but ya never know. (shhhh... let's keep it our secret)

In closing, have a safe and Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. On a sad note, our deepest condolences go out with the passing of Doris from the Afton Inn. 25 years of parties and events for the whole community has come to an end. It’s the end of an era as we knew it.
God Bless Doris! We will see you on the other side.

- Mikey Dee^^

Short Change Band - November Hunter's Week, 2011

Greetings everyone. I have a quick installation this week. Can you believe it is going on the third week of November already? Wow! This weekend marks the opening of Big Game Gun Hunting season in New York as well. So with that being said – let’s move along.

We had gorgeous weather over the weekend with 55 degree temperatures and sunshine both Saturday and Sunday. With all the nice weather many people had plans for the weekend and our crowd on Saturday evening was a bit light, but fun just the same.

Most people turn out the first weekend of the month at the Hotel as that is when we traditionally play there. So possibly the change in date threw them off a bit too.
Anyway we put on a smokin' good show with many of the people in the crowd paying particular attention to K.W. Winters as he attacked that Telecaster as only he can. Leads were hot, D.D. was in the groove and myself - I'm just lovin’ it back there on the kit.

We got to switch it up a bit with Dominick on the drums and myself on the 5 string bass and DD moved over on the keys. There was some fun stuff there, and we didn't suck - that's always a good thing!

Now because we again repeat shows at the Central Hotel this Saturday, we choose an entirely different set of music as not to repeat any songs for this week’s presentation. Cool huh? How many bands do you know that can play 8 hours worth of music with no repeats? Not too many I would think. So this Saturday we will once again be back at the Central Hotel and Tavern for the annual “Hunters Party" weekend. The show begins around 5:00pm. Give time for the hunters to gather from the fields.

We hope to see you all there. Bobby puts on a great spread of food and it is offered to the crowd who come for the evening of music and mayhem supplied by yours truly “The Short Change Band”. We’re looking forward to seeing you all on Saturday.

So in closing, if you came out to see us last weekend - come on' back for an entirely different show - or if you didn't come out last week - you have a second this week to get off your dead ass and come down and support the band as well as have a bite to eat. Always a great spread, so we’ll see you all there.

And, I had someone come up to me last week and ask me what the Wine Vineyards in Southern California were like. I told her how they made the different wines and she thought they stored it all in bottles in a cellar somewhere. Now I'm no Julio Gallo, but from what they told us on the wine tour, the majority of it is stored in barrels until it is bottled and shipped off to the market.

So folks have a great week and safe hunting this season and we hope to see you all at the Central Hotel Saturday night {5:00pm – 9:00pm}

Peace and Love,

Mikee^^Dee

Short Change Band - Beginning of November, 2011

Well greetings everyone. I hope it's all good in your world this week.

We had another crazy week for the band. We were all scattered in different directions once again. Due to the recent flood our band venues were once again cancelled so when this happens it's like when your parents left the kids in charge while they went away for the weekend. We raise some hell and have some fun. Not much sittin' and grinin' for this group.
Saturday morning was our First annual Veterans Day Breakfast at the Afton Fire House. The attendance was good as we served over 100 people in three hours.l There were many Veterans that attended in full dress medals, hats, and patches. It was a good feeling giving back to them and offering them some thanks for serving our great nation. A free breakfast is the least someone can do, and we did.

Saturday evening was the Kris Kristofferson show along with Joan Baez in Ithaca. Now two thirds of the band attended that show - K.W.and D.D. and it was indeed a great show of couple legends displaying their talents in a small theater venue. (Nice) Myself, I'm not much of "solo artist" show guy- I like the shows with whole band behind the artist so I bowed out.

I thought I would spend the night at home with my charming wife, but that didn't happen. Andrea took a load of her friends- {7 girls in all} and went up to Lumpy's to see the Partridge Family and myself - I took a gig up to Babcock's playing a show with some friends called the "Wild Ones”.My role was the second drummer. Now I don't know if you've ever seen a venue with two drummers playing in full sync, but it’s quite a site. The first drummer plays lead and the second drummer keeps the beat. I haven't done this in about five years. It takes a few minutes to find your place but once you’re in - it rocks. We had a full line of people on the dance floor just staring at our performances. You go through the night taking turns playing lead and actually it's a great drill - for your timing. Thanks to Chucky and the “Wild Ones” for letting me play the entire show with them. These guys are really good. Check them out sometime. I love their musical choices - nothing new, but many classics - done nicely.

And finally- This weekends show:
SATURDAY NIGHT: 11/12/11 THE CENTRAL HOTEL AND TAVERN 6-10PM and never a cover.... Hope to see you all there!

Rock on. Also Friday is Veterans Day, so be sure to give thanks to our national protectors of our fine nation.

Peace and love baby,

Mikee Dee

Short Change Band - Halloween Weekend, 2011

I hope you all had a great Halloween weekend. We had cold rain, some snow and some sun (we got a bit of it all) and some great shows. So, lets' get right to the weekend reviews.

Friday Night was the annual Davy's Halloween mixer. We had a great time with some great costumes and a lot of fun people. It was all in there. They even kidnapped the Taco Bell dog for the party. (just kidding) “Pakrat” came up and played a smokin’ set with the band on the bass guitar. (Did you see his full page article in the Sunday Binghamton Press about those awesome carvings Jamie Bates does? It was a great article - check it out)

So after it was all said and done, it was sad to hear that our bartender (Val’s) last evening was indeed Friday night. She has been tending bar at Davy's on a Friday night for about as long as I can remember. I think I still had my Super glide back then, that's how long it's been. Anyway, Val best of luck as you move on. We will miss you.

Our Wedding Saturday in Sanitaria Springs went off without a hitch. The crowd wasn’t scared off from the weather as we really didn't get the snow amounts they promised us this time. A big congratulations go out to the bride and groom (Becky and Gene). And thanks to Rick and Patrick for some great food.

Then finally, Sunday came. The benefit for Mikey Mills' went off without a hitch. The support by family and friends was awesome. The musical lineup was extensive. There were three bands with such a broad avenue of musical passage. Our Host – “The Hats Off Band” played some awesome country dance tunes for the crowd to love followed by the “Short Change Band”, and we mixed it up a bit from some classic rock, outlaw country as well as some of our originals. That was followed up by a local Susquehanna band “Dirty Rotten Liars” with a bit more of the harder rock edge with some spontaneous originals. Nice Job guys!

Overall it was a fabulous afternoon to support the cause. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mikey's family and all the supporters who worked so hard to make the benefit a success.
And last but least, great thanks to our good friend John Davies and his master craft and wit on a microphone as the afternoon’s emcee. You got it done right buddy! Also a special thanks to “The Hats Off Band” for helping us have such an enjoyable afternoon. (Nick you rock buddy - thank you!)

Finally it was also Andrea’s big birthday on Halloween as she celebrated an important number this time. Happy Birthday ‘Drea - 32 never looked so good!

We're off this weekend once again but we're going to see country legend 'Kris Kristofferson.

We’ll see you next week. Peace and love,

-Mikee Dee..
P.S. A special get well wish goes out to our Sound Engineer/ Producer Dean Goble. I hope your better soon - we miss you buddy!

Short Change Band - October 25, 2011

Greetings to everyone, it’s good to be back after having a fabulous weekend off. I've come to the conclusion that you need a few of those "hang out" weekends every now and then. Now we’re excited for this “Halloween Weekend” with three shows - 1 public- 1 private (wedding) and 1 Benefit... now that's a powerful weekend for sure. So on to the shows:

Friday October 28th – It’s the Annual Halloween Costume Party at none other than the infamous Davy's Last Chance Saloon - on Rt. 12 in sunny downtown Chenango Forks. Costume contests with prizes. The show starts at 9pm... Always a blast.. See you all there for some goulash fun.

Saturday, October 29th - Private- Wedding Reception

Sunday, October 30th - Huge Benefit for the family of Mikey Mills located in Susquehanna P.A. at Lakeys Bar and Grill. The show starts at 1pm as we share the stage with some of our friends –“ The Hats Off Band”Come down and show your support for Mikey's Family with his untimely passing. We hope to see you all there on Sunday October 30th *Food will served for an additional donation.

And as we close out another week in music, I have a quick note. There many businesses in and around our area that suffered dearly throughout the flood. Many had little or no insurance coverage. So when you’re out an about, give some of these places some much needed business and revenue - that's how we do it folks, and we all go down together.

Have a save Halloween weekend, and a Happy B-Day to Andrea, and hey, you better dig out the snow shovel too, it's almost time!

-Mikey Dee

Short Change Band - Mid - October, 2011

Greeting everyone. Once again we have another installment into the world of music with the Short Change Band. Last weekend we played not one but two local venues so let’s get right to the reviews.

Friday Night we were back up to the Hitchin' Post on Belden Hill. The show started right on time and for the next three hours we pretty much hit every song we performed right on the head.

We even had some old friends that had not seen us in quite some time come up after the show and remark to how tight we were and how good it all sounded. (Nice) Once in a while even the audience appreciates something good and they let us know.

I just spoke to DD about this very fact last week as well. Audiences today are much different from days in the past. It used to be when you went out - you took your best girl and you danced, drank and partied all night. These day’s people still drink but they think it's not cool to dance anymore? I just don't know. I think everyone's too used to watching music videos anymore and that's really what it consists of- sitting and watching. Oh well, the band plays on....

Saturday Evening we were back up to our other home base on the south end of the state - Gordy's Place. Let's say this: “I can't think of a better place to party with people, have some great food and drinks and not spend a fortune doing it - as it is at Gordy's”. We just love the atmosphere here and both the owners and the crowds make us feel right at home.

Thanks to Jack, Dom, and Johnny for coming up and jamming with the band. What a fun weekend that was.

This weekend we are off again as the venues we previously had booked were flooded out last month and did not re open- so let’s relax once again.

In closing, I hope all is well in your world. Be in touch, and stay well.

Peace and love,

Mikee^^ Dee

Short Change Band - 2nd Week of October, 2011

Greetings everyone. It was so nice to take a week off from the music world and do some traveling. The Short Change Band members were in three different parts of the United States last week. Pictured is a shot from Newport Beach, California. The wife and I headed out for a quick visit last week to see family.

The Winters Family headed south to Greenville, South Carolina for some family obligations too and Double D went to Syracuse to see Darius Rucker and Rodney Atkins in concert. We all arrived back safe and sound and now we look forward to this week’s shows.

We have two performances on tap for this week’s venues.
FRIDAY EVENING- Oct. 14th – The Hitchin' Post - Belden Hill- show time 8:30 pm.
SATURDAY EVENING- Oct. 15th- we return once again to Gordy’s Place in downtown Damascus show time 8pm.

Two early shows and we are looking forward to seeing some old friends and perhaps some new ones as well.

And finally, before we sign off here, I'd like to make a couple quick comments about my California trip last week. This was my first trip to the big state and my first impression of the area was that the overall area of Southern California is vast in size and offers a beauty all to it’s own, the fuel prices out there were identical to ours, and actually a bit cheaper in some areas. There is a Taco stand or Mexican food joint on every corner which is actually quite convenient if you like that type of food. People drive the highways and freeways out there much like people drive on the [LIE] on Long Island as they truck along about 80 mph and nobody bothers you either. Oh and when it rains, which six months of the year it does not, you would think it was treated like a snowstorm back here. With the rain we have here no one would ever travel if they had to deal with it as much as we do - every week no less.

California is a vast state that takes up the mass of probably the area between Pennsylvania to about Georgia. What an incredible state that has about everything and anything anyone could want or need, but I don't see myself leaving the Sothern Tier anytime too soon to move to it. And after now seeing both oceans - the Atlantic as well as the Pacific- I'm thinking I am leaning more towards the Atlantic for beauty. (that's just my opinion - to each their own)
I don't even want to mention the plane travel as that's another whole story for another day. All I can say is as a traveler of plane flights - about every few years- travel has not gotten any better and as the passenger and you're pretty much held at bay once you climb aboard.
I can't wait to return my trip survey to the airlines, as they asked for my opinion. Oh Boy...

In closing, I hope to see you all out this weekend at the shows!

Be safe, be well, be good, as always, it’s good to be back,

Mikee^Dee

Short Change Band - End of September, 2011

Well hello everybody, we had another fantastic week in the world of the Short Change Band.
The moon must have been in line with Jupiter for sure last week because we pulled off an incredible weekend of music.

Every now and then we get very close to a #10 rating for show quality, but never quite hit it. These last two performances should have been recorded because they were every bit of Album quality.

Friday Night at Seebers Tavern (the weather outside was frightful, but inside was pure delightful) we started the night off smokin’ and we never looked back. You know when you’re knocking the bottom out of something when the people stand in front of the band and just watch your every move. Or when the people at the bar are dancing and singing along as you play. Now that's a show!

So you would think after getting that performance out of our system Friday night that one might ask what do we have left for Saturday. Well, we packed the trucks and headed west to Watkins Glen for a delightful show at the infamous "Yacht Club'.

Every time we head out there we always experience an outer aura in the sense that we setup a tailgate show in the camp ground and celebrate what some would call a "pre game" before the show. Saturday was no different and you can see by the photo provided that this 1.75 liter magnum was brought along consumed and conquered.

So as we finished up our cocktail hour and dinner, we continued the evening with none other than Mr. Jeffrey “A” as he sat in with The Short Change Band providing some incredible mandolin, harmonica and guitar solos throughout the evening. Thank You Jeffrey A!

Now keep in mind most of the guests at the club here are quite a bit older so the volume would be a concern as they had been in the past. So what we did this time that was different is setup the sound just above an acoustic show level and voila.

Everyone was dancing and singing in the aisles and the band performance was yet another 10+ show for sound and quality. What a great time! We hope to do it again next year.

On to this week’s upcoming shows:
Friday, September 30th – We’re back at the Hitchin' Post on Belden Hill to begin the "Fall Show Series" The band starts at 8:30 pm.
Saturday October 1st - We return once more to the Central Hotel in Nineveh. The show time there 6pm.

Don't miss out as the band has been playing some smokin' shows here in past couple weeks - get in while the fire is hot!

Next weekend we will be off, so take advantage of the double batch of love this week.
So as we close, I hope all is well in all of your world, and just maybe we will see you out this weekend. We'd love to see ya's!

Peace and Love,

Mikee^Dee

Short Change Band - Last week of September, 2011

Greetings everyone, I hope things are better in your world then they were last week. My gosh, what a year for weather it has been. We’ve had snowstorms, earthquakes, hurricanes, and flood waters - Hello can we have a break now? Anyway, we just have a few things from last week so I won't take up too much of your time.

Reviews: Last week we played one show at Davy's in Chenango Forks. It was a nice show with a good crowd, and we kept them there most the night. The band played well and I think just about everyone enjoyed the evening. We’ll see you back in October for the big Annual Halloween Party.

This week we have two shows, one public one private. Friday Evening 9pm we are at SEEBERS Tavern in downtown Smithville Flats. We hope to see you all there, come out and help support us at this new venue. Saturday evening we will be out of town in Watkins Glen playing a private venue along with special guest star Jeffery “A” joining us for the evening. It should be a fun filled weekend for sure.

And as we move along, we will be going back into the studio in the next few weeks to wrap up the final work on the album "Back to Basics". I'm almost thinking that we started this project last October. Well it will make a nice present for under the tree this year. We'd like to thank Pak Rat for all of the album cover work and pictures he has contributed to this project and also Susie and Jake for coming down and adding some spice back in January sometime. We've been on this for an awfully long time. I can tell you this though, it will be well worth the wait as we all worked very hard on the production of this puppy.

As we close out here, I hope to see you all back on the road again soon.

Stay safe and well, peace and love,

Mikee Dee^^
p.s. - Check out the Blues Brothers here pictured last week in Atlantic City.
(Jake and Elwood had nothing on us!)

Short Change Band - Mid September, 2011

Greetings everyone, it's been a couple crazy weeks here in the triple cites between Irene and Lee - I'm just glad it's over. How we endure all of this - god only knows. We're strong and a tough group of people, so we will overcome.

I hope you all made it through these tough times. My one silver lining this week was the birth of my new grand baby girl, Katelynn Nicole. Congratulations to Erin and John for a job well done. {Flood Baby}

So welcome back... we missed ya... Last weekend our crew headed to the luxurious Showboat Casino in Atlantic City for a couple days of planned R & R. We had a rough time getting out on Thursday during the height of the storm as many of the Highways and back roads were flooded over. But like a couple of Boy Scouts - we got out.

Atlantic City Boardwalk is not quite what it once was but it's still a pretty exciting area to visit if you haven’t been there. Everyone leaves home with the thought of hitting it big but few very rarely do. Most lose their ass and complain about it but hey “it is what is”. If you can keep it under control and spend responsibly, it can be a lot of fun.

By the second day we all decided instead of making Donald Trump richer, we would treat ourselves to a good time instead. So Friday afternoon we had a great seafood dinner, then came back and dressed to the nines and headed out for an evening of local entertainment.
For the next six hours we partied like it was 1999 all over again. We took in some clubs and seen some great bands and made countless numbers of new friends.

We finished up the evening consuming over $200 worth of Whiskey and that was truly a new accomplishment for even the SCB by any standard. We kept it all in check as we finished out the night walking home two miles on the boardwalk.

Next time we need to work our way backwards, that will make the trip back to the hotel a bit easier.

Great trip, great time boys... can't wait till next time. Like I used to tell my boys, the sign of a good evening of partying is "nobody got hurt" "nobody died" and "nobody got arrested" –priceless!

On to this week’s show:
Friday evening we’re in downtown Chenango Forks at Davy's Last Chance Saloon
The show begins at 9pm. We hope you can stop down and say “hi”
Tell us about how the floods affected you.

In closing we would like to wish Brock Towers as very safe deployment into the Marines next week. Hurry back home buddy as Saturday evening was your night to party. Thanks for including the Short Change Band in your plan before you leave.

And again as I close here, I wish you all well and be safe.

Peace and love,

Mikee Dee^^

Short Change Band - Last week of August, 2011

What a crazy weekend for weather we had back here this week. And in one line - I'm glad that it is over. I went two days without electric and it brings an entirely different perspective to things. But ya know, life goes on. Anyone that was disappointed by the lack of Irene's punch - I guess it's all in where you experienced her. Good, bad or indifferent I'm glad it's over.

We're a bit late this week due to lack of power so let's move on.

Saturday's Show was the Annual Ticket Party at the Afton Sportsmen Club. It was a Great show, great party and we played right up to rain that evening. The attendance was good and actually I think it was up a bit from the past. There were a couple hundred people enjoying a summer afternoon of food, fun and good friends. What more can you say? The Boy's at club put on another winning event for sure.

We also would like to thank our buddies from the “Deuces Wild” Band for coming up and jamming out with us to a set of “Skynyrd” tunes. That's what it all about my friends, sharing the music and nobody does that more than we do - you can count on that. We’ll see you all again next year.

Here are the shows for this Holiday Weekend - Two public and one private:

• Thursday Evening- Hitchin' Post, Belden Hill – Cans and Clams Bike Night - our last Bike Night Show for the 2011 season. The show begins 6pm. C'mon down and help kick off the Labor Day Weekend.


• Sunday - Central Hotel and Tavern, Nineveh - Outside under the Pavilion weather permitting. (if not, we’ll be in the bar) The Show begins 4pm.

Have a great weekend and I hope by the time you all get to read this week’s blog, your lives are somewhat back to normal.

Peace out and be safe this weekend. It's still an 0.8 world out there - don't blow it,

Mikee^^Dee

Short Change Band - August Fun 2011

Hello everyone, a big weekend has just passed for us, so let us get right into it.
First, I needed to give you all an update on the time capsule. {my truck} What a week it had been as I took a step back in time with thirty five years of Rock and Roll of the past.

The old cassette tapes I made while doing college radio at WSCC sounded as good as the day I made them. Some of the titles were awesome - Tea for the Tillerman - Cat Stevens - High Lonesome- Charlie Daniels Band- Long Hard Ride - Marshall Tucker Band - and even some local music of the time- The Barnaby By Band.. If nothing else I can say this - Music is like talk radio - and after a while you become complacent and lose your objectivity. That's what has happened to FM radio as we know it today. We let them supply what you listen to everyday over the air. After a while it just becomes the same ole shit day in day out. It was nice to go back to a time where the listener made the choice as to what was good and what was not and what got air play. When you see bands like Nickelback making country cross-over tunes - "Houston we got troubles". I want my own Sirus radio Show so I can tell everybody how it used to be in the music world.. I know more than 40 songs- really I do! I will continue this week back in the time zone as today I was headed into the winter of 1979 - Joe Jackson, Heart, Eddie Money, and many others too.

Anyway- let us move on. Friday night at Dino's was another outside show - set indoors. We just can't cut a break weather wise this year with the outside shows. Some good music and some great people- What more can one say.

Saturday back up to the Junction. It was an outside show with perfect weather for the entire evening. It was a smoking show that brought out guest musicians such as one of our own past members on drums Joey P and good friend of the band - Tom's son Jason D... Let me tell you this - Jason has a set of pipes on him that are fabulous... He did a version of Mustang Sally better then the Wilson himself...
Anyone looking for a front man for a band - you may want to snag this guy before he's gone... just awesome.

Back to the band - So we put Joey back on drums - me on Bass - DD on Keys and K.W. on the Les Paul... Let me tell you, smoke was coming from the stage area for a while there... {Rudy had to high speed balance his rear wheel on his Softail} Hey smoke happens...

I gotta give this show about a (9+) Everybody got their monies worth that night.
Thanks Joey for stopping in. We see Joey about once every 3 years if we're lucky. His work takes him to all parts of the globe - literally. It was fun! We’ve had two weeks in a row with past family members.. Sweet....

Hey check back on the blog site for one of the first composites of the new album cover... Taken by none other than Pak - Rat himself.. We love that guy...
We're going to pick out the best three pictures and let you the "fan" chose the next album cover. We'll let you know when we pick the three pictures.. very soon...

And finally- this SATURDAY- the 27th annual "AFTON SPORTSMEN'S CLUB ANNUAL PARTY". Show starts early so get your tickets soon before they sell out. Last year we played a 9 hour show... We can't wait for this years to begin...

I need to head back to my time capsule and I'll catch you all next week for the big holiday weekend tour....Peace Love and be well,

-Mikee^Dee

Short Change Band - Mid-August, 2011

Greetings Everyone, I hope this week’s installation finds you all well and good. We are entering the high side of summer and before you know it (it will be gone). So get out and get all of the things done you've been putting off until now because changes are not far off. There’s just four more weeks until fall will be here. (Ugh!) Enough already!

Hey I have to share this real quick here. I bought a little 4x4 pickup over the summer and one of the things it had was a kick ass cassette deck (do you remember cassette decks?) Well anyway I had to dig through the garage this week and low and behold I found some tapes I had recorded back from college radio days WSCC. Anyway, the rock and roll we listened to thirty five years ago is much different than the same 40 tunes that the WHALE plays over and over. I'm like a kid under a Christmas tree this week with 90 minutes of real Rock and Roll done the way I WOULD SPIN them back in the mid 70's! (Ahh life is good)

Also this week - Are you ready for some football? Not my favorite choice of teams but the conclusion is so noted. The only true good thing about fall is “FOOTBALL”. Okay, now on to business.

Last week we took a truck load out to Tioga Downs to see Wynonna Judd. Let me say this, I’ve always been a fan (not a huge one but I had to wonder why an artist with two gold greatest hits albums and five single CD’s released to her credit would dwell on covers by Stevie Ray Vaughn, Elvis and Foreigner. But it was what it was... enough said. Oh and she loves to talk (my goodness the poor band) they would begin a song and play the same notes for ten minutes! (wow)

Saturday's show: Butch and Cindy Ahner’s Pig Roast was an awesome party with heavy attendance this year. It was good to see a lot of old friends once again. We even had a special guest that evening – “Violet” a cute little girl that had written her own song about raining candy and performed it live over the microphone with no music. Taylor Swift move over you got competition very soon here girl.
And on the grown up side we also had “Cliffy” sit in for the night and played some hot smokin leads right alongside K.W. We rocked Saturday night as it was an evening of "making music" with my friends. (Thanks Cliffy for helping out)

On to this weekend: We have two shows:

Friday 8/19 - Dino's Bar & Grill in Conklin - outside under the stars – the show begins 8:30 pm

Saturday 8/20 – The Central Hotel & Tavern - outside under the pavilion – the show begins 4:00 pm.
Well that wraps up this week, oh and as we close, I would like to thank all of the vendors and staff peoples that came out last Saturday for little Andy's benefit in Endwell. I’d like to give special thanks to “Rise” and “Pawn Shop” and HT for supplying music and food, and to you - the people who supported the cause.

As always – peace,

Mikee^Dee

Short Change Band - 2nd Week of August, 2011

I want to take you through another week’s adventures as seen through the eyes of the Short Change Band. (It’s short and sweet)

Friday was an exceptional day for weather. The temperature was in the 80's and sunny. Little did I know that later that day we would be heading out on an adventure that would take us to see The Money Man himself - Eddie Money. But let me back up. So momma and I fire up the hogs and headed west to take in the 27th annual Spiedie Fest and Balloon Rally. I think it has to be at least twenty years since I went to the last one. In those days you could park your scoot right in the park, which is a thing of the past. So we had to drive over to Broome Community College to park. We paid $5 to park and we were shuttled over by bus instead. Not a bad deal, as they really do have it organized with little wait time in either direction. (Let the show begin)

The concert began at about 8pm and for the next 75 minutes we got to "shake with the money man" He played all of hits as he has many and he even introduced a new song he wrote special for our troops overseas. As he performed it, four National Guardsmen came up on stage and took a bow with the band. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. (Nice)

The night finished out with "Two Tickets to paradise" and "Shakin’" and by 9:30 the place looked like a ghost town. I know D.D. as well as Jeffery A. both enjoyed the show as we continually got heads up signs from both of them through the evening as they stood up ahead of us counting down the hits being played. Eddie’s lead guitar player was awesome as he had been with Eddie all the way back into the late 70's . That's a lot of shows logged there my friends, for sure.

What a sweet night for riding motorcycle home that evening in nothing more than a Tee-Shirt for a coat. (Rare for our little neck of the woods)

On to Saturday, we met at 9am up to Frumpy’s in Greene, NY to begin shooting still photos for the new album cover. We thought it would be much nicer to use real stills rather than computer generated graphics for a cover. We had our good buddy Pak Rat come up and for the next hour or so and shot some two dozens photo's around everything from a ‘52 Ford to a ‘46 Chevy chopped pickup.

We are hoping to pick the best three out of the entire shoot and take it to you guys and help pick our new album sleeve via a vote.

So with that we finished up the photo shoot and had to kill a bit of time so we headed up to the cottage when we realized it was show time at Frumpy’s open house. What a sweet party Chris had right there at the shop. There were a good group of people that did finally show up even in the pouring rain. The food was great and the atmosphere was warm.

It was smart for us to locate ourselves in the shop area with all of the rain. We've had our share of "wet shows" this year both outside and inside if you can believe that one. I’d like to give special thanks all of you that made the day a success it turned out to be.

This weekend we play another private party as we head out once more to Ahner’s Pig Roast. The Short Change Band has been playing this party for over 25 years and still running. It’s another great band outing for sure!

Oh well time to beat feet, so be good, be well, see you all again soon!

p.s. In closing we are losing a couple of our great fans this next week as they load up the truck along with the other 7.2 million people that have moved from New York in the last decade... Robin and Chris best of luck in your new adventures in Wisconsin... Salute to our Cheese heads!

-Mikee^^Dee

Short Change Band - Beginning of August, 2011

Hello all, just finishing up another fantastic weekend of musical events. As we now enter into the month of August the rest of the summer is sure to fly by us much like the first half.

Right to the show reviews:

Friday night was our only public show for last week. We played once again at the VFW in Endicott. There was a nice crowd as many of our good friends came out to support us. The music we played was good and we even got a visit from our Aunt Flow again. It's always a plus to know when your Aunt Flow comes to town, adds that special little touch. (Priceless)

Saturday evening we played another award winning show outdoors up to Harry and Melissa's . It was a weather perfect day for an outdoor show. And once again we had some of our local friends stop by and show their support.

Outdoor shows with a farm yard full of goats running around is truly a rush. Vanilla is always so happy to greet us each year when we return. She really shows affection to Double D. But then again most of the barn animals do like Darrell anyway, as he is our modern day Dr. Doolittle. They even come up on stage while we play! What a great audience they make.
Special thanks to Harry and Melissa for having us back three years running now and always supplying a bottle of Jack for each and every show. Again, the band thanks you guys and we hope to do it again next year too. It’s one great party!

Sunday we actually split ways just a bit. Darrell had a prior commitment to address so we incorporated the services of "magic fingers Herb" to come help us out on the bass guitar for yet another outdoor party.

And once again we had to muster up as much stamina as we had to keep our volume down to a low roar, and in typical Short Change Fashion - we were fine. Even the older people commented on how well we performed and they could still carry on a conversation between each other. Hey we aim to please.

Anymore you almost need to carry two entire systems around in the truck to meet the needs of the events in question. But we're doing a good job so far with it anyway. Special thanks to Herb for filling in – as it’s almost like the boy never left. What a great utility guy, as he can do it all.
And this weekend we will be playing a local event at a buddy of ours business - an open house and customer appreciation party.

If you’re out and about this Saturday afternoon swing past "Frumpys Chop Shop" on Rt.12 in lower Greene. I'm sure he would love to meet you. Bring your Street Rods- Hot Rods- Harley's we love ‘em all..

And finally this weekend as well we will be shooting pictures for the new album cover for the Back to Basics CC with thanks to our photographer Packrat. You remember the Back to Basic's album right? Yeah we will be back in the studio shortly to finish. We are aiming for a release date sometime this fall. (Patience is a virtue)

Well that about wraps up another week in the jungle.

Keep it real, Keep it fun, and stay well ... Peace,

Mikee^^Dee....

Short Change Band - Last week of July, 2011

Greetings everyone. We’re starting a busy week this week so I will keep it short and sweet. The weather during the month of July this summer has been good so far, and one can only hope August will follow the same pattern as well. My gosh where did the year go?

On to the show reviews: Davy's last Friday night was a dry night but very warm. I really thought it would be a big bike night, but the attendance was on the light side. I find when this happens (and I know I speak for the boys in the band as well) It becomes a challenge to motivate ourselves when it does happens. But we really did kick it in the ass and delivered another smokin' show. We would like to thank Jason for coming up on stage and playing a few tunes with the band. Nice Job.

Saturday night we were at Tioga Downs. It was a nice venue and a great day of musical events. There were five bands that played that day. The festivities started at 11am and ran all the way to 1am as we closed out the evening. The special guest stars of the day were “The Fabulous ThunderBirds”. They hit the stage around 3:00pm and played for almost 90 minutes. The "Tuff Enough" boys put on an awesome show.

I was totally amazed at all of the different sound stage areas offered to all of the musical acts. There was music inside, outside, and everywhere. What a great day of events. I have to tip my hat to the Tioga Downs staff, they really know how to throw a party.

As the closers that night even at 10pm we still had a pretty captive audience. The sound quality was a bit of an issue as once again we tried to settle in on using the "outside" P.A. system, but as the evening wore on we found our place and by the last set we were smokin' .

When the crowd comes up and interacts with the band and even purchases our music, then that’s when you know that you are connecting. And as quickly as the night began, it was over. We’d like to send special thanks to Jeffery “A” for sitting in and playing some awesome Mandolin and Harp.

Not to mention our support team that followed us all the way out to the casino and spent the evening with the band. Thank you all.

We also made some new friends that night, and one in particular was a couple from Texas that were at the show celebrating 31 years of marital bliss. God bless ya's. They absolutely loved what we did and how we delivered it. This was the second group of visitors up from the south that were amazed at what we do here In the northeast. This was all in just the last few weeks and wishing that they had bands like us where they live in the south.

As I said earlier in the year, the Southern Tier is an awesome melting pot of collective music types and people from other parts of the country know a good thing when they hear it and see it. Support on- Southern Tier! It's what we do. We may not have the job market but we sure do have the music market covered.

On to this week’s Shows- We have three this week (one public and two private parties)
VFW in Endicott- Rt. 26- show begins Friday evening at 9pm – Open to the public
And Saturday is Harry and Melissa's private party
And Sunday is Tony and Doris' Family private family reunion
So there you have it - another week in paradise with the Short Change Band.

Be well, Be good, Behave,

Mikee^Dee

Short Change Band - July Party Week, 2011

Greetings everyone and welcome aboard for another weekly tale-of -woe. Last weekend was all about the band as we all celebrated at the 2nd annual “Winters Fest”. The crew had a great Friday night staff party as we invited a couple of old friends for the evening (mostly from the Beam Family... Yeah good old Jim) that will make you do things that you can't remember happened the next day. What a great night of pickin', grinnin’ and jammin'. (I do remember that much)

Saturday was “family day” up to the cottage and I want to thank Cindy and Kevin for putting on one great event. Special thanks went out once again to Patrick and Frumpy for their awesome interpretations of Slushy Drinks. Wow they were perfectly mixed this year. One great party there!

Come Sunday was mostly a day devoted to R & R. I took in some TV and just relaxed a bit more. I couldn't believe as I was watching some Sunday movies, "Pure Country" with George Strait is going to be 20 years old this fall. Wow and Ray Charles has been gone now seven years too. Like The Rolling Stones once stated "Time waits for no one and it won't wait for you" -How true it is.

On to the shows this week:
FRIDAY NIGHT- Davy's in Downtown Chenango Forks - the show begins at 9pm. Ride your bike there this week and party with band.
SATURDAY- Blues party at the Tioga Downs Casino with bands all though the day as we play a closing show Saturday evening at 10pm for the featured afternoon artists “The Fabulous Thunderbirds”. We hope you can all stop by and take in a great full-day of musical guests.

In closing, try to stay cool this week with the record breaking heat. Stop by this weekend and have a cold beer or two when you come see us.

Peace and Love,

Mikee Dee

Short Change Band - Mid July, 2011

Greetings to all. Here’s a quick installment into the weekly blog for mid July 2011.
There’s not too much to report on from last week. We played three shows though across two states.

Two events were outdoors and one was indoors. All three events were fun and basically event free.

It was the first time in the Summer Concert Series at the Hitchin' Post the weather cooperated on the deck.

Our Hallstead PA gig went over well with one exception. We brought along the summer
outdoor PA system and that proved to be a challenge in an a indoor venue. We got through
it though and that's how you learn for future shows.

We thought we would have the issue at the Super Celebration as we were moved from the elevated outdoor gazebo to a ground tent. (Challenges, it's what I like about who we are. We always play the variables).

All went well and we had a great weekend overall. Thanks to all that attended. We saw many old friends last week.

This week is the 2nd annual Winters Fest. And then next week on to TIOGA DOWNS... for a closer evening show with the Fabulous ThunderBirds.

That's our week - past - present - and future.

In closing we'd like to wish a safe and speedy recover to little Andy as she recovers from a nasty MVA of a couple weeks back.

Be good, be well, and enjoy the hot and dry weather while we have it.

Peace and Love,

Mikee^Dee

Short Change Band - July 4th Weekend, 2011

Greetings to you all once again. We now entered into the second half of 2011, "like a snowball headed straight to hell" as the “Hag” would say. Here's hoping that everyone had a safe and relaxing Independence Day Weekend. I could not have asked for a more fulfilling weekend. I had “kinfolk” visit all the way from South Carolina and let me tell you this: “they will go home with some stories to tell about us country boys here in the north”. Nobody has a clue as to what we do here on the weekend in the Triple Cities, but we can stand alongside the best of them.
We began the weekend with the 3rd annual SCB golf tournament at Belden Hill. We had a terrific day with warm weather, and our group played quite well. We only got the golf carts stuck in the mud once and K.W. came about as close as anyone can come to a hole in one. It was a great day for the crew! Then we celebrated with some pizza and beers and then we were off to Fosters for the first of several 4th of July parties.

We truly opened the eyes of our southern kinfolk as we spent the better part of fifteen minutes climbing hills and mud holes to get to “Fosterville”. The family was also amazed at the waterfall and gravel pit and some of the beautiful camping areas at the “ville”.
Then we moved on to “Markieville” directly down the road and visited with some other friends from the Jersey shore area. It was a great day!

On to Sunday and the Central Hotel show. Once again we brought the family out to see the better part of five hours of Country Rock under the pavilion. They also got to sample an awesome Chicken barbeque. (A Central Hotel staple)

The weather that day was also tricky. We were at odds all day as to whether we play indoors or out. Of course we never learn from our past mistakes, so we played outside.

Everything was going fine until the skies opened up at about 6:30 pm. It rained so hard and so fast that my drum kit was mere inches from rushing ankle deep water moving at a rapid rate. And when it all ended so did the power. Now most bands would have packed up their shit and called it a night, but not this band. (Check out the photo of the acoustic/percussion jam that followed for the better part of an hour. (Thanks for Jeffrey A, Meredith, and our buddy Jim for helping us out with some great performances)

This is how we roll. When we powered back up, we played for another hour at no extra charge I might add.So as the evening came to a close and Sunday arrived , our friends from the south headed out - but not before hitting “Grandmas” Restaurant for some nice upstate home cookin’ before the long trip south began.

Yes the weekend was a great, me and momma even took the scoots out that afternoon and rode for about 75 miles through the hills of the northlands. Yes, "Life was good today"

So now on to the shows for the week:

THURSDAY- 6PM- BIKE NIGHT- HITCHIN' POST- RT 7 BELDEN HILL

FRIDAY - 9PM HALLSTEAD AMERICAN LEGION – NEW YORK AVE. HALLSTEAD, PA SATURDAY EVENING - 8PM COLESVILLE SUPER CELEBRATION – WELTON AVE.
(There will be Fireworks following the band around 9:30pm)

In closing, I hope to see you all at one of the shows this week, as we have many to choose from.
Be well,

Peace and love,

Mikee Dee^

Short Change Band - Graduation Weekend, 2011

Greetings all, another week has come and gone in a year that seems to be disappearing by the day. (Probably because it is) A mere six months from today another Christmas will have come and gone. See, now you'll start appreciating summer by the time you finish reading this week’s Blog

With the holiday weekend rapidly approaching we only have one event booked this week. We will be appearing for a single outdoor show this Sunday at the infamous “Central Hotel" in Nineveh. The Show starts at 3:00pm under the pavilion. As always, pack along a beach chair in your car just in case.. And bring the sun block (think positive)

Backing up a bit, let’s review last week’s shows. Last Thursday night we were once again scheduled to play Up to the Hitchin' post for “Bike Night” - "Cans and Clams" and once again we were rained out. It’s such a shame as we love outdoor shows and come next year’s booking season one of our goals are to explore more of them in our summer series.

Friday evening was another scheduled outside show that had to be moved indoors, this time at Dino's on Conklin Road in Binghamton. The indoor show went well but the issue that we have with these summer shows is that we tend to bring the "Big Guns" (equipment wise) for the outdoor shows and when the venues take a different curve and we play indoors, it becomes a bit of overkill in many senses.

We do try our best not to blow you all away with our sound and in those cases and we do put extra effort into delivering a fine quality musical experience for all. Sounds convincing doesn't it?

Then on to Saturday, the weekend being graduation weekend which held so many different events for so many different people. Everything from golf at the “Dicks Open” to “Crusin' Pallooza” makes it very difficult to go up against that format and then throw in graduation weekend, you got a cluster group going on there for sure.

I also conducted a graduation party up to the ranch this weekend and also celebrating my first year of martial bliss as well. The weather was less than perfect but that didn't stop the fifty or so hardy partiers that showed up anyway. The barbeque and Catering by "Patrick" himself was phenomenal. There are no finer array of Garlic knots and homemade Carrot cake to be had anywhere in the kingdom. Thanks Pat, also Cindy for that awesome lemon pudding.
As the day wore on the sun did make an appearance and by early evening the fire-pit was set a roaring. (It was kind of difficult to start with two inches of water all around the base of the pit, but the boys endured) With everything as wet as it was we were all forced to park roadside and that's a first for the fest in six years. Oh well it all worked out fine. We had some pickin' and grinnin’ going on that day and it was good to see many of the returners - return and we also made some new friends as well. And as quickly as it began, it was over by midnight. Yes, “All my Rowdy friends have indeed have settled down" It still has Little Stevie jumping for joy as we announced the 2012 party date. But we're already planning 2012 and we're going back to the original week date once again, and that date will be June 16th, so mark it on your calendar now so you can make next year’s.

And as we close another weekend of events I've had numerous folks ask about the new album "Back To Basics" and what's happening with it. Here's the deal, we have cover art and pictures that need to be done yet and some of the track work still needs to be completed and quite frankly we ran out of cash to finish it.

So at this point it looks like our release date will be sometime this fall. Look at it this way you will be able to give a copy or two to all of your friends and family come Christmas Time.
I would also like to wish a very Special Congratulations to Matt as his finishes High School and now heads off to college. On to phase two. Best of luck from the Short Change Band!
Have a safe holiday weekend and we hope to see you folks while we are out on the road this summer.

Be well, peace and love,

Mikee Dee^^

Short Change Band - Last week of June, 2011

Greetings to you all.We had a fantastic week (last week). There were so many events and so little time to describe them. First, it was Laconia Bike Week, and our crew headed out on our adventure last Sunday morning. The weather was poor (to say the least). We rode 335 miles and 8 hours later we reached our destination. Not to mention the final 2 hours of it in the pouring rain. Laconia is noted for it.The attendance overall was a bit spotty this year. Once again these national events are just not drawing the Bikers that they once had, much like Daytona where many are coming in for the weekend tours and heading out after two or three days. (Ten day tours seem to be a thing of the past). People still want to go to these gigs, but financially they have to be very creative.

New Hampshire is a cool state. You can still ride “free” and as you travel one can take notice of the $3.58 gallon fuel prices that were offered in many places. Everything we bought was “tax free”. If you decide to buy a trailer or something "capital" in size - this is the place to buy it!
The only thing you are taxed on is prepared food. Even our beer didn't have the bottle deposit nonsense like back home. I was told by one of the locals that land taxes are high, many charged like the down state communities of New York. So there you go - life is still full of choices.

Well by Wednesday it was time to head home. It was the first time the temperatures went above 60 degrees and we saw sunshine. And after another eight hour trip home. (Like it all began - it was over). Traveling 900 miles in four days was not too shabby though. Thanks mom for letting the boys roam the range alone for three days. It was refreshing and as always and memorable.

So on to the show reviews:
Friday night once again we visited Davy's in downtown Chenango Forks. As we arrived Friday evening the place was packed. There were scoots from one end of the entrance all the way up the block. It was the first time I had to park out back since the winter snow. The crowd inside was rowdy and we played pretty much to a packed house all evening. It was a great show and it sure beats the last one up there where the rain overtook the dance floor. And thanks to Randy for jamming with us a bit. (That’s one cool fiddle you’ve got!)

Saturday Afternoon brought us back to Annie's Bar & Grill in Damascus. The golf tournament was a blast and the crowd once again supported the band. What can you say when you're playing a 2pm show and people are dancing and the sun is shining. It was another fun afternoon show to say the least.We also would like to thank our crew of supporters that day that showed up from as far as New Jersey for a day of sittin and drinkin'.

On to this week’s shows:
Thursday evening it’s Bike night at the Hitchin' Post on Belden hill. The show runs from 6pm to 9pm. We will once again be outdoors on the new deck. (Special for Bike night)
Friday it’s another probable outdoor event at Dino’s in Conklin, NY. The show begins 8:30pm . I can't wait to boogie this week. Dancing outside in the moonlight is what one would call priceless.

So in closing, be good - be well - be safe - and we hope to see you all soon again!

Peace,

Mikee Dee^^

Short Change Band - Second Week of June, 2011

Greetings people , it's not very often I complete show reviews the night of a show but in mere hours we will be heading off to Bike Week in Laconia, NH. So time is short. Here we go.

Tonight we began our tribute to "Our Troops" tour. As you can see we flew our colors high and gave the much deserved respect to all of our Men and Women that are either serving today in the military as well as others who served in the past, not to mention the ones that gave their lives to help protect our great nation! God Bless to you all.

On to the show. (Oh, incidentally it rained again tonight) Fortunately, we were indoors and even though the crowd was light, we played one fine evening of music once again. Great job boys. Thanks again for Bobby and Chopper for having us.

On to next week’s shows:
Friday Evening June 17th at 9pm we’re at “Davy's Last Chance Saloon” in downtown Chenango Forks and Saturday June 18th we are back up to “Annie's Bar & Grill” on old Rt. 17 in Damascus for a 2pm early afternoon show. Sweet huh?

We hope you can all come out and help support the band and check out our new patriotic look.
Be well and keep the shiny side up - were gone bye bye,

Mikee Dee^^

Short Change Band - Beginning of June, 2011

Well hello people, Here’s wishing a good week to you all!

Summer is on us big time this week. Motorcycle season is in full swing as well.
There are two huge Northeast events will take place back to back beginning Sunday June 5th one in Lake George {The Americade} and the following in {Laconia} New Hampshire. We have chosen to attend {Laconia} and we will begin our 300 mile journey this Sunday. I'm glad D.D. loaded up my i-pod for the trip. I'll sound just like a rolling circus truck as I come down the road with those Harley pipes rollin' and the music playing. Oh well- it should keep the bears away from the roadway.

On to last week’s reviews: We had one show last week as we once again played up to our dear friend Lisa's Ranch. The show was well attended and as the day began, once again we thought we would be washed out. But just like the week before, It rained most the day and by early evening the sky cleared and the night went well.

Special thanks to all of our guest musicians that took the stage with us last week- and there was group of them. You know who you all are!

On to Sunday - what can I say? The band likes to play golf and have bit of whiskey to help relax the nerves throughout the day.

We did just that as we attended another golf tournament - Short Change Band style.
Actually it was one of our best days of golf in years. We were all hot and hitting them like the pros. As the day went on I think I only lost one ball and that could be a first for me.

Captain and crew is beautiful thing as each of us contributed to a piece of the puzzle that day. When it was all said and done we went 1-Under Par for the day. And of course there are some teams that dial in 15-under - they always do. But hey, we had a blast. We even saved a bit of Jack for the next time.

On to this week:
We are back up to the Central Hotel this Saturday for Chicken Barbeque. The show begins at 6pm. There’s a good chance we’ll be indoors for this show. I hope to see all up there. Come out and wish us luck on our road trip north on Sunday.

In closing, we'd like to wish Jeff and Patty from Pawn Shop band a happy {one year anniversary} this week. Congratulations!

Ride safe- Be safe- Be well,

Mikee^^

Short Change Band - June 1, 2011

Greetings Everyone. We had another interesting weekend and I would like to share a few events from it with you guys.

First welcome to summer this week (at least I think it’s summer) Two weeks ago we were burning wood to take the chill off the house and today we’re putting the air conditioning units in for the summer to cool it down. It’s bizarre to say the least. We had five sunny days for the entire month of May. This week bring on the sun block. Go figure huh?

Anyway on to last week’s reviews: 4 shows in 4 days:

Thursday evening was our summer kick off "Bike Night" up to the Hitchin' Post on Belden Hill. Once again the weather was questionable and with the roll of the dice we decided to play outdoors on the deck. The first two hours proved dry, but at the end of the last set the wind had picked up and it started to sprinkle. We closed out the night with a seven minute version of “Free Bird' and by the time the last note was played the wind picked up to about 60 mph and blew half the deck furniture out on to Route 7 and it rained in sheets sideways. The boys grabbed their scoots and drove them on to the porch and we unplugged and grabbed as much stuff as we could, but it was hopeless. It was like driving the band stage through the magic car wash on Front Street. Thank Goodness for the help from Ty and Dominick as they helped us wipe down and load up the best we could. Hey what are you going to do? We called it out there - but we learn from it too. It’s not the first time we baptized our equipment, and it won't be the last.

So Friday night arrives with more rain and more wind, but (hey) we’re at Davy's (indoors) so, let it rain - we don't care. Around the second set, the water started to back-up at the rear door and the next thing you know, we have two (plus) inches of water on the dance floor and stage area. So, no one was electrocuted and nobody drowned, but that was the end of that show. (So not even indoors can we cut a break)

As we moved into Saturday once again it rained. We were scheduled to play another outside show up in Fosterville and this time we were not going to take any chances at all. To get to Fosterville one must travel a mile down dirt roads and under power lines to arrive at the destination. We needed three - 4x4's to complete the equipment transfer. {Thanks Hippie} Anyway this time we once again made the choice to play indoors {enclosed porch] wasn't much to look at though the windows but we were dry! {Like the days of the Big Pink} And, wouldn't you know it - when we packed down that night the sky was filled with stars. I just don't know. Anyway, what an adventure through the woods.. {"Way back up in the woods among the evergreens"} Thanks Foster for a great evening. We hope everyone liked the band.

Finally Sunday comes, and it’s show #4 and another outside venue. It was Jeremy's Pig Roast. Rural gigs were once again the lay of the land as we headed back through the Hay Fields of Nineveh to complete our day’s event. The sun was shining Sunday and it had to be all of 90 degrees that day. They had a cool little stage for us all covered over. (very nice) When we play these outdoor events you never quite know what to expect. Sometimes it's a sweet stage - sometimes it's cardboard over grass. Jeremy hooked us up and special thanks to Mr. Stanley for supplying electrical power for the event. It's not easy to run a 2000 watt system when all you have is a generator to do so. So we played for the better part of five hours that day and as the sun went down, the sky started to get dark once again and the wind picked up. This time we knew better and got everything secured safe and sound and DRY.

So as I look at the two big blisters on both my palms from a weekend of drum sticks and maybe the 200+ songs played, all one can say is what a beautiful ride it was. A very special thanks to my two brothers that make what we do so much fun and our families that support us every weekend when we once again "Take on the world"

This week -Saturday- one show {Lisa's Big Annual Bash} - Private show - but guess what ? WERE OUTDOORS again- wish us luck!

Peace and love,

Mikee^Dee

Short Change Band - Last week of May, 2011

Greetings everyone, I hope all is well in your world this week. For the band, we kick off our summer Memorial shows for 2011 this weekend. As you come out to see us over the next few weeks, check out our new look. We’ve added a tribute to our troops - past and present. Please sign our book that will be on display and will list all of our fallen area heroes.

Along with our tribute tour we will also include some great "American tunes" that we’ve hand-picked just for this summertime event. We hope you enjoy our displays as well. It’s the least we can do for our fellow servicemen and women who give so much each and every day as they serve our country.

It’s a Big week for us so let’s get right to the Schedule:

Thursday Night- It’s the first “Biker Night” on the Patio at the Hitchin’ Post on Belden Hill. It’s a summer kickoff party with the show beginning at 6pm.

Friday Night we’re back to Davy's Last Chance Saloon in downtown Chenango Forks. The show begins at 9pm.

Saturday – The CENTRAL HOTEL annual Memorial Day show has been postponed as the owner is out of town on business. We’re sorry if you had this on your list of things to do for this weekend. The make-up show is now set for Saturday June 11th. Put that in your book. (So, Saturday we will be playing a private lake party in Coventry instead)

And finally this Sunday we will be at another private party in the Doraville area. So that winds up this weekend for the band.

Now in closing, Thursday and Friday will be our only "public" shows so to speak. So, we hope to see you all there.

Have a safe Memorial Day weekend and don't forget to take in a parade or two this weekend and show your appreciation and support to all who have given so much for our fine country. Monday is not just a day off from work.

Peace and Love,

Mikee^^ Dee

Short Change Band - May 17, 2011

Greetings Everyone! We had an absolute awesome weekend last week for music. We not only played some incredible shows and played some really awesome music, but we got to do it with some prior members of the Short Change Band as well.

Friday evening at the VFW in Endicott was nothing short of some pure magic. Jeffery “A” stopped by and played the entire evening with the band. We were privileged to some awesome mandolin solos and not to mention some fine guitar work too. Thanks Jeff!

The crowd stayed the entire evening and that's always a true sign that you must be doing something right. We also had some other friends stop by that evening, Susie (another former member of the SCB) said a quick “hello” and scooted out the door. We later found out she was celebrating a friend’s birthday and her birthday is coming up… ahh that explains that. Also, we need to thank Jim George for coming up and playing some awesome bass guitar in the last set with us. What a fun night!

So we get home around 3am and then we were back up again at 6am, hit the shower and down the road I go to our annual F.D/Auxiliary Golf tournament benefit. Set up time was 7am and there was much to do before the crowd arrived. The staff work at 7am was tough.

Then, at 9am I went back in the truck and off to the Afton Food Pantry to meet up with KW, DD, and Dom to present the check from the CHOW Jamboree. Check out the picture on our blog picture page.

It was truly a good morning. Then, Saturday evening I was off to another benefit to show support for a fellow fire fighter in another department who is currently in the hospital in Kingston NY (he’s in intensive care) Saturday was also another sad day as my own department lost a member as well on Friday the 13th due to a severe fall event while working at home. Yeah sometimes it's so sad when you lose a friend as close as brother in some cases, who you train with on Wednesday night and is gone by Friday. That's a tough deal my friends on anyone…

Anyway, on to Sunday. We were back on the road again, this time to Davy's Last Chance Saloon for (you guessed it) another benefit. This time it was to aid a participant in our local Achieve Program right here in Binghamton.

The turnout was scarce to say the least, but the band was hot once again. It was another Short Change Reunion. This time with our former lead player Cliffy Clune. All I can say was “Wow” there once again was some pure magic going on there my friends. I don't think we all played together in this format in about 5 years. It felt better than the old days for sure. Thanks Cliffy for your support...

And then, five hours after it started - it was over. But don't ever let it be said that this band doesn't give a damn... We give more than many others in the triple cities, and the funny part is - we've been doing it ever year for over 25 years... Now that's our share of giving back to the people who supported over all these years.

This week there are no scheduled shows as we are headed to the grand daddy of them all for concerts this weekend - ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd - Need we say more....
In closing, next weekend is memorial day weekend and we have four shows scheduled up for four days... yeah now that's Rock And Roll!

Enjoy the rain - love ya's all peace,

-Mikee Dee^^

Short Change Band - May, 2011

Well hello everyone, and welcome back to the band site once again. We’ve had a busy couple of weeks and it was nice to spend some independent time on our own this last weekend. Now it's back to business.

This Saturday we will present the proceeds check to the Afton Food Bank on behalf of the Jamboree Committee. This year’s benefit raised $2300.00. We didn’t achieve the goal of 3K, but still a much needed contribution.

In the past three years the Jamboree Committee has raised over $5000.00 and contributed it all to the Afton Food Pantry. It is with everyone's hard work and asserted effort that this is made possible. Again thanks to all of the staff and supporters as well as all of the contributing vendors. “Share the Music and Feed The People” -the saga continues.

This week we have one show on Friday evening, we will be live at the VFW on Rt. 26 in Endicott for a 9pm show. We hope that you can attend. We really haven't jammed since the benefit and I'm sure much like myself - the boys are hot and ready to roll. I Hope to once again see you all there for what will be an interesting show.

Peace Love and the American Way,

- Mikee Dee^^

Share the Music and Feed the People, April 30, 2011

Well hello once again to you all. By the time you all read this installment, the Jam 2011 will be history

It was a great piece of volunteer work on Saturday, April 30th, 2011. There were four months of hard team work and it all came together at the Central Hotel.
Now I will be quite honest with you all. I truly had my doubts about this year’s outcome long before Saturday. We had some people who cancelled out, some bands who had other obligations or illness and even some non interests were underling factors this year.

If anyone would have held the printout of the original lineup of the bands, they would be quick to see the people we lost.

Also donations from the local community were not quite what they once were in prior years either. So with that all said and done, we pressed on - and like Dominic said last weekend when I was about to cry over all of these short-falls - he put it all in perspective. "Once the first band takes the stage we'll forget all about this" And was he ever right! Let us enjoy what we have.

The show that followed was absolutely awesome. We began with “The Wild Ones" from around Sidney way. We had a fill in picker that stepped up last minute so the boys could play. I gotta tell ya, these guys cooked. Every song was like they played it a hundred times in the past. A very special thanks to our Brother Cliff Clune for filling the void of the day. Gordy, Paul and Chucky - thank you for the outstanding show. Next up was The C.O.D. band. This band was very active in the late 80's early 90's. They have only done one other show in the last 21 yrs. and that was at the last Jam in 2010. There was some very sharp and crafted tunes by the boys – “Two Lane Highway”, “Hotel California” and not to mention, the smoking conclusion of “Free Bird” Yeah Mr. Chuck Mott had them all looking his way at those fiery leads he was playing. Special thanks to Herb and Tom as well for their continuing support for CHOW. Act Number three was “Pawn Shop”. Now if you have not heard these guys, you once again have missed the boat. They have some awesome guitar work and vocals by all. A very notable rendition of Ring of Fire and not to mention a close out song by “Lady Gaga/Talking Heads” and special thanks to Patty and Jeff and all the rest of the band for coming to our defense. Last up, but not least – “The Short Change Band”. By the time 4:30 pm came along we were truly ready to come out and jam a few tunes. That we did. We opened up with a bit of Merle Haggard then on to a couple of original songs and an oldie and took the show home with an original off the new album “Two O'clock in the Morning". The absolute kick ass performance by Dean on that fiddle was worth the price of admission alone. Dean Goble, thank you so much for coming down and showing your support for the cause. Gosh, I wish he was our fiddle player.

So this is the part where we come to terms and thanks to all. Special thanks to Gary for traveling all the way from the Albany area to help us out with sound and lighting. You're a special guy buddy. Then there's Krissy, Dom, Donna, Drea, Cindy, Chopper, Theresa, Hailey, Robin, Tammy, Chris, And all the hosts - Ty, Bobby, K.W.,D.D. and one kick ass master of ceremony Eddie.... Also special thanks to Robert and Brandon for cooking and grounds setup. And I'm probably missing a few others as well, but it is not intentional by any means. Anyway - that's quite the staff isn't it?

So now that I have bored you for the better part of ten minutes with this extensive "Thank You" Here is what we raised for CHOW: Our 2011 Jamboree yielded $2,300.00 that will be forwarded to the Afton Food Bank. That beats last year’s fundraiser by about $75. Not too shabby huh? It wasn't the 3K we were aiming for, but hell It's All Good!

The band is off this weekend for Mothers Day Weekend and a much needed weekend for some R&R...

Thanks again for all of your continued support and for the ones who missed it, there will never be the solidarity of our 3rd annual Jamboree every again. This was truly a "one time" priceless event... And we thought last year’s rocked!

And as always, Peace and love to all and Happy Mother’s day to all you "Mothers"

-Mikee^Dee

Short Change Band - Last week of April, 2011

Well hello everyone. It's been a crazy week this week with the upcoming "Share the Music and Feed the People" Jamboree for Chow and all, so I'll be brief.

Last Friday night at Davy's we had a great show with a really huge crowd. Thanks to all who came down and supported us on that cold rainy night. Saturday night at the Central Hotel was another great show. The whiskey was flowing and the band played on. Thanks again for all of our friends that came down to support us. It was also refreshing leaving the gear all set up for this weeks REALLY BIG SHOW: So here we go--- IT'S FINALLY HERE> Saturday April 30th is our 3rd annual Run For Chow... We have a great lineup of musicians on tap, some great door prizes and 50/50's not to mention the Raffles.

Bring some cash and buy some tickets and maybe win some prizes! And while you're there enjoy the events planned all throughout the afternoon, not to mention the big "Jam" at the end of the day.

Our cause is to have some fun with our friends and supporters, play some great music and jam with people we don't normally have the opportunity to do so with. But foremost we are there to help raise money for local families that do not have the ability to purchase enough food to eat. And if nothing else, raising money for that goal alone is what drives our Team of Workers.

P.S. we also are selling our 3rd annual commemorative Tee Shirts at a special price. We even have a few left over from the last Jamboree that we are selling as well..

So, JAMBOREE 2011 - we'll see you all there, at the Central Hotel on Oak Hill Road in Nineveh, NY. The start Time is at 12:00 Noon on Saturday, April 30, 2011.

p.s. We can accept monetary donations but at this time we are not accepting any can items or non perishables as this is a *funds* drive.

Thank You,

Peace and love - Mikee Dee

The Short Change Band - Back from Florida - April, 2011

Well hello everyone. Much like the song goes "The Boys Are Back In Town" - Yes that's right after sharing the stage for a single show last Thursday evening with our good friends "Those Guys" down in sunny St. Augustine Beach Florida. And, yep we're back.

The amazing story here is we were invited to play at the Famous Oasis Lounge on A-1-A in Florida, and in order to do that we needed to fly Double “D” down to Florida. Yes the entire SCB got to play a venue nearly 1300 miles from their home in the Triple Cities.

From all reports we played well and we didn't suck. The band members invited us to once again sit-in at the "Annual Rhythm and Ribs Festival" in downtown St. Augustine Saturday afternoon but there just wasn't enough time in the weekend to do so and being that far from home our return trip was awaiting - we had to take a pass. damn....

A very special thanks to the boys for letting us live the dream so many bands desire and never get to fulfill. SCB goes National - film at “11"
While we were down there we also got to catch up with our old friend Dave, now with "The Big Lonesome Band" formerly of “Those Guys” as well. Yeah it seems the band that once inspired us to try the impossible ourselves- recording after recording of original music- has gone their separate ways. As sad as that sounds, it's really all good. Everybody is doing their own thing with new people and they're making it work.

You give music (as you know it) the best shot you can at trying to become the next "recording stars” of the year. And, hey you keep trying and trying to live the dream. And much like a flame that goes out in time - you know when it's time to just move on.

Yeah it's sad but I gotta tell ya- we seen some awesome music pickers this week and it was all of remarkable quality. Dave best of luck with the "Big Lonesome Band" next week in Virginia and hey we love you guys. Walt, Barry, Chris and Jeremy...Keep up the versatility you guys show at each and every show you play.
So, our quick trip down to the sunshine state saw gasoline start out at 3.55 a gallon last week and as we pulled back into Binghamton this morning it was 3.99 a gallon – what a shocker. And like I told the desk clerk this morning as we left Virginia - "this is the Last Waltz for us" we won't be back till gas goes back down. The clerk stated, "I don't think that will ever happen" and I said to her in response" Well nice knowing you then".

It's such a shame for a band to travel south to fulfill a lifetime dream and have to shell out more money in fuel then in the Hotels we stayed in the entire time we were gone. I'm waiting now for a dividend check from Exxon for the support we showed in purchasing their products. Ugh!

Back to this week’s shows real quick:
Friday Night - The boys are back at Davy's - show starts at 9 pm. Come down so we can tell you all about our 'great adventure.
Saturday Night- The Central Hotel- Showtime- around 6pm.
And Don't forget the Chow Run Jamboree at the Hotel on April 30th - show starts at noon- $5 gets you in the door for 5 bands and another $5 makes you eligible for a chance to get in at all those great door prizes we are giving away. Come and help give the precious gift of food for someone less fortunate.

That pretty much concludes our great adventure story for this week. Music is a powerful tool and it's so nice to "share your tool" every now and again now isn't it?

Peace and Love,

Mikee^Dee^

Short Change Band - April 11th, 2011

Well hello, I hope everyone is finally getting to appreciate the melting snow as spring is on its way. We had a busy week last week so let's get right to it.

Last Tuesday night a group of us headed uptown to take in the “Furthur” concert. For those that do not recognize the name, it’s a modern day affirmation of the old “Grateful Dead” band. I had not seen the “Dead” since the 70's so for me it was like taking a trip back in time. Two of the original members are still present and the rest are all hand-picked contributors from the years past. I sat back and for the next three hours I took a trip back in time. Even the lead guitarist that replaced Garcia, played every note like the master himself. Wow if you missed this show and you ever loved the “Dead” - you missed a good one.

I was a bit troubled by the press and the local news stations. The crowd in the arena numbered at least 8,000, but there wasn't a spot to stand or sit anywhere. The show got no reviews, no press no nothing. I have never seen such a huge crowd in the arena. Now if this was a beer run down State Street in early May and some college kid got caught throwing a drink at a cop or starting a brawl, it would be front page news for sure. Now I see why Binghamton won the honor of the 5th most depressing city in the country. They only report the bad and never the good. Oh well on to the show reviews:

Friday night at the Hitchin' Post was a good time. The crowd was better than the last time and basically we put on a decent show to boot. This concludes the winter show series at the post - next up is Thursday Night bike night on the deck. More dates to follow, we will post them as we get them.

Saturday Night we played a new club for the SCB at “On the Roxx in downtown Binghamton. It was a nice place, great show and a good crowd. I wasn't sure how well an “Outlaw Country Rock Band” such as us would go over there, as they all like that boom-chiggie stuff. We bucked up and played what we do and we did it well. We even had another club from down the road offering a future booking. Ah, the city is an interesting place to say the least. And, the food here is awesome too and great bartenders.

Finally this week we are off as we take a break for a bit and work on some new material as well. DON'T FORGET THE CHOW RUN APRIL 30TH AT THE CENTRAL HOTEL. {New band booking for the show- THE WILD ONES from the Sidney area are now on the bill as well. The show will start at noon and we hope to see all of you there.

So as always- be good- be safe- and be yourself,

(peace) Mikee^Dee