Kosovo or Bust!

Last Show at USAG Schinnen, Netherlands

2009-01-10T08:21:00.000-08:00

We're all back at home nursing a cold, jet lag and just plain old weariness along with listening to all the sports experts picking the Ravens to win this weekend.

I just got a great slide show link from Tom Budzyna who is the Director of Public Affairs at USAG Schinnen, Netherlands where we did our last show on Jan 7, 2009. It was a great show complete with some audience participation on "Red Neck Yacht Club" and the base commander, Lt Col Sumpter directing the enthusiastic audience in the chorus of "Take Me Home Country Roads".

The slide show is so much better than my own pics, I'm posting its link for you to enjoy. Some of the angles are classic. I especially like the one of Ben with the American flag draped behind him. I plan to post one more "Final Thoughts" post in a few days.

Meanwhile, please enjoy this great slide show:

http://www.army.mil/-slideshows/2009/01/09/15634-usag-schinnen-hosts-thom-shepherd-and-the-nashville-songwriters-band/index.html

Will post more soon....

2009-01-07T13:43:00.000-08:00

We are back at our base hotel in Schinnen, Netherlands. The last show is over and all went great. It is now 10:30pm here and our bus to Brussels Airport departs the hotel at 4:30am. We are scheduled to arrive in Nashville on Thursday, Jan 8 at 4:21pm (which will feel like 11:21pm to our worn out bodies).

As a result, I'm going to turn, get some rest now.

I'm hoping to have some down time at the Brussels airport to post one more about the final show and some closing thoughts.

Suffice it to say it was much more than a great trip. Thom calls us his "dream team" and I think he's onto something.

We love and miss you all and are looking forward to seeing you very, very soon.

Jerry

Hello from the Netherlands!

2009-01-06T12:33:00.000-08:00

After our first decent restful night in Belgium we packed out on the bus and headed for Holland. It took about an hour to cross the border:

This is particularly sweet for me because (thanks to the internet) I have been able to trace my paternal lineage to Holland all the way back to 1480. The name Vandiver evolved from the original Van Der Veere, which means in Dutch to be “from the Village of Veere”. We are about an hour in the wrong direction from Veere and the neighboring Welmeldinge (in the provice of Zealand) which is where my ancestors came from. How I would like to go visit there some day. So close and yet so far.

We were scheduled to play USAG Rotterdam, a small facility specializing in the transport of goods and supplies to the military bases throughout Europe. Though we were playing in a little cafeteria, we had a nice crowd of personnel and their families.

Renae was her usual incredibly entertaining self. As Todd said earlier about her, “She’s our secret weapon”. Its fun how she takes the show up to another level:

The band got a nice standing ovation after the closing song, “Thanks To You” written by Todd and Thom:

Tomorrow we head to Schinnen for the final show of the tour.

Stay with us a little longer!

Jerry

Off to Klein Brogel

2009-01-05T09:01:00.000-08:00

We left the Watermolen at 12:30 to head down the road to Klein Brogel, an air base here in Belgium that supports the NATO forces in the area as well as other USAF activities in Europe.

There was a significant snow storm last night and as a result the base was letting all non-essential staff off at 3:00, so instead of the scheduled show going from 4-6, we needed to set up as early as we could and be done by 3.

No problem. We decided to set up with a smaller drum kit, no keyboards (Todd would play acoustic guitar and mandolin) and get it done on time.

The band started a little after 2:

And we had a great little crowd that was very, very appreciative.

Including Jacqueline, who was our host at a show in Kuwait!

I thought this shot of Todd on acoustic with the flag in front was cool:

I was wearing my Titans hat as usual and after the show this couple from Chattanooga found me and we talked NFL playoffs and Tennessee Titans. They are Malissa and Nathan Jackson and not only are they hardcore Titans fans (well, he is as she is originally from Miami) but they plan on being back in Tennessee next fall. I promised Nathan I'd take him to a Titans game then. (Tim, you're going to have to give up your ticket for that one!). Nathan insisted on giving me the helmet and cup:

Nathan, I better hear from ya!

We are now back at the Watermolen enjoying an early evening, no stress hang. A nice dinner followed by bowling - German style. The lanes are much different than in the U.S. They start out narrow and widen at the end. There are only 9 pins set in a diamond shape and hung by strings:

The balls are different sizes and have no finger holes:

Here's Todd showing how its done:

Tomorrow we head for Rotterdam and hope to get in an evening in Amsterdam after that early show.

Keep coming with us,
Jerry

Good Morning, Belgium

2009-01-05T01:20:00.000-08:00

A short blog to keep you up to date:

We had a long travel day yesterday, leaving our quarters in Warsaw at noon and checking into the airport with all the gear (including John's snare which spent a little holiday in Budapest) and flying to Brussels, finding Armin and riding to our hotel here, about 70 miles east of Brussels arriving at 10:30pm.

The Brussels Airport is massive and ultra modern:

A coke machine at our gate made me think twice about having a cola:

We finally arrived at the De Watermolen (pronounced vater molen - meaning "waterwheel") hotel which is a nice little chalet style place off the beaten track.

Looking down the road from the Watermolen:

and on the side of the building towards the back is the reason for the name:

Checking into the hotel:

They still had some Christmas cheer on display in the lobby:

We learned that Belgium speaks 3 different languages depending on the area. Close to the German border, German is spoken, close to France, of course, is French and further Northwest is Flemish, or Dutch. We are just barely in the Flemish area.

Here is the "breakfast buffet" which is typical of Dutch and Germans - breads, cheeses and meats.

I'm looking forward to a couple of eggs over easy when I get back to the states.

We're pulling out at 12:30 to meet up with our POC Sgt Gory to play for a small contingent of Air Force folks at a NATO base about a half hour from here.

I'll post more about that tonight.

Miss you all,
Jerry

From Old Town to Hard Rock

2009-01-03T16:24:00.000-08:00

This blog will be in two parts, the first half will be a tour of Warsaw's famous Old Town, and the second, a report about the performance at the Hard Rock Cafe.

Part 1:

Before Hitler's invasion of Poland, Warsaw had a population of close to 700,000. In 1944 as the Russians were making ground on the Eastern front, a large contingent of Poles decided they wouldn't stand it any more and revolted against the occupying Nazi army.

There is a museum commemorating that event called the Resistance Museum.

The revolt lasted 60 days and the Nazis, showing no mercy, destroyed 75% of the area which was Old Town and the famous Warsaw ghetto. The Russians, knowing that the Polish resistance was pro-English/American, waited outside for the Nazis to take care of the problem so that when they entered Warsaw, they wouldn't have any resistance of their own.

Once that revolt had been put down, the population was reduced to about 100,000.

The Poles decided to rebuild Old Town back to its original grandeur using available photographs of the buildings and staying true to the original architecture. As a result then, most of Old Town is actually relatively "new", having been built since 1945, but it doesn't look at all like it.

Here is a picture of the King's Palace:

and nearby is a picture of the original palace after the Nazi decimation:

A street in Old Town

At the end of the above street is a beautiful square:

There were many cool shops and restaurants. One shop that caught my attention was a jewelry store featuring amber pieces

I seem to recall someone saying there are numerous amber mining areas in Poland. It makes sense as there were several of these stores.

Leaving Old Town and heading back to the Hard Rock, we found this Science and Technology building just across the street. The Russians built it for the Poles as an apology for their WWII hardships.

Warsaw is a beautiful, clean city. In the summer, the sidewalks are filled with cafe tables, people and charm. I'd love to come back here in warmer weather.

***************

Part II

Back at the Hard Rock, we did some final adjustments and before the first set, posed for a photo op with the famous Hard Rock logo in the background.

Some fans from the Embassy showed up early:

And once again, the band was great with a great crowd:

I thought it would be cool to have a photo of each member with the logo, so here goes:

and yours truly

Ben wanted to do his part:

More autographs followed the final set

After packing out we were treated to a delicious Lebanese dinner and once again found our beds to be a welcome sight at the Embassy quarters.

Tomorrow we pack for Brussels.

The adventure continues.

Thanks for being here with us,
Jerry

A short hello from Warsaw, Poland

2009-01-03T02:58:00.000-08:00

It was a long day leaving Camp Bondsteel to the airport at Pristina, Kosovo, then checking in 35 pieces of gear to Budapest and then to Warsaw. We arrived at the airport about 6pm and were greeted by SMSgt Julie Brummond and several dignitaries from the US Embassy.

This particular gig is scheduled as a performance for State Department Embassy personnel as well as the military stationed here. It promises to be pretty fun not only because we're playing at the Hard Rock Warsaw, but we are expecting 200+ people at the show.

At the airport and we packed all our gear (minus John's snare which was left behind in Budapest) into two vans and first headed to our Embassy sponsored quarters - a nice 3 story home with all the amenities, then to a great restaurant near Warsaw's Old Town:

The area around the restaurant was beautiful:

Inside, we were greetted by a Warsaw duo:

and then by yet more folks from the embassy. Here is a pic of Thom and Julie at the restaurant:

Ben was practicing his usual diplomacy with a local staffer, Kasia:

while Thom was being taught some polish phrases with Agata, another local staffer:

By the way my Polish name is Jerzy, pronounced "yer sha".

and Ben distributed the Polish beer via a "beer tube"

And the food was great. Not a place for vegtarians here:

All good things must end, though and we eventually got back to our Warsaw "home" and crashed.

I'm typing this now at the Hard Rock as we just finished a 9:30am sound check (sleep deprivation is a common occurrence on these trips) and are enjoying lunch here. Thom is off to lunch with the Ambassador (a former mayor of Knoxville). When he returns we hope to get in a few nearby sights.

I plan to post a blog of the show later (maybe after we get to Brussels tomorrow as there is no internet service in our house).

We are all loving your comments. Please, please keep posting!

Jerry

While The Snow Was Falling Outside….

2009-01-01T17:07:00.000-08:00

The band was at its hottest inside.

It just doesn’t get any better than this. Tonight is really what we came here for. Bring some home, music and entertainment to the men and women who are deployed in a remote area for yet another holiday.

The band was even better than last night, the soldiers were more than enthusiastic and everyone was touched by it all.

Ben and I started off New Year’s day making sure we had our logistics organized and in sync for our departure to Warsaw (via Budapest) tomorrow. The snow is falling heavily right now and we’re concerned about the roads getting to the airport and hoping we won’t be grounded on account of weather. Our schedule from here on out is very tight and we really don’t have a lot of room for flexibility.

At the venue, Thom posed for a pic before going in:

Inside, while setting up, John found a new dance partner:

Connie, I think he misses you a lot!

We had a couple of photo ops with the commanding General of the base. One with the group:

And one with a special flag:

We had a great crowd when the show started:

Some soldiers have to carry their weapons everywhere, even at a concert. Watrch out for this gal:

Every soldier wanted a cd and autograph after the show, but they especially wanted to thank us for being here on a holiday for them.

After we got all these fine men and women taken care of, made our thank yous, we still had to pack up and head back to our quarters:

It was one of the best nights I can remember. And I think these soldiers will think of it that way, too.

Tomorrow: Warsaw

We still miss you!
Jerry

A tour of Camp Bondsteel

2009-01-01T06:06:00.000-08:00

As promised, here goes a description of where we are for three days.

Back in the '90s Melosevich and the Serbs invaded this area (part of the former Yugoslavia) and started mass killings of the local Albanians which are mostly Muslim. When the US moved in to stop the slaughter, this area became a central point of operations. When the Serbs were expelled, then the Albanians started their own retributions and it became apparent there needed to be a more permanent presence here to maintain civility. Hence the construction of Camp Bondsteel (and the neighboring NATO forces in Film City - blog below).

Camp Bondsteel currently has a force of around 2000 - mostly US Army - troops. Its Operation is known as KFOR. There really hasn't been any violence in quite a while and I'm told the locals here love our presence and respect the US a great deal. There is a lot of good will activity going on here.

Kosovo is a very poor country. The average income is $320/month and unemployment is over 70% so there are many many problems to work out over and above the complex political and social structure here.

As Bob says, "The time difference here is 7 hours and 200 years"

The living quarters here are actually called "living containers" and are metal pod structures lined up next to each other:

A closer look at my doorstep:

and inside:

This is the way all the personnel here live.

A stroll around the base showed some large helicopter hangers:

Where a lot of routine maintenance goes on day to day:

Further down are the camp operations offices:

There are protective bunkers everywhere for possible incoming:

Inside the bunker:

Going down towards the recreation area, Bob still thinks he is the band chick magnet:

We let him stay in his world.

There are also ammunition amnesty boxes:

Outside the dining hall:

Inside the dining hall there are warnings posted of the numerous land mines all over the area:

On a lighter note, to make the soldiers life more palatable there is a gym and workout area:

a recreation area:

Interesting that a UT banner was front and center there:

While a Titans penant was the only sign of NFL in TN hung among all the NFL teams:

There is also a souvineer shop:

a music store:

a massage parlor along with laundry, PX, seamtress facilities. All the amenities of home.

That's about it. The soldiers here have a real sense of good will and cooperation with the local people. They truly are in good command. I have met many who love their job here and feel they are doing something to better this little corner of the world.

We are lucky they are here and glad that we are here.

The show tonight is in the gym area.

Hope you enjoyed it,
Jerry

Happy New Year from Film City, Kosovo!

2009-01-01T02:44:00.000-08:00

I never thought in my wildest dreams (and I have several of those) that I would be spending New Year's Eve in Kosovo. I mentioned that to a few soldiers at midnight as 2008 was passing the gavel over to 2009 and they all had the same thought.

But I digress. Back to the beginning.

The plan for our NY Eve gig was to go to the NATO installation about an hour away to Film City. It is called Film City because before it was a NATO base, it was an area where Eastern European porn films were made. Really. Once there, we would check out the venue and have a NY Eve dinner with the local soldiers there. Film City is a multi national NATO base with 29 countries represented there. Their mission is peacekeeping and to aid this new, struggling country to get on its feet and prosper.

We were scheduled to play at 8 at the Norweigan "club" using a local Kosovo band's gear. The local band would then play and ring in the new year after we packed out.

Meanwhile, Thom, Todd and Renae had to leave early in the morning to play for a small group of US soldiers at an area called "Nothing Hill" where we patrol the Serbian border and keep it safe. Apparently it is called Nothing Hill because there is absolutely nothing there except 30 US soldiers doing their job. We found out that Thom's little performance was the first show there. (Unfortunately, I couldn't go with them, so I'm nudging Thom to contribute a post in this blog with pics). Then we would rendevous with Thom at Film City.

So off we go to Film City:

On our way, our driver Marcus informed us that if we get somehow detoured off this highway and have to get out of the car to
ABSOLUTELY do not step off the blacktop. There is a huge threat of mines present everywhere and no one really knows where they all are. Fortunately, we stayed on the main road without incident.

We passed through Prishtina, which is the capital of Kosovo, and by a local hotel - the Hotel Victory:

On the way, we saw tons of incomplete houses, especially without windows. Turns out that when a house is completed, they leave the windows out so they won't get taxed until the last minute:

And true to its reputation, guess what we found just before we entered the post:

As we waited for Thom and company we found out they had been in a little fender bender and were delayed having to give statements to the local Kosovo police. So we went ahead and had NY Eve dinner with some soldiers:

Thom showed up and we went to the venue to meet the local band we were opening for:

Here is a pic of the area just outside the club:

After setting up, the band kicked in gear:

They did a non-stop 2+ hour set. I got to chime in:

Renae really got "close" to the troops:

(That is Stephan from Germany)

And Ben practiced his diplomacy with an Albanian woman:

By the way, Ben is a horn and keyboard player in his own right and has toured with Jason Mraz and even played on Jason's latest cd. Cool.

The band just keeps getting better. It was a great, great set and the crowd loved it all.

When our portion of the music was over, we set out to the American club to ring in the New Year. On the way we found a bunch of Spanish soldiers "parading" in the New Year:

Then to the American Post "SAMS Club" (not a discount store). SAMS stands for Soldiers, Airmen, Marines and Sailors:

There were a lot of Missourians at SAMS. Here are a couple of them:

That is Brett from Kansas City on the left. We talked Chiefs, KC barbecue, wives, family and everything else about home.
On the right is Marty from St Louis. We talked Rams, KC barbecue, wives, family and everything else about home.

We finally left about 1:30 and by 2:30am we collapsed into our beds bad at Camp Bondsteel. It was a night we will never forget.

Time to go for now. I'm almost finished touring our camp and hope to post another blog soon, so check back in for a "local" tour.

Soon,
Jerry

Greetings from the Republic of Kosovo!

2008-12-31T02:33:00.000-08:00

The difference between here and Germany is much more than I can express using the "night and day" or "different planet" cliches, so I'll try to capture that in this blog with pictures and some kind of description.

We departed our military hotel in Kaiserslautern at 6am and loaded up our massive amounts of gear into the airport much to the chagrin of Lufthansa personnel:

But I have to say that Selena at the counter was an absolute angel in getting us through the tangles and we got on the flight to Vienna and then to Pristina, Kosovo which is about an hour's drive to the base. Amazingly enough, all our gear made it in tact and once through customs we (with the help of some soldiers) got it loaded into a base truck:

Our personal bags went into a van:

and we hopped on board the lastest state of the art tour bus:

Inside the bus we met our gracious hostess - Renee' - who gave us a welcome and rundown of things to come:

There was another band from L.A. there with us. We'll be playing the same venues but at different times. Good bunch of guys (and a female singer), of course.

Unfortunately it was dark as we were passing thru the towns and countryside so we didn't get a good look at it yet. Hope to soon.

After getting our badges to be on base, we then went to meet the commanding General for a short meet and greet. The General and most of the American contingent here are Missouri National Guard so we immediately had a lot of home to talk about. (For those of you that don't know, my hometown is Kansas City, MO and Thom comes from the St Louis area). I wasn't allowed to take pictures at the "ceremony" but suffice it to say the General was exceedingly gracious at welcoming us.

Here we are in front of the General's area:

It sounds like not many bands get down here as the all the glory goes to playing in Iraq and the Middle East (don't know what that glory is!), but they were all very thankful for our presence. The General gave us each plaques and special dog tags with The Soldiers Creed and Army Values on them. Thom and I each got Missouri National Guard pins as well. It was all very very touching.

Here's a later composite pic of our gifts:

Back at our "quarters" we found an ethernet connection coming through the heating device and with Renee's help we got connected. I even got to do a live video chat with my lovely wife and cool step son Gabe. ( For some reason that connection isn't working now so I'm currently at the base "coffee shop" which has wifi.)

Here's Thom and John enjoying your comments from the blog. Keep 'em comin'!!

Its about time for lunch. We are here until Jan 2 so I plan to give a more detailed report of this base, its mission on another blog.

I'd like to leave you with the engravings on our new dog tags:

ARMY VALUES
Loyalty: Bear true faith and allegiance to the U.S. Constitution, the Army, your unit, and other Soldiers

DUTY: Fulfill your obligations

RESPECT: Treat people as they should be treated

SELFLESS SERVICE: Put the welfare of the Nation, the Army and your subordinates before your own

HONOR: Live up to all the Army Values

INTEGRITY: Do what's right, legally and morally

PERSONAL COURAGE: Face fear, danger or adversity (physical or moral)

THE SOLDIERS'S CREED:

I am an American Soldier
I am a Warrior and a member of a team
I serve the people of the United States and live the Army Values
I will always place the mission first
I will never accept defeat
I will never quit
I will never leave a fallen comrade
I am disciplined, physically and mentally tough, trained and proficient in my warrior tasks and drills
I always maintain my arms, my equipment, and myself
I am an expert and I am a professional
I stand ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States of America in close combat
I am a guardian of freedom and the American way of life
I am an American Soldier

We love and miss you all,
Jerry

Getting Better All The Time

2008-12-30T14:19:00.000-08:00

The band was on tonight! Everyone felt it, knew it and it showed. Amazing how great these guys can play with a little rest from jet lag.

We departed today for Ramstein Air Base, Germany and found the gig at “Club E” (Enlisted)

Thom had played this venue before so finding our way around was easy.

We were greeted by our hostesses (AKA “Point Of Contact” – heretofore referred as POC in military jargon) Maria and Lori:

They immediately made us feel at home and most welcome. After a little lunch we began the load out of gear and setting up:

Followed by a sound check and short rehearsal to work out what bugs might be still hanging around.

And then dinner with Lori and Maria and a gig from 8-10 at the club. Several fans from the gig at the base down the road came to hear us again

Caitlin Nicol-Thomas, a Nashville singer/songwriter who had recently toured Iraq and Kuwait was in the area visiting friends and came over. Thom had her open a little acoustic 3 song set before the band played:

The night was an especially good one band-wise and audience wise. While the audience wasn’t as large as it could have been (after all, it was a Monday nite and holiday) what they may have lacked in number they definitely made up for in enthusiasm. I don’t remember anyone ever two-stepping and singing along to “For A Little While” when I played it at the Bluebird, but here it was right in sync with the evening and a blast for me.

Meanwhile, let’s have a look at the band in action

Todd

Bob

John

Thom

Wade

And check out this short little video of Renae having a blast with the recruits on “Devil Went Down To Georgia”

She has amazing showmanship that everyone really loves.

The show was supposed to end at 10 and, like last time, we went to about 11 instead.

Autographs and cds,

Packing and saying goodbye to Lori and Maria (a tough job, but someone has to do it.)

and we headed back for our last night in Germany.

We board the bus tomorrow morning at 6am for a flight to Kosovo. We’re all looking forward to that adventure.

Thanks for checking in and please keep the comments coming. We are all really enjoying them.

Soon,
Jerry

“To the Castle, Armin!”

2008-12-28T14:17:00.000-08:00

Today is an off day. As I mentioned before, we agreed to sleep in and meet at the bus at noon for a trip to the base food court for a late breakfast. No problem except that I woke up at 12:17 thanks to John knocking on my door. A quick “bird bath” and lots of deodorant and we did brunch and a little nosing around the base PX.

Armin then gave us the choice to go to an old Rheinland castle or back to the rooms. It was a no brainer and off we went to the castle at Burg Lichtenberg. Much of it has been destroyed over the years (give it a little slack as construction on it began in 1200) but it was still pretty cool to walk around those ruins and see not only a little of old German history but some pretty views of the German countryside as well.

Here’s one of many shots that were taken there:

And the band together an another area of the castle

Bob was his usual thankful self:

And Thom found what looks like a wishing well:

Hoping for a Rodney Carrington cut maybe?

I found a cool gate at one area:

That’s it for now. Tomorrow we head to Ramstein for another show. More later.

Thanks for being here with us!

Jerry

What a day - and night!

2008-12-28T13:15:00.000-08:00

Sorry it has taken me so long to get up this first post, but it has been forever since I’ve had an opportunity to find internet service and spend a little time putting it together. Right now (10:20 pm Sunday nite), the hostess of our military "hotel" has been very gracious to open up the business center and let me in. Otherwise there are no internet services near us.

******************

After hanging around the Atlanta airport 8+ hrs in our layover, we finally got to board our Delta flight to Frankfurt. That flight itself was a little over 8 hrs and no one really got much of any sleep in those airplane seats. But,with a safe flight behind us, we arrived in Frankfurt on time and found our driver waiting for us and ready to answer all our questions about what lay before us:

We were most pleased to see an awesome tour bus awaiting us and loaded our gear up in it:

Inside the bus is equipped with two four-top tables, 8 bunks and a rear lounge area:

Our driver, Armin Hein, gave us his “introduction”. He had been a driver for Thom, Wade, Todd and Bob on previous tours and is a fun, easy going guy with a good sense of humor to keep us entertained:

We still had to wait to pick up Ben Adamson, the sound guy, who was flying in from L.A., then go to the bus company’s garage to pick up sound and drum gear (provided by Ben’s company), then head to our base accommodations, clean up and off to the venue for the first night’s performance.

The venue was an on base “Country & Western” bar complete with dance floor, pool tables and even a mechanical bull (no one in the band rode the bull). If it wasn’t on the base, you would have thought we were playing in a honky tonk in Texas. Sound check was 6-8pm, then a dinner break then the band began playing at 10.

Here’ Ben and me (Yes, that would be Ben & Jerry) finishing up sound check:

I’m impressed that no one let the jet lag take over. The sets went great, everyone got the first night bugs worked out. We were only scheduled to play 2 hrs unitl midnight, but time flew by and next thing you know the band was wrapping up its 2nd set at 12:45.

Here’s the stage at the gig:

And the base personnel on the Texas style dance floor:

In addition to copies of the band pic featured in an earlier blog, Thom brought over a ton of his cds to give away while signing the pictures:

We actually weren't able to load up the gear and get to our rooms until 2:30am. We agreed to meet back at the bus at noon and go grab a bite and see the sites for the next day which is scheduled to be an off day. I didn't wake up until 12:17 with John knocking on my door to find out where the heck I was.

More all about that in the next post. Go Titans!

One Last Practice

2008-12-22T19:26:00.000-08:00

Today the band got together to go over every song at least twice in both sets. We started at 10am and finished up about 6pm. A long day, yes, but everything came together great. Here's a pic of the full band (sorry John, I think Renae upstaged you on this one) practicing at Todd's:

You might remember from the Mid East trip 2 years ago that Thom sang the bulk of the songs while Bob sang a few and I got 2 or 3 in each show. This time there's a tad more variety. While Thom will still be the anchor and doing the bulk of the singing and showmanship, this time in addition to Bob and myself contributing some vocals, Todd will be doing some of his hits (and blowing a pretty mean blues harp):

along with Wade:

and by popular demand, Renae will be singing "Walkin' After Midnight" and also doing a very cool female version of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia":

in which she will also be burning up a pretty mean fiddle as well.

It was really fun hearing all the songs come together. Everyone is a pro and it all sounds great. I'm, of course, particularly pleased with the band's work-up of my tunes.

It promises to be a great show. We already have more songs than we need which is great, because that means we can make changes to the sets as the show progresses.

One fun thing happened just as the practice started. Thom had just received an email from a soldier who was at our shows in Djibouti. It turns out he is now stationed in one of the camps in Germany that we are playing at and will be at the show. How cool is that?

We all agreed to meet at the airport this Friday at 4am (yawn) and depart on our next adventure.

Next stop Atlanta. Stay tuned.

One Week and Counting!

2008-12-18T18:02:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I'm getting excited and really looking forward to this trip. I've been out doing a little shopping for it (travel alarm clock, small shampoo & toothpaste and such). Its fun shopping for myself at Christmas time.

This time next week we will be well on our way to Germany. We recently received our travel itinerary and the military (ya just gotta love 'em) has put us on a flight leaving Nashville for Atlanta at 5:40 am December 26. We arrive in Atlanta at 7:45 am and hustle down to our connection to Germany departing at 4:30pm. Yep, that's only an 8 1/2 hr + layover. I hope we make it to the connecting plane in time.

Maybe the Army wants us to get used to the "hurry up and wait" format. Maybe they want us to acclimate to jet lag a day early. Whatever, I hear the Atlanta airport is nice this time of year.

It doesn't reallly matter. It'll be great regardless of scheduling.

Meanwhile at our last rehearsal we scrambled around at Todd's looking for an appropriate place for a band photo. This photo is going to be mass printed and given to any soldier that wants one. There will be opportunity after each show for pics and autograph signing. Thom took the shots and did his magic with Photoshop and came up with the now official pic:

I think its pretty darn good. Front l-r Renae, Thom, John; Back l-r Todd, Jerry, Wade and Bob.

One more full day rehearsal on Monday, 12/22 and we're ready to go.

A side note: Thom just got word today that the song written by the Mid East band for the soldiers stationed at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, Africa - appropriately titled "In Djibouti" is officially on hold by Capitol records for comedian Rodney Carrington! I find it completely entertaining that a silly little song thrown together by our guys for the sole purpose of entertaining some soldiers in a remote outpost at the Horn of Africa might actually become a major label cut! Ya gotta love the music business almost as much as the military.

More from Atlanta. I think I might have a little time to write then.

Getting Our Chops Back Up

2008-12-09T19:28:00.000-08:00

Welcome to the first post of my new Blog "Kosovo Or Bust!" As many of you may know, our fearless leader, Thom Shepherd has once again teamed up with Armed Forces Entertainment to put together another tour to go play for the troops. (2 yrs ago we played in the Middle East. For that blog -"Djibouti Or Bust!"- with great pics I might add - go to http://www.jerryvandiver.blogspot.com).

This year we leave on December 26 and head for Germany. We'll be doing shows in Ramstein, Germany, Ansbach, Germany, Warsaw, Poland, Rotterdam Netherlands and a New Year's Eve show at Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, Bosnia.

My duties are similar to what I did before - monitor the sound (altho we have a sound guy traveling with us this time), keep a good archive of the trip via photos and videos, a lot of grunt work and finally sing a couple/three songs with the band.

Speaking of the band, there have been some changes in personnel since the Djibouti trip. So without further adieu, let's meet them:

First and foremost, of course is our leaning post, mainstay and leader of the band, Thom Shepherd:

Bob Regan was on the Mid East AFE tour and has done an AFE Europe tour with Thom in the past. This year Bob is on bass:

By the way, Bob has just been recently nominated for a Grammy for his Randy Travis cut "Dig Two Graves"!

On keyboard, mandolin and guitar (not all at the same time) is hit (and also award winning) songwriter Todd Cerney. Todd had played a couple of AFE tours with Thom in the past:

On electric and lead guitar is award winning songwriter Wade Kirby. Wade has also toured AFE with Thom and is ALSO nominated for a Grammy for his George Strait hit "I Saw God Today":

Back on drums is John Root (soon to be award winning songwriter if "Djibouti" gets cut!). John, of course was the drummer on the Mid East tour and we're all very happy that he's back on this one:

And finally, a new and very welcome addition (and one we are certain the soldiers will particularly enjoy) is an awesome fiddle player, Renae Truex (pronounce "true-ay"). We have a feeling her smile will be a blessing on some long travel days:

All are extremely talented and great musicians. Everyone is fun and inspiring to be around and I am honored to be traveling and making a little music with them as well.

The above pics were taken at our most recent rehearsal at Todd's place last Sunday, December 7. An appropriate date to rehearse for an Armed Forces tour.

Thom has put together a great 2 sets of songs complete with originals from the band (many recognizable from hit radio airplay) and some crowd/soldier pleasing numbers that I am certain will round out a great show.

It looks to be yet another trip of a lifetime and one we'll always remember.

Thanks for letting me take you along. We not only welcome your comments after each post but look forward to hearing from you. It definitely has a positive effect on all of us while we're travelling, so please post below and stay in touch.

More later.

Jerry