2013 Relay for Life

[JayDawg]

Tonight is the annual Relay for Life in Sterling. Originally, I was supposed to be on vacation but I came back early to help my wife out. Because I was supposed to be out of town, I wasn't planning on playing. Well, one of the people playing asked me to play last second so tonight, the Breast Cancer Awareness bass will finally be played at the Relay. It was supposed to be played last year but the person I was supposed to play with backed out last second. In any event, I just wanted to thank everyone who has helped us out after my wife was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2010. I also wanted to thank again Sterling for making the bass for us. Over the last 2 1/2 years it has helped raise awareness and funds in different performances that it has been played in. Thanks again everyone! You all have been truly amazing.

 

[Davecg2]

Have a great show!

 

[Holdsg]

Good skills, Jay, keep them walkin'

 

[OldManMusic]

Great update Jay. Hope it was a good gig!

 

[JayDawg]

Thanks all! The relay was great. I think somewhere between 60k to 70k was raised in all. On a bit of sad news, the honorary survivor that was selected this year passed away from breast cancer the night before the relay but her family was there and shared some wonderful memories of her. As far as the performing goes, it was not one of the best shows. There is a company in our local area that did the sound and does it every year. They do it for free so I'm not going to complain but they had everything set up for playing music, not doing live performances. Unfortunately, we had no monitors and the we could not hear ourselves at all even through the mains because the vocals were boosted so high that even though we were behind the mains, the mic kept feeding back. There was also no light on stage to read the sheet music so we only played 3 songs, barely made it through them and then called it a night. I was kind of bummed but I now have a year of knowing what needs to be done to better things for next year's relay. I would love to brag and say it went great but it didn't. On a side note, I did have some fun with the bass and some kids. When I was warming up, they were playing different music and a few songs I knew so I turned on my wireless and went live to the CD's. Since I was wireless, I walked offstage and went in front of the mains so I could hear myself and played to a few songs. It was fun too because a bunch of young kids probably junior high and younger started rocking out. So that part was fun. I also did have many people come up to me and compliment me on the bass. In addition to that, I also had a lot of folks come up and compliment how good it sounded. My response was the same as it always is. "I use Music Man simply because they are the best!" That bass does sound great live too. Cuts through a mix so freaking clear every time. So while last not did have some rough spots, there were a lot more positive things that happened and we now look forward to next year and its event.

 

[lpdeluxe]

This is a great cause. My lady friend (and percussionist in our Jive Tones band) is a survivor. She took part in the recent Relay for Life here, and believes that these events are a serious uplift for persons like herself.

 

[JayDawg]

That is awesome news! I am glad to hear she is a survivor! I love hearing those stories!

 

[Jim C]

Well done sir.
Always glad to see someone giving something back to the community as did Mr. Ball when he made the bass for you.

 

[KevinM]

The music didn't work out the way you wanted but the Relay sounds like a pretty good thing.