Hello Blue Tattoo fans and friends!  This past weekend passed like a blur because we were so busy.  Starting with Thursday at Peppers where we had a great turnout and a really positive crowd response.  Dennis spent most of the night playing saxophone up on the mini-bar and the rest of us just kept it steady. Sarah, Tyler and Cindi joined us and we had a ball.

Friday night we played at the Buffalo Inn and it was a pretty magical night.  Although John wasn’t there it was just one of those nights when everything sounded awesome!  Tommy pulled guitar stuff out of thin air and, well it was just magic.  Then when I mentioned to the crowd that we had CDs for sale 4 or 5 people raised their hands, and we only had ONE CD with us!!  Can you believe that???  It was a really wonderful night anyway. We were joined by Double D – Cindi, and the Angels, Sarah, Cindy and Karen.  We always feel blessed to have our Blue Tattoo family of friends at our events!

On a less-than-wonderful note; during the middle of our first set my son, Tony, back in the mid-west, fought in his first MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) cage fight and lost in the first round.  I was so nervous I had trouble concentrating until I knew he was OK, which he is.  At the end of the night the owner asked us if we could come back the following night and we agreed.

Saturday night started out MUCH slower and I didn’t know if we would ever get it going but about half way through the night the crowd warmed up and we kicked butt.  When I made the announcement about CDs for sale not a single person responded!!  Just our luck…  But the night finished strong with Kit filling in for John the second night in a row.  He did a great job.

Then Sunday rolled around and we prepared for another fun day at Characters.  It was recording day as we set up all the equipment to record our second live CD.  Unfortunately we had so many technical issues during the night that there were not enough “keeper” tracks to make a CD.  But this is all part of the journey that is… BLUE TATTOO!!! The great part about Sunday was it was Freddy’s 50th birthday and Darla and he brought a wonderful crowd of people to party with us.  We totally enjoyed the afternoon and evening and I believe Freddy had the best 50th birthday of his life!

Anyway, that ended our crazy 4 straight nights of band fun and I was sorry to see it come to a close.  We will be back at Characters on Halloween night so come on out in costume and lets get loose!  I hope you all will tell your friends to check us out and this train ride will NEVER end!

Thanks to you all!

This Friday, October 17th, Blue Tattoo will be back at the Buffalo Inn from 5:00 to 10:00 pm.  Tell your friends this is a cool place to party and we would love to see you all there!

Then this Sunday, October 19th, we are back on the patio at Characters recording our second LIVE CD which will be mixed and mass-produced within the next 2 weeks.  Advance orders are being accepted at this time.  See Deb.  The cost is just $10!

And don’t forget, Blue Tattoo is going to be rockin the house on Halloween night at Characters so put on your makeup and costume and we’ll see you all there!!

Be sure to check out Advanced Drum Studies #3 at the top of this page.  Just click on the link and leave a comment, please.  We love you all and thank you for being a part of the Blue Tattoo family!

Wow, where were you last Thursday night??  Well, if you weren’t at Peppers in Alta Loma then you missed an absolutely great Blue Tattoo show, on our first night at a new club.  Peppers Sports Bar on the corner of 19th and Archibald was a totally cool place for us to step away from Characters and try our music on a new audience.  We were really well received, but we were lucky to have the support of The Angels (Cindy, Sarah, and Karen) with Tyler hanging out in good form.  Dennis was up on the furniture as usual.  Cindi “O” was there pimpin the Double D’s and it was a great time for all of us.  Except when Dennis gave his keys to Cindy and she drove home so at Midnight he had to wake her up with a phone call to bring the keys back!

Then came Friday night at Characters and lo and behold, there was Freddy and Darla buying the band SHOTS to get us warmed up!  Truly awesome!  And the usual cast of characters were present and we definitely did some major drinking that night.  The band sounded awesome and I personally had a really great time playing some stuff we had never tried before.

As time goes along, we just seem to be blending more and more as a musical group.  Tommy just takes us to new places and never ceases to amaze me with his sound, tone and attack!

It was a great weekend for Blue Tattoo!  We want to, as always, thank those of you who came to support us.  When we walk into a club and see familiar faces it just makes the night start off strong.  Thank you all!!

Today’s Blue Tattoo band member spotlight is on the Godfather himself, John Hill, our fearless (well he might be afraid of his wife… and his son…) bass player. Johnny Boy is truly the epitome of comedy!  Just ask the 400 people each night he tells those jokes to!  This guy is a walking encyclopedia of one-liners and he keeps us cracking up all the time.

Doctor John At Work

John Hill did not start out life as a bass player.  He first played guitar at the age of 12 but before that he was singing in church since he was 5 years old, debuting as a soloist singing Ave Maria.  He began playing professionally at age 17 and later picked up the bass at age 22.  He was also an actor, playing in Summerstock plays Damn Yankees, South Pacific, Annie Get Your Gun and hundreds more!  Later in life he played bass with several original bands, as well as well-known artists The Drifters, The Coasters, The Marvelettes, The Shirelles, Big Joe Turner, Joe Easton, Freddie Fender and Snoop Doggie Dogg, Warren G, Prince, Ice T, Ice Cube, Ice, Ice Baby, and I Hear ya knockin but ya can’t come in…

There is never a dull moment with this fellow on stage.  He can play equally as well on his back as on his feet, and is not afraid to prove it.  He’ll try anything the band throws at him and makes it sound good.  John’s vocals are truly amazing.  He is one of a small handful of musicians I’ve worked with in my lifetime who can pull vocal harmony parts out of the air with perfection!  He is one of the most fun guys to sing with I’ve ever known.  He is truly a fun guy, and that can also be spelled fungi.  I would invite you all to come out and hear John belt out some of the best songs Blue Tattoo has ever done.  Cheers Johnny Boy.

Goldilocks and one of the three bears

Drummer On Guitar

So, in closing, remember, at least half of your friends are below average.

Love you all.

Paul

Hi Blue Tattoo Fans, Friends, and Family!  We finished our first full month of Sundays at Characters Sport Bar in Pomona last Sunday and it was truly an epic night, without question.  Much of what happened that afternoon/evening can’t be published because of possible legal ramifications.  (just kidding, but it was a strange one for sure!)

I had to work an event for Miller Brewing Company earlier in the day so I knew I would be late getting to Characters so I called my good friend, Mark, and asked if he could hold down the drums until I could get there.  He finished playing soccer and hustled to Pomona, set up the drums and proceded to nearly steal my job!  I can’t thank him enough for filling in for me and the boys in Blue Tattoo said he did an awesome job.  Thank you MARK!!!!

I was also lucky to be helped at the Miller job by Dennis’ wife, Queen of the Angels, Cindy P who was priceless.  Big thanks to you Cindy Loo.

What made this week so strange was we were without the usual bubbling enthusiasm of the Princess of the Angels, Sarah, who spent a couple of unexpected days in the hospital.  You gave us quite a scare and we were all glad prayers were answered and you made it through just fine!  That meant Tyler wasn’t with us either, so the dynamic of the day was very different than past Sundays.  There was no Pabst Blue Ribbon to be found, for better or worse…

On the other side of the coin, we were joined by Characters’ owners Neil and his lovely wife. (who’s name escapes me because of the level of alcohol that had been forced upon me, so sorry!)  In addition Kim and John hung with us for a long time and I totally loved seeing them laughing at the spectacle that was BLUE TATTOO on another open mic Sunday!!  Neil graced the stage for a version of, hmmmm, was it a Led Zep song?  I can’t recall because NONE of us knew the words for sure, but he belted out all the familiar sections and we can be fairly certain he’ll be back, probably trying to get the job as the band’s lead singer!

Karen brought us a card that we all signed for Sarah and we love that little Angel for her thoughtfulness!  Deb made a late appearance and of course, the Double D’s were represented by Cindi who couldn’t stop smiling because the dreaded Steelers won… again!  Henry joined us for several songs on guitar and we all enjoyed the usual wizardry of Tommy Boy on guitar, Dennis on Sax, John on Bass, and on the floor, and the rest of the open mic stars!!

This was another great night and we thank all of you for coming out and partying with us!

We got a surprise call from Kim the next day and learned we will be playing THIS FRIDAY, October 10th at Characters in the evening so come on out and wear your party hats!!!  We love and need your support.

Thank you all, and remember, drink till dancing becomes dangerous!

Pictures will follow in a blog in the next couple of days…

Oh, and believe it or not, I saw a bumper sticker yesterday that said “I couldn’t fix your brakes so I made your horn louder.”

Peace -

Paul

Today’s player spotlight is focused on DP, Deeper, Mr. P, Sax Dude, Hey Can You Fix My Brakes, Dennis Parker.  Dennis is our resident sax man and a baaaaaadddd one at that!  Where do I begin??  Where else but at the beginning.

Sometime in 1985 I read an ad in the San Diego newspaper by a band looking for a drummer so I responded.  We scheduled an audition and the band was headed up by legendary sax icon Dennis Parker.  This band, The Classics, was an oldies group which had landed a 6 nite a week job at a popular San Diego hotspot for pretty good dough so I said to Dennis I would love this gig.  (paraphrased)  I got hired and that began a long relationship with one of my best friends.

The Man, The Myth...

So, after The Classics had finished a nice, long run, Dennis and the guitarist set sail for San Francisco in an all-original project that featured Dennis… in SPANDEX!!!  (wish I could have been there)  He returned some time later and I had joined another band.  Through a strange twist, there came a time when we needed a sax player and I was the leader of the band at that point so I enjoyed making HIM audition for us.  Actually we just hired him with no rehearsals and we were a huge success.  We climbed across cocktail tables with the sax and wireless mic, kicking over drinks.  Threw outrageous private band parties.  Dressed like doctors, dressed in drag, dressed in green tuxedos, and still found time to learn to play horseshoes, drink double upside down margaritas on a bar at 3:00 am, and generally get into quite a bit of trouble! He and I have laughed harder than I’ve ever laughed with anyone before and have had magical stage experiences when every note we played cut through the night like a razor sharp knife.  Just awesome fun!  We mooned rich people in resorts, howled at the moon till daybreak, and recorded sax parts in a chicken coup!  And all of these things, in the name of ART!!!!!!

Anyway, when I got the call from Dennis to come and sit in with a fun band he had been jamming with called Blue Tattoo I jumped at the opportunity.  If ever a constant has been in our lives, it is the fact that we refuse to be onstage and not have fun, no matter how many drinks we’ve consumed… or knocked over!

Mr. P is an awesome sax player and you have yet to see some of the places he will take this band.  Wait till you hear the soprano, or, well, I’ll just let him show you his myriad of tricks when the time is right.

So, this concludes our spotlight of the week featuring Sax Guru, Dennis Parker.

I encourage you all to get to know Dennis as I have.  He’s a class act with the sax chops to back up his talk.

Remember, we are at the Buffalo Inn this Saturday (Oct. 4) from 5:00 till 10:00 pm, then at Characters Sunday (Oct. 5) from 3:00 to 7:00 pm.  Then we’re off for a week and back at Characters on Sunday, October 19th.

We love to hear comments!  Let us know what you think of the band, the blog, the weather…

One last question:  Where did Napoleon keep his armies?  (look below for the answer)

Up his Sleevies.

Hello Blog-ites.

I hope this finds you all linked up and ready for another crazy week with Blue Tattoo… the band!!

Last weekend was unbelievable!  We started with a last minute call on Friday and an unexpected gig for the boys in the band at a club called the BUFFALO INN in Upland.  It is an outdoor venue that felt a lot like Knotts Berry Farm.  We were well received… OK, they LOVED us!  And booked us back this coming Saturday night from 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm.  So, come out and get your groove on (whatever that means) this Saturday, October 4th.

Cindi and Sarah Share The Spotlight

Angels UNITE!

Then Sunday rolled around and with barely a hangover among us we attacked Characters Sports Bar for our usual Sunday afternoon fun.  We pulled a bunch of new stuff out of the bag such as “Never Been To Spain” by Three Dog Night, and Tommy’s cool version of “Red House.”  Again, we rocked the house!  We enjoyed having Mark the drummer (aka Michael Bolton) sit in on drums and then he surprised us by singing Sweet Caroline and Margaritaville.  Both done very well.

We also enjoyed the original songs of Henry on guitar and vocals.  Then Cindy P joined us and kicked our buttts with Black Velvet and Dancing in the Streets.  Sarah shined as always singing “Why Haven’t I Heard From You” and then ladies, hold your breath… the ever popular Tyler (T-Bone Medium Rare with Sliced Onions and Tossed Greens with Ranch on The Side) sauntered to the stage and belted out The Fireman and You Don’t Have To Call Me Darlin’.  Then we pretty much had to quit because there is no point trying to follow an act like that!!

Actually we continued to cruise right along with Dennis blowing some sweet sax lines (until the ligature came unglued from his horn and the reed went flying into John’s beard!)  Priceless!!!!!  John as always, just blows us away with his vocal gymnastics.

And then, as if we hadn’t seen enough, the Angels and Double D’s joined us on stage for background vocals on a song as well as chorus-line dancing!!!

So, let’s recap… Everybody was responsibly drunk last weekend.  And, next Saturday afternoon, October 4th, at 5:00 pm, Buffalo Inn, Upland, and then Sunday the 5th, at Characters in Pomona at 3:00 pm where we will continue in our storied tradition.

We will be off the following Sunday (sadness) but will return to Characters on Sunday, October 19th.  We’re working on other dates at Characters but have not confirmed so we’ll let you know as soon as we do.  We will be recording our second CD on October 19th at Characters so we want to encourage you ALL (hmmmmm, Donna, Darla, Freddie… ) to be there so we can have your voices on the CD with us.

Also on a side note, our original projects are always a part of what makes us tick.  Tommy will be playing in Anaheim across the street from the Pond at TJ Schmitts this Friday night, October 3rd at 9:00 pm with his original band project called “A Choired Taste.”  Henry, his other guitarist, has been joining us for several weeks at Characters.  Their music is very cool so come out and support them!

And my project, Advanced Drum Studies, had over 1300 views on You Tube in its first 3 days out.  Check out the video and leave a comment if you like.  Go to You Tube, then search for – bluetattwo.  You’ll see the drum video there.

Thanks for your continued support, and especially for all the drinks you buy us!

You Told My Wife WHAT???

A Kiss if you Buy a CD

Saved By A Bud

Remember, Drink till Dancing Becomes Dangerous!

Love you all.

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said, What Happens If You Get Scared Half to Death… Twice??

On Sunday we celebrated the much awaited birthday of Double D Cindi (where she told us she just turned 39 years old).  Hard to believe a girl would ever admit to her age!  It was another fun afternoon with a little slower start than usual, but such a strong finish that Blue Tattoo had to stay and play an extra hour or so.  We did this to avoid a riot from the late comers who insisted on hearing some of their favorite songs.  We were joined at the end of the evening by Tommy’s friend, the guitar dude with the cool original songs. (his name remains a mystery to me, to be solved soon)  Thanks MAN!

Again we went to the well to keep our set list fresh by trying several songs we had not done live before, including the surprise hit “Secret Agent Man” sung by Mr. P. (Dennis the sax man Parker)  We continued to hammer out a better mix than KLOS Radio, while turning to some tasty country songs thrown in by John, the bearded wild man.

Sarah, Cindy and Karen were representing the Angels, and we were so glad to welcome back Darla of Double D fame and meet her better half, Freddie.  Truly a nice guy and we hope to see you back soon.  We also enjoyed meeting their daughter and a couple of her drummer buddies who sat in with the band making my job easy!! Of course Donna was in her usual form and I identified her laughing voice as the laugh from our live CD.  Another mystery solved by your trusty, BLUE TATTOO!

This was also the first week the illusive guitar player Paul, graced us with his playing skills for a song on stage.  We really hope to drag him back up with us again soon.

Unfortunately Deborah was out of town so Tommy was more subdued than normal.  Funny how that works, he gets crazier when his wife is AROUND??  Anyway, we missed you, Deb!  And speaking of Tommy Boy, his chops were awesome as usual.

With that in mind, I think this is a great time for me to expand a bit on what makes the chemistry of the Blue Tattoo Band special.  This week I will spotlight the guitar wizardry of our very own Tommy Boy, guitar rock legend, Tom Matranga.

This guy is both the crunchy rhythmic backbone of Blue Tattoo and the spicy topping that is the flavour of the band.  His sound IS Blue Tattoo and without it we would just be another bunch of drunken sods. (which we mostly are anyway!) From the first time I touched a nylon-tipped 2B drumstick to my high hat cymbal on stage with this dude, my head swung to my right and I thought “who IS this guy?”  He just blue (blew) me away.

Conviction is truly the one word description of his playing style.  When he jumps into a song, be it blues, rock, country, oldies, swing, I don’t care what style, he attacks it and then we all just jump in and blend with him to become the sound you all seem to enjoy.  The key to that sound is Tommy Boy’s ability to summon a guitar tone that is distinctive to each song and appropriate for the mood that song requires.  He is an ARTIST!

His singing style also bears mention as it is so unique that if we EVER get our butts in gear and start playing his songs live, you’ll hear another side of him that will blow YOU away!

In closing this spotlight I’ll finish by saying this fellow is the heart and soul of Blue Tattoo.  He continues to awe me each time we play together.

As for Characters, our upcoming schedule is as follows:

Sunday, September 28th

Sunday, October 5th

Sunday, October 19th

Friday, October 24

Friday, October 31 (Halloween night)

Write these dates on your calendars!!!!  Come out and party with us because you all are the reason we are doing this, and having so much fun at it!

I’ll finish this week by adding some pictures from last Sunday at Characters Sports Bar, in Pomona. And once again, Happy Birthday Cindi!!  (a quick side note, I’ve heard she is an unbelievable Craps player, though its only a rumor)

Forward this Blog Site to your friends and tell them to COMMENT!  We love to hear from you all.  Special thanks to Sarah for help, comments, singing with us, and posing for our album cover!!!

Tongues of Fire

Speaking in Tongues

We Be Jammin

Peace You All, and remember, LIVE MUSIC RULES!!!

Hi all, good to see we’re getting lots of hits on this blog and thanks Cindi and others for leaving comments!!  This was only the second week that I played my new Ludwig drums and its taking me a little while to get used to them.  Seems like they are smaller targets to swing at than normal (which is true since the tom toms are smaller) and it is taking me a little time to adjust them to comfortable positioning.  But this week was WAY better than the first week.  And since they sound sooooo good (to me) I’m not worried that I’ll soon be comfortable sitting behind them, and BASHING them.

Characters was again TOTALLY fun this week!  The Double D’s were well represented and sporting their new black T’s (and looking hot I might add).  We missed you Darla.  Now, get your butt back out here!!!

The Angels seem to be building in force.  I believe they’ve added new membership in the past couple of weeks and of course they have their own T-shirts also.  You Angels are just toooo fine!  Blue Tattoo would be nothing without the continued support of the Angels and the Double D’s as well as all you fine folks who come to see us play each week.

We had such a great time playing this week.  Tom played his usual awesome solo grooves and we played at least a few songs we had never played before, which is my favorite part about Blue Tattoo.  We’ll try most anything once, and if it sort-of works, we’ll do it again!  This week we debuted Cinnamon Girl, and All Right Now, and both came together fairly believably.

The first video of one of our songs, “The Beating Of My Heart” is getting its final editing touches and will soon be posted on You Tube for all of you to check out.  Obviously this blog links to the You Tube Site “bluetattwo” where you can see videos of the band and such.

Please post comments here and at the bluetattwo You Tube channel.

if you want to continue to hear us play at Characters, tell Neil and Kim that you think we should be the every Sunday afternoon HOUSE BAND!!!  Your support is priceless.  We love you all!

Paul

My new motto is, Lets All Drink Till Dancing Becomes Dangerous

Wow, this was our first Sunday back after 2 weeks off and I was expecting it to be dead.  But eau contraire, we had a great turnout, especially Cindi of Double D fame, representing the babes, and of course Cindy and Sarah and all the Angels.  It was great seeing you all and you know we are gonna be partying our butts off every Sunday afternoon.  Tell all your friends to come and join us at Characters Sports Bar in Pomona!!

Double D Action

Everyone Smiles with Blue Tattoo

Hello everyone. I made a video of my kids singing to a Hip Hop song that I wrote. I am a singer musician and drummer in Southern California and just experimenting with different styles of music.