The Renditions Blog

Renditions for August 2009

2009-09-10T14:42:00.010-05:00

Hi Everyone,

This month's blog is going to be our recounting of July 10th, 2009 as it appeared on Kent Kotal's Forgotten Hits website. This was the evening we got the opportunity to open for Davy Jones. We also have included a photo the band with Davy as well as a picture with long-time Chicago radio great "Little" Tommy Edwards out in Lake Forest, IL. You'll also see a photo below of the gang with Kristi and Eric on their wedding day. Finally, we'd like to thank Orna Greenman for photos of the band from our Cuneo Museum gig.
Thanks to all you, too

re: THE MONKEES:
We mentioned in one of our recent emails that a couple of our readers are currently performing with bands who have opened recent Chicago-area concerts for both Davy Jones and Micky Dolenz ... and asked them to share a few thoughts and memories about these experiences. I just received this photo of Davy posing with The Renditions. (I actually used to play in a band with one of these guys, Greg Favata, years ago!) The Renditions are ALL over the radio here in Chicago lately ... they cut the Traffic Jingle that plays CONSTANTLY on the MacKay In The Morning Program on The River 95.9 FM ... to the point that it has actually kept me up at night 'cause I can't get the damn thing out of my head!!! (lol) Anyway, here's a recent shot of the band with Davy Jones! (kk)

Yeah, our intention with the jingle was to eventually have a land full of zombies humming it with glazed eyes and doing our evil bidding. - lol
-- Greg

Since you asked me to write a little something about the evening we opened for Davy Jones of the Monkees in West Chicago, IL, here goes.

My name is Greg Favata and I play lead guitar and sing with The Renditions. We perform pop music of the 60’s and 70’s so I guess the village of West Chicago thought we’d be a good fit to go on first before Davy and his band took the stage. The location was Reed - Keppler Park and the date was Friday, July 10th. If you can remember how this summer began, it rained like crazy and this Friday was no exception. It poured all morning and afternoon, but I called the village a few times that day and they were keeping a watchful eye on the Doppler radar. They assured me we should come out and they were right. It wound up being sunny, very hot and very humid that afternoon and evening. When we arrived, it was a case of “hurry up and wait”. Davy was there as his band tested their gear and began to run through some of the songs from the show. Davy had his own trailer, popped out occasionally to see how things were progressing, and eventually joined his band onstage to run through some numbers from the show and get levels, etc. Davy looks quite good for his age (which I believe is 63), but he’s no taller in person than he appears on TV (lol). He ran through several numbers in sound check, including “Look Out, Here Comes Tomorrow” and “When Love Comes Knockin’ at Your Door”. It was a nice sized band, featuring very skilled players. All the standard instruments, (bass, lead guitar, keys and drums) along with two brass players, one of which doubled on percussion. Of course, all members of our band have watched the Monkees TV show growing up and that made this a very special event for us. Kristi, our female singer, especially had a crush on Davy and, with her being a bit younger, saw the show in the late 70’s for the first time. She didn’t realize at the time she was watching reruns and would send fan letters to Davy without any addresses on the envelopes (just marked “Davy Jones”) requesting he respond and send an autographed photo as well. She never quite knew why he never answered (lol). Right before we did our sound check, Davy made it all up to her by walking up to Kristi and striking up a conversation with her. Just small talk, but it meant a lot to her. Of course, our set up and sound check wound up being of the very rushed variety. We set up our gear in front of theirs (it was a big stage) and didn’t get up there to set up until 5:40 PM with a 6:00 PM scheduled start time! The gentleman who was there to introduce us started to do so at 6 PM sharp. I leaned over to him and informed him, “We haven’t even checked our mikes yet to see if they work!” He gave us a couple more minutes until we were satisfied everything was at least functioning and we plunged into our 90 minute set. We did our show (Four Seasons, Beach Boys, Linda Ronstadt, etc.) and we had a relatively sparse crowd for the size of the area. In fairness, it was 6 PM on a Friday and it had rained all day. We were hoping to glom on to a little more of Davy’s audience (lol). When we finished up, we hurriedly got our gear offstage so Davy’s band could start. He came back from dinner after our show (he apologized for not seeing us), and was meeting with 20 people who had paid for VIP passes backstage. We tried to get a picture with him but were told by the village we couldn’t. Most of us in the band hung backstage anyway and as Davy was getting finished up signing vinyl albums and posing for pictures with these fans, we asked him if we could have a picture with him anyway. He couldn’t have been nicer and said, “Absolutely!” He guided us over to a spot next to the stage and after one shot was taken, he said, “Let’s get one more just in case.” Very cool of him! His demeanor was very easygoing and casual. He definitely came across as a good guy.
His show was very good and he played several numbers to satisfy almost any fan of his.
Introduced by a band mate as “The world’s greatest tambourine player”, he performed not just songs on which he sang lead in the Monkees but some of Micky and Mike’s songs as well. He performed “I’m a Believer”, “Mary, Mary”, “Papa Gene’s Blues” and “Goin’ Down”. Of course, songs on which he originally sang lead were more featured in the show. These included, “A Little Bit Me, A Little Bit You”, “Valleri”, “I Wanna Be Free” and “Daydream Believer”. He also did a killer version of “She Hangs Out”, “Consider Yourself” from his role as the Artful Dodger in “Oliver” and, as a tribute to the music his folks played around his home as he was growing up, “Is You Is Or Is You Ain’t My Baby”. He also told a lot of funny stories about the Monkees TV show, kidding about his original bandmates’ current ages, and generally staying in the self-deprecating mode. I’d say he drew about 6-8,000 people for the evening’s show (a few more than we had at 6 PM – lol). All in all, it was a very memorable evening for our entire band. The picture I’ve included is, from left to right: bassist Neal Carpenter, vocalist Kristi Alsip, Yours Truly, Davy Jones and drummer John Radowski.
You can also check us out at http://www.renditionsband.com/

Thanks,
Greg Favata / The Renditions

Thanks, Greg. Knowing what a Monkees fan you are, this had to be the ULTIMATE experience. We saw Davy recently, too, (when he opened for David Cassidy back in February) and it sounds like very much the same show that we saw. (You're right ... he absolutely KILLED on "She Hangs Out", one of MY all-time Monkees favorites ... in fact, I remember featuring it in our review of the show.) Sounds like a GREAT night and a great experience ... thanks for sharing this with our readers. (We saw YOU guys last summer right here in Schaumburg ... and are happy to not only plug your on-going Traffic Jingle on the MacKay In The Morning Show but also your latest CD, available at The Renditions website.) kk

Renditions for July 2009

2009-07-06T21:21:00.006-05:00

Hi Rendfriends-

It’s been a busy June and promises to be a busier July. We got the opportunity this past week to open for American English at Northlake Days. After 2 years of rainy weather at this event, we finally were blessed with sunny skies and a very receptive crowd. Thanks to all of you who came out to support us.

We also played a fun gig at Del Webb Community Center earlier in June. They have a great little theater there and you can see pictures below of our appearance.

June was also the month of the Traffic Idol contest featured on Mackay in the Morning on 95.9FM The River. After 2 weeks of contestants singing to our Traffic Jingle, Greg was invited to co-host Scott’s show on Friday, June 26th. We unanimously selected Bob from Geneva as our winner, but all the contestants gave a very good showing and should be congratulated. Thanks to all the contestants who participated and thank you Scott and the gang from The River. You can see pix below of all of us displaying the red T-shirt with the jingle lyrics supplied to us by Rendfriends Dennis and Margaret.

This month we will be playing Cuneo Museum Outdoor Concert, Lake Forest, River Grove and we’ll be opening for The Monkees’ Davy Jones this Friday at West Chicago Railroad Days. We’re very excited about seeing one of our childhood idols (just ask Kristi!) Remember, we start early at 6:00 PM. We hope you can make it.

Below we also have pictures, snapped by our Rendfriend Diana, from our May appearance at Odyssey. Thanks, Diana! And thanks everyone!

Rock on With Aplomb!
The Renditions

Renditions for June 2009

2009-06-03T21:43:00.004-05:00

Hey Rendfriends-

We had a great May. Thanks for coming out and supporting us at Odyssey in Lombard this past Friday, May 29th. We were overwhelmed by your support there. It was our first time at this venue but we’re shooting for a chance to return again soon. Your support at Dock’s the following night on Saturday was just as strong. Thanks!

We have a couple of things to talk about in this month’s blog. First, we are going to be starting our outdoor concerts next week. St. Bart’s in Chicago, Del Webb and Northlake Days start things out in June. Also, although Westside Recreation is an indoor gig, a big Italian festival takes place right outside its doors as we play. So, check it out!

We want to make sure you know our engagement at the Grape this Friday is cancelled, as the restaurant is being renovated into a sports bar. We’re sorry for any confusion.

Starting this coming Monday, June 8th, Scott Mackay of “Mackay in the Morning” on 95.9 The River, will be playing “Traffic Idol” on his show every morning at 7:20 AM. The concept is that callers to the program will participate as contestants by singing along to our “Traffic Jingle”. Each day, Monday through Thursday, 2 contestants will compete and the 4 winners of each day will go up against each other on Friday. At the end of the contest, an overall winner will be chosen. Prizes will be awarded so stay tuned to 95.9 FM each day for more details!!

Below are some previously unposted past photos of the band.

Thanks to all of you and – Rock on with Aplomb!!

The Renditions

>

Renditions for May 2009

2009-04-30T10:23:00.016-05:00

Hi again everyone,

It’s been a long time since our last blog, but we had some news and pictures and we’d thought we’d share them with you. The first bit of news is, on Saturday, April 11th, our own Kristi Alsip wed Eric Percy at their home in Country Club Hills. Among many highlights, Kristi sang “Unchained Melody” for her parents’ dance together and was joined by Greg, Jerry and Neal on guitar accompaniment and harmonies. We should have pictures of some of the festivities for our next month’s blog.

Greg got the opportunity to speak before the Glen Ellyn Chapter of Kiwanis on the evening of Wednesday, April 8th. This was made possible because one of the nicest couples we know, Marj Cole and Bill Anderson, invited Greg to meet the group, have dinner and talk about the exploits of The Renditions. Of course, Greg just happened to have his guitar with him, so he warbled a few songs and told stories as well. Bill and Marj- thanks for the opportunity and thanks for the pictures below, too.

The month of May promises to be fun with stops at Manhattan’s, Peggy Kinnane’s, Chambers, Docks and a new venue for us- The Odyssey in Lombard (which we believe used to be Jonathon’s). Enjoy the pictures below and thanks for all your support.

Rock on with aplomb
The Renditions

Renditions in March/April 2008

2008-04-29T11:18:00.018-05:00

Hi Rendfriends,

It’s been awhile since our last blog, so we’ve got a few pictures to show ya. Our pal, Scott Mackay, came out to sing with us (while Mark Eskin played ax) at Chambers in April. Below are some pictures of them snapped by our friends Cindy and Sylvia (who are also pictured). As most of you know, Scott signed off for his last show at True Oldies at the end of March. You can now catch him subbing with his sidekick, Mark Napoleon, at 95.9 FM, The River weekday mornings from 5:30 to 9:00 AM. He and Mark continue to sing along to our Traffic Song each day and for that - we thank them. There’s a little running gag each time they play it that Scott has to let Mark sing the last “oooh” chord without talking over it. (For those of you keeping score at home, that’s an Emaj7).

Speaking of that little ditty, our good Rendfriends, Dennis and Margaret, presented the entire band with red t-shirts featuring all the words to the jingle. Below, Jerry and Kristi are pictured proudly holding up one of the shirts at Manhattan’s. Dennis and Margaret-a big thanks goes out to you, too. The shirts are great! That was a very thoughtful thing to do.

Also pictured below are our new friends we made at Rolling Lanes, Ralph and Sue, plus some of the Sting Ray clan came out to join us that evening- Joann, Ginger, Danny and Ron. Danny and Ron came up on stage and joined us for 3 tunes, with Danny singing Buddy Holly’s Peggy Sue and Ron taking lead vocals on Do Wah Diddy. Thanks, guys.

You have an open invitation to join us any time.

For those of us asking about the progress of our new CD, it is all recorded and now in the mixing/mastering stage. Once that is completed and it is printed and packaged, we should have them available at our gigs. We hope you agree it was worth the wait.

Rock on with Aplomb,

The Renditions

Jerry, Kristi, Neal, Gary, John and Greg

Renditions in January/February 2008

2008-03-01T13:32:00.006-06:00

Hi Everyone,

This month we have taken care of some long-standing issues. Some of our Rendfriends have asked us why Gary Greenman, our keyboardist, is not pictured on our website. Well, now he is!! You can check out his pix and bio on our site now. We also shot new full band pictures and new photos of Kristi, who just keeps getting prettier all the time!

Also, many have asked us when we’ll record some new music. We’re happy to tell ya that right now we are in the process of recording several songs from our show. We can’t wait for you to hear it! Should be ready by mid to late Spring.

We have included on this month’s blog, some pix of the band in the studio, shown below. Jerry and Greg are singing (you can tell Greg is Italian because he can’t sing without using his hands). Also, John, our drummer, and Neal, our bassist, are pictured below. Sitting at the controls is Dave Feltenberger. Some of you know Dave as the keyboardist for The Exceptions (and occasional sub for us). We are doing all the recordings in his home studio.

We will see you this month of March at Chambers, Manhattan’s and Rolling Lanes. Thanks for all of your kind words and support and Rock on with Aplomb!!

The Renditions

Renditions in December 2007

2008-01-16T18:38:00.000-06:00

We’ve got a few pics this month from an event Kristi and Greg attended on Tuesday, December 11th. Held at Shanahan’s Food and Spirits in Woodridge, we took part in a celebrity food tasting for the “Mike Kara Presents Christmas Show”. We had a great time with Mike, owner Rich Moore and other folks like radio host, Rich Renik of WCCQ. The food and drink were delicious and we thank Mike for inviting us. Pictures of the event are below.

We wrapped up the year with a private party at Turnberry Country Club. It was a great time, but traveling to Crystal Lake in a bit of a snow storm was a bit of a challenge. We want to thank Ernesto Gasulla and Dave Feltenberger for sitting in with the band while Gary, our keyboardist, was in Florida the last couple of weeks of 2007.

Gary is back now and the band is busy updating our website photos, calendar and information for 2008. Also, we’re busy recording some new music. Many have asked us about a CD and we’re hoping to have something for you in the near future. Like all good things, it’s going to take some time and effort, but we’ll keep all of you posted.

Thanks to all of you for making 2007 so much fun. See you in ’08!!

Rock on with Aplomb!!

The Renditions

Renditions in November 2007

2007-12-03T18:06:00.000-06:00

Hi Rendfriends,

We start out this month’s blog by wishing every one of you a Merry Christmas and the happiest of holidays! We had such a great turnout at Chambers in Niles this past Friday, November 30th, it was quite overwhelming. We had a lot of fun ourselves. Thank you for coming out. Also kudos to Tony for coming up to sing with us, too!!

One question we hear all the time is, “How long have all of you been together?” Well, the official answer for this band, the Renditions, is 2 years, come April of 2008. In reality, however, many of us have known each other and played together for quite a long time.
So let’s return to those thrilling days of yesteryear…

Neal and Greg began playing together in 1980 and the b & w shot below is of a band called Yesterday’s Gold (yeah, we were playing oldies even then!) circa 1981. The other 2 fellas are guitarist, Bill Zayas (he wasn’t always in a tree, just for this picture) and drummer, Tim Valiquet.

The color publicity shots below that are of 2 early incarnations of Pursuit, a wedding band featuring not only Greg and Neal, but Jerry as well. Joining us there are drummer, Jon Harrison and 2 different keyboardists, Tim Fenz and, later Avain Hightower. These are pix are from about 1985 and 1987, respectively.

Maybe, in the future, we can get John Radowski, our drummer extraordinaire, to scan a few pictures from this period when he was playing hard rock as Johnny Radd! Gary, our keyboardist, has worked with many bands, including New Colony Six since 1986. Kristi has done many plays and musical theater, etc. Maybe we can convince them to post some pictures on future blogs. Maybe when Jerry and Neal see what Greg has done on this month’s blog, they’ll kill him…

Merry Christmas everyone and see you in December!!

Rock on with Aplomb,
The Renditions

Renditions in October 2007

2007-11-10T13:26:00.000-06:00

Hi Rendfriends,

This month we’re gonna keep it a little shorter on words and focus on pictures. Pictures of all of you! We’ve been snapping the camera between sets and wanted to show you some of your smiling faces. This is what we see when we’re up there singing! The pictures in this month’s blog are friends from our most recent appearances at Chambers and Rolling Lanes.

Thanks so much for all of your continued support!

See you soon and rock on with aplomb!!

The Renditions

Renditions in September 2007

2007-10-17T19:37:00.000-05:00

Hi Rendfriends,

With Kristi in Los Angeles, Jerry visiting his mom in Kentucky and Gary and family visiting Israel, The Renditions took the week off. Even though we had a fairly quiet month of September, busy times are coming. October 20th, with Gary still out of the country, Dave Feltenberger of the band, The Exceptions will sit in with us on keyboards at Dimitri’s in St. Charles. On Friday October 26th, we’ll visit Chambers in Niles. On November 2nd, Gary will be out of town again. The New Colony Six will be in New York that weekend playing “Cavestomp”, a salute to garage-rock of the 60’s, which will also feature Strawberry Alarm Clock. On that evening, at Rolling Lanes in Countryside, Ernesto Gasulla, our keyboardist of 2006 will be sitting in with us. You’re gonna need a scorecard! Many of you ask about Ernesto, wondering how he’s doing since he left the band. This is a great chance to stop by and see him and listen to him play the keys with us again.

On Friday, October 5th, Greg got the opportunity to visit Scott Mackay of “Mackay in the Morning” during his morning show on True Oldies 94.7 FM. Not only did Greg get to observe Scott, on the air, doing his thing, but Scott was kind enough to have Greg join him on the air for a couple of spots. Greg joined traffic and newsman, Mark Napolean, singing his traffic jingle at 8:20 AM and then at 9:45 AM Scott plugged our show that evening at Manhattan’s in Carol Stream on Schmale (however you pronounce it) Road. You can listen to MP3’s of Greg’s appearance on our Introduction Page. Thanks, Scott!!

Thanks for all your support and see you in October and November.

Rock on with Aplomb!

The Renditions

Renditions in August 2007

2007-09-03T19:25:00.000-05:00

We just completed a very busy and fun-packed August. It started with Scott Mackay of 94.7 FM joining us at Pete Miller’s in Wheeling on August 3rd. We had a packed house and Scott stopped in to warble a tune with us. The band also got an opportunity to meet Chicago Cubs legend, Ron Santo. Scott returned to see us on the following Friday at Manhattan’s in Carol Stream. This time, one of our favorite bands, The Meteors, also popped in for a visit on one of their rare nights off. Our thanks to those guys!!

We all met up in Woodridge on August 6th to do an interview with Mike Kara for his “Eye on the Community” internet radio show. He did a great a job and you can listen to the entire interview by linking to it from our Introduction Page. We hope you’ll take a few moments to listen. We had a blast doing it. You can also link to his site from our Links page and hear his other interviews with local bands. Thanks Mike.

As I mentioned earlier, August was exceptionally busy. The Rendos worked a private gig in Crystal Lake on 8/17 at Turnberry C.C. and Kristi and Greg also performed at a couple of weddings this month with the G.F. Orchestra. On top of that, some of the Rendos got a chance to catch our own Gary Greenman playing keys with New Colony Six in Hillside on 8/26.

We wrapped up the month in Bloomingdale on Tuesday, 8/28, playing in Old Town Park Gazebo. We had a really nice-sized crowd, who fought off hot, sticky weather and lots of hungry mosquitoes. It also marked the first time Chicago favorite, The Danzman, attended one of our shows. The man never gets tired!! Also, we want to thank Ron and Ginger of The Sting Rays for coming out that night to Bloomingdale. We catch their shows, too, whenever we can!

See you this month and…Rock on with Aplomb!!

The Renditions

Additional photos from August:

Renditions in July 2007

2007-07-30T23:38:00.000-05:00

We had a busy time in July. While our keyboardist, Gary, was taking care of biz with New Colony 6 on Independence Day, our old pal, Ernesto, tickled the ivories with us in Clarendon Hills. You can see him pictured with us below. The expected rain held off and the fireworks show afterwards was outstanding.

The next evening in Gurnee (7/5) was better weather yet and we were able to garner a really nice-sized and receptive crowd. We had several military vets in the audience in Gurnee and it was an honor to play for them.

Taste of Westmont provided us with our biggest crowd of the summer so far. I’m afraid, however, they didn’t really come out solely to see us. We were opening for the legendary Chicago group, Ides of March. We got a chance to meet Jim Peterik and the guys and they couldn’t haven’t been nicer and more accommodating. By the time they went on, the crowd had swelled to several thousand. We, of course, also stuck around for their show, which was totally rockin’. You can see a picture of us with the Ides below.

We got to see several of Neal’s family and friends in Wauconda on Sunday, 7/22. His son, Patrick, picked up a bass and let it rip with us on the Moody Blues’ classic, “Story In Your Eyes”. He sounded great (he really did!) Thanks, Patrick, you’re welcome to sit in anytime.

See ya in August and Rock on with Aplomb!!

The Renditions

Renditions in June 2007

2007-06-18T21:38:00.000-05:00

Summer is here and so is the constant sight and sound of the cicadas. They’ll be playing the maracas behind our music at our outdoor appearance at Lombard Cruise Nights this coming Saturday on June 16th. We’re also anxiously awaiting Northlake Days on June 23rd. Chicago’s own Buckinghams will be the headliners that night.

We just had a blast at Chambers this past Saturday night, June 9th. True Oldies 94.7 FM morning man, Scott Mackay, came out to sing with the band. His specialty is Elvis Presley’s “Little Sister”. We learned and prepared the song for him, but when he arrived, he told us he was still a little nervous about coming up and doing his vocals. We warmed him up by warbling the radio station’s traffic jingle. That cracked up Scott and the audience as well, and after that, we ran off a relaxed and rockin’ version of the Elvis chestnut. Scott is a great guy and a very talented performer. We thank him for his time and support! (a big “gracias” to Silver Fox and Bette as well).
You’ll see pictures on this month’s blog of our performance with Scott at Chambers. You’ll also see pictures of our own Kristi with her mom and dad, her sister and brother-in-law as well as her nephew, Tyler.

C’mon out and see us this summer! And as always-Rock on with Aplomb!

The Renditions

Renditions in April 2007

2007-05-05T12:01:00.000-05:00

The month of April witnessed the return of an old friend. Our new keyboardist, Gary, was called away on personal business for a few days so we rang up our former piano man, Ernesto, and he just happened to be in Chicago. He was kind enough to fill in for us on very short notice at Bertucci’s in Highwood on April 20th. Even though his keyboards had a bit a dust on them (they actually did), he turned in a great performance for us and it was really fun to see him. Gary is going to be playing with New Colony 6 (or “The Colony” as he calls them) on Independence Day so Ernesto will be filling in for us again at our outdoor show on the 4th in Clarendon Hills.

Gary was back on Friday at Ki’s and his NC6 bandmate, Mark, stopped out again and jammed with us on our last set. He sounded awesome, as always.

With the Broadway success of “Jersey Boys”, we’ve decided to add a few more Four Seasons songs to our repertoire. Jerry is now singing “Sherry” and “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You”. We’ve also added “When Will I Be Loved” for Kristi. If there are songs you’d like to hear, drop us a line.

Our Rendfriend, Rob, took some great photos at Ki’s for us and we’re posting them here in this month’s blog. We hope you see yourself!

We are looking forward to several upcoming outdoor shows this summer. It’s sooner than you think (that warm summer weather was already upon us this weekend), so check out our Calendar Page. All the shows are listed with a map link.

Thanks again from The Renditions and see you in May!

Rock on with Aplomb!!

Renditions in March 2007

2007-04-06T11:01:00.000-05:00

March was a very busy month for us.
6 shows!! We’d like to acknowledge our “Sixth Man” (well, actually he’s our seventh man, unless of course you take in to account Kristi is actually a girl…) Anyway, when bassist Neal occasionally can’t make it to a one of our gigs because of his busy schedule, Matt Soukal fills in for us on bass guitar. He did so twice in March and did a great job, first at Westside Club (3/3) and then at Manhattan’s (3/9). Thanks for pinch-hitting, Matt. We look forward to working with you again.

We finally got back to Rolling Lanes in March and played there 2 times. We drew nice crowds for both shows, especially the second one on March 24th. It meant a lot because we don’t get to the South side as much as we’d like. It was fun to see some of you who don’t always get a chance to catch our show.

The 31st show at Ki’s was especially energetic. Not only did many of our favorite Rendfriends make it out to the show, but we got a chance to visit with many of you between sets and take some photos of you, too. Some of those pictures are posted here.

It was special, too, for our new keyboardist, Gary. As we mentioned in last months blog, Gary has been working for several years with New Colony 6 and one of his NC6 bandmates (whom many of you know), Mark Eskin stopped out to catch The Rendos for the first time. We asked him up to sit in with us and he, graciously, did so. “Beatle Mark” played and sang lead on Carl Perkins’ “Honey Don’t”, then played guitar with us for most of Set 4. I would be remiss if I didn’t also give a big shout out to Rob”Roy”Eddy, who performed another spot-on version of the Big O’s “Pretty Woman”. Thanks, Rob.

In April, we return to Dimitri’s in St. Charles on Friday, the 13th (hopefully, that will be good luck for all us.) It’s a top notch restaurant with great food and lovely atmosphere. Then it’s up to Green Bay Road, near the Lake, for Bertucci’s on the 20th. We close out April with our monthly visit to Ki’s.

Rendfriends, thanks for all of your support! See ya in April.

Greg, Jerry, Neal, Kristi, John and Gary