Final post of 2015

And if you read this far, thanks everybody for reading and supporting the efforts of Record World, to which this month I had the most viewers ever this month.  4,543 views doesn't seem like much for the better known sites but it's a very big deal here since the last time we made this far with so many folks was two years ago. No surprise that the most viewed blogs were ones that dealt with floods and tornadoes of years before.  Another blog that remains popular is the My City Is Gone Marion, which big thanks to David Ray for mentioning that blog on his Facebook site.  All credit is due  to Mr. Ray for the providing most of the vintage Marion pictures that you see on the My City Is Gone blog.  I thought those pictures are worthy to keep online and to remember once upon a time Marion Iowa was a nice place to live before the roundabouts came into town and before the big shot Marion City council decided to demolish most of my hangouts when I was growing up.  Marion TV and Records and Town Square Bookstore still in my thoughts and I miss the kindly old lady at the Salvation Army Thrift Store who called me the record boy.   She ought to see my collection now.

Donna Will remains one of my favorite people to talk music and she has come back online via Twitter.   She always puts a smile on my face when she stops and says hi and SMOOOOCH.  She'll always have a special place in my heart.

The amazing Rodney Albaugh, who liked the new Townedger album so much that he wanted me to revisit a few of the songs to update them to studio sound quality, to which I been working with him most of this week.  And he has a nice recording studio to experiment things as well, as having many guitars and a drum set to redo the songs.  All I had to do is show up with my guitar and have fun with it. He's a wizard in the studio.

Bob Harrington at Ragged Records, The Old Hippie at Moondog Music, and Paul from Sweet Living Antiques have been instrumental in having some of the old time records that I grew up listening to in my collection.  In fact they managed to have certain 45s and LPs that replaced my old scratched up records that I once had and used for Frisbee's.  I'm sure they'll see a lot of me in the new year.

To all the Cedar Rapids music makers  that I jammed with and made me feel at home when I unretired and got back playing the drums again.   Too many to mention.  I'm not sure if I'll continue to jam on the weekends like I have been but as long as it remains fun, I continue to be around to support new music.  My favorite bands on the local music scene remain  Wooden Nickel Lottery, Past Masters/Lab Rats, Julie And The Mad Dogs, Sky Pilot Band, FLEX, Smoking Guns, Kick It plus a few others yet to be discovered.  Wooden Nickel Lottery remain special to me, they were kind enough to send me a autographed CD of their latest album. 

I'm not much into bar hopping but I have never felt more at home than at Rumors Bar And Grill on F AVE SW in Cedar Rapids.  You can't go wrong going to Checker's Bar And Grill and Wrigleyville in Marion, especially during Cubs baseball season when they're winning and they actually got the game on,unlike WGN Waste-A-Station (bring back sports).

10 years ago, Half Priced Books opened their doors in the Twixt Town Strip Mall, which years ago was the the old Phar-Mor store.  I recall in one of my successful Madison trips that if this town opened their own HPB store I'd make it my second home.  That became reality in 2005 and much to their chagrin it's still my second home.

Tom Gray and Delta Moon have been a big part of the Record World/RS Crabb blog for almost 10 years as well.  I came across them while researching my all time rated blog about his previous band The Brains but at this point, Delta Moon has been around longer and made twice more albums as well. They were kind enough to autograph their latest CD for me.  I'm hoping some day Delta Moon will play up here, they'll fit in very well at Parlor City in New Bo.  If you're reading this Tom,  you'll like the New Bo area.  Very blues based players hang at the bar.  Look up Dan Johnson and tell him that Crabby sent ya.  You might have to remind him about me, he tends to forget me during jam sessions ;-)

Diggy Kat and Lucky Star Radio.  Diggy's been a big supporter in whatever I do.  He's getting more in demand on net radio and he shall go far.

Well, that's it for this year.  The future remains unwritten, like a blank page.  Whatever 2016 will bring, let's hope for a better year.

Thanks for reading and making this month the best ever for Record World.  Wishing each and every one of you a better new year.  Cheers and thank you for your support.