CELIA: NEWS!

Sept. 15 and 16
Coal Creek Coffee Laramie WY

We're in the wild west now. It was 80 degrees farenheit when we left Denver, and we got to Laramie 2 hours later and it was about 40 degrees. We showed the movie at this great little coffeeshop right in the middle of Laramie. And Laramie is right in the middle of the valley between the Snowy Range and the Medicine Bow mountains. And there's a railroad track right beside the downtown and trains go by all day long.

Saturday we tried to attend the Fat Crack Festival at Vedauwoo but it wasn't going on because six inches of snow fell that morning. Not too good for an outdoor climbing workshop. So we went back to town after a little climb and I got a nice hat to keep my ears warm.
That's me on Vedauwoo.

We played music at Coal Creek that night and it was very low-key - a nice ending to our very chill(y) time in Laramie.

We drove back to Fort Collins that night and arrived just in time for some New Belgium beer and a hot tub party! Thanks, Stacy and Jay! that's why I call it FORT FUN!

Sept. 17
Avogadro's Number Fort Fun, CO

Stacy and Jay made us breakfast and then we headed out to the Sustainable Living Fair to hand out some fliers and enjoy some delicious New Belgium beer. I learned a lot there and had a nice nap on a hammock.

The show at Avogadro's was really special - I loved seeing my old friends. And meeting their kids!
The drummer for Motorhome, John Motley, sat in with FIRE DOG and sounded AWESOME. And Mike Craft, our old friend and New Belgium ambassador to the world, played congas. Then Motorhome played a rockin set and then we loaded up the van, loaded up the van, loaded up the van. (we do this a lot.)

We left in the morning and drove through WYOMING. Here are some pictures, in chronological order, of some things we saw.

We stopped in Thermopolis for a soak in the hot springs and some other unusual attractions. Extra special LOVE-O-RAMA Coolness Award goes out to Jon Bushey, who put us up that night just because he's a friend of a friend. Now, THAT'S a LOVE-O-RAMA!

Here's the LOVE-O-RAMA crew at Hell's Half Acre.

That's me at Hell's Half Acre.

Les Trois Tetons!

Wyoming is pretty fantastic. We saw so many pronghorns. Then I woke up ON MY BIRTHDAY in Yellowstone National Park, the first National Park in the WORLD, established in 1870. We saw bison walking down the way and a coyote in the tall grass and plenty of geothermics.


Geothermal Activity.

Hey All! This is Long's Peak from the Forest Canyon Overlook in Beautiful Rocky Mountain National Park!


Sept. 12
Rock N Soul Cafe Boulder, CO

This is an out-of-the-way gem in Boulder with great sound and really nice people. Thanks, Bobby, Sam, and Cheryl! We saw a few old friends and shared the bill with our friend Denise Barbarita and her husband Rich Kulsar on the zarb. So great to see old friends! It's a LOVE-O-RAMA!

After the show, we drove up the mountain and spent the night in Estes Park, where we spent our day off. After a delicious breakfast burrito, my friend Lisa Foster took us out for an awesome excursion. We climbed to the top of Twin Owls through the bowels of the owls. Terrific!
There's a beautiful city at the foot of those mountains where we were really taken care of.

First of all, thanks to Jen at tHERe Coffeeshop on Colfax for great morning drinks and wi-fi to get up to speed on the web.

And Carmen Rivas, gee whiz, thanks for spoiling us with all the great food and hospitality. T - A - C - O ! TACO!

Thursday, Sept. 14
Mercury Cafe Denver, CO

WOW! The place was PACKED! What a supportive audience! We appreciate your enthusiasm and support more than you know! This place has great food and it's a super room. Thanks, Marilyn and all you Mercurians for hosting us, and to the Rivas tribe for making it such a special night! Also, so awesome to see some Jayhawks in the place! Adam Galblum and his crew of monster musicians came out to end the night, and we had a blast listening to their FINE music.
Thanks Adam, Grant, and Ian! I love Denver!
That's Adam jammin with me!


Stay tuned!

More to come!

Sept. 1, 2006
Lucas Schoolhouse St. Louis MO

What can I say? This place is the best. Final Veil enchanted everyone with their Egyptian classical music and bellydancing, followed by fire spinning on the patio. Then the rock and roll dance party began with FIRE DOG and ended with Celia's Big Rock Band. This was a big success for us and we especially loved all the DANCING! St. Louis really sent us off in STYLE. Special thanks to Dan Jameson for his support and encouragment.



Sept. 7
The Blue Note Columbia, MO

What an exciting day! Columbia's little gourmet winebar, Cherry Street Artisan, hosted us for a meet & greet in the afternoon and fed us lunch! Thanks, Luke! We met some nice Columbia folks and saw some old friends. Then the Twilight Festival was going on downtown, so after we loaded in, I passed out fliers outside between the BURN energy drink passer outers and the humane society booth. Thanks to Tamara and Ann, the bellydancers, who came out to dance and help us flier.

The show featured, of course, Celia's Big Rock Band and FIREDOG, and special local guests KIM CHI, an electronic musical group complete with choreographed dance moves and props! I loved the Blue Note: Gigantic stage and Mike had a HUGE screen to project on and people were DANCING, which I LOVE.

Sept. 8
Gaslight Tavern Lawrence KS

I love playing the Gaslight. This was probably about my 5th time in the last few years. We had a nice familiar crowd in this, the home of my alma mater, and both bands sounded great despite a couple technical difficulties. Brandon Manitoba, drummer of FIRE DOG, sat in with Celia's Big Rock Band and ROCKED it - smokin, Brandon!
Great to see all our old friends in Larryville. Special thanks to Anna for hosting the BBQ and the best futon in the world, and Dean for being so accommodating to my band! Also, thanks to Jeff Jackson for bringing the sound - you really saved the day!


Sept. 9
The Brick Kansas City MO

I've been looking for a cool venue in Kansas City for a few years now and I finally found it! Thanks, Cherry Pyro, for taking a chance on us! We loved your place and congratulations on 7 years of rockin live music venue. The sound was GREAT (thanks, Jameson!) and the folks were really nice. They even turned on the disco ball for us.
I saw lots of old friends and met some new ones - what a great night!

EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to Melinda Winifred Jane Tentrees, Herb James, Tom Collins, Brandon Manitoba, Katherine, and Christine for being the best freakin road crew ever. We will miss you SO MUCH and we can't wait to see you on the west coast!
Melinda and me.