Parrots In the Pines!!

Well, the very first Desert Island Band sponsored "Parrots In the Pines" is history and what a great time! No glitches, perfect weather, cool mountain air, wonderful hosts Brad and Colleen, and a team of terrific musicians headlined by Mark Mulligan were the keys to a fantastic weekend.



Musicians L-R Sam Rainwater, Woody Joyner, Mark McGuffin, Wayne McGuffin, Steve Chitwood, Mark Mulligan, and Keith Grigg. Missing from the photo but also performing: Ray Cody and Susan Schauf

 From Friday night's open mike, which was described more than once as "the best open mike, ever!" to Sunday departure hugs and handshakes, this was a time to remember. Here's a few things no one will forget soon:

Thursday night ice-diving into Bob's cooler
Shula's dust and rock storms, earning hm a club nickname: "Haboob."
Ladder golf and Cornhole
The Parrothead debut of some very cool dogs, like Paula's "Katie," a fan favorite! (nice escape artist, too!)
Friday night and Saturday morning off-the-hook delicious potlucks
Vivian's beautifully decorated stage area
The world debut of "The Worshboard Band."
Grown men in capes leaping from tailgates
Poker tournament won by (big surprise) Kathy with Tracy rght behind her
Dominoes in the shade, reminiscent of a Parrothead rest home.
Stolen Recipe BBQ
Mark Mulligan and Friends Jam Session
Susan Schauf and her new song (co-written with Keith Sykes), "Music Therapy"
The debut of the Flamingo Queen's dance routine for the DIB's "Tropical Daydream Attacks."
A nice roll of money raised for Castaway Kids
Late night passing the guitar around the fire with CD, Woody, and Mark Mulligan....that was special.

Do we have to wait a whole year to do this again?

Recording A Studio Album - Day 2

Steve and I finished off our guitar work and laid out vocal tracks on about six songs - which puts us at the halfway point in this stage of production! Vivian, Wayne and Jan sat in and had a chance to see how Dave and his studio operate.

We have a few glitches in som of the guitar tracks that might require some do-overs, but for the most part it is looking and sounding real good! Prodcuer Dave is supremely confident we willhave a finished CD by Labor Day!

Recording a Studio Album - Day 1

Wow, did the Desert Island guys have a great time today or what?! We headed into MixMedia Studio today with our producer, recorder, mixer, overseer, and general go-to guy, Dave Marshall.


Dave Marshall in his new playpen.


The first thing we noticed about the studio is how amazing it sounds....or actually doesn't sound. The only thing you can hear in there is the cooling fan on one of the hard drives, if you try real hard. No echoes, no nothing, it was amazing! It's like talking on the beach, only without the sound of the ocean.

Dave informed us we were the first musicians to use the recently completed facility, so we're hoping he hangs our picture on the wall at some point. If you would like to lobby on our behalf, just let us know and we will provide you with Dave's email address.

It was a day of pre-production, so we layed out twelve songs (11 originals and one very notable cover), and basically just jammed them out to click tracks until we were solid on our timing. It's harder than it sounds, folks, trust me. We went in with what we though were the correct beats for our songs, only to find out that we were off on eight of the twelve. Sadly, all four of the correct ones belonged to Woody, which caused Crime Dog to lose a bet of a 12-pack of Dos Equis Amber, dammit.


Steve-o, Wood-Eye, and CrimeDog ham it up at MixMedia.


We didn't record a single note, but had an incredible time learning and gaining confidence. We'll be hitting it again next weekend, and probably even various nights during the week over the next few months to try and get the album ready by Parrot Grande. Next up: nailing down guitar and vocal tracks. We can't wait!

Mac McAnally and Jake Shimabukuro At the Ikeda Theater

If you are a TropRock fan or a fan of just about any other musical genre, you're going to want to grab up a couple of these tickets while they are still available.

Mac McAnally is a singer songwriter of unsurpassed talent, winning Country Music Awards for "Musician of the Year" three times in a row. He's a longtime Coral Reefer, uber-talented guitarist, and Jimmy Buffett's right hand man. If that's not enough for you, he's the guy who gets to set Jimmy up for the famous"Funny you should ask that" line when they perform "It's Five O'Clock Somewhere." This guy can play the paint off your walls.

Jake is just possessed. He's the kid who apparently went down to some Honolulu crossroads and sold his soul to the devil in order to become the Jimi Hendrix of ukulele. I have underwear older than this guy, and he has completely redefined how the ukulele is meant to be played. Prepare to be amazed, amused, and to pick your jaw up from the floor when you see what Jake can do with four strings on an itty-bitty guitar.

Not only is this going to be a great evening of music, it's affordable! The best seats in the house are going fast at only about $30 each, so don't wait!

Tickets are on sale now through the Mesa Arts Center in the Ikeda Theater. Just click here, grab some tickets, and join us!

The Crime Dog

Off To The Studio!

The Desert Island guys are thrilled to be heading into the studio for pre-production beginning this weekend! We've placed ourselves into the capable hands of producer, recorder, mixer and we hope, "musical genius" of Dave Marshall at MixMedia to show us the way to creating the best possible album of our music.

We hope to have the finished product ready for all our friends at Parrot Grande, Labor Day weekend! Keep your fingers crossed!