2007, A Year in Review

Hello all you Kickin Grassers and welcome to 2008! What a great ride 2007 was. Here's a list of last years shows and a few highlights for you, if you care to add comments about any show, don't be shy!

* 1/13/2007 UCLA Community Center- This is where The Kickin Grass Band got its start so after five years of pickin and grinnin' we felt it was an appropriate place to kick off 2007.

* 1/27/2007 Richlands, NC Bluegrass Blast
* 2/1/2007 Benson, NC The Enchanted Barn

* 2/24/2007 Raleigh, NC The Pour House Music Hall- One of our favorite venues in the Triangle area to play, The Pour House Music Hall has been host to some very memorable Kickin Grass shows. This one was no exception, with a packed house and our friends in Cadillac Stepbacks sharing the bill, a great time was had by all! (BTW: we're playing there again on 2/8/08)

* 3/2/2007 Chocowinity, NC Southside High School
* 3/3/2007 Hampton, VA Cabin Fever Pickin Party
* 3/9/2007 Pittsboro, NC Pittsboro General Store
* 3/24/2007 Burlington, NC Carolina Road Festival
* 3/30/2007 Dunnellon, FL Withlacoochee Bluegrass Jamboree

* 3/31/2007 Cochran, GA American Music Exposition- We had a great time in Georgia at this festival. Patrick and Jamie pulled their motorcycles down and after the show Patrick, Jamie and Lynda cruised down to Key West, FL for a week of crusin' in the Florida sun.

* 4/7/2007 Carrboro, NC Carrboro Arts Center- Wow! Our 5th Anniversary show, whew, time flies! This has to be one of the highlights of 2007. We had planned this show for months and had sold out the Arts Center. The show was to be filmed by Flying Flounder Productions for a live DVD release and wouldn't you know it...two hours before show time, Matt gets a horrible stomach flu! We all freaked out and called every fiddle player we knew, 30 minutes before show time, Bobby Britt of Big Fat Gap shows up to fill in for us. We rehearsed maybe 5 minutes and then performed one of our best shows of '07! Thanks to Bobby and all who were a part of this show.

* 5/4/2007 Raleigh, NC Hideaway BBQ- Can you believe who opened the show for us? None other than THE Tommy Ramone, yep, of The Ramones!

* 5/11/2007 Cairo, WV North Bend State Park- First Trip in our New Bus!
* 5/12/2007 Cairo, WV North Bend State Park

* 5/18/2007 Fountain, NC R.A. Fountain General Store

* 5/22/2007 Chapel Hill, NC 'Farm to Fork' Picnic Honoring Carlo Petrini. This was a wonderful event to benefit Slow Food Triangle. Slow Food Triangle is an organization that celebrates local food and the people who grow and make it, people like our very own Patrick Walsh! If you don't know, Patrick Walsh and partner Ristin Cooks own and operate Castle Rock Garden in Chatham County, an organic farm where goats and chickens live in a balanced society and the greens are plentiful.

* 6/8/2007 Chapel Hill, NC The Carolina Inn- A summertime favorite...the Kickin Grass Band at the Fridays on the Front Porch series.

* 6/9/2007 Cary, NC Sertoma Amphitheatre at Bond Park
* 6/28/2007 Benton, PA Oats Bluegrass Festival

* 6/29/2007 Benton, PA Oats Bluegrass Festival- This was one of the finest festivals of 2007 for The Kickin Grass Band. Thanks to the Grillbillies for the good food and hospitality.

* 7/7/2007 Roxboro, NC Liberty Jam at Mayo Park
* 7/12/2007 Asheville, NC Biltmore Estate
* 7/13/2007 Raleigh, NC Exploris Museum
* 7/21/2007 Raleigh, NC 2nd Annual Raleigh Wide Open
* 7/28/2007 Gore, VA 2nd Annual Camp Barefoot
* 7/29/2007 Frederick, MD Cactus Flats
* 8/3/2007 Greenville, NY Bluegrass In Greenville

* 8/5/2007 New York City, NY Banjo Jim's- KGB spent the day walking, shopping, eating and drinking then played a show with Hogzilla at Banjo Jim's. It was a good way to break into NYC.

* 8/10/2007 Henderson, KY Bluegrass In The Park
* 8/11/2007 Henderson, KY Bluegrass In The Park
* 8/23/2007 Raleigh, NC North Hills Mall
* 8/24/2007 Chapel Hill, NC The Carolina Inn

* 8/25/2007 Saxapahaw, NC Saxapahaw Music Series. Part of the Saxapahaw Rivermill Farmer's Market and Music Series. We had beautiful weather and the show was packed with local KGB fans, it was great!

* 8/31/2007 Bluetop, WV Bluetop Bluegrass
* 9/1/2007 Kendallville, IN Tri-State Bluegrass Festival
* 9/2/2007 Kendallville, IN Tri-State Bluegrass Festival
* 9/14/2007 Cochran, GA Hillside Bluegrass Festival
* 9/15/2007 Cochran, GA Hillside Bluegrass Festival
* 9/26/2007 Baltimore, MD Organic Harvest Festival
* 9/27/2007 Dewey Beach, DE Dewey Beach Music Conference
* 9/29/2007 Raleigh, NC Marbles
* 10/1/2007 Nashville, TN IBMA World of Bluegrass
* 10/5/2007 Thomas, WV The Purple Fiddle
* 10/6/2007 Newport News, VA Fall Festival of Folklife

* 10/7/2007 Newport News, VA Fall Festival of Folklife- A great town festival, complete with The Kickin Grass Band, lumberjacks and a log rolling dog.

* 10/13/2007 Dallas, NC Cotton Ginning Days Festival
* 10/20/2007 Wilmot, OH Grandma's Alpine Homestead
* 10/21/2007 Coshocton, OH Apple Butter Festival- Roscoe Village
* 10/25/2007 Greensboro, NC Eastern Music Festival Fringe Series. A fall presentation of the Eastern Music Festival's Fringe Series.

* 11/8-11/2007 Waldo , FL Don't Get Above Your Grazin- Hosted by Valerie Smith and Liberty Pike, this is a top notch festival with workshops and great after hours pickin. We hope to be back many times!

* 12/2/2007 Rock Hill, SC ChristmasVille at Rockhill

* 12/9/2007 Holly Springs, NC Christmas Show - Holly Springs Cultural Center- Our last blow out of '07. This was our second try at a live DVD and CD and I have to say, it came out great! Matt wasn't even sick this time! Thanks to the audience for packing the house and bringing the energy. We played a one hour KGB set and then a one hour Christmas show. We should have the CD's and DVD's available in the next few weeks.

* 12/16/2007 Raleigh, NC 3rd Annual Christmas Band Jam and Food Drive- Last show of '07! See previous blog for more on this one.

Well, that's pretty much it, we're looking forward to 2008 and know that it will be the best yet for the KGB. New album, Live CD and DVD, tons of shows already booked, I mean, what could possibly go wrong?!?