Lake Odessa Rock the Port Summer Concert Series

  With the horses still missing Shaky Sean drove the trailer and band members minus DJ to Lake Odessa. If it wasn't for Rockin Rusty's fast talking Shaky Sean COULD have gotten a ticket for parking on the wrong side of the street while in the store for...well you know. Once at the park the layout from previous years had changed and so did the parking arrangement! Now the equipment had to be hauled (seemed like 2 miles) through rough terrain. DJ arrived exactly as the band hit the first note and the horses were off and running. The weather was fantastic and Cindy and Rachel were gracious hosts, and the line dancers from Grand Rapids were a great touch (even with a broken toe) as the band ROCKED the 2 hour show. Rockin Rusty was a big hit with all of the kids when he gave out complimentary horses while the band played "Save a Horse". Jammin Joe gained a new young fan as this 18 month old stood by the stage mesmerized by Jammin Joe's chicken pickin style...Stolen Horses enjoys seeing the young fans enjoying their music. The night ended with a full park search for Pam's sun glasses (she swears she left them on a speaker) Jammin Joe tried to ease her pain and bought her a new custom pair at the local truck stop...WAY TO SUCK UP JOE! This story to be continued in the next post so be sure to stay tuned.

August 7, 2011 The Driftwood

  "Breakfast at Pam's" DJ showed us one of his hidden talents by cooking an awesome breakfast including bacon, eggs and toast...(can't screw that up) for Jammin Joe, Pam and Brandy. Rockin Rusty just watched us eat...it killed him lol. Shaky Sean was no doubt either at home sleeping or more likely working on the new house. After recharging our batteries with a great night's sleep and a great breakfast the band was busy setting up on the deck for the Sunday show...BUT where was Shaky Sean....hmmmm. Half way through set up Shaky Sean waltzed through the gate and immediately pulled the band together on stage for a touching group hug (See Picture on Facebook) the guys were very happy that Shaky Sean had time for a shower so he no longer smelled like a goat! As the show started many of our biggest fans were in attendance...thanks Jodi, Jamie, Jan, Dave, Gail and everyone else. Jammin Joe serenaded Sally on the picnic table. DJ danced barefoot all over the stage again, Rockin Rusty was all smiles and Shaky Sean was just happy to feel clean again. The weather was perfect and the crowd was appreciative. All in all fitting end to the mini tour.

August 5, Rogers City Nautical Fest

 The second leg of the Stolen Horses minus one, add two mini tour is today.  We got a later start than planned because DJ and Brandy got stuck behind an accident in Grand Rapids. We met at the park and ride and all piled in the 5th wheel for the long ride to Rogers City. Shaky Sean quickly drank a beer and fell a sleep on the couch (in his defense he did get up and went to work this morning) We all got a chuckle when DJ hit a bump and Shaky Sean went air born. Every one grabbed a spot where they could and made themselves comfy until we reached Lake City where we stopped for gas. About an hour before we reached Rogers City every one was hungry, we ravaged the fridge and made sandwiches which were quickly hoovered....thanks Brandy. The band arrived in Rogers City and pulled in next to the lake...awesome sight. Set up was pretty quick, production was provided and the sound was amazing...little time to relax. Show started at 9 and we were off and running. DJ tripped over a monitor but recovered well...and THEN he...broke another string he's an animal. There's a huge crowd, lot's of dancers and the cold drinks are flowing. The sets flowed well with Jammin Joe and Randy trading off some smokin leads. In true Nautical Festival style by the time the band broke into the song Arizona at 1 a.m. every one was headed to the local pub for last call. Tear down was pretty quick and we all went to crash in the 5th wheel. Lot's of laughter when talking about "Jack Ass". Finally every one fell a sleep where they could find a spot whether it was the couch, chair or the floor. We were on the road again at 6:30 a.m.. 15 minutes out of Rogers City something didn't seem quite right. There was a vibration and a smell of burning rubber. We blew a tire on the 5th wheel. Can you say how many band mates does it take to change one tire? 5 would be the magical number 2 (Jammin Joe and DJ) changing the tire, 1 (Laura) spectator and 2 (Shaky Sean and Randy) to take pictures and video. At one point the trailer was released off the jack, it was a scarey moment when the trailer came down hard on the wood blocks that we used as an emergency stabilizer, the trailer jolted and rocked and then all was quiet (except when Jammin Joe opened the bathroom door wanting to know what had happened while he was peeing. For a second we thought the trailer was going to tip over on the entire band standing in the ditch.
  To make matters worse 45 minutes after getting back on the road...more bad news, someone stole the horses out from under the hood of DJ's truck litterally, so we limped into the parking lot of a truck stop, after further investigation DJ figured it was his lifters that had gone bad making it impossible to make it back on our own. Thank god there was a restaurant...air conditioning and vittles (Pam loved the bacon strips that were the size of a pig...just ask Randy) We all enjoyed Randy's description of food processing. The mood changed when Jammin Joe thought of calling Dave and Gail, 2 true Stolen Horses fans. Joe remembered that they also have a 5th wheel with a truck to pull it with. After a quick phone call Dave and Gail agreed to drive from Cedar Springs up to Grayling to come to the rescue. In the mean time some of the band found humor texting while using the restrooms, they just aren;t right. Then there was a GPS training...enough said. Kudos to all involved for keeping a level head and great sense of humor despite of lack of quality sleep, showers and laundry service.
  Dave and Gail arrived to an arousing round of applause to haul the band wagon to Croton so we could do the show at The Driftwood. Thanks Dave for breaking the land speed record and getting us there in record time. DJ needs seatbelts in the 5th wheel when Dave is driving.

Cass County Fair

 Our mini tour begins minus Rockin Rusty but adding Laura and Randy Springer. We left DJ 's house and had to make our weekly stop at the local Speedway along the way. After buying cheeto's, coffee and energy drinks (no hot dogs cuz Rockin Rusty wasn't with us) we hit the road again. Jammin Joe and Shaky Sean hoovered the cheetos having to lick all the orange coating off their fingers for another snack. The trip down was uneventful. All the tires and engine were in tact. When we arrived at the fair grounds no one knew where to send us, after anplanned tour of the fairgrounds and campground for about 30 minutes we finally arrived at the stage and unloaded. We had to wait to do our sound check because of the wild animal show that featured a tiger. Once the sound check was done we were ready to ROCK the stage. Just as the show started, in true SH fashion DJ broke a string and of course we couldn't find any spares....so this might be one of the few habits he picked up from Mike. During Hick Town Shaky Sean was an animal and broke his kick drum pedal...but HE came prepared with a spare and the show went on. Tina, James and their kids came out to see us, at one point we invited them and a lot of other fans up on the stage to sing Friends In Low Places. Tear down went well until DJ realized he had locked his keys in the trailer. Thankfully he had a spare trailer KEY but had to crawl over the equsipment to get to his truck keys. On the way home The Stolen Horses truck automatically pulled into the Schoolcraft Speedway (the band has frequent flyer points at this place) but Jammin Joe and Pam stepped out of the box and went to McDonalds just down the road. All in all it was a great night, and the addition of Laura on bass and Randy on guitar blended well.

Party on the Deck at The Driftwood

Sunday July 31, 2011 Beautiful day for a PARTY on the deck. Setting up went really good we even had time to visit with some of our fans before we started. Jammin Joe's parents came to watch him play. DJ was the virgin of the group for playing on the deck, we had so much fun being able to kick off our shoes and ROCK the deck! DJ, Jammin Joe and Rusty had a ball getting up on the bench to show off their feet.
DJ did everything but cartwheels on the deck. Shaky Sean made some young boys very happy when he handed out some drum sticks.

We had the 2011 Karaoke Queen of Michigan, Jan come up and sing with us. Not quite sure if it was a sunburn or the embarrassment that made her face so red.

Rockin Rusty's girlfriend Sally decided that the wood chips would be more comfortable than her chair. She gave us a good laugh and was a great sport about it. It was great to see Sally's family all out with her. Her nephew was one of the lucky boys to get a drum stick.

There was a very rowdy out of control table, let's just say these women have no hand control. It was great having Big Spoon, Tea Cup and Twisted Sister come out and PARTY with us.

There were a lot of boats out in front of the deck listening to us and many came up because they couldn't resist joining in the fun. Met some more new fans.

Come out and join us next Saturday and Sunday as we ROCK the deck again!!

Jack's 2nd Annual Hootanany

July 30, 2011 Boats, boats and more boats. We had a beautiful sunny afternoon for a great PARTY! The alcohol was flowing giving some people a healthy glow. Jimmy from Florida the captain of Loose Change a 63' Sea Ray had the best set up, luxury and back stage access. The Stolen Horses Philley's came out to line dance with us. Dave Carter from Main Street and his wife Vicky came out to support us. We had the "Yee Haw" contest and the winner was....Todd Chappin. Great job evey one who participated in this. We had the 2010 Karaoke Queen of Michigan come up and sing with us....thanks Ann Price. We were happy to celebrate Jamie's 29th again birthday with her, there might have been some comment about kitchens during the birthday song that Jammin Joe sang to her.

Thanks to our loyal fans Don & Ann Price, Dave & Gail, Greg & Darcy, Jamie, Kim and Jeff for coming out to PARTY with us. You guys are the best!

Shaky Sean's son Sean who is in the Marines (thanks for your service) came out to see his dad play. Shaky Sean was one proud dad.

We were able to snag some new fans Miranda, Brandon, Sara, Ben and Brad. We were happy to see you that you could HANG with us!

Thanks to Brandon, Brad and Dave for helping us load up at the end of the night. You guys were a ton of help!

Wedding Reception

July 22, 2011 this was one of those days that if anything could go wrong it did. DJ was frantically looking for the words to one of the new songs, the phone tree was put to use and we found that Jammin Joe had them in his guitar case. The reception was on the 2nd floor so we had to haul everything up in the elevator when we had just a few things left a cart appeared. DJ forgot the box with the cords. Had to run back to the house to get them. Shaky Sean pulled DJ's truck around back and locked it so we couldn't get in. We finally got a hold of a tow truck to come unlock it. Shaky Sean's kick pedal wasn't working so we had to make an emergency run out to the trailor to find the other one. A few songs into the first set we blew a breaker which haulted things for a few minutes. Someone just cruised by on a scooter. You never know what's going to happen when Stolen Horses comes to play but we always ROCK the house!!

Band Practice

July 20, 2011 we had practice at DJ's. We practiced 4 new songs for a wedding reception.

Shaky Sean walks in and checks the fridge.....not enough beer....so ofcourse a beer run was made. A bottle of Fire Ball was passed around....that is bound to cure what ails ya.

DJ and Shaky Sean were messing around with some words....Let's put it this way....it was not "G" rated.

We started out with Can't Help Falling In Love by Elvis. Things were going good until a cat was heard (one of the guys). Sometimes it's easier to not to try to figure them out. We do work well together and try to help each other out when needed. Then you have Rockin Rusty asking Jammin Joe for a "dirty G string"....don't ask.

Rockin Rusty moved a monitor so Shaky Sean could hear better. So Shaky Sean being Sean burped in the microphone so he could hear himself burp. That's the little kid in him.

Rockin Rusty was adding new words to This Must Be Love, then as boys must do Shaky Sean had to add his own version. Jammin Joe learned the whole song in the wrong key...he quickly learned the right key. After some trial and error we came up with a great ending Stolen Horses style.

Rockin Rusty was making sounds like R2D2 when he asked if we wanted to hear the sound of CUP2, Shaky Sean joined in, it took Jammin Joe a few minutes to catch on.

Shaky Sean was tuning his tuner and let every one know he was enjoying it.

Keeper of the Stars was next, DJ plugged Jammin Joe's hole with a rubber...now get your minds out of the gutter! Those damn cats were back. Flying drum sticks...you can poke someone's eye out or drumsticks might be stuck up someone's nose.

DJ is trying to sing like a woman. "When we 69 and I said Haaaa chew." Jammin Joe is on all 4's pretending to eat a dog bone....don't ask.

We called it a night