Tricks Trio /KaRTunes Blog - 2022

Tricks Trio Blog - September 2022

It's the annual Cowboy Weekend in Irons. Friday evening is the Cowboy Dinner, on the patio of the Oak Grove Tavern.
Rick the Oak Grove owner is one of the main supporters of the Irons Cowboy Weekend. It's a celebration of the horse trails all around the Irons area. All the horse owners bring their pretty horses to take part in rodeo activities, trail riding, and various contests. Eating, drinking and campfires are all important social events. Most of the Cowboys and Cowgirls stay at Skinner Park, where they can set up camp, sit around the campfire, and care for their horses. The central party venue for eating and drinking is the Oak Grove Tavern, and Friday evening's Cowboy Dinner. The Tricks Trio first played at Oak Grove after Tommy Phelps hosted a 2013 party for his bar buddies with catered food and dancing with Krystal, Ozzy, and Rick. After that party we got booked at Oak Grove two or three events during every summer season. We like to play the first Friday of Memorial Day weekend. That's the time for setting up the cabin for most "Up North" people with cottages and cabins in the woods and in the town. Although some will be coming up here every winter to play with their snow-mobiles.

Tricks Trio has played a couple times at Oak Grove Tavern during the Irons "Flea Roast / Ox Market" festival. That's the biggest town party of the year. Although they have motorcycle runs and quad ORV get-togethers, the Cowboy weekend in September is also a big event, usually starting on Wednesday night and Ending the "Survivors Breakfast" on Monday morning. That's a free breakfast that Rick hosts at his Oak Grove Tavern. This is only our third Cowboy dinner event. I don't think we play enough country music, but Rick the owner and his regular crowd likes the rocking Tricks Trio.

Tricks Trio Blog - August 2022

• Aug 13 - Tricks Trio, Phelpstock XVI, Irons


We're calling this Phelpstock 16, although we skipped 2020 for Covid. The fact remains that we've done annual parties for Tommy and Tara for more than 18 years, going back to their wedding and the pool parties they had each year when they lived in South Haven. On Friday night we had a nice little Krys & Rick pre-party around the campfire in the meadow. Several families had their motorhomes set up their in the meadow. There is a concrete slab with a small picnic pavilion where they have electricity, water, and a port-a-potty. It's a short walk to the main Phelps cabin, "North Haven", in case anyone needs other more civilized amenities like showers and wi-fi.
This year we had a steady drizzle of rain all Friday night into Saturday morning. Krys and Rick stayed in the little vintage camper trailer next to the pavilion. The wind wasn't blowing, but we had to pull our speakers and amps away from the edges of the concrete slab, because the water was starting to flood onto the concrete.

Eventually we lost power at the meadow pavilion. We couldn't fix it, even with the combined efforts of several of the motor-home guys. By noon the rain was finally letting up, but the ground was so drenched in the whole meadow. We decided to have the party in the garage at North Haven, Tommy & Tara's main "up-north" residence. Setting up the band and the food tables in the garage was a lot more comfortable than in the wetness of the meadow. Tara set up a wood-burning firepit bowl in front of the garage, along with a tent canopy in case it decided to sprinkle rain some more. Although it was a bit damp and cool, we had a blast with the couple dozens friends who came to eat, drink, dance, and chat around the fire. Good fun was had by all, like usual in the backwoods of Irons.

KaRTunes Blog - July 2022

• July 23 - KaR Tunes, Hopkins Propane
Employee Family Party for Hospice

It's always nice when the people that hire you tell you how much they like your music. It's even better when they put their money where their mouth is, either by overpaying or by asking you back for their next party. This is the 2nd time that we are playing for these folks. They are the owners of Hopkins Propane, and they bought a 3-hour K&R show and Bill's BBQ at the Hospice Spring Auction. The first time, when we played for them in 2020, it was a "Christmas in August" party for their employees at the Hopkins Propane headquarters. This time, they threw a big family reunion party for their extended family, and it was at their home near Byron Center. They again told us that they loved us, and they want us back for next year. We'll see how that turns out. You know it's always easy to talk the talk, but something tells me that they're gonna walk the walk again in 2023.

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• July 3 - Tricks Trio Keith Memorial on Lake Christie

Tricks played last night at Lake Allegan, with fireworks as we packed up. This bereavement gathering was for our friend Deena's family. It was Tricks Trio with Krystal, Ozzy, & Rick. Once again it was on a lake. And once again their were fireworks as we packed up. This lake was a lot smaller than Lake Allegan, but they had a much bigger display of fireworks patriotism.

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