I love it when things come full circle. In the late 1970s, I was a trumpet player in the Monache High School Marauder Band in Porterville, CA. Music at Monache was “cool” and we had fantastic choirs, too. Many fine musicians have come from Porterville over the years to become opera singers, music educators, producers, pop and rock musicians, and instrumentalists. I am struck by how many of the friendships that took root in all those amazing experiences we had in band, choir, and drama have endured and grown over the years. I’m still friends with a LOT of people I met back then, and we still reminisce about those powerful musical journeys we took together. I remember our choir director, Dave Rasmussen, saying at a nighttime rehearsal once, “You won’t remember that math test you took today, but this music and this concert will linger in your memory.” He was right.
One weekend our band took over the local radio station, KTIP, as a fundraiser. Two band members every hour became DJs on the air. The band (with help from our very active parent group), had sold ads which the students read on the air between songs we selected. I signed up and was paired with one of my childhood neighbors, a fellow trumpet player, Rob Taylor. Rob went on to be a fantastic entrepreneur and is the proud owner of Stafford’s Chocolates and Reimers Candies and Gifts. We reconnected a few years ago and, in conversations, discovered that we had both been guests on Big Blend radio and Magazines podcasts (the show I now co-host once per month.) Lisa and Nancy, the mother-daughter team that produces these fantastic shows, have a partnership with the US National Parks and travel the country shining a spotlight on them and the communities around them. It’s a great mix of culture, food talk, literature, pet talk, music, history, and life in general.
With July being Ice cream Month, and with record heat in many parts of the US, Lisa and I decided to make this month’s show an ice cream social. I immediately thought of Rob, who recently acquired Reimers Candies and Gifts with their amazing hand-crafted ice cream. The stores are at the entrance to Yosemite and Kings Canyon National Parks. Lisa thought it would be great to have Rob on the show again. She’s a big fan of the Stafford’s Chocolates world-famous Ooey Gooey Bar, a delicious combination of caramel, marshmallow, peanut butter, and chocolate. Rob recently introduced Ooey Gooey Ice Cream, too! I reached out to Rob and he loved the idea of joing our ice cream social. So, after more than forty years, he and I are back on the air together in a podcast segment that is available on all the places you listen to podcasts.
The following Big Blend Radio podcast channels, which are all distributed to all major podcast platforms such as Spotify, Apple, Amazon & Audible, iHeartRadio, ListenNotes, etc., see:
- Big Blend Radio: www.BigBlendRadio.com
- Big Daily Blend Channel - https://big-daily-blend.podbean.com/
- Eat, Drink & Be Merry Channel - https://eat-drink-merry.podbean.com/
- Our YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/@bigblendradio/
Lisa, Nancy, Rob, and I are joined by:
Eva Eldridge, a travel writer and editor in Arizona
Cheryl Ogle, a travel advisor Hey Wanna Go Travel
Phil and Andrea Boswell, of Peach Tree City, Georgia (Andrea is an artist)
Aryn Youngless, a writer and Genealogist
Chuck and Mikelyn Wustman, Innkeepers and Owners of The Bird and Butterfly Inn
Glynn Burrows of Norfolk Tours in England
See our Facebook post to find most of these folks there, as well.
We had a grand time. Grab your favorite ice cream (You’ll get hungry for some just listening) and join in the fun!
Other News
Friday, July 12, is Paco’s and my 10th Wedding Anniversary (We’ve been together much longer than that, of course, but were only allowed to marry then) We are spending the day shooting the music video for my upcoming release, “When It’s Your Kid.” If you haven’t subscribed to my @hearjohnny YouTube channel, please do so you won’t miss the premiere. Just type @hearjohnny in the YouTube search bar and it will come right up. My Social Media links are all on my website, hearjohnny,com
I hope your Summer is wonderful!
If you received this email, we have connected regarding my music in the past. I try to send quality, interesting messages, but if you want to unsubscribe, you can do so below. I hope you’ll stick around, though, as I have a bottleneck of music I am preparing to release.