A glorious way to end the summer! Perfect weather, a nice crowd, great food and lots of good feelings all around. Many thanks to Sandy Vitzthum who once again hosted this great event and allowed us to spill Moxie all over her porch.   Special thanks to the fabulous Rustettes for adding their vocal prowess and to Sophie G. for the sax.

1. California Stars
2. I’m Stumbling
3. Angel from Montgomery
4. Streetwalker & A Shy Girl
5. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight (debut - new original written by Dave Blythe)
6. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
7. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
8. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
9. Up Here on the Stage
10. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
11. Good to Go
12. Willin’
13. Telecaster Girl
14. Up on Cripple Creek
15. Two More Bottles of Wine
16. I’ll Fly Away

17. Tequila (w/ Sophie Gardner on Sax)
18. Colorado
19. Still Feeling Blue
20. Horseshoe Lounge
22. Mama Tried
23. Dixie Chicken
24. Riding Ahead of the Storm
25. Truck Drivers Wedding
26. Smoke Smoke Smoke
27. Take Me Back to Tulsa
28. Rock and Roll Medley
29. Truck Drivin’ Man
30. I'm a Railroad
31. Its Only Rock and Roll
32. Midnight Special
33. Haunted House
34. Son of A Preacher Man
35. MOXIE
36. I Saw Her Standing There
37. We Brought the Fun
38. Amazing Grace

We managed to dodge the rain tonight and got a full set in outdoors! A few rain drops midway through did not deter us. The nice crowd of approximately 150 people hung in there despite the touch and go weather conditions as well, way to go Barre!

Here's what we played (after about 5 sound check songs) :

1. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
2. Good to Go
3. Truck Drivers Wedding
4. Simple Song
5. Riding Ahead of the Storm
6. Streetwalker & a Shy Girl
7. I’m Stumbling
8. Up Here on the Stage
9. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
10. Six Days on the Road
11. I’m a Railroad
12. Telecaster Girl
13. Up on Cripple Creek
14. MOXIE
15. Midnight Special
16. Me & Bobby McGee (by request)
17. We Brought the Fun

The soggy conditions forced us inside to the small gym in the Library basement but certainly didn't seem to dampen anyone's spirits. What an amazing crowd, we surely appreciated your support - two standing ovations, thank you very much. It was really nice to be able to play a full evening of mostly our own original songs.

1. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
2. Good to Go
3. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
4. I’m Stumbling
5. Pina Colada Sunshine
6. Simple Song
7. Riding Ahead of the Storm
8. Triple R
9. Colorado
10. Six Days on the Road
11. I’m a Railroad
12. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
13. I’ll Fly Away
14. Streetwalker & a Shy Girl
15. Old 603
16. Ad Nauseum
17. Up Here on the Stage
18. Truck Drivers Wedding
19. Up on Cripple Creek
20. Telecaster Girl
21. Midnight Special
22. We Brought the Fun

We had fantabulous time at an unnamed private party this past weekend. The weather, food, setting and crowd just couldn't have been better. Here's what we played:

1. California Stars
2. Tequila
3. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
4. Walking After Midnight
5. Mama Tried
6. Dead Flowers
7. Pina Colada Sunshine
8. Simple Song
9. Son of a Preacher Man
10. Truck Drivers Wedding
11. Colorado
12. Six Days on the Road
13. Truck Drivin’ Man
14. I’m a Railroad
15. Good to Go
16. Rock and Roll Medley
17. Its Only Rock and Roll
18. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
19. I’ll Fly Away
20. Up on Cripple Creek
21. Haunted House
22. Smoke Smoke Smoke

23. Take Me Back to Tulsa
24. Two More Bottles of Wine
25. Angel From Montgomery
26. Mustang Sally
27. Folsom Prison Blues
28. Telecaster Girl
29. Dixie Chicken
30. MOXIE
31. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
32. Riding Ahead of the Storm
33. Honky Tonk Women
34. Secret Agent Man
35. It Came Out of the Sky
36. Beer Barrel Polka (yup, that's right - it was on the spot inspiration)
37. Midnight Special
38. Sympathy for the Devil
39. I Saw Her Standing There
40. Iko Iko
41. Crossroads
42. Sweet Home Alabama (a fave of the party hosts and guests)
43. We Brought the Fun

Wow -what a great Independence Day weekend for us! After dodging a serious rain scare, we had a great time playing to the usual huge crowd at Montpelier's July 3rd festivities. Special thanks to Charlie Watson for the last minute fill in on drums and special thanks to Andy Harper for the truck, flat bed and expert driving.

Parade set:

1. Pina Colada Sunshine reggae style
2. Cotton Fields
3. Good to Go
4. Riding Ahead of the Storm
5. 6 Days on the Road
6. Truck Drivin’ Man
7. Truck Drivers Wedding
8. Son of a Preacher Man
9. Midnight Special
10. Telecaster Girl
11. Two More Bottles of Wine
12. Rock and Roll Medley
13. We Brought the Fun
14. Iko Iko

Whew! We certainly set off some fireworks at Charlie O's!!! Great crowd and great night. We were missing our vocalist extraordinaire, Michelle Gardner, but soldiered on bravely. Many thanks to Rachael Rice, the original hot ticket, for joining as for the last two sets. A shout out to the out of town crowd who cajoled two encore songs from us and requesting something by Cream of all people! Our ears are still ringing!

Charlie O's sets:

1. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
2. Lodi
3. Ad Nauseum
4. Mama Tried
5. Up on Cripple Creek
6. Truck Drivers Wedding
7. Dixie Chicken
8. Pina Colada Sunshine
9. Simple Song
10. Up Here on the Stage
11. Six Days on the Road
12. Truck Drivin’ Man
13. I'm a Railroad

14. I Ain’t No Dylan
15. Knockin’on Heaven’s Door
16. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
17. Dead Flowers
18. Its Only Rock and Roll
19. Triple R
20. Hot Ticket (a rockin'Rachael Rice original)
21. Smoke Smoke Smoke
22. Take Me Back to Tulsa
23. Can’t Let Go
24. Willin’
25. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
26. Two More Bottles of Wine
27. Me & Bobby McGee
27. Rock and Roll Medley
28. It Came Out of the Sky
29. Folsom Prison Blues

30. Walking After Midnight
31. Silver Threads & Golden Needles
32. Secret Agent Man
33. Telecaster Girl
34. Haunted House
35. MOXIE
36. Honky Tonk Women
37. Sympathy for the Devil
38. Satisfaction
39. I Saw Her Standing There
40. When the Saints Go Marching In
41. We Brought the Fun

42. Crossroads
43. Free Bird (hey, a drunk person yelled it out, what's a band supposed to do??) 

The fabulous Langdon St Cafe hosted a very cool event for the Onion River Exchange, Montpelier's new Time Bank. Music was provided by americana band The Dear, jazz duo Andrew Moroz and Rob Morse and, of course, roots rock from none other than Rusty Romance.

Our set list:

1. I Ain't No Dylan
2. Good to Go
3. Six Days on the Road
4. Colorado
5. Horseshoe Lounge
6. I'm Stumbling
7. Up on Cripple Creek
8. Son of a Preacher Man
9. Simple Song
10. Riding Ahead of the Storm
11. Telecaster Girl
12. Two More Bottles of Wine
13. Dixie Chicken
14. Midnight Special

At this point, vocalist extraordinaire Michelle Gardner had to leave so we were forced to carry on without her. Fortunately Rachael Rice from the Dear stepped in to help out.

15. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
16. Willin'
17. Dead Flowers
18. Me and Bobby McGee
19. Truck Drivers Wedding
20. Smoke Smoke Smoke
21. We Brought the Fun

It was a great night capped off when the Celtics won the NBA title with a smashing 131-92 win over LA! 

What an incredible night. A huge crowd turned out at the Old Labor Hall in Barre to support their friend Bob Labbance and his family. The event raised over $8,600 for the family. Equally as important it was a great time for Bob to be with his friends and vice versa, enjoying great food, company and music.

The Barn Band was great, they even got some assistance from the Rusty Romance rhythym section for their last four songs.

The unquestioned highlight of the night was when 14 year old Simone Labbance played her sitar on the stage for her dad and all the guests. She got a well deserved standing ovation and there weren't many dry eyes in the house.

Rob Halpert gave a beautiful speech about Bob which touched everyone.

Then we came on to rock out for the rest of the evening. We dispensed with a lot of our usual fare - originals, slow songs, some of the twangier numbers - and went for a good old rock and roll set. Bob Labbance is a huge Rolling Stones fan so we worked up a special 7 song sequence for him.

We were fortunate to have Dan Haley with us, he always adds so much to our lineup. He was dealing with the passing of his mother this past week and in her honor took some of his musical wizardy to a new level it seemed.

Here's what we played:

1. Secret Agent Man
2. Son of a Preacher Man
3. Telecaster Girl
4. Smoke Smoke Smoke
5. Simple Song
6. Dixie Chicken

The Rolling Stones set:

7. Play With Fire
8. Faraway Eyes
9. Dead Flowers
10. Its Only Rock and Roll
11. Honky Tonk Women
12. Sympathy for the Devil
13. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

14. Six Days on the Road
15. Truck Drivin' Man
16. I'm a Railroad
17. Take Me Back to Tulsa
18. Iko Iko (with the Barn Band joining us)

That was a fun night! We had a blast playing at the cozy little Radio Bean Cafe in downtown Burlington. I think the six of us were quite a sight cramped into a corner that barely fits three people! But a great crowd, great place and great fun. Many thanks to our Burlington area friends who took over the front table.

1. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
2. Good to Go
3. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
4. Triple R
5. Six Days on the Road
6. Telecaster Girl
7. Riding Ahead of the Storm
8. MOXIE
9. Midnight Special
10. We Brought the Fun

The Fun was definitely Brought last night at the Black Door. Thanks to a great crowd, great dancers and Jay the great bartender. Lots of wonderful energy in the room.

1. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
2. Walking After Midnight
3. Pina Colada Sunshine
4. Son of a Preacher Man
5. Simple Song
6. California Stars
7. Old 603
8. Still Feeling Blue
9. Up Here on the Stage
10. I Want to See The Bright Lights Tonight
11. Ad Nauseum
12. Now I'm Stumbling
13. Six Days on the Road
14. Truck Drivin' Man
15. I'm a Railroad
16. Colorado
17. Up on Cripple Creek
18. Riding Ahead of the Storm
19. Take Me Back to Tulsa
20. When the Saints Go Marching In

Second Set

21. Tequila (Michelle on bass, Amy B on guest vocals)
22. Rock and Roll Medley
23. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
24. I'll Fly Away
25. Mama Tried
26. Triple R
27. Haunted House
28. Truck Drivers Wedding
29. Smoke Smoke Smoke
30. Two More Bottles of Wine
31. Telecaster Girl
32. Midnight Special (Dave version)
33. We Brought the Reggae Fun
34. Jersey Girl

A fun night was had by all, many thanks to the Barn Band for the great opening set and to the huge crowd that was there. We hope you had as much fun as we did. Here's what we played:

First Set (the Twang set)

1.   Up Here on the Stage
2.   Walking After Midnight
3.   Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
4.   Triple R
5.   Mama Tried
6.   Colorado
7.   Ad Nauseum
8.   Willin’
9.   Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
10. Close Up the  Honky Tonks
11. California Stars
12. Horsehoe Lounge
13. I’ll Fly Away
14. Double Eagle RR Blues
15. Angel From Montgomery
16. Six Days on the Road
17. Truck Drivin’ Man
18. Cotton Fields
19. Telecaster Girl
20. Two More Bottles of Wine
21. Take Me Back to Tulsa

Second Set (the rock set)

22. Rock and Roll Medley
23. Good to Go
24. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
25. Up on Cripple Creek
26. Pina Colada Sunshine
27. Son of a Preacher Man
28. Smoke Smoke Smoke
29. Truck Drivers Wedding
30. Me & Bobby McGee
31. Midnight Special
32. MOXIE
33. Honky Tonk Women
34. When the Saints Go Marching In
35. We Brought the Fun
36. Amazing Grace

Thanks to all who braved the cold and missed the Patriots game to see this show. Mark LeGrand and Sarah Munro were wonderful as usual.  The"outrageous roots rock circus" (as Mark called us) played a fun set as well with a great sound mix provided by Bennett Shapiro of Madtech Sound.

1. Starline Lounge
2. Good to Go
3. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
4. Triple R
5. Willin'
6. I'll Fly Away
7. Rock & Roll/Whole Lotta Shakin' Going On/Boppin' the Blues/Shake Rattle & Roll
8. Pina Colada Sunshine
9. Smoke, Smoke, Smoke
10. Truck Drivers' Wedding (debut of a new original!)
11. Riding Ahead of the Storm
12. MOXIE
13. Midnight Special
14. We Brought the Fun
15. Amazing Grace

One of my New Year's Resolutions is to post our set lists as they were actually played shortly after gigs.

Here's the First Night set:

1. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
2. Six Days on the Road
3. Up Here on the Stage
4. Riding Ahead of the Storm
5. Up on Cripple Creek
6. Double Eagle Railroad Blues
7. Telecaster Girl
8. Two More Bottles of Wine (with the Rustettes)
9. MOXIE (with the Rustettes)
10. Midnight Special (with the Rustettes)
11. Iko Iko (complete with noise makers and instrument switches)

We had a great time at First Night Montpelier as usual, highlighted by the appearance of The Rustettes and the crowd playing noise makers for the last song. Thanks to all of you for coming.

One very special treat was meeting two fans from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.  They said they had seen us play last year at First Night and made special plans to return to Montpelier again this year just to see us play!! How cool is that? We really appreciate it a lot. However, we didn't get your name and contact information. Please zip us an e-mail via rusty@rustyromance.com to let us know how to stay in touch with you.

Best wishes for a great 2008 to Rusty-farians everywhere.   Keep bringing the fun.

We're delighted to announce that we've officially expanded the Rusty Romance roster. Rob Halpert is the 7th band member as of New Year's Eve. Rob plays keyboards and has a great singing voice. His musical tastes and attitudes blend right in with the rest of us. We look forward to adding that new dimension to our sound. Plus we make the new guy buy the Moxie....

Rob sat in with us for a few gigs this fall and it just seemed like a perfect match. He is also a member of the wonderful americana/folk group The Barn Band and will continue in that role. We hope that this will lead to even more double bills with our friends in that band.

Rusty Romance and Bad Monkey (Mark LeGrand's new rock trio) are teaming up for a benefit concert on Sunday, December 16th at 3:00 PM at Bethany Church on Main Street in Montpelier.

The show is to benefit a family in severe need of assistance with medical and travel expenses. Tickets are $10 each or $25 for a family and will be available at the door only.

Bad Monkey starts the show at around 3:00, Rusty Romance will play at around 4:15. Come on in from your holiday shopping, warm up and enjoy some great music while helping out for a nice cause.

After a really great party last weekend (thanks to the two birthday boys), Rusty Romance has wrapped up an excellent summer of 2007 - 3 gigs in Maine, the parade, the barn party, the Black Door, the Brown Bag lunch series and others. We had some great fun and got to play some great music.

Thanks to all of you who came out to see us, thanks to those of you who booked us to play, thanks to Rob Halpert for joining us on keyboards and to Charlie Watson for filling in on drums a couple of times.

We're taking a break this fall to work on some new songs and, hopefully, a new CD of 2008. We'll be back in public on New Year's Eve for First Night Montpelier. Look for us in the 7:00 PM time slot at the Unitarian Church - we plan to have some extra special New Year's fun for you.

We're putting together our 2008 schedule now, please contact us if you'd like us to play your event, party, festival or venue. We will definitely be bringing the fun once again in '08.

CDFreedom.com is now selling our music in mp3 format so people can purchase individual songs for 99 cents each or purchase the entire Who Brought The Fun? CD in mp3 format for $9.99.

The hard CD with graphics and liner notes is still available for $15.00

Within the next 4 to 10 weeks, Rusty Romance mp3's will be available for sale on:

iTunes www.apple.com

eMusic www.emusic.com

Rhapsody www.rhapsody.com

Groupie Tunes www.groupietunes.com

Groove Mobile www.groovemobile.com

Sony Connect www.connect.com

The first public performance of our band was on September 13, 2002 at a party at our friends' house on Loomis Street in Montpelier. Its hard to believe that five years has past since that fun night.

For that occasion we called the band Rusty Romance and the Raunchy Rednecks and the lineup included Rusty on acoustic guitar and vocals, the inimitable Ruby Ditch on acoustic guitar and vocals, old friend Stu McIntire on lead guitar and keyboards, Dangerous Dan Haley on mandolin, guitar and vocals and David Blythe on both upright and electric bass. We also featured an electrifying appearance by blues legend Short Willy Truman and the debut of the Choirloft Chicks who included Michelle Gardner. Obviously the foundation of the band now known as Rusty Romance was set that evening.

Since then we've played 70 public gigs which include weddings, festivals, parties, downtown events, bars and out of state trips. We've released an award winning CD and written enough songs for a second CD. Mostly we've just had a whole bunch of fun. I don't think any of us expected things to take off in the way that they have.

As fate would have it, the annual end of summer Loomis Street block party that we usually play was rained out on August 25th. Its been rescheduled for Sunday afternoon, September 9th from 2 PM to 6 PM. As such, it is doubling as our celebration of our 5th anniversary, Please join us and sing/dance along with us. If you've played with us sometime along the way we'd love to get you up for a song or two.

After a very successful Maine weekend, Rusty Romance is delighted to announce that we're heading back to the Pine Tree State in July.

As any good Rusty-farian knows, Moxie is the unofficial beverage of Rusty Romance so its only natural that we would play at the world's biggest celebration of the unique soft drink.   The Moxie Festival in Lisbon Falls, Maine draws as many as 30,000 people in mid-July for a parade, fireworks, games, family activities, Moxie flavored ice cream and musical entertainment.

We're very pleased that we will be playing the prime Saturday night set from 6:30 PM to 10:00 PM on July 14th.    We hope some of our old and, after this past weekend, new Maine friends will join us and perhaps some Vermonters will make the trip as well.  It promises to be a good time for all.

For more information www.moxiefestival.com

Summer is on the way which makes everyone happy. We've got a few summer dates for you to bring some fun with us.

On June 8th and 9th we're very excited to be traveling to Maine for two nights at the Montsweag Roadhouse on Route 1 in Woolwich (across the bridge from Bath). This is a great restaurant and pub with an excellent live music set up. If you're within striking distance stop in on Friday the 8th to see us. The 9th is a private function (ssshhhh, it's Rusty's 30th High School reunion), we're not sure if they'll take kindly to party crashers!! Who knows, maybe we'll make a run to Hussey's General Store!

The following weekend, June 16th, is the annual Barn party at McKnight Farm in East Montpelier. This year we'll be joined by Mark LeGrand and the Lovesick Bandits as well as some musical guests from the Barn Band. Music starts at 6:30 and we play until the cows come home. Rumor has it that Rusty might miss this one but with all these extra folks there no one is likely to notice.

We're back in Montpelier in July. Look for us in the July 3rd parade as usual. We'll be playing downtown in Christ Church park on Thursday the 12th at noon time as part of the MDCA Brown Bag Lunch series. On Saturday night the 29th we're back at the Black Door starting at 9:30 PM.

We finish up the summer on August 25th at the Annual Loomis Street Block Party in Montpelier. This usually starts around 6:00 PM and runs until 10:00 PM, good family fun and an excellent way to get ready for fall.

WHO BROUGHT THE FUN? , the debut CD by Rusty Romance, has won a "Tammie Award" (Times-Argus Grammy) from the Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus, taking home a medal for the Best Vermont Country CD of 2006!!!

The Times-Argus gave 6 awards: best vocal performance, best instrumental CD, best jazz CD, best country CD, best rock CD and best overall CD.

Here's what the Times-Argus had to say:

2006 Tammie Awards December 29, 2006

By Art Edelstein, Arts Correspondent

 It's time again to award the albums and musicians whose performances are the best of the best for Vermont music in 2006. We introduced the Tammies * Times Argus Grammies * last year and for this year there is a completely new list of winners. And now to the awards. The envelopes, please.

Best Country Album: Rusty Romance released "Who Brought the Fun?" early in the year, and this CD by Montpelier's resident country band remains a winner. Listening to the CD brought back the country music of the 1970s in all its twanging glory along with the memories of flat beer, stale smoke, and a hankering for Merle Haggard. This is a group that doesn't take itself too seriously, writes good songs, plays reasonably well and has no aspirations beyond giving Vermonters a good time. If today's country music has become too complicated or political for you, Rusty Romance is the band to listen to.

We can't tell you how delighted we are to win an award for playing "reasonably well" and having "no aspirations". In all seriousness, we appreciate the recognition and all the support you all have shown us. And remember - you can purchase this award winning CD at:

Buch Spieler, Montpelier

Rivendell Books, Montpelier

Riverwalk Records, Montpelier

Dudley's Store, East Montpelier

Hussey's General Store, Windsor, Maine

www.CDFreedom.com

Rusty Romance are delighted to announce that they will be playing an evening dance at the Vermont Granite Museum in Barre, Vermont as part of a big autumn event sponsored by legendary radio station WDEV. The date is Friday, October 13th.

WDEV is still finalizing some of the other event details, and they--and we at rustyromance.com-- will have more information soon. We hope you'll mark your calendar, save the date, and come take part in what promises to be a really fun fall frolic.

Thank you to all the loyal Rustafarians who braved torrential rain, icy roads, and wind-blown snow-- all occurring within minutes of each other; hey, it's Vermont-- to attend the Rusty Romance CD Release Party and Fuel Assistance Benefit at Langdon Street Cafe. The band rocked, twanged, and swung hard to a full house all night long. Best of all, donations at the door and proceeds from CD sales raised $360.00 for the Community Fuel Assistance Fund.

High points of the evening included a speed-core/thrash/punk/ surf version of "Who Brought The Fun" and--gulp-- a rare Rusty Romance version of "Free Bird." Special guest Abby Getman, who designed the CD cover (and came up from Boston for the evening) was in the spotlight for a rousing jam on "Tequila". All of which goes to show that at a Rusty Romance show, anything might happen.

Again, thanks to all who attended. You truly brought the fun.

The Rusty Romance CD Release Party is coming up on Saturday night, January 14th from 8:30 PM to 12:30 AM at the Langdon Street Cafe in Montpelier, Vermont. There will be a $5.00 admission fee which will be donated in its entirety to the Community Fuel Assistance Fund.

The CD will be for sale that night and the band will donate one-third of all sale proceeds to the fuel fund as well.

Please join Rusty Romance and their friends for a night designed to bring the fun  and help some neighbors stay warm this winter.