Without question, Charlie O's World Famous in downtown Montpelier is the best rock and roll bar in Vermont. This was proven once again on Friday night. A packed bar and dance floor from 10 to 2, people rocking along to everything we played and the fabulous Sarah & Maggie behind the bar. Despite sinking to new lows and playing two songs we had vowed to never, ever cover (you'll have to figure those out yourself) this was just one of those great nights.

The fun was brought in a huge way. We were, unfortunately, missing Dangerous Dan Haley but got a huge assist from Brother Bob Blythe sitting in. Rachael Rice had to leave after the first set but managed to get a whole night of awesomeness in anyway.

First Set

1. Walking After Midnight
2. Sweet Virginia
3. Rock and Roll Medley
4. That’s All Right Mama
5. Sympathy for the Devil
6. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
7. Triple R
8. Two More Bottles of Wine
9. Truck Drivers Wedding
10. Six Days on the Road
11. Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
12. Up Here on the Stage
13. Willin’
14. Can’t Let Go
15. Telecaster Girl
16. Folsom Prison Blues
17. Silver Maple
18. Dixie Chicken
19. One Way Out
20. Riding Ahead of the Storm
21. Midnight Special

Second Set

22. Guns Beer & Wedding Gowns
23. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
24. Smoke Smoke Smoke
25. Faraway Eyes
26. Looking at the World
27. Up on Cripple Creek
28. Moretown Girl
29. Brown Eyed Girl
30. Lodi
31. Let it Bleed
32. Take Me Back to Tulsa
33. Tulsa Time
34. Old Time Rock and Roll
35. Okie From Muskogee
36. Mama Tried
37. Truck Drivin’ Man
38. It Came out of the Sky
39. Honky Tonk Women
40. MOXIE
41. Iko Iko
42. Its All Over Now
43. We Brought the Fun

This evening's version of the Rustbucket Brothers was Bill "Rust" Fraser, Kevin "Bucket" Brown and Glenn "Brothers" Howland.

As usual, Claire's was friendly and provided a great dinner. It was also packed with diners. It was nice having a big crowd but also provided a bit of a challenge when trying to keep it mellow for the dinner crowd and simultaneously crank it up for the bar crowd. Hopefully we didn't chase both of them away.

We can't remember the order we played 'em but are pretty sure this is what we played - sorted by singer.  If we remember more we'll add 'em!!

Bucky:

Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
Pina Colada Sunshine
Tupelo Honey/Caravan
Looking at the World Through a Windshield
Okie from Muskogee
Hey Good Lookin’
Alison
Glendale Train
Jesse James
Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
Close up the Honky Tonks
A Song for You
Up on Cripple Creek
Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
Smoke Smoke Smoke
Long Black Veil
Colorado
Six Days on the Road

Rusty:

Background Music
Can’t Fly on One Wing (new original)
Little Sister
Fire
Breakdown
Miracle Man
Pancho & Lefty
The Harder They Come
Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns

We had a wonderful night courtesy of the Thayer's in Walden, VT. A quintessential Vermont setting, beautiful evening, stunning sunset, starlit sky, great folks, great food and a fun time - including a "stump the band" request session at the end of the night. The whole thing was more fun than humans should be allowed to have. In keeping with the casual party vibe, we played lots of cover songs that people could sing along with.

For this evening's event we had old friend Charlie Watson sitting in on drums as Terry Hodgdon couldn't make it.  As usual despite no rehearsal and not playing with us for quite a while, Charlie just nailed everything perfectly.  We were also, once again, graced with the presence of Kate Sprout on fiddle and focals as well as Bob Blythe on guitar & mandolin.   We missed Dan Haley - who was playing a Mr. Casual gig - but managed to soldier on without him!!!

1. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
2. Angel From Montgomery
3. Moretown Girl
4. Lodi
5. Willin’
6. Triple R
7. Walking After Midnight
8. Pina Colada Sunshine
9. Six Days on the Road
10. Truck Drivin’ Man
11. Burning Love
12. Let it Bleed
13. Silver Threads & Golden Needles
14. Tulsa Time
15. Take Me Back to Tulsa
16. She Thinks I Still Care
17. Mama Tried
18. Okie From Muskogee
19. Ring of Fire
20. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
21. Wipe Out
22. Dixie Chicken
23. Two More Bottles of Wine
24. Smoke Smoke Smoke
25. Dead Flowers
26. Up on Cripple Creek
27. Telecaster Girl
28. Rock and Roll Medley
29. Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
30. Can’t Let Go
31. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
32. Sympathy for the Devil
33. Looking At The World Through a Windshield
34. Folsom Prison Blues
35. It Came Out of the Sky
36. Crazy
37. Mustang Sally
38. Iko Iko/Brother John/Willie & the Hand Jive/Man Smart, Women Smarter/Who Do You Love and more 
39. Silver Maple
40. Tumbling Dice
41. All Over Now
42. One Way Out
43. MOXIE
44. Midnight Special
45. Proud Mary
46. Bad Moon Rising
47. House of the Rising Sun
48. Johnny B. Goode
49. We Brought the Fun/Secret Agent Man

We had one of our all time best gigs yesterday. Many thanks to James & Lissa for having us play at their party -beautiful home, great people, wonderful food and atmosphere. It was an honor and pleasure to be part of the celebration of their accomplishments.

Musically speaking, we had one of our best nights ever. We practically had an orchestra! At one point there were 10 of us packed onto a cozy porch jamming away. Bob Blythe (guitar, mandolin, and zaniness) and Kate Sprout (fiddle & vocals) joined us and sound man extraordinaire Glenn Howland played some guitar and added some superb harmonies. It all came together sublimely, as though we'd planned it or practiced it or something! It's hard to remember a 4 hour gig where every single song clicked.  Party guests seemed to enjoy it, that's what counts right?

1. I Ain’t No Dylan
2. Angel From Montgomery
3. Moretown Girl
4. Lodi
5. Jokers Wild
6. Willin’
7. Silver Maple
8. Triple R
9. Walking After Midnight
10. Pina Colada Sunshine
11. Six Days on the Road
12. Truck Drivers Wedding
13. Burning Love
14. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
15. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
16. Bobbie Said She’d Dance

(Rachael/Dan/Kate set, 3 songs)

17. I'm a Railroad
18. Dixie Chicken
19. Two More Bottles of Wine
20. Riding Ahead of the Storm
21. Smoke Smoke Smoke
22. Simple Song
23. Take Me Back to Tulsa
24. Tulsa Time
25. Folsom Prison Blues
26. Okie From Muskogee
27. Let it Bleed 
28. Up On Cripple Creek
29. Telecaster Girl
30. Can’t Let Go
31. Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
32. Sympathy for the Devil
33. Goin Down the Road Feeling Bad
34. Iko Iko/Brother John
35. Saints Go Marching In
36. Midnight Special
37. We Brought the Fun/Secret Agent Man

We're a little late in posting this due to some internal administrative confusion (in other words we forgot!!)  As always Claire's is a great gig with lots of nice people who really listen to the music. Wonderful food and atmosphere.

On this particular evening, the Rustbucket Brothers consisted of Kevin "Bucky" Brown, Glenn Howland, Dave Blythe and Rusty - plus special guest star Bob Blythe- Dave's brother. Bob is an ace musician & entertainer who recently moved from Philly to Vermont. You may see him at our gigs from time to time, we're always glad to have him on board.

Given the informal nature of Rustbucket outings we, again, can't remember the order of the songs but here's what we played, listed by the person who sang them:

Dave:

Lodi
It Came Out of the Sky
Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
The Ballad of Davy Crockett
Six Days on the Road
Shake, Rattle & Roll

Bob:

He Stopped Loving Her Today
Don’t Bogart That Joint
Folsom Prison Blues
I Saw Her Standing There
Whole Lotta Shakin’ Going On
Blue Suede Shoes
Slow Down

Bucky:

Old 603
Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
Moretown Girl
In the Pines
San Francisco Bay Blues
I’m a Lonesome Fugitive
Mama Tried
Okie From Muskogee
Truck Drivin’ Man
Looking at the World Through a Windshield
Tupelo Honey/Caravan
Take Me Back to Tulsa
Hello Mary Lou

Rusty:

Background Music
Triple R
Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
We Brought the Fun
I Ain’t No Dylan
Wrecking Ball
Hard Livin’
West Texas Waltz
Rock and Roll
You Can’t Always Get What You Want
Windfall
If I Were the Man You Wanted
Ring of Fire
Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys

Friday night at Charlie O's World Famous with Rusty Romance, a sure fire combination for fun. This gig featured our first "mystery mini-set" in the middle, an idea we may use more often in the future. Despite our varied sound and rocking tendencies we continually get called a country band - so we went with the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" philosophy and played a boot kicking, honky tonkin' six song set of classic country songs. First set was all originals for which we really appreciated the warm response.

At the end of the evening, one guy who had possibly imbibed too much told us that "It's great to hear bands playing odd ball music"

1. I Ain’t No Dylan
2. Ad Nauseum
3. County Road
4. Up Here on the Stage
5. Old 603 
6. Jokers Wild
7. Triple R
8. Pina Colada Sunshine
9. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
10. Moretown Girl
11. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
12. Silver Maple
13. I’m a Railroad
14. Truck Drivers Wedding
15. Simple Song
16. Telecaster Girl
17. Riding Ahead of the Storm

18. Jackson
19. Okie From Muskogee
20. Walking After Midnight
21. Mamas, Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys
22. Mama Tried
23. Folsom Prison Blues

24. Rock and Roll
25. Hot Ticket
26. Sympathy for the Devil
27. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
28. Tulsa Time
29. San Antonio Rose 
30. Dixie Chicken
31. Can’t Let Go
32. Willin'
33. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
34. Smoke Smoke Smoke
35. Two More Bottles of Wine
36. Up on Cripple Creek
37. Tumbling Dice
38. It’s All Over Now
39. Midnight Special
40. MOXIE
41. I Saw Her Standing There
42. We Brought the Fun

Claire's in Hardwick is a wonderful place, great food, great atmosphere and really nice people. The playing space is small so all we can squeeze in there are a few Rustbucket Brothers at a time. Last night Rusty, Bucky and Glenn "Mr. Coffee" Howland made the trip and had an absolute blast. We started playing at 7:30, didn't stop until just after 11 with no break. Just one song after another pouring out until the tally stopped at 51 songs. Putting the set list in any semblance of order is impossible, its all we could do to remember them all. Vocals were divided between Bucky & Rusty so the songs are listed by the singer. One might note that several songs were "stolen" from other Rusty Romance band members who weren't present!!

Bucky:

1. Old 603
2. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
3. Pina Colada Sunshine
4. Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
5. Riding Ahead of the Storm
6. MOXIE
7. County Road
8. Moretown Girl
9. Mommy, Daddy & Jesus (the first song Bucky ever wrote he says..)
10. Truck Drivers Wedding
11. Telecaster Girl
12. Truck Drivin' Man
13. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
14. When I Paint my Masterpiece
15. Six Days on the Road
16. Mama Tried
17. Okie From Muskogee
18. Roly Poly (Bob Wills)
19. Looking at the World Through a Windshield
20. Me and Bobby McGee
21. Smoke Smoke Smoke
22. Willin'
23. Birthday
24. T For Texas (More Bob Wills, not Skynyrd!!!)
25. Moonlight in Vermont (instrumental solo, very purty)
26. Secret Agent Man (rasta style)
27. Drivin’ Nails in My Coffin (Ernest Tubb)
28. Glendale Train
29. Hey Good Lookin’

Rusty:

30. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
31. Triple R
32. We Brought the Fun
33. I Aint' No Dylan
34. Good to Go
35. Streetwalker & a Shy Girl
36. House of Women
37. Wrecking Ball (Slaid Cleaves/Rod Picott)
38. Hard Livin'  (Joe Ely)
39. Tumbling Dice
40. These Boots are Made for Walking (that's right, Nancy Sinatra)
41. Nebraska
42. Tangled Up in Blue
43. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
44. Windfall (Son Volt)
45. Ad Nauseum  (Thanks, Dan)
46. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight  (Thanks, Dave) 
47. Lodi
48. Background Music (Larry Hooper)
49. Powderfinger
50. Pancho & Lefty
51. The Devil's Right Hand (Steve Earle)

Many thanks to Donna & John Flynn for having us play at the rehearsal dinner for their son John and his beautiful bride Heather. The Vermont College gym never looked so wonderful and was packed with fun loving folks. The food was spectacular. We played a first set of mellower stuff than notched it up for some post dinner dancing. We truly appreciated being included.  It was also a nice treat to have Kate Sprout sitting in with us for the evening.

1. Kansas City/Route 66/Shake Rattle & Roll/Steamroller/Statesboro Blues (jazzybluesy medley)
2. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
3. Now I’m Stumbling
4. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
5. Thank God
6. Lodi
7. Willin’
8. Walking After Midnight
9. Burning Love
10. San Antonio Rose
11. Angel From Montgomery
12. Six Days on the Road
13. Up Here on the Stage
14. Take Me Back to Tulsa

15. Oceans of Diamonds
16. Foggy Mountain Breakdown
17. Glendale Train
18. Sympathy for the Devil (country version)
19. Ring of Fire
20. Two More Bottles of Wine
21. Dixie Chicken
22. Cotton Fields
23. Midnight Special
24. Up on Cripple Creek
25. Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
26. Jackson
27. MOXIE
28. Sympathy for the Devil (rock version)
29. One Way Out
30. I Saw Her Standing There
31. Satisfaction
32. Silver Maple
33. We Brought the Fun/Layla ending

Nothing says Valentine's Day quite like Rusty Romance! And no one parties quite like skiiers!! We had a blast playing at the Mad River Glen lodge for the Stark Mountain Foundation annual gala. It was a decidedly rock and roll crowd so, unusual for us, we played mostly cover songs.

 We did get to play a "mini-set" between two fundraising auctions and loaded that up with all orginal songs. We were delighted when the crowd kept dancing and singing along to those.

We had been asked in advance to play "lots of Rolling Stones" so we did our best to comply, even learning two songs in the sound check and playing them during the party.  Yet somehow managed to miss "You Can't Always Get What You Want" which we almost always play.  Oh well.  A good time was had by all.

First Set

1. Now I’m Stumbling
2. Walking After Midnight
3. Lodi
4. Mama Tried
5. Angel From Montgomery
6. Cotton Fields
7. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
8. Willin’
9. Dead Flowers
10. Take Me Back to Tulsa
11. Tulsa Time
12. Six Days on the Road

Mini Set

13. Triple R
14. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
15. Telecaster Girl
16. Simple Song
17. Truck Drivers Wedding
18. MOXIE

Third Set

19. Moretown Girl
20. Sympathy for the Devil
21. Its All Over Now * (newly learned)
22. Can’t Let Go
23. Tumbling Dice * (newly learned)
24. Honky Tonk Women
25. Dixie Chicken
26. Up on Cripple Creek
27. Folsom Prison Blues
28. Midnight Special
29. I Saw Her Standing There
30. (I Can't Get No) Satisfaction
31. We Brought the Fun/Secret Agent Man

Our great run of January Happy Hours at Langdon Street Cafe came to a rousing conclusion on a frigid evening. Hopefully we heated things up inside the Cafe. For this evening our Rustbucket lineup consisted of Rusty, Bucky, Dangerous Dan, Rachael, Dave & Glenn. We were also delighted to have Mark LeGrand play a song with us.

Over four weeks of happy hours we played for seven and a half hours, performed 84 songs and only repeated six - all by request.  And somehow, even counting the Rusty Palooza night, we managed to leave unplayed four songs from our two CD's.  Go figure.  Many thanks to those folks who attended some or all of these and thanks, of course, to the Cafe for having us.

1. Nebraska Medley (Rusty hit the entire Nebraska album in 10 minutes) 
2. Old McDonald Had a Farm  (hey, when a 1 year old makes a request...)
3. Looking At the World Through a Windshield
4. Like a River
5. Orphan Girl
6. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
7. I Ain’t No Dylan  (Dave finally showed up)
8. Dead Flowers
9. Ad Nauseum
10. Pina Colada Sunshine
11. You Never Can Tell (C’est la vie)
12. Riding Ahead of the Storm  ("soulful" style)
13. Up Here on the Stage
14. Sympathy for the Devil
15. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
16. Silver Maple
17. Simple Song
18. Smoke Smoke Smoke
19. Starline Lounge
20. Pancho & Lefty (with Mark LeGrand on guitar and lead vocals)
21. Moretown Girl
22. Streetwalker & a Shy Girl
23. San Antonio Rose
24. We Brought the Fun

After our more casual early set and the dazzling performances by Rachael and Dan's bands, the official Rusty Romance took the stage - a little tighter, more originals and rocking a little harder. As usual, the fun was brought!   We were joined by Noah Hahn from Mr. Casual on bowed upright bass for two songs and by Kate Sprout from the Cosmic Americans on fiddle and vocals for a bunch of songs.  First time we've ever had a string section!!  It was wonderful having both of them.

1. I Ain't No Dylan
2. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
3. Joker’s Wild
4. Ad Nauseum
5. Moretown Girl
6. Willin’
7. Faith Healers and Pedal Steelers
8. Triple R
9. Pina Colada Sunshine
10. Simple Song
11. Two More Bottles of Wine
12. Riding Ahead of the Storm
13. Up Here on the Stage
14. County Road
15. Dead Flowers
16. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
17. Six Days on the Road
18. Truck Drivin' Man
19. Telecaster Girl
20. Dixie Chicken
21. Can't Let Go
22. Midnight Special
23. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
24. Truck Drivers Wedding
25. MOXIE
26. We Brought the Fun

The so-called Rustbucket Brothers )which consisted of the entire Rusty Romance band)played a fun set followed by wonderful sets by Rachael Rice & the Cosmic Americans and Dan Haley is Mr. Casual. We continued our "no repeat" rule for the happy hours except for one requested song.

1. Jazz instrumental
2. Stay All Night, Stay a Little Longer
3. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
4. Streets of Baltimore
5. The Weight
6. Californa Stars
7. Walking After Midnight
8. Hey Good Lookin'
9. Leave it There
10. Long Black Veil
11. Me & Bobby McGee
12. Humpty Dumpty Heart
13. Jersey Girl
14. Paradise

Ok, its hard to call it the Rustbucket Brothers (stripped down, smaller, acoustic, casual version of the band) when we had every Rusty Romance member plus sound man extraordinaire Glenn Howland. That's right - 8 of us crammed onto the tiny Langdon Street Cafe and were a bit less acoustic, less casual and a lot less stripped down. It was really a Rusty Romance gig in disguise! 

We're trying to make it through four straight happy hours without repeating a single song. So far we're on track. And next week's happy hour will really be acoustic, honest, we promise!

1. Background Music
2. Take Me Back to Tulsa
3. Joker’s Wild
4. Starline Lounge
5. Two More Bottles of Wine
6. Lodi
7. Dixie Chicken
8. Okie From Muskogee
9. Can’t Let Go
10. Still Feeling Blue
11. Lodi
12. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
13. Mama Tried
14. Horseshoe Lounge
15. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
16. Truck Drivers Wedding
17. Simple Song
18. Silver Threads and Golden Needles
19. Mamas Dont Let Your Babies Grow Up to Be Cowboys
20. MOXIE
21. Nine to Five
22. Midnight Special

We started off the January run of Rustbucket Brothers' Happy Hours at Langdon Street Cafe with a bang. Great crowd, great energy, great fun. For this show the "Brothers" were Bucky Brown, Rachael Rice, Rob Halpert, Terry Hodgdon, Glenn Howland and, of course, Rusty. With drums, keyboards, electric guitars etc we strayed a little ways from the true "acoustic" format but fun was had by all. Along the way we celebrated Elvis' 75th birthday in style. We're already looking forward to next Friday.

1. Six Days on the Road
2. Truck Drivin’ Man
3. That’s Alright, Mama
4. Willin’
5. Walking After Midnight
6. Triple R
7. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
8. One Way Out
9. Moretown Girl
10. Tulsa Time
11. Angel From Montgomery
12. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
13. Milk Cow Blues
14. Rock N’ Roll
15. Close Up the Honky Tonks
16. Pancho & Lefty
17. Sympathy for the Devil
18. Play With Fire
19. Old 603
20. Telecaster Girl
21. Folsom Prison Blues
22. Hound Dog
23. Blue Suede Shoes

First Night Montpelier is always a great event and we are always proud to be a participant. This year was no exception. We had a little excitement with a possible power failure resulting in us having to improvise one fully "unplugged" song before things got back to normal. We like to think we re-energized the place!!!

1. Orphan Girl (unplugged)
2. Midnight Special
3. Telecaster Girl
4. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
5. Silver Maple
6. Moretown Girl
7. Simple Song
8. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
9. We Brought the Fun

We happy to announce that the Rustbucket Brothers are playing the Friday Happy Hour at Langdon St. Cafe in Montpelier throughout January. We'll be there from 6 PM to 8 PM on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th.

The 22nd is an extra special night - Rusty Palooza!! We'll be putting all the bands in the Rusty family together for one big show starting at 6 PM and ending at closing time.

6 - Rustbucket Brothers (acoustic roots n roll)
7:30 - Rachael Rice & the Cosmic Americans (country)
8:15 - Dan Haley is Mr. Casual (rock/pop)
9 to 1 - Rusty Romance - (full electric roots n roll, one set of originals, one set of covers) 

Rusty Romance, Charlie O's, Saturday Night. A perfect combination for fun. This evening was no exception. With Dan Haley and Rachael Rice off on their fabulous Portland, Oregon tour we were graced by the presence of Sarah Jarvis who stepped in - no practice, not much prior warning - and just nailed it. That lady can SING!

As usual at Charlie O's we were all over the musical map - Redneck to Reggae, New Orleans to New Jersey, Rusty to Dusty - recapturing some songs that have been absent for our set for awhile and figuring out some new songs on the fly.

1. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
2. Lodi
3. Mama Tried
4. Willin’
5. Angel From Montgomery
6. Up Here on the Stage
7. Bobbie Said She’d Dance with Me Tonight
8. County Road 
9. Triple R
10. Pina Colada Sunshine
11. Son of a Preacher Man
12. Smoke Smoke Smoke
13. Riding Ahead of the Storm
14. Colorado
15. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
16. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
17. Up on Cripple Creek
18. Telecaster Girl
19. Six Days on the Road
20. Truck Drivin’ Man

21. Angel From Montgomery - back by popular demand
22. Dixie Chicken
23. Truck Drivers Wedding
24. Two More Bottles of Wine
25. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
26. Midnight Special
27. Mamas Don’t Let Your Babies Grow Up to be Cowboys
28. Okie From Muskogee
29. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
30. Moretown Girl 
31. Tulsa Time
32. Take Me Back to Tulsa
33. Get Back 
34. Son of a Preacher Man -worked once, ought to work twice
35. It Came Out of the Sky
36. Dead Flowers
37. Honky Tonk Women
38. Iko Iko/Man Smart Women Smarter
39. Saints Go Marching In
40. MOXIE
41. Rock and Roll Medley
42. Streetwalker and a Shy Girl
43. Old 603
44. Secret Agent Man
45. Rivers of Babylon 
46. Jersey Girl
47. We Brought the Fun

We made our first foray into the Northeast Kingdom, playing as the Rustbucket Brothers at the wonderful Claire's Restaurant and Bar. We highly recommend this place, nice ambiance, great food and really friendly staff. Live music on Thursday nights too. The acoustic Rustbucket format worked perfectly. On this occasion the "Brothers" consisted of Kevin "Bucky" Brown on guitar and mandolin (that's right - no steel or dobro!), Dave Blythe on bass, Glenn Howland on guitar and Rusty on guitar and harmonica.

1. Background Music (Larry Hooper cover)
2. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
3. Lodi  (Creedence cover)
4. Streetwalker & a Shy Girl
5. Pina Colada Sunshine
6. Tupelo Honey/Caravan  (Van Morrison medley)
7. Pancho & Lefty (Townes Van Zandt cover)
8. Riding Ahead of the Storm
9. Leave it There (old gospel tune)
10. Midnight Special (Leadbelly cover, sung by Rusty - who needs the gal singers?)
11. Cotton Fields (another Leadbelly cover)

12. Thunder Road (Bruce Springsteen cover)
13. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
14. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
15. Up Here on the Stage
16. 6 Days on the Road  (Dave Dudley cover)
17. Truck Drivin Man  (Buck Owens cover)
18. Moretown Girl (new Bucky song, rapidly becoming a favorite)
19. House of Women (new Rusty song, Dave had never heard it before and still nailed it on the bass!)
20. County Road (another new Bucky song)
21. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight  (Richard & Linda Thompson cover)
22. Telecaster Girl
23. Okie from Muskogee  (Merle Haggard Cover)
24. Mama Tried (more Merle)
25. It Came out of the Sky  (Creedence cover)
26. You Can't Always Get What You Want  (the Stones of course)
27. Take Me Back to Tulsa (Bob Wills cover)
28. We Brought the Fun

Our CD release party and Breast Cancer Research benefit exceeded our imaginations! The Lamb Abbey is an excellent place to play, especially with the jam packed enthusiastic crowd that showed up on Saturday night. We were proud to have raised $1,200 for the cause and to have rocked the house. Many thanks to Pitz Quattrone & the Earthman Band who provided a wonderfully slinky first set, to the incomparable Kelly Grey who willed this all to work, to the papers and radio stations who gave us wonderful publicity and, mostly, to the over 100 people who came, danced, bought CD's and T shirts and donated money to the cause. An amazing night.

1. I Ain’t No Dylan
2. Walking After Midnight
3. Up Here on the Stage
4. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
5. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
6. Triple R
7. Pina Colada Sunshine
8. Silver Maple
9. Riding Ahead of the Storm
10. I'm a Railroad
11. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
12. Willin’
13. Telecaster Girl
14. Hot Ticket
15. MOXIE
16. Midnight Special

17. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
18. Truck Drivers Wedding
19. Can’t Let Go
20. Jokers Wild (new Dan Haley original)
21. Moretown Girl (new Kevin Brown original)
22. Two More Bottles of Wine
23. Up On Cripple Creek
24. Six Days on the Road
25. Truck Drivin’ Man
26. Take Me Back to Tulsa |
27. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
28. I Saw Her Standing There
29. We Brought the Fun

Better late than never! We're finally holding our official CD Release party for Roots N' Roll on Saturday night October 17th at the Lamb Abbey in Montpelier. This party will also include Pitz Quattrone & the Earthman Band.

We're very proud that the party is also a benefit for Making Strides Against Cancer - supporting research for a cure for Breast Cancer. All proceeds from the event will go to this very important effort. Wear your pink ribbons!!

The Lamb Abbey is located at 65 Pioneer Center, tucked behind the VFW. Show starts at 7:00 PM and is BYOB. Suggested adult donation is $10 per person, kids are free. Please join us to celebrate our new CD and, more importantly, to support this cause.

a-cous-tic (uh-koo-stik) adj. "pf. pertaining to, or being a musical instrument whose sound is not electronically ehanced or modified" (Random House) Apparently some of us failed English because we're not sure how two electric guitars and an electric bass meet the above definition. Oh well.

This version of the Rustbucket Brothers featured Kevin "Bucky" Brown, "Dangerous Dan" Haley, Glenn "Mr. Coffee" Howland and, of course, Rusty. A somewhat sparse but hearty crowd at Charlie O's heard an eclectic set which started out with good acoustic roots intentions but veered into late 70's Boston area garage band covers. Dan and Rusty traded off bass duties, there was a banjo siting and somewhere in there three new original songs got trotted out.

Set list (in approximate, not accurate, order):

1. Sweet Jane (Lou Reed cover)
2. Jambalaya (Hank Williams cover)
3. Background Music (Larry Hooper cover)
4. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
5. I Want to Live and Love Always (Hank Williams cover)
6. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
7. Looking at the World Through a Windshield (Commander Cody cover)
8. The Coo-Coo Bird (Clarence Ashley cover)
9. Mama Tried (Merle Haggard cover)
10. I Ain’t No Dylan
11. Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Bob Dylan cover)
12. When I Paint My Masterpiece (Bob Dylan cover)
13. Joker’s Wild (new Dan Haley original)
14. Moretown Girl (new Kevin Brown original)
15. House of Women (new Rusty original)
16. You Never Can Tell (Chuck Berry cover)
17. Kinky Sex Makes the World Go Around (long forgotten Rusty original)
18. Streets of Baltimore (Gram Parsons cover)
19. Just Like a River (Jim Boyer cover)
20. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
21. Powderfinger (Neil Young cover)
22. Border Radio (Dave Alvin cover)
23. Tupelo Honey/Caravan (Van Morrison medley)
24. Still Feeling Blue (Gram Parsons cover)
25. Truck Drivin’ Man (Buck Owens cover)
26. California Stars (Wilco cover)
27. Take Me Back to Tulsa (Bob Wills cover)
28. Secret Agent Man (Johnny Rivers cover)
29. Pancho & Lefty (Townes Van Zandt cover)
30. Six Days on the Road (Dave Dudley cover, sung by Dan)
31. Tangled up in Blue (Bob Dylan cover)
32. Roadrunner (Modern Lovers cover)
33. Pablo Picasso (Modern Lovers cover)
34. Whipped (Dogmatics cover)
35. Crossroads (Robert Johnson/Cream cover)
36. MOXIE
37. We Brought the Fun

Well, well, well. Today was probably the most interesting and unusual Rusty gig in a long time. We were missing Dan, Rachael & Rob so we knew we had to make some "adjustments". Sound man par excellance Glenn Howland grabbed a guitar and played brilliantly all afternoon, not to mention adding Brian Wilson-like harmonies all day. Who knew he could do that? From now on he gets a mic at the sound board!!

On top of that, with Dan missing Kevin brought his mandolin and and dazzled us, and he played banjo magnificently as well (first real banjo presence in a Rusty gig ever). We had to dig deep for a few songs that we haven't touched in a year or two, but that just made it more fun. Plus, for the first gig ever we had no set list, just made it up as we went along. Beautiful weather, great food, our #1 fan and our favorite front porch combined for a great afternoon!!

1. Nebraska
2. Border Radio
3. Every Night About This Time
4. Tennessee is Not the State I’m In
5. Foggy Mountain Breakdown (bass player Dave finally showed up....)
6. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
7. Horseshoe Lounge
8. Starline Lounge
9. Triple R
10. Pina Colada Sunshine
11. Riding Ahead of the Storm
12. Mama Tried
13. Willin’
14. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
15. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
16. Take Me Back to Tulsa
17. Smoke Smoke Smoke
18. Telecaster Girl
19. Okie from Muskogee
20. I Ain’t No Dylan
21. Six Days on the Road
22. Truck Drivin’ Man
23. Up Here on the Stage

24. Moretown Girl (new original by Kevin)
25. Paradise
26. Cotton Fields
27. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
28. Act Naturally
29. Up on Cripple Creek
30. Dixie Chicken
31. It Came out of the Sky
32. Hound Dog
33. Rock N’Roll Medley
34. Secret Agent Man
35. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
36. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
37. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
38. California Stars
39. Ad Nauseum
40. Close Up the Honky Tonks
41. Jersey Girl
42. MOXIE
43. Iko Iko
44. When The Saints Go Marching In
45. We Brought the Fun

The pouring rain gave way to sunshine just in time for us to set up and play outdoors. Taylor Park in St. Albans is a beautiful setting for some summer evening music and we thoroughly enjoyed our first visit to that city. The set list follows, as does a link to a video of one of the songs from the evening:

1. Up Here on the Stage
2. Walking After Midnight
3. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
4. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
5. Ad Nauseum
6. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
7. Pina Colada Sunshine
8. Simple Song
9. Riding Ahead of the Storm
10. Silver Maple
11. Willin'
12. I'm a Railroad
13. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
14. I Ain't No Dylan
15. Six Days on the Road
16. Truck Drivin' Man
17. Old 603
18. Triple R
19. Two More Bottles of Wine
20. Telecaster Girl
21. Up on Cripple Creek
22. Truck Drivers Wedding
23. Can't Let Go
24. MOXIE
25. We Brought the Fun

After nearly 100 gigs over 6-plus years it gets a little tough to compare one outing against another. But in a discussion of our best gigs ever, this one would certainly get mentioned early and often! A packed house from start to finish, great energy, some different material and some wonderful musical moments all mixed up with unique atmosphere that only exists at Charlie O's!

What was not to like?  A warmly received set of all originals, a 21st birthday girl in a tiara, a "rockstar" dancer, somersaults and the fantastic Charlie O's staff!

1. I Ain’t No Dylan
2. Ad Nauseum
3. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
4. Up Here on the Stage
5. Silver Maple
6. Pina Colada Sunshine
7. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
8. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
9. Riding Ahead of the Storm
10. Telecaster Girl
11. Simple Song
12. Hot Ticket
13. MOXIE

14. Triple R
15. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
16. Dead Flowers
17. Rose of San Antone
18. Smoke Smoke Smoke
19. Dixie Chicken
20. Willin’
21. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
22. I’m a Railroad
23. Two More Bottles of Wine
24. Truck Drivers Wedding
25. You Never Can Tell (C’est La Vie)
26. You Can’t Always Get What You Want

27. Walking After Midnight
28. Mama Tried
29. Up on Cripple Creek
30. Folsom Prison Blues
31. I Saw Her Standing There
32. Birthday
33. Mercury Blues
34. Can’t Let Go
35. Long Black Veil
36. One Way Out
37. Looking at the World Through a Windshield
38. Iko Iko
39. We Brought the Fun

It was so lovely to watch the sun come out as we played. The large and appreciative crowd seemed to enjoy being outdoors in a rain free day and certainly gave us a wonderful response. Not a bad way to spend a lunch hour!

1. Up Here on the Stage
2. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
3. Ad Nauseum
4. I Ain't No Dylan
5. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
6. I'm a Railroad
7. Telecaster Girl
8. Triple R
9. Pina Colada Sunshine
10. Simple Song
11. Truck Drivers Wedding
12. MOXIE
13. We Brought the Fun/Birthday/We Brought the Sun

Breaking News: Nassau Broadcasting (Frank 107.1/Froggy 100.9) has just released the AREA CODE 802 compilation featuring 16 Vermont musicians/bands. The CD is for Prevent Child Abuse and is now on sale throughout Central Vermont. We're proud that our song "Telecaster Girl" from our ROOTS N" ROLL album was selected. The folks at Nassau had over 150 submissions and included 16 - we're delighted to be on there along with Susannah Blachly, Patti Casey, Jamie Lee Thurston and many others.

More information right here:

http://www.froggy1009.com/page.php?page_id=29452

There's a reason why some people call Charlie O's the best bar in the world!   The Rustbucket Brothers - the acoustic version of Rusty Romance - made our second appearance expecting a quiet mellow Wednesday night. We planned to play a lot of slower, purty songs. Instead we were met with a wonderully enthusiastic and energetic crowd led by a bunch of graduating nurses celebrating their achievement. We swiftly shifted gears and rocked as hard as we could with our acoustic instruments.  We dug deep into our collective memories and cobbled together a bizarre and eclectic set of music that was fun for all. 

For this show, the "Brothers" were Bucky Brown, Dan Haley, Dave Blythe, Glenn Howland and, of course, Rusty. This set list is assembled from post gig memory, we think its complete, cannot vouch at all for the proper song sequence!

1. House of Women (new original)
2. Background Music (Larry Hooper cover)
3. Close Up the Honky Tonks (Buck Owens cover)
4. Withered and Died (Richard Thompson cover)
5. Stay all night, stay a little longer (Bob Wills cover)
6. The Cuckoo (Clarence Ashley cover)
7. Lodi (Creedence Clearwater Revival cover)
8. Secret Agent Man reggae style (Johnny Rivers meets Bob Marley??!! You had to be there! )
9. Smoke Smoke Smoke (Commander Cody cover)
10. Triple R
11. Long Black Veil (Johnny Cash cover)
12. Pina Colada Sunshine
13. You Can't Always Get What You Want (Rolling Stones cover)
14. Looking at the World Through a Windshield (Commander Cody cover)
15. Im a Railroad (with a Sun Ra cover Rocket Number Nine imbedded within)
16. It Came out of the Sky (Creedence cover)
17., Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
18. Take Me Back to Tulsa (Bob Wills cover)
19. Jersey Girl (Tom Waits cover)
20. Tequila (Champs cover)
21. Powderfinger (Neil Young cover)
22. C'est La Vie (You Never Can Tell) (Chuck Berry cover)
23. Rock and Roll (Led Zeppelin cover)
24. Mustang Sally (Wilson Pickett cover)
25. Satisfaction /For What its Worth (Stones and Buffalo Springfield cover medley)
26. Bobbie Said She'd Dance with me Tonight
27. I Saw Her Standing There (Beatles cover)
28. Gloria  (Them/Patti Smith cover)
29. Six Days on the Road (Dave Dudley cover)
30. Truck Drivin' Man (Buck Owens cover)
31. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
32. The Honky Tonk Downstairs (Poco cover)
33. Mama Tried (Merle Haggard cover)
34. We Brought the Fun

We're honored to learn that ROOTS N ROLL's rousing opening track "Good To Go" is featured in VERMONT LIFE's multimedia celebration of Vermont State Fairs. You can watch and listen here:

http://www.vermont.gov/portal/media/video.php?mid=90

Montpelier's Black Door is always an excellent place to play - nice room, great sound, good crowd and wonderful staff. Last night was exceptional however! Great energy, a fun, appreciative crowd and an overall good time - complete with a surprise (even for us) ending.

1. Take Me Back to Tulsa
2. Pina Colada Sunshine
3. Silver Maple (w/Margaret Stocksdale on harmony)
4. I Ain’t No Dylan
5. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
6. Bobbie Said She'd Dance
7. Dead Flowers
8. Ad Nauseum
9. Rock and Roll
10. Triple R
11. Six Days on the Road
12. Truck Drivin’ Man
13. Can't Let Go
14. Telecaster Girl
15. Smoke Smoke Smoke
16. Truck Drivers Wedding
17. Up Here on the Stage
18. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers

19. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
20. Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
21. I’m a Railroad
22. Horseshoe Lounge
23. Mama Tried
24. You Can’t Always Get What You Want (w/Margaret Stocksdale)
25. Simple Song
26. Up on Cripple Creek
27. Hot Ticket
28 Iko Iko
29. Riding Ahead of the Storm
30. Two More Bottles of Wine
31. MOXIE
32. Saints Go Marching In
33. Haunted House
34. Dixie Chicken
35. I Saw Her Standing There
36. We Brought the Fun
37. Sunshine of Your Love
38. Crossroads

Ok, every now and then a band has an evening where the audience takes over and the musicians just go along for the ride. This was one of those nights - we strayed way off the plantation as the classic hit requests just kept on a coming.  Lets just say Sweet Home Alabama and Mustang Sally aren't normally in our set lists!  Oh well, a good time was had by all - even those of us that finished up the evening at the Black Door with the Dixie Red Delights!

1. Take Me Back to Tulsa
2. Up Here on the Stage
3. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
4. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
5. Still Feeling Blue
6. Pina Colada Sunshine
7. Its Only Rock and Roll
8. Six Days on the Road
9. Truck Drivin’ Man
10. Okie From Muskogee
11. Sweet Home Alabama
12. Honky Tonk Women
13. I Saw Her Standing There
14. MOXIE
15. Mustang Sally
16. Up on Cripple Creek
17. Truck Drivers Wedding
18. We Brought the Fun
19. Willin’

Vermont country: Roots 'n' Roll' from Rusty Romance
By ART EDELSTEIN Arts Correspondent - Barre-Montpelier Times-Argus
Published: February 27, 2009

Rusty Romance, the Montpelier country band, has just released its second album, "Roots 'n' Roll." Fans of this popular septet will find an album that in form and sound closely resembles the band's first CD, "Who Bought the Fun?" which garnered a Times Argus Tammie Award in 2006 for best Vermont country album.

The seven original band members appear on this new CD, and like their first effort, this album was recorded in a single marathon session, this time at a barn in East Montpelier on Sept. 14, 2008.

As a "live" album, this CD is infused with a sense of energy and immediacy.

The performers cut a groove that is somewhat difficult to match when recording in a studio. Live albums also produce some flaws, and there are a few missed notes and an occasional bit of off-key singing, but these are too few to tarnish the end product.

Bandleader Bill "Rusty" Fraser explained the eight-hour recording process this way: "We did it in one day. We did several retakes and a few more overdubs than on our first CD. For the most part, the songs heard on this CD are what we would do live on stage."

Vocalist Michelle Gardner, featured on many of the songs in this 13-song album, has since left the band due to her heavy work schedule, said Fraser. While the band knew she was leaving, he said Gardner recorded the project because "we developed the songs with her and she had been with the band from the start in 2002. We decided she should be on the CD even though she was leaving the band.

"Michelle had been part of our original sound and several songs had been written with her in mind," Fraser explained.

Gardner has since been replaced by Rachel Rice, a singer-songwriter and guitarist and harmonica player known for her work with local bands The Deer and The Cosmic Americans.

Rusty Romance could complete the album in a day because, "we have a great time together, a great sense of who we are musically, and we do a lot by feel," said Fraser. "We were all prepared to put out a good record."

This new album is populated with 11 original songs as several of the musicians write. "We like writing our own songs," said Fraser. "We have multiple songwriters."

The first album featured more cover songs as the band was still developing its own material. "We feel we've hit our stride with this album in terms of song writing," Fraser acknowledged. "It's a direction we'd like to go further in. We're more than a covers band. With multiple songwriters there's a lot of room for creativity and it doesn't put the burden on just one person to produce all the material."

The material here may not yet have reached the level of the Grand Ol' Opry but some of the songs do cook. I was especially impressed by two contributions from Kevin "Bucky" Brown's "Telecaster Girl," and "Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues." These are hard-driving country blues numbers. Fraser's "I Ain't No Dylan" looks at the performing life when you know you won't get the fame that Bob Dylan has garnered.

"We're trying to build up our own material so we can perform just our own songs but we're not there yet," admitted Fraser, discussing the band's writing ability.

With the addition of the singer Rice audiences will be introduced to another group of fresh songs not available on either of our two previous albums.

As with their first album, we hear musicianship that is strong. Brown is an excellent lead and slide guitarist, Dan Haley splits his time between mandolin and guitar; David Blyth on bass guitar and Terry Hodgdon on drums keep a solid beat. Fraser's rhythm guitar and Rob Halpert on keyboards fill out the sound.

This album will certainly make fans of the band smile. For those who want to hear what local part-time musicians whose jobs would seem out of place in the world of country music, (we have a city manager, two attorneys, an elementary school teacher, a retail store manager along with a full-time musician and a music store retailer) this is the opportunity.

Fraser said for now there are few live gigs lined up for Rusty Romance which tries to play out about once a month.

Nothing beats a Saturday night at Charlie O's World Famous. A special thanks to the hockey crowd and "professional" pool players.

Here's what we played:

1. I Ain’t No Dylan
2. Walking After Midnight
3. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
4. Ad Nauseum
5. Silver Maple
6. Triple R
7. Pina Colada Sunshine
8. Riding Ahead of the Storm
9. Simple Song
10. Up Here on the Stage
11. Willin’
12. Six Days on the Road
13. Truck Drivin’ Man

14. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
15. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
16. Me & Bobby McGee
17. Two More Bottles of Wine
18. Dixie Chicken
19. Up on Cripple Creek
20. Telecaster Girl
21. Haunted House
22. Can’t Let Go
23. I’m a Railroad
24. Its Only Rock and Roll
25. Hot Ticket
26. Truck Drivers Wedding

28. One Way Out
29. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
30. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
31. Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
32. Dead Flowers
33. Rock and Roll
34. Train Kept a Rollin’
35. Smoke Smoke Smoke
36. MOXIE
37. Still Feeling Blue
38. Take Me Back to Tulsa
39. I Saw Her Standing There
40. We Brought the Fun

The debut of the "Rustbucket Brothers" was a rousing success. Rusty, Bucky, Dangerous Dan, T-Hoj and Mr. Soundman Glenn Howland on guitar, played a two hour acoustic set at Langdon Street Cafe. The place was full with an attentive and fun crowd. We got to play some new songs and also play a lot of old songs in new ways -this is definitely a format we will use again.

1. Background Music (Larry Hooper cover)
2. Old 603
3. Simple Song
4. I Ain’t No Dylan
5. Looking at the World through a Windshield  (Commander Cody cover)
6. Train Kept a Rolling  (Yardbirds cover)
7. Rock and Roll  (Led Zeppelin cover)
8. Telecaster Girl
9. Ad Nauseum
10. Windfall  (Son Volt cover)
11. Streets of Baltimore  (Gram Parsons cover)
12. I’m Like a River  (Jim Boyer cover)
13. Triple R
14. Truck Drivin’ Man  (Buck Owens cover)
15. I’m a Railroad
16. Texas Double Eagle Railroad R Blues
17. Truck Drivers Wedding
18. Haunted House (Jumpin' Gene Simmons cover)
19. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
20. Passport Photo (a Bucky Brown original, new to the band)
21. Rose of San Antone  (Bob Wills cover)
22. Take Me Back to Tulsa  (Bob Wills cover)
23. We Brought the Fun 

We're delighted to announce that our new CD titled "Roots N' Roll" is here and available. Its currently on sale at Buch Spieler CD's in Montpelier, through this web site at at CDFReedom.com. it will soon be available at iTunes, eMusic, Napster and other on-line outlets. And, of course, you can obtain one through any band member.

We're pleased with the CD and think that it really captures the band's sound. Former singer Michelle Gardner is in great form on the recording. Its great that her voice is included in this collection.

CD Tracks Are:

1. Good to Go
2. Telecaster Girl
3. Up Here on the Stage
4. Now I'm Stumbling
5. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
6. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
7. Streetwalker and a Shy Girl
8. Riding Ahead of the Storm
9. Truck Drivers Wedding
10. I'm a Railroad
11. I Ain't No Dylan
12. MOXIE
13. Midnight Special

The cold and snow kept some folks away but the hearty souls that showed up all had a fun time. It was great having Rachael with us for her first "official" full gig. A special bonus was having Margaret Stocksdale from The Dear join in for a couple of songs. We played a first set of all originals, a second set of (mostly) all covers. A shout out to Sandy, Deb & Jim - they know why.

1. I Ain’t No Dylan
2. Ad Nauseum
3. Up Here on the Stage
4. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
5. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
6. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
7. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
8. Triple R
9. Old 603
10. I’m a Railroad
11. Pina Colada Sunshine
12. Simple Song
13. Truck Drivers Wedding
14. Hot Ticket
15. Telecaster Girl
16. Riding Ahead of the Storm
17. MOXIE
18. We Brought the Fun

19. Silver Maple - a new (to us) Rachael original (w/Margaret)
20. You Can’t Always Get What You Want (w/Margaret)
21. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
22. Dead Flowers
23. Willin’
24. Six Days on the Road
25. Truck Drivin’ Man
26. Walking After Midnight
27. Up on Cripple Creek
28. Dixie Chicken
29. Me & Bobby McGee
30. Silver Threads & Golden Needles
31. Mama Tried
32. Jersey Girl

Happy New Year to all. We enjoyed having Rachael Rice join us for the first night festivities. 45 minutes goes fast but it was fun - we managed to get in a bunch of songs from the new, soon to be released, CD:

1. Up Here on the Stage
2. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
3. I'm A Railroad
4. I Ain't No Dylan
5. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
6. Willin'
7. Two More Bottles of Wine
8. Truck Drivers Wedding
9. Simple Song
10. MOXIE

We're pleased to announce that our second CD "Roots N' Roll" is completed, at the manufacturer and due out for release around January 20th (give or take a day or two). The CD contains 12 original songs and 1 cover song, any good Rusty-farian will recognize most of 'em.

In the meantime, we're releasing 17 live tracks for free download. These are all cover songs that were recorded at the Six Days on the Road party on September 13, 2008. They are truly live recordings - no mixing, no mastering, no editing. They are just as they were played that night. The great recording was done by Bennett Shapiro.

These 17 tracks may someday become a more official "live CD" but for now are yours for free simply by clicking on the following link:

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=BJ7SD8TN 

(Note - this is an updated link)

The tracks are:

1. Tupelo Honey/Caravan  (Van Morrison) 
2. Willin'  (Lowell George)
3. Truck Drivin' Man  (Terry Fell)
4. Colorado  (Rick Roberts)
5. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight   (Richard Thompson) 
6. Up on Cripple Creek   (Robbie Robertson)
7. Dixie Chicken   (Lowell George)
8. Smoke Smoke Smoke (That Cigarette)   (Merle Travis)   
9. You Can't Always Get What You Want (Jagger/Richards)
10. Horseshoe Lounge  (Slaid Cleaves/Karen Poston)
11. Mama Tried   (Merle Haggard)
12. Still Feeling Blue  (Gram Parsons)
13. I'll Fly Away  (Albert Brumley)
14. Take Me Back to Tulsa   (Wills/Duncan)
15. Haunted House  (Simmons)
16. It's Only Rock N' Roll   (Jagger/Richards)
17. I Saw Her Standing There   (Lennon/McCartney)

Musicians are, of course, Dave Blythe, Kevin Brown, Bill Fraser, Michelle Gardner, Dan Haley, Rob Halpert and Terry Hodgdon. Drums on tracks 8 & 9 were played by Charlie Watson.

This was an evening to remember. About 250 people filled up the Vermont College gym and donated $2,700 to the cause of helping needy people heat their homes. Seven musical acts (and one humungous finale) contributed some really great music with a wide variety of styles but with a common theme of inspiration, faith and hope.

Rusty Romance finished up the show by teaming up with the talented trio "The Dear". We played:

1. Never Run Dry (a new original written by Kevin)
2. Knocking on Heaven's Door
3. Orphan Girl
4. No Depression (the old Carter Family song, also done by Uncle Tupelo)
5. Leave it There
6. Thank God

We were then treated to a nice surprise - a great Irish fiddle tune played by Montpelier High student Joe Carlomagno.

Finally we had nearly 20 people on stage - 6 from Rusty Romance, 3 from the Dear, 3 from the Barn Band, Susannah Blachly & George White, Mark LeGrand & Sarah Munro, John Mowad & Sarah Hotchkiss and Dave Keller. The grand finale consisted of:

1. When the Saints Go Marching In
2. This Land is Your Land
3. Amazing Grace

One performer observed that it was like having our very own Grand Ol' Opry.  True enough.  It was amazing to see and hear the array of talent based right here in Montpelier and Central Vermont and an honor to be part of such a wonderful show.  Many many thanks to David Blythe for organizing the whole thing.

We're proud to announce that Rusty Romance is taking part in a great musical event to raise money for low income fuel assistance. Turn It Up! is an evening of inspirational music to benefit the Montpelier and Central Vermont Community.

Performers include:

Dave Keller
Susannah Blachly & George White
Mark LeGrand & Sarah Munro
Damn Yankee String Band
Rachael Rice & the Dear
The Barn Band
Rusty Romance

Oh my! What a seriously fun rock and roll night. Packed house, wild dancing and "flashes" of brilliance. Many thanks to the enthusiastic and energetic crowd that buoyed our spirits. Thanks, too, to Charlie Watson for the amazing drumming with no rehearsal. It was a nice treat to have Paul Markowitz from the Great Brook Blues Band join us on harmonica for a few songs as well. The fun was most definitely delivered!!

1. Triple R
2. Walking After Midnight
3. Ad Nauseum
4. Pina Colada Sunshine
5. Son of a Preacher Man
6. Simple Song
7. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
8. I Ain’t No Dylan
9. Now I’m Stumbling
10. Bobbie Said She’d Dance With Me Tonight
11. Willin’
12. Up Here on the Stage
13. I’ll Fly Away

14. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
15. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
16. Good to Go
17. Six Days on the Road (with Paul)
18. Truck Drivin’ Man (with Paul)
19. I’m A Railroad (with Paul)
20. You Can’t Always Get What You Want
21. Mama Tried
22. Riding Ahead of the Storm
23. Smoke Smoke Smoke
24. Telecaster Girl
25. Dixie Chicken
26. Take Me Back to Tulsa
27. Midnight Special

28. Rock & Roll Medley
29. Texas Double Eagle RR Blues
30. Its Only Rock & Roll
31. Me & Bobby McGee
32. Up on Cripple Creek 
33. Two More Bottles of Wine
34. Truck Drivers Wedding
35. Iko Iko
36. We Brought the Fun/Satisfaction

On Saturday night, we celebrated our 6th anniversary of playing together. We started out at a small house party on September 13, 2002 as kind of a fun goof. Six years, 85 gigs, 50 venues/events and one award winning CD later here we are. Many thanks to the Kaplan's for allowing us to have a party at the wonderful Cummings Barn. We recorded the whole evening for a possible live album.

Here's what we played, first set all originals, second set all covers:

1. Guns, Beer & Wedding Gowns
2. Faith Healers & Pedal Steelers
3. Now I'm Stumbling
4. Pina Colada Sunshine
5. Simple Song
6. Truck Drivers Wedding
7. Streetwalker & a Shy Girl
8. Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
9. Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
10. Triple R
11. Old 603
12. Ad Nauseum
13. Good to Go
14. Up Here on the Stage
15. I'm A Railroad
16. Telecaster Girl
17. Riding Ahead of the Storm
18. MOXIE
19. We Brought the Fun

20. Rock and Roll Medley
21. Tupelo Honey/Caravan
22. California Stars
23. Willin'
24. Six Days on the Road
25. Truck Drivin' Man
26. Colorado
27. I Want to See the Bright Lights Tonight
28. Up on Cripple Creek
29. Dixie Chicken
30. Smoke Smoke Smoke (w/Charlie Watson on drums)
31. You Can't Always Get What You Want (also w/Charlie)
32. Horseshoe Lounge
33. Mama Tried
34. Still Feeling Blue
35. I'll Fly Away
36. Me & Bobby McGee
37. It's Only Rock & Roll
38. Haunted House
39. I Saw Her Standing There
40. Take Me Back to Tulsa
41. Amazing Grace

We're delighted to announce that we just recorded 13 songs for a second CD. We still have a lot of re-mixing, editing, mastering, packaging etc to do. We're looking at a spring 2009 release. But we're very excited, the material is upbeat and fun (of course). Many of the songs will be familiar to Rusty-farians from our live perfomances. The CD will feature 12 original songs and 1 cover song. We'll also be releasing some live material, probably via download right here on this web site. You can look for that within the next couple of months. Tracks on the new CD include:

Good to Go
Telecaster Girl
Up Here on the Stage
Now I'm Stumbling
MOXIE
Streetwalker & a Shy Girl
Riding Ahead of the Storm
Truck Drivers Wedding
I'm a Railroad
Bobbie Said She'd Dance With Me Tonight
Texas Double Eagle Railroad Blues
I Ain't No Dylan
Midnight Special

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.