Mackinac Island

Hello,

What a wonderfully busy summer. I don't think I have spent one solid week at home since finishing school. I believe the last time I wrote was just before the Mackinac Island trip with Gratitude. That went really well, although it started off in true Gratitude style. I played a graduation party in Fenton that was less than 5 miles from my house. Right after that we all caravaned to a clubhouse party in Troy which went till 11p.m. From there we left for the bridge. There were 10 musicians total going to Mackinac. We fit into 3 cars and followed each other up. We got to the hotel at 5 a.m., slept for about 4 hours and went over to the Shepplers Ferry dock where we played for all the Lutheren youth as they got on the boat and headed out to the island. That lasted about an hour and a half. As soon as we finnished we had to rush to pack up, get our stuff on a boat, head over to the island, eat, and start setting up for the opening night party. It got into the realm of surreal because we were all so tired and worn out. The evening show was so great. We were playing outside on a deck overlooking the lake at the Mission Point Resort. The kids, all high school aged, were having a great time doing the conga line, macerena, limbo, etc. We had to stop at 11:30 because of a noise ordinance, (thank goodness), and move our stuff up to the main stage inside the resort. We finally got to sleep at about 1 a.m.
The rest of the trip was great. I got to ride my bike to every show, and the days were mostly free to roam the island and try not to spend too much money. The last performance was on Wednesday at 9 a.m., it was for their final sermon. I had to rush off the island after that because I had students that evening in Ann Arbor. I made it into the driveway at Oz's right at 6 p.m., just in time for my first student. Right back to business as usual. No gigs over the holiday weekend, so I went up north and spent time in the woods with my wifes family. It was so nice and relaxing. Now we are back and the summer is still heating up.
While we were up in Mackinac, the band got hired to play a festival in Oshkosh, WI. on July 10th. It is some kind of Christian rock festival. They say there will be about 9,000 people and a huge professional sound system. I can't wait. I feel a little out of my element as far as the religious aspect goes, but I am just looking forward to a great gig.

Talk to you soon,

John