About the 'Cats . . .

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Two Grey Cats Monthly Blog
             December 2024

November was a pretty good month for the ol' Cats.  We had nine different events last month to keep us old guys busy. 

We started out on November 1st with two shows at Brookdale Park Place Manor, where we enjoy seeing two different groups of folks every couple months.

The small group in the Assisted Living building always makes us feel appreciated when we bring them our music.  Since it's a small group, we skip the sound system and microphones and just play and sing for them like we're visiting relatives.  There is a special bond with people when you are sitting close and performing on acoustic instruments up close and personal.  We feel very close to this group.

Then we go over to the dining room at the Independent Living Center, where they have Friday "Happy Hour" with music and drinks before dinner.  We've met lots of nice folks there, over the several years we've been playing for them.  It is really nice to be so appreciated by so many senior residents and to be invited back so many times.

One of the biggest events this month was the Spokane Fall Folk Festival.  This was our 5th year performing at the FFF, and we were booked to play on the large Bistro Stage again for 2024.  Plus, earlier that day, we were invited to appear live on KPBX, Spokane Public Radio, as part of their special Fall Folk Festival radio program.  We performed a couple songs and were interviewed on-air to promote the festival.

This year, we pulled a switcheroo for our show.  As you may know, we usually play guitar and bass for our concerts.  But, we also usually bring out the ukulele for a few songs mid-set.  In our previous years at the folk festival, we have pretty much just done our guitar & bass songs.  FFF sets are just 30-minutes.  So this year, we decided to do our full half-hour with the ukulele and bass, and not even bring a guitar.

That was so much fun!  We don't do standard ukulele music on the uke - we rearrange any music we like for the little instrument and see what happens.  This year we did instrumental versions of Apache (The Shadows/The Ventures),  and Samba Pa Ti  (Santana), plus vocal arrangements of Volcano (Jimmy Buffett), In the Summertime (Mungo Jerry), a country song called Light of Day (Chuck Mead/BR 549), The Tiki Bar is Open (John Hiatt), and even a swing version of All of Me.  

We had a really nice crowd response to our ukulele show and also met and ran into a bunch of folks we know or from long-ago music events.  Lyle was there - another Project Joy senior volunteer - and had the stage before our set.  Old friend Roger came to hear us, after doing a set of his own earlier.  Several folks wanted to talk to Don about his Fender ukulele and his Maton guitar.  One nice couple recognized Doug, and mentioned that he played at their wedding, 30-years ago, with his old band,  Loose Change.  Congrats! They're still together.  Then, about 10 minutes later, Doug's old drummer, Tim, from that same Loose Change band, ran into the guys on their way out.

What a day

It was a really nice month.  In addition to these events, we were able to do concerts at Colonial Court in the valley, North Point Village, Cascade homes, Brookdale memory care, St. Joseph's, and a special Thanksgiving event at Mid-City Center.

Whew

 - Recordings and Video

We recorded two live shows this summer and have added them to our online music site.  They sound pretty good and have many of our favorite songs on them.  These two new shows, plus our "Classics" studio album are available to listen online or download for free.   Here is the link to our albums:  Two Grey Cats Albums

Since we have pretty much given out all 450 copies of our "Classics" CD, we are now bringing some of our newer live recordings and videos to our shows.  We have CDs to give away of both those live concerts (above) and now DVD video discs of our Concert on the Patio from this summer.  

We will send you any of our CDs or DVDs FREE, by request.  Really.  We are not in this for the money anymore.  Just contact us here through our website and let us know which ones you want, and where to mail them.

** A video clip from our recent Patio Concert at Holman Gardens, and photos from recent shows are below. **


Two Grey Cats is a music duo featuring Don Brumfield on guitar & ukulele and Doug Roberts on acoustic bass.  They play classic rock, pop, country and traditional music.  Don & Doug are long-time dance band musicians, now retired, who enjoy playing great songs in a relaxed acoustic duo setting.

Don and his wife retired to Spokane after living and working in California.  He played lead guitar in popular Bay Area bands for more than 50 years.  He retired to Spokane in 2015 and teamed-up with Doug as a duo in 2018.   Don is a fine singer and guitarist, and also enjoys adapting classic songs for the ukulele.  As a retiree, he also plays golf, rides his e-bike and does remote control rock crawling.  He and his wife now make their home in the Dishman Hills area of Spokane Valley.

Doug is from Spokane and a long-time area bassist.  He worked at the local library for many years and played in numerous popular local dance bands.  He plays an acoustic bass guitar in the duo, and also plays Fender bass & upright bass, guitar, piano and other instruments.  Now retired, Doug and his wife live in the South Perry neighborhood.  They enjoy riding their Harley Electra-Glide, swimming, and caring for their home & yard.  Doug also produces music recordings in his home studio.

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