Suddenly Christmas was upon us....

December saw the Infamous Fandango Bros. at the Albert Hall once again backing up Santa Claus for the annual Singing Santa set. Other than a wardrobe malfunction that caused Santa to expose his bare (well, bare except for that gray mustache) face, it went well. Rick and Mike S. were joined by our friends John Cleveland (on bass) and Joe Fili on the fiddle. A good time was had by all and Christmas cheer was once again in the air. We wish you all a very merry and blessed Christmas and a happy New Year.

An Apology

We'd like to apologize to the folks at the Acoustic Music Guild and to those fans that were looking forward to seeing us at 2007 Harvest Harmony festival in Toms River. Circumstances beyond our control have made it impossible for four of the five members of the band to be available that day. Call it the perfect storm. There's still a great lineup of bands for that festival. The festival will be held on September 29, 2007 from 12:00 PM to 7:00 PM at:

SILVERTON ORGANIC PRODUCE FARM
Silverton Rd.
Toms River, NJ
732-244-2621

Visit The Acoustic Musicians Guild Website

The Mike Hawkins Appalachian Trail Update

Tennessee Mike Hawkins finished his trek of the Appalachian Trail on August 20th. He was kind enough to send along this picture. Not the clean-cut sailor we were used to seeing on stage at Albert Hall, and speaking of the Hall, Mike said to tell everyone at the Albert Hall hello. Congratulations Tennessee.

Where did the name Fandango Sky come from?

We get asked this question from time to time. Mike E. suggested the name to James Formica and Mike Hawkins when the band was formed. He said the words were from an Emmy Lou Harris song, although he couldn’t recall the song at the time. A few years later Mike found out that he had misunderstood what Emmy Lou was saying in the song. The song was called “Easy From Now On”. It was written by Sussana Clark (the wife of singer-songwriter Guy Clark) and Carlene Routh. The Lyrics are as follows:

There he goes gone again
Same old storys gotta come to an end
Lovin him was a one way street
But Im gettin off where the crossroads meet

Its a quarter moon in a ten cent town
Time for me to lay my heartaches down
Saturday night gonna make myself a name
Take a month of sundays to try and explain

Its gonna be easy to fill
The heart of a thirsty woman
Harder to kill the ghost of a no good man
And Ill be ridin high in a fandangled sky
Its gonna be easy; its gonna be easy from now on

Raw as whip but clean as a bone
Soft to touch when you take me home
When the mornin comes and its time for me to leave
Dont worry bout me, I got a wild card up my sleeve

Its gonna be easy to fill
The heart of a thirsty woman
Harder to kill the ghost of a no good man
And Ill be ridin high in a fandangled sky
Its gonna be easy, its gonna be easy
Its gonna be easy from now on

So, the truth is Mike mangled fandangled and that’s how we became Fandango Sky.

The Infamous Fandango Bros. Ride Again

The set on August 4th was changed to an Infamous Fandango Bros. set as Mike G. and Lisa were called out of town at the last minute. Calling on our good friend John B. Cleveland to fill in on bass, Mike S., Rick, and Mike E. put together a set and had a good time doing it. The highlight of the evening had to be a song that Rick decided to teach the band an hour before we went on. Rick stepped up to do a rendition of Choo-Choo Boogie that won’t be soon forgotten. Mike S. was in form on the banjo, even though his injured finger is still swollen. At rehearsal Thursday night he had to tape his finger pick onto that finger. All in all a good night. We thank John for stepping in and we thank the audience for being appreciative of our efforts.

My picture is in the book!

Saturday August 4th was the day that they had a book signing for the book “People of the Pines” at Albert Hall. The author of the book, Mr. Bob Birdsall was on hand to personally sign the books. Although Mike E. didn’t choose to have Bob sign his copy he did shell out the thirty-five bucks to buy the book as his picture is in it (Mike G. and Lisa are also in the book). To be honest, Mike's picture is very small. In the photo Mike is making sure his picture is actually in the book before giving the money to a smiling Elaine Everett. Mike should have been from Missouri.

Playing Hurt

Mike Stanislawski (our banjo player) injured a finger on his right hand Saturday, July 21st. Mike is a carpenter by trade and these things happen. It just so happened that the band was the opening act at Albert Hall that night as well. Being the trooper that he is Mike came down. He said if he couldn't play the banjo he'd play the guitar or at least he'd be there for the rest of the band. We adjusted the set list to make sure we didn't do any songs that depended heavily on the banjo. In the end Mike played Mike E's six-string banjo with a flat pick, even getting a few of his trademark banjo licks in. We thank Mike for caring enough to want to be there and we thank the audience for their warm response. We also ask that you pray for Mike's speedy recovery.

What's wrong with this picture?

Mike E. had a pleasant surprise at the Windgap Bluegrass Festival (June 7-10). Tennessee Mike Hawkins stopped on his trek of the Appalachian Trail to attend along with James Formica. It was a shock seeing both. Normally clean-cut Tennessee was sporting a full beard and James was clean-shaven and had cut his hair. Tennessee is midway through his goal of hiking the Appalachian Trail. He started in Georgia three months ago or so and will end in Maine sometime in the next two months. I missed getting a picture of James (we’ll see if anyone else got one). Tennessee is not one to travel without a banjo. He has been carrying a small travel banjo (not the one pictured). It was a joy seeing them both and playing the old songs.

Harrison's

We play once a month at Harrison's in Whitting, New Jersey. Harrison's is a friendly place that is a restaurant/bar and even a liquor store. It's a friendly place with decent food (the menu is limited), nice folks, and cheap beer (if that's your pleasure). It's an enjoyable evening for the fandango folks and we enjoy it because we get to play for a few hours. Watch the Schedule page on fandangosky.com for our next show at Harrison's and come on down. If you click on the listing for Harrison's on our Schedule page you'll be taken to Mapquest for directions or you can click here. Harrison's is at 1330 Highway 70 in Whitting (just west of the 539 Intersection).

The Infamous Fandango Brothers?????

There are times when you just can't get five people in the same place at the same time and this happened at Albert Hall for the Fandango Sky set that was scheduled for May 5th. Lisa and Mike G. had another obligation. Rather than not playing Rick, Mike S. and Mike E. recruited our friend Jim Sweet to sit in on bass and did the set. Truthfully there wasn't a whole lot of Fandango Sky music but we did manage to get Jim through Don Coreleone's Breakdown relatively unscathed. Thanks Jim for helping us out. We had fun and that's what matters.

Farewell to Carol Ann Sweet

Mike and Lisa Garon and Mike Edgerton were in attendance for Carol Ann's memorial service. A fitting farewell to a beautiful lady and a wonderful musician. It was such a wonderful sight to see all of folks that attend the shows and play in the bands there. I know that it brought joy to the hearts of Carol Ann's family. We thank the family for allowing us to be part of the service.

Albert Hall 03-10-07

It was a great night at the Albert Hall in Waretown, a wonderful audience. Mike Garon was on a trip to Florida and our good friend Tommy from the Bog Iron Band did a great job of filling in for him (Thanks Tom) on the bass. We took a picture of the audience for our website. If you go to the Thank You Page (the button is on the bottom right of our Home Page) and then click on the image of the audience you'll see a picture. You might be in it. We plan on taking more pictures of the audience at our shows so you might not see the picture from 03-10-07.

Welcome to the Blog

Fandango Sky welcomes you to our News Blog. We will try to keep this updated for those of you that want to know what is happening with the band.