Contagious - Kinda like cooties...

And hello to my 2 or 3 readers. Thanks for stopping by and making me part of your day. I haven't had much to say as of late - that combined with Thumper's motto "If you can't say thumthin nice...don't say nuthin at all" has kept me away and working on other projects.

In case you haven't looked outside or perhaps live in a cave, fall is approaching and the days are getting shorter. The festival tour dates are winding down, but I definitely got in my "fair" share of midway food and rockin concerts. This summer has treated me to some great local "warm-up" bands, as well as introducing me to yet another new national artist. That is why concerts (and country artists) are contagious.

I started out with BuckyCovingtonitis (why did the spell checker not laugh at that?) which I thought was bad enough. The symptoms were terrible, I spent hours glued to the TV screen, only to end up in tears at the end. The TV symptoms wore off but were replaced by the need to buy concert tickets and merchandise. Now this was all pretty much ok. Loving one artist is pretty easy, following one tour schedule even easier. Requesting one artists songs? Piece of cake! I can speed dial 4 radio stations for requests in record time. I was quite happy with the way my BuckyCovingtonitis manifested, I made the local shows and had a ton of fun, and then expanded my "travel radius" to accomodate even more shows. No big deal - only one artist! I can do this, I can cope with BuckyCovingtonitis.

Unfortunately my BuckyCovingtonitis made me extremely vulnerable to Acute JasonMichaelCarroll Syndrome which I promptly caught. It is clearly highly contagious, as I passed on to both my husband and my mother. The syndrome manifests similar to BuckyCovingtonitis, with the exception of you now have to follow 2 tours, request for 2 artists - and find places for that extra merchandise (oooo look, a new t-shirt design!) I was not expecting to catch Acute Jason Michael Carroll Syndrome, but I caught it anyway. I blame the Raisin the Bar tour on that one, so I am thinking that the Acute JasonMichaelCarroll Syndrome is a mutation of BuckyCovingtonitis - but no lab tests would show that.

So I dedicated my spring, summer - and soon fall to my disorders. I extend my travel radius as needed (2 hours max, no farther than....ok, we can make that show, only 3 hour drive....well, 3hrs and 46 minutes is really CLOSE to the 3 hour cutoff). I should have expanded my travel radius to both oceans in no time at this rate. I have to say this has been a rockin great summer music wise - even with BuckyCovingtonitis and Acute JasonMichaelCarroll Syndrome. Unfortunately though - I have contracted yet another condition. JakeOwen Dysfunction Virus. I caught this unsuspectingly while recieving treatment for Acute JasonMichaelCarroll Syndrome.

So the saying goes - one thing leads to another. It does indeed. I can only hope that I can get this under control soon. I have at least 5 more shows coming up, who knows what might happen. And don't even get me started about my Ideopathic DierksBentley Disorder or my LukeBryan Fever....

Bucky Take A Picture

My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad

And other exciting things...

That is the best simile I could come up with at the moment. While things are calming down on many fronts, I am still feeling conflict over on a certain message board. Postings are down the last couple days and I hate to see that sort of thing happen.

There is of course a chance that I have a distorted view of reality (it has been known to happen a time or two), but there seems to be some muscle flexing going on and for me at least, it is causing a feeling of tension. As I mentioned a couple days ago - request how you will, support Bucky how you will - it is YOUR decision. I for one choose to request both either by phone or by emailing my local DJs. I value the relationship with them and the community, and appreciate the them more than I can say. I do not rush around telling everyone that I just called the station and requested. I do it, it is done. No bragging rights in it, none that I can see anyhow. I have even been known to request songs by other (gasp) artists from time to time. Just something I do, if I like a song - I might be inclined to request it.

I feel that the wedge that has been driven between members of the fan club is being pounded deeper and deeper on a daily basis. "I did, he did, she said, you didn't" etc is all good and well - if you are in grade school - or if the chores fairy still visits your house to stick shiny stars on your chart. I don't feel any of us are worthy of the bragging rights that seem to be going around on the boards (you know which ones). If anyone at all is worthy of bragging rights, it is the man himself, his folks, his siblings and friends. They have raised up a fabulous person who we all love. That is it, that is where the credit lies.

I don't care if you personally telephoned 500 stations yesterday to put in your requests - I really honestly don't. I don't care about the mediabase requesting because it is something I don't believe helps and do believe may indeed cause harm. There is no proof to back this, but I adhere strongly to the "request in your area" mantra - I will gladly call and request in YOUR market and ask that the song be dedicated to you, but that is where I draw the line. I get that if I don't care about it, don't read it - don't do it - don't listen, etc. I find that difficult to do when the topic continues to be at the top of the page with ongoing discussion and pep talks. It makes me not want to visit the boards, as I feel like I am in the wrong for my own thoughts.

A few people are sitting at the back of the bus (the cool kids from school) and the rest of us are stumbling around looking for a seat where we won't get spit balls thrown at us. Not always an easy thing...maybe before you throw the spit balls, you should consider the feelings of the people on the receiving end. They didn't really like it in grade school even if they didn't speak up about it. I can assure you they don't appreciate it now either.

Nuf said for now...but I am still pretty sure my dad can beat up your dad.

Bon Voyage, Little Buddies...

The Bucky Buddies are at this moment preparing for their voyage to their new homes with 60 very lucky children at a local childrens hospital. If all goes according to planned, they will make the trip on Wednesday. It has been a long journey for them and I am sure they are ready to move on with the next stage in their lives. All have been bedecked with ribbons and Bucky Buddy tags - and in fact one has already been delivered to Bucky himself.

On the heels of yesterday's post, timing seems odd for this. As I said, everyone does what they can. I need to add that this is NOT something that we really "could" do, it took time, lots of discussing options, many visits to local office stores, craft stores and department stores for supplies, and some space taken up while they hung out waiting for their pending "adoptions". So we couldn't really do it, we couldn't afford it for the most part, other corners needed to be cut here and there. All that aside, we did do it. We are using the Bucky Buddies as ambassadors on behalf of Bucky. Sometimes you need just a little help to spread the word....and if we had it to do over again - would we? Yep! It might not happen often, but we would sure do it again.

It's Good To Be Us - Not Always...

Speaking on behalf of a great many Bucky Covington fans, I can say that Bucky's fans come in all shapes, sizes, ages, abilities....what began as each of us privately enjoying Bucky either on American Idol, or perhaps hearing one of his songs over the radio morphed into a shared interest with many others. There is still plenty of time to enjoy Bucky's talents privately, but when you join a fan club you cross over into the land of enjoying him on a less private and more public basis. How you choose to participate is up to you, there are hundreds of Bucky's official fan club members who either very seldom or never post to the forums. They may lurk and read up on Bucky, and they may smile at the same posts we do. They might be doing radio requests, or dragging unsuspecting folks along with them to Bucky concerts. As a fan, everything we do for Bucky is done in hopes of eventually helping him. Ticket sales to shows, CD sales, air play, and the easiest and most popular - word of mouth.

I need to say here, which I have said before elsewhere. Not everyone is capable of committing to the same level as others when it comes to promoting Bucky. This does not make any of us less of a Bucky fan. I can assure you that Bucky appreciates each and every one of us, no matter at what level we are involved. That is the way he is, good old southern boy old school type - who knows the value of a few thousand good fans.

Recently lots of fur has been flying on the subject of requesting (how, when, where?) and the level of dedication as a fan that we have to Bucky (and the other fans). This is sadly the sort of thing that both pushes fan clubs together AND pulls them apart. No one has the right to say anyone is any less of a fan OR any more of a fan based on what they do daily, weekly, annually. Some may have more spare time for some extra requests, some may be creative and design items to help promote Bucky. Someone else may have a super awesome idea of ways to bring in even more fans by sharing the Bucky love. Yet another fan may be going through a divorce and getting 3 kids ready for the fall school session - and not have a lick of time to do anything else than to parent her children. She is still a fan, and may even need both Bucky and the fan family more than anyone else.

Where am I going with this? Nowhere in particular...I just want you to know - I don't care if you are green with purple polka-dots, if you live in a grass hut in the middle of the desert, or if you haven't ever requested a song. If you are a fan of Bucky's, you are part of a very large (and sometimes very dysfunctional) family. We are here if you need us, you know where to look. I also need to let you know that we are human - just like Bucky. As such none of us are perfect. Honestly it would be a pretty boring group if we were.

Where to now?

Sorry for the major lack of updates. I was pretty much out of Bucky updates that weren't redundant. Editorials are great - but I often think of them when I am nowhere near a computer, and by the time I am - the idea has gone poof. I have been spending the last few weeks trying to decide whether to close the blog all together, whether to recreate the blog as something else, etc. Some of the options I have been pondering:

I would love to do an animal control blog. It is my job and my life. I have more fun, more emotion, and more challenges than I have ever had in a previous job. I have tear-jerker stories to share, along with ones that are downright hilarious, and a few that would have been potential challenges for "Fear Factor".

I would really like to start a fan blog for another new country artist, along the lines of Buckytown and Buckmania. These are excellent resources for the fans, and a great way to get your one-stop news and updates.

I could shut this blog down, or simply update it periodically. Bucky is an amazing artist and a wonderful subject to blog about, but I found myself struggling for topics day-to-day that were not simply recounts of what someone else had said.

So that is where we stand - no where in particular. I haven't forgotten the blog or the readers, I just don't have much to say right now.

Two Country Fans Walked Into a Bar...

Photo of fans showing their love for Trace Adkins
So I googled that tonight hoping to share a clever joke. Nada, zip, zilch. No jokes seem to have those words in them. Amazing since everything is online and jokes about country music abound. For years I have remembered (and giggled) at the old standby, "What do you get when you play a country song backwards?" It was a joke looooong before it was a song, decades if not longer. (In case you haven't heard it.... you get your house back, you get your dog back, you get your wife back..etc).

So I went wandering looking for other good country jokes. I need to say there are not a lot of nice jokes about musicians in general, much less country music or musicians. Seems most of the jokes were written by folks staring in the window at orchestra or marching band practice. Yep, musicians often started out as geeks, it is true. The guys in high school that played rocking licks spent hours at home practicing and often hours at someone else's home jamming, aspiring to come up with something that someone somewhere would listen to and like. I am guilty of having been in marching band, practiced and practiced and occasionally the practice paid off. I guess in the end it didn't since I am not making a living playing clarinet. I did learn to appreciate music though, and I am nothing but flat out impressed by a good sax or horn player.

I have tried in my "second childhood" to get back into music. I have an electric guitar and an electric bass, complete with cords and amps (I have a kickin' bass amp). Unfortunately these are taking up residence in the guest room and I have no clue how to play either of them, much less what a chord is or how to finger one. At a meet and greet Bucky Covington passed on a helpful hint to the hubby (the aspiring guitarist, that bass is mine!) Learn the chords C, G and D and you can play a ton of songs. That was last summer, guess we have some homework to do.

Steering back in the direction I was headed, country music! I found a list of "real" country songs. I did not have time to verify, but I recognize a good handful of them (noted in bold) and have actually heard them on the radio - so in theory the rest are real as well. Read on:

- Do You Love As Good As You Look?

- Drop Kick Me, Jesus, Through The Goalposts Of Life

- Her Teeth Were Stained, But Her Heart Was Pure

- Here's A Quarter, Call Someone Who Cares

- How Can I Miss You If You Won't Go Away?

- Been Roped And Thrown By Jesus In The Holy Ghost Corral

- I Changed Her Oil, She Changed My Life

- I Keep Forgettin' I Forgot About You

- I'm Just A Bug On The Windshield Of Life

- If Love Were Oil, I'd Be A Quart Low

- If The Phone Don't Ring, Baby, You'll Know It's Me

- If You Don't Leave Me Alone, I'll Go And Find Someone Else Who Will

- If You Leave Me, Can I Come Too?

- My Every Day Silver Is Plastic

- My John Deere Was Breaking Your Field, While Your Dear John Was Breaking My Heart

- My Wife Ran Off With My Best Friend, And I Sure Do Miss Him

- Pardon Me, I've Got Someone To Kill

- She Got The Gold Mine And I Got The Shaft

- She Made Toothpicks Out Of The Timber Of My Heart

- She's Got Freckles On Her, But She's Pretty

- Thank God And Greyhound She's Gone

- Velcro Arms, Teflon Heart

- When You Leave Walk Out Backwards, So I'll Think You're Walking In

- You Can't Have Your Kate And Edith Too

- You Can't Roller Skate In A Buffalo Herd

- You Done Tore Out My Heart And Stomped That Sucker Flat

- You're The Reason Our Kids Are So Ugly

Have a great weekend!