Hello 2012
The last Friday of the month dance
Starring
& JD Hughes.
at
Shimmers Ballroom
1939 Dixie Highway
Ft. Wright, KY 41011
Kicks off on January 20th
(OK, so this isn't the last Friday of the month)
But it will be from here on...
so mark your calendars:
February 24
March 30
April 27
Cover $8.00
non-stop music
8:00 pm till 12:00 am
Pretzels and chips,
Door prizes, split the pot
Great drink prices & Great music.
For more details go to
www.BlueStoneIvory.com
All of us ...members of BlueStone Ivory wish each and everyone of you a very Merry Christmas.
Let us not loose sight of what this celebration is truly about. It's not what we find under the tree. It's what we have in our hearts that really counts. Spend time with family and friends. Laugh and hug and pray together. Let's all celebrate the true meaning of Christmas and look forward to a fabulous 2012.
This video was recorded on December 13, 2011 at Lakota East High School. This is the West Chester Symphony Orchestra (Gary Rossignol is playing clarinet) along with the 250 voices of the Lakota East Choir performing George Handel's Hallelujah Chorus.
This seems very appropriet at this time of year.
Don't forget New Years Eve is right around the corner...
make your reservations NOW
Call Jerry Rigney at the Marriott 513-645-4613.
Check out our website for all the details
www.BlueStoneIvory.com
Your chance to win one of the Grand Prizes is open till Friday December 16 at 5:00 PM. At that time all the names entered will be tallied and placed into the hopper for picking the winners on this Saturday night December 17th at Jim & Jacks.
Here is what you can win. First two winners will get 1/2 of the registration fee returned and the 3rd Grand Prize winner will get the entire package price of $339.00 returned for New Years Eve.
This year shall be the Grandest of the Grand. The food is always supurb, the service is the best in town and the band...well, we have been rehearsing lots of material to present to you on New Years Eve.
You can register at www.BlueStoneIvory.com
We the Brothers of BlueStone Ivory:
Ted Donohoue, Rick Schmidt, Keith Clifford, Lee Heftel, Jim Kastrup, Rusty Bird and Gary Rossignol along with the best crew in the world Doug Schick and Andrew Kastrup wish each and everyone of you all a very
Merry Christmas.
See you on New Years Eve!
Yes, it's been several weeks, err a couple of months since the last blog update. Busy times are with us and it doesn't seem to change ...yet. The overall economy is effecting every corner of the world and that includes the entertainment business.
Club owners are looking hard at what makes them money and a few are closing down operations as we knew them like "Guys n Doll's" one of BSI's fun places to playover the past couple of years. The owner Steve told me he needed to change his operation from catering to the night club scene to offering banquet space with great food accommodations for corporate parties, weddings and reunions. Live music wasn't paying off for him. Was it the music or was it the overall operation that was lacking or mishandled?
On the other hand when we play at Jim & Jacks if your reservation isn't made well in advance you may not have a place to sit. I had to take the chair from our dressing room and make a place so my wife had a seat. Thanks Carol for letting us squeeze her in at your table.
Last year many of the neighborhood communities either eliminated their concert series like Mason, Ohio (they didn't even celebrate 4th of July) and West Chester Township passed on hosting "The Bash" on Union Centre Blvd.
But today is Thanksgiving. It is a day to be with family, friends and reflect on what gratitude is all about. The definition of Gratitude is: The quality of being Thankful; readiness to show appreciation for and to return Kindness.
Let us all try to reflect on our personal quality of thankfulness throughout today and the rest of the year. I would like to start and show my appreciation to all of our friends and fans of BlueStone Ivory by wishing each and everyone of you the best Thanksgiving Day you ever had. I am truly grateful to be associated with the best group of men, trying to share our individual talents together as one in order to entertain YOU. That not only goes for my other 8 BSI brothers; Ted, Rick, Keith, Lee, Jim and Rusty including Doug and Andrew...but I am grateful to associate with other musicians from time to time like Bill Tipkemper, Steve Scavo, Mark Bertram, Larry Brown, Randy Thompson and most recently Mike Russell.
Now to return the kindness for you being so loyal at the clubs, concerts and festivals, I make a promise to keep this blog up-to-date with information, news and entertaining facts about BSI and fun stuff about our fair city.
One news fact is that BSI will be returning to a few of the past summer gigs that pasted on us in 2011. You will get more info as we firm up the details. Plus BSI is working very hard to learn a bunch of new songs to bring a fresh sound and maybe look to the stage in 2012. If you have any suggestions please forward them to Gary@BlueStoneIvory.com.
Here is a short video of a couple new tunes we most recently added. They seem to go over pretty well. One of them features Me on tenor sax...I finally get the spotlight from Rusty (who encouraged me to do this feature). Here goes...
We must encourage you to make your reservations for New Years Eve. This year should top the past years on the fun scale. After 7 years we should have this gig down...right? We are always tweaking and updating and the Marriott always strives to host this year end, Year in ...better than ever.
Go to www.BlueStoneIvory.com ...make your reservation today and you will be registered for the drawing. You may win either one of two 1/2 off packages or the Grand Prize of a full Free package. The drawing will be held at Jim & Jack's on December 17th around midnight. That is the time and place for our next gig...actually we will be there Friday and Saturday the 16th and 17th.
See you then.
Post by Gary Rossignol of BlueStone Ivory. Business manager and plays bari, tenor, alto sax as well as flute.
On August 19th the last Friday night dance at Coney Islands Moonlite Gardens for 2011 BlueStone Ivory had 3 original members together on stage.
Julie our drummer Keith's wife was in Indianapolis recovering from major surgery.
"It's difficult to find a drummer accomplished enough to sit in for Keith", Gary said.
"Our first and second choice backup drummers were both out of town. I had to reach back 11 years and asked Mike Russell the original drummer with BlueStone Ivory from the 1970's and the rebirth of BSI at the 30 class reunion in 1999".
Mike was thrilled at the chance to play all the old tunes he hasn't played for a long time especially the Chicago songs. He didn't miss a beat. It was a blast from the past for the entire group. That's how we got the photo of the 3 original members Gary, Mike & Ted together on the stage once again. Thanks Lee for the photo.
The Great news is that Julie got her new heart on August 17 with no complications and was sitting up eating real food two days later. Keith hopes to bring her home later this week or next. To send Keith and Julie well wishes just send an email to Keith@BlueStoneIvory.com.
It is located at 3801 Harrison Ave. Cincinnati, Ohio 45211. It is right across the street from the fire department.
The owners plan on providing a variety of musical genre. Primarily Classic Rock, Rock-n-Roll and Country Rock every Friday and Saturday night. The club can seat up to 380 people for regular entertainment or when catering to a private affair. Large public parking lot within the block, comfortable dance floor and a huge hardwood bar make this the premier night club on the west side of town.
This Friday BlueStone Ivory will be introduced by Oldies1480 WDJO's very own Ted McAllister. Ted loves great classic rock n roll music and especially loves BlueStone Ivory.
Don't forget to tune in to Oldies1480 WDJO on Sunday mornings at 10:00 am. Gary Rossignol's The Rock & Roll Real Estate Hour will Rock your world with Real Estate facts and provide a flare of entertainment. You will always hear a sound clip of BSI near the end of each show.
Gary brings the latest Real Estate news, Life changing facts and money saving tips each Sunday with the theatre of the mind...radio!
If you miss the live broadcast on Sunday mornings you can listen to the podcasts. They are located on Gary's website at http://www.pricelinehomes.com/cincinnati-real-estate-hour.php.
From St. Bernard's Special Olympics Fundraiser, All Saints Parish Festival, St Max's Parish Festival, Fairfields Groovin on the Green, Brookville CanoeFest and Dare to Dance in Blue Ash...they all say the same thing...We want you back next year. Especially at St Max and Fairfield who claim we drew the largest attendance ever. WOW!!! Everywhere we played so far this year has been unquestionably successful.
Thank you fans for supporting our efforts.
In anticipation we have been working really hard and introduced two of the several recently learned songs. "I'm A Man" a hornless Chicago song and Steve Winwoods "Roll With It" Saturday in Brookville.
They went over well with the audience as well as with the members on stage.
We are usually very critical of new songs. Especially when not executed properly. But we felt very good about the debut performances.
We need to thank Steve Scavo (BSI's drummer prior to Keith) who stepped in and covered for Keith while Keith's wife Julie went though a battery of tests at a specialist heart hospital in Indianapolis this past week. "So far so good" Keith says. Now they are on the waiting list. We need to keep Julie and Keith in our prayers.
Last but not least...Our newsest BSI Fan, Doug Schick's (BSI's Lighting engineer) brand new grandson with Mom Samatha Soete. He has been to two BSI shows and not even 2 months old. It's never too early to introduce kids to great music.
For our complete schedule through September 2011 & directions to our gigs, or to listen to samplings of BlueStone Ivory or view hundreds of photos & now videos from past gigs go to www.BlueStoneIvory.com
If you are interested in booking BlueStone Ivory for a party,
dance or wedding call Gary Rossignol.
Phone 513-777-2402 or Email: Gary@BlueStoneIvory.com
Before we talk about the summer festivals. We need to congratulate Rick and Rusty for being the grand prize winners for the Tavern Owners Ball Major drawing.
Rick $chmidt and Ru$ty Bird spilt the purchase of a raffle ticket ($25.00 each) and then ended up splitting the grand prize of $2500.00 that night. WOW! Of course they said they have never won anything in their lives before.
BlueStone Ivory is geared up and ready for the summer of festivals, fairs and concerts. We have lots of cool stuff planned for everyone. All our gigs are posted on the schedule on our website www.BlueStoneIvory.com. If you need directions, go to the Now appearing page, insert your address and you will get turn by turn directions from your home to the gig. Thanks to Ted Donohoue our Web master for that help.
The other big news is Lee Heftel is back playing bass and singing. After a year sailing across the seven seas he got a little sea sick but a lot home sick. After this weekend he will be back with BSI full time. We would like to thank Mark Bertram for being an intricate part of BSI for the past year plus in Lee's absences. Mark is pursueing his career teaching at 2 local colleges, Cincinnati State and University of Cincinnati. That is keeping him busier than he could imagine when he joined BSI.
BlueStone Ivory will be opening a new dance party night at "Dare To Dance" a local dance studio in Blue Ash.
Marco the owner has been planning this for some time. He and Gary Rossignol got together and ironed out all the details and the first date is set for June 17. Dare To Dance is located at 11256 Cornell Park Drive, Suite 500, Blue Ash, Ohio 45242.
If you are a member admission will be $10.00. Non members will be $15.00 and that will get you beer, wine, chips and pretzels and the specialty drink of the month. Marco says feel free to bring in whatever food or snacks you would like. There will be plenty of dancing, socializing and if you come early you can participate in the free dance lessons beginning at 7:00. BSI will start their part of the dance music at 8:00 pm till 12:00 midnight. If this becomes popular they plan to have BSI back on a regular basis.
A brand new night club opening soon in Cheviot and BlueStone Ivory will be there.
The second Grand Opening for Legends at 3801 Harrison Ave, directly across the street from the the Cheviot fire department will be on Saturday July 23rd with BSI on the large stage, behind a huge dance floor.
This club will be very elegant. Seating capacity is estimated around 300+. They plan on having an enclosed patio with grills for light food preparation. Plenty of free parking 2 doors down. The main entry boasts of a 78 foot all wooden bar. All your favorite adult beverages will be on hand at very reasonable rates. The owners Mark & Gary have been in the bar business for years and they know what you want and will provide that for you. They plan on BSI appearing on a regular basis throughout years to come.
BlueStone Ivory, having Lee back decided to hire a professional photographer and get some good promo pictures. Gary Rossignol, though his networking efforts hired Jenn Dwyer owner of Creative Light Studio. Here are a few of the fun photos Jenn did. What do you think? Which is your favorite?
BlueStone Ivory on the radio...that's right! If you don't know by now. Gary Rossignol, sax man and business manager of BSI Productions, LLC is also known as "The Rock n Roll Real Estate Agent". He works with Prudential One, Realtors in Greater Cincinnati and has been hosting his own radio show every Sunday morning on Oldies1480 WDJO from 10:00 - 11:00 am.
Gary named it "The Rock & Roll Real Estate Hour". He an his guests will Rock your World with Real Estate Facts but with a flare of entertainment. Of course Gary is all about entertainment. Just check out his Real Estate Web site www.PricelineHomes.com. If you can't listen to the program live, they are being podcast on Gary's website for your listening pleasure anytime.
Each Sunday Gary not only talks about Real Estate and many other ventures but he also shares a lot about his Number #1 pride and Joy (next to his grand kids...and well, his own daughters) BlueStone Ivory. In fact at the end of each show you will be entertained by a 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 minute sound clip of a BlueStone Ivory performance from somewhere in the past few months.
So, if you are in the market to buy a home (being in a buyers market is a great idea) or have a home and need to downsize or if you are like 38% of Americans today being upside down with your mortgage. We suggest you call Gary. He is the real professional with all the answers. Just tune in on Sunday mornings to hear what Gary and and his guests have to share with you each week. Gary's houses are Rockin cause the Buyers are Knockin.
For our complete schedule through September 2011 & directions to our gigs, or to listen to samplings of BlueStone Ivory or view hundreds of photos & now videos from past gigs go to www.BlueStoneIvory.com
If you are interested in booking BlueStone Ivory for a party,
dance or wedding call Gary Rossignol.
Phone 513-777-2402 or Email: Gary@BlueStoneIvory.com
We have many things going on. The few really important ones are:
The best news for BSI is that Dave had been teaching his son Andrew how to mix sound for BSI for the past 3-4 months just to have a back up in case something ever happened to him. Well, it has happened and young Andrew is now our new sound engineer.
Coincidence? We think not! Andrew is almost 20 years old and attends UC majoring in computer engineering...of all things. Plus young Andrew is a very good drummer/musician. That really gives him the ear to do a great job mixing our sound just the way we like it. You will also find Andrew working at Office Depot in the Computer recovery department in charge of all the computer repairs. We are proud to have Andrew as a member of BSI. So at our next gig everyone please give Andrew a great big welcome aboard. The other good news is that he is excited about his new position. He always did enjoy hanging around BSI and has helped us out on occasion many times in the past.
The other good news is that Dougs surgery of last Tuesday March 1st was very successful. He had some bone spurs removed from his shoulder. He is healing fine and for now we have our great friend Mark Walker standing in for Doug. So Mark and Andrew make up our mighty crew at Jim & Jacks this weekend.
Doug plans to return for the big dance at Sharonville VFW on Friday March 18th. Every year BSI pays back to the VFW hall for allowing them to rehearse there throughout the year. This is our payback gig. So please mark your calendars and plan to attend a fantastic dance. Our great friend Mr.JD Hughes of WGRR will be with us for non stop music beginning at 8:00 PM up to Midnight. $8.00 at the door will get you chips, pretzles, low drink prices, door prizes and great entertainment all night long.
The next exiting news is that our very own Gary Rossignol, Realtor with Prudential One, Realtors know as Cincinnati's Rock-n-Roll Realtor is back on the radio. His brand new talk show that aires on Sunday mornings at 10:00 AM on Oldies1480 WDJO is called "The Rock & Roll Real Estate Hour". How about that?
Gary with the help of his sponsors plan is to educate with an entertaining flare. And that he is doing with a myriad of exciting guests and topics. Gary's first guest was Bob Daniel who wrote the book on Short Sales. That is when people are caught under water with their mortgage and rather than going through foreclosure they can negotiate with the lender a short payoff and bail them out. WOW what a great service. And Gary brought all the detales to the forefront right here on his radio show.
One of Gary's regular guests is Ria Davidson from The Dragonfly Foundation. They are a non profit organization designed to raise money to bring comfort and aide to the children and their families at Children's Hospital that are diagnosed with blood diseases and cancer. These kids need a dignity boost and to be assured they are loved and cared for by those who understand. Wow! another great service and Gary has them on each week to help the best he can to enhance their awareness to Gary's audience.
Gary also plans to bring on members of BlueStone Ivory from time to time. He talks about his best friends and annouces where BSI will be playing during his show. It's not all about Real Estate. Gary says his show is about life and Gary's life is his family, Real Estate, BlueStone Ivory and all his friends that total many.
For our complete schedule through April 2011 & directions to our gigs, or to listen to samplings of BlueStone Ivory or view hundreds of photos & now videos from past gigs go to www.BlueStoneIvory.com
If you are interested in booking BlueStone Ivory for a party, dance or wedding call Gary Rossignol. Phone 513-777-2402 or Email: Gary@BlueStoneIvory.com
What do you plan to do for your sweetheart on Valentines day. How about asking them out on a date? Make your plans now to go to Shimmers Ballroom in Ft. Wright Kentucky for the best Valentines dance in town.
It features BlueStone Ivory and Mr. JD Hughes for non-stop dancing music from 8:00 - 12:00.
Admission is only $8.00 per person and you will get chip & pretzles, great drink prices and super service.
Shimmers ballroom is located at 1939 Dixie Highway in Ft Wright, Ky 41011. We guarantee you will have a great time and be able to dance the night away to the Rock-n-Soul, Rhythm-n-Roll sounds of BlueStone Ivory and WGRR's own JD Hughes.
A few weeks ago at Jim & Jacks there were several birthday celebrations. If you want to get on the BSI Blog you have to be sure we get some birthday cake. Hmmm Hmmm we love birthday cake. Nancy and Maria had some really good birthday cake.
Our very own Rick Schmidt celebrated his @*%!+ year birthday the very next night at Jim & Jacks. On January 30th one of our loyal fans Carol Shilling celebrated her birthday.
Carol, I think you owe us some birthday cake?
For our complete schedule through April 2011 & directions to our gigs, or to listen to samplings of BlueStone Ivory or view hundreds of photos & now videos from past gigs go to www.BlueStoneIvory.com
If you are interested in booking BlueStone Ivory for a party, dance or wedding call Gary Rossignol. Phone 513-777-2402 or Email: Gary@BlueStoneIvory.com