What a great year 2009 turned out to be. Shady Lady really seemed to take off this year, and in no small part to all of the great bands and fans that are into what we do. A huge Thank You to you all. Below you can find some of my own personal highs and lows of the year, but first as I look forward to 2010 I can’t help but notice that our 5th (“official”) anniversary will be in September. 5 years of bringing together some of the best live shows and events in the AK Valley area. 5 years of meeting and working with some of the best musicians in all of Western PA and beyond. 5 years of a lot of sweat and hard work… and a hell of a lot of fun.

As for 2009, The Dos Equis commercials were Brilliant! That guy is my new idol. Some more observations…

My Favorites/Bests…

• Movie: The Hangover. Man is that some funny stuff!
• Cover Bands on the scene: Mia Mania, The Killer Boots, Freudian Hips
• Original Bands from the area: Kaj, Lovebettie, The Deceptions, Skell
• Honorable Local Mentions: Rising Regina, Doppler Affect
• CD Releases: Cheap Trick - The Latest, AC/DC - Black Ice, Lovebettie – And We’re Never Coming Back
• Shady Lady Shows: The Heartbreakers Ball, Rock For Tots, Slaughter at the Altar
• Mellon Square Summer Concert Series: I meet so many cool bands and musicians through this
• The Mountain West Conference continuing to show that the ‘B’ in BCS stands for Bullsh*t!
• Getting to see The Packers play in Heinz Field

My Least Favorites/Worsts…

• Seeing The Packers lose in Heinz Field
• Movie: Paranormal Activity. The chick was hot, but the movie was stupid!
• The NFL’s pass interference call. Brings the sport down to NASCARs level. It’s not so much the call, but the penalty enforced- spot of the foul? How did you know the dude would even catch it? It’s like a caution flag in the final laps of a race after a guy has been leading most of the race. Makes no sense.
• People who actually go out for a night on the town to listen to someone play mp3′s of music. You can listen to pre-recorded music anytime, anywhere these days, why on earth would you go ‘out’ to do it when you can catch a live band. Real people playing real instruments, live in front of your very eyes. It’s truly amazing to me.  

Anyways, enought of that. So what can you look forward to in 2010? More of the same only better, and hopefully even more. We’ve got all the usual stuff lined up at Peter B’s…

• The Southern Fried Rock Show, also entering its 5th year, featuring The Doppler Affect, Terry Lee Spencer, and Knucklehead to kick things off on Jan 22.
• The Heartbreakers Ball in February with Kaj, Skell, After the Fall and Die Smylin’ on Feb 13.
• BREWtality in March.
• Spring Break Party on Apr 3 with Mia Mania.
• Metal Mayhem in May.
• Thunder At The Barn and Rockabilly Madness this Summer

We are also looking at bringing in some national acts to Peter B’s, as well as continuing to host touring regional and up-and-coming artists. We’ve got some other surprises up our sleeves as well, so stay posted!

Also, Shady Lady Records can’t wait to release the brand new CD from Kaj (pronounced “cage”) in 2010, titled “Cold Silence”. This CD is going to take a lot of people by surprise and really bring some attention to this area. If you listen to The X, you’ve probably already heard some of the songs as they have been playing Kaj for the last 8 weeks now. Of course, if you are one of the die hard fans of the band, you are already quite familiar with the new material. If you aren’t familiar with Kaj then I totally recommend you check them out. Blue collar, straight up guys who play it the same way. No bravado, no bs, just great gut check music. Stay posted at www.shadyladyrecords.com or check them out at www.myspace.com/kajmusic.

Ok, that’s it for now. Feel free to reply and share some of your own thoughts. I’d really like to hear from you about what you like with Shady Lady, and what you’d like to see/hear more of. Oh, and mark September 18 on your calendar, cause we are going to be celebrating our 5th year with lots of beer, music and hot women!

Support Local Live Music!!!

-Utah