Talking About it Tuesday ~ January 14, 2025/Huey Lewis

 Good morning!  I am following up on my New Orleans post from yesterday.

Today I am writing about what prompted me to drive to New Orleans for the weekend.  2 words....Huey Lewis!

If you are newer here to my blog, I am a huge Huey Lewis and the News fan.  Huey was most popular in the 80's and I have seen him about 10 times in concert over the past 40 years. I have been able to meet him twice in the past. I also have several t-shirts from past concerts.

In 2019, Huey lost his hearing and can no longer perform due to this.  I heard he was going to appear at an upcoming Fan Expo.  I had not heard of these, but these happen every year in different cities.  There are a lot of comicon/animated celebrities at these events.  I know nothing about any of that, but they also have some other stars from movies or tv shows.  This year is the 40th anniversary of the movie Back to the Future, one of the biggest movie hits of the 80's.  Huey had a cameo in the movie and sings the theme song, Power of Love.  

I drove 6 hours and enjoyed myself thoroughly just watching him sign autographs. 99% of the people were having him sign "Back to the Future" items.  There was a cost for a picture and autograph, so I opted not to purchase a ticket since I had done both in the past.

After standing there about 2 hours just watching all of this, his handler/manager called me to the table.  He said he noticed I had been waiting and had Huey sign this picture for me.  I was so happy to be able to say hi personally to him and shake his hand.

There were other Back to the Future stars there as well...

"Biff"

"Lorraine"

"Doc"

"Jennifer"

A few other celebrities there that I recognized were Tim Daly who use to star in the show "Wings".

William Shatner from Star Trek

This is George Newbern who played "Brian McKenzie" in Father of the Bride.  He is in the show Scandal also, but I haven't watched that show.

That evening, there was a panel of some stars of Back to the Future.  What a thrill to see of course Huey, but also Micheal J. Fox.  I loved the show "Family Ties" in the 80's.  

It was such a thrill to see them all on Friday.  This was worth the trip for me to see Huey, my favorite singer.  Chances are, I would probably not see him again since he doesn't tour, so this was a fun, unique opportunity. I am so glad I did this!

Thanks for reading & hope it is a good day for you!

Hello Monday ~ Sun Studio

 I am going back 2 weeks ago today on the holiday when I visited Sun Studio in Memphis.  Are you familiar with this musical landmark?  If not, here is some information about this iconic place of music history:

"Sun Studio is known worldwide as “The Birthplace of Rock’n’roll”. It is the discovery location of musical legends and genres of the 50’s from B.B. King and Elvis Presley to Johnny Cash and Jerry Lee Lewis; from Blues and Gospel to Country and Rock’n'roll. Today our goal is to spread the story of Memphis’ history and culture through the music that put Memphis on the map. 

Stand in the very same spot that Elvis first recorded. Your tour guide will tell you the inside stories of B.B. King, Howlin' Wolf and Ike Turner before Elvis, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, & Roy Orbison who were all drawn to the new Sun Sound.

See the priceless memorabilia from the musical legends that blended blues and country music to explode in the "big bang" of Rock'n'roll.

Hear the voices of musicians that still haunt this studio, as you listen to outtakes from recording sessions and feel the energy of the music created here. "

​I love listening to music and have always been an Elvis fan.  I've mentioned it here before, but Elvis was my first concert.  This tour certainly talks about Elvis since this is where he made his first recording, but there is so much more in this tour.

Below is the original door that was used for the studio. This door is no longer in operation, as you enter in a door next door to this space.

Behind the original entry door....

This is the office with the original furnishings..

With the exception of this guitar presented to the studio last year after the release of the Elvis movie.

Inside the recording studio...

Looking from the front to the back of the studio

This is the same microphone Elvis used when he recorded in the studio!  The owner wanted to make sure when this opened for tours, guests would have the experience to be able to touch the same microphone.

In addition to Elvis, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Jerry Lee Lewis and many others have recorded at Sun Studio. U2 recorded "Angel of Harlem", "Love Rescue Me" and "When Love Comes to Town" at Sun Studio for their famous Rattle and Hum album.  Below is the drumset of U2 when they recorded and they donated it to the studio.

This was a great tour not far from home.  If you are ever in the Memphis area and a music fan, I recommend it!

Speaking of Memphis, we have been all over the news this past weekend and not in a good light.  It is so sad and praying for peace and safety for the city.  

Weekend Wrap-Up / Harry Styles ~ October 4, 2021

 Thank you October for coming again.  It is so good to have you back.  

I am linking up today with Heather with a re-cap of the weekend.

As I mentioned last week, I had high hopes for a fun Friday night, and it was every bit of it.  My youngest daughter and I drove to Nashville Friday afternoon while my oldest met us there from her university.  We met at our hotel, grabbed a quick dinner from Panera, which was next door & convenient, then headed to see Harry Styles in concert!

There was such a sigh of relief when we all got inside the arena.  We bought these tickets almost 2 years ago, and we just were a little nervous that something was going to get cancelled again.  Thankfully, we all made it inside and it all felt real.  Everyone had to show their vaccination card or a negative Covid test to enter. My daughters are big Harry Styles fans, and I admit, I am a fan too.  We saw him 3 1/2 years ago on his first tour.  

I grew up going to concerts, so it has always been something I enjoy doing.  My first concert was Elvis!  It is fun to do this with my girls and so fun to see the smiles on their faces.  We took so many videos, but here are some of our regular pictures.  

View of the stage before Harry

My sweet girls...they grow up fast!

Guess who just came out on stage?  

And this picture below was borrowed from a Harry account on Instagram.

At one point, I thought we were going to live the rest of our lives in Nashville traffic.  We spent an hour and 15 minutes to go one block after the concert.  I wish I were exageratting.  This was definitely Bogota', Colombia type traffic.  We lived in that for 3 years, but it had been a while since we have expreinced just sitting in traffic like that with no movement.  We got back to the hotel well after midnight and momma was tired.

Saturday morning, we slept in then did some shopping, ate lunch, then parted ways again.  

This was definitley the biggest event I have attended in 2 years, and I was so thankful.  In this hard world, it is so nice to have a fun highlight like Friday was for me.

Wishing you all a happy Monday and week ahead!

Not Just a Mom ~ Concerts

 Happy Monday and here's to a new week!  Today I am linking up with the Not Just a Mom monthly topic of concerts & with Tanya.  Oh my, this is a fun one for me!

I have always loved music and concerts too.  I went to a few as a child, then a lot more as teenager and then occasionally as an adult.  I will list what I can remember with a few pictures, which are probably not great quality considering they were taken with old fashioned cameras :).

First and foremost, my first concert was a great one to tell about....Elvis Presley!  I saw his last concert in Memphis.  This is actually one of my earliest childhood memories.  Who knew I would grow up and work at Graceland (it was my summer job while in college) and still today, listen to Elvis music quite a bit?  Here are some pictures from that night in 1976 I found online.  

I was a big Donny Osmond fan as well.  I saw him and later saw he and Marie as a teenager, then I saw their show in Las Vegas, where I was able to meet them (thanks Mom & Dad for arranging that!), and then saw them a few years ago at a local venue.  They are such good entertainers!

At my first Osmond concert :)

This is a picture of my sister and I when we met Donny & Marie backstage after their Las Vegas show.

These are pictures from when my sister and I went with our parents to see Donny & Marie at a local venue a few years ago.  I know it seems like a lot of Osmonds, but hey, I am a child of the 70's and this is what I watched every Friday night!

When I was a teenager, I began going to see my favorite artists when they would come in town.  I remember concert tickets being between $12-$15.  Oh, where are the days?

Then concert tickets increased and I didn't go as much, but did still go occasionally.

Here are some others I have seen throughout the years:

Shawn Cassidy (from the 70's)

Beach Boys

Jimmy Buffet

Hootie and the Blowfish

Rod Stewart

John Mellencamp

Steven Curtis Chapman

Rick Springfield

Eurythmics

Howard Jones

Lee Anne Rimes

Tim McGraw/Faith Hill

George Strait

Johnny Cash

Bruce Springsteen

Phil Collins

Duran Duran (I was a huge fan when I was in Jr. High, but didn't see them until after I was married.  I have seen them a few times now and would still go back to see them for the sake of nostalgia and I like their music.)

Hall & Oates

Sting

KC & the Sunshine Band (They played at a state fair.)

Ariana Grande

Kacey Musgravves (She opened for Harry Styles.)

Harry Styles (This was another fun one because it was my youngest daughter's first concert and my oldest daughter's second concert, but my first with them both.  We have tickets to see him again this fall!)

And of course, my all time favorite....Huey Lewis and the News!  I have seen them about 8 or 9 times and have met Huey twice.  Unfortunately, he has lost some hearing and doesn't tour anymore.  

This is a fun topic so I am excited to read about other's concerts.