DickDonohue.com

It is confirmed!  Set your calendars for July 23, 24, and 25.   Great Buncha Guys will be playing at the Union Cabaret and Grill in Kalamazoo, MI.   I play acoustic guitar and harmonica in this band with some of the area’s finest musicians.  We have a very eclectic mix of songs in our set list.  We play jazz, rock, ballads, pop, and even a little country.  You’ll hear songs from such diverse artists as the Eagles, Miles Davis, Bonnie Raitt, the Pretenders, Eva Cassidy, James Taylor, Steely Dan, and Edgar Winter.  There is bound to be something that you will like.

The Union is a great place to eat.  Honestly, I think it really is some of the best food available around Kalamazoo.

So grab a friend and come on down have a great time with a Great Buncha Guys.  We start playing at 8:00 on Thursday, 8:30 on Friday and Saturday.  You might want to make a reservation or get there early:  We tend to pack the place!  You can let us know if you are coming or not by visiting us on facebook.

If you want to tell others about the gig, download and print this one-page poster (PDF) and be sure to post it where you work and play!

Hey! my friend Shelagh Brown recently posted some songs that she wrote.  I really like them.  She has an awesome voice.  Go listen and let her know what you think!

I’m in a band!  About 3 weeks ago, I was asked to join a band called “Great Buncha Guys”.  This, for me, is an incredible honor.  The “guys” (2 of them are women) in this band are all incredible musicians.  Of course, I said “yes” and was told that the first gig was in three weeks (Oct. 2-4,2008) at The Union, a great restaurant in downtown Kalamazoo.  So I spent the next 3 weeks trying to learn 52 songs.  I’m playing harmonica, of course.  But they also needed acoustic guitar.  We play a real eclectic mix of tunes.  We do a little Miles Davis, Pink Floyd, Pretenders, Eagles, Santana, Eva Cassidy, Steely Dan, Booker T & the MGs, James Taylor; we even do a few country songs (Sara Evans, Keith Urban), and one original tune by Shelagh Brown.

The history of the band is interesting.  The band started when continue reading…

On Monday April 14, 2008, God decided that, since Kevin Brown had done such a good job here on Earth, He would thank Kevin face-to-face. It has taken me a long time to get to the point where I could write about it without sobbing. I miss my friend so much. Here’s a picture of Kevin and his beautiful wife, Deb. It is appropriate to show both of them because for years, they were inseparable.

After going back and forth on what to say about Kevin, I decided that I had already said it best on the last day that they lead worship at Southridge. I had written down my feelings because I wanted to stay focused. Here’s what I said on February 27, 2005. continue reading…

I have to write about this because it is all that I’ve thought about for the whole week.

I was in a band at Southridge Church in Portage, MI for about 10 years. It was 10 of the best years of my life. Originally, there was just three of us: Kevin Brown on electric guitar, Jerry Doorlag on piano/keyboards, and me hacking away on acoustic guitar and playing my harp. We played backup to about a half dozen praise singers every week. When Kevin asked me to be part of the band, he said “We’re gonna do … some kind of …. music … thing.” (If you know Kevin, you may have heard him speak with those pregnant pauses as he delicately chooses his words).

“What kind of music thing? Like a band? What are we going to do?”, I asked.

“Whatever God leads us to do”, Kevin replied and then he flashed me his trademarked cheesy grin.

continue reading…