HOME WORK AND A WEDDING

www.charlane.com

7/4/14-10/18/14

With Fourteen on Fire in Europe completed, we arrived home on July 4. Not a long time off before playing a private event for our friend Dr. Waldo Floyd.

WALDO FLOYD'S PARTY

Waldo has a nice 1,000 or so acre place north of Macon that he bought a few years ago from Buddy Glawson. He runs it primarily as a quail hunting place, and they keep pleasure horses there as well...and just use it as a close getaway from his home and practice in Macon. This would be a birthday party for him for his 60th. I was well paid, and we had the full band for the gig. That was on July 13. It was a fun event and the folks there were all dancing and rockin’.

On July 17, our little “Bohemian Grove Group” of Phillip McWayne, “jar” Twitty, Rich Slaby, Buck Williams and Bray Boardman headed out to the West Coast for our second “Bohemian Grove Experience”. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bohemian_Grove...We were there through the weekend, getting back on Sunday. It was another great stay at the Lost Angels Camp. Tom Johnson, our host and the Captain, was most accommodating and fun to be with and the usual members of the camp (for the most part) were there. I played more this time...as I was up for a Professional Category membership, with Tom promoting me heavily. I had an audition of sorts at the Wayside Log, in which several heavy committee members and “higher ups” attended. Phil Salazar, and great guy and fine fiddle player, played with me. It went really well and I started a “fast track” to membership...BUT, I had still not been told what the fees and dues structures were, and told them that it would be helpful to have that info before we proceeded on the fast track. I advised Tom that I should slow down the process, knowing that we had just spent a bundle on maintenance costs at Charlane (new stain on the Bullard House and Lodge, new woodworking shop built, lots of other fluff ) and of course Ashley’s wedding to pay for. Plus, there was uncertainty about what the Stones would or wouldn’t do beyond the upcoming short Australian tour (to make up for the late March/early April postponed shows). The band has discussed doing South America in Feb and Mar, but no confirmation. Eventually it turned out that the band would not go at that time period. So, after a great weekend at the Grove, I got back home on July 20.

The next thing on the books was a speech to the Georgia Farm Bureau Underwriter’s convention in St. Simons Island on July 27. That went well and we got back home on the 28th. I had started spraying on Charlane to kill the unwanted woody and brushy growth under the pines in several areas....which I did off and on for the whole time we were off from the tour...of course not spraying on rainy days, and mixing in other activities in-between. I focused on that most of the first couple of weeks of August, and the next event was a speech to the Atlanta Botanical Gardens. That also went really well..plus we had some decent merchandise sales of a grand or so.

Joel Babbit and I had a meeting in Plano, Tx on July 22nd for a presentation to the Cinemark Company....the third largest movie theater company in the US, and I think the biggest in the world. We walked out of that feeling great about it...although to date they have not “signed on”. I think they will in time...some of these companies move really slowly.

On Aug 26, I went to Asheville, NC to participate in a documentary film about Carl Schenk, one of the “Fathers of Forestry in America”. It was a short stay of just one night, and I did my interview the next day and then flew home.

On Sept 5, Joel and I had a meeting with Tim Mapes of Delta Airlines up in Atlanta. Another very productive meeting. We had Delta on a short term deal a couple of years ago at MNN, but it expired and they have not renewed. Tim is a friend, and after six months of email communications, we finally arranged the meeting. Again, they have not committed, but I think they will in a reasonable time frame. If we got Cinemark and Delta in a full partnership, that would be so great for the company. Fingers and toes crossed!!

On Sept 9, we held a fund raiser at our place for Bubber Epps, our state district representative. Bubber is a good guy (even though he’s running as a republican!) and we were glad to help.

On Sept 20, I had a solo gig at the Rylander Theater in Americus, Ga. www.rylander.org. A wonderful theater that hold 600...and we had the largest attendance they have had since they renovated it, some 500+. Wish it would would have totally sold out, but I can’t complain. I made a little bit of overage from my guarantee, plus we sold some merch, so we wound up doing very well.
We also had a really fun trip to New York during Climate Week. We were invited by the Global Restoration Council, an arm of the World Resource Institute...I’ve been tapped to be a member of the GRC. We visited the UN and attended a couple of conferences, and my pal Jay Carney got Rose Lane and I into an event at the Waldorf Hotel where President Obama held a reception. We got to hear him speak....eloquently as always...and just before he was exiting the room, I got his attention yelling to him that I am a friend of Jay’s and that I play with the Stones....he acknowledged us...saying “Jay is a great guy....you play with the Stones? You must be...like...the youngest guy in the band!” It was Sept 23rd, Rose Lane’s birthday....

and I told him “Mr. President...this is my wife, Rose Lane, and it is her birthday today...”....to which he smiled and held out his hand to her, wishing her a happy birthday....fun!

 
 Around that time I had an email from Ken Helie, John Mayer’s tour manager, asking me if I could make five days of sessions in Los Angeles with John. The timing was perfect, and I flew out on Oct 1. Sessions went really well....Sean Hurley on bass, Aaron Sterling and Jim Keltner on drums, me and John. Wonderful to re-connect with him and great fun all around.

Outside our Savannah House

FRONT PARLOR

THE WEDDING DRESS

Rose Lane and Ashley have spent the last year preparing for this...of course with the help of a wedding planner, a nice gal named Jennifer Leiti.  Rosie has worked hard to get our house in Savannah in order....and it has come a long way. We bought it on her birthday in 2013, and since then it has had the exterior painted, plantation shutters put in on almost all the windows, heavy curtains put in our bedroom, art hung and re-hung throughout and some furniture added in.At that point we were in the “short rows” to Ashley’s wedding.

STAIRWAY

A bit of electric work and some work on the back area to create a nice sitting area under a sort of pagoda has been put in place.
It is really great, and as the wedding approached, we felt good about it all.

 THE WEDDING WEEK

Rose Lane went down to Savannah on Sunday, Oct 12. I stayed behind to finish up my spraying and to have a few short days to myself and went to Savannah on Tuesday, Oct 14. Ashley got there the same day, and Peter and his family arrived on Thursday. Ashley’s friend from her studies at the University of Florida, Kate, came on Wed and they had great girl fun going to get her wedding dress, putting the gift bags together and such.

The excitement built up every day...on Friday we had the rehearsal at St. Paul’s Orthodox Greek church, and afterwards we had the rehearsal dinner at Garibaldi’s restaurant. From our side of the family, of course

Amy and Steve Bransford and the boys, Miles and Rocco (Amy was the sole “bridesmaid”)...my sister, Judy and her husband Ted as well as their son Stefan and daughter Leslie were there...and Leslie’s husband Daniel and their two children. Stefan’s fiance Sara was also there. My brother Billy and his daughter Becky attended. Alton and Carol White, Paul and Amy White, Leslie White and her boyfriend Jay were there. Absent was Al and Brandi White as well as Rosaline. Rosaline really wanted to make it, but at 92 years old, she just wasn’t up for it. We had a handful of our friends there...Joyce Jones and her boyfriend David, Lynn Lavery, Joel and Kimberly Babbit, Buck and Patti Williams. The rest was filled out with Ashley’s friends and Peter’s friends and family. The rehearsal dinner was tons of fun...lots of folks meeting for the first time and getting to know each other a bit, lots of smiles. Great food served by Garibaldi’s and a festive atmosphere.

Amy Bransford and Ashley Tziros

By the wedding day, things were in full swing and the vibes were strong and beautiful. Everything went smoothly...I got emotional when I was called upstairs to see Ash in her wedding dress. She was so very stunningly gorgeous. It put tears of joy and love in my eyes. Still does, just thinking about it.

Our wedding planner, Jen Leiti, who was pregnant and overdue, did a fantastic job all the way through from the beginning up to the moment. They had an early 70’s model Rolls Royce pick us up to get us to the church. The only hiccup was that the air conditioning went out about halfway to the church. Luckily, it was a short ride!

The ceremony was performed by Father Vaslie, who did a superb job. His wife, Danielle, performed some chanting during it. The church itself was quite intimate, and very beautiful.

The Orthodox Greek Wedding Ceremony

There were probably about 130 or so attending. Miles and Rocco looked great in their little Tuxes, and walked Rose Lane to her seat.

Yaya and her boys

I walked Ashley in after everyone was in place...biting my lip to keep from tearing up. The ceremony lasted about an hour, with typical Greek procedure. It was picture perfect.

Papi has to let go....

Afterwards, the reception was in the main ballroom of The Mansion hotel, across Forsyth Park from our house. Jen did an amazing job of working with them and the florist to set it up. The tables, flowers, everything was done first class.

Heavenly Aura of hyddrangeas and white blush roses...

There was a short reception outdoors where drinks were served, then everyone was moved into the ballroom to be seated. My new friend, Howard Paul, played guitar during the whole reception, along with Mitch Hennes on stand up bass. They were perfect for the setting, both excellent musicians.

Entertaining the wedding party

Ashely and Peter were introduced by a gent named DJ Ben and made their entrance dancing to a  beautiful song.  Then Ben introduced me, and I welcomed everyone and made some short remarks...with the theme of LOVE. Father Vasile made the blessing and then the dinner was served. The Mansion’s Chef, Richard Beichner, did an amazing job with all the courses. After dinner, Amy did a fantastic job of giving a short speech about her sister, their relationship and talked about the importance of good humor in a marriage. Her last line was “Remember...laughter is the shortest distance between two people”. Great line...

Peter’s best friend, Dimitri, gave some nice remarks as well...then we had the Father Daughter dance, to Van Morrison’s “Into The Mystic”, a choice of Peter’s, and a very good one.

That led to Peter dancing with his mom, Lula along with us...and after that, the party ensued.

This was our first Greek Wedding...and what a party it was! Lots of dancing (DJ Ben did a great job of mixing rock ‘n roll, soul, Greek music), singing, smiling, laughing...happy happy joy joy! What a great night.
 

The Fairy Queen and her King in Forsyth Park

Rose Lane:  So, after it was all over, and the guests left me. I had a good cry. The wedding was so special. Everything was just beautiful...everything! How blessed are we! We all put Chuck in a yellow cab sending him off to Rolling Stone world in Australia. I had to lag back to shut down our home in Savannah and then rush back to Bullard to shut everything down up- Then, Wednesday I too boarded that long flight to Australia....

Sort of whacked.....

2.     A LONG, LONG FLIGHT

10/14/14

So the day after the wedding, I headed back to Australia to make up the shows we had postponed.
 Rose Lane stayed back in Savannah for a day after the wedding, and then went home to “shut things down” for our trip while I headed on to Adelaide. She joined me some three or four days later, for our first show there. We had four days of rehearsals, all of which went well...and played our first gig at the Adelaide Oval,

a beautiful outdoor venue built for Cricket games and football (soccer). I think we may have been the first band to play there. Great gig, and off to an excellent start. All is well. We enjoyed our friends Pete and Terri Kite who own vineyards in Australia and New Zealand. They live in 
Georgia very close to us. Also we had some time to visit with our friends Charlie Dennard and his wife Marianna who work with Cirque de Soleil Totem which was touring Australia. He is also a Georgia boy!! Marianna is a tree farmer from Brazil. They invited us to the show which was superior

VISITING JOHN PAUL GAULTIER EXH.

From there we continued the tour through Australia...

Chuck with Cole Xuereb TECH

playing Perth next (two shows); M elbourne at the Rod Laver Arena ( I did a solo gig while in
Melbourne at a club called the Cherry Bar...Tim Ries joined me on several songs). Unfortunately, Mick started losing his voice at the end of the Melbourne gig and we wound up canceling a show we had booked in a place called Hanging Rock. We picked things back up in Sydney playing at the Allophones Arena...Mick had recovered, but he was being very cautious and we had to “play it safe” in terms of the songs, making sure he didn’t tax his voice and cause any further problems.

We had a nice stay in Sydney....on one off night, several of us went to the Sydney Opera House to attend a ballet ...Bayadere...based on an Indian story. Thank you, Shelly Lazar for setting us up with this special show...

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SYDNEY HARBOR

We had dinner one night with our friends Brian and Mandy Churchill, and had some shopping time during our stay. On to Brisbane, we played the Brisbane Entertainment Center...

and finally on to Auckland, NZ for the final show at Mt. Smart Stadium. We met up with some of our friends and thought we'd have a photo made with them...Ha.

WHITE IBIS

Then the long flight home on the
23rd....stopping over for one night in San Francisco to try and get some rest. That didn’t work as well as we’d liked, but in any case we caught an earlier flight than originally booked to get to Atlanta...where Hal Hamilton picked us up and drove us home. All in all, a very successful and fun tour of Australia. Great to be back in the country and to experience the great cities and folks there.

OUR VERY DEAR FRIEND BOBBY KEYS WITH ISOBEL WORK

3.    THANKSGIVING THROUGH EARLY MAY

We arrived back home just before Thanksgiving...and prepared for our hunting season at Charlane. All of that went really well....we had our best season ever, actually MAKING money in the process. Lots of repeat clients...and all the hunts went smoothly with very little problems. Hal and all of our staff did a great job....

I did a solo gig in Jackson Hole, Wy on Dec 27 at the bequest of my friend Jim Walter, who had become involved in a new YPO chapter out there. That went well, and while I was only there a couple of days, I certainly enjoyed it. Jim is a great guy and he was a gracious host during the short stay. He seemed very pleased with the results of the gig.

I got back home and we had some nice down time before the hunts resumed. Rosie and I spent New Year’s Eve at our new place in Savannah...then back to Bullard for the hunts.

All that went well....and I did a fun guest appearance on Feb 7 with Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe (Karl took over sax duties with the Stones from Bobby Keys when Bobby got sick...and eventually passed away in Nov of ‘14) in New York at the Brooklyn Bowl. Fun stuff...

We finished the hunting season at the end of Feb...actually, we went one day into March. On Feb 28, I did a guest appearance in Macon at the Macon City Auditorium with the Macon Pops Orchestra. Steve Moretti was the man in charge for this. My pal Jimmy Hall was also on the bill, as was Bobby McDuffie and some other local talent. That was fun and successful...the charts were done by a guy named Matt Catingub...who did a fantastic job. Quite a talented fellow, and I hope to get to work with him again sometime.

On March 7 I did another speech for Farm Bureau...this time for a new Foundation they were launching. That took place at Stone Mountain, Ga. It went extremely well and I was paid the same thing as the one I did for them the year before...$10K plus expenses. On March 14, I did a solo gig with the band...The Randall Bramblett Band, for a private show at the Cloister Resort on Sea Island. Our friend and the head of events there, Marcie Maddox, put that together for me. It was another great gig.

I spent most of the rest of March and April getting some prescribed burns done and other activities at Charlane. www.charlane.com We had a couple of trips to Savannah as well....one of which was on my birthday. It’s so great to trek over there...only a 2 hr drive....and enjoy that great city and all it has to offer. We’re starting to make more friends there as well. I was pleased with the work I was able to get done at Charlane....and we’ve had good rains to keep the forest and habitat healthy.

MNN hosted a fun and interesting event in Washington, DC on April 24. It took place the night before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, and we were able to clear using the name White House Correspondent’s Jam. We secured a ballroom at the Fairmont hotel and hosted 5 “journalists bands” to perform. Bands were made up of journalists from Vanity Fair, CNBC, The New Yorker and others...attendees included Senator Debbie Stabenow of Mich (I had met her before when doing work for American Forest Foundation), the Deputy of the Federal Reserve, Lena Dunnham (of “Girls” fame...an HBO hit show) and many others. It was a fun and tremendously successful night....and my partner, Joel Babbit, was really pleased. We got lots of press on it, which was great for our company. Many of our investors, board and staff were there as well. Great night.

On May 1, I did a speech for Armstrong University in Savannah....the inaugural presentation for the Mark Fendlay lecture series. That was also a great success, and helped us to integrate into the Savannah community. We headed back to Charlane on the next day, to pack and prepare for our upcoming rehearsals with the Stones...then up to Atlanta on the 6th to stay with Amy and family. She had asked me to do a benefit for the boys’ school, Westchester Elementary. I had agreed, and did the gig at Eddie’s Attic in Decatur. My old friend Alex Cooley owns it and graciously donated it for the cause. It was a huge success, and I think they raised around $25K. The morning of the show, I did a little presentation for the school at Woodlands Park, just a block from Westchester...the whole school attended...kids, faculty and staff. Great fun, and the kids were just precious. Mara Davis was the Emcee for the show that night and did a great job. I was very proud of Amy....she was the head of the fundraising committee and they all loved her for putting it all together. The boys seemed to enjoy it as well.

Miles and Rocco

Steve videoed the whole thing....so it is archived.

The next day we left for Los Angeles to start rehearsals for the Stones’ “Zip Code” tour....and, we left the keyboard at Emerson Avenue with the Bransford Boys. Rocco has become the master of Tai Kwan Do.....check him out here...
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Go Rocco.....Go!