Thursday, March 30, 2017

Hessville Star 2017



Hessville Star is comprised of four VERY talented musicians from Northwest Indiana that have been friends for years. While they are all busy with their own bands, businesses and day jobs, they find the time to get together and play for us about once a year. And what a treat it is!! You only need to see this band once to want to see them every time they play! Their shows consist of great classic rock deep cuts and tunes you just don't hear from "cover bands" and some originals tunes written by members (I absolutely LOVE Billy's songs and am would LOVE a solo release).  If you need any more convincing, I'm including a video from my friends Mike Harle & Jennifer Grabowski (from this very show) at the end of this blog. 
Members are:

Billy Ozzello
(vox, bass, guitar)

Mark Rongers
(vox, guitar, bass)

Chris Karp
(vox, drums)

Chris Grove
(vox, keys)

I won't "brag" about some of the other bands members are in. Either you already know or if you really are interested, you'll find out. And then you'll probably wonder what they are doing in NWI, lol. But for me, their talent is what matters, not who they know. I love these guys no matter who they play with, period. All four of them. They simply rock, as people as well as musicians. I hope you enjoy the pics, and make sure to check out the video. There are plenty more of them on Youtube as well....

I shot this show in Black & White. The lighting was fantastic for it. I included a few color shots that I really liked. And you'll notice a few variations of the same photo a couple of times (I liked them all, lol).
































































** ALL photos on this blog are property of Christi Bushby, copyrighted and protected as such by law. Please see my copyright page for details and/or permissions of use. 

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Support local music and the arts!!

"The earth without art is just eh..."

Thursday, March 9, 2017

Hammond Indiana's 219 Day Celebration






Life has been busy, so I'm a little late with this one... but better late than never...

This was the second year for the party celebrating being from "da region". Hailing from the Hessville part of Hammond myself, and spending all of my life in the "219" just about makes this a must do event. Nothing like a party to celebrate being a "Region Rat"! There's even a proclamation from the Mayor himself for the day! 
 Beer, food (White Castle is a must) and local bands and performers were all on hand to party "219" style!  You could take a swing at a rat pinata, join an arm wrestling competition, get a temporary rat tattoo from The Tattoo Lady, take some goofy pics in a photo booth or ride a bucking bronco (sorry, no bronco photos, lol)... 
At the bottom are links to the performers as well as the 219 Day website.

At least one rat was popular tonight (you'll see what I mean farther below)...


Stormy Weather was up first, sorry I wasn't earlier to get more photos...





Rico Hampton as Micheal Jackson. He was pretty good with the crowd...













He even brought up some "guest dancers" 










And came down and joined the crowd...



 Hammond's Mayor Tom McDermott tossing out freebies...


The next band up was Bonfire, a region AC/DC tribute band. Some talented musicians in this group for sure!! ( I may be a little biased since they are friends of mine, lol) 











































Not to brag, but I had to take these through a door window behind the stage. The drummers are always the hardest to photo... lol











I always find my friends...


And then... the rat massacre... poor guy... lol 



































And who doesn't love freebies? 





All that remains of Sir Rat....



And back by popular demand, this year's headliner, Dick Diamond & The Dusters...
I was pretty pooped at this point or I would have gotten more photos of them. Always a crowd favorite!














** ALL photos on this blog are property of Christi Bushby, copyrighted and protected as such by law. Please see my copyright page for details and/or permissions of use. 

Please feel free to share my blog! There are social media buttons on the bottom left for your convenience!

Support local music and the arts!!

"The earth without art is just eh..."