Hi Friends,

NEWS ALERT!

For you Classic Country Fans and Friends who are wondering if we are playing for NEW YEARS EVE the answer is YES!   Alan Godage & Sundown will be playing at the St. Joesph’s Parish Hall from 8:30 to 1:00AM.  This is Located at  16454 125th Ave. NE. Morrill, MN    There will be a cover charge of $10 for adults and $5 for kids under the age of 12.  It is a bring your own bottle and set up club. Huge dance floor and low table seating. There will be snack  foods available and of course Beer and Pop and the coffee pot will be on.  This is going to be an old fashioned bring your whole family if you like dance.  Kids are going to be welcome so that mom and dad don’t have to get a baby sitter and Grandma & Grandpa can join in the fun. With the economy they way it has been none of us can afford a lot for the New Year to come in so the Church said lets do something local and make fun for everyone.  They are doing it with Alan Godage& Sundown.  So Tell all your friends and lets bring in the New Year with style  and Great Classic Country Music!

In this news alert I will be giving an over view of the past year and the venues Alan Godage & Sundown played.

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM ALAN GODAGE & SUNDOWN  ALAN,  BOBBY, DANNY, KENNY AND BARB! 

THANK YOU TO ALL OF YOU WHO HAVE SUPPORTED ALAN GODAGE & SUNDOWN AND CLASSIC COUNTRY MUSIC.

Now for other news:   As most of you know  The North St.Paul American Legion decided not to have Alan Godage & Sundown back at the club. It was not because of the band or the crowd but the lack of the advertising on the clubs part to grow that crowd.   A lot of you who drove down to the Legion knew from our schedule or the web site we were going to be there but when you got there you had no idea where we were playing. There were no posters to indicate we were in the backroom after being in the front bar room no indication if was  a private party or our band. We as the band want  apologize to our fans and loyal followers for any mis-commuincation. I can only do so much I can only ask these clubs to advertise in their local newspaper when they are bringing  in a new band so that the local area has the information to go on to make an informed decision as to if they would like to check out a new band. We have asked them to include in this information that they explain the kind of music, the time the music will start, if they are going ot have a cover and if they are going to have food.  As a band the loyal fans and new friends find this inforamtion very informative.  When I book a club I am very clear on this information and so I am trusting the club owner or manager or booking  person to live up to their part.   However, that rarely ever happens, even when I send the posters to the club filled out and all they have to do is HANG them up. So when a crowd does not grow it is not because of the loyal crowd that follows us but the lack of the club not doing their part. They do like to blame a band when this does not happen but it usually falls back to the club not doing the advertising they said they would do.  So with that said I will say that the best thing the crowd can do is let the clubs know that they did not see any information in the local paper or hear and ad on the local country radio station but had they known a lot more of you would have been there. Most of  the loyal fans don’t ever complain about having a cover charge as long as they know there is a place to sit, a dance floor, some kind of food available and good country music. So to our fans we say thank you.

Most of  the club managers or owners don’t know that a lot of you DRIVE  a very long ways to see Alan Godage & Sundown. We had a couple drive 167 miles one way last Sunday to see us at the Bridge in Crosby.  That’s LOYALTY to the band not the club but we as the band try very hard to give each club  a write up in the back of the schedule so our regulars know what to look forward to and to the new comers that have never heard us can see for themselves we have done our homework to find the best club in that area to play Classic Country Music for. However a band rarely ever gets that back out of club as they won’t even hang a poster that has been provided for them.

As most of you know I take care of the booking of the band and I know what our loyal crowd wants so I seek out the clubs that you have told me about or ones that I think fit the crowd. I try NOT to find clubs that don’t like Good Classic Country Music  or have never had it as they usallydraw a younger crowd that would rather listen to music that is very loud and very rock.  So I speak very clear, very plain so that a manager or club owner knows what I am saying however I am not sure most of them are listening when it comes right down to it.  If they were they would be placing an ad in the paper to help draw from their local area. Now for the ones who do do it right it pays off. One of those places is the Bridge in Crosby.  The crowd has dropped off a little and none of  us know why is it the economy ?the Holiday season? the weather ? It’s not because this club does not have a nice dance floor or great food or wonderful staff , or because they do not advertise because they have all of that then some. They stay true to classic Country Music  they may kick it up a little more with some of the new country. They are going to change the time of the music to see if that helps bring  in a few more people they normally go from 4-8pm but now will be from 2-6pm. They are having  Trick Rider On New Year’s Eve from 8PM to 1:00AM  No Cover  $80 a couple or $45 single for all you can eat and beverages included 6PM-12:00AM Free hor d’douvresand champagne at midnight. Reservations requested.  I don’t ever mind giving this club some advertising  in my schedule back or on my web as they always treat our band and our fans with great respect. We are looking forward to the New Year playing at the Bridge.  Thank You to Russ, Jo and the staff.

Over this past year Alan Godage& Sundown have played a lot of new venues and have kept a lot of the old venues. We have had  the opportunity to make new fans and keep our loyal fans with us. We thank you for that  some of the venues we have played for years others were new and we gave them a chance if they did not work out it was not all because of the band. But we still thank them for letting us come in and play Classic Country Music. The ones that keep having us back know that Classic Country Music does work.  The ones that didn’t work out only need to advertise and give it a chance. Classic Country Music fans are loyal to the music and will support it if they know about it.  Not everyone out there likes Karoke or DJs they grew up on live music and that’s what they want to dance to.  PLEASE GIVE CLASSIC COUNTRY MUSIC A CHANCE.

The Paynesville American Legion took a chance on Alan Godage & Sundown at their 10 year Anniversary and German Fest it was a great time with great food. We got to see a lot of  regulars and met a bunch of new fans. They told us we would be back we just do not have a date yet but we will.

ForestonLiquor is always a good time. We have taken one night a monh and turned it  into a country night. The crowd now stays around a little longer after we are done because they keep the jukebox volume level at a level they can talk with. So the crowd will order that extra beer or have a pizza while we are breaking down. The younger crowd really don’t care for it but it is only one night a month that they have to put up with country music and for that one night they can go somewhere there is loud rock music. This gives the older people of Foreston and the surronding area a chance to dance and drink to what they like. Thanks goes out to John and the City Council for having  AlanGodage &  Sundown back in town one night a month for good Classic Country Music. They have also decided to put us in on a Sunday afternoon from 2-6pm This  give will a larger bunch of you a chance to come out on in the afternoon who would not come out in the evening. No driving in the late night and for the most part not in the dark. So come out and give Foreston your support if you want Classic Country Music in Your area.

In the middle of 2008  we had a good run at the Legion in Pine City. It is to bad the Management got rid of a good thing there. We never had a bad crowd and we had always had alot of fun. I only wished there was some place else in that area to play. So I checked into the American Legion in Cambridge  I sent  a promo pack out and now need you the crowd to call and let them know you are interested in having us there.

One of the reasons that we are not in at Capatin’s or some of the other clubs  that we worked hard to get and to build the crowd is that there is a couple of bands that have just started up and they are claiming they are classic country music and will under cut the price just to play. One band in particular who has not PAYED Their dues or did the work but if you play cheap enough you will get the job.  Most of these clubs don’t really care if you have quality as long as you are cheap.  Except for the clubs who appreciate good quality, a good sound and a large variety of Great Classic Country Music and have proven themselves. I am mad as hell that a band that has not proven themselves can come in and under cut a band that has a proven track record. It’s not the new band’s fault they want to play to but there is really no loyalty to the band that has proven itself to any one club. That falls back to the crowd that if you are not happy with a band you have to tell the clubs why and what you like about the band they did have. Your opinion goes a long way with most clubs as you are  the paying the band for the most part by what you eat and drink and the cover charge you are willing to pay. Letting these clubs know that you are willing to pay a higher cover charge to have that band you like in that  club tells the club owner/manger you are serious about good music.  You can tell me all you want but the club is going to listen to the patrons more than me. So let your voice be heard if not in person then by a letter or a phone call it will help. 

I had a conversation on telephone last week with a Casino booking person and he really set me off. He called every one” blue hairs” and that they did not spend any money when listening to country music. I get real offended when they speak about a  certain age of people that we do not spend as much money as the younger crowd. How many bus loads of 21-30 years old have you seen pull in to the casino for me  not one. How many bus loads of “BLUE HAIRS” well to many to count. I get tired of hearing that all of the fans only drink pop or water but there are many of us who are on medication that limits us to how much alcohol we can have.  But none of us mind paying more for pop or a cover charge as long as there is good music and food available. Most of these clubs do not take into account the money we spend on food which should be included in the end result.. 

Alan Godage & Sundown had a good year for playing Classic Country Music in all the venues old and new.  We have been invited back to many of the outside summer jobs which we are always so much fun.  The Crow Wing County Fair, The Almelund Thresing show, The Nowthen Threshing Show,Music In The Park, just to name a few. Maybe this year we will be playing at your county fair.  The outside jobs come in early in the new year so as we get them we will let you all know.  If you have an event you would like us to check out please let me know, or better yet send them to the website as this can give them a lot of information.

We are trying to stay healthy this past year has been a trial from Heart attacks to me having a  deadly bacterial infection to my left hip still giving me a some problems to Alan’s back giving him some problems and dealing with the plavix heart medication that keeps him from having the back surgery he needs. But we all have something going on no matter our age. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that this year will be much better for everyone.

Well I think I have summed up the past year pretty well, I say it in more words than Alan does but he hasn’t learned the web stuff yet. So you will get a condensed version in the Schedule newsletter.  Again we want to thank you from all of us at Alan Godage and Sundown we treasure your support and hope to see you all in the next year.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year

Alan Godage & Sundown

Alan, Barb, Bobby, Danny, Kenny

Your Friends in Classic Country Music

Hi Friends,

I am back to updating the front page of the website.  There is going to be some changes to the website that might make it easier for you to get a copy of the schedule front and the newsletter back.  Thanks to my Computer guru who is always there to help me. Thanks Ryan!.  So I would like your feed back from those of you who use the web. Please give me your comments if this is helpful. You can email me at Girlie0557@jetup.net. 

I know I have been a little slow as to keeping the front page updated but the past 6-8 weeks have been very busy.  My mom had a triple by pass and is recovering and doing great but she gave us a little scare by having to go back to surgery 3 times the same day for a bleeding problem. She will most likely be going home this weekend. While mom was giving us a scare I gave my family a little scare by having a bacterial infection. As most of you know I had hip surgery on my left hip 2 years ago this coming  September. However, I was having a pain that just would not go away. So my Surgeon decided to go back inand take a look. What he found was quite interesting! I had 3 metal stitches that had opened up and had grownsome scar tissue around them. So he had to go in and take them out replace them, which should have been the end of it . Well I never do anything normal so a week and a half I go back in to have the staples taken out I am feeling fine should be good to go. I walk to the car get in drive about a mile down the road have to get out and when I get out My husband calmly says get back in the car you have to go  back to the Dr.s office  as I looked at my leg I had sprung a major leak.  Well to make a long story short that’s when they discovered I had a bacterial  infection how I got it they don’t know. Kept having that same leak for 4 weeks and each week it meant going in having my leg opened up so that they could clean it out this last time they left it open from Friday til Sunday closed it up and we now have it under control. I am still on a IV antibiotic and an oral but I am going to be FINE! I am feeling great still have a little waddle but that is because they cut my IT band in my leg five times so it will take a while to get the strength back. So that’s my story and Ia am sticking to it. But in the mean time I have not MISSED one JOB of the bands. So my over 30 year record has not been broken!

Now on to the Music Scene.  Wow the month of August is always busy but it seems like we get busier every year. We played the National Nite To Unite in Albany, The Crow Wing County Fair, and we have been asked back again for next year! The Music In the Park in Pine City and with the weather being so iffy we still had a wonderful loyal crowd. Thank you! Then another great year at the Almelund Threshing show more people than ever adn again the weather was giving us a little trouble tornado warnings, cloudy, hot sticky but God Must Like Country Music as the storms went over us left us with a small rain shower and a crowd to finish the evening.  We have been asked back for next year and we want to say thank you to the Crew at Almelund for all their hard work and to the Crowd who never lets us down. Then up to the Bridge in Crosby, new faces and of course familiar fans who follow us every job.  if you have not been to the Bridge you are truly losing on a great club. Good Food, a waitress, nice dance floor and great new friends to meet who love Classic country Music. Then the week settled down till Saturday and we were back at the Foreston Liquor Store. We walk in and to our Suprise we had a bunch of you from Crosby and Brainerd in our small little Honky Tonk. It may be small but for that one night a month it is a country honky tonk, they offer food and a small dance floor but it is a fun club especially when it is our fan club who is there cheering us on. Sunday morning we are having doubts that the weather will cooperate for another Classic Country Gospel Service  in the Park in Milaca, but again God must like what is happening as we got through it! Not as many of you showed up and we do know it was because of the weather but again our thanks to all of you who did come.

We will finish out the month with the Nowthen Threshing  Show, Friday and Saturday and Then the Gospel Sunday morning Service and on the road again to the N. St. Paul Legion again if you have not been to this club you must check it out. Great dance floor, no cover charge, Sunday afternoon music and a food special. How can you go wrong?

However we do have shortage of male dancers if you are just into dancing and want to dance to Great classic Country Music meet some new friends why not comeout and give this club a try. I am working on a dance club idea you know sorta like the Eharmony thing but just have not been able to get it put together  but wanted getthe word out a little bit so that if you hve any friends who like to dance and are looking for a dance partner come on out to the Legion. Lets start a trend of our own! Maybe not new but one that can be related only to the Classic Country Music Scene! 

Well it’s time to print out the schedule and get ready for Nowthen. Hope to see you all there.

Take Care,

Barb

Hi Friends,

It  looks like summer finally made it to Minnesota. I know I was thinking it might not get here it did and I for one am very glad.  It seems like I just updated the website but it has been a month.

 We were out to the  Fish Lake Resort if you are looking  for a bigger dance floor then this is the place to come. Jeff is the owner and is really giving Classic Country Music a try out there, They have food, a beautiful lake , nice dance floor and Great Classic Country Music Alan Godage & Sundown what more could you ask for  on a nice summer evening. Come on out and see for yourself.

Now for you that have been wanting us in the Metro area we are there. We are playing at the N.St.Paul   American Legion, what a fantastic club nice dance floor, great staff.  We are also at the Medina. Many of  you have been bugging Bob to bring our  band in there as you like the HUGE wood dance floor and great Classic Country music they go together.  So I would like to see a few more of our loyal fans and friends there so we can keep coming back to the metro area.

June really seemed to fly by and here we are already heading into July. I want a long warm summer as I like it hot and so far we we have only have a few warm days. Maybe we will have a long nice fall.  Alan raises all his garden plants from seeds his garden is looking  just great.  He plants, I water and we both put  up the produce. This year his garden looks exceptionally nice. If you go to the pictures you will see its progress as I will keep taking updated  pictures. Every woman should be so lucky. I hit the jackpot a man who can sing and loves to garden.  We put enough garden in for the whole family as they seemed to miss that gene. But they don’t mind coming home   for the  finished product. Everything from green beans to salsa.

Alan Godage & Sundown have a lot of fun summer gigs they are looking forward to. We Are back at the Crow Wing County Fair, National Night Out, Music In The Park in Pine City, it is an honor to be asked back. Thank you to the Pince City Arts in the Park Council and the Mayor. We are back again to the Almelund Threshing Show I think this is our 9th year.  We also were asked back to the Nowthen Threshing Show this time for all 3 days. What a huge honor! Thanks Harvey

Alan will go into more detail on all the summer gigs in the newsletter but he does not do anything on the webiste so I try to keep you all in the loop as much as possible.

We are playing at the Bridge Tavern on the 5th of July so if any of you are up north at the cabins and want a going home treat stop by this club and see us this is a REAL HONKY TONK with a real waitress to wait on you, a nice dance floor and GREAT FOOd come out and say to hi JO & RUSS you will not be sorry.

Have a safe and fun 4th of July Weekend. Hope to see  you soon.

Take Care

Barb

Hello Classic Country Music Fans,

We just want to say hope  you all had a nice Memorial Day weekend. We did we started out the Friday by playing at the Medina Entertainment Center. Not a huge crowd but a very loyal crowd. However, Bob at Medina did not realize it was over the holiday.  I would like to thank all of you who came out. Bob is not giving up on us yet so I am hoping you will tell all the dancers we will be back on Friday, July 24th from 7:30 -11:30pm.  I would like to see us bring in at least 100 people this next time or we may not be back. This has to be one of the biggest wood dance floors available  to you in the area. So please come out and support us at the Medina.

We aslo had a huge city crowd up at the Captain’s On Long Lake in Isanti. This crowd was ours all the way none of the locals, no campers, just Alan Godage and Sundown loyal fans. Thank you to all of you who have given this  club a try. I hope you tell more of the city folks how nice this club is and that they have good food.  I know for a fact the food is good as we have eaten there. Nice wood dance floor, friendly servers and they truly make our band feel appreciated. Come on out and give them a chance and not a far drive to hear Classic Country Music. Tell the servers where you came from and why you are there. No Cover either.

Now for a GREAT HONKY TONK, The Bridge Tavern 4 miles north of Crosby. WOW what a fun club, HUGE crowds, great food, nice dance floor and SUPERB service. This is a real honky tonk and they do not have any other kind of music in there except Classic Country Music! Do yourself a favor an make the drive I promise you will not be disappointed. Check it out and you will enjoy the drive because of the beautiful scenery.  Say hi to Joand Russ they will greet you with warm smiles and a chance to meet other Classic Country Music fans such as yourself. Don’t listen to the generic country! Stay true to Classic Country and it will be around for a very long time. This club is offering it to you and to us a band.

Looking forward to playing at the Fish Lake resort huge dance floor and I hear they have great food.   We are hoping to bring in the loyal followers from the Pink Diamond, and those of you who came out to see us at Roy’s in Bock and of course Milaca,Pease, and Princton.  I have worked very hard to get into these clubs in your area.  So please pass on the word  your friends and fellow dancers that if they have been missing out on Alan Godage & Sundown because we have not been the area here is your chance to help keep us there!

Now for band news some of you have noticed that we have a new steel player  in the band,  his name is  Kenny Huston and he comes from Menominee, WI. He is guy who drives the farthest in this band and never complains and he is playing Classic Country Music and it is what he wants to play. So if you get a chance please welcome Kenny to your area.

Have ratteled on long enough will go into detail on the summer jobs we are looking forward to playing again this summer.

Keepin’ it Classic Country

Barb

Hello Country Music Fans,

There has been a change in the schedule as usual as soon as I post on the web and put it in the Schedule some one calls me to say they need to change a date.  So the date of the Fish Lake Resort has been moved to June 6th, 2009. No MAY date. Thanks Barb

Just a short note on the new schedule coming out. It is starting to fill up nicely.  Club managers and owners were waiting on the spring after the long cold winter, as well as the economy. They were pinching pennies just like the rest of us.  I have to tell you folks if you had not made it out to The Bridge Tavern  4 miles north of Crosby you have been missing out. What a great club and what a fantastic group of loyal fans to Alan Godage & Sundown. We are so proud to call all of you our friends as well as fans. 

We truly have to give Jo and Russ big HALOS  for the fine job they are doing at keeping Classic Country Music alive.  They truly want Classic Country Music in their establishment and make a real effort to keep the crowd happy.  They have a cover charge but they also have waitresses to wait on you. The Food is great and the dance floor is always full.  The crowd comes early to get their seats and order food and let their food settle a little before the music starts. Once it starts the dance floor is never empty!!  So Thanks again to Jo And Russ for keeping Great Classic Country Music alive with Alan Godage & Sundown at this fun roadhouse club.

Now on to more news We are going to be back at the Lost Isle in Carlton. This has to be one of the biggest wood dance floors still around and it is kept clean so it is nice to dance on.  We did not get a chance to eat there but everyone I talked to said it was great. They  have waiters and waitresses to wait on you so you are not standing around waiting to get served.   Their customers are important  to them. That is nice to see. Thanks to Tim and his staff at the Lost Isle.  Please give this club consideration if you are looking for some great country music  Come See Alan Godage and Sundown on the 24th of April.

We have been invited back to Captains in Isanti. If you have not been to this club they have great food and a huge wood dance floor. They are looking to add us once a month so I hope all of you come out and support this great local club. Its on a lake and we have been looking for a resort and now we have that chance. Infact, they called and asked us to play this Saturday night the 25th of April from 7-11pm. It is a benefit  for a local Isanti man whos name I only got as Gilley he was hurt in a 4 wheeler accident  and this will help him and his family with the burden of mounting hospital bills. There is going to be a Spaghetti Dinner for $10.00 a plate and a silent auction.  Let’s show them that Classic Country Music Lovers have big hearts not only for the music they live for but for a fellow human being in need.  The benefit starts at 3:00PM and goes to 7PM  then the music starts.  There is no charge at the door.

We are also back at the Medina Entertainment  Center it sounds like a lot of you have been calling Bob at the Medina asking for us.  We want to thank you for that.  So lets give the Medina what it deserves and get a big crowd rounded up like we did at the  Knights of Columbus  in Fridley so we can keep coming back. At the KC’s you paid a hefty $10 at the door plus food and beverages on top of that. The Medina is only having $8.00 cover and let’s give  that dance floor a work out.  If we don’t have a great showing Bob won’t be able to have us back. We play at least 100 miles north of the cites for the most part so here is our chance to stay in your area.

Now for a new venue we are COMING to The North St. Paul Legion. They are looking at having us in there once a month  we will start out on a Sunday then try a Saturday evening and a Sunday afternoon. We are going to need your feed back to what you the dancers would like .  They have repainted the legion to give it a fresh clean look to go with the new management with new ideas. We just happen to be one of the new ideas they would like to try.  I have been to this club and it is very nice, it has a big stage along with a nice dance floor and great seating almost everyone in the club can see the band from where they sit.  They have added food such as hamburger baskets, onion rings, Heggies Pizza and hope to have more before our first time in there. They have free popcorn!!    No COVER Charge at this point. How good is that?  Please come support us at this venue as we are really trying to get into your area so help us give them a showing of  support for Classic Country Music.

I have to get working on the schedule, so I will close for now. Stay Tuned for updated information.

Barb

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