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Here’s the thing…

Life has blessed me with many interests – I have a full-time role in the printing and marketing services industry, and have been since 1994. I love the print world so much that I got my brother to transition to the print industry, as well. But more about me…I am also an accomplished photographer, and have been doing that since I was about 12 years old. And I also play bass guitar in Hey Annie. And along with being entwined in the things I’ve mentioned…there are plenty of things that I am not.

Most pertinent to this post is that I do not consider myself a writer, and I am most certainly not a web developer. Which pretty much sums up why our Hey Annie Blog posts (the previous one is now three years old) are more of an abandoned bemusement park. I login on the admin side of our site to add or adjust tour dates, update our video links and maybe post an album of images from our gigs. Beyond that, almost 99.9% of our communication, is conducted through our Social Media platforms – all of which are linked through the icons at the bottom of the page.

And with that, I will likely retire from trying to maintain our blog posts, as I am not sure that posting these words drive any interest or traffic to our site, beyond the bots that are constantly pinging me to buy my way to the top of a Google search.

After 20 years of playing music, we are blessed that Hey Annie’s reputation for consistently delivering on our promises carries the momentum that now books our band. Venues and Events that want a proven rock act, with a loving and loyal following, know where they can find us – and for that we are extremely thankful!

Please hit me up through this page, or through our socials, if you think Hey Annie can play a role in your entertainment landscape.

Much Love!

Mark

It’s been a year…

I feel ashamed to say that, but it has been a year since my last blog post. And ironically, the last blog was about keeping the momentum. It was hard to keep the spirits buoyed while the pandemic was busy crashing everything around us.

To be safe, we sheltered in place, worked from home, had groceries delivered, skipped gatherings with friends and families, scheduled gigs but dropped them when gathering guidelines grew restrictive. For our band, 30 to 40 gigs a year was our normal pace. In 2020, we played eight gigs. Now, I left all of the actual bookings on our Tour Dates page, but the ones that have More Info indicate that they were cancelled due to Covid-19 protocols. I did this mainly to remind myself that I gave it a good try, but we err’d on the side of safety and science.

We are into our third month of 2021, and we did play a gig last month. But we were elevated on the second level above a free play arcade. Everyone was masked up, and socially distancing. And I am currently in my 90 day to seven months bubble of immunity, having had Covid the first week of January.

As I post this, the calendar looks bare, but there is a lot of chatter on scheduling. I’ll book us, as long as we can perform safely. And that’s the way we are all living in this age of the pandemic – safely and smartly.

I hope to see you at a gig soon, in the meantime let’s all be safe out there.

Much Love,

Mark

Keeping the Momentum

In the local music scene, you’re only as good as your last gig.

Over the years, we have developed a wonderful family of friends and fans that regularly turn out for our shows. The formula seems to be – keep it fresh, play your ass off, and let the people that come out to our shows know exactly how much they mean to us. The truth is, without their support, having the four of us play would not amount to much. And I firmly believe that if we played 2-3 times a week, the number of folks that turn out would thin considerably. We space out our appearances to help build some momentum and interest. And that formula has worked well for us.

Our band members and family of followers are all hard working folks that have plenty of other responsibilities, beyond listening to live music and sharing an adult beverage. We hope that coming to our shows gives them that needed diversion from their normal routine. And that’s the momentum that we need to keep on keeping on.

Much Love – Mark

Take nothing for granted

Yesterday, I had very close call that rocked my world. During a routine drive that I’ve made hundreds of times, I happened into the middle of a high-speed police chase, and was nearly struck by the fleeing vehicle.

That incident gave me pause. A serious, life reviewing pause. A couple of feet in either direction and somebody might have been writing my obituary, instead of me writing this Hey Annie blog post. In that very brief moment, where lives could have been lost, I felt both scared and sad. Scared that I might die, instantly. And sad that I would have done so without having a chance to say goodbye those that mean everything to me.

Which is exactly what happened to my wife’s sister’s husband’s brother, on Friday, February 7th. On that night, Jack Riedle’s Toyota Camry was struck by a stolen Jeep that was being pursued by the police. Jack died instantly. Our friend Laszlo Nemeth was injured,  is still hospitalized in serious condition. And the driver of the stolen Jeep that hit Jack and Laszlo ran away from the crash scene. The other four felons in that stolen Jeep were all arrested. The driver is still at large, which I find really odd. I cannot ever recall riding in a car, and not knowing the name of the driver. And yet these four felons have no idea of the name of driver of the stolen Jeep.

Anyway…back to the matter at hand. Since none of us have a way of knowing when our time is going to be up – make sure to say what you need to say, do what you need to do, and love everyone that you can. There are lyrics from my son William’s favorite band – Jimmy Eat World, and their song “The Middle”…

Just try your best, try everything you can.
Don’t you worry what they tell themselves
When you’re away.

I couldn’t agree more…Try your best! Try everything you can! Don’t worry about what anyone says! And get as much done as you can, before you have to go away!

If you make it out to one of our upcoming shows – be sure to say “Hey!” And give me a hug. As many of you know, I’m a hugger, and I’ve never felt more strongly about wanting to embrace my friends.

Much Love – Mark 

Seek Professional Help

I think it’s important to state, for the record, that I know a little bit about a lot of things. Several years ago, when every active rock band needed a website, I purchased the domain and set about creating a shingle on the interweb for Hey Annie.

Over the years our web presence has gone through five significant iterations – starting as an Apple hosted .me website and morphing into what you see before you – a mobile compatible web based juggernaut. But for the past couple of years, we’ve been hamstrung in the Video department – that is, none of the linked videos would play the way they were auto-configured. You could right-click and open them in a new window to make them play, but ain’t nobody got time for that. And I can tell you that having me looking at the code behind the issue was akin to having a monkey looking at a math problem.

When all else fails, seek the help of a professional developer for your website issues. In that regard, I contacted Brad at Fish Marketing, and he had the code massaged and working within five minutes of opening his computer…after a two year wait it’s great to have our videos playing as intended.

I am here to say, if you need an Original/Classic cover band that rocks, we’re your Huckleberrys. And if you need your website built from scratch, or examined and improved quickly – Please, check out Brad and the team at Fish Marketing – https://fishmarketing.net – They rock, too!

tl;dr

– Mark

Going Back to Cali, Cali, er, New Holland Brewing

Two years ago I was contacted through our Contact Us page by the booking agent for New Holland. The story goes that one of the New Holland Brewery employees had heard Hey Annie perform, and asked if the booking manager could find a way to bring us in for a gig. And, the magic happened. We performed to a filled house on Friday, May 18, 2018.

This Friday, July 19th, we make a return trip to New Holland Brewing’s Pub On 8th. – We will load-in, sound check and be ready to roll by 10:00 PM. And boy, we’d love to have you join us. I know that some of our Bare Hands faithful are making the trip. A huge shoutout to the #BareHandsLove squad.

In closing, if you love the following… 

  1. Craft Beer/Cocktails
  2. Lake Michigan Shore Towns
  3. A Dutch Inspired Community
  4. Hey Annie Rock and Roll
  5. Good Times, Great People and the Company of Others

Then you owe it to your self to join us. And please bring friends. We’ll leave the light on.

Much Love,

Mark

Summer Concert Season is Here!

Summer Concert Season is Here!

Hey Annie’s Summer runs begin on Thursday, June 20th – at the Third Thursday celebration in Niles, MI. Held at The Grand LV, and sponsored by craft cocktail establishment extraordinaire, The Brass Eye, and Niles newcomer Iron Shoe Distillery – Hey Annie will provide the evening’s entertainment from 7:00p to 9:30p.

Other upcoming summer gigs include:

Friday’s By The Fountain, Friday, June 21st – 11:45a to 1:15p, in South Bend, IN

Mishawaka Summer Concert Series at Eberhart Golf Course, Wednesday, June 26th – 6:30p to 8:00p, in Mishawaka, IN

Smith’s Downtown, Friday, June 28th – 7:00p to 10:00p, in Mishawaka, IN

Niles Summer Concert Series, Thursday, July 4th – 5:00p to 7:00p, Niles, MI

New Holland Brewing’s Pub on 8th, Friday, July 19th – 10:00p to 1:00a, Holland, MI

…and more to come – please plan to join us at one, or all. 

Much Love – Mark

No, please, not a photo shoot…

If there is one exercise that most bands dislike, it’s posing for a group photo. My band mates in Hey Annie are no exception. It was not pretty when I made the announcement at our band rehearsal that we needed to avail ourselves for a Press Release photo shoot. My directive was met with groans of agony, and plenty of weird suggestions of how to make the exercise one that would live on in infamy as an overall terrible experience. Sometimes, band management can be like herding cats.

The guys were cracking jokes about heading out to the train trestle, or standing on the tracks all clad in leather. Or maybe just keeping it simple and going the Red Hot Chili Peppers route and buying a bag of Costco tube socks. Now, I know that nobody wants to see Hey Annie in just tube socks, right?

Thankfully, I am blessed to know so many talented and creative folks in the Michiana area. One of my oldest, and dearest friends, is the amazingly talented photographer, Matt Cashore. When Hey Annie needed a group photo for a press release, I knew that Matt was just the guy to tackle the situation…and I was right. No train trestles, no tracks, no leather…and no tube socks. Great job, Matt!

Check out Matt’s photos of us cats in Hey Annie at: http://www.heyannie.com/gallery/band-photos/

And see a sampling of Matt’s talented eye at: http://mattcashore.photoshelter.com/archive

Rock on!

– Mark

Thanks, let’s do it again. :)

We had another outstanding time at the Golf Club of Granger last evening. Thanks to everyone that came out to hear us, and spend your Friday night with Hey Annie. I was humbled by the turn out and support. We have some great friends, family and fans.

We take the HA traveling circus to LaSalle Kitchen & Tavern on Friday, November 25th…the day after Thanksgiving. Take a break from the leftovers and bring the visiting family out to LKT for an evening craft beers and cocktails, superb gastropub fare and our brand of rock and roll. We start at 9:00p. Check our Hey Annie Facebook page or our -Dates- page for more details.

Hey Annie at Art Beat 2016

We play on the State Theater stage today, Sunday, August 21st at 5:00p as part of Art Beat 2016. Please plan to join us, and the hundreds of other artists and thousands of art lovers that will be enjoying the afternoon in Downtown South Bend!

Be sure to say “Hey!”