We spent this evening at open mic night at the Cup O’ Joy. What fun. We had done this a few months ago, so tonight was our second time there.

The Cup is a Christian coffee house in downtown Green Bay. It’s a great place to take the family and experience God’s love. No admission charge. No alcohol. No smoking. No sad faces. They have performers there from around the country every weekend.

The Cup is supported entirely by free will donations. And it’s truly free will. If you can’t give, you are still encouraged to give by your presence. What a great place to experience the power of faith in our lives. I’m Catholic, and I consider myself a pretty religious person. I pray a lot. I attend Mass every week. But there’s still something about the Cup, that makes me connect with Jesus. So tonight was special.

You never know who you’re going to see at open mic night. I hate to mention just one, for fear that the others may feel excluded. But tonight, I really enjoyed the music of Coty Sloan. It’s different. Coty plays the violin, so his CD, Melodies of the Spirit, is instrumental. And it’s very good stuff. Very peaceful and moving. You should check it out.

We had our first major snow storm of the year today, and I love it!

Today, we sang the national anthem at the UWGB women’s basketball game. This was one of those gigs where we had to drive through the winter weather to get there. No canceling out. No staying home due to snow. Ya gotta go. We all made it, and it was a great opportunity to sing in the new Kress Events Center. What a nice facility.

It was a great night at Joannes Baseball Stadium tonight! The Green Bay Bullfrogs defeated the Battle Creek Bombers 6-5 (11 innings) in the Bullfrogs’ inaugural home opener. The players were introduced amid fireworks. Green Bay Mayor Jim Schmitt threw out the first pitch. And GQ4 was honored once again to perform the Star Spangled Banner in front of 1,311 fans. The night concluded with a spectacular fireworks show, and the Green Bay fans went home having had a great night at the park.

Jeff Royle, Bullfrogs’ majority owner & president, has assembled a great staff, and all aspects of the game seemed to go quite smoothly. The stadium looks great, they’ve really done a great job fixing the place up.

But the best part of the whole experience is the ticket prices. It’s so tough to bring a family to any entertainment venue now-a-days, and the Bullfrogs games are a welcome relief. General admission is only $5. The most expensive seat is $7. The concessions are very reasonably prices. Baseball caps are only $15. The Bullfrogs are going to be around for many years to come, and we’re glad to have been part of of this special evening.

We just booked a date to sing the national anthem for an exciting sporting event. The Green Bay Bullfrogs, a brand new baseball franchise in the Northwoods League, are starting play in Green Bay on Monday, June 4, 2007 against the Battle Creek Bombers. And we’ll be there, sharing our pride and patriotism with the crowd, by singing the Star Spangled Banner.

There is so much excitement in the community about the Bullfrogs starting play. This is a summer collegiate league, with players coming from colleges from all over the country. We hope you’ll join us for this exciting inaugural game at historic Joannes Stadium.

Grip It & Ribbit!

A LOT of things had to come together for GQ4 on April 9 and 10 to make this rare opportunity a reality. We created a bit of our own good fortune. Made our own luck.- Just last week I mentioned that we should go to other major league teams, since we haven’t gotten through to the Packers yet, to perform anthems. HAH! Another team came to Wisconsin! How unlikely is THAT!?!

- Not only unlikely, but it’s also the FAVORITE MLB team of the Crevier’s! Scott proclaims his wife is the “biggest Angels fan in Wisconsin”.

- I caught the “breaking news” from a Milwaukee radio station (that I’ve only listened to 2 or 3 times in the last 3 or 4 years) while I was driving to McD’s and back to work which was about 8 minutes of radio time.

- While in the drive thru, I text messaged Scott from my cell phone regarding the game, and maybe they needed an anthem singer since it was such short notice. I didn’t really think much of it, at least not seriously, that we could get in on the anthem for this game.

- He got my message and was taking the day off from work! If he would have had to work Monday, I don’t know that this would have been able to happen as it has, if at all. It was tremendously fortunate that he was off.

- The Brewers were away, playing in Florida.

- If the Milwaukee Brewers ticket/promotion manager had not picked up the phone when Scott called, this easily could have stalled or not happened at all. Scott has called her before only to get voicemail.

- A minor ticket count issue, to be resolved on Game Day. Thanks Scott!

- Six of our nine children, and two of our spouses will be accompanying us to the game. Cool!

- I’m still surprised we all got off with such short notice.

- We’re really looking forward to this fun, momentous occasion.

For a group of guys who sings our national anthem at many sporting events, the ultimate privilege is to do it at a major league sporting event. NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL. The big time.

That opportunity just fell into our lap for tonight. The Anaheim Angels (yes, that’s the correct name) and the Cleveland Indians were scheduled to start a 3-game series tonight in Cleveland. But due to all the snow falling in Cleveland, they moved the series to Miller Park in Milwaukee (121 miles from my driveway), a stadium with a dome. Miller Park is home to the Brewers, who are in Florida this week.

My wife, being from Southern California, is the biggest Angel fan in Wisconsin. So, we decided to pack up the family (the kids are still on Easter break) and head south. Then Brian wondered if maybe they need a national anthem singer. A couple of phone calls later, we’re booked.

So the four of us are heading down to the cream city with 9 family members, and we’ll perform the Star Spangled Banner for the crowd at Miller Park tonight. According to an article I read, they’re selling tickets to the game for $10. Sounds like a great deal. Can’t wait to see the Angels.

What fun! We did a gig last night for Orthodontic Specialists of Green Bay. It was their Christmas Party and we had the usual fun we have at Christmas parties. But this one was special for a couple of reasons. First, my wife works there, so I knew a lot of people. It was cool to perform for friends. Second, Dr. Richard Steinke is retiring.

Dr. Steinke started the practice decades ago, and in the several years that I’ve known him, it’s easy to see why so many of his employees like him and respect him. What a great guy. I wore braces for 18 months a couple of years ago, and Dr. Steinke knew how to handle my treatment quite well. Being a guy in my 40s, it took some convincing from my wife to get braces in the first place. But Dr. Steinke saw that and knew that I wasn’t the most eager of patents. I’m glad to have had the opportunity to meet and know him.

So we (Brian, Chris, Kelly & I) figured that we can’t just let him retire without sending him off well. So we took an old standard song that we do, and rewrote the words as a tribute to Dr. Steinke. It went over quite well, and we were very touched that the song was well accepted.

This is one of those gigs that we’ll remember for a long time. Thanks, Doc, thanks!

Wow!  It’s finally here.  GQ4 is heading over to Rochester, MN tomorrow for the Friday night quartet competition.  I’m excited, and nervous, and hungry for a great performance from all 4 guys.  We’ve been practicing hard, working on presentation, getting the vowels right, holding out the phrases…man, that’s tough work!  I’m only getting a glimpse of what the International boys do week in and week out.  All the more reason to admire those barbershop CDs we listen to in our cars every day.  Someday we’ll cut a track or two….

This contest is very exciting for our quartet due to our novice status.  It’s our one time shot at District Novice, and being the Packerland Division Novice champs we want to do our division proud this weekend.  I hope we have some great news to share on Saturday!  Wish us luck!  I can hear the crowd now…GQ4!…GQ4!…GQ4!!

What a great day! We traveled 237 miles to Durand today to participate in their sesquicentennial celebration. We were one of many entertainers at Memorial Park. And just before that, we performed for the residents of Oakwood Care Center.

It rained quite hard on the way there, but once we got there, the sun came out and it warmed up quite nicely. We really enjoyed spending the day with the residents of this quaint little town of less than 2,000. Everyone was in the spirit, with dozens and dozens of folks dressed up in old-time garb.

On the way home, we stopped at Dooley’s Pub in Eau Claire for dinner. There was a wedding party in there, so of course we had to sing a song or two for the bride and groom.

It’s good to be home after a long day. Thanks to Patty Blount of the Durand Community Library for inviting us. We hope that today won’t be the last time we’re ever in Durand.
Happy 150th Durand!

Well, we seem to be getting busier in recent months, and traveling farther. We were in Brookfield a couple weeks ago. We leave early in the morning (actually about 6 hours from now) for Durand to perform at their sesquicentennial celebration. That should be a lot of fun!

And in the coming months, we’ll be in Black River Falls, Black Creek, Rochester (MN) and Menomonee Falls. And we’ll be doing a few local gigs in Green Bay and De Pere. I’m not complaining though. We’re having a blast performing for audiences all around the state.

Gotta get to bed now.