Sausage Fest III - 2009

Wild good time Saturday at the 3rd annual Woodie Johnson Sausage Fest at the Fender Center for the Performing Arts in Corona. A long lost friend and human metronome, Mike Dauer from back in the day invited me and I decided to take him up on it. It’s a fund raiser/Party/ really cool event that’s been growing in scope for well you guessed it, 3 years now. Carnival like atmosphere with of course tons of music. Six bands in all yesterday. The Fender Center provides FREE music education for kids in the area in light of budget cuts for the same in the public school system. It’s a really classy operation. There’s also a great little museum on site with exhibits covering the history of Fender and it’s relationships with a number of artists. Most impressive. You can find out more about the center HERE where you can check out the profiles for Mark and John Cruz.

The only downside of the day was the traffic that had to be dealt with in getting there. Reminded me immediately why I rarely venture from South County. This trip was well worth it. Friends Glenn and Lisa had just returned from 5 days in Vegas and stopped by the festivities even before heading home. I bet they’re wiped out! Glenn has been playing for while now and I made sure he was invited as I knew he would get a kick out of the place. He was not disappointed. He was especially impressed with the opening act which consisted of students at the center. It’s kind of embarrassing at our advanced ages to see youngsters play so well. It also gives us hope that it’s never too late to learn.

Had to mack on a sausage sandwich from one of the event sponsors and namesake Jody Maroni’ Sausage Kingdom. Yummy!!! This could become a staple in my diet very easily. Toured the warehouse and recital room. Tons of guitars on display just about everywhere you go and the recital room is very casual with a lounge type atmosphere. Pretty cool. You can find a clip of the Igniters playing with supporter Paul Rodgers (Free, Bad Co., The Firm, Queen, etc.) yes,…. That Paul Rodgers in that very room HERE. Takes awhile to load so be patient.

Very family and friends oriented event with tons of kids in attendance. It’s all about their exposure to the arts. Mike’s longtime friend and guitarist Mark Kendrick handled the MC’s duties flawlessly between sets and had the kids really into things with the sack race, musical chairs, raffle’s and other games. Good times for sure. The ensemble the Woodie Johnson Band opened things up with 3 tunes before passing off the musical chores to a score of guest artists.
At least two of the band members, Mark, and Cruz are employed at the Fender Custom Shop in Corona. They’ve spent quite a bit of time over the years building and tweaking guitars and consequently are quite accomplished at the playing them. Mark nailed the vocals on the CCR classic Born on the Bayou.

There’s really too much to explain in a blog post so I’m going to throw up some pictures and perhaps a link to the photos once I sort through them… Here’s a few for starters…

Enjoy..


The Showcase Lounge


John "Shreddy" Cruz


Mike "The Clock" Dauer



The Woodie Johnson Band


Mark and Ralph


Axes Galore in the Lobby


Storytelling...


The Killer, Carl Perkins, The Man in Black and The King at the piano


Lenny, SRV Tribute Strat


Poster of EC with Strat Mark built for him


Mark MC'ing with Debbie, Administrative Director of the Center and all around nice gal..


"Ready For Vegas"


Gnarly Stand Up


Very Cool Tex Mex Band

The Tex-Mex band was pretty cool. That guy's stand up bass was painted metalflake gold just like a 60 something Chevy Impala. I love the license plate mounted on it.. Awesome!

Good times for sure !!!!

I'd post some video clips but with this weak butt internet connection up here on the hill

Be well all,

-Scott