'Arf Pat's, September 19

So me and Fiddlin' Dave are in this pub, and a fellow walks up to the bar and says, "Two dogs, please." A minute later he's stepping away with a glass in his hand. A puzzled Dave scratches his furrowed brow with a rosin-dusted finger and asks him, "Two dogs?" The guy points at his pint glass, a mix of ale and stout, and says "Yeah -- It's 'arf and 'arf." (Groans all around.)

And here it is, almost 'arf-way to St. Patrick's, and we of Riggity Jig are inviting you to a fine night of music and good cheer at Little Prague Bohemian Restaurant, local gathering place and cultural center for the Czeltic czommunity of greater Yolo County. We'll be playing at 6 pm (til ???) on Friday, September 19, and we'd love to see you there! To make your dinner reservation now, call 530-756-1107. Besides the main dining room, Little Prague has tables on the patio and in the bar, so make sure to ask for a spot close to the band. We're hoping fair weather will put us out on the patio this time around.

See you there!

Meet Me at the Fair!

Riggity Jig will be playing on stage at the Yolo County Fair again this year. Friday, August 15, we'll be on the East Stage from 4 to 5:30, squinting into the setting sun. We'd love to see you there! 

At last year's fair, we ended up playing backup for Dave Bender's Channel 13 weather report, broadcast live from the fairgrounds. Who knows what could happen this year?

The best way to find out is to be there! Tell your friends! Get some recycled paper and print out a dozen flyers (type or photo version) to pass out on the street. We're always passing out on the street -- It's fun!

See your at the fair! 

To Market, to Market . . .

Our flash jam turned out to be on a very smoky day, so we shifted indoors to Fiddlin' Dave Riggs's house about a block from Pioneer Park. Three fiddlers from the Scottish Games fiddlers' jam managed to find us there, and we had a fun evening swapping tunes. We'll plan another jam soon, and hope to keep it outdoors on a clear . . . and cool . . . evening then.

Next gig: Catch us Saturday morning, July 12, at the Woodland Farmer's Market in Freeman Park (between Main and Court Streets, a few blocks west of East Street). The market runs from 9 am til noon. Besides great music and fresh produce, the July 12 market will feature a classic car show and kids' science activities from Explorit Science Center.

We're also booked to play the Yolo County Fair again this year, starting at 4 pm on Friday, August 15. Watch for details. Last year we ended up playing backup for a live TV weather report from the fair!

Flash Jam!

What do you get when a tree that's full of ripe plums gets struck by lightning?

That's right: It's a Flash Jam!

That's also what you get if you use electronic means to announce a drop-in music session on short notice. Which is what we're doing here!

Friday, June 27, starting 6:30-ish, Riggity Jig will be hosting a jam session at Pioneer Park, corner of Branigan and Farnham in Woodland, California. All are welcome to sit in with the band, sing along, hum, bang your handtools in time, or just listen while your kids play on the playground.

So make time in your schedule! It's literally the last Friday in June, 2008, ever! Maybe the smoky haze will let up! Maybe they'll turn the sprinklers on! But you may never know if you don't drop by.

We'll be watching for you!

Almost Famous!

The local, beta version of Riggity Jig's global media blitz continued Monday with a write-up and some great photos -- one on the front page straddling the fold -- in the Davis Enterprise! Take a look at the the pix at the Enterprise website. No, that's no 'zouk I'm holding, but it sounds a lot more interesting that a mandolin -- or maybe it's easier to spell for the caption?

The reporter waxed rhapsodic and he spelled our names right, too. He also included our URL, and properly captured the lilt of Lee's pennywhistle, "like it's rolling over green hills." Ahhh.

In contrast to Saturday night's cold and rain, Monday night we played outdoors in pleasant weather on Little Prague's patio, and once again to a fine, appreciative crowd. Thanks to Vaclav and Eva for making us feel so welcome and so well fed.

Now it's back to our day jobs as we plan the next step in our plan for global domination. See you then!

A Fine Night, & More to Come!

Thanks to all who came to listen to Riggity Jig on March 15 and cheered us on. If you missed us Saturday night, all is not lost: We'll be back at Little Prague for the genuine St. Patrick's day, Monday night March 17 from 6 to 9 pm. Once again, reservations are advised.

Thanks also to our generous tippers, all of whose tips are going straight to St. Baldrick's to fund childhood cancer research. Riggity Jig's shaving team (see photo) has raised around $700 so far, with a goal of $1,000. Visit our team page if you'd like to make a donation, too. This year's preliminary total for all St. Baldrick's Day contributions worldwide is in excess of $8 million. That's a lot of pipettes and Petri dishes, but every extra penny will help.

It's still a little bit of a shock every time I look in the mirror and see that hairless scalp. But I know it will grow back, and I'm grateful that I when I lost my hair it was by choice. All of those kids and adults who lose their hair to chemotherapy have a choice, too, I suppose, but it's a much tougher one than I've ever had to face. Thanks to the good folks at St. Baldrick's Foundation for raising so much money to help these folks and for raising my own consciousness about one little bit of what they face each day, too.

Ides nor 'air?

More than just a close shave for Caesar, here. Wouldn't St. Baldrick have liked to take a razor to those marble locks? Speaking of which, we're still looking for sponsors for the Riggity Jig shaving team at St. Baldrick's this Friday in Sacramento. If you haven't signed up yet, go have a look and pitch in if you can.

I suppose Julius could have done with a bit of the luck o' the Irish that day back in the Senate, on the Ides of March these many years ago. Had it only been a year like this one, with St. Paddy's day falling in Holy Week, he might have spent the day of March 15th in a pub toasting St. Pat's name a few days early (by order of the Bishop of Rome, no less!) instead of famously uttering his last words to his betrayer from that cold, marble floor.

Don't you make that same mistake. Let this be a lesson to us all! Beware serious undertakings this year on the Ides of March! Instead, join Riggity Jig at Little Prague Restaurant in Davis as we honor the Crook-Bearer of Erin, that Chaser of Snakes, the man who blessed the very water of Waterford -- in short, isn't it St. Patrick himself that we'll be toasting this Saturday?

So grab the phone and call the folks at Little Prague to make sure they have a table set aside for you. Then set yourself apart from the toga-and-dagger set this Ides of March, and have yourself a proper Irish feast, complete with fine music and of course a suitable beverage.

Erin Go Bragh!