Greetings, Scandinavian Fans!

We're coming up on our Twentieth Anniversary gigs starting this weekend at the Dakota Club.  But what have we been doing between our last gig on March 7th and now?  While I can't speak for the rest of the band, I can tell you what I've been up to.

April was a *VERY* busy month for me.  I started out by flying to New York City to serve as music director for an off-Broadway production of The Polish Diva From Milwaukee, a brilliant one-woman musical by my friend Terry Palasz.  The production was a huge success.  It was hectic and a lot of hard work but the experience was priceless.  Working with top theater professionals in New York was a real treat for me.

The day after returning from New York I performed at the Washington State Spring Fair in Puyallup with another of the bands I play with, Cowgirl's Dream.  We did two sets with a break in between for the chainsaw carver to perform his carving.  If you enjoy some traditional Western swing and country western music this is the band for you!  It's a really fun band with great musicians.

Two days after that I was in Tacoma at the Temple Theater playing accordion with my friend Heidi Stoermer for Adventures In Oz, a burlesque version of the beloved Wizard Of Oz.  It was a fabulous performance with some really amazing dancers and, of course, a couple of great songs.  This was my second year playing with the Gritty City Sirens and their show.  They did a fantastic job!

The following week I was back with one of my other ensembles, the Valse Café Orchestra, performing for an afternoon dance at the Century Ballroom in Seattle followed immediately by a performance at the Star Chefs fundraiser at the Pantages Theater in Tacoma.  It was a really amazing experience!  The Pantages was transformed into Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory for the fundraiser and we provided all the music for the evening, playing a lot of the music that people remembered from the original movie.

Last weekend I began the month of May with Valse Café again, only this time we were providing music for Recipe For Love II in Redmond.  Lucia Neare, the company's director, always makes amazing performances with singing, dancing, acting, and cakes.  The performances are all-encompassing and immerse the audience in the action.  If you've never been to one there's just no way to adequately describe it.  I was privileged to be playing piano and accordion and leading the orchestra.  I also wrote all of the arrangements of the music for the show which was a feat in and of itself.

With all of those performances behind me I can finally turn my attention back to celebrating the Twentieth Anniversary of the Smilin' Scandinavians.  I hope that each and every one of you is able to come out and join us for one of the celebrations coming up in the next month!