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October 2009 - What a summer! The band rocked The Gayety, The Roxy, The Octave, The Aultsville, The Lester B Pearson Theatres in towns across Ontario like Collingwood, Owen Sound, Delta, Kingston, Cornwall, Kemptville, Sudbury and Elliot Lake since the last tour. We've had articles written, TV crews, radio interviews, sold out shows, new videos on You Tube and it's only a week after the end of summer. Johnny Silvertone did a great job as a sub on two shows. Stu, Dave and Marty have a new live recording taken fom the Aultsville and The Kemptville Municipal Centre which will soon be put together as the 5th BHL CD (the second since 2008). On to Brighton, Elgin and lIndsay before we prepare for the 2010 51st Anniversary Tour of The Day The Music Died (Buddy Holly Week - late January - early February). See you at the theatre!

March 2009 - The TOUR was a great success and a fun way to pay homage to Buddy's last performance 50 years ago! The T-shirts are almost all sold out, we sold a pile of CDs. We're gearing up for the summer and the fall season and we'll keep you in the loop. All of the 50th tour shows were sold out and we expect to cover Ottawa, Cornwall, Arnprior, Delta, Picton, Kingston, Belleville and lots more places before the end of the year. We hope to see you soon. Don't forget to mail us at info@buddyholly.ca to join the mailing list/newsletter.

Jan 24 Port Hope - Jan 30-31 Gananoque - Feb 3 Peterborough - Feb 5 Perth - Feb 6 Campbellford - Feb 7 - Bracebridge - 50th Anniversary Feb 3, 1959 - 2009.

November 2008 - Buddy Holly Live! recorded a new CD on November 10th. The tracks are being mixed down as we speak. There are 11 songs!  We'll let you know as soon as we have a CD for sale! Many thanks to Paul Johnson, our recording engineer at a small private studio in Wellington, Ontario at "Through the Cedars". This is the first new recording since 2003 and Manager Merv and our marketing and tour manager Jim seemed pleased, everyone had a great day and we look forward to hearing the final recording.

April - 2005 - Buddy Holly Live! reunion gig at B C V I a success!  The house was a rockin - well over 450 audience members saw Buddy Holly Live! for the first time in a theatre since July of 2003! The last time the boys were in Brockville was April 27, 2002 - almost three years ago to the day. The full house saw "Buddy"(Dave) , "Joe B."(Marty) and "J. I" (Stu) recreate the magic that Buddy Holly and the Crickets had from 1956 until that fateful day on February 3rd, 1959 (47 years ago) when Buddy, The Big Bopper and Ritchie Valens perished in a plane crash. The audience was treated to a celebration of the life, the humour, and the energy of being twenty and being  national rock n' roll stars. No one had to suspend their disbelief - The guys were in fine form as they transported the audience into the fifties as three young "not so naive" Texan boys who embarked on a journey that changed the world. Highlights included Joe B. playing electric on Fools Paradise and Eddie Cochran's Twenty Flight Rock. True Love Ways, Everyday and Peggy Sue also received long and loud applause. The band played an encore of "That'll be the Day" after a standing ovation and rousing audience applause throughout the performance. Without question the performance was the best Buddy Holly Live! has ever done - and the audience agreed!

Buddy Holly Live! played August 14, 2004 at the Westport Legion for Shirley Murphy's Birthday Bash. Dave, Marty and Stu were in fine form as the boys rocked the room with the Holly classics.  Marty made it home safely in late May. Great to see a year didn't make much of a difference.The boys still know their stuff!

Read about the Last Show in the Brighton Gazette  - See Media Links - Buddy Holly Live! rocked the field behind the Proctor-Simpson Barn on Sunday, July 13th! - Dave gave an interview to Tracy Tong of the Brighton Gazette on July 6th. So I imagine the article should appear shortly. See Upcoming Shows for details. Tickets are $10 for adults (preferred seating), $5.00 on the hill and Children are admitted free. There will be old cars and fifties -style food. All in support of the Brighton Health Care Centre.

Oh Canada, Oh Boy! Buddy and the Boys rocked it up good on June 30th in Kingston.  Some 5,000 attended including the Mayor, The Town Crier, The MPP John Gerretsen, Councillors Don Rogers and various other dignitaries. The fireworks were spectacular - Buddy and company sang Oh Canada after the Civic Ceremony at the conclusion of the rock n' roll show. Thanks to Roger James and Lesley Kimble for great organization. Thanks to Larry Stafford for great sound and thanks to Mike Hanna, the driver, Bob Pringle the idea man and all of the Kingston Police for escorting and picking up Buddy and Joe B. and J.I. on stage in a 1952 Black Police car complete with siren. The crowd loved it and a good time was had by all.

Buddy Holly Live! helped raise $160,000 for Cancer Research! at the Relay For Life  for The Canadian Cancer Society - La Salle Secondary School, Kingston, ON on June 9, 2003 -  Thanks to the Soul Survivors and Doug Reansbury and all who participated along with us.

Watch for a ONE NIGHT ONLY performance at The Kingston Brewing Company - May 24!   Limited seating - This will be an absolutely unique experience. Sing-along in an intimate one-of -a -kind venue. Buddy Holly Live will likely never repeat this kind of small show, so see this incredible and up close and personal experience. Have a beer, sit down and go nuts! "Cause it'll be an excellent PARTY! Spend a night in 1957!

They've heard of Buddy in Charleston Lake NOW!  Whew!  JOHN and SHERI - May the rest of your lives be filled with the happiness we saw at the Pig Roast! You guys are great together! Crazy... man, Fun Times -  Thanks to Cicero & Laurie, Ryan & Mary, Jack and Georgia, Morley and Carol, Roger and Diane - Wait until you guys see the video Janeson shot. Boy, Was that Brunswick stew good! I wonder how the squirrel managed to escape this time though! Everybody seemed to be caught having a damn good time (even Gunnar and Anna). Even neighbours were seen jitterbugging and rockin' the joint down. Y'all come back now - TOUTE SUITE for a Southern-Style Texas - Florida - Georgia Good ol' Time!

PORT HOPE packs them in! - 635 See Buddy Holly Live! at their BEST  The two shows at the Capitol Theatre in Port Hope were a rousing success!!!. The matinee show sold 275 seats and the evening was a SOLD OUT affair with 360 in attendance. Not bad for a show that was virtually unadvertised. The fans were the loudest and most enthusiastic the band has ever experienced. Buddy and the boys cajoled and played with the audience who responded with applause, cheers, whistles and much laughter. Everyone had a real down home Texan good time! The antics included Joe B (Marty) playing bass on his back with  Buddy (Dave) on his knees arching back during Peggy Sue - "J.I" (Stu) then came out and played sticks drums during "Honey Don't" on Joe B.'s bass - The crowd gave Buddy an extraordinarily long applause after "True Love Ways" - The band even played a couple of unusual tunes like Elvis' "Baby Let's Play House" (a tune which Buddy did cover) and "I'm Gonna Set my Foot Down" (which Decca rejected, but the audience apparently disagreed - giving it a solid two thumbs up). Joe B (Marty) concluded the shows with the story of the last show and the Winter Dance Party followed by "The ghost of Buddy" (Dave) reappearing on stage for "Not D\Fade Away" - followed by encores "Peggy Sue", "Oh Boy" and "Maybe Baby". The crowd clapped and swayed along to all their favourite hits all afternoon and evening. The Northumberland Hospice had originally scheduled one show and went to two due to excess demand. They were delighted with the results raising approximately $20,000 for their hospice care program. The silent auction also went well as well as many autographed photos and CDs in addition to all of the silent auction items. A little info on the silent auction items - in particular the jacket  -

In 1990 Mirvish Productions bought the North American rights to the London, England production and put on the Buddy Holly Story - Buddy, in Toronto & New York. Mirvish worked with Labatt Breweries of Canada to produce and market the show.  41 jackets were made.  40 for the cast to wear for various functions and our contact, Bill Vronsky, who was working as National Manager of Promotions for Labatt Breweries got the 41st one. This is the one the Northumberland Hospice now has and are offering for auction.   Paul McCartney owns the rights to the music and he held a party in New York in conjunction with the play being on Broadway.   About 300 attended including the cast.  People like Mayor Dinkins of New York, Barbara Walters, Bryant Gumbel, Paul & Linda McCartney, Buddy Holly's widow Maria and The Crickets - Buddy's original band.  The cast, Paul & Linda and the Crickets all got up on the stage and joined in a jam session.  Bill Vronsky asked Joe the drummer for the band if he could have a drumstick as a memento of the night and they gave it to him autographed by the Crickets and Mrs. Holly. 

We've been asked to do other engagements in the area so no doubt we'll see you soon if you live in the Port Hope, Brighton or Cobourg area!

March Double-Bill at the Weaveshed a Double Sell-out Success! Things may never be the same in Cornwall! The three Ontario Texan boys came back and brought the house down TWICE in one day. The crowd howled to the antics and stories including watching "Joe B" playing Bass flat on his back to "Peggy Sue". Jerry "J.I." came from behind the drums in "Honey Don't" and played sticks on the Joe B's Bass to raucous applause and delight. The audience WAS LOUD and animated in both performances. That'll be the Day brought the house down as an encore after Buddy came back to life on the stage with The Crickets and played "Not Fade Away" after the crowd heard about the "final flight to Moorhead (care of  Fargo, Minnesota) on February 3rd, 1959. The boys told stories about their New York days, Ed Sullivan, Little Richard, Papa Norman Petty, Elvis' first appearance in Lubbock, the early days in the garage at his brother Larry's place (and his brother's loan for his first Fender Stratocaster guitar). They also told about the story of Peggy Sue and Buddy's whirlwind romance and marriage to the lovely Maria Elena Santiago and the song he wrote for her "True Love Ways". The performance was inspiring. Many in the audience were there for the third time! Other songs included It's so easy, Crying, Waiting, Hoping, Oh Boy, Rave on , Raining in my Heart, Think it Over, Maybe baby, Baby won't you come out tonite, Down the Line, Ting-a-Ling and many of the 1955-56 Rockabilly numbers were featured. The audience were boppin' in their seats, some ventured to dance. The applause was the loudest the band said they could ever recall. The band wishes to thank all those who came and  Michael "Tex" Bianchin and Pam, Janeson (nice video!!!), Larry and Dave (great sound boys, but watch out for extra rows when they gotta shoehorn 'em in), Terrie and all of the staff and Board of the Weaveshed, including Investors Group and The Ramada Inn (Thanks Scott and family) who made the shows a total success. Somebody tell the Trillium folks that the Arts are alive and well in Cornwall. The Weaveshed has been sold out every time we've been there! Love and Kisses from Lubbock! - Buddy Holly Live! is ALIVE and WELL!

New York Loved Buddy Holly Live!  Thanks to everyone at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino - First class treatment - first class show - The audience were delighted with a great show in the Northern Lights Room of the Casino for the Akwesasne Winter Carnival. Thanks to Janeson, Sheila, Janique and Darlene for putting it together; Don for a great job as emcee; Danny, Sean and Tony for superb sound and a dynamic light show and everyone who helped make this the rousing success it was! We look forward to seeing you again! 

Buddy Holly Live! got Rave reviews from The Cornwall Standard Freeholder! Monday, January 20, 2003's edition had the Headline "Buddy Holly was Alive and Well at Weave Shed - Sell-out audience said it was like going back in time to see the real thing" -  The same day the Review was entitled "Buddy must have been smiling down" - for details see Media Page

GREAT NEWS !! Buddy Holly Live did a standing room only performance on January 18, 2003 at The Weave Shed Arts Centre  in Cornwall!  Due to heavy demand over 80 people had to be turned away! - But they did get tickets to the next show! If you call the Weaveshed to book in advance you can still get tickets to the March 8th, 2003 performance, but be quick over 100 tickets were sold the day the next show was announced (At the show January 18th a quick double-return bill was arranged due to overwhelming demand).  Buddy Holly Live! has already pre-sold one show and half of the other on March 8, 2003 for a return performance and a second show is scheduled as a matinee at 2 pm on the same day. Over 170 people were shoehorned into a 140 seat capacity theatre! People were offered tickets to the next performance and MANY CHOSE TO STAY AND STAND!  270 people showed up for a 140-seat theatre!! WOW! The crowd was delighted as BHL delivered a high energy performance second to none.  Thanks to Michael Bianchin of Welcomewood Productions for organizing and promoting the show on TV, radio, print and in the community. Also many thanks to Larry Sylvain and Mick from Sylvain Sound in Cornwall for their wonderful sound production. Great acoustics are the trademark of the Weaveshed.  Thanks to Janeson for videotaping the show (and taking care of many last minute requests by the band such as costume, guitar and amp adjustments, organization and helping us stay sane by taking care of a lot of the important details - thanks to Larry for the sound feed. The Cornwall Standard Freeholder was there and the review will be posted shortly. Their reporter (Kathleen Haye) spoke with Dave before and after the show and was most impressed by the show and the crowd's intense enjoyment and reaction. She said she would be making sure her two sisters came March 8th. Dave also treated the crowd to some humourous anecdotes in both official languages much to their surprise! Oui! les gamins de Buddy Holly Live! aiment bien laisser les bons temps rouler (The guys from BHL told the audience to Let the Good times roll along with a few other pearls of wisdom such as the advice they had received while in Canada not to eat yellow snow). The audience gave the band 2 standing ovations and after the finale (Peggy Sue Got Married, It's so Easy and Not Fade Away) were treated to encores consisting of  Oh Boy, Maybe baby and That'll be the Day.

Some notable quotes...

"The music of the late'50s and early 60's...that for me is meaningful music. The songs and musicians I grew up with transcend nostalgia-Buddy Holly and Johnny Ace are just as valid to me today as then."-Bob Dylan

"Looking back over the last20 years, I guess the guy I've admired most in rock'n'roll is Buddy Holly"-Elvis Presley

"Everything Buddy did he did with a sense of urgency that he wasn't going to have a lot of time....I think it was because he was doing what he wanted more than anything." -Larry Holley (Buddy's brother)