July 2010
Happy Summer Everyone,
It was a nice ride up from Florida this year. Travelling through North Carolina and
Pennsylvania via the truck route is probably my favorite. What scenery!
Last week I went up to Canada to do a show with my sister in Bathurst, New Brunswick,
Canada. It had been since November last year since my visit up there and I also
enjoyed the ride From Houlton, Maine down to Moncton, New Brunswick. It was really
nice to see my Dad, (who is doing well), and to hang out with him for a couple days. I
stayed in Bathurst for a couple extra days to catch up with my old friends where we
used to live 12 years ago. It’s so nice to do that. I had no voice the next morning from
talking so much!
I am home again in Maine and will be catching up with yard maintenance since we got
home later than usual. Can someone tell me why do the weeds like to take over????
Thank God I like to garden…. It’s was a cold winter in Florida and I was inside a lot so
I’m looking forward to being outside.
We did a couple of benefits so far this year that was very rewarding. One was in Florida
for “Breast Cancer Research” and the other was for “The Maine Homeless Vets”. I didn’t
realize that there are so many Vets without shelter. It’s truly amazing and we need to
pay more attention to this as they were there for us!
Some of you have heard that I had surgery and it’s true. It was minor surgery and
everything is fine. I’m healthy as a horse….where did that saying come from? Ha! Enjoy
great weather this summer and safe travels if you go on vacation. Hope to see everyone
at one of our shows. It’s so nice when we see you in the audience. I really do
appreciate it very much to see your familiar faces out there!
God Bless
January 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! I hope all of you have had a wonderful holiday and are surviving
this CRAZY cold weather, even here in Florida when have been freezing!!!
Well to update you since the last news, Brian and I had a wonderful time at his brother’s
place for Thanksgiving in Jacksonville Fl. It was far too much food and shopping but we
had fun catching up and spending time with him and his wife. My little, ok not so little,
Jessie had fun having two friends to play with while we were there and we never had
any trouble getting him to sleep…hahaha!! For Christmas, we went to Nashville and
spent time with my sister Shirley. We had a great time and I was surprised when my
Aunt and Uncle I hadn’t seen in quite a while showed up. We spent most of our time
cooking and having fun sharing stories about the family, but one really exciting evening
was when we went to the Old Grand Old Opry (Ryman Auditorium) to see Ricky Skaggs
and The Whites. What an amazing show it was, Ricky and his family are such amazing
performers and being at that show just really put us in the holiday spirit.
Well as some of you know December is the month of my Birthday and Brian surprised
me with a trip to Las Vegas. We were there for 5 days and all I can say is WOW!!! We
could have stayed another 5 days and not have been able to see it all. The casino’s are
so big you will definitely get your exercise in from all the walking. While there we spent
a lot of our time seeing some of the incredible shows…My favorites were Cher, David
Copperfield (who made Brian disappear from the front of the stage to the back of the
stage and really don’t know how he did it)!!!! We also took in a Cirque du Soleil show
which was filled with some awesome theatrics and laughed our heads off with comedian
Ron White .
While the last two months have been a world wind of activities, it’s now time to get
settled in and start back to work. I’m looking forward to getting back on the stage and
performing for everyone and getting to see my many friends and meeting some new
ones. Take a look at the tour page for our current schedule but keep coming back since
it really seems to change weekly as we add new shows.
Got to go for now, but I’ll continue to update you as we perform and as the tales of the
tour start happening. Thank You for all your support and please know how much I
appreciate it and Love You very much.
All the best for 2010’
October 2009
Howdy friends,
We just got down here in Florida a couple weeks ago and the weather is beautiful. Ok I
won’t rub it in but I will be home in November and January for gigs so I will get a chance
to experience the cold and the snow once again. I look forward to that as I have always
enjoyed the winters in Canada and in Maine. Brian and I are fortunate to be able to
come down here to work. For me there are more possibilities of gigs here in the winter,
but I do get to goof off sometimes and head to the beach, Disney World, Busch Garden’s
or simply just ride my motorcycle.
For the upcoming holidays we are planning to be in Jacksonville with Brian’s brother and
his wife for our US thanksgiving and in Nashville for Christmas with my sister “Shirley”
and Rod. In November while we back home will have an early Christmas with my family
including my Dad in Canada and my new grand nephew “Seth” who’s about 6 months
now. Fun to have a little one to spoil!
The fall gigs went well and and we were so busy I never had time for any September
News but I'm looking forward to the gigs down here. I hope we’ll get a chance to see
you down the road somewhere and if not, please have yourselves a great fall, winter
and Holiday Season.
Shirley Farrell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our Famous Fan Club President!!!!!!
CONGRATULATIONS! On your 20th anniversary with being our fan club president! You
have done a super wonderful job and I really hope we have you for another 20 years!
Your hard work and dedication through all these years have been so appreciated by all
the fans and myself. I can’t remember the times you weren’t feeling good and still
there’d be a news letter and it in my eyes was ….absolutely perfect! Shirley, I
Thank You again and again for being my friend and from the bottom of my heart for
everything you are and have done for all of us as our #1 fan club president!
We just love you a whole lot!!!!
Finally, Next Month I'll update everyone on the dental work saga, we are close to having
it completed but it has been at times challenging....
Bye for now, Debbie
August 2009
On the 6th and 7th of this month we had wonderful crowds at our shows in Woodstock
and St-John Pier, Canada. On the 8th we were back in Maine for two more fun shows,
the first at 10:00am at North Nobleboro and then at 6:00 that evening in Wells. Each
year the crowds at these two shows just keeps growing and growing. To finally end the
week on the 9th , I sang at my friends John and Anita Ladd’s 40th wedding anniversary.
They are a great couple and I met so many of their wonderful friends and family.
After taking a few days off to visit dad I was back at work on the 15th doing two shows
at the Broken Acres Country Grass Festival and what a warm crowd. It was nice how
everyone would applaud a lot during our songs as Tommy and I would sing, I guess
they liked what we were doing. It’s always a treat to do a show with Tommy (Freddy)
Thompson, we have so much fun on and off stage. I hope Pat (his wife) doesn’t mind.
Ha ha ha….Actually I’m hoping that next season she will sing more with Tommy and I.
She and Tommy did a fantastic job at Broken Acres also I even joined in on a song
called “Sweet Memories” and the harmonies made the hair stand up on my arms….
and that’s a good thing!!!
The Final show of the month was on the 25th at the White Mountain Hotel. It was
another wonderful show and the crowd from New Jersey and I had a blast. I have two
more shows this year around the holidays which is my favorite place to be with a
blanket of snow. Shhhhhhhhh, I know it’s too soon for snow!
To end the month and begin the next I’m heading back to Florida to visit friends and
complete some of my dental work but I look forward to seeing you all as our schedule
of shows really starts heating up next month.
July 2009
Well I wound up staying in Florida for 3 weeks finishing up some of my dental work and
waiting on the bus to get finished. I drove it home on the 25th and delivered it on the
28th and everyone was excited with the results. While the project was time consuming,
I’m very grateful for the experience and happy with how everything turned out.
The last week of the month I got back to work with gigs at Jimmy Jordan’s and the Wild
West Days in Dexter, ME. The shows were so much fun with great crowds and playing
with the boys again. Lastly, at the end of the month I got to spend time with my niece
Celine, her husband Garth and my new little nephew Seth. They along with some friends
came and spent 4 days with us and it was a ball..We shopped, Swam in the pool, and
had so much fun playing with the young ones. It’s wonderful to have “young babies”
around .
June 2009
Our first gig with the band here in Maine was a little ruff but we had a blast. Wayne
another one of our steel players hurt his foot the day of the show so Kevin sat in with us.
It was nice seeing Kevin too, Imagine playing with 3 different steel players… how cool is
that! Wayne, Kevin and Tommy….I love you all! Ok I love Jackson, Robbie and Ronnie
too. We’ll also had a chance to feel the magic of our sound and lighting guy “Brad”.
Thanks guys you’re all wonderful and talented!!! Since then we’ve really gotten the act
shaped up and done some wonderful shows throughout New England and Canada.
The Montreal Show in particular was a very special as we traveled with Pat & Tommy
Thompson. What a treat it was to learn so much from a couple who’s been married
for 52 years. The show itself was a full house although it rained , of course in the end
the bus being heavy sank in the mud and was filthy by the time we got out of there.
At the end of the month I left for Florida and I couldn’t wait to get away from all this cold
and wet weather we’ve been having….What’s Up with that!!!! Really, Brian and I have
headed back to complete some of our dental work and also for me to pick up the bus
that I’ve been the Project Manager for and drive it home. You should see it after the
renovations, I’ll post some pictures of it soon for all of you to see.
Well that’s all for now, but Thank You as always for your continued support of our
shows and I’ll look forward to seeing all of you soon.
May 2009
My show season is winding down and we are preparing to head back to Maine for the
summer. Brian and I decide to take a little vacation time before leaving and go on the
same cruise the girls and I took back in February. It was enjoyable to relax on the ship
and at our different ports so we came back refreshed and energized for the trip home.
Linda came back down to help us prepare for the trip home, so on the 21st we left
Florida and arrived in Maine on the 25th… We haven’t been home since Christmas so it
was really nice to see the homestead but not nice to see all the work that needs to be
done….LOL
My Project Manager duties are still happening so I have the tough task of going back to
Florida for a few weeks at the end of June to pick up the bus, as well as, have some of
the dental work done….Sometime around July 4th I’ll be driving back to Maine and
ending my Project Manager Job, which has really been fun and a different challenge for
me.
It has been so wonderful seeing everyone this season while performing in Florida and I
want Thank You for your continued support. As myself and the Redneck Rodeo begin
the summer and fall schedule here in the North I’m looking forward to reconnecting
with everyone we haven’t seen in a while. Once again Thank You for all your continued
support and for allowing me to do the thing I love so very much.
April 2009
This has been an interesting month….The fun part has been Brian and I have started
taking Dance Classes 3 times a week and we have learned so much…I never realized
how little things like hand and arm positions can change the easiness of how you move.
So watch out there might be a song and dance act coming in the near future….NOT!!!!
The owners/instructors are well known Ballroom dancers from England who have won
many awards and also now judge competitions, so I guess we’re in good hands!
The not so fun part has been the Dentist…Both Brian and I have had to have some
major work done with the worst being the gum surgeries. Stitches’ and pain aren’t fun
but the end result will help us keep our teeth, which is “GREAT”, and I cannot say
enough about how wonderful the doctors and their staffs have been. We’ll continue to
have additional work, requiring travel back and forth to Florida and it will all be
completed in the fall.
March 2009
We continued to do shows and it was great having Linda down with us for another 3
weeks to help me out but make no mistake vacation time wasn’t quite over with yet.
The second week of the month Brian took a week off so we took the Project Manager
bus and went to Key West with some skiing friends from New Hampshire. None of us
had ever been there and it was a fabulous place where everyone there had only one
mission and that was to “Relax”. We found this RV Park almost right on the water and
within a short drive by golf cart to downtown Key West. After all the Key lime pie we ate
the walk on Duval Street and shopping was needed. We took a sail boat cruise which
was wonderful and at the end of each day the sunsets topped it off!
This month “Jessy” started his puppy training classes and they have been fun, I’m just
not sure if we are training the dog or they are training us to understand the dog… Ha
Ha Ha!!!
February 2009
We dusted off the “Tribute to the Ladies of the Grand Old Opry” and added some video
projection stuff to the show, thanks to my manager “Sam”, it gave it a new flare that
everyone seemed to like and with Tommy singing and playing his “Steel” these shows
turned out to be some of our best.
As you know though, all work and no play can get very tiring so the last week of the
month Linda, my assistant, and two other friends from Maine came down and we went
on a weeklong “Girls” cruise to the Bahamas’. We had a blast relaxing, shopping and
site seeing and it was just what we needed to rejuvenate the batteries.
January 2009
This was another month of wonderful shows and I’ve had so much fun playing with a
good friend to all of us Fred “Tommy” Thompson. It was great to hear all about
everyone’s holidays and get back into the swing of performing.
I guess the highlight of the month was I got a new job. A friend of ours got a 45 ft RV
motor coach and needed it to be not only driven to Florida but have Brian and I figure
out how everything worked, In addition to coordinating some remodeling work to be
done to the inside….Trust me figure things out as we’ve learned has turned out to be
an understatement. So you know me, didn’t think I had enough to do so I became the
Project Manager and Bus Driver.
