Dashing through the snow, in a one horse open sleigh, over the fields we go, laughing all the way. Time to get the Christmas tree out. Get the lights up, get the holiday sprit. Not to worry, be happy.

 

OK I am not happy about this, my annual New Year's Eve party at the Metro Airport Best Western Hotel has been canceled. Seems the hotel has been sold and the new owners are not up to speed on having a party. This kind of stuff happens all the time in band business, but it is never fun. We have played the last six or seven New Years there and it has always sold out. Always been a lot of fun. So now I have to beat the streets and find a place to play.

Which may not be as easy as it sounds. Most places, be it concerts, clubs, hotels, even house parties, book their New Years entertainment plans months if not years ahead of time.

 

Needless to say if you know of a club or a party that would like a band sent them our way. Also might note Benny and the Jets are a two man, classic rock, oldies and blues band. We use a guitar, bass, and a drum machine. which makes us very affordable, portable and able to electronically control the volume of the band.

 

Thinking back over the years I can almost use New Years gigs as a history of the band. Seems our first one back in the 70s might have been at a little club on Warren and Outer Drive? I remember doing one in Ohio with Chubby Checker. We have played some years at house parties and private parties. Some Eagles and Moose Clubs. A couple of years we did at the Best Western in West Branch. There was a great club called Arnold's in Ottawa Canada where Bob Seger came to see the band. That was a great gig, but it was 30 below zero that night and were not talking wind chill, it was colder then cold. The kind of cold you but your coat and boots on and then got under the covers.

 

That is another thing I am not happy about. The State of Michigan just approved another utility rate increase. Consumers Energy could result in a 47% hike your monthly natural gas bill. Consumers Energy already has raised rates three times this year. Most people don't know how much they pay for natural gas per cubic foot. We can't shop around like we do for car gas we just get the home heating bill and pay.

 

Watching an English TV show on PBS I see them wearing big over coats while inside their house cuddled around a small space heater trying to stay warm. This was not a show from the Ebenezer Scrooge era, but a current program.

 

My retired friend Gino the Mailman says he has already sealed off several rooms in his house. He put plastic over all the windows and will ware a big coat and keep just enough heat to keep the pipes from freezing. Might be time for an electric blanket.