Last year's John Lennon Tribute was so much fun, we had to do it again. It was the most friendly and warm, ego free musical event i have ever participated in. Musician's of all sorts showed up wielding Lennon tunes, and people came out of the woodwork to listen. It was a truly beautiful event. This year's show will be held at the Union Bar and Grill on W. Union St. in Athens Ohio, on December 8, the 21st anniversary of John Lennon's passing from this plane of existence.

Last year We raised over $400 dollars for the Johnny B fund, which is a fund set up to honor our good buddy, who kicked out on us a number of years ago. This fund is designed to help kids who want to play music, be able to play music, be it via lessons or instruments, inspiration, etc. In fact last year's story is so cool, let me relate it to you.

I was an unofficial member of the Johnny B Fund (and mebbe i still am) when i had the idea to make the show a benefit for the fund. So the idea i came up with to disperse the funds were not necessarily those of the board, but they were nice and went along with me. I propsed that we send a wonderful young musician out to the Fur Peace Ranch. His name is Galen, and he has talent and energy coming out all ends. Well, the folks at the Fur Peace have a special dispensation for Johnny B fund kids, so we got a discount, and then they gave him a scholarship to make up the difference of what we lacked monetarily. Very cool. It turns out that they loved Galen so much, that they gave him a scholarship for the Adult Camp that they held later in the summer. At this camp, Galen got to meet Merle Saunders, who took a real liking to him. They worked out a couple of tunes together, and when Merle came back a couple of months later to play at the Fur Peace Ranch, he invited Galen to do a couple of songs with him. Then for the rest of the show, he was seated between Jorma Kaukonen and Jack Cassidy of Hot Tuna. Fifteen years old, and all ready rubbing elbows with the big boys!

All of this just makes me feel so wonderful inside. After the show last year, i floated above the ground for several days, and be able to continue that good vibe throughout the year is more than i could have hoped for.

This year's event will be brought to you by the Athens Musician Network, in association with Circle 5 Music. Anybody wishing to sponser the event or donate to the Johnny B Fund can contact me at music@circle5.org. Every little bit helps. Donations can include instruments, song books, $$$. Treasurer Dave Baer would be glad to hear from you.

Check the Circle5.org website for updated information under the Lennon Tribute link.

Notes to musicians: If you would like to play at this year's event, contact me music@circle5.org things to consider: what song(s) you want to play, instrumentation. any thing is fair game at this point, as long as it is a Lennon tune. If you have questions as to authorship, ask the Lennon experts at circle5.org. Once people start claiming songs, i will post them, so we don't have 100 people doing "Yer Blues." A little duplication is tolerable, of course.