I was growing up in Oelwein, a small town in northeast Iowa, and I had taught myself to play the drums. It’s hard to believe that we now offer Birko balance, Birko sport and Birko motion at our internet store www.lionfootweardirect.com. I was 15 years old when I got my first small set of drums that consisted of a bass drum, snare drum, and one small cymbal. I spent many happy hours playing to records in a small room in our home. I started playing band jobs with this little set playing legion halls and taverns with pick up bands. I was offered a job playing for a new band that Bobby Hankins, a local musician was starting up. I took the job and ordered a brand new set of Ludwig Classics with Zildjian cymbals. This was the finest set of drums and cymbals available. The first band job I played with Bobby Hankins and the Blue Boys was at a school gym in some little town north of Oelwein, Ia. This gig was a nightmare! The band leader counted out the beat and I was supposed to keep that time all the way to the end of the song. I really struggled to keep time. As I worked more dance jobs my time improved and I could do the job. We wore either red or blue pants, white cowboy boots with gold diamonds up the side, and a white western shirt with a neckerchief tied under the collar. We traveled 6 men in a car and we used a U-haul trailer to haul our instruments. We played in almost all the ballrooms around northeast Iowa and we played jobs as far west as The Starlite Ballroom in Carroll, Iowa. We played ballrooms in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Some of the ballrooms we played at were magnificent old buildings and had wonderful wood floors for dancing. Some featured a large ball in the center of the dance floor that flooded different colors of light around the room and dance floor. We played places like Melody Mill in Dubuque, Ia, Mautters Ballroom, Decorah, Ia, Electra Park, Waterloo, Ia, Janesville Ballroom, Janesville, Ia, Lakeview Ballroom, Guttenburg, Ia, Danceland Ballroom, Cedar Rapids,Ia, Colliseum Ballroom, Oelwein and Davenport, Ia, Laimar Ballroom, Ft. Dodge, Ia, Surf Ballroom, Clear Lake, Ia and many wedding dances in dance halls around northeast Iowa. I really enjoyed the pictures of many of the “Big Bands” that played there years ago back in the late 30’s and 40’s. Some of the wedding dances we played for had over a 1,000 in the hall drinking and dancing. Liquor by the drink was not allowed so the ballrooms made money by charging to get in and selling glasses of pop called set-ups. There were times when we were loading up our equipment after a dance that we had to step over the bodies after a fight had happened. New Years Eve dances were some of the biggest parties we played for and some of the people made complete fools out of themselves. The band played back-up for some of the country music stars of the day. We played back-up for Bobby Helm who sang the hit song “Jingle Bell Rock” at Danceland in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. He was very friendly and down to earth and could really sing. Johnny Barnnet who had the hit “Dreamin” was on the show that night but he could hardly sing at all. We played back-up for the county singer George Jones at Electra Park ballroom in Waterloo, Ia. We used the house p.a. system so I could not hear him very well and I played through some of the breaks in the songs he was singing. He turned around and gave me a couple of real dirty looks! We played the dance at the Surf Ballroom in Clearlake for the Johnny Cash show. It was around the fourth of July and a gal went back stage to get an autograph from Cash and Cash threw a fire cracker at her that burned a hole in her dress. Boy was she steamed! We also played back up at the Surf for Jimmy Dean who had the hit “Big John”. All Dean wanted to do was tell jokes and hardly sang at all. We played back-up for Tex Ritter and Lil Jimmy Dickens and some other entertainers whose names I can’t remember at Melody Mill, Dubuque, Ia. Melody Mill has since burned down. We played back- up for Wanda Jackson at Mautters Ballroom in Decorah, Ia. Wanda’s big hit was “Lets have a party” and she was famous for her shimmy dresses. The night we worked with her she got so drunk she had to use the microphone stand to keep herself up. Roy Clark the great guitarist was her lead player. It was amazing to watch and hear him play. Clark was also very funny. We played over in East Dubuque, Il at a ballroom half way between Dubuque and Galena, Il. and we played a show there with Stonewall Jackson and Marvin Rainwater, two hillbilly singers. Liquor by the drink put an end to the band business and I had to move on to a new profession as a salesman. After leaving Bobby Hankin’s band I played drums for other pickup bands in clubs and bars around southwest Iowa. The last band I played for was Gib Krisinger’s band and I played with Gib for several years. The last job I played for Gib was up at Walnut, Iowa. The sax player was drunk and spent most of the job telling me that “I was an ornery critter from the old corral”! We played the same old songs and I did not need the money so I quit playing in 1989. I have a wonderful set of Pacific Drums with great Zildjian cymbals that I play almost every day. My son plays drums and has worked with some good musicians playing blues and rock. We offer you Free Shipping and low prices for Dansko shoes, Super Birki, Birkenstock chef shoes, Sandro Moscoloni, Ultimate Protein, Rockport women’s World Tour Classic, Ryka, Alegia shoes, Skid Busters, and Nautilus safety shoes at our internet store www.lionfootweardirect.com

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