Jack Foltyn and the Idols of the King Band

	When Idols of the King wrapped at the end of May, Jack Foltyn, who portrayed Elvis, promised to come back in the Fall to play a couple of gigs in Northern California. Jack was nice enough to ask me to come along and play harmonica with the band. So on the last days of the summer, we got together to rehearse at Skeez, the base player's barn just outside of Jamestown.
	A barn makes a great setting for rehearsal, there's a lot of space, it's easy to set up, and we stayed dry on a day that included a rare summer thunderstorm. Jared is keeping the beat on the drums, while Skeez, Mark and Stan are working out some of the finer details of the song.
	The open barn doors enhance the acoustics and keep everyone cool. Mark is taking a break while Stan works on that last chord.
	And an old truck makes the perfect place to sit and blow on the harmonica.
	Jack found a bale of hay, or maybe it was a guitar amp, to sit on and rehearse a slow song.
	Even the cows right outside seemed to enjoy the music. After three nights of practicing, we were ready for our first gig. Or, nearly ready.
	Berlynn and I took the scenic route to Sacramento along highway 49, stopping for a cup of coffee in Sutter Creek.
	We arrived at Lincoln Hills, just northeast of Sacramento, early to check out the place and admire their little amphitheatre.
	Berlynn quickly made friends with Jack's dog while she waited for us to finish our sound check.
	As the sun set we got started and we had to admit, after only three rehearsals, we sounded pretty darn good!
	Skeez was getting into the groove despite having to wear the disco shirt. Stan is in the background playing away without a care as to what he is wearing.
	In fact, we were all getting into it, and so was the crowd. Don came up from Dallas to help out, his red shirt looked great in the lights.
	Lincoln Hills is a retirement community, but there is nothing like some great rock 'n roll to get even the oldest folks dancing.
	The next day it was across the Tuolumne River canyon to Groveland for an afternoon concert in the Groveland Hotel.
	Quite a different setting, but once again the crowd was definitely into it.
	This time we looked sharp in our matching bowling shirts, we played sharp, well not sharp, but not flat either. (It's a music joke, just play along.) Mark is standing up playing Jerry Lee Lewis, Don is strumming his FrankenTele (it's an in-joke) while Jared is keeping the beat in the background.
	From Groveland we rushed over to the Black Oak Casino right here in Tuolumne where we did it all over again. The following day we did one more show in Groveland and then we called it quits for our rock and roll weekend!