FREE Mother Hips Show in Park City - Saturday 8/29/09

Usually when the Mother Hips come to town, they play at a smoky bar and the show rarely starts before 11:00 pm. While this rarely stops me from going, it makes it a little harder to convince friends who maybe have never seen them and don't know how awesome their live shows are, to attend. Well, this Saturday, the stars have aligned for any of you out there that have never seen the Mother Hips and always have wondered why I have seen them more than 70 times. Rather than a smoky bar, they are playing outdoors in beautiful Park City, UT. Rather than starting at 11:00 or later which can make it hard to secure baby sitters, the show is from 6:00 pm until 8:30 pm! I could be wrong but I am pretty sure this is an all ages show so for those of you under 21 (anyone?) this is the show for you! Last but certainly not least, the show is absolutely FREE!!!

Go here for more details - http://tinyurl.com/klmph2

Here are some fun Mother Hips related memories to add some extra inspiration for you to make it to the show...

The first time I saw the Mother Hips was in the fall of 1997. It didn't take long for me to become a huge fan. In fact, it was the second song that they played, "Third Floor Story" that did the trick for me. The show was at a Salt Lake bar called the Holy Cow. 2 days later I joined some friends for a road trip to Springdale, UT near Zion National Park for 2 more shows. It was a crash course in what I considered to be the purest form of Rock and Roll I had ever met.

I soon began introducing just about everyone that I knew to this little known band from Chico, CA. It was convenient that they made about 4 trips to Utah each year playing regularly in Salt Lake, Provo and Springdale. You would that would be enough but it really wasn't which is why I made more road trips than I can count to California, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado to see them play. Most of these trips were made in my 1982 VW camper van which was an adventure in and of itself. It is amazing to think of all the incredible memories that I have that revolve around this band.

My 50th show was particularly memorable. It was in the spring of 2001 shortly after meeting Camille Holmes (Now Camille Jones). We road tripped down to Springdale with our good friends Court and Stef and met up with many others. The venue of choice for the Hips is called the Bit n Spur. It is a very small place for a band to play. We ate there before the show as did the band. I jokingly told Tim (lead singer/guitarist) that if he needed a break during the show, I would be happy to fill in on guitar. After dinner while the opening band was playing, Camille and I took a walk which turned into our first kiss. So, back to the show as the Hips got started, I was pretty much walking on air at this point.

Part way through the show, Tim approached the mic and said something like, "Kgordee, get up here…" Stunned, I made my way over to him as I watched him pull his guitar strap over his head offering it to me. He asked what song I wanted to play and I said "Ball Game" which is a cover that they do and one that I knew I could figure out and improvise on. The opening few bars of the song are a guitar only riff so I started things out and then, like magic, the rhythm guitar, drums and bass joined in right on cue and away we went.


It was so fun to have a full on jam session with my favorite band in the middle of their set in beautiful Springdale UT just moments after kissing Camille for the first time. Life is beautiful.

A few years ago the band officially broke up which was heart breaking but it wasn't long before they decided to play a few shows and now they are making music again on a regular basis.

I hope to see you on Saturday!!!