Chains (Are No Longer) Required - High Praise

Yesterday we attended the final gig for the Calaveras County band Chains Required, so I am dedicating this post and the extra photos to the band. They disbanded after 10 years together. There name comes from signs all over this mountain region announcing Chains Required to proceed further in snowy weather - in fact the highway patrol will often have check points where vehicles are required to stop and put chains on their tires to proceed.

the band is bluesy cover band playing music from Chicago, Tower of Power, Elton John, and the like. They include saxophone, trombone, two trumpets, guitar, bass guitar, and drums, along with two vocalists. Sometimes cover bands don't get as much respect as bands that write and play their own music, but in this case, this band is a good one. They get a groove going and the singers can really rock it.

Yesterday, they played for 3 hours straight with only a couple breaks, and I am guessing nearly 500 people came to send them off from the Cedar Station site. A lot of folks singing along and dancing along and a good time for all. Since or middle son is a musician, we know from personal experience how challenging it is to keep a band together. Much less 9 musicians and a sound engineer - by the time the pie is split up from a gig, there is often not that much to go around. They described some of their trials along the way - a member had a heart attack, another a stroke, and all the challenges that 10 years of a rocking' "family" will face; just getting everyone regularly available for practice time was no easy challenge.

So, my hats off and thanks go to Chains Required. They will be missed in the Western Sierra Mountains, where music rings off the hill and reverberates across valleys, echoing back sentiments and experiences that only music can describe who well and achingly or triumphally. God speed, your chains have come off.