Paul Szmal: FLX Morning continues now. It is 751 and we have sunny skies for the moment. We're at 54 and I'm happy to be joined by Mark from the Dean's List back with us here as the Dean's List gets ready to play the Labor Day weekend kickoff edition of Live at the Vista at Seneca Lake Resorts. What's going on Mark? How you doing this morning?
Mark: Good morning. It's great to be here again.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Glad to have you. Glad to have you here. How busy has the summer been for you guys?
Mark: It's been pretty busy. We were just about every weekend we're out somewhere.
Paul Szmal: Wow. How do you, how do you keep it fresh? How do you keep it exciting? How do you, how do you keep it going? Keep it going when you're playing every weekend?
Mark: We vary up our set list sometimes and we have a great bunch of guys that are, that are totally into it and we have some crazy fans that follow us all around and we just have a great time.
Paul Szmal: And you're, you're playing in all sorts of different places throughout the summer.
Mark: Yeah. Yeah. We played, uh, Baldwinsville. We play out that far and, you know, all over the place.
Paul Szmal: So did you play on the Island of Baldwinsville or?
Mark: No, we play, uh, Pastas on the Green.
Paul Szmal: Oh, okay. Yep. Had a great time there. You know, we have, uh, you know, of course the Vista is one of our favorites and, uh, you know, we've been there, I think this is our fourth time, I think this year.
Mark: Yeah. Yeah. And they, yeah, you guys are, we've been in here a couple of times this year.
Paul Szmal: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. Uh, tell me, tell me about one of the strangest places that you guys have ever played.
Mark: My, uh, that was, well, this year we actually played a, a needlepoint convention.
Paul Szmal: A needlepoint convention?
Mark: Yes. It was at the, uh, Woodcliffe and Victor. Uh, one of our friends hired the band to play there. And actually we had a great time.
Paul Szmal: Wow. A bunch of, uh, women doing needlepoint and, and dancing and having a great time.
Mark: Wow. I would not. And it was an, it's an annual thing. We never knew about it.
Paul Szmal: I would not, I would not put two and two together to come up with that one. You know what I'm saying? That's different. That's very different. Uh, how many, how many years now for you guys?
Mark: Oh, I think we're on our 12th year. So we've been, we we've been around a while.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. And it's been a long time that you guys have been playing around. I know you are big favorites everywhere you go. And a lot of that has to do with, uh, the, the musicianship and the quality of the presentation that you guys put on.
Mark: Yeah. We, we, you know, over the years we've learned what to play and what not to play and, and what people like. And that's, that's what we try to, to stream it that way.
Paul Szmal: How many times a year do you decide, uh, you know, get together and decide, okay, we need to learn this new song or that new song, or maybe we need to dust this one off that we haven't done in a while.
Mark: Yeah. That's kind of what we're doing now. We have, you know, we actually run like three or four different set lists depending on, you know, mix things up a little bit, songs we haven't done in the past that we throw in and, and we, you know, trying to keep it fresh for us too.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Right. And, uh, and, you know, learning new stuff. That's always, you know, fun. We've added a couple of new fun songs this year that, that everybody's loving. So how long does it take the band to work up a new song and learning a new song?
Mark: Uh, it, it depends on, sometimes it depends on the song. There's songs that we've, you know, had to work, you know, weeks on and there's songs that we're just like, okay, yep. We're good. Do it one time.
Paul Szmal: Really?
Mark: You know, that's we've done songs that we haven't even practiced. We're like, okay, let's, uh, we're going to do this song. And, uh, for instance, we're doing twist and shout now by the Beatles.
Paul Szmal: Right. We did that. We, we were talking about in practice and, and, uh, we did a lady that had a wedding, wanted, wanted that song. We did it at the wedding. We hadn't even practiced it. Came out great. So we're like, boom, we're good.
Mark: Now that tells me a lot about the, uh, the quality of the musicians and the band that you can basically go into something cold like that, that you haven't played before and just nail it. And, and, and then, you know, we all look at each other like, well, it's a, it's a combination of, and what just happened here? Nobody's throwing vegetables, you know?
Paul Szmal: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
Mark: As long as the vegetables stay on the table, it's a good gig. So do you guys get a little bit of a break now after Labor Day weekend or deep?
Paul Szmal: Oh, no, we're, we're still October. We're we've got what, 10 gigs in October, uh, September, we get a little bit of, I think we're only doing like four or five gigs. So it's a slow month.
Mark: Yeah. Yeah. Actually, winter's going to be a little slow this year. We've got, we have, we got some vacations and stuff going on.
Paul Szmal: So, well, well, that's the other thing too, when you're in a band that's in high demand, like, like the Dean's list is, and, and, uh, everybody wants to book you for all these different events and occasions and whatnot.
Mark: Yeah. I mean, it's hard because everybody's got jobs. Everybody's got, you're trying to figure out how to, how to juggle everything.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. It's a, yeah. You're, you're, you've juggling a lot of balls in the air.
Mark: Yeah. That's my fun job.
Paul Szmal: Oh, oh, you get, you're the one that gets to do all the scheduling.
Mark: I make the phone calls. I make the texts.
Paul Szmal: Yep. Oh, wow. So, so, so you're all in on this.
Mark: So, oh yeah, absolutely.
Paul Szmal: All right. So you're playing tomorrow night, uh, live at the Vista. What time are you guys starting?
Mark: Six o'clock.
Paul Szmal: All right. So check it out. It's at Seneca lake resorts, go to Seneca lake resorts.com. You can find out more, uh, the pavilion there. How is it to play in a pavilion like that compared to like playing, uh, and, and, and a club or a ballroom?
Mark: Oh, it's nice. You get it, you get, you know, you get the people around, you get the people inside, you get a nice view of the lake. Perfect.
Paul Szmal: Yeah. Nice big stage. So I imagine, like you said, this is one of your favorite places.
Mark: Yeah, absolutely.
Paul Szmal: So go check them out. They start at six o'clock tomorrow. There's food trucks, there's beverages available. You're in a great seat by the lake. I will advise you maybe to bring a jacket tomorrow. Cause it might get a little cool tomorrow evening.
Mark: We'll make you dance. You'll be nice and warm.
Paul Szmal: There you go. There you go. Perfect. All right. Thanks for coming in, Mark.
Mark: All right. We'll see you there.
