After our last tour together in 2013 and what turned out to be the last tour of his career, I told Joe I would archive the update emails I had sent from the road and post them.
He said, "That's a good idea, Nick."

About halfway into what turned out to be thirteen years in his band as keyboardist and then music director, I started writing regularly—first to family and a small group of friends to digest the experiences that constant travel can sometimes wash into a blur. Over the years the list expanded to almost a thousand people. The first twenty posts here are the original update emails in chronological order.

I post these to honor Joe and all who worked with him. There are more stories to write. I will continue to gather them and post from time to time and to invite others to contribute.

Come visit frequently, hang out if you want and get to know my experience of this great artist and true gentleman, Joe Cocker.

In Respect, Gratitude and Love,
Nick

Tuesday, May 17, 2016

Summer-Huey Lewis-2012

Hope you all are keeping cool this summer.  It's hot in U.S Central Time!  We start four in a row tonight here in Oklahoma City, and then off to Texas.  Maybe it will cool off by the time we get to the Northeast.  

It was a whirlwind leaving L.A. last week after a couple days getting the gear together and rehearsing.  The timing of this writing is to let you all know that Joe and the band playing "Feeling Alright", with Huey Lewis sitting in, will air on the Jimmy Kimmel Show tonight, July 19th. We taped it last week before leaving town.




Huey and the News are tight as ever.  It is a great full circle for me to be on the road with these seasoned musicians— I was playing with the great songwriter/artist, Bonnie Hayes, [http://www.bonniehayes.com/] when she was in rotation with Melissa Etheridge and Robert Cray for the opening act slot on the Huey and the News tours back then. In those days Huey and the boys were releasing hit after hit, touring stadiums and coliseums. I was just a pup.  

Never forget the first one: Oakland Coliseum, 1986— before the show starts, standing at the foot of the stairs that led up the scaffolding to the stage floor, asking our road manager, Gerald Hesse, if my clothes looked alright (we developed a ritual where he would adjust something, anything, and give me the okay) when the lights go Out, 
the room goes Black, 
the crowd noise coalesces into one huge Roar, 
the crew flashlights Spark on illuminating the stairs, and we walk— more like Fly— up to the stage... 
Thanks, Huey for that experience.  It is such a happy pleasure to be on the road with you all once more.

Hope to see you readers out here this summer!  The complete schedule is on Cocker.com [http://www.cocker.com/us/events] and on the Calendar page of my site, www.Milomon.com. 

More news to come about the MiloMaffit album release. Hope you dig the music. If you haven't yet, please check it out.  You can listen and purchase on Milomon.com, as well as iTunes, CDBaby and the usual digital venues.  Also, please connect with me on FaceBook if you use that network.

Feel free to pass this on to anyone you feel might be interested, write me back a response or opt off the list if you wish.

Thanks for listening. Keep rockin'............
Nick
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