Sunday, June 29th, a little over $ 12,000 was raised for Billy Scott at The Regency Center in Dunn, NC. Kudos to the hard working road crew of The Coastline Band - Ken Holland (K-Dogg), Ed Cogle & Cornbread, and Alan Eldridge from Oz Music in Dunn, N.C.  These gentlemen worked their butts off from the morning until around midnight. Waylon Jones of Legacy Music in Dunn, stepped up to the plate and loaned us a set of dums for the day for all the bands to use. There were some neat and "one of a kind" items that people got for basemant bargain prices at the Silent Auction.

There was some great entertainment as well. Coastline kicked things of and were wide open from the get go.. I hadn't seen Sammy O'Banion & Mardi Gras in awhile and got to catch a bit of their set before going to the other side to assist with the track artists. THEY WERE GREAT! If you have not seen The Mighty Saints of Soul, check them out! These guys were AWESOME. Any band that will do "Statesboro Blues" has my vote! One of my favorite musicians & singers, Jeff Grimes, sat in with them and smoked on sax. Then Tony Davis joined 'em on drums and kicked some kick drum butt. Thanks to the other bands who did a great job - Tommy Black & Blooz and The Big Time Party Band! Hip Pocket closed the show and were totally on the money. These guys got it going on!

Billy performed with The Party Prophets and gave it 200%. He's come along way, but still has a bit to go before he's back to full speed. Al Williams, long time friend of Billy's, was there and at the end of The Prophets' set, got on stage and sang "Stand By Me" to Billy.Yeppers, there were some sniffles to be heard in the crowd. Billy is making his way back, but still isn't 100%. He still needs our prayers for a full recovery.

We were also treated to some great music from several artists performing to tracks on the other side of the Regency Center Complex:
Gary Brown - Doug Manning - Taylor Manning - Calabash Flash - Becky Fox Baldwin - Paul Craver - Craig Woolard - Nicky Harris - Phil "Doc" Wilson - Karen Clayton - James Brown (sax player) - Tommy Black

DJ's Bob Graves, JC Wood & yours truly kept the tunes-a-going all day between band sets & track artist performances, with Joey Warren  sitting in for a few minutes. THANKS to all the radio DJ's who showed up and/or gave this event lots of exposure on the air for the last few weeks: Curtiss Carpenter, Gary Smith, Robert Stroud, Dan E Lockemy, John Rut, Steve Hadry and Ray Scott...And to Irvin Warren & Gary Peacock for providing the venue and members of the Dunn Police Department who voluntered to provide security for the day.

You know, it's a good feeling to see so many people support their fellow man in a time of need. When Billy Hinson came to me and said he wanted to do this, I figured we may raise $5-$6 thousand. It just goes to show what "working together for a common goal" can do. The beach music community really rallied for Billy yesterday and he was deeply touched. On two side notes, The Souls were scheduled to perform, but Erin Baker (Tony's daughter) was in a wreck in SC. She's alright from reports we have received. Also, Mark Roberts was on the way, but expereinced vehicle trouble and couldn't make it, but did call to let us know he was with us in spirit.

Beach Music's "Official Photographer", Rickie Lipscomb, will have pictures of the day up on his site, www.fotozbyrickie.com in a few days.

I know I have probably left someone out. If I did, I apologize.