CAL P.!



You can usually catch Cal doing one of three things.......
pickin', grinin' or dancin'!

Well...... those three things are just some of his favorite pastimes, but he is also one of the most educated (with multiple degrees) and talented people around. Cal is a very talented musician, song writer and dancer. If a girl could get a chance to dance with him on Club Dance, she was guaranteed a fun dance. Cal was one of the first friends that we made when we started going to Club Dance. He made us feel part of "the family" immediately. We asked Cal to write a little about his life and what he has been doing since Club Dance stopped filming. The following is what he had to say.

Hi folks,

Wow, it's been almost a year since Club Dance has taped a show! I have sorely missed all the friends and visitors that I met at the show. It is said that "all good things must end" but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with. During the past year several changes have taken place with me. I got a new publisher, gained about 20 pounds, and lost the muscle tone that all the dancing developed. Nancy and I still go dancing, but don't receive the workout that taping the show provided. I have a perfectly good rowing machine that has about an inch of dust on it – I probably should be using it. :) The Cotton Eyed Joe dance floor is the only game in town now that Club Dance is gone. Going there all the time gets a bit boring.

Sometimes people think that I'm a "country bumpkin". I am a country boy but I work as a Computer Security Specialist for a very large federal government contractor. I have three university degrees in Engineering and Computer Science. I earned a Private Pilot's License in 1977. I love flying, but I don't do much of it any more. I use most of my free time for songwriting and dancing. I guess I am telling you this because of the impression that I sometimes made on Club Dance. I speak with a very deep southern accent and this lead some to believe that I wasn't too "swift on the uptake". I hope you saw Phil Campbell and I doing a little "pickin' an' grinnin'" on the show. I have a deep passion for playing my guitar. Folks tell me I'm good at it, but my jury is still out on that one, especially when I get around people like Vince Gill, LeRoy Parnell, Steve Wariner, and all the other gazillion great guitarists! Tennessee has lots of nice lakes and rivers. I try to get to the lake as much as possible to fish and ski. I also like to snow ski -- even went to Austria in 1986 to ski the Alps. I like to ice skate also. I tried playing a bit of hockey in my teenage days, but never was any good at it. I guess I just wasn't tough enough!

About three years ago I started writing a song for Mary Anne (from Club Dance) but, for various reasons, never finished it. She recently celebrated her 21st birthday at the Cotton Eyed Joe. I finished the song and made a demo of it ("I'm In Love With Mary Anne" is the title) . Her mother (Donna) and I got the DJ at the Cotton Eyed Joe to play the song for her. I have gotten such a good response from the song that I sent it to my publisher to see if they might want to try to get someone to do it. The publisher liked it also and they are actively trying to get someone in Nashville to record it. The song has a good West Coast Swing beat to it. If you have an MP3 plugin, you can hear an excerpt of it by clicking here.

The corporate take-over of Nashville has put a bunch of non-creative people in the position of making creative decisions. This situation has frustrated all of us "little guys" that have something to say in the music we are not allowed to present. If one is not part of these big corporations it is very difficult. I'll keep in there plugging along though.

Well, I guess I've rambled enough here so let me close by wishing you and yours all the peace, happiness, and prosperity that the year 2000 can possibly bring. Hope to see you sometime soon.

Cal P.

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