Hey everyone! Gun here! 

I’m writing this to you from the Pasgrahan hotel in St. Maarten in the Caribbean. Yeah, I know, I know. Life’s tough and all. Sue me! I’m loving every minute of it. 

I’m still riding a high from being out for a 2 ½ week straight run that spanned a gamut of incredible adventures. A week long run in Atlantic City with Ricky Nelson Remembered, a gig with the same in Lake Tahoe, then le piece de resistance, we rehearsed and pulled off the first NELSON show in 15 years. All told, over 25,000 air miles were logged in that short of a time frame. How cool is that??

Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE paying tribute to my Pop and his music with the Ricky Nelson Remembered show. As a matter of fact, with the inclusion of the video elements we now feature in the show, I feel like it’s FINALLY as good as we’d always hoped it would be. And I’m hopefully going to be doing this show just as long as someone wants to come see it. 

However…. Being on stage with MY band… NELSON… well, it felt DIFFERENT. For the first time in 15 years, I felt like an artist, not just an act. Being up there playing MY songs… and not just the old hits… I mean the new stuff that’s never been played live before… man, it just felt positively addictive. We’re back… in a BIG way. So, stay tuned. I think you’re going to dig what we’re going to get up to in the coming year. 

So what else, you ask? What else could possibly top the rush I’m feeling at this moment? Well, I got you there too: DOING SOMETHING GOOD FOR SOMEONE ELSE. 

Yep, just when I didn’t think things could get any better, I got word that my new project for charity, ROCKFESSIONS, is officially official. What that means is this: St. Jude’s Childrens Hospital is going to be the official beneficiary of everything good my project is going to generate. You see, I’d always felt that there was something missing in my life, no matter how much good stuff was happening. For a long while, I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I realized that I was spending all of my time making good things happen for myself, and not taking a proactive role in spreading the ‘kwan’ so to speak. The ROCKFESSIONS project is my outlet for love and creativity. 

I know I’ve written to you before about the project, and several of you in particular have blown me away with your responses. I knew y’all were creative… but I didn’t really know how creative you were until I started getting your submissions. We’ve been selecting prize winners every month, and we’ve only just begun. But the real winners here are going to be the kids of St. Judes… because for every submission, they’re getting sent a dollar… and that’s just for starters. 

With the news that St. Judes is officially on board, I plan on getting all of our friends in the industry (performers and equipment manufacturers alike) to pony up and submit their own ROCKFESSIONs. My intention is to make this a nationwide… then an international success. This is going to ROCK. 

But I really need your help to spread the word. We’ve just only lit the fire, now I need you to help me fan the flames. Spread the word to everyone you know. Turn people on to the website any chance you can (add it to your email signature!) Get the classes you might teach, the gym you might attend, the church you go to, anyone you can think of- get involved. As Matt and I spend the next couple of months reorganizing and putting opportunities together for NELSON, I’m going to be asking our friends, fans, supporters, and NST to focus all of their collective energies on contributing their own masterpiece ROCKFESSIONS, and helping us spread the news about it. 

Beggers can’t be choosers, I know… but those that know me know that I’m one to always press my luck. Just take a couple of notes from what I’ve learned in the past three months of taking submissions: 1.) please give the ‘Nelson’- related rockfessions a rest for now. I appreciate the ego stroke… but that’s not what I’m after. 2.) Re-read the guidelines on the website, because some folks out there are missing the boat. Some of the submissions of late just can’t be used (heck… some of them can’t even be deciphered!) because they’re just plain weird, or look like someone put about 2 seconds into creating them. Push yourselves! J

 I’m looking for the most honest, creative, beautiful, thought provoking, laugh enticing, heart wrenching submissions I can find. I want to take this to the next level. Put some time and care into your rockfession(s), and help me to inspire those that will follow you by example. Let’s turn this into a friendly competition… no… an invitation to greatness. THAT is how we’re going to get new folks excited about helping these kids and building this project. 

What do you say? 

Can I count on you? 

Can they? 

I KNOW the answer’s YES, and I thank you in advance. On all fronts, I really feel like we’re hitting our stride. Great music, great loving, great giving… nothing but good stuff. 

I’m boiling over… positively percolating. I just wanted to share that with you. 

Rock on with your bad self. 

Love and Affection, 
Gun