"Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye"

A dear friend of the family and musical performer at each of the nine Fests to date, Stryker, composed especially for this year's JW Kickball and Kegger Family Fest a song about and dedicated to John -- "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye."  It was composed a few weeks before the Fest and Stryker regaled everybody with the backstory.  According to Stryker, the music and lyrics just flowed to him as if through inspiration and at the very end of the composition session, the "G" (or middle) string on his guitar broke (an unusual occurrence for that particular string).  Stryker took this as one more indication of John's presence and inspiration.  The proof of this inspiration can be seen in the below photo (click on photos to see enlarged version).

At the fest, the song was performed by Gobbler's Knob with Stryker on lead vocals and guitar, John's little brother Mike on bass, and long-time friend of the family Dish on drums.  Prior to performing the debut of this song at the Fest, Stryker gave John's parents a framed presentation of the original composition notes along with the printed lyrics and a photo of his inspiration during the composition session.

The actual lyrics can be seen here.

And last but not least, a practice version of the song featuring Stryker and Mike can be heard here or below (depending upon viewing device).

Photos from the 2015 Fest

It was a hot and muggy day, but the rain never came and the 9th Annual JW Kickball & Kegger Family Fest was another great success.  Thanks to all who came out and shared in the fun and comraderie -- it was a day very much in the spirit of John.

Once again, special thanks to Barbara, John's "2nd mom," for taking so many photos to capture memories of the day.  They as well as photos from other contributors can be viewed by clicking the album below:

9th Annual JW Fest

The highlight of the day had to be the debut of "Johnny We Hardly Knew Ye," a special song composed by dear friend of the family, Stryker and performed by Gobbler's Knob with Stryker on lead vocals and guitar, John's little brother on bass and Dish on drums. The backstory to that song can be found here and can be heard here or below (depending on viewing device).