Thursday, May 6, 2010

The Comeback Kid


After being in the bottom 2 for the past couple weeks, most of us thought it was the end of the line for this Blues rocker. Out of nowhere, Mike & Aaron were announced as the bottom 2. I believe I could hear an echo of screams coming from the West. Even my wife (who's not much of an Idol watcher..but votes) screamed out loud when Casey was sent to safety. After this weeks overly harsh reviews & personal attacks, it was a big surprise to see him advance & we're sure glad he did. Wonder if Kara had lamb for dinner?
Party planning is already in the works this week & I can imagine they will be even bigger than last week. I will be posting photos so check back.

Casey mentioned his prom this week on the show....After I graduated college in '97 we started our business. My alma mater MHS gave us the opportunity to photograph the Jr. Sr. proms. I remember the 2000 prom took place in the historic Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells. Really the only usable part of the hotel was in the lobby so that was the set-up that year. I remember thinking it was strange that instead of having the usual DJ play various music they had a band playing. Who was in the band? Yes.... even then Casey's fellow classmates saw the potential he had & asked him & the band (including B.C. James) to do their thing.  Did I even think to take candid shot's of the (unknown) band? Nope, do I wish I did.... Yep.

Thanks to MHS for allowing us to provide them with our services. Y'all are great


In the days prior to performance night, Casey's brother (BC) & all of "Team Casey" were hard at work creating buzz on the internet. There are so many forums & fan pages out there dedicated to Idol & Casey. Facebook has become one of the best ways of getting info out there to everyone you know. We had a blog last week of the PK watch party that BC attended & I was able to get some different angles from the event. He was posting some of my latest blog links to all the Casey FB pages to help get votes. Just to let you know about the massive following that this guy has..... in just one day of the postings I got hits from Argentina, UK, Philippines, Israel, Malaysia, Russia, Ireland, Japan, etc. How & why are these people watching American Idol. I wouldn't know how to find Israel Idol. Pretty cool!


For the locals:
Here's a video of the historic Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, Texas. My grandmother said big stars like Marilyn Monroe once stayed in the hotel back in the day.

On a personal note:
Mom told me a story about Mamaw. In the 30's she worked a block over at the Crazy Water Hotel as a soda jerk. She was just barely a teenager then & remembered that Andy Griffith paid a visit to the famous health resort. People came from all over to drink the "crazy water" as they thought it cured illnesses. One day a police officer came into the diner & took a liking to Mamaw & another friend. To impress the girls he wrote them out driver's licenses. Wow how times have changed. No written or driving test, just "you're a pretty lady, here is a drivers license". Just thought I would share.

17 comments:

  1. I loved the story in the end about your Mamaw!! It made me smile!
    =)

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  2. Great blog post. Thanks for sharing your stories of the past, history like that is worth telling.

    I was so happy to see Casey having fun on stage during the HCJ group song. He was really into it wasn't he, and he sounded great. Do you know for certain they lip sync those??

    To all the fans from other countries, thank y'all for supporting our Texas Angel and for the ones that figured out a way to vote...You Rock!!

    PS. I am one of the most quite and laid back people you will ever meet and I even screamed out loud when Ryan anounced Casey was safe. I think I scared my husband :)

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  3. Jake, all I can say is WOW!! You did a great job, keep up the good work. Now Casey, well he was great last night. He moved more and he was enjoying himself more. We held our breath when the time came but we didn't even have to.

    Thanks for the entertaining story about the Baker. I actually went to that prom as a Chaperone. Micheal,was in that class.

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  4. What a big night for Casey! Who's got a fan base now?!?! I'm so glad he gets to comeback next week and do HIS thing.

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  5. Its fun following a local blogger with family connections.. its been a big roller coaster ride this week...but man last night was a THRILL..Casey shined throughout..love his laughs his long tall stage presence...keep up the buzz we are hard at work on that too.!

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  6. Awesome article! So proud to be a part of the Cougar Club on Facebook and to support Casey! I thought he was superb last night in the group performance! Way to go! Jake, you are a fantastic writer and it's a pleasure to read your articles!

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  7. Gosh, HCJ is a hilarious guy. What a joker & it looked like the 5 didn't know how to take his humor. It's obvious they lip-sync, notice they all hold the mic so close to their mouth. I don't know for certain, but the guys at Kidd Kraddik all think so to...so it must be true...lol Thanks for following & I'm glad someone likes it. I felt nerdy at first when I started a weekly run-down of our local guys time in the spotlight. I've been an Idol fan but would never...ever have thought to blog about the show. Just because of the local interest I do. Thanks BC for the links.

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  8. Jake - thank you for yet another wonderful inside look at Casey from the hometown view. Living in the first state - I've thoroughly enjoyed it. Not many people in this area say Mamaw - it's Mom Mom around these here parts but growing up in Western PA., I sure do.

    Casey James is a star to so many of us. One off performance or was it? Won't keep us from voting and voting hard and fast. Team Casey James is a force to be reckoned with. We're proud of him and we appreciate the hometown press you have shared. Top 4

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  9. GREAT BLOG SO HAPPY THAT BILLY HAS TURNED US ON TO YOU. CASEY HAS A LOT OF SUPPORT FROM HIS FANS FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD. HE IS AN EXCEPTIONAL TALENT AND SEEMS TO HAVE HIS HEAD ON STRAIGHT! I LOVED HOW MUCH FUN HE HAD LAST NIGHT, AND THANKS FOR CLEARING UP THE LIP SYNC (I THOUGHT SO BUT WASN'T SURE).

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  10. Again, not 100% on it but heard it was true. Those group numbers are so choreographed & I bet they need the guys & gal to worry more about hitting their mark & less about forgetting the words.

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  11. Thanks Jake for this awesome Blog....I love it!!! I just loved the way Casey seemed so relaxed and 'into' his group song! He had a few solos and I loved them all!! He made jazz sound great, and I'm not a big fan of jazz, but hey, Casey and the group nailed it and made me like it!! I am a devoted Casey Fan from the Cougar Club on Facebook, and we love our Casey!!! We will once again 'Rock the Vote' next week...and thanks to Billy for this link!!

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  12. I know, usually those group numbers are painful but this one was good.

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  13. As an avid supporter of Casey, and close friend of blog writer Davido LegEagle, I can tell you most of the Eastern part of Tennessee is avidly in Casey's corner, and his support will continue to grow. If you didn't know it already, Mr. LegEagle posted another new story about Casey this morning on The Jukebox Hero. He is also a local radio celebrity and brags on Casey alot. Hopefully, most of this sweet syrupy music theme nights on Idol are almost over and soon Casey can strap on the guitar and give us a heaping helping of great bluesy rock. With movie night upcoming alot of people are hoping Casey does some Seger. We are all solidly behind Casey here in East Tennessee, ready and waiting for a great performance this week.

    Like Lynyrd Skynyrd said: Give me T for Texas and T for Tennessee! GO CASEY!!!

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  14. In answer to your question on how and why international fans watch American Idol (I am from South Africa) - we watch and get all the same shows as American network TV, it is just not shown live. (mainly due to the time delay, etc....)The American Idol has always been a World Idol simply due to the talent you have over there and the amazing stars involved with the show - we also get Ryan Seacrest's radio show sindicated on one of our main radio stations so I listen to him every night plus trust me you do not want to watch or see SA Idols!! Our only great Idol was the first winner Heinz Winkler who actually starred in Rent in the USA. We don't listen to African music as you may think on the radio all day (lol)(although we have sone "lekker" hits - USA top 40 is basically our top 40. You will be very surprised how similar USA is to here and many places across the world. It is great to chat to others all over who love Casey just as much (plus his look is very South African which might be why he is so popular here.....) Anyhoo you should come vists!! Cape Town is one of the most beautiful cities in the world
    Thanx for a great blog!

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  15. Oh sorry for all the spelling errors.....(I actually speak Afrikaans)

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  16. Thanks so much for replying. I'm glad our music & culture is so well liked everywhere. Keep on watching Casey.
    Forgive my spelling & punctuation too..I speak Texican! lol Have a good one!

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  17. I am also a South African Casey fan, and yes idols is also featured around here.

    @ Melinda, I think we follow European or British trends much more then American trends. And we do have some amazing local bands, people just need to start supporting them a bit more. ;)
    Furthermore, last year's idols winner Jason Heartman is pretty good, I am pretty sure he would have been able to compete on American Idol.


    Nice blog, it is good to get some first hand information from Casey's home town, it is just such a shame that us international fans are not able to vote for Casey.

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