2025 in the Rearview Mirror...2026 here we come

I'm sure by now, you've read a ton of posts from other musicians and entertainers telling you how great a year they had. We wouldn't be an exception in that sentiment. We had a blast, and we worked hard to make sure y'all were entertained and had a blast with us. The full band played 57 shows in 2026, the most we've ever done together. And the rest of the formats (Solo/Duo/Trio) rounded out the largest number of shows we have ever taken on...92 in total! Thank you so much to everybody who came out, sang along, danced, enjoyed the venues, and just made us feel like Hillbilly Rock Stars!! And eternal thanks to the venues, private parties, festivals, and friends who run them for trusting us to entertain your patrons and bring our brand of REAL.FUN.COUNTRY.MUSIC to your place.

2026...10 Years of Gettin' ROWDY

But the new year is upon us, and it's very special to us. March 2026 marks 10 years since the naming of the original trio as the Rowdy Ace Band and getting started on our journey in Northern Virginia. Besides just being a huge milestone that not many bands get to, its a time of both reflection and celebration. This journey has taken many twists and turns, but its been well worth the ride. From the first shows playing for NOTHING at backyard parties and Leesburg First Friday events in the early Summer and Fall of 2016, to Open Mic nights at Smoke House Live and Trio shows with barely enough PA to be heard. All the way to playing in some of the area's biggest and best venues for our friends, family and fans! I've often been asked what I think was "the" turning point for us, and I often say that there were two. The first was Paul joining 3G and I to fill out the music and get us all thinking that we could do this. The second was, and this will sound weird, but it was the Pandemic in 2020. Because I had a background in doing streaming of content, and how to get our sound correct in it, we were on "the air" within a week of everything shutting down, and played shows every week from our rehearsal room in my basement. We were one of the few to do online shows in the area. When the weather warmed up, we took the show outside onto my driveway and played for the Internet as well as for neighbors and friends, and people appreciated being able to be entertained and be safe. I believe all of that led to getting the call from our friend Lori who booked us for the first time at Vanish Brewery in June 2020 (which we had spent the past several years desperately trying to get into). We would end up playing just 27 shows in that year, but in 2021 we went to 67 and over half of those were venues we had tried for several years to get into. From there we grew the band, we grew the following, and obviously, we've grown the number of shows. Had those two things not happened, who knows where we would be now, if at all.

The road ahead of us is also exciting. We are planning a fantastic 2026 tour, unlike anything we've ever done, and in some cases, unlike anything that any local band has taken on. First, we've been working on some original music. For almost all the band's life we've played one of my originals called "Beer County Line", and appreciate how you've all responded to the fun of getting to play music we created. But that's not the only one we have. Very recently, we've been introducing folks at our shows to "You're Loved" which I wrote last year. We've recently been recording these songs and look forward to releasing them in some shape or fashion in the Spring. Which leads to our second plan. On March 28, we invite all of you out to Harper's Ferry, WV to one of the few true Honky Tonk's left in the area. We're going to play a free show at the Barn of Harper's Ferry, and we've partnered with the team there to plan a fantastic night that I believe none of us will ever forget. And then thirdly, we have come to agreements with two venues, and four local country music acts to bring "RowdyFest" to Loudoun and Prince William counties. These will be full day festivals of fun, food, drinks, family, friends and COUNTRY music, and we are ecstatic to say that Bear Chase Brewing will host RowdyFest 1 on June 20 and The Winery at Sunshine Ridge Farm will host RowdyFest 2 on September 19. We won't divulge who the other performers will be on those days yet, but rest assured...ALL OUR ROWDY FRIENDS ARE COMING OVER!

Lastly, you'll notice some change to our marketing and how we talk about our shows. We've been doing a lot of this for 10 years, but never really articulated what we do that we believe is different from others, until now. The goal has always been to have fun and have every person leave one of our shows feeling like they were seeing a music show at one of the bars or venues on lower Broadway in Nashville. We've always tried to play a wide array of the decades of country music, so that everybody would have at least one song they knew from their favorite era of this music. We've even tried to throw in some b-side stuff that we like thinking y'all would know it and like it too. Sometimes it worked, and sometimes it didn't. So we're changing up things by making our setlists only go back as far as 90's country, but continue to have music as new as today. Arguably, the last 35 years has some of the best and most notable country music ever heard. And that's where we want to be with the songs that you, me and all of us know and can sing or dance along to. Add in the engagement with every crowd, the fun of playing drinking games, and even climbing some furniture during a lead guitar solo, and you have what we are calling "The Nashville Experience". We want every show you see of ours to be as much fun as a show in the heart of music city. So get ready for the volume to be turned up!

Hopefully you can tell from this small blog that I'm excited. the band is excited, and we want y'all to be excited with and for us. It's going to be a great year to be in the #RowdyCrowd. We just recently released a list of some of the venues we'll be playing this year, and we anticipate many others to be added as time goes on. So stay tuned to the rowdyaceband.com website and we look forward to seeing y'all at a show!

Happy New Year!

~Rowdy