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Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve tonight on ABC 10 pm/9c


Paul Sidoti

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The drummers name is Al Wilson. According to Paul, Al is the original drummer of Taylor's back up band from day one. I met him about a year ago and he is a rock steady drummer who love to play on Ludwig's just like Mr. Bonfanti. The whole back up band known as "The Agency" are really nice people and on the ride of their life.

As far as that green sparkle Gretsch guitar, Paul brought that one along with about 20 other mostly new guitars to a Tequila Sunrise show in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago which I worked for him. We had guitar changes on virtually every song in the 2 hour plus performance. Talk about being exhausted after a show. I don't make that many changes for Wally in a berries show. Since joining Taylor's band Paul has certainly increased his vault with some very nice guitars from Gibson, Gretsch, PRS, Taylor and Fender.

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Hey all, back from the new year festivities and in bed nursing a major chest cold. It was all very well worth it though. It was a night I won't ever forget.

The gusts of wind, up to 40 mph, got the temperature down to near zero. We had to walk the streets of NY because no cars were allowed in the area. It was only a block and a half to the stage but it was a long walk given the conditions. But once you got to the main area in Times Square with the lights and people, adrenaline quickly took over and the excitement and buzz was euphoric.

We did a test run around 9 p.m. and came back at 10 p.m. to perform. On our way back to the stage holding guitars in hand, people cheered and high fived us all along the way. It really felt like we were rock stars, it was very cool.

Once we got onstage, it was an incredible sight to look in both directions and see those huge blue balloons and streamers everyone was waving. We could hear the audio feed from Ryan Seacrest when he introduced us and when he did, it felt like 80 degrees outside. I was so pumped up to be playing on a show I've dreamt about playing on since I was a kid. I couldn't believe it was really happening.

After we were done, we walked back to ABC studios to warm up. We all then walked back to our hotel and dropped off our instruments and returned to watch the ball drop right next to the platform where all the stars were standing. The countdown was incredible. When it hit 2009, all of us teared up and hugged each other and watched the thousands of pounds of confetti and balloons raining upon us as "Auld Lang Syne" and "New York, New York" blared through the speakers. We had so much to reflect on for 2008, the wild ride we have all been on and the excitement for 2009 as Taylor headlines her first tour to look forward to.

We went to a couple after parties, one hosted by Ryan Seacrest who is a really nice guy and very personable and Kellie Pickler who is Taylor's best friend and who co-hosted the show. She's hilarious.

So.. our next performance is next Saturday night. I'll leave you to guess what it is. It's going to be pretty awesome.

Stay warm everyone! Happy New Year!

Paul

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