"We can get down, get funky, get loose... some of us just can't get back up again
when it's all over!
"

Dave "Yo" Merrill
        



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For bookings or a CD sampler, call:

Ed Kelly








You, know, sometimes the road gets to be a sad, weary place. Dave and Ed were nearly suicidal on the trip to Bancroft one summer.
(Cue the blues riff...)

 


Why, yes, the livin' IS
easy...

 


Take us anywhere!! Doing the casual wedding thing at a great farm near Corydon.

 


Rockin' out with that saxy Bunky Marlowe at the Lakeside Casino in
Osceola.

 


Ahhh! For many years we've "artfully" played music for the annual fall Art Festival in Valley Junction. Good time tunes in the open air don't get much better.

 


Often on gigs, our old sax player Vern began with a little prayer he wouldn't forget the chords to "Old Time Rock & Roll" ...again.


It's an annual date
on March 17 at Embassy Suites with the
Friendly Sons of
St. Patrick
!


Those eyes are smilin'!

 

"Blarney-man" regales Scott with stories of the Kelly ancestors who came
to the shores of Ankeny
from their
"auld-sod" homeland.
Right off the boat!


Groundbreaking for the new DM Library on a late October evening needed a little jazz for the city's
movers & shakers.

  


We were "Stylin'" that night. Maybe next time we'll be playing on the library's
grass roof!"

Hey, Stylers!

A lot of private gigs keep us busy, but
we look forward to the public ones.
Summers are usually a-sizzlin' and winters a-shivrin' and we pray gigs won't get rained or snowed out 'cause they're a chance to invite our friends to public parties.
Lots of outdoor events every year keep us hopping
(and our dry cleaners in business).

Some recent favorites over the length and
breadth of Iowa...

Could you handle a trip to Gull State Park at West Okoboji on a balmy June?
Jodi Thompson and Sean Gabor were hitched and over 250 guests were...

     
...swinging with us on the porch with some pre-event jazz at their wedding shindig at
a Boji lakeside cabin. Later, the horny boys did the "pied piper" thing and led guests
to a dinner tent, then back inside the lodge for the reception dance
and Iowa's "Great Lakes" saw a rockin' time.


Ahhh!...the Taste of DM summer festival gets better all the time and...

.
..Waterworks Park was a BIG party! Lots of folks think that was
a cooler "rural" location than Court Ave. bridge..
.


...where, on a recent July, we kicked off an evening of fun with
the Nadas and Swing Crew down on the bridge.
(Yes, Scott won the "manly legs" contest, but we know the fix was in
with the Scottish judges....)

   
The food and arts & craft displays are awesome and the dancin' never stops.
Be sure and get down to this premier DM event next year!


When that summer looks inviting, don't miss FreeStyle's yearly gig
for the Metro Arts Jazz in July series!
Our annual hosts are the folks at Wells Fargo and...

...we really appreciate those shady tents. Tunes range from Al Jarreau to Duke Ellington and points in between. Lots of requests ... but we keep playing anyway! The audience enjoys refreshments and...
...music by FreeStyle & jokes by guitarist Tres "the Round Mound 'O Sound" Rich. Catch these Metro Arts Jazz in July events; see you next year!
Dave's keeping us in the groove. He probably wishes Ed would lose a little weight so he could see the crowd once in a while.


Ragbrai...Slater, IA! Whoa, can you say PARTAY!!? Scott, Dave and Ed grabbed some musician friends and helped the bikers forget their aching nether-regions at the Good Times Saloon...



Headin' to the North Country anytime soon? Feel like a "Christmas in July" party??? Been there, done that! On the patio at the best bar in Polk City... the Landmark. The beer is always cold at another of our favorite "rehearsal" spots.
"Can't get more than my jukebox inside the Landmark...but the only band I'd EVER have would be those boys! If I'm lying, I'm dying!"
Ray Mikulan, The Landmark Lounge in Polk City


Spring Benefit for NY firefighter John Moran at 7 Flags in Urbandale.
Great party...sad occasion. A Ragbrai veteran, Moran was a casualty of the Trade Center attack and many Iowa friends and riders supported the family with a dance party.
We were proud and privileged to be a part of this good cause,
a celebration for a brave "honorary Iowan."

     


Fundraising Gala for Dear Ol' East High!
[Four of us have roots with EHS in Des Moines]

The Scarlets were in the middle of a multi-million dollar renovation and the show we played at the HyVee Convention Center in West DM in the fall was a "command" performance. Principal Tom Lee asked his loyal teachers (Vern & Ed) to bring the boys and be a part of the gala night for alums and boosters. HyVee's CEO Ron Pearson (EHS Hall of Fame grad and a FreeStyle band fan!) donated the facility and was on hand to lend his support to the cause. Fun time: cheerleaders, the EHS jazz band & our "faculty" band!

Dave has the crowd well in hand during the opening floor show. We had a "volunteer" on stage driving a bus for "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" & led the audience in the school song during the finale.


Rockin' out with the EHS Cheerleaders!




The Pope sends his blessing!



Dancin' up a reception storm with the YMCA, a "snake" dance, and an ethnic trip "round the world."


 
Dueling Toasts from Michael, the black sheep former boyfriend and Grandpa, from the old country.

Tony & Tina's Wedding!
Whoa, TEN years were spent at this riot, a faux-"wedding" gig, courtesy of Director John Viars and the DM Community Playhouse. Take a ceremony, with an extended Italian family, consisting of every misfit (but frighteningly recognizable!) personality type you can imagine, include the reception with a GREAT band and food and attend a wedding-from-hell...every day! You and your friends are the "guests" at this matrimonial "Ground Hog's Day"
Here's what you might have seen...


Joey and his mama are just two of the wedding party cast sharing in the joyous
event.

A pregnant bridesmaid, a priest "referee," trying to keep the ceremony civil, a stripper step-mom on display for the band and crowd...just like your wedding, right?
Isn't Joey light in his loafers?
Vinnie is large and in-charge at "Vinnie Black's Chapel of Love," and, hey, doesn't that
"Lance Diamond and the Zircons" band look familiar???

C'mon-a-our house, all youse are welcome!
Badda-bing, badda-boom!


The Tony & Tina cast on display!

We think we're the band for you!
Let us make YOUR next event a memorable one.

Contact Ed Kelly for bookings at:

or call



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