I'm in the MOOD to upgrade my guitar and more importantly my tone choices, which any guitar player will tell you...the more choices you have with a guitar...the fewer you need to get the job done! I recently saved my lead singer's guitar from a certain trip to the junkyard! He had purchased an Indonesian made Squire Telecaster for $200 (the new sale price) a while back. He loves a Tele and although we have other guitars available to him that are lots better...he insists on playing his Tele. So I installed a new set of Seymore Duncan STK's in it and rewired the whole thing and installed all new electronics. It sounded so good when I got done that it made me decide to go ahead with plans I'd been thinking about to redo my own guitar. We have a busy week coming up for RiverGard, so I will be making enough money to have some extra to throw into my equipment. I will be purchasing a new set of Seymore Duncan pickups for my Ibanez S470DXQM(HSH) consisting of a SH-2n Jazz for the neck, an APS-2 Alnico II Pro for the middle and an SH-5 Custom for the bridge. These pickups represent a conscious choice to try to make my guitar sound tighter, with a more intelligible and smoother distorted sound, and a bluesier blues tone, while focusing on a tight clean sound suitable for country music. I've also decided to incorporate a push-pull tone pot so that I can split the coils in the neck humbucker. I will also be adding a 3 position mini toggle that will be wired to control the bridge pickup and allow me to either split the coils or run the pickup in series or parallel. All of this will be adding a LOT of tone choices. Currently my guitar has a 5 position pickup selector...that is my tone choices. After the upgrade I'll have 25 choices and will be able to emulate many common pickup configurations. I'm really looking forward to completing this upgrade and when I do I will be posting another blog entry with up-close before and after pictures for anyone who's interested. Oh...Happy Valentines Day to you all this week! Be safe, healthy, wealthy, and wise. Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.rivergard.com

Well we were all pretty lax about bookings over the holidays (nothing better than spending time with loved ones...oh and family too). So the first of the year started off a bit slow for us. But things are picking up nicely now. In fact we just picked up Thursday nights at RG's again as the Selle Brothers decided to take a little time off to learn new material. So we'll be playing there starting next Thursday (Jan. 24th) through the end of February. Speaking of February it's our biggest month yet. We've got RG's on Thursdays, we're playing the Grand Opening of Bass Pro Shop in Independence (2-nights) and we've got Timbercreek Bar & Grill in Louisburg, KS and Jersey's. In all it's only 9 shows, but the pay is really great. So I can't complain. There is one week that will be BUSY as hell though. The week of February 16th (saturday) to Februar 23rd (saturday...yeah that's a week and a day...so sue me! lol). That week we play Saturday the 16th at Timbercreek Bar & Grill from 8pm to midnight, then on Wednesday the 20th we play the Grand Opening of Bass Pro Shop in Indendence from 5:30pm to 8:30pm, then the next morning (Thursday Feb. 21st) we play again at Bass Pro Shop from 8am to noon and then that same evening we play at RG's from 7pm to 10pm. Then on Friday (the next day) February 22nd and again on Saturday February 23rd we play at Jersey's Sports Cafe in Independence. WOW...did you catch all that? lol That will most assuredly be a FUN week! I still get tickled that people actually PAY me to do this. I'm thankfull that they DO...but it's just so much FUN that (in this day and age) you'd think it'd be illegal! lol Anyway...tonight we are back at Timbercreek Bar & Grill in Louisburg, KS from 8pm to midnight (or later if the crowd is good). I hope to see any of you that reside within driving distance at the bar tonight. Don't forget (as always) that if you mention that you heard about us on MySpace you can get a FREE Personally Autographed 8 1/2 x 11 color photograph of the band (supplies limited). See ya'll soon! Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.rivergard.com www.myspace.com/rivergard

This weekend "RiverGard" will be playing at the Timbercreek Bar & Grill in Louisburg, Kansas. We hope to see all of our FUBAR friends come out and have a blast with the regular crowd at Timbercreek. We always have a great show at this club and this time around we are going to do a LIVE Webcast. If you can't make it to the club you can STILL enjoy the show right from your computer! You can tune in to the LIVE Webcast by going to the KCHost Radio Network Lounge right here on FUBAR or by going to www.rivergard.com and clicking on the Web-Cast link. The stream should be live approximately 30 minutes to showtime and playing music with possibly some background noise from the bar right up to showtime (8pm cdt). We will be in the KCHost Radio Network Lounge chatting with anyone who stops by to say "HI". We can't promise to fill requests, but we'll do our best and will be accepting any dedications and giving "shouts" out to anyone hanging out with us in the Lounge. We hope to see either in person or online Saturday night! Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.rivergard.com

All the old 'juices' seem to be flowing again as I sit here going over the events of tonight in my mind. Am I solid on the songs? Do I have all my clothes laid out? I make a mental note to call my drummer to find out when we should meet at his house to load up our vehicles and move the equipment to the gig. It's been 7 years since I've played music on New Years Eve...it's been even longer since I've had a real New Years Eve kiss. Will I break the 'drout' tonight? I am dressing up tonight in my Texas Tuxedo (black of course), White Tux shirt, Cowboy boots, belt and my old black stetson all of which is coming out of retirement for the first time in 7 years as well. I look back to 2001 when after being seriously burnt out my band Showdown broke up and I decided to take a break from music and (to ensure that I'd get away from it) I sold every stitch of music gear that I had down to the last cord. I think what it would be like if I had never quit playing back then. Would I even still be with RiverGard? Actually the truth is I probably wouldn't be with them as after I sold my stuff I got several very good offers to play in touring acts. So I guess I wouldn't change it now. I sit here going over all the tiny details in my mind and trying to plan the set list which I will have to make up and print off today and take with me to the gig. Tonight is different than any other night of the year. People who NEVER drink will put back a few tonight. People who never come out to a bar will make the trek tonight and people who have never seen RiverGard will see us for the first time tonight. It's a HUGE night and I'm SO thankful to be playing again and (more-over) to be playing with the great bunch in RiverGard that I'm proud to call 'my band', and my friends. Our faithful followers will be there tonight, all of them are truly a blessing for all of us in the band. These people are the heart and soul of what playing music in a band is all about. So I'm off to go do that stuff I've got to do to get me a little bit closer to tonight's festivities. Thanks for reading and to everyone (from my house to yours) HAVE A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR! WHOOHOO...2008 here we come!

It looks like Christmas is gone and New Years is fast approaching. RiverGard will be playing at Timbercreek in Louisburg, Kansas on New Years Eve this Monday (December 31st). The band will begin playing at 9pm and play until 1am. Anyone arriving after 8pm will be met with a $5.00 cover-charge at the door. Here is a copy of the flyer- We look forward to seeing everyone that resides within driving distance at the gig this Monday night. It promises to be a REALLY good time. As always...tell us that you heard about us on FUBAR to receive a FREE personally autographed 8 1/2 x 11 color photograph of the band. (supplies limited) Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.RiverGard.com www.myspace.com/RiverGard

Hey everybody! This weekend my band RiverGard will be playing at Jersey's Sports Cafe in Independence, Missouri and we will be Webcasting the show both nights. Audio only from this event as there are issues with the router at the location blocking the port needed to stream video. The whole show will be available in the KC Host Radio Network Lounge at http://www.fubar.com/new_lounge.php?lid=51264 right here on FUBAR!!! You can login to the lounge anytime you like. We will probably have the stream up about 30 minutes prior to the show. We will also have a laptop there so that we can chat with anyone hanging out in the lounge LIVE. Requests can be difficult but if you would like to make a dedication we can probably get that done (depending on traffic). We will also be giving shouts out to those people who login and let us know that they are listening. We hope to see EVERYONE in the KCHRN Lounge either Friday or Saturday night or both. Here's a copy of the show flyer for your enjoyment. Please REPOST this and/or SHARE it with your friends so that we can get a whole lot of people logged in and listening to the shows. Looking forward to chatting with any of you who decides to come hang out with us! Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard

The gig this week at The Pig has been cancelled due to the fact that the staff at The Pig double-booked bands evidently. So we will NOT be playing this weekend and instead I will be sitting underneath the bridge at 23rd street and I-435 with a tin cup and a sign that says "Need Money for Christmas...please help!" (j/k) That'll teach me to take a club's word when I book a gig. From now on it's contracts with everybody or no band! I apologize to anyone who had made plans to come out and see us this weekend. If possible, please mark your calendars for Friday and Saturday December 7th and 8th when we will be at Jersey's again in East Independence on 24 highway in the Susquehanna Center from 9pm to 1am. Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.RiverGard.com www.myspace.com/RiverGard

Hey all, That's right...my band RiverGard is back at Timbercreek Bar & Grill tonight (November 23rd) from 8pm to midnight. There's no cover charge, only great LIVE MUSIC, dancing, Great food, and just GOOD FUN! Come on out tonight and enjoy some great live music in a really NICE venue with plenty of dancing, drinking and FUN! As always, mention that you heard about us on Fubar to recieve a FREE personally autographed 8 1/2 x 11 color photograph of the band (supplies limited).

Hey everybody! This weekend my band "RiverGard" is playing at Jersey's Sports Cafe in East Independence, MO (Susquehana) on Friday and Saturday November 16th and 17th from 9pm to 1am CDT. We are also going to be doing a LIVE Web-Cast during the event. If you can't make it to Jersey's or don't live within driving distance but would still like to see the show then this is your lucky day! Tune in to the RiverGard website at www.rivergard.com tonight at 9pm CDT and click the Web-Cast link. The Web-Cast should begin right at 9pm CDT or just a bit before. We hope to see all of you that can come at Jersey's tonight...for the rest of you...see you Online! Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.RiverGard.com

Hey Fubarians! This week my band RiverGard will be playing back at Jersey's Sports Cafe in East Independence (Susquehana) off of East 24 Highway on Friday and Saturday November 16th and 17th from 9pm to 1am. We hope to see everyone of you that can come at the Jersey's this weekend. This is a very special gig as we will be doing a LIVE Webcast for the first time. This will be a test for possible future Live Webcasts. This time we will be offering only 1 view...in the future we would like to offer multiple views to those that stream our shows. Information will be posted as soon as it becomes available. So stay tuned if you can't make it to the show but would like to view the webcast. For more up-to-the-minute details visit the RiverGard website at www.RiverGard.com. Hope to see you all at the show. As always, mention that you heard about us on Fubar to recieve a FREE personally autographed 8 1/2 x 11 color photo of the band (supplies limited so come early). Sincerely, Paul Valenti - Guitar/Vocals - RiverGard www.RiverGard.com www.myspace.com/RiverGard