It's been a bit slow lately, but I have a few more to share with y'all

Val with the Moody Blues donated four different picks from John Lodge and Justin Hayward:

The boys in Blink-182 donated a cool dozen picks on their recent stop in Milwaukee:

And finally, The tech from Collective Soul (Sorry, but I didn't write down your name, please contact me to give proper credit Mr. St. Luis Obispo) donated four different picks from the band.

Wow! It's been a busy past few months, and unfortunately, I've neglected to update the webpage for a while. I have no real excuse, so I will not bore you with any lame excuses.

Here we go...

Let me start by thanking Wooter with the band Kill Hannah. About a year ago, I noted that I neglected to properly write down his name with a pick donation he made. So sorry, Wooter. Fortunately I ran across him a few weeks ago and he - very politely - reminded me that he was not properly credited. Please let this serve as a proper thank you for your earlier donation, Wooter. And also thank you for following the blog...

Since the last update, I have collected a few more donations:

Sparky with Third Eye Blind donated a dozen picks

Tom, on tour with Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest and Michael McKean (AKA Spinal Tap) on their "Unwigged and Unplugged" tour donated four picks

Very Recently, an eBay buyer by the name of Shawn Brice from Missouri donated a bunch of picks (56 by my count), three photos autographed by James Otto, a Kid Rock 2009 local crew shirt and some drumsticks. Shawn works at various venues in Lake of the Ozarks, Kansas City and Springfield. If you happen to cross paths with this fantastic man, please remember that he is one of the good guys in the world. I would love to thank Shawn specially, as his donations came selflessly and unsolicited. I am certain that his donations will generate a few hundred dollars for the Children's Hospital. THANKS A TON SHAWN! Here are pictures of some of Shawn's donations:

Next, Adam with Lacuna Coil donated 30 picks (5 sets of 6 picks)

James with the Jonas Brothers donated a pick from their stop in Milwaukee...

American Idol winner David Cook donated 20 picks.

The Dave Matthews Band generously donated 23 picks of various designs from the latest summer tour.

Opening for Dave Matthews, the boys from Umphry's McGee gave the fundraiser over 100 picks:

Gonzo with Crosby, Stills & Nash donated 18 picks. I always am fascinated by the "nylon" embossed signature picks like these from Steven Stills and Graham Nash.

A small side note, in all my years as a stagehand, this show was a first. Graham Nash came onto the stage during the loadout and personally thanked the stagehands for all their work. A really classy move my Mr. Nash.
Matt McGinn with Coldplay donated 10 picks and went out of his way to threaten me with violence if he saw these on eBay. Guess I'm in for a beating then, eh Matt? Actually, Matt was very supportive and his threats were limited to a pat on the back...

Mr & Mrs Anonymous came through with another donation from Big & Rich. I would also like to thank the crew members from Big & Rich for donating 22 picks

The Warped Tour 2009 recently came to town. Nick with Chiodos gave a total of 12 picks

Shug (sorry if this is misspelled) gave two sets of three picks:The guys in All Time low gave up 7 picks

Through Bad Religion's guy, Rhino, Anti Flag donated 10 picks:

Rhino and James of Bad Religion donated a total of 42 picks

Again, through Rhino, Less Than Jake donated two more and Black Tide donated one pick:

The boys in Authority Zero and a band whom I can't identify by the pick donated a total of 5 picks

The guys in Cash Cash gave three picks, and Sean from Big D and the Kids table gave me his last pick he had...

Jesse with In This Moment gave an even Dozen, the Madina Lake guys donated 4 picks and some of the nicest guys I could have hoped to meet: Zach, Brandon, Adam and Keenan with The Architects. They donated a total of 6 picks:

The band The Devil Wears Prada gave a total of 31 picks

A while back, Aaron with Pennywise donated 11 picks

Mr & Mrs Anonymous donated eight picks from the Kentucky Headhunters and a pair from Heart when passed through Milwaukee

The crew guys from Fleetwood Mac gave the fund a half-dozen picks of varying design...

That's all for now. I promise to update more often. If I left anyone out, please contact me and let me know.

Update Coming Soon...I PROMISE!

Rolling along...

The pick donations keep rolling in. Since the last posting, an additional 167 picks have been donated. Here we go...

Jerry Kink with Buckcherry donated eight picks,, four of each of the following:

Dean, donated one of the the most diverse sets of picks to date. Not only was he generous, but he was very friendly and talkative. He told me stories behind several of the picks he gave me while spending nearly a half-hour digging through his road case looking for different picks to give me. He started with 16 Buckcherry picks (4 different styles):

Dean has worked with Ted Nugent quite a bit in the past, so he had several different Nuge picks lying around and was happy to donate them:

Dean has his own Road Case manufacturing company, Mitchell Custom Cases, for which he had his own picks made. Also (during one of his stories) he was once simultaneously Ted Nugent's Stage Manager, Guitar Tech and Production Manager, therefore was dubbed the "EXECUTECH". Dean, being Dean, had some picks made up to commemorate the title...

Dean also worked with Night Ranger for a while. In that time, he thought it would be cool to have picks made up for bass player Brad Gillis that would be practical to throw out to audiences, as Brad typically uses steel picks. A prototype set of about a dozen were made up to see how well Brad liked using them. As it turns out, he did not like them at all and more were never ordered. Dean gave me one of the prototype picks, which will never be manufactured again, making it particularly rare...

Dean also donated several picks from the Doobie Brothers, Boston, Avenged Sevenfold, and Cheap Trick:

All in all, Dean donated a total of 58 picks. Thanks a lot Dean.

Joe, touring with the band Dope was running low on picks, but still gave me four of their newest picks:

Chad, who is currently with Chevelle donated ten picks and an autographed, stage-used drumhead from the band. I was at this tome able to scan the picks, but my camera is on the fritz, so I will have to delay adding a photo of the drumhead. Thanks Chad!

Stave with Metro Station donated 12 picks, six of the red and six of the orange...

Mark, Chris and Green, all with the band Testament gave me a total of 41 picks and three autographed drumsticks. As with the Chevelle drumhead, you will need to wait for pictures of the sticks until I can figure out what's wrong with my camera. In the meantime, here are the four different style picks donated my Mark, Chris and Green...

Chris (A name I love, but the way) with Blue October gave the fundraiser eight picks:

The band My Evolution only had one pick to donate, but they were so cool and moved by the cause of the fundraiser, they gave it to me to help raise money. As I always tell people who make donations, I don't care if you give 1 or 100 picks, the fact that you are supporting the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin is all that matters. Thanks you very much to the guys in My Evolution.

Eric with Static X donated 17 picks despite my having to yell my request over the opening band stage volume. He got the gist and did not hesitate to donate. Thank you Eric!

Finally, the boys in Skumlove let me keep the picks left on the mic stands and amps after their set. Thank you to Skumlove for donating 7 picks...

That's all for now. I hope to have more pictures, news and information soon, Thank you to all who keep this fundraiser floating and to all of you who are checking in and following my progress.