Archives For tony memmel

Tony Memmel at Redamté Coffee House

April 22, 2012 — 3 Comments

Tony Memmel played a show in Madison, WI last night and it was awesome.

I could basically end the post there, but I won’t.

It was a blast to connect with Tony again and finally meet his beautiful and talented wife, Lesleigh! They are just such kind and down-to-earth people. Plus, his beard…I’m so jealous. My wife and I brought our kids to meet them, too, and it was priceless to see my son Sam watching Tony’s every move. And later, my wife would say to me, “I wish we lived closer. They’re so great. Plus, I have about a MILLION questions for Lesleigh! She’s the only woman I know who is also married to a one-armed man!” Love it.

Haacks and Memmels showing-off our Lucky Fin bracelets!

Tony’s performance was fantastic. He made Redamté Coffee House his home and made us all feel comfortable. He even played One Week to Philadelphia, just like I “asked” him to! (I demanded it on Facebook, actually) Lesleigh sang with him on a few of the songs and their voices blend beautifully. The tour was sponsored by the Lucky Fin Project and Tony gave a nice plug and thank you from the stage, which was really cool. I hope to have video of the concert up soon!

After his performance, Tony graciously agreed to do a short interview for LOH. Enjoy!

Connect with Tony at his website, on Facebook and on Twitter!

Also, join the LOH fun on Facebook and Twitter.

UPDATE:  See Tony’s FULL PERFORMANCE here!  I’ve also made separate videos for each song.  Enjoy!

In Help, Hope, Humor, Videos ,
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Clenched Hands Brave Demands EP By Tony Memmel

March 25, 2012 — 3 Comments

Tony Memmel’s music is always filled with hope.  And authenticity.

His new EP, Clenched Hands Brave Demands, is no different.

Themes of movement and growth are pervasive throughout Tony’s new project, whether he’s talking about the world spinning on without him or our desire to be simultaneously speeding up and slowing down in life. Like I said earlier, I love Ton’y authenticity, too. So, while we’re all trying to grow, he recognizes that sometimes it doesn’t feel that way (from Spinning on Without Me):

When you stand, you risk the fall
I put my money down, I play my hand
Another year on track
for two steps forward, two steps back
and I don’t wanna be there anymore

My favorite track is the soaringly beautiful I Could Make You New.  I love the lyrics at the beginning of the song:

My blood is grief, but my veins aren’t jaded
My heart is light, but it gets so weighted 
down with everything I hold onto
Sometimes that means hanging on for dear life, too

The title track is my next favorite.  I think it’s the tightest song on the EP.  I could be totally off here, but there’s something Springstein-ish about it.  And Lesleigh’s vocals on this track are perfect; a beautiful touch.  Listen to it here:

Make sure you’ve subscribed to Tony’s blog, liked his Facebook page and follow him on Twitter so you don’t miss the announcement when the EP is officially released next week!

In Uncategorized , ,
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Tony Memmel and I Go Way Back

February 5, 2012 — 5 Comments

My mind is officially blown.

I’m sure many of you are familiar with Tony Memmel.  Tony was born missing his let arm just like me.  If you’re not familiar with Tony, watch this video.  I remember watching it and immediately saying, “I need to meet this guy.”

So, I made this video (pre-livingonehanded.com!):

Ryan Haack ‘One Week To Philadelphia’ and Introduction from Ryan Haack on Vimeo.

Yeah, I did that.  And it worked!  Tony I met in October last year (read about it here) and I blame, er, credit that video completely.  Tony is a great guy and I’m incredibly excited to watch his career as a musician unfold.  Amazing talent!

And while that’s cool, this is what’s blowing my mind:

The other day Tony’s mom, Katie, found a newspaper put out by the Children’s Hospital back in 1988.  That’s 24 years ago.  Who was on the front page?  Yours truly.  Playing a recorder.

I guarantee I never played the recorder with that arm besides when this picture was taken.

And who was on page 2?  You guessed it!  Tony Memmel!

Look at that cute kid!

 That’s right.  24 years ago, Tony Memmel and I occupied page 1 and 2 of the same newspaper.  24 years later we met for the first time.

That is insane.

And I, for one, am proud to call Tony a friend and look forward to a lifetime of dominating newspapers together.

Twins! Ok, not so much.

In Humor, Uncategorized
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