Some people have asked me to post the introduction I made to "Joe-Palooza", the Music Commemoration, on October 19; So here goes... hope you like it...

Tonight we are going to hear about JOE SHIKANY....what a great friend he was to all of us.... and especially about his musical talent. How he was a mentor to young musicians, and never too busy to help or give a word of encouragement. How he treated everyone equally and how all he ever really wanted was for people to have a good time. All of that is so true, but as for me, I'm just going to miss my guy.

 Joe was the guy who, in an attempt to be healthy, would take me for walks around Greenlake and then insist we stop for ice cream or a bowl of chowder on the way home. He was the guy who took me to lunch every week at Azteca, and each time told me I was a sight for sore eyes. He was the guy who would curl up on the couch with me to watch TV, or read the Sunday paper, and he was the guy who would rub my feet or back anytime I mentioned something was sore. I'll miss the guy who always gave me that special look, whether it was across the dinner table, or across the heads of fans, from the stage. The guy who needed to take a picture or movie of everything and the guy who made me realize it was OK to relax and take time for myself.

Joe made me feel the most loved I've ever felt, and through him I've met so many friends that I will cherish forever. He touched everyone he met; and made everyone feel like a friend. That's what people are going to miss the most and that's why I want to let all those friends know how happy I believe he was those last few months. I believe that God had a need for Joe, but wanted to make sure his life felt complete before he took him away from us. I don't know what His plan is, but I'm thinking it may be that he's having some trouble with his band up there in Heaven and needed someone like Joe to teach them all to "play nicely". I also now understand God kept two women in Joe's life for a reason. He knew that when he took Joe away from us, it would be too much for either one of us to deal with alone.

So many people have told me stories of making contact with Joe recently, that hadn't talked to him in years. People who felt the need to mend fences, renew old friendships, or just plain stay in touch. Some of these people even told me they had a strange feeling that they wouldn't see him again, and they made sure to make their conversations meaningful.

Joe was planning to take the weekend of Aug 22 off, and we were going to spend the weekend relaxing on Lopez Island with many of his long-time friends. The week before he passed away, on a Tuesday, many of those same friends just happened to all go see Joe play in Burien – that never happens on a weeknight and the place was packed. Somehow, we knew not all of us would make it to that vacation, and something drew us all together that night, the week before August 18.

I spent the weekend before he died, with Joe in Spokane. He was playing a gig over there, but during his down time, he showed me all his favorite places from when he was growing up. He talked about maybe taking some time off in the fall and how he'd decided we needed to have a fancy dinner once a week. We talked about how we would talk to each other when we were old, and we talked about buying our own lake house someday. After dinner on Saturday night, one of the places he wanted to show me was the merry-go-round at Riverfront Park. We walked the path across the river, through the park and into the merry-go-round building. He told me all about it, how old it was, where it came from, and how it use to be outside. He told me about the rings that you try to catch as you go around, and sometimes it's a brass ring. If you catch the brass ring, and can throw it through a slot in the wall, you get a free ride. He told me once when he was a kid, he actually did get the brass ring, and he was able to throw it through the hole for a free ride. By this time, I was getting tired and wanted to sit down, but he NEEDED to tell me this story. He made me go around to the other side, so we could watch the machine where the rings came out. We watched for about an hour until eventually a brass ring came out and some kid finally caught it. He was so excited by that, even more than the kid himself! Well, the next weekend when I was back for the funeral, his sister was talking about the difficulty the family had in trying to decide on a grave marker. Their choices were a larger plaque-type marker, and a small brass circle. She said after much thought, they finally decided on the small brass circle. Joe, in some sort of precognizant way, had wanted me to know that a small brass circle, a "brass ring", was perfect for him.

Finally, at the beginning of August, Joe played at Strutzfest in Darrington, He was in two of the bands that were playing that weekend, Magic Bus and The Davanos, and had previously been members of two others, Rail and Shyanne. He knew many members of the other bands, and one of his favorite guitarists, Guy Johnson, opened the festival up on Friday. It was so great for Joe to see all these old friends and bandmates, and even some of their kids, all in the same place. At the end of the festival, he and other band members were joking about someday having a "Joe-Palooza".

Joe, we are here to honor you and celebrate your life and music. J O E, THIS is all for you –

your J-O-E P-A-L-O-O-Z-A Music Commemoration