I said "You're a Saint" He said "That's My Band"

That night 2 years ago in the hospital I said "You're a Saint". He said, "That's my band 'The Saints'!" And in the spirit of what goes around comes around, 'The Saints' Came to Play The Echo Bay Yacht Club In New Rochelle, N.Y. where I danced till I dropped this Past Saturday Night!

Once upon a night in the hospital when my Mom was dying of cancer, I slept uncomfortably in a cold hard chair next to her bed. The staff insisted there was not one extra pillow or blanket in the whole place. In the middle of the night, a hospital employee named Jimi Lee peeked his head around the curtain divider and asked if I was OK? Told him I was freezing and was there a chance he knew where a blanket was. In no time he returned, having found me a pillow and blanket that no one said existed.

I said, "You're a Saint". He said, "That's The Name Of My Band, "The Saints"!

I made him go get me a brochure and I had good intentions to follow his band. But then my mom died and that following year I did not think about music or dancing.

About 6 months ago, I stopped to meet my pals Maureen and Larry at a bar. The band was awesome. Maureen said they're called 'The Saints'. The Saints? OMG.

Sure enough there was Jimi-Lee Lloyd from the hospital that cold night, wailing on Lead Guitar & Vocals! I went and gave him a big hug and reminded him of that night. Then I told Maureen, her pals should book these guys to play the local island in the summer. I love dancing on an island in the summer, so I got their number and got it to Geri Lizzo who books the bands for The Echo Bay Yacht Club.

And so it goes how 2 years later, this past Saturday night, my friends and I danced for hours non-stop to the awesome sounds of Jimi Lee and his fellow 'Saints' at the Echo Bay Yacht Club on The Long Island Sound in New Rochelle pictured above in an aerial view. Purely magical night.

"Crawdaddy Magazine, the challenger to Rolling Stone, once compared the guitar chops and stage presence of Saints' guitarist and vocalist Jimi-Lee (Two Feathers) Lloyd, to Jimi Hendrix. Nobody who has heard Jimi-Lee wail on his Strat can disagree". This Jimi speaks in the universal language of music, whether it be rock, soul, old-school R&B, Island flavor, Latin or new school.

Jimi-Lee is a tall man and has some magic softness about him. When I came up to hug him hello this time I noticed an eye patch and asked about it. He said he was in a car accident 2 weeks ago. Hit from behind in a car and as a result he lost his eye. OMG. My heart sank. Two weeks ago? And you've just played and rocked the house? How I asked? Could you possibly have the ability to show up and do this tonight? He said, because... music... is my life.

I could not help but think after I walked away what his presence there under such difficult circumstances said about the resilience of the human spirit. Life is turbulent as we all by now know. It can, and often does change on the dime. Unexpected and often outrageous curveballs get thrown at us that stop us in our tracks. Some seem insurmountable. Some are paralyzing. Jimi-Lee's presence spoke volumes to me about him. He chose to let his passion rule over his circumstance, rather than the other way around. No small task and one that I know plenty of us wrestle with. Passion Over Circumstance? Or Circumstance Over Passion? We do have the 'choice' when live throws us curve balls. An inspiration for sure.

Please Take a peek at The Saints Facebook page and book them if you have an upcoming event where you want everybody to dance! The whole band is amazing. Clearly Jimi-Lee Lloyd is especially amazing. You can hear some music clips there as well.

While you're at it check out the Echo Bay Yacht Club In New Rochelle, N.Y. (very unique place). It's a private, member-owned club on two beautiful islands conveniently located in Echo Bay Harbor, New Rochelle, New York. Perfect for families, couples and singles. I call it Gilligan's Island. It feels like Gilligan's might have felt. Totally UN-Pretentious. And Yes I am Ginger.

BTW Here's the EBYC Commodore Alicia Bergin - a fellow Still A Babe member, shown here with past Commodore Marc Caine and Vice Commodore Tony Angiulo in the background on Opening Day this year.