• The Fort Leavenworth Lamp has an article about Gary’s recent visit and his work with Operation Iraqi Children.
• The USO reports that Gary will be in Hawaii this weekend with the LDB.
• Our co-obsessives friends over at the livejournal community sinise_daily have scans of the recent interview Gary did for Guideposts magazine.  (If you have a livejournal, this is a terrific community to watch or join!)

The Lt. Dan Band currently has the following dates scheduled:

• Saturday, March 10: 4th Annual Steppenwolf Celebrity Golf Classic (Indian Wells, CA)
• Friday & Saturday, March 30-31: Fallsview Casino Resort (Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada)
• Saturday, April 28: House of Blues (Cleveland, OH)
• Thursday, May 3: Joe’s Bar (Chicago, IL) - Benefit for United States Vietnam Arts Program
• Saturday, May 5: Steppenwolf Theatre Gala (Chicago, IL)
• Saturday, July 21: Cantigny Park (Wheaton, IL) - details TBA

They are also planning a European USO tour for this summer.

Get out and see the LDB — you won’t be disappointed!

UPDATED: More photos! Gary plus Jeff Vezain, Gina Gonzales, and Kimo Williams. Click “Read the rest…”

Good morning!

I was lucky enough to catch the Lt. Dan Band at the Galaxy Theater in Santa Ana, California on Saturday night. What a show — this is an awfully impressive group of musicians! They play a fabulous, diverse set, covering music from five decades. (Is there anything on earth cooler than Kimo Williams? I think the answer is clearly no.)

Gary has an easy, relaxed leadership presence on stage, but everyone gets a chance to shine. The result is a fantastic evening of music and fun. So watch this space and if the LDB comes to your area, be sure and go!

Said hi to Gary after the show, and he had nothing but the nicest things to say about this site. It’s really a reflection on all the people who have helped over the years, past and present, to make it what it is. I really couldn’t do it alone. And apparently we do a pretty good job keeping on top of things — “If I want to know something about myself, I just go there.” (Mostly kidding, but still? Best. Compliment. Ever.)

Sinisefan Glenda Cain was also at the show, and unlike me, she actually takes good pictures, which she is nice enough to share with us. So we’ll meet you on the other side of Read the Rest…

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Gary is scheduled to appear on CNN’s Larry King Live tomorrow night (Saturday, January 13) to talk about the Fisher House charity.  Fisher House provides cost-effective housing near military and VA medical centers, allowing family members to be near wounded or ill military personnel or veterans while they are hospitalized.

The Lt. Dan Band is scheduled to perform a benefit for Fisher House on January 27 at the Washington Convention Center.  Details here.

Larry King airs at 9 pm EST/6pm PST, and is repeated several times Saturday night and early Sunday morning.   Check here or in your local listings for times.

(Thanks to Bob for the tip!)

Greetings and happy 2007! We hope you all had a great holiday season. Now that the last carol has been sung, the final champagne cork popped, etc., we’ve got some news to catch you up on.

• A New Year’s message from Gary, as well as new concert dates, have been posted on the Lt. Dan Band web site.
  
• You might remember that Gary and the LDB performed for Operation Support Our Troops Illinois back in July. A chunk of the funds raised at that event have gone to help provide internet access to wounded veterans at the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital in Maywood, Ill. (If any of you are visiting — a very special hello!)
  
• Kim Basinger and Gary are officially the new ambassadors for Swiss watchmaker Baume & Mercier. They participated in a photo session with celebrity photographers Jeff Lipsky and Black Little. The proceeds from the rights to the images have been donated to charitable organizations - environmental protection and the education of underprivileged children, two causes supported by Baume & Mercier’s charitable campaign. You can see one of the photos of Gary here.
  
• Open Season will be released on DVD on January 30.
  
• Gary was mentioned in an article about celebrity philanthropy in the Ottawa Sun.
  
• In an article about the CSI franchise from the Independent (UK) (via tvgrapevine.com) Gary’s character is referred to as “the most modern and complex and the least archetypal of the trio, his greyness suiting the post-September 11 Manhattan location.” And the National Post (Canada) has a Q&A with CSI creator Anthony Zuiker.
  
• Finally, OMG, are people really still asking this question? (At least they are asking someone who isn’t me.) Did this guy miss the first hour of Forrest Gump? Really, I want to know.

Gary with Concert for Peace organizer Wendy.

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Gary Sinise and the Lt. Dan Band are the featured performers for the Concert for Peace, December 10th at Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza. The event is presented by Genesis at the Crossroads as a benefit for One Peace at a Time (Chiildren’s Humanitarian Peace Quilt Program).

Tickets prices are $75 for VIP seating and $50 for general admisssion. Tickets include admission (the day of the concernt) to the One Peace at a Time exhibit and the One of a Kind art show at the Merchandise Mart. For tickets call: TicketWeb 866-468-3401. For more information, please see Concert for Peace.

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A one-hour program featuring actor Gary Sinise and his Lt. Dan Band will be broadcast at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. today on Naperville Community Television Channel 17.

The program was recorded July 22 at Cantigny in Wheaton, where the band performed a benefit concert for Operation Support Our Troops of Illinois. The program also features Naperville Mayor George Pradel singing the national anthem.

The program will be sent to Wheaton’s adopted 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division stationed in Iraq. Operation Support Our Troops of Illinois will also be shipping the program to its troops.

For information on air dates and times, visit NCTV17.com.

On Friday, November 10th Gary and his Lt. Dan Band performed a benefit concert for Operation Iraqi Children at the Uptown Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri.

And we have to love You Tube. Here’s a snippet of Gary with his heartfelt words to the U.S. troops on stage that night:

If anyone was at the show, feel free to share with us what a great time you had!

According to Bill Zweker’s column in the Sun Times, Gary and the Lt. Dan Band grabbed dinner and a few wardrobe accessories at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. at the Navy Pier Saturday, October 14th before their concert later that evening at the USO gala. (If anyone was fortunate enough to attend the gala, we would love to hear about it.)

If you haven’t been to a concert yet or you just gotta have more, the band starts November with two shows in California and another in Missouri. On Saturday, November 4th, they perform at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, and the following night, November 5th, they play the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.

Later that week, the band travels to Kansas City, Missouri for a Friday night show at the Uptown Theatre to raise funds for Operation Iraqi Children. For more information see Benefit Concert

For further details about the upcoming concerts and other Lt. Dan Band news, check out the fresh new look of the band’s website here. Don’t miss the Galllery with teriffic photos from recent shows!

• Hey! It’s finally here! The season premiere of CSI:New York can be seen tonight on CBS, 10 pm EDT/PDT. We’ve heard whispers that it’s not to be missed!
• Mission to Mars is discussed in a New York Times article on Brian De Palma (free reg. required).
• There’s a new Lt. Dan Band performance scheduled — on November 4 at the Crystal Palace in Bakersfield, California. Tickets go on sale Saturday.
• Reminder: the animated feature Open Season premieres next Friday, September 29, in both conventional theaters and IMAX 3-D. Gary is among the cast of voice talent which includes Martin Lawrence, Ashton Kutcher, Debra Messing, and Billy Connolly.

Saturday, September 2, in Schaumberg, Illinois — at Schaumberg Fest.

Friday, November 10, in Kansas City, Missouri — a fundraiser for Operation Iraqi Children. For tickets, call 816-531-4701 or send an e-mail to OICINFO@PTPI.ORG.

A nice write-up by the AP here.

Some fantastic pictures by Annie, who was fortunate enough to attend:

(If you belong to the gsinise list, you can view the rest of Annie’s photos here.)

Thanks, Annie!

Matt Ross was kind enough to advise us that his blog at blappers.com has extensive coverage of the LDB at Casino Rama. The posts are all on the main page for now, and should be in the July 2006 archive after they scroll off. Go down to “Lt. Dan Band Live Report #1″ and read up from there.

Thanks for the heads up, Matt!