Stirred Not Shaken mixes it up

Written by Margaret Bikman | The Bellingham Herald | November 2, 2012

Here’s a message from my good friend Chad Peterson via Facebook and from his email (edited a bit): There are two final chances to see Chad Petersen performing with Stirred Not Shaken this weekend. Saturday night the 3rd of November at Skylarks from 8-11 p.m. and Sunday afternoon, the 4th of November at the Bellwether’s Lighthouse Bar and Grill from 4-7 p.m.
Hello everyone, this is Chad. I started Stirred Not Shaken along with Nicole Hurtubise and Nancy Button over three years ago.It is with a mixture of great trepidation and excitement that I am announcing I am stepping down and away from being the leader of Stirred Not Shaken as of next Sunday after our gig at the Bellwether’s Lighthouse Bar and Grill. I have been doing this for a long time and I just want to take a break. I love these women like nobody’s’ business but life is calling me in a slightly different direction. The girls have always picked up a lot of the slack when I was feeling overdone and yet, I find I still need a little more space in my life. I love the music we have made and the close knit relationships we have forged together over the years. I recall once when my good friend John Powers died. I was a complete wreck and the girls came over to my house to comfort me and weep together. I felt loved. I have some amazing friends in them and I will always love them both no matter what may come. I am sure we are not done with one another just yet, but we will see what comes of it all. Thank you Nancy ♥, thank you Nicole ♥. I love you both.
On a lighter note, I have taken up the accordion as an instrument and it is a challenge. I love it! Please send me all your accordion jokes. I’d love to read them all. Send your prayers as well. I need the help!
I treasure all the folks that have come to see us over the years. Some repeats from Canada and the Midwest seem to show up a few times a year just to say hello when they were in town. It is so wonderful to have you all in my life and I know ai will miss a lot of you. The music will continue however. Nancy and Nicole along with the help of some other wonderful local musicians are planning on keeping Stirred Not Shaken up and running. They aren’t quite ready to let it go yet. To be honest, I don’t know what it’s going to be like myself.
I am planning on keeping my one night a month as Chad and Friends at Skylarks on the 4th Thursday of every month and I will invite anyone that wants to come sit in to play and it should be a fun time. So, if you have ever wanted to try your hand at performing a song, I will do my best to back you up. If you just want to come sit in and play, that would be fine as well.
I have said it a lot in my letters over the years, but it never rings more true than it does tonight. We are going to be having a lot of fun anyway, but it is always more fun when you are there. I really mean it.