Hi everybody out there in Jukesville,

I would like to nominate my son Jonathan Thuresson to be a fan of the month. He has been listening to Southside's music since he was a baby and this year he turns 17 . Of course it´s me who turned him on to The Jukes ; ) or as my husband says "you have brainwashed him." Well, maybe I have, but the older he got he really liked the music more and more.

The year 2006, when he was 13, I took him to a Jukes concert for the first time. It was in Copenhagen in October, and both him and me were soooo excited. We stood there and waited for the band to come in, and when they did I looked at Jonathan and I saw the excitement in his face, and I knew he would be hooked for the rest of his life : ) He had just started to play the guitar himself, and he was so excited to see Bobby play. He noticed every chord Bobby did, and when the show was over Bobby took his hand and said, "If you are playing something don´t ever stop." He must have seen that Jonathan had been tapping his hand on the stagefloor to every beat Joe did on the drums. When the show was over Jonathan said, "Mum, I want a T-shirt," so we bought one. He wanted Bobby to sign it, so he stood in line and waited and all of a sudden Bobby saw him and waived his hand and said, "Hey!! You don´t have to stand in line my friend," and Jonathan walked by the others and he was soooo proud : ).

Next year we saw them in both Copenhagen, Denmark and in Malmö, Sweden and Jonathan hoped for Bobby to be there. He wasn´t, but then Ralph started to play his guitar and Jonathan had just the same look in his eyes as last year, and the look was saying admiration. Now Jonathan had been playing his guitar for over a year and was getting pretty good, too. The show in Copenhagen was GREAT !! and when it ended Ralph said, "Hey are you Anneli?" and I was more then surprised. I thought how on earth did he know my name, but then I found out that Kevin "Celtic Chef" had written to Ralph and told him that I was there with my now 14 year old son, and Jonathan being the youngest one there he must have guessed it must be us :) Ralph was so nice and talked to us and he asked Jonathan about his guitars and how long he has been playing and let me tell you from that moment Ralph got a BIG fan in Jonathan – he was so thrilled that Ralph came and talked to us.

And this year in August, I am taking Jonathan to New Jersey to see The Jukes, and we both are so excited about that. We are hoping to see The Jukes at Martells if I can get Jonathan in there (I think the age is 21 so it may be a problem) and hopefully some more shows, too. I was there in 2008 and I had the time of my life, so I know we will have a wonderful time the both of us. I think it will be even more fun for Jonathan now that he is really good with the guitar and he sings too.

Love and hugs Anneli "Southsidenelly" Thuresson