Jam Report for Chris, Joe and Ralph

That's right, folks. Doug and I were the only JB's present tonight. We had a good turnout. Let's see, Kendal, VERNON ELKINS, Frankie, Richard, Christian, Sloane, Merry, Nancy, Young Jason, the new dobro player, and the two fiddle prodigies. That would be the young guy and PJ. Wilson also showed up for a few, and the new guy on the dobro was there, along with another fella plunkin on the mandolin and the illustrious Timmy Mills.

Most of the regular onlookers were there, as well. We played some new ones, and alot of old ones. We missed our leader, and those other two hoodlums that normally are there. We at least kept it going for another week.

Had a guy ask if the JB's could play at the Farmhouse. I said sure, when? He said tomorrow night, and I laughed. He said why can't you get them together and I told him we had sickness, folks out of town, and some of us working. Doug couldn't believe he asked on such short notice. Anyway, the guy who does the sound at the Cancer Society events apparently recommended us. Maybe we should call him and try to schedule one in the future. Future meaning over 24 hours down the road!

Hope everyone makes it home, gets better, and/or just returns to the festivities next week.

See ya soon! Happy New Year........

How bout them Eagles?

Sorry Wayne, better luck next year.

I can't make the jam tomorrow--pick a few good uns fer me.

Merry Christmas, youzall!!!

The Coffee Mill Jam Xmas Bass Miracle

The jammers were sad. It was cold. Really cold. And there was NO STINKIN' COFFEE! ARRRGGGHHH! Unbelievable!

Ahem. Anyway, the children were gathered with their many strings -- guitars, mandolins, banjos, fiddles ... but there was no bass! Wayne wiped away a tear as he muttered, "I guess Santa forgot a bass player for Christmas again this year. It must be the economy." But before Jason could give him a hug, who walked in but Santa, toting a bass fiddle!

"Ho, ho, ho! Merry Christmas and Happy Jam-nation, you cute li'l pickers, you!" Santa said. The jammers were beside themselves with excitement. Santa tuned up and away we went with the first tune. At first, we looked around with puzzled glances and wondered why Santa was playing "Whiskey Before Breakfast" in the key of E-sharp. That's when we noticed theunmistakable smell of eggnog.

Santa had been slamming back whiskey before Christmas!!!

Next thing you know, Wayne is pouring eggnog for the whole crew, shouting "God bless us! Everybody!" After a rousing rendition of "Run Run Rudolph," Santa passed out on top of Kendall and Wayne took over the bass. At first, we were sore afraid ... but then the glory of the bass took hold and we were off and running again! We laughed and cried as George sang "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer." Tim Mills showed up in a Christmas tie. Will Christmas miracles never cease?!!!

We all said goodbye and as we drove out of sight, we heard Santa belch and slur his words as he hollered, "Merry Christmas you goons! Next year I'll *hic* bring my spoons!"

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Coffee Mill Christmas Blowout

They backed em beyond capacity last night at the Mill. Word musta got out about the free food. I heard the Carolers knocked em dead up and down Main street as well. We'll have to remind the Coffee Mill staff to kill the heat on Mondays cause there's always enough bodies in there to keep the place overheated. Miss Isabella really appreciated the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Thanks to Ralph for making the party happen. Thanks to everybody who makes that jam happen, and that definitely includes the audience!

It was good to see Asenath and Harlo back in town. Kendall took the jam up the twelve notches of Christmas with his rockin' Run, Run, Rudolph. That dude's outta control. Ken busted out his mando, Mary was back, Bill was cookin' on his dobro, Richard was fiddlin', we had a fiddle prodigy sit in, Lewis had a new bike parked out front, every one of our regulars was there in the place. I don't think we were missin' too many. Hope Stephen got a few tips behind the counter.

What can I say, we're a lucky bunch, and cause they're open next Monday, we can do it all one more time before Christmas.

Radford Caroling and Party

If you're in Radford, and you're cool, you'll want to head on down to the Coffee Mill 'round 6. We're gonna do some caroling and then have our annual Jam Christmas party.

I know readership of this publication is in the single digits, so I'm not worried about any of the "wrong element" getting wind of this.

Cool people only!

Did you miss me?

sorry I couldn't make the jam, dudes. I was out sick from work today and it would have been downright unseemly to be out jamming after that. Don't think I wasn't tempted though.
After a while I figgered my headache wasn't going away whether I was home or jammin', but upon further review, my head did still hurt, and I figgered 55 banjos might not be a help.

Gimme a report, and I'll see youz at the party next week!

Psychograss is cominggggg....toooo tooowwwwn!!!

I don't know if they see you when you're sleeping, but I wouldn't trust em in my liquor cabinet.

Support our pal Dylan Locke, and do yourselves a favor and check out this show.
It'll be a mighty weekend of music.
Friday January 9th, John Jorgenson (Django style master) and Psychograss at the Jefferson Center
Saturday January 10th another fantabulous Side Door Session. (Number 10 on the tenth!)

Psychograss is a supergroup among super groups; Bela's teacher Tony Trishka on banjo, David Grier on guitar, and Grisman alums Darol Anger, Mike Marshall, and Todd Phillips on fiddle, mando, and bass.

They will fire it up, what can I say? I'll be there, and you should be too.

Jam Report (For Ralph)

We had a good turnout for such a cold and sometimes snowy night. Don't know if I can name everyone, but I know we had Dale, Larry, Richard, Frank, Christian, Sandra, Nancy, Kendall, Jason, Doug, Chris, and myself. There were a couple of other guitar players that I have seen before, but don't know their names yet.

Things got off to a little slow start, but when Chris arrived, we seemed to pick up the pace. I think he was determined to get us going. Kendall sang a couple of new ones, at least they were new to me. Larry rolled out What Child is This? on the dobro to begin to give us that Christmas feel.

It was Jason's birthday. (Dec. 1, keep that date in mind because next year will bring about one of those BIG birthdays. We made need to celebrate it with a big blowout!!) I think his whole family, including the in-laws showed up! They brought some cake and he got the usual happy birthday singing from everyone present. Sandra told us as she was leaving that it was her birthday, too. We made her stay long enough so we could sing to her, and then she was off to celebrate properly.

Had a good crowd of regulars and a couple of newcomers. I was glad to see Lewis. He let me know that he had been there a couple of times and I hadn't been, but it was good to see him out and about again. Music was good, and everyone enjoyed themselves as usual. We can't wait for our fearless leader to return! Hurry back Ralph...........

Van Heffer

I hadn't seen this in a while.

Thanksgiving

I'm thankful that just about all my pals are musicians and I play more music than is good for healthy family life or the nurturing of ambitious career goals, and Christine is on board all the way.

Anybody around today?

What Happened?

Hadn't seen any news about the jam. I got back into town yesterday evening and checked on it first thing. Somebody give me some info.!!!!

I guess Ralph is out next week. I'll work with whoever he left in charge and try to keep it going until he returns.

How bout we do the carol thing on the 15th? That and the party will be a good time for all.

Looking forward to getting back in playing shape...........

Doyle Lawson Gives JBs-esque Performance

He was indeed awesome. Local boy Joey Cox on the banjo. I've seen him around and remember him playing with Blue Ridge. Doyle's band was totally new, and still as fun and tight as ever.

Particularly enjoyed the opener, That's How I Can Count on You, Rawhide, East Tennessee Blues, Pike County Breakdown (as a dobro showcase), Misry River, and all the groovy acapella. Also notable was Doyle's AWESOME maroon and green jacket.

Know what I didn't like? The bad ol' boy sittin' behind us who lacked the sense to leave his spoons at home. Good Lord...
The fella did have some sense though, he knew that Doyle had the best bus in the business, and the 2nd best honors go to that black feller from the O Brother album. How these rankings are derived, I do not know. He had also heard of the great Ralph Berrier.

Doyle basically played to big sets. It was cold as the bejeebus outside, and we thank M. Wheeler for his Designated Driver service last night.
I'm pretty sure he closed with his new big hit, Sadie's Got her New Dress On.




We had a good ol' time and learned thing or two about our young banjo playing squire.

Cold night, hot tunes

OK, so that's a cliched headline.
But it's accurate!
Usual group of pickin' suspects last night -- minus one certain, John Denver-singing guitarist and mandolinist who, we have heard, is in jail. Good selection of tunes. Weird lineups! Joe on guitar? (Somebody's angling for a Side Door set, I believe.) Sandra on the fiddle? Ralph on the doublebassoon? Chris on dope? Yes, all true!
A fairly full house heard a number of old faves, fiddle tunes (when Sandra rosined up the bow, we had 4 fiddlers -- Sandra, Sloane, Richard and RBjr) and new cuts.
Casey showed up late and led us through "Cattle in the Cane," and he and Joe swapped solos on "Cold, Frosty Morning" and "Old Dangerfield." Joe was serenadin' a fair young maiden (I'm a poet and didn't know it) with "Friend of the Devil" when I dashed through the snow. Should've played "Footprints in the Snow," but that one makes me cry.
A lovely evening, indeed.

Perhaps I should extend my remarks...

I'm realizing that there was a whole lot going on. So much that I barely got to talk to anybody. [Wilson, call me!]

Ralph kicked us off with a perfect set for the Side Door - a set that you can't do anywhere else round here. He played real good for free and threw down some serious acoustic tunes and commanded the audience's rapt attention. What more can you ask? He also did it with his upside down left-handed technique on the right-handed guitar.
The Free Range Possums were somewhat reorganized, but they put on a sweet set. Bailey's fiddling is getting better all the time, and she was backed up the the Steele family and Fritz, and Jason Wheeler on the banjo, too. I may meander over memories in due time, but aside from the clean clear fiddle in the band, Tom's guitar playing was cookin', and Jason is developing a massive hammer tone. I'll try and post up their 99 Years and show yuz.

Fred and Jon Benfield, aka American Roots delivered a seriously laid-back set of guitar duo-dom that was just plain fine. They busted out a Beaumont Rag that reminded me that we should start playing that one. They'd did a Doc and Merle style Deep River Blues, a swingin' Route 66, and a bunch more. The crowd dug it and I think Jon and Fred dug it, too.

The last act was Wayne Frye and Scott Fore. I felt a little bad that I made everyone wait for these guys, but they made it worth it. Again, their set of John Denver tunes was a one of a kind thing that we've been lucky to hear at the Sessions.

Call me a sap, but I dug the Country Roads--we had the most seriously in-tune sing along ever. Scott and Wayne got a really special tthing going with their guitar playing--their two guitars sounded like a single 12 string. Sweet. Wayne charmed the pants of all the ladies showing his sensitive side. FCS-- That, uh...feller can sing!

Thanks to Ralph for playing and his usual help; thanks to Wayne for helping set up and his cool set. Thanks also to Jason and Todd for great sound, Joe for assistance, Laurie for helping with the door, my brother Mike for checking it out, and all the folks for making the show.

Ka - bam.

Side Door last night was pretty dang awesome.

Only 17 days until Wayne Frye is released from captivity and returns to the jam.

That's the thing I've always hated about Wayne -- his dedication to work and family. Come on, man! Where are your priorities?!!!

The irony is that, the day Wayne comes back -- December 1 -- I won't be there! Waaaaahhhhh!!!

See everybody at the Side Door Saturday night. Mark your calendars -- Jam Christmas party is Dec. 15. We need to decide if we wanna do Bluegrass Christmas Caroling again. Don't necessarily have to do it on a Monday. Could do it later in the week when more people are out.

Who Wants Chowder?

Fired up. Ready to go.

Hallelujah.
They forget to give Cody Kilby a guitar break, but it's still good.


Get Up, Juan! Bobby Hicks still fiddlin' on this one, Bryan Sutton's still there too. Kick ass.

Doyle Lawson's Coming to Town!

I bet some of the four of you who come to this blog thought I'd never post any bluegrass. Well here you go.

The JBs should do this one.


Here's another great one. (Even Ricky Scaggs can't spoil it!)

It's one long train wreck without Wayne

Well, not quite, but he was missed. Chris introduced his own train wrecks with Doin' my time......... and with This here Bottle.
Richard and Doug and Ralph did the triple Lindy on the fiddle which is gettin' better and better. In the collaboration column, Young Master Jason took Chris' "Song Book" and pulled out "Don't Get Above Yer Raisin!" with Ralph singing lead. Love me a song about raisins!
That actually turned out pretty good. Jason also pulled out the Bugle Call Rag, and unlike Timmy, Jason's copy of the Earl Scruggs songbook has the ending of that song in it, so we only played it for 7 minutes instead of the usual 35.

Mmmm...What else? Apparently Pulaski is gouging the citizens with new property taxes. Rise up people! Stick it to the man.

My Zappa Phase

Wayne told me he'd never listened to any Frank Zappa. That's ok, I never got into Alabama, though I did enjoy me some John Denver along the way.

I'm always a little taken aback when people say they don't like Bill Monroe's singing, or Bob Dylan's for that matter. It's the same with Zappa. Nobody else sounds like his bands. For my money, he was hardest drivin' band leader since Bill Monroe.



Christine got me a DVD for my birthday that successfully started a full on phase. I'm diggin' up all my old stuff.

If you've got nothin' but time. Listen to both versions of this tune. Totally different band. Reminds me of Doyle Lawson, contantly shufflin' bands, but setting a standard so you know, when you go see Doyle - like we're gonna next 11/21, you know you're gonna get a kick A band.

Punch Brothers

Chris Thile and his band of young all stars..

They're playing up in Roanoke on Sunday and we should go.



That was bluegrass, but I suspect most of the show will be like this...



Let's go, youzez!

Tuesday morning jam report and public flogging of Christopher "Rip Van Winkle" Burgoyne

Jam was good (see Wayne's comments below). Good crowd, new tunes. We played "Walking in My Sleep," which leads me to ...
One person was conspicuous by their absence: A certain mandolin-carrying, scruffy-faced, Yuengling-swilling dude named Chris Bergoon ... Bergeron ... Bubbagump ... or something like that.
"Working for the man..." my bass fiddle.
"Sleeping on the job is more like it."

Following Sunday's late-night exploits, which dude was a no-show at the jam:
Doug -- up at 5 a.m.
Ralph -- up at 6
Wayne -- up at 7:30
Joe -- up at 7:30
Chris -- up at ???? 8? 9? 10? STILL asleep???


Somebody buy that boy an espresso!

Fired up. Ready to go.

Just like the JBs!



This guy has about half the stage presence of Wayne Frye.

Obama has clearly stolen my methodology for taking over the world, except instead of winning room after room over with a crack bluegrass band, he's giving a lot of speeches and running for President.

JBs should offer to play the inauguration. (For our usual fee, of course.)

Get out and VOTE, y'all!

Deep thought: If you think big corporations have been good for music, then let them run everything else as well.

I got to see Ms. Frye's smiling face at my polling place this morning. Everyone seemed in good spirits (no doubt because they were greeted by the aforementioned Ms. Frye) and the line was not long.

I don't know what it'll be like where you vote, but you ought to vote no matter what. It gives you your complainin' rights!

How was the jam?

I was workin' for the man, and couldn't get down there.

(I'm still wore out from last night.)

Java Brothers Kill at Lantern

Its true! Though there was only a handful of lucky folks there, they will remember always the night the JBs took the stage at the Lantern. Thanks to Dan the soundman and our own natural and cultivated talents, the JB's ne'er sounded better.

Remember people the next Side Door is in 2 weeks...November 15th.

Most importantly, watch this video about a fat cat (not Lester)

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Phils Get a Parade

Way to go Phillies!

Tom Layton, 1938-2008

I am sad to report that our good friend Tom Layton died this week. Tom was an excellent banjo player and a good guy to be around. He was a devout Christian who played with several bluegrass gospel groups, but his musical interests were many and diverse. Originally from the Washington, D.C. region, Tom knew many legendary pickers and was good friends with several of the original Country Gentlemen. In 2003, he brought former Gent bassist Bill Yates to the jam at Joe's Diner.

Chris Burgoyne wrote that he always expected Tom to come walking back in The Coffee Mill door some night. I guess we all did. He moved around quite a bit following his retirement as a police officer, always in search of a good music scene and jam session. I am glad that he deigned to play with us during those summer months when he nested in Southwest Virginia. His music made the world a happier, better place; now, that same world mourns the silence of his rippling five-string.

Tom's obituary is below:

John Thomas Layton – 70, of Chattanooga, Tennessee, passed away Thursday – October 30, 2008, in a local hospital.

He was preceded in death by his father, John Berry Layton, sister, Virginia Chadwick and son, John Thomas Layton, Jr.

He was a member of Lyndon Avenue Baptist Church and served as the facilities director.

Mr. Layton retired from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington, D.C. He had a great love for blue grass music and enjoyed playing the banjo.

Survivors include his five children, Bonnie Gail Carpenter, Huntingtown, MD., Robert Paul Layton, Baltimore, MD., David Wayne Layton, Chattanooga, TN., Bryan James Layton, Baltimore, MD., Juanita Ann Shepherd, Vancouver, WA., 10 grandchildren, Robbie, Christina, Sarah, Johnny, Paul, Jacquelyn, Caroline, Jonathan, Lauren, Rachel, three great grandchildren, Mikayla, Kevin, Petey, mother, Mazella Layton, Silver Springs, MD., two sisters, June Henson, Rockville, MD., Dottie Herrington, Frederick, MD., and several nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held 11:00 a.m., Saturday in the Valley View Chapel of Chattanooga Funeral Home with Pastor Wayne Layton officiating. Interment will follow in New McDonald Cemetery in Ooltewah, TN.

The family will receive friends from 4:00 – 6:00 p.m., Friday at the funeral home.

In lieu of flowers memorial contributions may be made to: Lyndon Avenue Baptist Church – Building Fund, 2624 Lyndon Avenue, Chattanooga, TN 37415.

Please share your thoughts and memories online at www.mem.com

Arrangements by Chattanooga Funeral Home – Valley View Chapel, 7414 Old Lee Highway Chattanooga, TN 37421

Jam report for Filly Fanatic

Good crowd, good times Monday night. Sorry Chris. We all hoped you were sitting in the 39-degree rain in whatever corporate-named ballpark that is up there. At least they have a dome in St. Pete!

Wayne's mando was ubiquitous (that's a good thing, Wayne [and Joe]). Joe and Jasonalex traded banjer licks like a couple of hobos swapping a bottle of Wild Irish Rose at a bonfire. Doug laid down a steady thump. Nancy, Sandra and Mary overpowered their male counterparts -- Sandra leading the way with three songs.
Kendall, Frank, Richard, Ken, the dobro guy whose name I can't remember, late-arriving Brian (on guitar), PJ (on fiddle) and one of their buds rounded out a fine night of pickin' and singin'. Dale, Tim, Slash and Scott watched longingly from afar -- well, except for Tim, who spent the entire night chatting up a young lady. Can you imagine!
Some of the crowd was still going at it 10:10. Wayne and I wished them good luck with the tables and chairs and darted through the snow flurries to our warm abodes. I turned on the game and looked for Chris, but he was probably passed out in a bathroom stall.

JBs* Fire Em Up at the Pumpkin Patch

I love this gig. We got rained out yesterday, but the sun was shining today so we headed over to Sinkland Farms to play for the folks out there. Sinkland Farms is fun cause you have half a carnival going on with the corn maze, and the animals, the kettle corn, the ice cream and whatnot. Maybe it was me, but it seems like people dig those last couple Autumn weekends before it gets dreary and cold. I saw a dude with his shoes off soaking up the sun. I got sunburned the first time we played there, but that was like a month ago.

I can't say much exceptional happened, but there was a good crowd out there and we had a good time. The kids were dancin' - I guess we were playing in time at least.

Lacking any actual memorable moments, I guess Wayne's blistering guitar leads were the story of the day. It wasn't freezing cold, so we stayed in tune most of the time. (And I didn't break any strings, either!)

They must've liked us-we're committed for next year. This year - Sinkland Farms. Next year - the Tropicana. Dream big, JBs!

Hip Times at the Auction House

Got to pick with Susan, Dale, and Jason/Alex over at Ken Farmer's auction hall. We picked a bunch of good ones, ate some good barbeque, and had a general large time.

We benefited from the 90 min rain delay in Philly, cause I got to play AND see most of the game.


I always like to play gigs with Susan. She's probably the nicest person in Radford, and we always groove when she plays bass. Go Susan! Thanks for calling me to play.

Oh Snap! Phils just went up 4-1 on a Ryan Howard homer.
Go Phils!

Anyway, where was I? Dale picked more Johnny Cash than I've ever heard at one time.
Jason's got the guitar pickin' down, too.

Good gig, fellas!

Most memorable moment: Younger attendees doing keg stands in the back. I must admit, I've not seen that in a long, long time. (I don't think I ever had a bad time doing a keg stand.)

Wagon Wheel

As familiar as I am with this song, I'd never come across this video. Maybe if MTV still showed videos they could get on.



Dig David Rawlings and Gillian Welch as the ticket takers.
I'm proud to say I threw a dollar in their guitar case when they were busking at Merlefest. Seems their busking has paid off better than the Masters degree I was working on at that time. File under "Efficient Use of Resources."

Phillies lose game 2.

C'est la vie! Back home to Philly! (And try not to leave 30 guys on base this time.)

Go Phillies!

And thanks everybody who sang me Happy Birthday!

All Hail the MacBook

I post this as I watch Scooby Doo and the Cyber Chase with Isabella. Every time I watch Scooby Doo I dust off my script draft for Scooby Doo and the Festival Phantom. The phantom is an old banjo player who strikes more fear than usual in his audience. (Turns out the phantom is really old man Abercrombie, foiled by those meddling kids.)

So I'm watching with my headphones on an my MacBook on my lap, perusing the recordings I made yesterday of most of the Java Brothers at Sinkland Farms. We did some very good proof of concept work. I was watching the clock and we got the PA set up in 5 minutes- which means we should never go without, and we had it sound checked within 10. Thats pretty sweet. In that 10 minutes I also set up my computer, ran from the PA lineout to the line in on the laptop. I opened an Audacity project and hit record. If any of y'all don't have it, download Audacity. It's a free sound editing software that will let you chop up recordings and stuff. (It's good for all JBs, anyway!)

So I put this in the "we're in the future, and the future is nice" column. I recorded the whole show, and the sound quality was good. I picked up all our wrong notes and some wind noise on the microphones, but the concept is proven and we can start cranking on the JB's big live album. (I vote for recording at Joe's house--who's with me! Joe! Joe! Joe! Joe!)

Here's Joe leading us in the Hobo Song. "They still got his picture, it's hung on the wall..."

Blues!

Everybody gets a break!

Have they released "Bluegrass Band 2" yet?

Here's Rush, playing Rock Band.



Full disclosure, I dream that one day the JB's will rip out a vicious YYZ that would win over even the late great Bill Monroe. (By the way, Bill's not dead, he's only a-sleepin'.)

The Hits Keep Comin'

Wayne said, "Sure, that Buckets of Rain is a good one, but I like that other one, the A minor one."
That's this one, Annabelle, by Gillian Welch.



This one features Sandra's smokey singing and Wayne's surprisingly groovy pickin'.

[I'm not sayin' Wayne's not groovy, but you know...well, who knew?]

A Star is Born

Sandra We'll-Claim-Her-As-Our-Own Lyerly made a magnificent debut at the Side Door this past Saturday.
I've had this tune stuck in my head all week. It's called "Buckets of Rain" by Bob Dylan, but Sandra picked it up from Neko Case who did a version somewhere along the way.
Out of all of 'em, I think I like Sandra's the best.



That's Mistah Wayne Frye pickin' along with her on the mando, and me playin' his guitar.
Until Jim Wheeler gets me some pix, you'll have to live with this video populated by random pix from my computer.

The Banjo is a modern Creation

So why shouldn't it be always present at the cutting edge of science?
Check out this story!

"Legendary Blue Grass musician Eddie Adcock has undergone brain surgery to treat a hand tremor, playing his banjo throughout to test the success of the procedure. Adcock suffers from essential tremor, a condition where there is a continuing deterioration in areas of the brain that control movement causing a tremor that usually appears when the person tries to act or move. Deep brain stimulation can be used to treat the movement difficulties of both Parkinson's and essential tremor by sinking an electrode into the thalamus, a deep brain area that is part of the motor loop — a circuit that helps coordinate movement. Surgeons placed electrodes in Adcock's brain and fitted a pacemaker in his chest, which delivers a small current that shuts down the region of his brain causing the tremors. The most sensible thing to do was to tweak the system while Adcock was playing the banjo to optimize the effect for the thing that's most important to him."

Eddie was a founding member of the Country Gentlemen with John Duffy and Charlie Waller. What songs you think he played while the surgery was going on?

Go to the Lantern while you can!!!

Doom and gloom is setting in, but maybe Fate is not totally against live music.
Ralph let me know that the Lantern is looking at going under.

The place is where you should go for lunch if you're in Blacksburg. The food is good and dirt cheap. Good music while you eat, too.

Also the Java Brothers and Kendall Weddle are playing there on November 2nd. C'mon people. The world needs rock and roll, and thus, rock and roll bars. You want kids to think going to a bar is about playing video trivia and watching sports on TV?

God help us all...

The One Year Rule

Ralph said something one time, if I can paraphrase, you don't write in the paper about Jams until they've been around for a year. Well, come midnight, the Side Door Sessions will have been around for a year. We did make it into the paper this week, and attracted the attention of the fire marshall--hopefully we'll attract some musicians in the future.

Thanks to everybody who's played. The people who play there like to play there because the audience is there. Like some people who like baseball and hockey only tune in to the playoffs, when the games "matter," we like to play for an audience because that means we have to do our best. (That doesn't mean we'll be good, but we'll do our best!)
It's been great to get virtuoso players like Scott Fore, Brian Muller, and Mike Mitchell on our stage, and it's been as good as I hoped to get really nice performances from our local pals, but what's been best for me has been the new faces.
The Steele family came out of the woodwork. Asenath Cales put a band together for the Side Door. Kendall Weddle assumed the role of real-deal bluegrass singer. Jim Kern brought his songs, and introduced us to guitarist Jeff Wynn. Joe Abercrombie introduced us to Dave Diesel and Doug Conner. Doug Conner introduced us to his brother Paul. Through Scott Patrick we got Abe Goorskey and the aforementioned Mike Mitchell, as well as Hillbilly Jason and Todd who have emerged to do excellent sound for us. And just last night, Sandra Lyerly made her debut with a set of excellent songs beautifully performed. Who will be next? We'll find out.
I guess the other pleasant surprise (that shouldn't have been surprising) has been the after-session jamming. We've had jams after every show, where all the musicians who stuck around from playing their sets, and the musicians who make up a big chunk of the regular audience, crack open their cases and play even more. I tend to be puttering around cleaning up during these jams (ahem, thanks for all the help cleaning up guys...) and they never fail to wow me. While I'm wrapping cables, or putting up the coffee pot, I'll just listen to music every bit as good or better than what we put up on the stage. Thanks again for making the jams, dudes! For those who love to pick, I salute you.

State of the Sessions:
Everyone's got their 2 cents on what's good for Radford, and I've got mine, too. I'd like to see main street teeming with coffee shops instead of tattoo parlors, and I'd like to see some place that likes to host rock bands, and more cheap food. I'd like a few more pizza places. Who knows, if I get a couple extra bucks, maybe I'll get a chance to make one of those things happen, but till then, I'm fairly full of optimism about being able to gather like-minded people and do something nice in the community. Our community is the folk-bluegrass musician/music lover community.

I don't know how many people have attended, but I put our average at about 40 per session. That's something like 320 people who sat and had a good time up at the Side Door. It's not world peace, or a cure for cancer, or a solution to global warming, but we get to be a part of something that doesn't happen unless we do it. I think we made about $100 over the course of the whole series of shows, but we never did it for the money*.

Looking ahead, it's more of the same, only better as we learn from our mistakes. I'm open to ideas about what people would like to see.
Next Side Door is November 15th, and it will feature one of our strongest, most ambitious lineups yet.
Wayne Frye will team up with Scott Fore for a special set.
The Steele Family will be back.
Acoustic Roots from Blacksburg will bring their string duo to town.

So as we close out the first year with this random rambling, and kick off year #2 of the Sessions, I thank the multitudes who've put there efforts, support, and practice time to this enterprise. I really appreciate it because I really enjoy the music and the friendships, and it ain't no party if nobody comes.

The Side Door Sessions - Be there, people! We always have a good time.

*The Java Brothers Bluegrass Band is very available for paying bluegrass gigs.

JB's Tore it Up Last Night

Yeah buddy, the JBs played a couple fiery sets down at Ken Farmer's Auction House. The crowd was there for the fire-water, but the Scotch tasters got a dose of some "hunnert proof" bluegrass. I think the band might have had a couple nips, but they were loose and feelin' zippy.

Does any of that make sense? I don't know, but I had a fine time at the Scotch Tasting, and I hope we get to do it again.

Dr. Ralph Endorses

JBs Play the Scotch Tasting tonight

We're not really Celtic, but it's still appropriate.

I love the Highlander Festival. Get out, have some fun, and see some people.
See Schedule below:
Friday, October 10
6:00 - 10:00 p.m.
Scotch Tasting (Tickets required)
Location: Ken Farmer Auction House, 105 Harrison St., Radford
Music by the Java Brothers!
Contact: Becky Haupt, Main Street Radford
(540) 731-3656
info@mainstreetradford.org

Saturday, October 11
8:00 - 9:00 a.m.
5K Run
Location: The Riverway
Contact: Ken Goodyear, Radford Recreation Center
(540) 731-3634

8:00 - 10:30 a.m.
Pancake Breakfast
Sponsored by Radford Lamplighters
Location: Farmer’s Market Lot, Downtown Radford
Contact: Becky Haupt, Main Street Radford
(540) 731-3656
info@mainstreetradford.org

9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

13th Annual Radford Highlanders Festival
Heavyweight games, Scottish clans, music, craft and food vendors, more
Location: Moffett Quad, Radford University
Contact: Bonnie Roberts Erickson, Radford University
(540) 831-5804

Heavyweight Games General Information and Registration
Contact: Don Bowman, Radford University
(540) 831-5182

Scottish Clans and Saturday Craft and Food Vendors Registration Information
Contact: Teresa Hurt, Radford University
(540) 831-5182

11:00 a.m.
Radford Highlanders Festival Parade
Location: Downtown and Tyler Avenue
Contact: Ken Goodyear, Radford Recreation Center
(540) 731-3634
If you'd like to partipate in the Parade, please fill out a registration form.

Noon - 1:30 pm
Men's Rugby vs. Delaware
On the Dedmon Rugby Pitch

Noon - 5:00 pm
Sidewalk Sale
Location: Downtown Radford
Contact: Laurie Buchwald, City of Radford Festival Chair

Sheep dog herding demonstrations
Near Peters Hall, next to Moffett Field.

10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Appalachian Folk Arts Festival
Location: Heth Lawn, Radford University
Note: Craft vendors by invitation only
Contact: Aysha Bodenhamer

7:00 p.m.
Concerts featuring Scythian and Seven Nations (Tickets required)
Location: Bondurant Auditorium, Preston Hall, Radford University

Snakes!

I always knew the Radford Arsenal was a dangerous place. But I usually attributed it to the unexploded ordnance surrounded by vats of nitroglycerin.

...Not giant rattlesnakes!

Danger! Danger everywhere!

UPDATE:
Looks like we got punked at the Absorb Bluegrass blog. The snake was not found at the Radford Arsenal. The picture was sent to me, and I liked it--still do! My question is, who has time to start rumors like this? You know this sounds like the time for a social experiment...
What kind of lie catches on the best?

RadNet a total bust

Looks like this flopped fatally.

In the RT:
Radford looks to 'cut losses' with Radnet
The city's wireless Internet system has only about 300 paying customers.

By Tim Thornton

Radnet is on the block.

The wireless Internet system Radford's government launched in 2006 has come to the end of city council's fiscal patience, so the city is looking for someone else to come in to run it.

"It's taxpayer money. The taxpayers have a say," said economic development director Basil Edwards. "I guess that voice has gotten to council."

Some council members didn't need to hear much.

"There comes a time when you've just got to cut your losses," Mayor Tom Starnes said on the July night council cut funding for the system. "I guess I'm saying I don't think it will ever break even. I thought it was a loser from day one."

The system has been a loser in the sense that it hasn't made enough money to pay back the $1 million investment council allocated. In July, council voted not to let Radnet have the last $50,000 of that allocation.

Down to My Last Cigarette

Annabelle

Another bell song from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

Buckets o' Rain

Neko Case covering Dylan from my favorite Dylan album...



And how bout this one?

Stillhouse

Another Gillian Welch/David Rawlings song, but I couldn't find their version on YouTube...

Acony Bell

Great song from Gillian Welch and David Rawlings

Press for the Side Door

The Side Door got a write-up in the Roanoke Times.
Remember, y'all -we're back at the Side Door this Saturday night!

RADFORD -- Through an inconspicuous door on the side of a building, up the stairs and following an arrow and a sign that says "Meetings held here since 1900," New River Valley music lovers gather for an informal concert.

The Side Door in Radford is an old union meeting room that is now rental space for parties and meetings. Last year, music lover Chris Burgoyne decided the space could be that and more. He said Radford needed another music venue -- even if it wasn't full time.

Burgoyne said he had been mulling over the idea of a music club where members could pay about $10 to attend performances or play each month or so.

"There's not a lot of places around to hear live music," he said. "I'd heard about this place, and I thought it was a place people could come to enjoy themselves."

The Side Door concerts were born in October 2007. Every six weeks or so, Burgoyne rents the Side Door and books three or four local, mostly nonprofessional musicians to play. There is no cover charge, but a $5 donation is appreciated, he said.

"It's a wonderful place to play because for years I played in bands in beer joints, and they were always smoke-filled and people weren't listening," said Doug Conner of Christiansburg, who was one of four performers Sept. 20.

Conner first performed at the Side Door in February.

There is an unspoken rule that once the music starts, most of the talking stops, so musicians have the audience's full attention. Most of the music is bluegrass or folk.

"It's just a really nice environment and people come to have fun," Conner said. "You get 30 minutes to do whatever you want. Now, the crowd may not like you and you won't get asked back, but you get that time to perform."

The idea isn't to make it the biggest event in Radford, but to have a good time listening to music, Burgoyne said.

"We get advice on how to make it bigger, but that's not what I'm looking for," he said. "I'm just putting together acts because I saw a need in Radford."

Music notes is a feature series written by Amy Matzke that showcases places to hear music in the New River Valley. Have a favorite stage you'd like to see featured? Contact Matzke at amy.matzke@roanoke.com or 381-1674.

Press for the Java Brothers

Monday Jammin'

A good jam last night. Notable for the visit by the Steele Family band. Y'all remember them from the Side Door show they did over the summer. They will hopefully be back there soon. Some good tunes shook out...we made Jason play Billy in the Lowground in C, which he doesn't like, but that led us into playing our most together 1952 Vincent Black Lightning yet.

Casey and Wayne did some firey and in-tune mando pickin. Ralph and Richard did some Double R double fiddlin. There were a bunch of new faces, too, so that's always good.

We dropped a few bucks at Sharkey's to support the local economy, as well.

Thanks to anyone and everyone who bought any candy from Isabella for her Brownie troop!

Side Door Sessions -- 1-year anniversary

Hard to believe that it was a year ago when Chris Burgoyne started booking shows at the Side Door. The Side Door Sessions have become a cool little scene in Radford. Saturday night's gig should be no exception.
If I am right, four acts top the bill this Saturday, October 11.

The Conner Brothers
Dave Diesel
Sandra Lyerly
Kendall Weddle

This lineup appears a little more folk-oriented than previous shows, which should make for a good musical mix. I expect there to be some late-night bluegrass jamming as well.

The "Door" opens at 7 p.m. $5.

Don't drop the soap, Juice!

For OJ...

Remember Del? I wish he'd come round...

Maybe he'd play the Side Door?



I'll remind him that the musicians get free coffee.

Baseball!

I went out to see the Mets play the Cubs at Shea Stadium last night. We just happened to be down the road during the last week of games at Shea. I tried to figure where the Beatles set up.

I'm not smart enough to be a real sharp baseball fan, but I was hoping the Mets would lose and the Phillies would win, and neither happened.

C'est la vie!

Havin' fun in New Yawk City!

Jam News for Chris

Chris will be reading this from La Manzana Grande -- NYC -- having arrived a day too late to attend the last game at Yankee Stadium.

Good crowd Monday night. Fiery picking stoked with a variety of tuneage. Let's see, going 'round the circle we had Wayne, Doug D., Kendall, Richard, Joe, Frank, Mary, Jeff W., Nancy, Jasonalex, Doug C. and moi. We were joined by a new fiddler, whose name I didn't catch, a new neighbor of George Smith. He led us down the old-time path with some nice versions of Ragtime Annie, St. Anne's Reel and Liberty.

Brian and Bill showed up later -- after the crowd had thinned out a bit -- and a very nice pickin' party broke out. Roxanna Waltz, Kiss Me Waltz, Panhandle Rag, Temperence Reel and Wheel Hoss were among the selections.

Good three days of music in Radford -- the Hillbilly Hot Club had a good crowd at Pascal's, the Side Door was its usual awesomeness, and the jam was a hi-quality affair.

See everybody next week!

Side Door Seven

Those of youz who missed last night may live to regret it. Ahh, maybe that's saying too much, but the folks who came down to the Side Door last night made for a good ol time.

Ralph told me he was feeling kind of ragged and maybe not quite on top of his game. He brought to mind a record I have of a band called the Quintet. It's a single concert of a dream jazz band, Charlie Parker, Charles Mingus, Bud Powell, and Max Roach. [Like seeing Tony, Bela, Sam, Jerry, Edgar Meyer, and Mark O'Connor on one bill.] They got together for one show, Parker showed up late with a plastic horn, the guys were at each other's throats apparently, there was no crowd cause there was a big heavyweight boxing match across the street, and everything seemed to point to a doomed show. Instead, they put on what many have since called the greatest jazz concert ever.

I myself was lobster red from playing at the Sinkland Farms Chili Cookoff, and Joe was preoccupied and sour-looking (looming financial crash on his mind?). Doug and Wayne seemed ok, but who knows what demons are invisibly pursuing them? Doug Conner's brother was sick, Jeff Wynn seemed kind of sickly.

We had new sound guys trying out a whole different setup. We had very few confirmed attendees and it was lookin' like the whole night might be the musicians playing to each other. To say the least, our show plan had some vulnerabilities. It's not like a calamity or anything like that, but looking forward in time, I had to prepare for a "miss" of an event.

And I have been preparing for that "miss" since we started.

In the face of daunting challenges, I told Ralph, thinking of the Massey Hall Quintet show, we had a chance to play our best show ever. Who knows? Maybe we did--it was good set, anyway.

We had a respectable (for us) attendance of some 35-40 folks. We played some good music, we shook out some really good, seldom heard tunes, and we had great sound. We got good tapes of the whole thing. On top of that we had an awesome jam till the wee hours. We love to put on our show, but the jams we've been having after the Sessions have been treats all their own. (Like a great B-side on a great single. (Someone ask Jason if he knows what a B-Side is.))

I'm likely to post some recordings later, but let me get the thanks out of the way.
Everyone who attended! You keep the Side Door rockin' - c'mon back on October 11th!

Wayne for playin' and for setup; Ralph for playin' and for the door; Joe, Doug Capobianco, Susan, Dale, Jason, Casey, Doug Conner, Jeff, Jim, Nancy, Kendall, Scott, and me for playin'! Jason (Hillbilly) and Todd for awesome sound, Jim Wheeler for taking lots of read-deal photographs, Dr. Carl, Amy, the Radford Village Villagers, John, Nancy, Scott, Britanny, and everyone who came along for interest. Y'all make this thing happen.
You can't have a party all by yourself.

Anyone who was there can chime in on the comments if you had a good time, but among my highlights were, Doug Conner's Song for Life; Jim Kern and Jeff's Sultan's O Swing, my chance to play Althea, a long slow song I love; Casey and Dale on Doin' My Time, the JB's playing Uncle Pen. At the jam we heard bunch more less-traveled tunes--a bunch of bluegrass and blues from Kendall, Tim O'brien tunes galore from Dale, and a Ramblin' Fever from Scott. That's just off the top of my head.

Thanks again, everybody and I hope we'll go bigger and stronger next month!

CB out!

Side Door Sessions this Saturday Night!

Come on people! It's party time. Come on down to the Side Door on Saturday night and get loose with us!

We got a ton o' music for you, featuring:

---The Conner Brothers - acoustic duo delivering tasteful duets

---Casey Elder - Local string Ace Casey Elder will bring his new acoustic act to the stage with a variety of instruments and friends

---Jim Kern and Jeff Wynn will play a distinctly non-bluegrass set of acoustic tunes from deep in your record collection

---The Java Brothers will bust out a brand new set of hard-core bluegrass for the faithful

Don't miss it, folks. There's nothin' better to do on a Saturday night in Radford!

Big News! Doyle Lawson in Dublin!

Do yourselves a favor and see Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver whenever you get the chance.

From Roger Adkins:
Doyle will be performing at NRCC on Friday, November 21 at 7:30 pm. He will be the only band performing. The door will open at 6:00 pm. Admission will be $15.00 advance and $20.00 at the door. Tickets may be purchased at the Pulaski Fine Art Center, the Visitors Center in Dublin, the Recreation Center in Radford and at the NRCC Site at the New River Valley Mall. Tickets will go on sale October 20th.



This must be Doyle's big budget video.

Larry Sparks. Primo Hair.

Sideburns need to come back in style.

One. Weird. Jam.

There must have been 25 musicians there last night -- 15 of whom never set foot in The Coffee Mill. Haven't seen the inside so dead in ... years? Finally coaxed Timmy Mills to join the THREE fiddlers, two guitarists and the fabulous Susan Gaskins on bass. Chris showed up and sang and played many welcome tunes. Casey ELDER (whose name I unforgivably screwed up in the recent Side Door promo e-mail) arrived late and tore up the ol' 8-string. Larry Saunders broke out the dobro, too.

Looking forward to the return of Bro. Wayne Frye, whose lost weekend in Chilhowie should make for some good stories.

Tailgate Tapes

Listening to the tape of today's effort. I made it on my Zen, which doesn't make tapes of releasable quality, but takes great snapshots of shows we've done. I'm always amazed by the stuff that shows up on the tapes that I didn't hear even though I was right there.

Like all our other tapes, I go in preparing myself for them to be terrible, and they never are. Like the others, this one is fun to listen to.

Maybe post some if I stay coffee'd up.

Anybody want to go see Burn After Reading with me?

JBs* Tear up the MSE Tailgate at Virginia Tech!

Y'all shoulda been there! We missed Ralph, we don't know what happened to Casey, but we had a good ol' time, and the folks seemed to tolerate it ok!

Tech went on to win, too!

Go Hokies!

New Riders of the Purple Sage

Appearing in Floyd soon...


And while we're on the subject...

Live After 5 - Webb Wilder, Live in our Town

Check em out, yo!



Friday night downtown-- FREE!!! 5:30 to 10:30.

Then drink a red eye and check out the Java Brothers tailgating by Holden Hall in Blacksburg before the Tech game.

Jerry Reed RIP

Maybe we should do this one as a JBs tribute...

Hot

It was hot at the Mill last night. That is I'm sure what led to a strong outside jam getting going. We had our new best friend Ebby along again last night acing us all on fiddle, banjo, and mandolin. The guy is in the running for best all-around player we've had at the jam (up there with PJ on the multi-instrumental tip).

Tune of the night was Louisville Breakdown. Everybody go learn it. Sloane played that one and "Last Letter" aka "Letter from my Darlin.'" [It said she hated to go, but you know how it is...]

I was tired and just about somnambulent so I missed lots of details. I baffled the group with my performance of "Same Old Man" which I learned from the Redd I Ramblers in PA, but was more famously recorded by the Dillards. Everybody learn it!

Richard helped us hack through a Jerusalem Ridge at the end. I, like Richard, think we should play it every week till we finally learn it.

I have a friend who called that a $100 song - it cost him that much in lessons just to get a workable version.

Happy Birthday to Miss Lucy!

New Picker Alert! Congratumalations to Christian and Kimberly Hearn!

New baby arrived yesterday. Chase Hearn II, 7.5 lb!

Good job, Team Hearn.

I'm sure we'll get some pix before too long.

Smokin' Jam at the Mill Last Night

Packed house at the Mill last night. Good folks pickin' all over the place. Mistah Christian was there trying to play out his pre-delivery-of-first-baby stress. I don't think it worked. Send some good thoughts his way, wontcha people? We got another picker on the way!

We were blessed with Ebby the fine, fine fiddler from Tazewell County. Along with Ralph, Sloane, and Richard, we had an elegant sufficiency in the violin section.

Never short of mandos, we had Wayne, Chris, Mary, Casey, and Brian Muller. Good tunes a plenty. Notable was the Wild Bill Jones by Ebby's lady friend. (Ralph - name, please?)
Lots of tunes in B to test the new fiddler and he ate it up. That guy was good, good, good.

I can't name all the pickers, there musta been 30. It was hot in there when I showed up round 7:30, and it rocked all the way till about 10:15. (Past closin' time!)

I dragged Casey over to Sharkey's afterwards to check it out, and all the reports I've heard are true: it's loud, loud, loud. They were out of Casey's choice, Red Hook, so we got a Newcastle each and picked some twin Mando out on the porch. It was loud out there, too, but that's cool. We had a good time.

Look out for the Casey Elder experience at the next Side Door. I don't know what he's whippin' up, but I'm sure it'll be great.

Peace out, yo!

For the kids!

Been listenin' to a lot of Weezer lately.

I like the Muppets, too.

Gotta click the link to see.

Dixieland

In my Steve Earle top three. From his awesome album with Del McCoury, The Mountain, but performed here with Tim O'Brien, Casey Driessen, and Darrel Scott because Steve cursed on stage too much and Del dropped him. :)

Busy Weekend

We had a boss time playing for Leon's 60th birthday. (I hope you guys can still play at MY 60th!)

We played pretty good, we ate real good, and we got a taste of Fairlawn. I went home and hung out on my deck, too. A fine weekend all around.

Off topic, I know I'm always late, and all that, but I swear I had a dream that I was supposed to be playing with Del McCoury, but I was late and couldn't find my way to the gig. Except for the Del part, it's a recurring nightmare.

What are your recurring nightmares? Let's share!

Thanks

I just wanted to put out a public word of thanks to Ralph, Joe, Chris, and Doug for coming to my church today and playing a few tunes. I don't think you'll find a more appreciative crowd. We came through and wowed 'em pretty good, and everyone really enjoyed it. I got a bunch of compliments and suggestions that we don't wait another year to come back, but get back at least once a month! Don't know if we have that much gospel in our archives!

It has been suggest to us (by Joes's uncle, I think) that we put out a gospel CD. I think that might be a seller for us after today. Anyway, I did want to thank you guys for coming. I owe ya one. Maybe a get together for burgers or something before the fall gets too cold.

See ya tomorrow a the Mill!!!!

For Alex!

Yah (Big) Mon!

For Jason!

Song needs just a touch of banjo.

More non-bluegrass

Sonic Youth! Older than me!

Everybody knows this feeling...

The bottle let me down...

I don't know what this gig was, but it's Elvis Costello singing, Jerry Garcia on rhythm, and James Burton (Real Elvis) on guitar.

Good times.

HIckory Wind

Love this song. Lots o' people done it.

What to do with a Tuesday night?

Well in Radford, Hercules Street in particular, we got down on Gary Collier's front lawn and picked a whole bunch of tunes. The folks on the street got an earful, that's for sure, and a lot of it wasn't too bad, either.

Gary's pal Kurt was in town so we scratched together a little jam with the help of Casey Elder and Christian and Kimberly Hearn. The stars were out, and the youth audience tolerated us fairly well. It was a great way to spend the evening, what can I say? That boy Kurt can play the banjo, too.

Hope he'll be in town again soon.

Thanks to Gary and Alice for the burgers and beer.

The Understudy's Night on the Stage

Interesting jam tonight. No Ralph, no Wayne, no Wilson,no Muller, no PJ, no Casey...lots of our A-list missing. So we had Gentleman George Smith, Chris, Joe Abercrombie, Jason, Fiddlin' Richard, and Super Doug on the bass. We also had Kurt from Tidwater with some A-list banjo.

Nancy and Mary were takin' cuts, and Frankie Fitzgerald was pickin' too. We busted out the Philadelphia Lawyer, Pike County Breakdown, and Sledd Ride. Good times. Chris tried to play Barroom Gambler's Blues and Let me Love You One More time, but hey, they can't all be winners. Slash and Timmeh hung out but didn't play.

No outside jam to speak of, even though it was a real nice night.

Dale showed up to contribute a couple tunes, too. Scott Patrick came along, too.

Another good jam, y'all!

Beautiful Summer Night

It was perfect jammin' weather tonight, and Brian and PJ, fresh from Galax, and Mr. Slash led a serious outside Jam at the Mill tonight. The jam inside was good too, and there was lots of new blood, and old blood, and temporary blood, and everybody was playin' good and havin' a good time. I think we're winning over some of the new Sharkey's walk-bys, too.

Y'all can add comments. It was a notable night only because the joint was all smiles. Wilson's back to his old self, Sloane is back and fiddlin' better and harder than ever, we're bringing in some new tunes, and Kendall whipped us up a real boss Java Brothers poster.

Life is good today!

Along the Way

Ron Block Gospel number, also played in Wayne's basement. Also played without Doug. We'll make Doug learn it as soon as we learn it.

Old Dangerfield

We like this one. Played without our bass playah Doug in Wayne's basement.



The pix are from my trip to the Philippines this May. Check it out.

Redwood Hill

Rice!

This looks a little weird, but I love this tune.

Tony plays James Taylor's "Me and My Guitar."

Fine time on the River

It's always interesting putting an event together. Who will come? Will anyone turn out? How much stuff do we need? What if you have a party, and nobody comes?
We held the Outdoor Session yesterday and it turned out pretty dang good, and once again it was the community of musicians came through.
I knew this weekend would be a challenge for lots of people schedule-wise, it's the middle of the high season and there's lots going on...Steppin' Out in Blacksburg, Galax warming up, you name it.

Then there was the weather. We got some pretty wild thunderstorms in the morning, about three individual squalls, and they made me pretty nervous. But I figured, "Hey, we're under a shelter! No biggie." So, long story short, we got set up at about 1:15 for our 2:00 kickoff, and Charlie Linkous was already camped out and waiting for us to play.

Dr. Carl, Wayne, and myself got right to setting up, and the sky was clearing, and things were looking good, but I was still wondering who all would show up. We got a jam's worth of Coffee Mill regulars (Chris, Wayne, Doug, Dale, and Slash) and that would have been fine group to spend an afternoon with, but then we got a whole 'nother contingent from the Snowville jam. (I've almost learned to pronounce it right..."Snow-vul." Doug Dalton brought a whole crew of great singers and pickers, not to mention his sweet fiddle and really turned the jam into something fun and memorable. Miss Chloe brought her bass, but I don't know she ever played it. Christian and Kimberly Hearn played on a bunch of tunes. We had no shortage of mando's, guitars, or even basses. We were short on banjos--I think we only had two all day, but you know, that was just about right. We had two dobros trading off, and tons of non musical visitors, too. My pals from Arlington were very impressed with the pickers' talent, and also their stamina. "They just played for hours! Don't they get tired?" I told her we work in shifts.

I want to thank everybody who came out and everybody who helped. It's a simple thing to get together and pick, but it really is a lot of fun, and you can't do it alone!

Send me all your ideas for next year. Special thanks go out to God for letting us all live to see this day, but Extra Special thanks for Him letting Wilson make it. Our boy Wilson is the hero of the day. He took a spill on his vacation and cracked his head, and while we can joke about it now, we definitely can't afford to lose him, or any of our pickers. Y'all be careful out there! Wilson played a bunch of tunes, including of favorite of his Dad and myself, too -the Philadelphia Lawyer. I'll see you all tomorrow at the Mill, Thursday in Snowville, and maybe even down at Galax.

Out Door Sessions

Hey Teens,
We're coming up on August 2nd, 2008, and that means it's time to get on down to the New River for our summertime pickin' party.

From 2PM - 8PM, we'll be grillin' burgers and pickin' tunes. On Saturday afternoon, come on down to Bissett Park, Shed #2 with something to cook, and something to pick, or just your ears, and have a big time with us.

Dispatch from the Monday Jam

I got there late, so this is necessarily incomplete. A pretty good crowd. Slash was playing bass till about 8, I guess, then Mr. PJ took over. Doug was out.
A new guy playing mando, then guitar that I'm not acquainted with, but you know, the more the merrier.
Christian Hearn was there, Gentleman George Smith, Master Jason, No Dale, No Wayne, No Casey, No Sloane, Mr. Muller showed up bout 8:30 or so, Nancy was the driving guitar for a while, and Bill hung in for a good long time. We picked Lonesome Feelin' (Jim and Jesse!) with Ralph. We played a buncha Bill Monroe (natch), and Kendall played a bunch a gooduns.

It was pretty much our usual thing...Timmy showed up after 9 and didn't play. :)

Jam News???

What, no jam news from last night. Is there a conspiracy out there that I can't get any info. when I have to miss? Thought about the goings on while I was working, and I know my parents didn't make it last night, so they were unable to give any details. Just trying to stay in the loop!!See ya next week!!

Japanese McDonald's Ad

Just weird.


But I do suddenly crave a burger... [smack lips...]

A propos of nothing

Powderfinger

This is one of my all-time favorite Neil Young tunes.
I saw this tour in AZ. Booker T and the MG's is the backing band instead of Crazy Horse.
You get two Blues Brothers there in Steve Cropper (g) and "Duck" Dunn (b). Booker T was on Willy Nelson's Stardust record-another classic.



Anyhoo, this is a bluegrass classic.

Unavoidably unable to make it to the jam

So wha' happen'?

More Gents

East Virginia Blues

Country Gents - Dark as a Dungeon

This is a reunion from 1992. John Duffy's got some classic pants on.

Wacky Jam News

We had a wacky one last night. No Wayne, no Doug, No Joe. Chris brought his bass and his guitar, but there was already a bass, and 75 guitars. He went home and got his mando and then stayed outside playing bass all night. A fella named Bob, journalism teacher, mandolinist, guitarist and sometime raconteur was hanging out, too. Dodging raindrops outside were a bunch of mandos, Dale, and a rarely playing Slash. Our good ol' boy Fritz dropped by with his bazouki and his Dad to pick a few. Good times.

Inside was a whole 'nother crew including what looked like a good new fiddler. (Looks like Jason's little brother or something.) We heard that Lewis took a tumble and broke his collarbone, or his shoulder---either way not good. We picked a few for him. His sister--is that really who she is? Was out with her electro-autoharp. I didn't actually hear it.

Timmy Mills shook the cobwebs off and picked a few.

Ralph might could give us a report from inside.

JB's Jam on for the 4th

The full compliment of the Java Brother's played for a pretty nice crowd of folks on July 4th in Radford's Bisset Park. We had our work cut out for us, after following the King, but held up pretty well under the pressure. We were appreciative of having several of our Coffee Mill jammers and listeners in attendance. It sure is nice to see a friendly face or two in the crowd! The event sponsors seemed happy with our set, even though the PA got a little out of whack at times. I think the Mill may see a few new faces in the coming weeks from folks who didn't know about the Monday goings-on until yesterday.

Joe and I talked to Jimmy Fortune for a few minutes before he went on. He said he didn't get to hear us, but had really wanted to. He indicated that he was already looking at working on coming back to Radford next year. I told him to tell the folks from the City that he wouldn't come unless the JB's were on the bill! He said he'd do that. (wink, wink) The City puts on a pretty good musical show on the 4th every year. Maybe if they'd get together with Chris and the Side Door concept, a little mini festival of various music types could come together in the future! Just a thought..............

Jammin'

It was another boisterous night at the Mill last night. It was one of our typical summer nights with a healthy crowd inside AND out. Strangely, the outside crowd didn't seem to feel like playing. They hung out and chewed the fat and played nary a note. Inside they fired off notes in abundance.

Notable: Mister Wayne returned from Moytal Beach - tanned, rested, and ready to pick. Wayne's Mom enjoyed his version of "Muddy Water" and suggested it be added to the JB's Independence Day set. I concur. He also played "Lonesome Pines." Ditto for the 4th.
Ralph busted out "Pallet on your Floor" and that one's on the big list too, if you ask me.

Miss Asenath and Master Harlow dropped in for a visit from Chilhowie, and reminded us that we've been missing them a bunch. Mister Christian came by, but he didn't feel like pickin' either. Guess all those mando players didn't notice I was strugglin'!
Our pal Brian Muller came back around and eventually played.

Somebody just asked me what colors mosquitoes like. Funny thing is, I feel like I used to know. Musta burned too many brain cells listenin' to banjo music. How's that for a non-sequitor?