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.