I'm thinking we could JB-ify this one.
Hard to go wrong with the Beatles in any case.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Pretty Good Jam
I got there late, but it was cookin' when I arrived. There was a couple fellas trying to get an old time jam started outside, and if I'd been feeling a littel better, I might have jumped in.
Notable? A fair bit of Gospel tunes- I guess people are ramping up for Easter. Lots of fiddlers. Wayne Frye getting more and more Tony-esque on his guitar every week.
We spend a good bit of time in G, which I think is healthy every so often.
Late night, Joe whipped out a song that if I'm not mistaken is called "The Crow" from Steve Martin. Sounded real good.
Hope everybody picked up an S.A.L.A. button from local firebrand Stephen Schmidt.
Hope y'all are ready for Villanova to win it all in the NCAA tourny.
Notable? A fair bit of Gospel tunes- I guess people are ramping up for Easter. Lots of fiddlers. Wayne Frye getting more and more Tony-esque on his guitar every week.
We spend a good bit of time in G, which I think is healthy every so often.
Late night, Joe whipped out a song that if I'm not mistaken is called "The Crow" from Steve Martin. Sounded real good.
Hope everybody picked up an S.A.L.A. button from local firebrand Stephen Schmidt.
Hope y'all are ready for Villanova to win it all in the NCAA tourny.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Interesting Times over at RU
I don't know Penny Kyle. Might have bumped into her once. I believe she hired the JBs to play a banquet for the Tennis team in 2007. What I do know is that I've never been around someone who was actually hated as much as she is in Radford. Usually when people say, "I hate so and so," it means that so and so is driving them crazy or inflicting mild to medium social discomfort on a somewhat regular basis.
People HATE Penny Kyle. If she ended up suddenly missing, foul play would be immediately suspected and there would be a thousand worthy suspects.
Most of the people I know who despise Kyle are longtime RU staff displaced or adversely affected by her tenure as head of RU. Apparently now the student body is joining the ranks of those in less than love with Kyle.
Our boy Stephen Schmidt, Coffee Mill's Monday Night man for the last year or so, is a leader a group of students called SALA - Students Advocating Liberal Arts.
They're not happy about the new direction of RU that is cutting a lot of the liberal arts programs.
There was an open forum to discuss the budget and issues that concerned the university community last night, and it ended with a significant number of students marching out in protest.
I liked this part of the story:
An early hint of the discontent in the crowd was evident when Kyle, answering a question from a longtime staff member and single mother worried about her job security, said that the difficult economy had affected everyone.
"I'm personally not living like I used to live," she said, as members of the audience laughed out loud and groaned. Kyle's annual salary is $359,256.
The piece went on:
[snip]
People HATE Penny Kyle. If she ended up suddenly missing, foul play would be immediately suspected and there would be a thousand worthy suspects.
Most of the people I know who despise Kyle are longtime RU staff displaced or adversely affected by her tenure as head of RU. Apparently now the student body is joining the ranks of those in less than love with Kyle.
Our boy Stephen Schmidt, Coffee Mill's Monday Night man for the last year or so, is a leader a group of students called SALA - Students Advocating Liberal Arts.
They're not happy about the new direction of RU that is cutting a lot of the liberal arts programs.
There was an open forum to discuss the budget and issues that concerned the university community last night, and it ended with a significant number of students marching out in protest.
I liked this part of the story:
An early hint of the discontent in the crowd was evident when Kyle, answering a question from a longtime staff member and single mother worried about her job security, said that the difficult economy had affected everyone.
"I'm personally not living like I used to live," she said, as members of the audience laughed out loud and groaned. Kyle's annual salary is $359,256.
The piece went on:
Several of the students at the forum are members of Students Advocating the Liberal Arts. Radford students Emily Walker and Stephen Schmidt started the group last week to voice concern about the impact budget cuts and the university's strategic "Radford 7-17" plan will have on educational quality at Radford. More than 700 students have joined the group on Facebook.
[snip]
A chaotic back and forth ensued as Lerch, Kyle and Stanton tried to calm the students by referring to the volume of questions and telling them that there is an established process for program review.
"Why do you get to choose?" one student shouted. "This is an open forum."
Kyle said Stanton would set up a separate forum to discuss questions about program review. Kyle added later that the university could not discuss it publicly now because it could taint the process.
"Why was anthropology cut without the program review?" another student shouted.
Kyle repeated that no program review questions would be answered at the forum and most of the students got up and walked out.
Schmidt said he was not surprised by the outcome of the forum and said the program review has "everything to do with the budget."
"I wanted them to be honest and I wanted them to be straightforward in their answers," he said. "What this school has needed and what it needs now is a watchdog."
Monday, March 23, 2009
Ain't No Party Like a Bluegrass Party
Check it out, yo.
Some video from Casey's Going Away Pick - a - Thon!
Some video from Casey's Going Away Pick - a - Thon!
Saturday, March 21, 2009
All the Good Times are Past and Gone
Well some of them are anyway. The mighty Casey, a star picker in the NRV for a good chunk of the last decade, is movin' on to Raleigh. I met Casey through Christian Hearn, who I think met him at a Blacksburg jam. I can't place the time exactly, because I have no memory cells left, but I think it was around 2003 that we got together to do some pickin'. I remember we went to the Triple Creek festival in 2004 in Rocky Mount with Bass Player and guitar builder Greg Van Nest. There we of course bumped into Timmy Mills lurking in the shadows, and we saw Charlie Waller for the last time in person. We sat in our folding chairs and watched a ton of bluegrass - the best way to spend your time.
Casey picked with me in Doublenaught Jethro, tho he never quite accepted the name. Casey was my go-to guy to try and learn challenging tunes. He's the only other person I know who likes to play the Woodchopper' Reel. He's got a non-bluegrass musical background just like me. He's a heck of an electric bass player, and claims he once knew how to play Charlie Parker's Donna Lee. That's faster than Salt Creek, even. Casey has been on board with the JB's since the beginning. We've played out at Selu, we've played the Country Store, my house, Casey's house, the Side Door - he was in the first act ever! We played tunes at Joe's house, Matt Osborne's porch when he was in Blacksburg, we played with Matt at the Cellar. That was where Casey got together with Gabe and they did some recording. Casey and I got stuck out at Osborne's place in Long Shop during an ice storm and we didn't get unstuck till noon the next day. We played up at the banquet hall on North Main in Blacksburg. We played the Coffee Mill, the Pumpkin Patch, Bissett Park, and who knows where else. That guy is everywhere. Simultaneously, Casey was often a JugBuster, I think he played with F150 some, he recorded with the Clatterbucks. The guy is ev-ry-where. With Casey at least temporarily out of the local picture, there'll be a big hole to fill in the picker community. He's the only guy I know who's as likely to rip out one of those super hard Chris Thile tunes as he is a straight up old time tune. He's wicked mandolin picker, and ace guitar player, fine bass player, a tasteful selector of songs, and a reliable pal. I pronounce him here and now, totally unnecessarily, Casey Elder - Good Egg.
One other good thing about Casey, and a reason I don't sweat him movin' too much is that he's always been willing to travel for music. We've been down to NC for MerleFest. We went up to Club 202 and saw Chatham County Line one time, and the Steep Canyon Rangers another. We went and saw Bela Fleck's trio with Bryan Sutton and Casey (the lesser) Driessen. I'm confident we saw a show or two at the Lyric. I met him in New York for Grey Fox. I met him in DC to see Hot Rize. We drove up to Charlottesville in 2005 to see David Grier, Mike Compton, and Butch Robins up at the Prism Coffee House. That was after Butch dropped into the Coffee Mill jam. Casey, like myself, was often a late arrival to the jam, when things thin out and the pickin' gets faster, that's right where Casey oughta be.
I'm leaving it to Casey to identify a group of NC pickers and local shows and give us a good reason to have a musical road trip.
Last night's Casey Send-off Pick-a-thon was a real good one. I showed up after set one, but I heard that was fine. And while we were bummed that Casey is movin' on, it was great to see the who's who of NRV pickers out to wish him well, and more importantly, tear up some tunes.
Who'd I see? Ralph with Miss Lucy, Wilson and Liz Rankin, Dale Cash, Christian Hearn, Liam Kelly, "Matt", a fiddler named Rachel who didn't fiddle, Ginger, Bob Browder (who I think I met through Casey). Bill Adams was there - fired up to pick and staying later than I think I've ever seen. Brian Muller showed up. You know Timmy Mills wouldn't miss it. Joe Abercrombie was there - he's played a set or two on stage with Casey. PJ came with his fiddle and his very talented friend Jane, and those guys and Brian led the jam for a long, excellent time. Doug Capobianco held down the bass chair for a good long time on Casey's awesome Fender Jazz bass, -- sounded like John Paul Jones, it was awesome...however, I digress...
Everyone was there to pay homage to our pickin' pal Casey, and I tell you, it was good one.
Wayne Frye had to work and couldn't make it, but he made sure to call me and tell me to pass on his good wishes to Casey. I forgot of course, so I'll do it now.
End the end, this just gives us an excuse to get out the calendars, find a festival a few months off, and mark that date in red. We'll all meet somewhere and do some serious jammin'.
Casey picked with me in Doublenaught Jethro, tho he never quite accepted the name. Casey was my go-to guy to try and learn challenging tunes. He's the only other person I know who likes to play the Woodchopper' Reel. He's got a non-bluegrass musical background just like me. He's a heck of an electric bass player, and claims he once knew how to play Charlie Parker's Donna Lee. That's faster than Salt Creek, even. Casey has been on board with the JB's since the beginning. We've played out at Selu, we've played the Country Store, my house, Casey's house, the Side Door - he was in the first act ever! We played tunes at Joe's house, Matt Osborne's porch when he was in Blacksburg, we played with Matt at the Cellar. That was where Casey got together with Gabe and they did some recording. Casey and I got stuck out at Osborne's place in Long Shop during an ice storm and we didn't get unstuck till noon the next day. We played up at the banquet hall on North Main in Blacksburg. We played the Coffee Mill, the Pumpkin Patch, Bissett Park, and who knows where else. That guy is everywhere. Simultaneously, Casey was often a JugBuster, I think he played with F150 some, he recorded with the Clatterbucks. The guy is ev-ry-where. With Casey at least temporarily out of the local picture, there'll be a big hole to fill in the picker community. He's the only guy I know who's as likely to rip out one of those super hard Chris Thile tunes as he is a straight up old time tune. He's wicked mandolin picker, and ace guitar player, fine bass player, a tasteful selector of songs, and a reliable pal. I pronounce him here and now, totally unnecessarily, Casey Elder - Good Egg.
One other good thing about Casey, and a reason I don't sweat him movin' too much is that he's always been willing to travel for music. We've been down to NC for MerleFest. We went up to Club 202 and saw Chatham County Line one time, and the Steep Canyon Rangers another. We went and saw Bela Fleck's trio with Bryan Sutton and Casey (the lesser) Driessen. I'm confident we saw a show or two at the Lyric. I met him in New York for Grey Fox. I met him in DC to see Hot Rize. We drove up to Charlottesville in 2005 to see David Grier, Mike Compton, and Butch Robins up at the Prism Coffee House. That was after Butch dropped into the Coffee Mill jam. Casey, like myself, was often a late arrival to the jam, when things thin out and the pickin' gets faster, that's right where Casey oughta be.
I'm leaving it to Casey to identify a group of NC pickers and local shows and give us a good reason to have a musical road trip.
Last night's Casey Send-off Pick-a-thon was a real good one. I showed up after set one, but I heard that was fine. And while we were bummed that Casey is movin' on, it was great to see the who's who of NRV pickers out to wish him well, and more importantly, tear up some tunes.
Who'd I see? Ralph with Miss Lucy, Wilson and Liz Rankin, Dale Cash, Christian Hearn, Liam Kelly, "Matt", a fiddler named Rachel who didn't fiddle, Ginger, Bob Browder (who I think I met through Casey). Bill Adams was there - fired up to pick and staying later than I think I've ever seen. Brian Muller showed up. You know Timmy Mills wouldn't miss it. Joe Abercrombie was there - he's played a set or two on stage with Casey. PJ came with his fiddle and his very talented friend Jane, and those guys and Brian led the jam for a long, excellent time. Doug Capobianco held down the bass chair for a good long time on Casey's awesome Fender Jazz bass, -- sounded like John Paul Jones, it was awesome...however, I digress...
Everyone was there to pay homage to our pickin' pal Casey, and I tell you, it was good one.
Wayne Frye had to work and couldn't make it, but he made sure to call me and tell me to pass on his good wishes to Casey. I forgot of course, so I'll do it now.
End the end, this just gives us an excuse to get out the calendars, find a festival a few months off, and mark that date in red. We'll all meet somewhere and do some serious jammin'.
Friday, March 20, 2009
The time in Manila
Here is a neato clock that tells me what time it is, right this minute in Manila.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Ground Zero for Music Now
As soon as I get my time machine fixed, I'm gonna go back to certain places at certain times where important music scenes were really happening.
Louis Armstrong in Chicago in the 20's, Charlie Parker on 52nd Street in New York in the early 40's, I'd go see them. I'd drop in on all the different rock and roll movements - The Who and the Kinks and the Rolling Stones in London; CCR, the Grateful Dead, and the hippie bands in San Francisco; the Doors and the Byrds in LA, punk in New York, early 80's in Athens, Georgia, Grunge in Seattle...then I'd go back to Paris and see Django Reinhardt and on and on...
And when I was done, and back to NOW, and having dealt with whatever tears in the space-time continuum I'd caused by dancing with my grandmother at a Duke Ellington concert, I'd be in just the right place.
Clearly, the New River Valley is where thing are at right now.
We've seen the Side Door Sessions flourish, and these two guys are among the many voices you've heard there. Read this and realize we are where it's at. Our pals Scott Patrick and Abe Goorskey have made an album! Go buy it y'all! And then make your own album, and sell that one, too. This place is crawlin' with talent.
[Photo by Alan Kim, Roanoke Times]
PS: Don't forget the Casey's-leaving-town-and-we-gotta-pick-with-him-one-more-time party tomorrow night! Be there!
Thursday, March 12, 2009
JBs Played Real Good for Food
We did pretty good for ourselves tonight. We went down to Grove Methodist Church for the TGIW feeding frenzy.
Those folks can sure cook, and we tried to make it at least halfway worth their while.
We were even larger than usual after all the food and we squeezed onto the tiny stage with our huge bluegrass sound.
I don't want to say we were great, but I was asked for an autograph after the show. Just sayin'.
She's gonna be the hit of the 6th grade with that little memento to show off.
Wayne got a cash money request form so we closed the show with Country Roads. Not our normal repertoire, but you know what they say, "We'll do anything for money."
And almost anything for food.
Those folks can sure cook, and we tried to make it at least halfway worth their while.
We were even larger than usual after all the food and we squeezed onto the tiny stage with our huge bluegrass sound.
I don't want to say we were great, but I was asked for an autograph after the show. Just sayin'.
She's gonna be the hit of the 6th grade with that little memento to show off.
Wayne got a cash money request form so we closed the show with Country Roads. Not our normal repertoire, but you know what they say, "We'll do anything for money."
And almost anything for food.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
The Coffee Mill Can Barely Hope To Contain Us
Must've been the combined factors of warm temperatures, daylight saving time and spring break (which meant more parking). I have no idea how many people were at the Mill last night. Wayne said folks were playing outside when he arrived at 6:40. Some never made it indoors, which were packed, as usual.
Listen. There were SIX fiddles in the jam at one point. That has to be some kinda record. Wait! Doug Dalton was outside. SEVEN fiddles total! I feel like Jerry Lewis watching the Labor Day money total flip over. I think I might be misting up.
Youth held sway, with the teenish Houston kids arriving from Floyd County, fiddles and mandolin in tow (guys, you shoulda heard the girls harmonize after the jam. They were really good). Our young bespectacled buddy Blake sawed a few hot ones, too.
OK, I'm curious now. Going around the horn indoors we had Wayne, Asenath, Tim, Sloane, Larry, an 80-year-old dobroist named Sherman, Richard, the lady whose name escapes me on guitar (Mrs. Goshorn?), Mary, Frank, Nancy, the Houston trio, Jason, young Blake, Chris (holding it together with an outstanding pinch-hit bass performance) and me. That's 18 inside.
Outside was George, Kendall, Bill, Doug, the Clatterbucks, Tim Pak ... anybody else? That's seven.
Twenty-five jammers! Yes, it was a bit rough and rocky at times, but hey, as the Father said, "The road is rocky but it won't be rocky long!" Oh Lord!
Listen. There were SIX fiddles in the jam at one point. That has to be some kinda record. Wait! Doug Dalton was outside. SEVEN fiddles total! I feel like Jerry Lewis watching the Labor Day money total flip over. I think I might be misting up.
Youth held sway, with the teenish Houston kids arriving from Floyd County, fiddles and mandolin in tow (guys, you shoulda heard the girls harmonize after the jam. They were really good). Our young bespectacled buddy Blake sawed a few hot ones, too.
OK, I'm curious now. Going around the horn indoors we had Wayne, Asenath, Tim, Sloane, Larry, an 80-year-old dobroist named Sherman, Richard, the lady whose name escapes me on guitar (Mrs. Goshorn?), Mary, Frank, Nancy, the Houston trio, Jason, young Blake, Chris (holding it together with an outstanding pinch-hit bass performance) and me. That's 18 inside.
Outside was George, Kendall, Bill, Doug, the Clatterbucks, Tim Pak ... anybody else? That's seven.
Twenty-five jammers! Yes, it was a bit rough and rocky at times, but hey, as the Father said, "The road is rocky but it won't be rocky long!" Oh Lord!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
JBs* Tear it up at Cowgirl Birthday Party
Actually, I think we should change the name of the band TO "Cowgirl Birthday Party."
We played a Birthday Party for Cowgirl Lisa at the Side Door on Saturday night, and what can I say? Those girls looked good in chaps.
We did our thing and were mostly unnoticed except for our Fox on the Run and our Rockytop.
Wayne was enjoying himself and I thought at one point he was gonna go Rocky topless, and I think if he didn't have to split after the gig, he would've. Joe and Doug brought their ladies along to party, and we all ate and drank pretty good. It's better than a kick in the teeth, as they say. And how bout those Highlanders? I say we take the first day of the tournament off and watch. Who's with me?
See some of youz Monday.
Somebody remind me to bring the bass.
We played a Birthday Party for Cowgirl Lisa at the Side Door on Saturday night, and what can I say? Those girls looked good in chaps.
We did our thing and were mostly unnoticed except for our Fox on the Run and our Rockytop.
Wayne was enjoying himself and I thought at one point he was gonna go Rocky topless, and I think if he didn't have to split after the gig, he would've. Joe and Doug brought their ladies along to party, and we all ate and drank pretty good. It's better than a kick in the teeth, as they say. And how bout those Highlanders? I say we take the first day of the tournament off and watch. Who's with me?
See some of youz Monday.
Somebody remind me to bring the bass.
Side Door Press Coverage!
The Side Door Sessions got a nice write-up in the New River Voice. Maybe we'll get some musicians out of the woodwork to populate our stage!
Tell your friends!
Tell your friends!
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Duncan and Brady
James Brown said, "Gimme some more!"
This is a good ol' tune from the Johnson Mountain Boys
This is a good ol' tune from the Johnson Mountain Boys
100%
100% Bluegrass content.
I read somewhere that Bill Monroe wrote this for Bill (BRAD) Keith.
Shenandoah Breakdown
I read somewhere that Bill Monroe wrote this for Bill (BRAD) Keith.
Shenandoah Breakdown
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
16 degrees and whaddya get?
A red-hot jam at The Coffee Mill, is what! A good turnout of 16-18 musicianers and a full hose of coffee-sipping bluegrass fans enjoyed a fun night of music. We stuck mostly with tried and true material, except for a new dobro player by the name of "Bashful" Jasonalex Wheeler. Yes, Wayne and Chris! You missed Jason on the slided steel strings! Right after Joe stole J.A.'s banjer, J.A. wrestled the dobro away from poor Larry and laid down some serious dobrolic wackiness. Just call him "Jerry" from now on.
In other news, Mary handled mandolin solos with great aplomb and musicality. Joe requested/kicked off "June Apple" and tickled the chromatics outta that 5-strang. Kendall sang 87 songs, including "Bonaparte's Retreat," and stayed till 10 (the stunner of the night)!!! A talented couple named the Clutterbucks sang 3-4 wonderful country-ish tear-jerkers. Fiddlers three sawed sweetly. Several others added their talents. Tim Pak frailed the banjo and sang "Will You Be Loving Another Man" with Kendall, who said, no, he would not be. Apologies to anyone left out. Oh yeah, I saw Tim Mills writing a song on his cellphone ... or he was sending the longest text message in history.
New faces in the crowd. Lots of college kids, most of whom will be on spring break next week or the week after. That's all!
In other news, Mary handled mandolin solos with great aplomb and musicality. Joe requested/kicked off "June Apple" and tickled the chromatics outta that 5-strang. Kendall sang 87 songs, including "Bonaparte's Retreat," and stayed till 10 (the stunner of the night)!!! A talented couple named the Clutterbucks sang 3-4 wonderful country-ish tear-jerkers. Fiddlers three sawed sweetly. Several others added their talents. Tim Pak frailed the banjo and sang "Will You Be Loving Another Man" with Kendall, who said, no, he would not be. Apologies to anyone left out. Oh yeah, I saw Tim Mills writing a song on his cellphone ... or he was sending the longest text message in history.
New faces in the crowd. Lots of college kids, most of whom will be on spring break next week or the week after. That's all!
How was the jam?
My combined familial and professional responsibilities prevented me from participating in the regular Monday night musical communion. I trust it was pleasant on such a frigid night.
Can any attendees confirm or deny?
On another note, I hear the Java Brothers will be roused to play on Saturday night at a party downtown. Those are some lucky potential party goers, I do declare.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
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