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!
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
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!
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!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
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!
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!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
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!
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!
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
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.
Looking forward to the return of Bro. Wayne Frye, whose lost weekend in Chilhowie should make for some good stories.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
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?
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!
Tech went on to win, too!
Go Hokies!
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
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!
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!
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