Popcorn Jam 8/14/16 In The Key Of L

LINEUP

Captain Kirk-Guitar
Steve Black Wolf-lead vocal on Can't You See, Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw
Dewayne Schminkey-Vocals and guitar (Oh Boy, We Belong Together)
Kenny Webb-Bass
Crabby Crabapple-Drums

Music Director: Terry (Big Beats) McDowell  (Justin Rouse: Photo)

While I was out and about and checking out bands, it's becoming discouraging to me that it seems like every band in town, is like the classic rock stations here, they play the same songs over and over again.  I checked out the new band Shadow at Rumors Friday Night, the new band project of Bart Carfizzi and Tommy Bruner with John Stepanek and Joe Hutchcroft rounding out the band and they did a excellent job with their takes of We're An American Band and so on. At least Joe can do the intro drum boasting at the beginning.    Saturday, I burned myself out going to three different places to watch bands play and then come home and crash.  And then back to Rumors for the Sunday Jam.

There's hasn't been much of me playing drums the past couple weeks, Rocky Mountain Way last week and sat out on the Metal jam.   I know Terry loves those sort of jams where they can crank it up high, but I'm old school classic rock and originals.   With the days becoming shorter, I'll pass on the next metalfest and hit the walking trails.

I haven't been much in a jamming mood anyway.  With the job layoffs to key people, I think I would have been happier just going on furlough and take it EZ at home.  Last week, Russ was wanting to get together and we traded song ideas but nothing has come of it.  I keep telling him to show up at a jam and have fun with it but it hasn't been high on his list of things to do and it's still golfing season for him.  Or pick songs from our set list last time we got together.

So I really didn't plan to spent much time at Rumors, since Mom was making supper and it was her birthday.  She just turned 72 and it's still great to have Mom around.  But I made it there and my Open Highway bandmate from long ago DeWayne shows up.  I love playing on stage with Tommy Bruner.  But if a bandmate from Open Highway or Paraphernalia shows up, I cannot pass that chance up to jam with them.  And I have jammed with DeWayne twice this year at Rumors, I have yet to jam with Russ this year.   I know Russ cannot tolerate the usual bar band songs, but the way things go, nobody wants to dance to Spirit Of The Radio or La Villa Strangelo but if you play the opening chords to Cocaine or (gawd) Free Bird, people will dance to it.  In the aural of band playing  Free Bird is a plus if you know it.

I think the jammers who played Free Bird played it in the key of L.  It sounded like L. John Hernandez, who plays in Full Circle usually sits the jams out, he'll come and support but only will play at gunpoint or if Ken Webb needs a smoke break. But even when one guitar player is playing in a different chord and the other guitar player trying to find the right chord and plays something else and John looking like he'd rather be some place else, it got about three couples out on the dance floor. Mike Lint playing drums too.  It likes watching two trains on the same track going different directions and it's going to be a wreck in the making.  Kind of like our version of Free Bird when we attempted it at the OK Lounge years ago.  It actually sounded pretty good considering we never played it before and Shawn Ster sprang it out when he guest star in the band.

I know Dewayne would never take the stage if I wasn't there.  Again, like me, he has to know somebody to get comfortable with to jump on stage.  In my case last year, I didn't know nobody and took a while to finally connect with the musicians in town and since then, I have done fairly well jamming with folk, considering that I'm very shy and still hides in the corner.  But when DeWayne shows up, I become his father figure getting to the stage.  He also tends to do some outrageous things. Like Sunday when he managed to tell that gawd awful Antiques joke and the reaction from the crowd was scary.  There was some gasps, there were groans and a few boos.  To which I quipped to the crowd, "that joke was bought to you by the letter L.  That joke sounded like L.

I think I need to work with Dewayne on some songs for the next time he shows up at the jam.  We dusted off Can't You See simply of the fact that Dewayne played it in the Open Highway days and then Oh Boy and a rough go through on We Belong Together.   This the first time I jammed with Captain Kirk (Terry didn't know his last name so he and I decided to go with Captain Kirk) and a guy named Steve sang Can't You See.  He also did Why Don't We Get Drunk And Screw, the Jimmy Buffet song. I basically didn't know it and kept time.  There was plenty of dead time between songs so Kenny Webb started up Jeff Beck's Freeway Jam and he caught me off guard.  I didn't know the version at all.  So he turned me  to check out this version and perhaps we will attempt it next time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UfN-APKK4tg

Troy Harper canceled out at the last minute so Kenny came in to play bass for the second straight week in a row.  As I said before, it's fun to jam with Kenny, the guy gets into the music.  This time out, I did play on four actual songs and we goofed off on two others.  I would have loved to stayed longer and chat with Dewayne but I had to get my Mom's to celebrate her birthday and I was already an hour late, so I had to keep it short and leave everybody hanging.   I'm not sure about jamming next week, Bluesfest is going on that Sunday and I'll probably spend most of the day there or maybe the Kernels baseball team.  The minor league season is winding down and I would like to catch another game or two since both the Kernels and QC River Bandits have terrible teams and won't make the playoffs.   Also, Mike Serbousek and his band West 66 is playing this Friday Night but chances are I won't make that, since we are busy at work.  And if Russ could stomach playing those bar band songs, he could host as a bass player and get paid 50 dollars for his trouble.  That's about 18 dollars more than he made from our OK Lounge gig many moons ago.  I wouldn't mind spell Terry and hosting one show but I doubt that will happen.

For a milestone, it has been one year since me and Russ shared the stage together. Dewayne and I have jammed three times already.  I wouldn't say that our Sunday get together is memorable, but I think Dewayne had a good time.  And I'm certain that I'll be jamming on stage Dewayne again before with Russ.  And that's the way things go anymore.

You take what you can get.