Long Branch Jam-Empty Bar Blues

Long Branch Supper Club-Cedar Rapids 9/29/17
Tony Nickels: Host

Songlist:

In The Midnight Hour*
Please Send Me Somebody To Love
Kansas City Blues*
Drawn In The Dark
Tulsa Time
Good Lovin/La Bomba
Switch Board Susan
Everybody's Talking
Ring Of Fire
Let's Work Together
Light My Fire
Simple Man


*Debut song

With:

Jeff Overly-Alto Saxophone and lead vocals on Simple Man
Tony Nickels-Percussion
Rodney Smith-Guitar and lead vocals

If this was the final acoustic jam for a while at the Long Branch it was a sad way to go out.  Kevin was the only other jammer there besides me and Jeff and John the bass player took off and so did Sophia, who wasn't feeling well.

It may have been the most sparse night of crowd too.  After 9, everybody left with the exception of the Long Branch staff, Jeff came in around 9 30 after doing a extended set with The Buzz at the Shack and he had been up at 4 AM, going to school and then making a bee line here from Burlington to help the musical cause.  So we didn't do Run Around, but did Simple Man instead till Jeff couldn't play sax anymore.  We did 12 songs which lasted over an hour and six minutes.  Given a couple of false starts.

In The Midnight Hour was debuted and expended so that Jeff could add some sax solo.  Kansas City Blues was based on the Wilbert Harrison song and made up on the spot.  Good Lovin was dusted off for shits and giggles.  And Ring Of Fire done the country way and throwing everybody off at the same time.   Tony wanted to do Let's Work Together so we did it but didn't do the medley of Keep Your Hands To Yourself, the last time Jeff was up here we threw that in.  Switch Board Susan has became a staple in the past couple gigs, it's easier to do with the laid back groove and Tony seemed to like it.   I think Tony would have prefer Logic And Lies as an original song to do than Drawn In The Dark, with all the fruity chords and middle passages.

Jams are a mixed bag and a double edge sward, certainly you want more people to show up but the drawback is that there's less songs to play (See Rumor's Wess Side Jams), whereas when nobody shows up, you can pretty much experiment with anything that comes to mind but with no customers there, jams become extinct over time.  Certainly the Long Branch has a nice area perfect to play jams and gigs at.  Once upon a time, it used to be called Kitty's but they rarely have bands anymore, but somehow Tony managed to score a gig hosting a acoustic jams on a Friday Night.  He's been battling the odds trying to get more musicians in but so far they have really been few and far between. With Belinda working a real job, and having to get up early just to drive down here (about 35 minutes away from CR, from my place it's 45 minutes) and when she has to wake up around 4 30 just to go to work, I accept that she won't be there all the time.  Steve Black Wolf still has not found his cat Pete after two weeks and  that's kept him away from the jams.   Jeff Overly, when he promises he'll be at a jam, I'll make time for him.   He stays true to his word.  We did talked a bit and I told him I wouldn't be at the Rumors Jam due to practice (now off) and off to see what the Stone City jam will be like.  I could go to Rumors anyway and support the cause, but the days are getting shorter and I need to take advantage of the sunshine before the snow and cold hits here.   And besides I can always come in to do my allowed three songs if need be.

I can't say if I'm making the transition to guitarist than drummer but I'm letting more people play percussion and drums than I am when I'm on stage.   I still think I'm more at home behind a drum set but in reality, it's fun to dictate what songs to play rather than the other way around.  Nevertheless Steve Black Wolf is sorely missed and here's hoping he can find his cat and start playing again. We really need him back on stage again.


Weekend wrap up:

(Ever get the feeling you're being watched Troy Mitchell?  Mike Fleck: Photo  Terry McDowell and Ian Jacoby looking in from the outdoors)

Saturday with Four Day Creep, I did Dreams I'll Never See Again. Amazing guitar work by Rick Clay as always.  Troy Mitchell is their drummer and he's the best.

Terry broke Troy's drum throne, so when you sat on it, it would drop about two feet.  Troy looked like he was drumming on the floor.  I don't think it was bad when I sat on it, but it did drop about a foot and half on me but I managed to keep a balance and keep the beat fairly well.   We suggested maybe doing a go fund me to get a replacement drummer's seat for Troy.  Which got a good laugh out of everybody.

Dan Moyer was there and took a photo of me playing with FDC, I have yet to see it.

Terry did join the fun just before closing, smashing away on Cheap Sunglasses and Whipping Post.  We chatted for a while after the gig and lost track of the time.  By the time I left the bar it was 2:30 and didn't get home till about 3 AM.  That may have explained why I didn't lobby hard for any playing at Rumors the next day.

The three best drummers were up there. Mike Serbousek, Terry and Troy Mitchell. Mike didn't play, he opted to go see the Ramones Tribute Band and somebody else.  I did catch his band Cocked N Loaded earlier in the afternoon as they played outdoors.  To which the question was what happened to the indoor stage? It went outside to support the outdoor bands. 8 Seconds played later.  Mike Fleck, owner of Aces And Eights Bar is lead singer of that band.

(Mike Clair, Tommy Bruner, Terry McDowell, Jeff Overly, R.Smith)
Karie Skogman: rock and roll hall of famer took the photo and the other two photos below

Sunday: Wess Side Jam at Rumors;

With

Karie Skogman-Lead Vocal on I Love Rock and Roll
Mike Clair-Lead Vocal on Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers, Guitar
Buddy Archbremmer-Lead Guitar
Jeff Langenburg-Bass
Jeff Overly-Sax
Terry McDowell-Host drummer

Notes: At least I got to jam with the Hall of fame rocker Karie Skogman once again.  She shows up to support the jams but rarely sings unless she has to.  And we did I Love Rock And Roll again.  I need to support her band a lot better than I have been.  She's a sweetheart.

Flawed Logic came down to play from Waterloo.  Bird, the guitar player from Rare Earth made a rare appearance but didn't play any Rare Earth songs.  Rocky Smith did play on his song setlist. T Ray Robertson couldn't make it due to illness but Jeff Overly was there and played the first hour.

I have been dealing with carpel tunnel issues and didn't think I would do any drum songs but I did two, including a sloppy version of Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers.  Most of the cymbals provided were from Rocky Smith's collection, a couple of K's a 16 inch Hybrid Crash and 17 inch K Dark Crash.  I Love Rock And Roll is real simple, just toms and snare. No cymbals.

Terry backed up Ernest the soul man on Bring It On Home and The Twist.

Above photo: R.Smith, Jim Reisner
Below photo: Karie Skogman, Buddy Archbremner, Ernest the soul man

Checker's Jam 9-27-17-Crystal Clear

Hosts: Cathy Hart and Lorie Parker  (The Hart-Parker Duo)

Songs:

Send Me Somebody To Love*

Tulsa Time

Switch Board Susan

Love's Made A Fool Out Of You

Everybody's Talking

Ring Of Fire

*debut

Mike Frederick-Congas on Switch Board Susan

John-Congas on Ring Of Fire

Jay Devore-Guitar on Ring Of Fire

Lorie Parker, Cathy Hart, Donna Jo Eisner-Backing Vocals

Allen McGraw-Guitar

Jeff Gage-Guitar

Carl Meiners-Guitar

2017, remains a special sort of year, although bittersweet.  I finally got out of the bedroom and on the stage to play guitar and sing songs. Cathy, Lorie and Julie encouraged me back in December to try it once and see what happens.   Things came together, be it with the Acousta Kitties, Hart-Parker, Julie and Ryan and then onward to other jams. Whittier, Stone City, Cooters, Waubeek, Parlor City, The Long Branch, Artisan  Sanctuary, and sitting in with Four Day Creep on Dreams I'll Never See Again, helping Mike Serbousek in West 66 and then with him and Julie with the Mad Dogs.  And then being asked to do the Cabin Jam on the Wapsi, which lead to Vinton for a benefit and then last week at Rubies Benefit in Center Point.   And then, The EGADS!  One of the more off the wall bands I have ever played in. 

For the first time I did the Fred Neil version of Send Me Somebody To Love but it still needs a bit more polished before I try it again at the Long Branch this weekend.   Once again no originals were done, I basically did the more uptempo numbers and trying to get Tulsa Time and Switch Board Susan sound a bit more smoother. Not many people cared much about the songs, Carl was listening to singing along with Tulsa Time  And Love Made A Fool Out Of You I segmented into Everybody's Talking.  And then closed things out with Ring Of Fire, extended since Lorie came on stage to sing and Jay played guitar and Mike played banjo.

Cathy and Lorie really supported me this time out and afterwards we were laughing bout Ron LeFleur's tirade about not playing at the Rubies Bar Benefit since he thought they were gonna contact him.  Cathy did ask if I was going to return back up there to do the Oct 14th afternoon Part 2 of the benefit and told her I would. (Note: I ended up catching a bad cold and couldn't perform)

As I went home into the night, I thought about The Acousta Kitties and the break up and the hope that everybody could reunite somewhere down the road.   Anything is possible.

A Brief Shining Moment

This song is written by Tommy Bruner, one of the best original songwriters in the area.



A Brief Shining Moment

Couldn't help my reaction
When you walked through the door
How it felt when I hugged you
It felt just like before
It was only a greeting
A quick pleasantry
But I can't shake the feeling
What it felt like to me

For a brief shining moment
The world was alright
For a brief shining moment
I regained my sight
It felt like a rescue
From this world all alone
For a brief shining moment
I thought you'd come home

You sat at a table
I tried not to stare
You were having a good time
I was glad you were there
But whenever I see you
It's the same every time
I still feel you inside me
I still wish you were mine

For a brief shining moment
The world was alright
For a brief shining moment
I regained my sight
It felt like a rescue
From this world all alone
For a brief shining moment
I thought you'd come home

That I made you feel useless
I can never defend
Getting lost in my own world
Left a scar that won't mend
Still I've longed for that moment
For that knock on my door
Though I know it won't happen
It's all I live for

Later that evening
I drove down your street
Just to whisper goodnight
Just to whisper sweet dreams
The car in your driveway
Wasn't telling a lie
So I took in the silence
And I whispered goodbye

For a brief shining moment
The world was alright
For a brief shining moment
I regained my sight
It felt like a rescue
From this world all alone
For a brief shining moment
I thought you'd come home

For a brief shining moment
I thought we were home

© 2017 Tommy Bruner

I want to cover this song.

Rubies Bar Benefit/Center Point IA 9/23/17

(Photo by Darren Sharper on a last minute poster promoting the event)

Setlist:

The Last Time
Let Your Love Flow
Tulsa Time
Ring Of Fire
Everybody's Talking
Come Together
Fever
For What Its Worth

Belinda James-Lead Vocals on Come Together and Fever

(Photo: Donna Sutton-Shaw)

It may not seem to be a very long set list, but we did play about 40 minutes in doors.  I thought it might be an outdoor concert and bought my hat just in case and thankfully it was indoors.  We had a record highs of 93 degrees today.  And it's the second day of fall.  Not complaining, another month and we'll be below zero before you know it.  But I am beginning to wonder if I should have left the AC in the window.

The Rubies Benefit is my last gig for the weekend.  I have played four days in a row and my fingers are full of blisters.  It didn't help when I bought the Ibanez guitar out today.  It has heavier strings and chicken wires might have been easier to play.  Another reason to keep the set shorter than usual, the biker crowd wasn't there yet.

For four nights, I have gone through different jam settings, from the familiar with Ryan and Julie at Checkers the first night, then on to something new and different at Artisan Sanctuary the next night and then back to the Long Branch. But the benefit was a whole new thing.  Never done one before.

So I actually compiled a list of 12-15 songs to do within that 45 minute time frame, only to drop It's Been A While and Light My Fire in favor of Tulsa Time, a song people like to sing to.  There really wasn't much jamming to the songs, I slopped up on a instrumental passage on Everybody's Talking and simply turn that mistake into a four bar riff that made people think it was part of the song.  I thought it would be a hoot to start things off with The Last Time.  Belinda was tapped to sing Come Together and Fever and it was nice to have her do the vocals while I played guitar.  Or attempt to.

For the most part we started around 2:50 and concluded at around 3:27.  The short set helped The Bluebirds to play more songs as more people begin to come in through the doors and then it got too crowded for me to hang around.  I do think that John Shaw, who was a big part of putting the benefit together did do a fine job of organizing the show.  And the Bluebells were great in supporting me and Belinda's efforts.  But when we get too many people and things get crowded I tend to move on.  But I do owe John and the Smokin Guns a visit next time they're in town.

The EGADS! Everything Good And Decent Sounding ;-)
Or is that Everything Good And Different Sounding? Hmm
Everything Good And Damn Straight?


Side note:  Our bass player for the EGADS! Tim Nemec had surgery to remove a couple of toes loss due to diabetes on Sunday and is resting comfortably.  We hope for a speedy recovery for Tim.

Acousta Crabby Jam-Long Branch 9/22/17

Songs;

Drawn In The Dark
Let It Go
Switch Board Susan
Everybody's Talking/
Cinnamon Girl
Logic And Lies
Light My Fire

With Tony Nickels on Percussion

Encore:
Blue On Black
Dyer Maker
Like A Hurricane
Wicked Game

With:
Ed Butler-Lead vocal on Dyer Maker, Wicked Game, Lead Guitar on the rest of encore songs
Mark Randolph-Lead vocal on Like A Hurricane
Tony Nickels-Lead Vocals on Blue On Black, percussion on Like A Hurricane

Drawn In The Dark makes its debut.

This jam featured three songs from Logic And Lies, Drawn In The Dark made it's debut and as per say I floundered on some of the chords particularly the bridge before and after the instrumental part. Not that anybody noticed, it was an original song. I was dealing with a amp chord that had a short in it, cutting off some of the songs.  In fact on Switch Board Susan I was basically strumming chords to see if Tony could fix the problem.  And I did play around with the arrangements of songs, doing Everybody's Talking and then changed over to Cinnamon Girl.  And then after Logic And Lies concluded my set with Light My Fire.

The highlight was Ed Butler coming up from Riverside on his night off and serenading the jammers and four people in the bar some of his eclectic songs.  I can't think of anybody else doing Britney Spears, Talking Heads, Cyndi Lauper and Price, and Matty Groves from Fairport Convention.   Matty Groves?????? No way!.  Yes Way!  I really dig that when somebody comes out of the ordinary to do something off the cuff.  And Ed has been known to do such off the wall stuff.  For the encore, we did four songs, and ended things with Wicked Game to which Ed's soaring vocals made this song the perfect ending to this jam, although Mark stayed on stage to do Kansas City.

For myself, I couldn't top Wicked Game.

Artisan sanctuary Showcase

Artisan Sanctuary Acoustic Showcase 9/21/17

Hosted by Jim Jacobmeyer
Sound by Patrick Lower

Songs:

Does It Matter
Everybody's Talking
Logic And Lies

I have done the acoustic jams at Checkers and they do mostly the same bar songs that you hear elsewhere and I try to mix things up whenever I can.  The Artisan Sanctuary Acoustic Showcase is a bit more different.  This one tends to be a bit more artsy, has comedians and people reading poetry and karaoke.  It's does feel different.

Without the support of the regulars from Checkers or Whittier I had to win over a whole set of folks. And I was nervous, more nervous than before but the small crowd actually liked the songs especially Logic And Lies.  And I got to see some cool jammers and made new friends along the way.  Namely Colton, a youngster who asked me to help him out on Cinderella's Don't Know What You Got to which I told I didn't know how to play that song.  He eventually picked a couple of tracks to do and for a youngster, he was very good vocals, probably the best vocals that I have heard anybody that did Karaoke.

I could have done another song but since I was new to the group, I decided on three songs, and Does It Matter was a warm up song.  I had the cheat sheets but didn't need them on Everbody's Talking, it's getting to the point I know the words by heart but I kept confusing Logic And Lies with Drawn In The Dark. Eventually I figured out the chords for Logic And Lies and did that.

The Acoustic Jam on Thursday happens every other week, next one is October 5th to which if we're not too busy I might try it again.  I should be familiar with the place enough now to be more comfortable on stage next time.

Checker's Acousta Crabby Jam-Crabapples

Checker's Acoustic Jam 9/20/17

The songs that I did tonight:

Switch Board Susan (debut)
If I Were A Carpenter (False Start)
Everybody's Talking (with Lorie Parker on backing vocals)
Tulsa Time (Allen McGrew  played lead guitar, Julie and Donna Jo helped on backing vocals late in the song)
Sundown (with Donna Jo Eisner on backing vocals)
Cinnamon Girl (With Julie Gordon and Donna Jo Eisner on backing vocals)

John played percussion
Ryan Matthew Paul played keyboards and harmonica
Mike Frederick played banjo
Carl Meiners played guitar
Allen McGrew played guitar
Nobody played bass

Julie Gordon and Ryan Matthew Paul were tonight's hosts


Things are starting to open up and looking more like more guitar on acoustic jams n the future  after the surprise debut of The Egads! Saturday Night. So afterwards I inquired about maybe helping out for the Rubies Bar benefit this Saturday in Center Point.  Like Vinton, it's non paying but rather donating time to help out the Rubies Bar owner pay his hospital bills from a freak explosion.  And then Ron LaDood (name changed to protect the innocent) managed to piss everybody off with the above comment.  He's a good musician but he is bi polar to the point that the slightest thing said about him or something other he rails against the world.   I've been told he's on his fifth drummer since starting his band a year ago.  Somehow in the end, I managed to score a slot on Saturday for a 45 minute segment.  Not bad considering I didn't think I was figure into this.

Tonight's setlist I stumbled upon the chords to play Switch Board Susan and did it right off the bat, kinda throwing things off the board. I think I discovered a new song to play now.  If I Were A Carpenter was kinda done as a nod and wink to Carl, who with Donna Jo did the Johnny Cash/June Carter version that song.  Then I just went into Everybody's Talking, and it turned into a duet with Donna Jo as well as Sundown. Tulsa Time was extended so that Allen could do a guitar solo.  Allen has been a part of the acoustic music jams at Whittier and at the Long Branch and Checkers but I did not know his name.  John who has played congas from time to time I don't know his last name either. Eventually after a while and if I do enough investigating, I will eventually come across people's names.

Julie and Ryan both were still fighting the cold so I sang Sundown and excused Julie from doing Gold Dust Woman.  Lorie Parker was in the house so I gave way to her doing her famous Boobieful song and a couple others, before things concluded with Man Of Constant Sorrow. Belinda was there earlier and did her songs and needed some percussion help on It's Been A While so I filled in and she had to go home, 5:30 AM comes way too early and even more so if you have to drive an hour away to Vinton but Mark stayed behind and I showed him how to do Switch Board Susan although he didn't play that song on stage.   Carl in the meantime had to do Your Cheating Heart and a couple others. Women seem to love to shout OH CARL on the bridge part.

I think in terms of playing songs here and there I am beginning to play songs that are more upbeat and not so downworthy. For the second straight performance I did not do any originals  Lorie did bring her congas set for us to play on and she helped on Everybody's Talking.  John played percussion through my song list and that's was fine by me. I'm beginning to find myself wanting people to help me out when I play songs, participation is the key.  I figure if people are there they should be given the chance to play songs and help out. Julie and Ryan are instrumental of helping the music that I play and thus I commend them for being there even though they're fighting colds.   And people love Julie, she's so giving and supportive when she does jams or even plays.  I find myself helping out on drums or percussion, she really doesn't have to do that.  But I'm glad that she does.

On a different note, my guitar playing buddy Steve Black Wolf has been in a depressive state.  He lost his cat a couple days ago and has been so stressed out, that he can't play.  I do feel for him, we lost our cat Callie two months ago and I hope that she did find a better home to stay at.  When you live out in the country, you have to watch out for cars, trucks, tractors, owls, hawks, other cats and dogs etc etc.  Callie was a outdoors cat through and through and wouldn't stay inside very long, she loved the outdoors and got free reign around the yard.  She would only leave it if the neighbor across the road fed her or the Church across the street and chase away other cats from the yard.  I really do hope who has her has given her a loving home as she had here.

I know Steve is going through hell and his other cat Arlo waits by the window for the return of Pete. I hope Pete will come home soon.

I really do.

(photo of Arlo waiting for the return of Pete taken by Steve Black Wolf)

Rumors Jam:I Love Rock And Roll

Rumors Jam-Double Bass Happening (at least for a song)

With:

Buddy Archbremner-Guitar
Mike Clair-Guitar
Dan Johnson-Bass (Tush)
Jeremiah Murphy-Bass
Karie Skogman-Lead vocal on I Love Rock And Roll (pictured below)
A new girl singing Summer Of 69
Tommy Bruner-Host Guitarist
Terry McDowell-Host Drummer

Songs:

Tush
Summer Of 69
I Love Rock And Roll

Notes: Ryan And Julie returned after the Mosquitoes attack of last night but I didn't jam with them. Wasn't happy with the decision made by the host,  but I did stick around to hear their song list. I stayed  there to support Julie and Ryan.  They took the time to come see us play in Vinton the other night.  Afterwards, Julie brought Franklin, her doggie up to the jam.  So I had to go see him.

It was fun to have hall of famer Karie Skogman come up and sing I Love Rock And Roll for the final song of my set.   I only had two bass players in my set, Dan Johnson sang on Tush and played bass and took a break,  Jeremiah stayed in for the full set. Very fluid and smooth player.

A woman, Sharon came up to me after my appearance and complimented me on how well I played. That made me smile.


It was fitting to end the night on I Love Rock And Roll and the era of playing drums at Rumors on Sundays.  This does not mean that I'm hanging up the drumsticks, you should know me better than that.  For the past few months I have been more and more getting into playing guitar and finding my way through acoustic jams in town.  I have yet to see what the Stone City jam is all about.  I only live about 5 miles away from there.  Or give the Cooters jam a second chance.  I might have disagreements with Terry on what songs to play or people to jam with but he has treated me quite well  And was kind enough to like my FB site of music and provide a few comments along the way. I will continue to support his band from time to time and check up on him on a Sunday afternoon if I have nothing going on.  I'll give Terry this, at least he was instrumental in pairing me up with Belinda James, little did we know that in those early songs that we did, we would manage to somehow start up a band which would become The EGADS!

To which I thank him for that.

The Egads! Show-Vinton 9/16/17

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbVS0SPl7pY

UPDATED:  One year later, I found that Kevin Simnacher recorded some of the highlights of The EGADS first and only gig, for a benefit.   I remember that Tim Nemec had to pull out of the gig, he was there but he ended up getting ill.  I didn't bring my drumset so Kim Bean was kind enough to have his drums there, but he and Rich Toomsen played drums, I played guitar the whole way through.  On previous jams, I damn near destroyed Kim's set with my over the top playing, I can't blame him for that.  But he did help us out a lot.

Looking at the video, I was suffering from stage fright and if there's was the Anti Rock Star, that would have been me, in my oddball outfit, Gilligan's Hat, Eyeball shirt and those awful orange pants, to which they got donated to Goodwill soon afterwards.  So I jumped around, mugged at the camera and led this motley crew of players to a 45 minute set to which we still had dancers at the end. At least we didn't scare them away.  But it was all for a good cause.

As for failed actress/troll specialist  Arian Asghari trying to replace Simon on  America's Got Talent as critic, nothing has been heard from her since  her thumbs down and comment of "kill me" after watching this on You Tube.  It's safe to say, she didn't get the job and went back to listening to Insane Clown Posse and  Kane Brown.  

The EGADS never did play with a full lineup.



Setlist (from what I remembered so the songs will be out of order) (All photos by Kevin Simnacher)

Kansas City
Blue Bayou
Ring Of Fire
For What Its Worth
Come Together
Ain't No Sunshine
Johnny B Goode
Sweet Home Chicago
Working Man Blues
I Hear You Knocking
Let's Work Together
Everybody's Talking

The Egads Band:

Belinda James-Vocals
Mark Randolph-Guitar
Rodney Smith-Vocals and guitar

With:

Mike Clair-Guitar (Johnny B Goode, Sweet Home Chicago, Working Man Blues plus lead vocal)
Jeff Langenburg-Bass
Barth Walter-Bass
Kim Bean-Drums (all tracks except where Rich Toomsen played drums on)
Rich Toomsen-Drums (Kansas City, Blue Bayou, Ring Of Fire)

It's been a dry month, no rain whatsoever.  You know how to make it rain?  Get a gig and play outdoors!

It is no secret that I've been jamming with Belinda and Mark for a while now, to the point that we can do a set list of songs just in case we get to do a gig or benefit.  We have off and on practiced with Larry Axelman and Tim Nemec on the band collective called The Egads! to which I thought up the name as a running joke and Belinda took off with it.  There was talk about doing some shows in the future but when Mike Clair was doing a benefit for Scott Van Wrey who had inoperable cancer. Wooden Nickel Lottery was playing, so was Robin Banks and after that would be a jam of sorts.  In turned out to be The Egads! debut.

It was a humid day and by the time I got there to see WNL, it begin to rain and a thunderstorm hit for about an half hour before winding down.  To which the wind died down and the damn mosquitoes came out of nowhere, eating everybody alive.   And it made me wonder if this worth doing in the first place, outdoors by the Cedar River were it's skeeter hell.  Julie and Ryan showed up later but didn't play, poor Julie was eating alive by those bloodsuckers.  I got bit about five times too.  I tried my best to keep moving and not stand stationary.  I was practicing guitar for a bit but that made me a target for the fucking bloodsuckers.  So I made three trips around downtown Vinton trying to stay ahead a couple steps from the bugs.  Vinton is what I consider to be a nice town that reminds me of the old days, what Marion used to be but not now.   They still got old store signs up downtown (Camerons), the neon green of Micheal and Dowd Furniture, plus a movie theater, and of course a Chinese and Mexican restaurant and...a Pizza Ranch.  If you live in Iowa you might have a Pizza Ranch in your area. I made two trips to Casey's to refill my tea cup and told the woman up there if I came up there a third time I might ask you out on a date since you're getting to know me quite well.   She got a laugh out of that I think.  When I got back to the car, I got the guitar out and started strumming away and had a bunch of young kids looking at me funny.  One little girl shyly remarked that she likes guitar players and then proceeded to run off with the rest of the kiddies.  Ah to be young like that again. I had to smile on that.

There was a two hour delay as a benefit auction was taking place and I was getting bored in a hurry and kept in shape with my downtown walking visits. I got there so early in the afternoon that I did find a parking spot close to the stage and didn't need to drive on the park lawn.  Then again I did not bring my drums set and we thought there would be a drum set up there.  The only drum set there was Kim Bean's drums, he played for Robin Banks and I really didn't want to play drums, Kim was nice enough to sit in on our set and played drums, (Rich Toomsen did do a couple songs at the beginning) and for the first time ever on stage, I played guitar instead of drums.

This benefit marked the first time that I played in a band that I was a member in. Last time I did that, was for the Routers back in 1992.  In terms of theory, this was the first time I ever led a band outside of The Townedgers playing guitar and singing. I have come a long way from December of last year when The Acousta Kitties coaxed me into doing a few songs playing guitar and I seemed to gotten better for it.   Our band was missing a couple.  Larry Axelman had to baby sit and couldn't get away and Tim Nemec fell ill while waiting for the rain to end.  So we did the next best thing and improvise using the songs that we have played at jam sessions.  I did no originals and did the songs that I didn't need cheat sheets with.  Belinda did the majority of the songs, I did Everybody's Talking, Let's Work Together and For What Its Worth, and Ryan requested Ring Of Fire and he may have some video to that.  Not sure how that came out.  Also, Kevin Simnacher took photos and videos so I'm sure he's got some interesting photos to share, so I post them later on.

Credit has to be due to the musicians who stepped in for Tim, Barth Walter always been a stellar bass player, he's one of my favorite bass players and Jeff Langenburg also helped too. They are professional musicians who could follow my primitive and eclectic guitar playing.  I'm still very self conscious about playing guitar, I never feel I'm good enough outside of the basic chords and such. but I'm getting more used to having the other guys take off what I am playing.  Kim Bean is very good at playing drums and he's not a hard hitter unlike myself.  For a first time having him providing the beat we really did quite well.  It was very nice of him to help us out, he was in the hospital last weekend for a bad ear infection but he came to played tonight's gig with his band and with us. That meant a lot.

For the songs themselves, all were done at jams, no new songs or surprises but I did extend For What Its Worth and Everybody's Talking and Let's Work Together to have Mark Randolph play lead guitar. I did played Johnny B Goode on Guitar and Working Man Blues as well for the first time ever. Staying with the A,D,E chord progression made these songs easier to play too.  And like Troy Mills, I ended up standing and playing guitar since I found a strap that fit the Ibanez guitar.   And I managed to get around and replacing the broken string that happened last month.

Without having me playing drums, we didn't do certain songs.  Oh we could have done Fever, or Stormy Monday but I think Belinda likes having me providing the beats to those songs. I play them in a certain way that brings out the soulful tune of Fever and the feeling of despair on the latter song.  Everybody does rave on how great Belinda sings, that's no secret. Certainly Kim could provide the drumming for those songs, but I have done those songs with Belinda in such a way that nobody else could provide the emotional intensity of those songs.  But if you played alongside people a while you develop a certain way on how to do the songs and make them your own. Julie is good at that too, but as I continue to work with Belinda and Mark, we are beginning to established our own sound and our own way of playing certain songs.  To which chemistry is made of.  Kinda like when Ryan and Julie, the more they work together, the more they develop that sound they are looking for.  I don't take anything away from the rest of the female singers out there that I jam with, they are good at what they do and over time if  i work with them again, something good might come out of that, be it Nikki D or Kim Trevillion.  Julie needs no introduction, but I get more chances of working with Belinda and in return there's a bit more of a bond and chemistry sharing songs on stage.  She's known enough of my songs to provide backup if need be.  And I'm not one that wants to do things solo, having other participate makes the songs stand out.  It really doesn't matter what I think, but I still believe that I work with the best vocalists in town.

And one of them plays in The Egads!

After Everybody's Talking, we decided that was all for tonight.  I think we got tired of swatting fucking mosquitoes and all but a few faithful hang around towards the end.  But they did mentioned we did a great job.

Thanks everybody!

Various Jams-Jeff Overly Birthday Bash and Whittier Acoustic Showcase

Various Jams


Long Branch Supper Club Acoustic Jam 9-8-17
Brought to you by Tony Nickels


Songs:

Fever
Come Together
Cinnamon Girl
The Last Time
Tulsa Time
Everybody's Talking
Round around
Simple Man
Hot Rod Lincoln (false start)
Rock Me Baby
Keep Your Hands To Yourself/
Let's Work Together

With:
Mark Randolph-Guitar on Fever and Come Together
Belinda James-Lead Vocals on Fever and Come Together
Jeff Overly-Saxophone and Vocals, Lead Vocals on Round Around, Simple Man, Hot Rod Lincoln
       and Keep Your Hands To Yourself
Tim Nemec-Bass
Tony Nickels-Percussion


Whittier Acoustic Jam Showcase with David Lam 9/9/17

Songs:

Cinnamon Girl
The Last Time
Tulsa Time
Sundown
Just To Satisfy You
Everybody's Talking
Light My Fire
Logic And Lies

With
Rose Slaymaker
Tim Nemec
Carl Meiners
David Lam
and the rest of the Whittier Jam gang who's name I don't know but their participating was welcomed.


I've down in the valley on a roller coaster ride and on Tuesday was ready to walk away only to have Belinda tell me not to do that, not to let my depression get the best of me.  So I decided to ride it on out.  And went to the ball game.

And then went to Checkers and performed.
And onward to the Long Branch
And finally Whittier Community Center where it was the finale of the week of playing. Not a money making event but it did build the confidence back up again.

With the death of Don Williams I wanted to do a song as a tribute. The best one was Tulsa Time and on Friday we tried a version but I ran out of printer ink and couldn't read the words and did it in a A to E chord progression.  And on Saturday decided to try the original E to B7 scale.  That worked better.  The past week I focused on just doing the songs that I have been playing the past couple weeks.  I learned The Last Time and Cinnamon Girl plus Tulsa Time and decided to keep playing them and polishing them up.   I tend to think the more I play these songs, the more I get familiar with them and take them to the next level.   But there are songs I have yet to play, Turning On Blue, Refugee, What's So Funny About Peace Love and Understanding, and the new Steve Earle song Looking for A Woman.  Upon this, I haven't done many originals, Logic And Lies was done Saturday Night and I Always Wanted To Be With You last week but for the most part Logic And Lies the album is now basically archived, only a couple others will be performed.  I doubt if I'll examine any of those outside of Mystery Girl and Logic And Lies.  What's the point of doing The Promise Flower if the person I decided the song to doesn't care about it?   The object is to find songs that I can enjoy playing, and having the customers out there like them.  If it means forgoing most of the Townedgers' music so be it.  I'm not giving up on The TEs, far from it.  But at jam sessions I will probably will go with songs that people want to hear.  But I will not stop looking for more obscure songs to play.  There's a restless spirit in me that continues to look for the forgotten classic song.  While The Stones folk will go with Can't Always Get What You Want, which is a fun song to do, I rather much do No Expectations or The Last Time, the latter my favorite Rolling Stones Song of all time.

Friday Night, Jeff Overly came up from Fort Madison, he was playing along with Karl Hudson and Peter Cacioppo in The Buzz band and mentioned about joining the Long Branch Acoustic Showcase, so I gave him first priority over anything else or bands.  I did catch part of Rick Clay and Nikki D's acoustic duo at Ramsey's and Rick amazes me.  I'd never figure him to do Lady Gaga or Sugarland but he's a pro at what he does.  Nikki D, great singer too. In some ways, Friday's show featured all but one member of the Egads!, a new band collective featuring myself, Belinda, Mark and Tim,only Larry Axelman was not there. For the most part Mark and Belinda almost did a hour long set, and then I took the stage to do Fever and Come Together with Belinda singing and Mark playing guitar on Fever.   Then I took over, and Jeff helped on vocals on a couple songs before we attempted to do Run Around, the Blues Traveler song.  I don't think Tim was conditioned to play the same four chord riffs over and over for 6 minutes but I kept going.  Then Jeff wowed the crowd with a stirring version of Simple Man.  And I managed to play guitar rather than drums.  Tony did that.  With Jeff in tow, the songs I did do, were extended by a couple minutes and to conclude things we did a mash up of Keep Your Hands To Yourself with Let's Work Together as a medley.  It was ugly but it did worked.

For Whittier there wasn't very many jammers, Carl from the Checkers jam showed up and Rose and Tim later on and once again it was mostly covers except for the end song which was Logic And Lies. This time out, Tulsa Time was done better and in E chord instead of A and it made a big difference. There was a guy that did a flute solo on Everybody's Talking and I had some female backing vocals on The Last Time. Except for a couple messed up notes, the Whittier Jam went very well.

(The Jewel Runners or the host band (Jon Wilson, Ryan Phelan, Daddy O, Dan Johnson))
Photo by Ryan Phelan

Parlor City Blues Jam-Jamming With Daddy O 9/12/17

With

Ed Butler-Vocals and guitar
Dennis McMurrin-lead guitar
Ryan Phelan-Host Guitarist
Dan Johnson-Bass
R.Smith-Drums
Jon Wilson-Host Drummer

Songs:

I Shot The Sheriff
Wicked Game
All Along The Watchtower



In the hour that I got there, I never heard as much jazz in one hour than I have all year.  This was a special event since Daddy O did a rare host and when I ran into Dan Johnson at the ball park last night he mentioned this and I was not too sure about being there.  But when my place of employment wasn't busy then it was okay to show up. The other DJ, Hovenstat was the second drummer at Rumors Sunday Jam and he mentioned that they had 5 drummers for two sets.  DJ would eventually take over for me after my set and I went home.

Plenty of musicians up there,  Ed replaced Ryan Phelan on guitar and I helped him keep a beat on the songs.  Ed is very unconventional and like myself tends to play around the songs, no songs are ever the same way twice but he played it straight through Wicked Game, in fact I think he did a very cool version of it and All Along The Watchtower I based the beat from perhaps Bob Dylan and The Band's version from Before The Flood but I may have based it upon a version Tony Brown did at the jam one time, Tony was there but didn't play.  Ed did a shortened version of Sheriff, instead of pausing I followed him into the next verse.  Before hand we did chat about the set list at Rumors when he did that and had a good laugh about the Bob Wills song.

So, the debacle of last Tuesday's jam is now a distant memory.  I had two great shows on Friday and Saturday and tonight's jam was epic.  In a moment of redemption, before I left, Craig Erickson popped in to say hi to Daddy O and Dan.  I got to say hi to Craig this time instead of running the other way at Hy Vee.

Side Note: Dennis McMurrin is a local treasure.  All the musicians love him and it turns out he's very down to earth and a great person to talk music too.  In my two years plus of being back I managed to hang with the best musicians out there, and some have been surprising, Bob Dorr is a one of a kind, he floored me away when we jammed together.  Dennis McMurrin just might be the most humble and best of them all.  I really enjoyed this jam session.

(Dr. Hanna from his FB site)

George Hanna.  By day he's a local dentist, but sometimes at night and on Tuesday Nights he'll be at Parlor City, jamming with the best.  Next to Jon Wilson, Dr. Hanna is the most swinging-est drummer I have heard yet. He can do the Purdie Shuffle just like Bernard can.  Perhaps I should look him up to see about my choppers.

Checkers Acoustic Showcase-Deliverance From Doubt

I know the last blog (Doubt seen over at Record World) was a bit darker and I was beginning to question even why I was still playing music live.  The Parlor City Blues Jam last night, I didn't go there in a good frame of mind and while my performance was passable, I ended up vacating the drummer's chair to George Hanna to finish the night.  Not exactly what I wanted to do, after hanging around for two and half hours just to play a couple songs  and the damn waitress forgot to give me the glass of water I requested after paying my bill and leaving a three dollar tip.  I would like my tip back please.

So I went home, after avoiding Craig Erickson at the Hy Vee and feeling sorry for myself I blogged about hanging it up, which of course bought a few gasps and comments from local musicians, mostly from my bandmates.   I wanted to catch some baseball playoffs and didn't think I would make it to Checker's to support Julie and Ryan, after the 7th inning of a 5-5 tie, I decided to confront my stage fright and get the fuck back up on stage.  To hell with stage fright, I won't banish myself back to the basement as originally threatened.



Checker's Set List 9/6/17

Songs:

Gold Dust Woman**
Cinnamon Girl
The Last Time*
For What It's Worth
Sundown***
Long Cool Woman***
Stuck In The Middle With You**
Plush**

*Debut Song
** Vocals: Julie Gordon
*** Vocals: Ryan Matthew Paul

With:

Julie Jules Gordon: Lead and backing vocals, percussion
Ryan Matthew Paul: Keyboards, guitar plus lead and backing vocals

I played guitar and sang lead on the songs except where noted and played the bongos on Plush

So anyway, I played Facebook tag with Belinda about things and she did show me that the best way to combat the stage fright and the paranoia I was feeling is to continue to play.  Martin and Geoff had the same ideal.  Since Ryan was back in town, I figured I owe them something to support them and show up.   So I spent the afternoon going over a few songs to do and this time out, just focus on the songs that I could sing without cheat sheets.  I didn't do anything off Logic And Lies nor any original songs.   For the first time since April, Julie was around for the songs that I did and she helped a lot.  I knew she knew the words to Cinnamon Girl so if I had a memory loss of lyrics she would help out.  She knew Gold Dust Woman as well; we started that one out, but I have not played that song in a while, last time we did that song together was back in June.   However the past five days we have shared the stage together, Friday on drums with the Mad Dogs and tonight as well.   She did help out on the harmonies of the songs that I played.  Plus I debuted a version of the Rolling Stones' The Last Time for the first time.  Like a true professional, Julie picked up on it and sang on the chorus in her fine vocals.

And then we did Sundown in the key of E, to which Ryan took over vocals, I really didn't want to look up the words, so I played avant garde guitar.  I never play the song the same way twice, I tried to remember it the way Ryan and Julie did it in Solon.  I might have come close but I think I prefer to do the song in E chord.  After that, Ryan did Long Cool Woman and Julie did Stuck In The Middle and neither song I have played on guitar.  And for the Stone Temple Pilots song, I switched over to percussion.  I was nowhere near the melody on guitar, it was better to provide some sort of beat on congas.  The song bores me but it has been a staple for The Mad Dogs and Dreams Of Arcadia, and people seem to like it.  What do I know?  Outside of the fact that it was the first time since June that Julie was part of all the  songs that I did as well the Dreams Of Arcadia finale of songs.  She was missed.

There wasn't much of a crowd nor jammers.  I missed Belinda and Mark and Andrew were going  out the door. 5:30 AM comes way too early for the working type and in my case this was a last minute decision and I was on the fence about playing till I packed my guitar in the car just in case the urge to play was there.  In the end, I got cold watching the ball game and came down to support my musician friends.  And Cedar Rapids Kernels did come back to win the game 6-5.

Plus I found a dollar in the parking lot at Checkers.

Sometimes it pays to show up to jam (even though it's never enough).

Weekend Jams-Labor Day Weekend

At Rumors'

Julie And The Mad Dogs Show at Rumors 9/1/17

With
Julie Gordon-Lead Vocals, guitar
Buddy Archbremner-Lead Guitar
Kevin Michael-Bass
Mike Serbousek-Drums
Steve Black Wolf-Guest Lead Singer

Songs that I played drums on  (in no particular order)

Kyponite*
Stop Draggin My Heart Around*
Johnny B Goode (Mike Serbousek; Lead Singer)*
Dreams**
Give Me One Good Reason**
The One That I Love**
These Boots Were Made For Walking**
Spirit In The Sky**
Wicked Game**
Rhiannon*
Knocking On Heaven's Door (Steve Black Wolf; Lead Vocals)**
Turn The Page (Steve Black Wolf: Lead Vocals)**

*Second Set
**Third Set

I'm sure there's a couple others missing from this list but those are the ones that I played drums on.

Mike broke his finger and originally asked me if I wanted to do the whole gig, to which I got into panic mode and asked Julie herself what was going on.  Eventually Mike did get back to me to say he has his drums set up before partaking the Cocked and Loaded gig.  I think he did very well considering the fact he broke his finger but I did spell him a bit.

Even though I did practiced before heading into town to help Mike, my playing was shaky for some reason.  Some positive moments, first time I attempted the 3 Doors Down song and it went better than expected and gave Wicked Game the subtle soft sound that was missing from the Rumors Jam of last month.  DJ Holvenstot helped Mike in the first set, while I spelled Mike on some numbers on the next couple sets, including two from Steve Black Wolf, fresh from the Long Branch Acoustic Jam to which I didn't play.  I ended up going to see Brass Transit at New Bo, which suffered from feedback problems all night.  Robby Wallace can be a bit of a ham, you know those high pitched singers, and the cliche's get a bit tiring after a while but that's the way he performs.  Then off to see Inch 75 before coming over to help Julie and Mike and Buddy and Kevin.   Some off the wall weirdness, some guy got bounced out of the place and somebody ran into a parked car.  I was disappointed that the Anamosa crowd didn't come out to support Julie And The Mad Dogs but perhaps they'll get the chance to see them later in the year.  However there were a few women there that got up to dance and even requested much to the chagrin of the band of Sweet Home Alabama.  To which the band obliged and Buddy would throw in some crazy guitar leads just to liven things up.   I figured that Julie has been very supportive of my musical journey that I would help her in any way I can with her band, even if it means sloppy versions of Spirit In The Sky or Rhiannon.

Julie says: You always make it more fun for us too Rodney! Loved having you play with us! You were totally cracking me up :) so fun!

On a side note: I asked Steve the next time we did Turn The Page if he wanted to do a uptempo version or the death march slower version and he said the uptempo version more so.  I tend to agree it's a better version and not so mundane.

Side note 2: I told Mike Nickels that I would be at the LongBranch Jam in spirit, to which he quipped Now appearing tonight  Rodney's Ghost.  Ha!

(Ed Butler)

Rumors Jam-9-3-17

With

T Ray Robertson-Guitar and vocals
Edward Butler-Steel Guitar and vocals
The Bear-Bass
The Crabb-Drums
Jeff Overly-Saxophone (Train, Jesus)

Songs:

Stay A Little Longer
It Takes  A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry
Jesus Just Left Chicago

(Bear, Edward, Crabby, T Ray....it's a jam, nothing less, nothing more)
Photos by Tami Soukup (except where noted)

One thing about Ed Butler is that he's very unconventional when it comes to play songs with him. We never know what to expect. Or what's he will bring.  This time out, Ed bought his steel guitar.  Originally Kenny Webb was going to play bass but he didn't know Stay A Little Longer, the Bob Wills via Willie Nelson number so Mike Clair took over on bass.  In fact Mike would play bass on this segment.  Ed doesn't follow the songs to the recordings but does a lot of improvising.  But I do admire the way that Ed does throw out new songs.  I'm sure nobody has ever done It Takes A Lot To Laugh It Takes A Train To Cry.  Kenny Webb would later come up on stage with more familiar songs with Cecie And Peter Stark.  It's all good.   The only we did know was Jesus Just Left Chicago so we managed to nail most of that song.   I think the laid back of these songs made it a passable jam, considering that I did quite a bit Friday Night, it was nice just to keep it mellow.

(Duane Connaughton at Wild Hogs 9/2/17) (Photo from Blitzcreek)

(Duane on bass, his son Tor on drums, Ian Jacoby on vocals)

(Jeff Overly singing Runaround, T Ray on Guitar)

It was a strange jam.  Bart Carfizzi had his keyboards all ready to go but something happened and he himself took the keyboards down and stands and ran off.  Nobody knows why.  Usually his bad back and people are putting his keyboards together on stage but he himself did all the moving. Tim Wiley was there but he too didn't play either.  Jeff Overly came up from Fort Madison and we discussed doing some songs together but only played during Ed's set. Duane and his song Tor with Ian Jacoby and Rick Clay tore into some heavy metal sounds of Tomorrow, and Shine before Terry McDowell replaces Tor on Round And Round.

We had plenty of people show up eventually, including Ernest the soul man who ended things for the jammers with his Twist version to which a confusion of who was playing drums ensured till Terry returned back on stage.  For a celebration of the legacy of Bruce Stanley, it went well.

Side Note:  Two years ago this date, I played guitar live in front of the jammers for the first time.  It was at Wrigleyville and I played Let's Worth Together.  I used Dave Bonham's guitar, he played bass and T. Ray Robertson smashed cymbals. We have come full circle.

From Kenneth John  Webb (Don't let him fool you, he can rock it on bass)

Drummers will know this. I know where 1 is. Thanks buddy