Four Years Of Jams-A Hobbyist Gigging Along

Parlor City Blues Jam

Kris Briles-Lead Vocal and Guitar
Tristian Gray-Guitar
Jeff Craft-Keyboards
Dan Johnson-Bass
R.Smith-Drums

Tore Up
Whole Lot Of Shaking Going On
How Blue Can You Get.

Tom Giblin, Ryan Phelan, Jon Wilson: Hosts
Kraig Spratt-Spectator
Kimberly Trevillion-Vocals
Sir Bob Miller-In for me on drums
Chuck Savage-Guitar
Gibby-keyboards
Phil Bo King-Bass
Nick Lnencika -Harmonica

Is the Wildcat coming back to play at more jams?  Seems that way, tho' he didn't play tonight.  I did three songs and then let Bob come in to take over on drums.  I don't look at the quantity of songs or how few I do, I look at the quality of them.  Kris is getting much better on guitar and he did rock out on Whole Lot Of Shaking Going On.  There was a youngster on guitar as well, but I didn't catch his name.  This basically concludes my Parlor City jam for at least a week.  If we're not busy at work with ACT then perhaps I'll show up again.    D.J. did mentioned that the Wildcat plays too loud in the blues settings. But  I expect the Wildcat  to play Rumors tomorrow night.

I did pass up a chance to jam with Chuck and Phil Bo, but I thought Bob would be just as good on the beats.  FLEX played across the street outside the Chrome Horse.  They were quite loud, I could hear them from the walking trail in Sinclair Park.

Alas, I didn't get to jam with Ryan Phelan tho.
George Hanna and Miles Demarso were not there.

With that, today marks the forth anniversary of me returning to the jams and music circuit.   I think I have gotten better with each passing year and finally setting into a style that compliments both me and the musicians playing on stage alongside me.  I no longer have to pound electric drums to which nuts and bolts go flying and can set my playing alongside bass players, and I have a great collection of bass players that I am proud to share the stage with.   In the beginning, Dan Hartman, Dave Bonham, T Ray Robertson and a female keyboard singer were the original jammers in my debut at Wrigleyville in Marion on that hot Thursday night.  The odd thing about this, is that four years onward, most of the jammers I started with are still around, tho' health problems have kept T Ray out of the public view.  Tonight was the exception of playing alongside youngsters but most of the jammers are my age or older.  And most have been playing for 40 years, 50 years and in Al Hendricks case 60 years, he's been doing this even before I was born.

It's fun to document the gigs, songlist and my feelings at the time.  in 2016, I sat in on four songs with Julie And The Mad Dogs, became friends with Mike Serbousek and the occasional date with Julie.  The next year found me at Whittier and debuting Logic And Lies the song.  And then last year playing percussion for Julie and Ryan in Dreams Of Arcadia at the Buchanan Winery.  And tonight, the Parlor City jam with a couple of future musicians.  Like my birthday, the return from retirement has been another trip around the sun, but in July rather than January and my birthday.  It's the halfway point to another year older.  The guitar acoustic gigs are different than the rock and roll and blues drum jams.

I got it wrong back in the past.  Back in the 1980's I had this wild idea of playing original songs and not cover bands.  Oh, I could play covers but it wasn't what I wanted to do and I kinda broke off with the guys in Paraphernalia band.  I had visions of being Keith Moon and was as wild and undisciplined as they come.  Problem was, I didn't had my original songs ideals down pat.  Had good intentions but I put them ahead of the band I was in.  When that band called it a day, I simply returned to the basement to make the usual yearly album or two or three.  Greg Nutter did keep me going, tho it was brief.  I got lazy and by not interacting with other musicians  I either slowed down or speed up.  By 1993 when I did my last blues jam, I didn't touched my drums for a half year and it sounded like that.

I had a couple years to which I did some jamming, in 2006  Russ invited me to jam with John Field and despite not connecting with Russ since 1991, we actually knew each other well enough to make it an enjoyable affair.  A couple years later we tried again as the I/O project and in my usual fashion called it a day after three weeks.   Except for a 2015 pairing at Wrigleyville, Russ and I haven't played together. Sometimes I blame myself to disavowing the band but at this juncture of life, I think Russ is more happier just to hit the golf links than going over Rocky Mountain Way at Rumors.   In August 2015 DeWayne Schminkey joined me on stage at Wrigleyville and a couple times at Rumors, and again, I wished I could have supported DeWayne's efforts or at least help him more when he did sing and play.  At this point, he's more content to be a grandfather.  In 2015 there was hope of a reunion of the band but as time has gone on, the reality of Paraphernalia playing together again is remote.  But in the process I have managed to form a couple bands and sat in on a couple others to continue my music quest tho' The Townedgers have been put back on the back burner.  I don't see the need to do a new album and new songs since CD sales I can count on one hand.  Something will eventually come out.  I just don't know when.

But I did start a band with Tim Wiley, which led to The Egads, which lead to Dreams Of Arcadia and sitting in with The Boy Scout Hippies, Blue Scratch and  Notes From The Underground.   Filling in for somebody works better for me,  While The Wiley Kats didn't pan out, it wasn't that Tim was a bad guitar player, but it got over his head and he wasn't cut out to be a leader.  The Egads would have worked better, but Larry Axelman had a family and a job that came first.   While I had fun playing in the BSH, I felt that I didn't belong into a band, I looked at that as simply a temporary thing and told everybody up front about it.  If I didn't have a paying job, The BSH was the band with the best potential. Tho' the head Boy Scout Master seems to cut his own throat when bar venues don't hire him back.  Ron did keep his word and pay me accordingly.

Unlike Dan Johnson or Terry McDowell or Julie for that matter, I am not going to stake my life, quitting a regular job just to play one night gigs tho it would be tempting to back Dan up with Daddy O McMurrin on a Parlor City Thursday Night.  I enjoy getting paid for playing but it's never been enough to quit my job, unless somebody was offering health insurance. Dan and Terry can play songs in their sleep and they're expert in the music that they play.  I look at this as a hobby and drum practice to interact with others.   And it's a euphoric feeling when people compliment you on the songs that you play and how you drum.  The reason I have continued to play four years on.  And perhaps next year at this point, we'll be doing it all over again as long as it's fun.

It's pointless to mention, all who have been there to help me get better, I've been praising them last year and the year before.  With the exception of Glen Gardner departing for Arizona, most of the cast and characters are still around.    They're still playing Rumors, Ramsey's, Artisan Sanctuary, Stone City General Store, F B Company; Waubeek, and Whittier.  I'm certain that there'll be jams to go on the weeknight and weekends.  If one jam goes by the wayside, like it did at Wrigleyville or Giligan's or The Long Brach, one will open up, and I'll be finding ones to sing and play at.   I hold out hope for a Paraphernalia reunion, I hope to have Mike Swearingen sing one song on stage in the future.   As long as I'm alive and having fun with this, the music will continue.

God bless each and every one that I got to share the stage with.