Our Own Little Woodstock Jam

Stone City Set list:

Fox On The Run
Hello Josephine
Good Time Charlie
Logic And Lies
Everybody's Talking (or Echoes)
Let's Work Together
Cinnamon Girl

(The Woodstock Cabin Jam, all set up and ready to go)

It was a long weekend musically for me.  First off Brian Briles asked me if I wanted to help him and his son Kristopher for the Alburnett gig but I had to tell him no since I was playing in Dreams Of Arcadia for a gig in Wheatland next Saturday.  That's the way it goes, I get no calls one week and then the next two or three are looking for drummers.  Hate to pass on this gig, Kristopher is getting better and better on guitar.

It was Woodstock Revisited at Marion and Canned Heat did play instead of Neil Young.  Also the Boy Scout Hippies played too. When I think about it, it would have been cool to play this gig, and while Ron did leave the door open to me to return, I do think in the long run this would out better for all parties.  For the most part, I was playing percussion with Julie and Ryan in Monticello.  Dreams Of Arcadia had returned back to The Office Lounge after six months of false starts, sickness and a closed bar.  It was a small crowd but the usual regulars and everybody had a good time.  And Joan put us down for another gig, in November.  Here's hoping we don't have to deal with ice and snow yet. In terms of BSH, I do admit I didn't look at that as much as a temporary job.  They have a capable drummer and still have Jim Myers as a backup for their New York gig.   I know if I worked with them I'd be making a somewhat good living if every gig was a 100 dollars guaranteed.  Can't beat that as a working musician.

This weekend, we had our own Woodstock Nation with the yearly Cabin Jam and this year had more jammers and first timers including Pinicon Drift, Dave Pedersen's project with Julie Troendle. Poor Julie was singing a song and managed to eat a bug and never quite recovered.  Rich Toomsen hosted and ran the sound and I was house drummer and my main counterparts was Jess Toomsen and Mark Awad on bass and Ken McHaffery on various percussion.  Dave Bonham started early, and we had a disagreement on the medley of Last Kiss/Stand By Me/This Magic Moment with Steve Black Wolf singing it.  Dave's a musician brother and been a part of this return for the past four years, he means well but sometimes he gets this ideal we have to play by the record that I keep telling him that's not possible for me, I have lived by playing songs in the way I hear them.  I think Dave had a guitar with a dead battery, one song had a lot of feedback which frustrated everybody involved.  By the time Steve played Turn The Page  it became a trainwreck and I was channeling my inner Keith Moon, not the way that Dave wanted it I guess.  He would eventually pack up and head on out.

There was supposed to be a Wooden Nickel Lottery set but Delayne had to cut out early, so that left Rocky Smith to be the other drummer and he got to sit in a few songs.  And then Donna Jo's son came up to do two songs with Meinfield and then bailed.  So I got to be the main drummer for most of the artists that wanted drums,  be it Greg and Brenda or Cathy Hart/Lorie Parker or Jay Devore and Mike Frederick, or Carl Meiners.  It's noted that these musicians are not by the record as say most of the Rumors jammers or Guitar Dave, but they do play by their standards,  it's a bit rough but I can adjust better to them rather what Dave is wanting or for that matter Billy Bourbon or Bird.  I'll do my best to figure out what they want but if I'm not feeling it, I'll go back to my style of playing.  I have lost a bit of intensity the past year and maybe over 50 might have something to do with that.  But I'm beginning to think I'm playing with a bunch of crusty old men who are set in their way in how songs go.  Certainly Turn The Page was a chaos of noise, a trainwreck on its own, but what Guitar Dave forgot to know this wasn't a paid gig, just a collective bunch of folks just having a good time.  Hopefully we didn't get too much on each other's nerves during his time on stage.

(Ken, Rich, Me, Guitar Dave)

I didn't play guitar but I did back most of the folks up outside of Rocky helping out for a half hour or so.   Highlights was backing Pinicon Drift and Dave Pedtersen finding out I actually played drums; he's only known me from playing guitar at Stone City.  It's a shame that The Drift's set was short, but Dave did particapte on a few songs and Julie sang backing vocal on one song.  Hart/Parker did three songs, then Kimberly Trevellion came up to sing three others with Cathy and Lorie.  And then Greg And Brenda Mein did a forty minute set after most of the jammers went home. Donna Jo's son played Breakdown and Take It Easy, he was nervous but I helped on the breaks of the former song.  He was kinda scared to play at first and never seem to get comfortable with it but I thought he did fine.  And then for the finale, Rich Toomsen did a few songs including Summer of 69 to which my inner Keith Moon came back to do a crazy ending to which I tried to grab the cymbal but lost control and see the cymbal stand go crashing into the ground.  I hope I didn't cracked that.  It was a throwback to the days of Tyrus/Paraphernalia  but this time out, it wasn't intentional.   The big jam ended with Crossroads, and then Ryan Paul's friend Melissa came on stage and sang four x rated comedy songs. Maki Dervo looking on with awe.  Strangely, he didn't play my drums.  I managed to tear the drums down and get them home before the big thunderstorm came rolling by.  We had rain around the area but thankfully the rains stayed away from the Cabin Jam.

(Rich Toomsen: Photo Credit)

On this jam, I brought the Paiste Cymbals upstairs which included the Signature Flat Ride, which sounded great and the Innovations 18 inch Medium Crash and Signature Mellow Crash, both sounded fine against the open air. I used the Rude 16 inch crash/ride which was used better as a ride than crash, the crash was overbearing. Most of the cymbals stayed within the sounds coming out.  I will dust them off for the Waubeek Jam in September. However, the drum legs on the bass drum continue to move and get out of alignment and the drums move out of position, which is frustrating. I don't know if the DW would be choice to go to in future gigs, I would rather get a better drumset but the Swingstar has good sound.  And I rather have players playing on it than the DW set.  Not that really matters.

Sunday afternoon, still having a hangover from the cabin jam, I helped Dreams Of Arcadia at the return to the Office Lounge in Monticello.  Unlike last time we did play.  Ryan's friend Melissa entertained folks during our breaks and I supplied playing the beats and didn't play guitar.  Julie was dealing with her own bronchitis allergy problems but she sang well despite being under the weather.  I can't recall the last time she played without some sort of sickness, usually when I'm sick I usually stay home.  Afterward, Ryan, Melissa and myself went to Stone City to finish out the acoustic jam and I managed to do six songs, tho' they were the usual songs.  Like the Cabin Jam, Melissa finished things off with a few oldies but not the X rated songs she played last night.  She was on her best behavior.  I'm not sure Melissa is anything but a good friend of Ryan but I don't see them as boyfriend girlfriend material.

Tho' I did bring my song book, I ended up just playing the songs I knew from memory, Hello Josephine being dusted off simply of the fact I remembered the words at that moment.   I do need to start thinking about doing new songs but i continue to play Fox On The Run simply of wanting to remember the chord progressions.  With Julie going home, I ended up playing Logic And Lies and Cinnamon Girl instead of Gold Dust Woman.  For a guy nursing a hangover, I managed to do quite well considering the fact.

Overall, a great end to a great weekend of jams and gigs.