Thoughts From The Townedger-Sept Edition

 End Of The Month already.  The Harvest Moon is shining.

The passing of Gregdon Cole does hit hard, tho he had cancer the past three years,   I will miss his charm and approach to the music and his puppet acts.  Children did get a kick out of his puppets.  

The Blues Jam last Saturday was interesting for how everybody came together.  Kimberly might have a big falling out with Dave Bonham earlier in the year but he did pop in on stage to back her up on bass.  That's him on bass, Freddy Jones plays harmonica.  MJ is playing guitar.  Kimberly is singing.

DJ, Me, Dakota, Julie 

Love is complicated.  Through my adventures of the past five years back playing on the music scene, finding love was not on my list of things to do.  My breakup in 2012, made me not even wanting to try again.   I had a couple of women that I chatted with at jams but they didn't make me feel that I should ask them out.  Especially one woman who I chatted with who got angry when I told her about the Rumor's jam and she mentioned that the bartender woman stole her husband.  The above photo is Julie and Donna Jo singing Dreams.  Dakota McWhortor was playing the main riff. I was doing my best trying to make the best of a shitty amp and broken guitar plugs. 

If anybody has been playing attention, you would have read the up and downs and feelings that I had during this time of being a part of Julie's life.  It's really a nice love story that starts out that she lost her bestie just about five years ago, and I played the benefit but never got around to express my sympathy. I think five months later, she somehow invited herself to an empty chair at my table and we exchanged hellos.   I managed to catch her Mad Dog shows and AcousticKitties at that time.  I remember after a Mad Dogs gig that I was in her way as she was packing her things and she asked why I haven't ask her for a date.  Caught me off guard.   Told her I would think about it.  So on Memorial Day 2017, she asked me out.    And that became a new chapter in my life.   I continued to stumble around and wonder and wander about.  On Dec 2, of 2017 she walked me to my car singing Walking After Midnight.  I think I was floating on air on the way home.

I don't remember much of her in the first couple months of coming back to play.  Kyle Oyloe and I were FB friends and were friendly to one another in the two jams that he was there, but Julie and I didn't associate, outside of maybe a hello.    But nobody could predict that five years later on, I would finally win her heart, despite my mistake of not using her at the Stone City open mic earlier in the month.  In the time that I have known her, she was my favorite singer.  It still remains a mystery of what she saw in me that made her want to be a part of my life.  There were times that I thought that we were over n done with and I always said if it wasn't meant to be, she's free to find another.  Julie never did look at anybody else even when we were apart;  life happened and dealt her a bad hand but she kept moving forward, kept going after her musical dream and devoting her time to her furbabies.   And wasn't about to lose me to anybody else.    She remains my fave singer, she can do better,  but for me there's nobody else that comes close to her.

The big shame of the Blues jam was that Joe Hutchcroft wasn't used that much outside of providing drums.  Looking back, he should have played on a couple of Blues Rox numbers, he should have helped Dave and Julie and MJ and Kimberly.    He was supposed to back me up on my numbers but Eli Snow decided to play drums instead.   I do believe Eli provided a great beat to Mannish Boy.

I still love the sound of K Zildjian cymbals but my latest gigs with Blues Rox, I was using The Paiste Signature and Innovations cymbals.  They really do sound great in live settings.  Joe's cymbal lineup are Paiste, 2 2002 cymbals, a 505 Ride and a 404 Crash.  I had a 404 Paiste back in 1980 but got rid of that for a song.  I wouldn't turn out an cymbal endorsement from Zildjian or Paiste.  But I think I take the Paiste cymbals with me since the host K's are upstairs and still on the DW set.  To which i have no intention of taking out playing live anytime soon.  I may sell it in exchange for a Yamaha set but would keep the DW hardware.

I still don't know if Russ will be a part of Blues Rox, tho it was clear that having a bass player really helped the sound at the Blues Jam.  Either way, I still remain to be a part of Blues Rox for a while. 

We love Donna Jo but I can really do without her calling me her brother when she is three sheets to the wind.

Having wrist cramps during the Blues Crabb segment really sucked.  I suppose in hindsight I should have drank more water as Julie told me too.  Someday I will learn to listen to her more.

Julie and me still need to work on getting together a decent play list if we are going to venture out on our own (as Acousta Crabbies, It's Complicated, or Jules and the Crabb).  While I consider Mannish Boy to be a one off on the blues, I still have my originals and my favorite songs to do.  The consideration factor of coming to a happy medium remains to be seen.  While I can back up anybody that comes along, it is decided that if Julie is there, she will be the one that I play along with.  And basically who can sing Gold Dust Woman better than her (outside of Stevie Nicks). 

As you can tell, most of these pictures are from the Sanctuary Blues Jam last Saturday.  MJ, Diana Conwell-Koening, Julie Gordon, Donna Jo and James Jacobmeyer took these photos. 

Until next time.  If you can't be  with the one you love honey, love the one you're with.