Artisan Jam

Songs
All Along The Watchtower

Summertime Blues

Help Me

Rock Me Baby/

Big Boss Man/

Smokestack Lightning 

Cinnamon Girl

For What It's Worth

With:

Dave Bonham-Lead Guitar

Pat Ticklenberg-Harmonica, Drums, Keyboard 

D. Harris-Bass 

Virginia Harlow-Guitar

Freddy Jones-Harmonica

Mike Rolen-Bass 

Michael McMeins-Drums

An jam of learn as you go I guess.  Some fun songs, nothing of the ordinary. 

This was supposed to be date night with Julie, but then she mentioned she wasn't feeling all that great, so we did a movie and she made Chinese.   Dave didn't know about the Artisan Jam till I told him and so he went up there before I did.   I did six songs with various members of the Artisan band, and I don't know who the bass player was. Drums were split up between Pat and Dave.  Lee Kohl came up after and then I had to follow Dave home since his PT cruiser wasn't exactly running well.  But he didn't need me anyway. He made it home okay.

Haven't seem much of Kimberly lately at the jams. Haven't seen much of her since The Homestead gig, where I sat in and played drums.  The 2021 Blues finals at Des Moines was announced and she didn't make the cut.  On another note, Country Biscuits are made up for former No Limit Band members it seems.   No word if Checker's is doing the Thursday jams this month.   Nobody has said anything about that.

The Four Day Creep gang: Ian, Amanda, Jon, Rick, Troy

Sunday, was Blues Rox hosting the Patio Jam from Norway, and Kris had a couple of his friends come up and play guitar.  Not a actual gig but just having fun with the future rock stars of tomorrow.  Then caught Four Day Creep and Flex play the Under The Covers thingy at Chrome Horse.   I didn't make it to the Rumors jam since I got back into town late, Herm bought his own drums since Terry was using his for the Chrome Horse gig.  

Technical BS:  Cymbals used for the Patio Jam

17 inch A Crash

17 inch K Dark Crash

20 inch Sizzle Ride

For high hats, I used the 14 inch K Dark Crash as top to the bottom of the quick beat hat and it has a more trashy sound to it  I may continue to have this combination going for the next gig. I was asked why I didn't have the 24 inch ride.  Basically it's upstairs being used for the other drum set.  I am certain it will be back in the lineup shortly.  I don't have a cymbal storage case big enough to cover it. 

I was telling Russ that 40 years ago when we played I was basher on drums and all of the sudden my way of playing has changed in the past two years, going from the all over the place drummer, to a more economical sort of playing.  I was watching Terry McDowell with his playing for FLEX and how he attacks them in a more driving way.  Perfect for grunge and modern 90s rock.  I simply cannot play that way without getting a heart attack.  Troy is just as animated, and he is great on the cymbal accents.  I enjoy watching them do their work.  I know in 2015, I was still in bash mode but upon interacting with other musicians and taking their cue (slow down, slow down, lay off the fancy paddlediddles) I have become a more accessible sort of drummer.   I do not understand my ways and means of bashing the fuck out of the drums but rather consider that to be taking my anger out on the poor drums of yesterday. The poor cymbals never stood a fighting chance and even the good one that Scott Waters gave me finally got destroyed a few years after having it. I've never cracked a cymbal by bashing it hard but rather not catching it when the cymbal stand tumbled down. The K Medium Thin rubbed against the impulse and shaved a small bit off, and the K 17 Dark Crash got a nice sizable dent from not catching that one in Norway last year.    In my younger and brutal youth, I made attempts to destroy drum sticks and even Graphite sticks got shattered.  I did dent a 10 inch splash from a Graphite stick but didn't crack it.  

Given that, Terry n Troy are the two quintessential hard rock drummers still around.  I find it strange that i'm 10 years older than both of them.  Jon Wilson is also damn good at he does.  And I have learned a lot from these guys and try to incorporate them into how I play which seems to be better for me now, than back of the days of the basher years.  Back in the days that baseball bats were part of the drum set and a lot of the 80s and 90s recordings cymbals were tortured and bashed for the sake of art and nose.  The version of The End from 2013 showed more restraint playing tho it still sounded like the cymbals were being mutilated.   Which wasn't the case, the 20 inch Paiste Thin Crash didn't have the big glancing blows of the forgotten 1976 version.  You'll never hear that one, but suability and a lighter touch still made it sound very rude.