The idea is to have fun while doing this music stuff, or really, while doing anything, right?

Thursdays at the Vintage Wine Bar have been like that recently for this band (the JDB) as well as the other ensembles who are consistantly playing there. Dave, Torri, Jeff and I had a real blast playing this past week, but no matter who's taking the lead or hosting the gig, I just like the laid back energy of the room, the look of the place, the owners, the food, everything.

Peary Wood of Blind P Willy kind of sets the tone with his great big wonderful Texas personality. There's a guy who knows how to have fun and enjoy people. He makes everyone around him feel good and that healing quality to music is what it's all about.

Here's thoughts and prayers for our brother Bill Webster who had surgery on Thursday. God's speed to his quick recovery.

I also recently heard that the Klub Klondike sold. That would end an era for Leon Womack, who has been a great friend and supporter for our band. I'm told music will go on at the Klondike. I sure hope so, but I'm also thankful we were able to experience the Leon and Lynn era at the Klondike.

Cheers,

Jim 

(DEC. 16, 2007) -- That's the name of a great Lucinda Williams tune. It's also the way my own fingers have been feeling lately.

The last four days have been quite a ride, musically. On Wednesday we rehearsed; on Thursday, most of the band played at Vintage Wine Bar in downtown Redding with Blind P Willie; on Friday, the band performed at the Remax Realty customer appreciation party at the Cascade Theatre. Saturday, we played about eight hours of music between two great house parties -- Bill Webster's and Jon Lewis'.

All those performances included multi-instrumentalist/songwriter Jeff Coleman. Jeff brings a lot to any band he peforms with, creating great musical space and contributing a unique rhythmical foundation with his banjo/mandolin/dobro. Jeff has an open invitation with the band, although he stays busy with his own musical projects -- the Sons of Jefferson, and the Hummingbirds.

It was great to see many of you this weekend. We're looking forward to a New Year's Eve gig at Klub Klondike in Lakehead.

(AUG. 19, 2007) -- It was great to get back to Lakehead's one and only Klub Klondike, easily my favorite place to play music. It's worth it just to get up and see the all-around beautiful human that is Leon Womack, owner and proprietor of the Klondike and a great musician, cook and host. As always, Leon gave us a lesson in singing with great versions of "Sing Me Back Home" and "Kansas City." People were telling me after the show, "You need to pay attention to how he does it and learn." Actually I'm thinking maybe Leon should just take the reins of The JDB!

Anyway, we're so thankful to get invited back to the Klondike, and we're looking at a pre-Halloween gig at the great roadhouse right off I-5. 

The show was also our first with our good pal Bill Webster on guitar. Bill's a stellar player and we're looking forward to many more gigs with him. It's been a real honor to have played with pickers like Bill, Shawn Tillman and Mike Lawson.

Dave, our friend Lou and I stayed up a little late (OK, we saw the sun rise) with our Lakehead friends Kurt and Shannon, but we still managed to make it to Saturday's area Democratic fundraiser with California Lt. Gov. John Garamendi (the next governor of California?).

Dave, Bill and I played an acoustic set for the gathering of some 80 folks at Mark Cibula's ranch house out in Ono. We were inspired by Garamendi's speech. He nailed it on all the important issues we're facing in this state and country -- univeral health care, getting off the dependency on foreign energy, and improving our educational system.

After his speech, we gave him a good dose of "False Pretenses." 

Couple people to thank: Rob and Kim Haswell for coming up from Auburn to see both gigs (and setting up the Garamendi gig), Dave from Leon's band for doing our sound Friday night, and everyone who came up on Friday to dance and listen.

We'll see you at the next show. 

 

(JULY 2, 2007) -- Booker T. Jones and Leon Russell -- these guys are legends and true "Masters of Space and Time."

I caught this great show Saturday night at Win-River Casino in south Redding. Booker T's set inspired me in terms of the deep grooves and rhymthic foundation laid down. When you've got that kind of groove going, there's not much more you have to achieve, it just feels good to the musicians and the entire audience. This crowd ate it up.

It was a great honor to meet Booker T and his band after the show. I tried to express the love everyone in the audience was feeling for them. His new bass player was inquiring about a certain chord progression on "Born Under a Bad Sign." I'm thinking: "I'm in the same room as the guy who wrote 'Born Under a Bad Sign.'" Pretty good place to land Saturday night.

As for Leon's set, it seemed to contain a more Louisiana shuffle party tone. He didn't play "Tightrope," but we got to hear his stamp on some classic rock material, such as "Wild Horses" and "Jumpin' Jack Flash." That Leon Russell voice and THAT FACE, just kills me. The guy played on George Harrison's Concert for Bangladesh. If you don't know his history, try checking out his bio on allmusic.com. He's done it all and played with EVERYONE.

Spent the late part of Saturday at the new Bombay's in Redding checking out the apparently final show by the Redding punk band The Fatals and a pretty impressive Berkeley guitar-drum duo (forget their name, but they brought the energy.) I really hope The Fatals don't actually call it quits, beacuse Steve Hobbs really has a songwriting spark, and this is just a great local band.

Today I found myself thinking I should cover one of their songs. There are a few other local artists who I may take a stab at covering.

Peace to you,
Jim 

Catching a breath

(JULY 14, 2007) -- Doing a band (or at least trying to do one the right way) is a full-time job. I already have one of those, and so do most of the people playing in our little band.

So following a couple of gigs last weekend in which we expended a lot of energy trying to get things right, it's been kind of nice to step back, go for a bike ride, play some softball, relax, etc.

A couple days away from it and I'm primed to go again. We have no gigs on the schedule, but that's actually fine for a bit.

We're undergoing a change with the sublime Shawn Tillman departing for a new job in Chico. Shawn will still play with us when time allows, but for now, he's got too many items on his plate to commit to rehearsals and gigs. He's still living in Redding, and tonight we jammed a bit acoustically and had a great time.

I can say, unequivocally, that playing music with Shawn has been a great honor and pleasure in my life. He's a true renaissance man who excels at everything he does. He has amazing heart and soul, and I love him dearly. Redding's loss is a massive gain for our sister city down the road. I'm sure we'll be making a lot more trips to Chico to visit him and Steph.

In the meantime, another great pal and super guitarist Bill Webster will be covering Shawn's spot. Bill and I have actually played together quite a lot -- I've sat in with his combo Blind P Willie (with Perry Wood), and we performed together down in Truckee at the Squeeze Inn (then did a great bicycle road ride the next day around the north Lake Tahoe area).

Anyway, Bill's a ripping player. I look forward to more musical time with him.

Reflecting back on the past weekend, it was really a ball to introduce vocalist Torri Pratt to north state audiences. Torri will be doing a lot more singing with us, and we've got a fresh new batch of tunes to work on with her. Also, our sax man, Good Rockin' Derral Campbell, is recovering quickly from hip surgery and soundin' great on his horn.

So, a little break. Bill's going to Spain for 10 days starting next week. I'm flying to Colorado next week to spend some time with my family.

Look for us to be back in front of folks with our music in August. A special thanks to those who came out to our recent shows. And thanks for the messages posted in our Guestbook. You guys are the best!