And then there were three.
Second workweek gig in a row last night. Uncle Jeb's Twangfest at Peri's Silver Dollar in Fairfax. Even though this is basically just a jam night for pros, I really really like gigs back to back. You definitely do not have to go looking for your shit, it's generally right there from note one.
Eric Schramm (SuperDiamond) Tal Morris (CCR, HLN), Freeway Frank Bohan and Lloyd Meadows (Zydeco Flames), Ted O'Connell (Bonnie Hayes Band), The Jebster (Bon Tempe, Call Me Bwana), guitarist/producer Danny Uzilevski, bassist Steve Winters, whom I only recently met and who played his frickin' ASS off, and Jimmy Dillon, who sounded great, but seemingly spent as much time attempting to tune his shiny steel acoustic guitar and plugging his music camp as he did playing. Do you you teach tuning at camp, Jimmy? :)
Sadly, last night may have been Jeb's final Twangfest. There was an ugly outburst of Led Zepplin in the first set that seems to have been last straw on the old camel's back. Seems Jeb hates Zep. Never liked it back in the day even. More of a Sons of Champlin guy. Anyways, we might have been pushing it with "The Ocean", "Communication Breakdown", and "Good Times/ Bad Times" back to back to back. Fun as hell and sounded great, I thought, and the customers seemed to dig it, if jumping up and down and screaming and clapping their hands are any indication of that. Forgot to mention DAVE VINCENT of Black Dog singing his balls off as Robert Plant.
Of course the Led Zep is not Jeb's only issue with what the Twangfest has become. It truly is time for a change, and there are some very cool ideas floating around. We've been playing with Mario Cippolina on bass and Jeb on Guitar on some gigs lately, and as sweet and funky as Jeb is on bass, he is a ridiculous guitar player.
So if the every other Wednesday giant tractor/guitar/pud pull that is the Twangfest is going to continue we're going to have to rebrand. I'm going to miss pounding down the old pockets with Jeb on Wednesdays, not to mention the surprise guitar/drum sections that occur during his nightly "I stepped on my cord and now I can't find it" arrangement improvs, but what're you gonna do? The dogs bark, and the caravan moves on. BTW, that never seems to happen when Jeb plays guitar. I wonder why that is.
The other notable thing about last night (besides the pretty girls, the scintillating conversation and the free drinks I mean - Thank you Fred) was that virtually all of the guitar playing was done though those hot new BassBoy amps, which are hand-made by Ted and his partner at their company, TubeStake. Anyway, they all sounded awesome, and there were several complaints (not all from me) about the volume. That seemed to please Ted. I think there's something wrong with him.
I have editing to do, but it's a nice day. Hmm...
Laters,
db
