I sang "Never Gonna Go Easy" for Wednesday's Midnite Open Mic Jam at the Depot Brewery. Although at the time I didn't know about the coincidence, I wrote the song a few years ago on the same night a friend was fundraising for his legal defense against accusations of herbal disobedience. The words and melody came in like a radio wave ~~ THAT part WAS easy!
None of the other musicians had heard this song nor played it, but they made it sound great: Tim Carey grooved bass line, Jon Estrin embellished with lead guitar, James Moore kept rhythm on kit while Bob Bernards gave a beautiful hand rhythm on a djembe. I added flute between verses.
Afterwards, long, energetic jams with Tim and Jon as Dan Gorman sat kit, James moved to conga, Tony sat keyboard, Paul Squillo joined on trumpet, and newcomer Lava Lava added his saxophone to the mix.
Super energy, awesome sound, so three hours later I'm easing off the high. Whew!
Showing posts with label djembe. Show all posts
Showing posts with label djembe. Show all posts
Thursday, May 4
Sunday, August 16
Metamorphosis
Metamorphosis is the band's latest phase.
We had a great time playing at the mid-July birthday party.
Russ hosted the party in his recently renovated party room and played bass all night long. Ark-Hal Karns played his drum kit, which was perfect since we didn't yet have a kit drummer. Mike played guitar all night, too. I sang a few songs and other singers filled out a great party.
Two days later, bassist Russ England resigned from the band. Three weeks after that, guitarist Mike Scanlon resigned. Russ was my first band member and we made music together for 6 years. Mike was with us for 4 years, and we three were the core of Burnt Sugar Blues.
What a shock. I sincerely wish for everyone to do exactly what fills them with joy, and that's where Russ and Mike say they are going. Burnt Sugar Blues was close-but-not-quite, and life is too precious to put one's time into close-but-not-quite.
I hope they both find joy and fulfillment in their new endeavors.
Russ hosted the party in his recently renovated party room and played bass all night long. Ark-Hal Karns played his drum kit, which was perfect since we didn't yet have a kit drummer. Mike played guitar all night, too. I sang a few songs and other singers filled out a great party.
Two days later, bassist Russ England resigned from the band. Three weeks after that, guitarist Mike Scanlon resigned. Russ was my first band member and we made music together for 6 years. Mike was with us for 4 years, and we three were the core of Burnt Sugar Blues.
What a shock. I sincerely wish for everyone to do exactly what fills them with joy, and that's where Russ and Mike say they are going. Burnt Sugar Blues was close-but-not-quite, and life is too precious to put one's time into close-but-not-quite.
I hope they both find joy and fulfillment in their new endeavors.
So . . . we have a crisis. No drummer, no bassist, no lead guitar, no practice space for ourselves nor to check out new players.
What we got is HEART. Plus multi-instrumentalist Steve Jeffries, djembe player Josy Welty, sound tech Jesse James, and singer/tambourinist me. My philosophy of life says that crisis is an opportunity ~~ the deeper the crisis, the bigger the opportunity. In that case, this has the makings of a phenomenal breakthrough.
Some very talented musicians are interested to see what the band is about ~~ potentials include 3 kit drummers, 2 bassists, 2 lead guitarists, and a rhythm guitarist. What we need at this moment is a practice space to pull all this together.
I checked out a room in a barn yesterday. If we get a crew together to clear out the accumulations, we'll have a place to practice temporarily. With enough hands, it will take less than two hours. This is progress, and I feel eager to assemble our new players and the sounds they bring with them. I sense a whole new evolution for Burnt Sugar Blues.
What we got is HEART. Plus multi-instrumentalist Steve Jeffries, djembe player Josy Welty, sound tech Jesse James, and singer/tambourinist me. My philosophy of life says that crisis is an opportunity ~~ the deeper the crisis, the bigger the opportunity. In that case, this has the makings of a phenomenal breakthrough.
Some very talented musicians are interested to see what the band is about ~~ potentials include 3 kit drummers, 2 bassists, 2 lead guitarists, and a rhythm guitarist. What we need at this moment is a practice space to pull all this together.
I checked out a room in a barn yesterday. If we get a crew together to clear out the accumulations, we'll have a place to practice temporarily. With enough hands, it will take less than two hours. This is progress, and I feel eager to assemble our new players and the sounds they bring with them. I sense a whole new evolution for Burnt Sugar Blues.
Friday, September 13
Foliba wows the crowd
Energetic and tight as a drum (ha), Foliba wowed the crowd last night with the rhythm Marakadon, also called Maraka:
From left to right, the drummers are Dave Winningham, Dan Craig, Bob Miller, and JoLynn Gates. These rhythms are infectious and inspiring ~~ I love soaking them into my bones to get the knick and knack of what to do during band sessions when I'm banging on the djembe.
Drum circle is a week from Saturday!
The video was captured by Burt Chojnowski (YouTube handle = coolburt) at Wednesday's Open Mic at Cafe Paradiso in Fairfield, Iowa.
From left to right, the drummers are Dave Winningham, Dan Craig, Bob Miller, and JoLynn Gates. These rhythms are infectious and inspiring ~~ I love soaking them into my bones to get the knick and knack of what to do during band sessions when I'm banging on the djembe.
Drum circle is a week from Saturday!
The video was captured by Burt Chojnowski (YouTube handle = coolburt) at Wednesday's Open Mic at Cafe Paradiso in Fairfield, Iowa.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)