0 Come On Got To Be!

My ‘pologies for not posting anything in a long long while, there’s been a bunch happening here lately.

First, the Junior Kimbrough/OGM CD release party last year was an absolute success and as time passes it seems to be achieving legendary status, and for those couple hundred of yall who were there: yes it was that hot, yes it was that fun. By the way, talking with David and Kinney Kimbrough, even they say they’d never played a hotter gig where the walls were sweating, the building moving, and folks were making babies in the parking lot.

Second, the new album was recorded in Como, MS at Jimbo Mathus’ Delta Recording Services with Kinney Kimbrough on drums. We recorded 10 songs in 1 hour and 50 minutes with 2 breaks…and all but two songs are first takes. I feel that “40 Nickels For A Bag Of Chips” is a damn good example of feeling and initial gut reaction to music. Kinney hadn’t heard ANY of the songs before we recorded them. We played Issaquena once through as a warm up and then recorded the song 2 minutes later, and that was the only song Kinney had a “preview” of. For the rest of the tunes I’d say something like “slinky groove” or “think Cottonpatch Disco” or “I was listening to Paul Wine Jones when I wrote this” and that was it. I’d start playing and he would laser beam onto the groove and just get it in there deep. It was a natural fit, and the most fun I’ve ever had playing music with someone for the first time. The man is an ABSOLUTE pro. Looking at an early summer release…say, in late May or early June. Here is a vid clip of the warm up song:

Third, I’ve got another record in the works with CW Ayon on drums and vocals. Got to say I’ve been surprised as hell at the response to my singing at the last few gigs…so dammit I’m singing a song or two on this album. We’re doing some recording near the end of July, and hoping for a fall release in October/November. Here is a sneak peak at one of the new tunes called “Back In The Day”. This is live at Sparky’s BBQ in Hatch, New Mexico and it is the first time we ever played it in public…and the third time we’d played it EVER. CW had the lyrics written on his snare! I wrote this tune in tribute to T Model Ford and we were fortunate enough to debut it in front of T Model that night! That’s Jesse Gutierrez of Blues Messiah, Jame Theory, and 8 other bands sitting in with us on bass!

And lastly, I sure appreciate yall who are coming out to the shows, and your response to the new stuff makes my day. Can’t wait to see yall again!

0 Well Well Well

Gotta say thanks to y’all for making the Junior Kimbrough birthday and our CD release party such a damn success! Between gate receipts and a headcount out in the parking lot, about 275 of y’all came to TC’s on what had to have been their biggest sweatiest night in for dang near ever. The Kimbroughs went home happy, CW Ayon went home happy, the Black Squeeze went home happy and I KNOW we did. Sure hope y’all did too. Here are some pics from the big night as well as one of our live tracks.

Issaquena Stomp

We’ll try and arrange the pics more or less chronologically for y’all:

Before the STORM!

More and more folks kept coming in:

First up we had CW Ayon come on at 8 and by the time he started most of the seats were taken. He played a killer set with some old tunes, some new ones since we’d last seen him on the Clarksdale Juke Joint fest trip, and some he played with Joe. First time I’d ever seen him play with a drummer and it KICKED ACE! You could tell he was rested and fired up to play…hell even Big Red the guy at the door bought one of CW’s shirts!

Next were the Black Squeeze, America’s only Black Keys tribute band. They came on around 9 and started out with some BK’s, a Robert Pete Williams cover, then played the Chulahoma album all the way through. Jason Roberts stood in with them for their whole set playing second guitar or bass, whichever was needed. Joel asked me to play bass with them during “Meet Me In The City” and it was all great. Folks enjoyed these fellas.

Then it was our turn. By the time we got started it was hotter than Satan’s privates the day he decided to wear wool under-roos. I mean DAMN! Joel from the Black Squeeze told me he figured he’s lost 20 pounds during their set, and I for one believe him. Just as we were about to start playing, our good friend Orange Jefferson came in…he’d just finished playing over at Victory Grill, so after a quick conference Joe decided to grab a drink while Orange and I played his tune “Hey Warden”. He had the place SILENT, it was cool as hell…and when he was done he got some hellacious applause.

All the seats were taken, most of the standing room was too, and everybody was having a good time. There were beer bottles covering every table, empty water bottles on most flat surfaces, and a pile of people out in the parking lot breathing some cooler un-sweat laced air.

(Bet y’all didn’t know we had the great James Brown sangin backups!)

Once we’d played about half our set we had Mississippi Gabe Carter come up and sing “River’s Up Y’all” with us. Then we played one of his tunes, “It’s Raining Outside”.

Don’t know what we’re all looking at, but this pic wasn’t posed!

Anyhow, we finish up and it was time for the Main Event! The Kimbroughs came on and owned the joint until 2:40! TC’s was SUPPOSED TO CLOSE AT 1!!! They played great music, told some stories about their dad, the Chulahoma Juke, and just flat entertained folks ALL NIGHT LONG!

Here are a couple vid clips of exactly what I’m talking about:

One from Friday night:

At TC’s

David Kimbrough Jr

Kent “Kinney” Kimbrough

Heather Bishop standing in near the end of the night singing with Stacy Mackey

JOE FALCO GOES TO CHURCH!

It was a great night, a legendary party and we all appreciate you!

0 Juke Joint Festival 2010

Y’all……….Y’all………….Y’all.  This festival couldn’t have gone better for us if Lawrence Welk himself had pushed the button on the bubble machine, kicked the orchestra into a fast tempo number, looked over his shoulder at us and said, “And now friends, it’s time for some Foot Stompin Magic Boogie Shit!”

It’s all thanks to beer, and that’s the truth. We went looking for a beer around 12 or 1 and found a couple places that had $8 beer and $18 hamburgers, and were full to brimming with tourists, wanna be bikers, and other folks who could afford a $26 lunch minus tip. Well, we were playing the festival for less money than we spent on gas, so we went to the other side of the tracks where the BBQ grills were lining the street and there wasn’t but one live music tent out front of the New Roxy.

Well, we found the coldest beer in The Fine State of Mississippi, right next to one of the best hamburgers and catfish sandwiches we’d ever eaten, cooked by some of the nicest folks it’s been my pleasure to meet in a long assed while. We’d found Club 2000 on Issaquena Ave. Since we were the only people in the whole place, we spent an hour or so talking and come to find out T Model Ford was playing that night at 9. One thing leads to another and as we head for the door I ask if we could have a shot opening for T Model.  ”Why not?” They says.

Well we’re energized now! I immediately start pimping CW Ayon (who traveled with us to Clarksdale in hopes of finding a gig) and they say, bring him. So I go fetch him, get him introduced around and he starts playing out front while we go get ready to play our “official” Juke Joint Festival gig at the Train Depot. A couple hours later, we get back to Club 2000 and CW has the place JUMPING! Even the little kids are getting down!

Once he gets finished, we set up and start playing. In 3-4 songs we have cleared the place out…everybody trickled out and was GONE! I was thinking, “OK, when we get out of here…I’m going by that pawn shop and selling my gear” Later Joe told me the same thing. THEN a MIRACLE happened. We were playing “River’s Up”…folks started trickling back in…a couple guys started doing that slow motion juke joint dancing strut. Next thing you know a guy walks in and asks “Uh….hey…uh…I play some harp, can I sit in with y’all”

“Hell yeah man, there’s the mic”

That was Pat “Rockadaddy” Murphy. Later we heard that he hadn’t done anything like that in 20 years. He told me he’d been sitting in the vacant lot across the street watching his grandkids, heard our music and had to check us out. Well, we improvised tunes for him for the next 3 hours or so…the place was jam packed with locals GETTING DOWN. We had folks dancing, trying to steal our tip money, laughing, grabbin for my spare guitar, smoking, dancing, pointing their voodoo stink fingers at us…I don’t even know what all was happening, except folks were enjoying themselves.

Then somebody must have told the city because the next thing we know everybody is getting run out of that place for not having the $10 wristbands…so we quit playing and start using our tip money to buy wristbands for them. Don’t remember how many we bought but we got some of those folks back in, including Pat. So we get back to playing and the next thing you see is a line of tourists in wristbands coming in. So we filled Club 2000 TWICE…first time with locals, second time with tourists. Pat finally has had enough, we get him a beer and he goes outside to enjoy some well deserved cool unsweaty air. CW Ayon sits in with us and sings two RL Burnside tunes with us that KILLED!

At that point DJ Undertaker…the guy who booked us to play that night walks up and says, “mlkjasdhaiuwieufjef….plays harp” It was so loud in there I couldn’t hear what he’d said so i just said, “He wants to play with us?”

“Yeah.”

“Hell yeah, there’s the mic”

That guy was Watermelon Slim. He came up, was getting settled with the mic and chair, while I kicked off a slow eerie jam. Joe came in, then Slim and we got everyone but folks walking in to be SILENT. It was the coolest tune I’ve ever been a part of. About 2/3 through the song T Model Ford walks in, so it was our last tune of the night. We had the place FULL, but when T Model started playing (through my amps, sitting in my chair, singing through CW’s mic and PA…with Stud playing Joe’s drums) he got enough folks in there that there was NO place for us to stand except the sound booth…or out on the street.

After an hour and half or so Stud (T Model’s 13 year old grandson) got tired and Joe played drums for him the rest of the night. Later on Joe started getting tired so he figured he’d play louder and faster to wear T Model out…well…didn’t have any effect other than it woke him up! We didn’t get out of there until after 2:30. We are invited back for next year and CAN’T WAIT!!!!