It's that time again. Merry Christmas from our best pals..
10/22/11
There are a couple of new items in the "store" (ironic quotation marks intended). The Official Crows Mugs and Hats! Let me say that again - The Official Crows Mugs and Hats! Go! Spend!
10/21/11
Some time off from touring with Poco to work on - - recording with Poco. Rusty was in Music City recently for a round of overdubbing and furthering the "All Fired Up" CD project down the road a bit. He'll be back in a few more weeks to continue the process..
Allergic bronchitis is my current unwelcome in-dweller. Cough notwithstanding, this is the most beautiful time of year. Always emotionally rich for me..
In other news: There's a brand new release from my dear friend and co-writer, Craig Bickhardt.
Great band, great songs..
Listen for yourself & purchase
craigbickhardt.com
9/19/11
The year is 1967. 5 scruffy lads from Thief River Falls, MN hook up with a booking agency in Winnepeg, Canada. The roster includes The Guess Who and several other talented regional bands. We need a recording so that we can define ourselves and try to get a little traction in our career. We drove down to Rochester, MN (I don't remember why, it's a gajillion miles from Thief River Falls) to record 2 songs (the flip side was "Ain't Too Proud To Beg").
This is one of my earliest songwriting attempts. ("How can I hold on to a dry stone in the rain?") Drenched in half-baked poetry, yet played with youthful zeal..
The Backstreet Journal were and are
a great bunch of guys. Al, Larry, Chuck, Marv, Steve.. We explored the world together. We still get together to play music. And it's still a lot of fun.
The Crows are playing the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion this Saturday, Sept. 17th! Home turf for Lucky Feather and Heckyll the Crow Boy. Long lost dobro-ist, Vel-Crow came all the way from Lincoln, NE to be with us! Cawww! Our set will be Saturday, 1PM at the CJ & Company stage. Y'all come!
8/15/11
The Crows Re-unite! After a 20 year hiatus, (beak-lifts, nest renovations, feather waxing) Nashville psuedo-folk uber group, The Crows are back.
Join us for a big ol' hoot at Owl's Hill Nature Sanctuary, Saturday, August 27th. Click this link for info.
Also on the bill - good friend and awesome singer/songwriter, Michael Kelsh.
Cawww! Hooooot! CAWHOOOT!
Going into the studio with Poco on Friday to continue work on a new CD project. This is a special session sponsored by MPI. Should be a blast. I also wanted to post this rare and exciting photo of my 80s hair.. This is a frame from the Michael Johnson video "That's That". I was fortunate to be a part of Michael's band. He's a true artist. His back-up band from the mid-80s was, in fact, the band that became Great Plains - and I like to think that this hair-do was in part responsible (for what, I don't know).
6/14/11
Sending this out to my father, Omar.
I love you dad.
6/1/11
Well my house is all abuzz with news of the release of Jack Sundrud's new solo EP, "Cage"!
I've been working on this thing for several months and boy, are my ears tired.. I have a small number of copies available now and I'll have a larger inventory later in the summer. CLICK THE 'STORE' LINK to hear samples and to order.
Also, work on Poco's new CD continues, with Poconuts gathering to participate in the sessions later in June. It's going to be a busy and exciting month for the band.
4/21/11
I recently had the opportunity to produce Chris Ross (many thanks to Chris and my friend Eric Hartman for including me) for his new CD, "The Steady Stumble" - and to work alongside the ever awesome Ben Strano at his studio here in Nashville.
Chris is joined on this disc by Tammy Rogers of the Steeldrivers, guitarist Pat Buchanan and drummer/percussionist Lee Holland.
Chris is an amazingly talented singer/songwriter from Maine. You'll be hearing a lot more of him in the future..
Currently available on iTunes and very soon elsewhere.
CHECK IT OUT - CLICK HERE TO LISTEN.
3/19/11
I'm a proud alumnus and current re-member of the Crows! Back in the late 80s and early 90s Keith Miles (Heckyl-the Crow Boy), Sue Braswell (Lucky Feather) and Moi (Jekyll) burst upon the unsuspecting Nashville music scene like a naked hobo at choir practice. We left behind little more than ashes, a few kernels of wisdom and a 13-song cassette album. And now - - 20 years in the making! Re-released, re-mastered, not quite re-hearsed, yet somehow re-spected almost-folk trio, The Crows: One Flew Over The Cornfield (original release 1990) can be yours! Guaranteed to wrench a smile from even the most devout curmudgeon. Be the first in your friend-pod to own this historic release! Click on over to the STORE PAGE to order your copy now! Only $10, plus $2 shpg.
My new CD project is getting dangerously close to completion. Fellow Poco member and all-around rocking fellow, Michael Webb is shown here laying down a Hammond B-3 track on "No Trouble". The EP, tentatively titled, "Cage", should be wrapping up in the next several weeks...
Meanwhile, Poco has been working on our first studio album since 2002's "Running Horse". The process has been very creatively inspiring to us all. We'll probably finish this project sometime this summer. Stay tuned to THE POCO WEBSITE.
Idlewheel played The Studio of Long Valley (Long Valley, NJ) last Friday night. Great time. The kind folks there (David and George) recorded the show. Below is one tune. You can see the whole dang thing - JUST CLICK HERE.
The Idlewheel winter tour of the great Northeast was a rollicking success! And what weather! Snow, rain, snow mixed with rain, rain mixed with ice, ice by itself, sleet, sleet mixed with rain, snow and ice, did I say snow? The hearty Idlewheelers would not be deterred by mere apocalyptic cold! Hell no! Ambler, PA; Long Valley and Union, NJ - all great fun. The tour was capped off with a show at "The Casbah", aka the basement at Charlie and Dorothy Wade's place. Dinner, friends, music - sweet..
L - R: Tommy Geddes, Some poser, Craig Bickhardt, Tom Hampton
(photo by Claudia Upton)
1/30/11I CROSS THE DELAWARE..
Poco did a show Friday night in New Hope, PA. Great time, good folks, LOTS of snow (we arrived hours after a 17" snowfall). We stayed at Stephan House. I recommend it, highly. Friday afternoon, Michael, Mary and I walked to Lambertville, NJ for an exploration/lunch trip. We were very close to the spot where Washington crossed the Delaware to attack the Hessians in 1776 (although I don't know what all the fuss was about - there's a bridge right there).
Poco was in the studio recently to begin work on the first new studio album since 2002's "Running Horse". We're all quite excited about it. More on that later..
Work continues on my solo EP project. And - The Crows are returning! For those of you who don't remember (99% or more) the Crows (Keith Miles , Sue Braswell and Moi) were an ironic-folk act that played around Nashville quite a bit back in the 1980s. We are re-releasing our one album - the cassette only, "One Flew Over The Cornfield", and working on a new studio project as well. So - lots going on here.
And don't forget to check the entry below. This coming week, Idlewheel is coming to the Northeast! Be there or be square!
I hope all of you had a holiday season that was warm and comforting. Best wishes to all for 2011. I'm putting together a new solo recording project. This kind of work is stupidly time consuming - so that's my story. Stupidly consumed.. Poco will be doing some recording this month as well. I look forward to working with someone other than myself - I can be so testy..
Also coming up - Craig Bickhardt and I will be doing a few Idlewheel shows in February.
Here's our world tour itinerary.
IDLEWHEEL SHOWS:
Thursday, February 3
Shanachie Pub - 8pm
111 E. Butler Ave
Ambler, PA 19002
Phone: 215-283-4887
Free Admission
Friday, February 4
Studio of Long Valley - 8pm
62 East Mill Road
Long Valley, NJ 07853
Tickets $18.00 (VIP Members $15.00) available at Valley Music Center
or call 908-878-9135 / 908-876-1240
Saturday, February 5
Charlie and Dorothy Wade's House
Dinner - 6:00 pm / Show - 7:00 pm
2259 Morrison Avenue
Union, NJ 07083
Phone: 908-764-6919
Donation: $25.00 per person
Email: twojulysons@aol.com
("The Casbah" - always a great time)
JS - BLAHG ARCHIVE:
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