Yetto, if anyone deserves a kitchen pass, it's you.
Speaking of your son, how's he holding up?
Ric12string, I'm in, unless of course I get my trump card, meaning I have to travel for work. I just dodged a trip to Iceland, but I've got Vancouver to do in the first week of April.
Somehow I had gotten the idea that you were in SoCal Steve. I was hoping that we'd get to meeet you for the Arizona Territory jam. How is the son doing?
Thanks guys.
Right now Brad is holding his own, but the future looks grim if he doesn't get some strength back soon.
The oncologist says his chances are about 5%.
Nobodie's throwing in the towel yet, but those odds aren't so good.
If he's in the 5% that will be good! Somebody has to get better, otherwise those statistics don't mean anything: may as well be him, I figure!
I'm with you Yetto. Thoughts and prayers my friend.
if i'm not too late, i'm also interested. I live in Felton, up the hill from Santa Cruz.
i'm a bit worried, though, that despite the fact that i'm 51, i may be too modern for some of y'all...i don't know any Duane Eddy tunes, don't play anything like rockabilly, and (no offense intended) am not particularly interested in that style of music as a player. When i think of music to jam on, i think of Neil Young songs, especially the relatively simple ones that allow space to stretch out infinitely, e.g. "Down By The River."
i also play bass and rudimentary keyboards. Anything other than a weekend is right out for me, because i work 9 to 5:30 five days a week.
I am out for the month of May on weekends due to some work commitments; although, that could change in mid-April. So, we could try to do this in April, or would early June work? June somehow sounds interesting to me because the weather will be nice and will make it easier to convince the wife and kids to travel with me to the Wine Country for a weekend getaway!
But, that's just me. Does anyone have any thoughts or preferences on a date?
I can never predict my work schedule, so I'm tentatively in for whenever you guys want to do it. As long as I'm not traveling, I'm down.
i'm going to be jamming at a friends' 50th birthday party up in Sebastopol on Saturday 4/12; other than that i have no commitments.
June sounds like a long way off...however, if the paradigm of circulating MP3s of potential jam material is to hold, everybody's gonna have to get on the stick and get files circulating pronto if a late April date is to be possible. in this we should bear in mind that a lot of people still have a 10KB attachment-per-message e-mail limit.
June might work.
Where?
You're correct, dubkitty, that early June is a ways out there. But, it would certainly give us a chance to comfortably circulate .mp3 files of songs, setlists, etc., and for everyone to arrange their schedules. We could do it in April, but that might be rushing it. For me, due to my work schedule, though, May is pretty much out for me. But, it's cool with me if you guys want to do it in May and I can experience it vicariously through the photos and report on here.
i think that was exactly my point, that the logistics make an April date difficult. and personally, i'd rather wait until a date where you and anyone else interested can make it.
That's great.
What does June 7 or 14 look like for everyone? Parabar, in particular, since you will be somewhat our host, how does that look for you?
works for me.
I was thinking about songs that are fairly simple to learn, fun to play, and have room for multiple soloists, and i was thinking:
"Down by the River" by Neil Young; "Pretzel Logic" by Steely Dan; "Rock and Roll" by the Velvet Underground.
"Pretzel Logic" would probably be particularly good for folks with jazz chops, with the altered blues changes and that key change in the last 12 bars of the 24-bar structure. "Rock and Roll" can take any kind of improvisation on the 2-chord I->VII coda. and "DBTR" has the easiest 2-chord solo section on earth, and is elemental enough that David Gilmour totally stole the chord changes and used them in "Breathe" on "Dark Side of the Moon"...try singing "DBTR" over the "Breathe" reprise. "DBTR" is especially fun when two people have their lead lines in dialogue over the changes like Stills and Young used to do.
i'm sorry if i sounded dismissive of the music other folks want to play...it's really that i'm intimidated because i don't have any experience playing that stuff and worry that i wouldn't know what to do.
So far both weekends in June (7-8 and 14-15) look open for me. My studio has a drum kit and bass rig, so any drummers need only bring their favorite sticks, bassists their favorite bass. Keyboards are covered --- 2 at once can play if they don't mind sitting in close proximity. I've got two vocal mic's and a small PA in place --- more mics and stands would be good if anyone else wants to sing. Chord charts of any favorite material would be helpful for those that may not have played a given song before.
It sounds like there might be enough people to tackle a variety of music --- not everyone has to play everything, so we can take turns with what everyone is happiest doing (or not doing, to be all Zen about it). Guitarists, in the interest of space I'd request that amps be of the smaller variety (no larger than a Twin or AC-30), and preferably ones you don't mind sharing --- if 10 players all bring their own amps, there may not be much room to stand, or playing time could end up being eaten up by equipment moving.
If we can narrow down the date and participants here, I'll send directions by e-mail to those who want to play. Looking forward to it, and to meeting some of this fascinating cast of characters!
I just noticed that I have Little League commitments through June 12, but am wide open after that. Is the 19th of June pushing it too far out?
I am also good with not having to play on all songs, if a particular song is not my taste or if I am not familiar with it. Good idea for all of us.
So, what is the concensus, Northern Californians? Does June 19 work?
Would it be easier for all to communicate through a mass e-mail, or on here?
I live and die by my calendar, however, I'll be there provided I'm not out of the country/state on business. My schedule is more or less a living document and hard to predict more than a week or so out. As soon as we nail a date, I'm tentatively going to be there.
June 19 is a Thursday?
7-8, or 14-15 makes more sense for me. I work all week.
as noted above, i can't do it unless we plan for a Saturday or Sunday.
could anyone bring a bass? i have one, but it's got a couple of bad frets on it that need fixed before i can use it.
My bad...I meant the following weekend of June 21.
Well, much as I hate to say it, I'm going to have to put off hosting the NorCal jam. I had a spill on my motorscooter a week ago that's left me with a broken shoulder, which means no playing (let alone schlepping equipment) for 4 to 6 weeks. Damn, I guess I have to face up to my age now, dadgummit!!
I'm hoping to be back in action by mid-July, so if all goes well maybe we can try to pull it off on a weekend in late July or early August. Any preferences or conflicts for specific dates among those of you who expressed an interest previously?
Ouch! Sorry to hear of your misfortune.
I'm willing to wait on ya. Sonoma's an ok drive for me, whenever you feel you can do it.
I feel the same about waiting for you to heal, Parabar. Finding a good venue for this is probably the hardest part and, if you are eventually feeling up to it, it may be best to await your mending process.
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