The calm after the storm. This was a storm of our own making. We played at the fabulous Evanston SPACE on Wednesday Sept. 4. It truly is one of the great music rooms. SPACE puts on more than 300 shows a year, acts from all over the country. Photos of past performers on the walls of the Green Room include: Richard Thompson, Lucinda Williams, Lone Bellow, Alabama Shakes, Stanley Clark.

Our show felt like some kind of culmination. I’m not very good on reflecting what we’ve accomplished, I am much more focused what we are gonna do, but this night brought together so many people that we have met over the years, folks we’ve worked with, performed with, rambled and rocked with, so many of our creative fellow-travelers and inspirers from the world of theater, music, art, plus all those folks from our typical day to day. Our lives flashed before our eyes. It was sort of marvelous. We do have the best fans, no doubt.

The Lovely Carla and I could really feel the love in the room. It was a wave that washed over our band. One person commented, “You were all so on.” It’s true, that’s how it felt to us too, we felt pretty tight, the first song, “So Clear,” kicked off and the set ran out ahead of us like a wild stallion. We held on for all it was worth.

We truly possessed the moments as they rolled out.

It was awesome to share the night with our good friends Ex Maquina! Our two bands promoted the hell out of the show, and amazingly, we filled that room nearly to the brim. It’s Friday morning, the morning after the morning after, the calm after the storm. I’m sipping coffee and listening to Jackson Browne’s “Late for the Sky,” one of those great, moody, reflective records. I mean, I don’t think I’m late for anything, but these words dance in my consciousness, this a.m. and it feels so right:

“How long have I been sleeping
How long have I been drifting alone through the night
How long have I been running for that morning flight
Through the whispered promises and the changing light
Late for the sky”

– Jackson Browne

Jammer

Photos by Matt Golosinski

It is fabulous when folks take the time to listen. The great music blog Divide and Conquer reviews our record, “The Alternate Boot: Vols. 1&2” Jay Freeman does a track by track dissection. “… quite inventive and memorable.” The dissection isn’t as painful as it sounds. I mean, sometimes you dissect the cat, and you end up with a dead cat, but this is quite good, excellent writing, knowledgable ears, no cats killed in the process.

Jay plays the “What do they sound like game?” Pretty funny. It is difficult to write about music without drawing upon other sounds & artists. Influences & precursors. We all have them. This list is crazy good. He name-drops The Doors, Jefferson Airplane, REM, Fleetwood Mac, The Beatles, The Beach Boys, Gordon Lightfoot, Loreena McKennitt, Cowboy Junkies, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Dire Straits & Patti Smith…

Yeah, ok, I’d say mix all those together in a waring blender… add a bit of lightening, blood, sweat, tears, and a healthy dash of eucalyptus, a drop of CDB oil, and you get something approximating WWSP’s folk-rock, groove-machine vibe!

Anyway, well done. Happy the review is dropping now. Good timing. Our show at SPACE is next week, Wednesday, Sept 4. All arrows are pointing forward. We are ready to make a joyful noise. – Jammer

Every show. Every show is the thing. Always give it your all. It’s the code, the credo, the way. Damn the torpedos, lay it all on the line. The only way to do it.

Our next show happens to be at Evanston SPACE.  It’s an extraordinary room. Great sound, professional staff, perfect place to play, and to listen to music. One of the finest rooms in the country, no doubt. Some of our favorite artists have performed on that stage: Lucinda Williams, Son Volt, Alabama Shakes.

We will be on bill with our good friends Ex Maquina on Wednesday, September 4. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. Purchase Tickets here: https://www.facebook.com/events/633914353773982/

We have played sidewalks, parks, black box theaters, parking lots, churches, attics, kitchens, dive bars, outdoor festivals, you name it. This one seems really special. We will do our part to make it fly. We hope to fill that room with a joyful noise. Hope you can join us. – Jammer

We played in “train station alley” last night as part of The Main-Dempster Mile Summer Concert Series. We’ve gone from playing on the sidewalk to the alley. What’s next? Coachella? One can dream. Steamy, cloudy day. No rain. That was the big concern all day, “wonder if it’s gonna rain?” It didn’t. The show went on without a hitch.

Great set by Kacie Swierk, and a stirring display of Flamenco dancing from the wonderful ladies from Studio Mangiameli, then our set. Our band was fired up, playing for a beautiful crowd of folks, so many neighborhood friends, lots of kids, and all kinds of little furry critters too.

It was a good one. That little alley was sort of transformed, trains rattling overhead didn’t matter, the long, narrow alley concentrated the sound waves. Someone said to me: “Great scene. Great vibe.” When it comes down to it, that’s the thing, right?

We tried to do our part. Don’t really know how you conjure a scene, or a vibe, but that is what seems to happen when things go right. Things went right. Amazing scene. Amazing vibe. How does that happen?! – Jammer

Photo by Marina

You may ask yourself, can I purchase whitewolfsonicprincess’ latest CD, “The Alternate Boot Vols. 1&2” at my favorite mass-market retailer? Can I buy “The Boot,” any place where CDs are sold?

The answer, dear pilgrim, is a resounding “Yes!”

We too are very surprised and gratified to bring you the good news.  In stock now! Think Amazon, Walmart, Import CDs, Deep Discount, Fye & Ebay.  Pretty cool. WWSP the new “mass-market” phenomenon! – Jammer

“Village of the Mermaids” by Paul Delvaux (1942)

We played a r&r show on Sunday afternoon, Father’s Day 2019 at Reggies, one of Chicago’s great music meccas. The Lovely Carla Hayden (our lead singer), dedicated the show to “all the fathers past and present,” as well as to “peace and love.” It was a heavy thing to do. Lots of energy to take on in that little r&r haven. It definitely brought a focus to our performance. We were playing in front of some folks we knew, and a whole contingent of folks we didn’t. Lots of strangers in the crowd.

We were loud. The sound-tech at that place likes to blast music at maximum volume. Maybe best to cut through the small-talk, the bar-talk, the alcoholic haze. We thought it probably killed a bit of the nuance in our band dynamics, but at the same time it was a bit cathartic to just overwhelm the room with our sonic vibration.

We had a few “sound issues” the stage monitors didn’t seem to be working correctly on the first few songs, I couldn’t hear my guitar very well, didn’t know what was happening, couldn’t tell if I was in tune or out, I had a few guitar glitches, but by the 4th song everything was working & clicking. Our band pulled together and just kind of took off into the stratosphere.

We played a full set, over an hour of original music, and by the end, we were one solid unit playing our heart’s out for all to hear. I nearly spontaneously combusted on stage. I always run hot, but this time my whole body just went up in flames. I felt like I was sacrificing my body to a higher cause. Afterwards I was totally drained, spent, I felt like a hollow husk, drenched in sweat, totally exhausted.

As we were leaving, two beefy “door guys,” dressed like bikers, long hair, denim, boots, tattoos, cigarettes in hand, told us we “sounded great.” Hah! That was unexpected. Can’t think of a better token of validation for the whole mad little adventure! R&R! – Jammer

Photo by Joe Lapsley

This breathtakingly gorgeous photo was taken by Katje Lilith Sabin  during our set at our show “WWSP & Friends” on Saturday May 18 at Jarvis Square Pottery. A fabulous night of music, with Victor Sanders & Lauren Nelson, The Herbal Remedies and whitewolfsonicprincess. The entertainment was to be found both on-stage as well as off-stage. What an incredibly cool scene at a great little storefront space.

It turns out that a handful of our songs have organically morphed into a set of grooves that inspires some folks to get up and dance. It’s been a recent phenomenon, started happening early in 2018 or late in 2017. Can’t exactly pinpoint the moment.  Instant, spontaneous dance party! Totally unexpected, absolutely gratifying. We attribute this surprising development to our extraordinary rhythm section consisting of Steve Rutstein on drums, Ian Ogden on bass and Randy Farr on percussion. When they kick it into high-gear, the room moves!

Who knew? WWSP Groove Machine! – Jammer

Photo by Katje Lilith Sabin 

Yes, maybe that should be our new band “brand?” WWSP & Friends!

The world is a big place. Over-stuffed with people. You realize people are the problem and the solution. Last night at Jarvis Square Pottery we were reminded that sometimes, if find yourself in the right place, at the right time, it’s almost like magic, or destiny, or maybe at least hell of a good time.

If you are just a “leaf in the river,” maybe it’s best to let it all go, and flow.

Last night we were in a safe oasis. It was quite the beautiful setting, filled with an amazing collection of people from all over the world. We made connections there that were only possible because of the reality of this fantastic, welcoming storefront. Folks creating and connecting. A community of artists, and of people who like to hang with artists and creative, open-minded, open-hearted people. We realized you can easily reach out and connect. Anytime. You just have to show up, be aware, be awake, be open. Let your guard down, speak, listen. We made so many new connections with so many people.

That’s how it’s done, one person at a time, one on one. So yes, of course, we can all try to “fix” the world. How do we do it? Human Being to Human Being. One person to another person, and so on, etc. So many people to meet. So little time. I mean, it’s daunting. Impossible. Too many billions of us, on this raging, needing, wanting & seething Ball of Confusion. So you pull your horns in a bit, you just try to do your small part. You say “Hello,” to someone you don’t know, someone you just met, you open your heart, you open your head, you start a conversation and see what happens! – Jammer

The Lovely Carla Hayden always starts whitewolfsonicprincess performances by ringing the bell 3 times for “Peace & Love.” She tells me it’s the most important thing we can do. I believe her. Here we are on Record Store Day 2019 in front of Vintage Vinyl. Playing to the future.  Spreading the seeds of Peace & Love. That little girl was transfixed! –  Jammer

Photo by Vintage Vinyl

RSD 2019 is in the history books. We played two sets in celebration. One outside on the sidewalk in front of Vintage Vinyl & one in-store at Squeezebox Books & Music. So fun. Met some new fans, reconnected with some of our great friends.

The sidewalk show was a bit of a challenge. Lots of sunshine, but 40 mph winds, and numb fingers from the cold temps. Everyone kept telling us our outdoor show was “Just like the Beatles!”

Hah! Right. Yes, well, the cops came, the band played on. We emerged unscathed! R&R baby! – Jammer

Photo by Matt Golosinski