Friday Night’s Abbie Fest show at the Den. Broke the “D” string on “Inner Light.” Those Elixirs should not be breaking so easily! Took the guitar in to Guitar Works for a little adjustment yesterday. The guitar tech opened up the groove of the nut a bit, hopefully that does the trick! Still, broken strings may just be the price of exuberance and commitment! Sacrifice on the altar of Rock! – Jammer
photo by Karen O’Brien
The 25th Abbie Fest took flight last night. We did our part on Stage 2B… it was “Get Right with God,” featuring our band, whitewolfsonicprincess. Yes, 2B as in To Be. Better to be than not to be. It was an incandescent performance. I can tell by the amount of sweat generated by my body. I pretty much burned up and melted on stage. I am working on different ways to spontaneously combust! Almost reached total flame-out. I really was the “Prince of Wands.”
It was just Bass, Acoustic Guitar and Vocals. We are pretty damn tight, even if and when we are ragged, and if we are ragged, it’s because of me, I’m spiky & frayed around the edges, but hell, it’s not r&r unless someone bursts into flame, or bleeds, or breaks something. That’s my role. Being in that little black box theater with a focused and engaged audience just kicked the intensity level up to the freaking max. Intense. We definitely did not “phone this one in.” I have the evidence. We recorded the show, we are thinking of maybe posting a few tracks on Band Camp soon! Maybe a “Live at the Den EP”… maybe!
The band before us, was Names Divine, they played a totally cool, dissonant set of broken and jagged songs. It was completely “broken music,” detuned and noisy. Gloriously broken music. We loved it! Day two of the Abbie Fest today… and it’s theater for us… Black Forest’s “The Cheerleader and the Astronaut” on the Main Stage at 8:00 p.m. I wonder if I can find another way to reach a new level of combustion? – Jammer
You think you want a veggie burger, or an Italian Beef, or a Herbal Tea but really, come on, take a moment to study the menu and decide “what kind?” Jerry’s Sandwiches lives up to it’s “cosmic” billing. And when you think “cosmic,” think an over-stuffed universe of choices. And in this cosmos you can’t really go wrong. Red Velvet Cake?! Yes. Divine.
We played Jerry’s last night, part of our flurry of July shows. It’s been great for the band to play a string of shows in such a short time. Turns out the more we play, the “better” we get, although I can’t really explain what “better” really means.
I love making music with these people. And the folks who took the time to give us a listen seemed to really listen. I broke a string (as usual), it’s almost required now, part of the act, but I switched to another guitar without a hitch. And well what was the highlight for me? A guy told me I looked like Kris Kristofferson. I think he meant the grizzled, weathered, beat one, the Kristofferson of NOW, not the guy who played Billy the Kid in Sam Peckinpah’s great epic western. But I think I’ll go with the “Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid” era one! – Jammer
We have a new band mascot: horse head by Carla Hayden, photo by Michael Doubava. Seems appropriate. It feels like we are in a new phase of the band. Hard to pinpoint, but most likely it’s just that we’ve played a number shows together in a short span of time, and to my ears, we sound better than ever. We have added new songs to our ever-evolving set of music and we have a finely-honed core of songs from 10+1 that have really emerged anew in our “stripped down” guitar, drums, bass and percussion line-up.
Last night at the Red Line Tap was just head-opening. Carla and I sang with such confidence, and the sound onstage was tight, intimate and powerful. We opened with “Killing Place,” and it really set the tone for an intense set. By the time we got to “Fallen” our band was a wild, barely-contained tornado of sound. Rich and Tim played as one wild-ass drums/bass r&r unit. It was totally exhilarating. Afterwards, my whole body was jangling with a fiery energy.
I think it was the best we’ve ever sounded live onstage. It’s what we’ve often glimpsed in some of our rehearsals, this balance of discipline and wild abandon, all resting on a foundation of fairly tightly constructed songs. It’s hard to write about, hard to describe, and maybe it can’t really be described at all. It was an “experience” and it seemed like everything. – Jammer
A quiet, hot, muggy Monday night at Uncommon Ground, a nice music room, all wood and brick. Some really great old friends came out to see us. People with whom we have a real affinity. Felt like a homecoming. Opening for us was David Bon and his trio. David is just the most riveting and inspiring performer. His rich baritone voice can knock down walls, and the trio was tight: two acoustic guitars, a bass. They channeled the spirit of Elvis, Neil Diamond, Waylon Jennings and Cypress Hill. They made some classic songs their own. They do songs you’d think maybe can’t be done, and they do them, and they work, no, they completely bowl you over! We followed with our set. We were tight, sharp, connected, we could all really hear each other. Our band is in a great zone at the moment. Under the hot lights, I almost spontaneously combusted, smoke was coming out of my eyes! Afterwards it was all smiles and kind words. There is nothing better than playing for your musical peers and for people you respect and love. People who really listen. I must say, that’s what it’s all about! – Jammer
photo by David Bon
We played to a handful of folks yesterday at the Bucktown Garden Walk. It was an early afternoon “spirit” slot. It was our first time out in public with Randy Farr from the Gunnelpumpers sitting in on percussion. We brought a solid, focused energy to the big outdoor stage. There was “space” between instruments, a big sound, with room to breathe, and the songs held up quite nicely. Carla was in fine voice, and the mix was good. A first-class event. I had a few mis-cues: broke a string, misplaced my capo, so I had to change guitars, and when I sang “Sadness in the World,” in a lower key, I sort of sounded like Tom Waits singing through a sponge. Still, we felt really good about our performance. Afterwards a guy came up to me and said that my guitar-playing made me “man of the town!” I’ll take it! – Jammer
photo by Karen O’Brien
We capped off a couple days off with a band rehearsal yesterday. It had been awhile since the “core band,” (bass, drums, guitar and vocals) got together in a room. It was intense and exhilarating. I wonder sometimes if our best work is in rehearsal. Making music in a relaxed setting, a familiar room, with our own P.A. Just making music for each other. We were fresh and sharp at the same time. We went thru 18 songs, old ones, new ones, originals, a couple covers that we have really made “our own.” We even had a few moments of “improvisation” that just seemed to take wing and soar…
It truly was like catching lightening in a bottle. One of those unexpected, totally extraordinary experiences. It’s hard to talk or write about. It’s something “you do,” you can’t really translate or explain the phenomena to yourself or someone else. It was just the four of us, creating this amazing sonic energy. It was just another rehearsal. And then, well, it seemed totally intense and transcendent… and then we packed up and closed the door and went back to another world. But for a couple hours it was an amazing, over-powering experience…
I think that’s life at it’s best… finding the amazing, the extraordinary, in the purity of the moment, the simplicity of being totally alive, in a room with other people, listening to each other and working together on something bigger than ourselves. – Jammer
We did our Metropolis coffeehouse show yesterday evening. A few loyal fans came out to see us, and a few strangers stuck around to listen to our fiery little set. A coffee mecca on the North side of Chicago. Comfy and welcoming. One major upside to doing coffeehouse shows? The coffee!
It was just a trio for the evening: acoustic guitar, violin, vocals. It was strange to hear some of our songs in such a stripped down mode, but it was great to hear Maria Storm’s exquisite violin playing- the sound swirled around and enveloped us. Carla sang and played her various shakers, tambourines and bells. I hammered away on my acoustic guitar with my usual abandon.
It was a pretty good show. A warm response from the audience and we got paid in beans! Two sacks of freshly roasted coffee beans from Ethiopia and El Salvador. Anyone who knows me knows that’s like feeding crack or heroin to a grateful and willing addict. Coffee Nirvana. And just when is that next coffeehouse gig? – Jammer
My good friend Michael Doubrava, photographer extraordinaire, left a voicemail after our Stones tribute show. “Jimmy, with every song you sing, you make the world a better place.” It was a nice thing to say. Maybe it was said tinged with a dollop of irony, or maybe not. But I do truly love the sentiment. And really, isn’t that why we do this thing?
When we sing and play music, when we band together, join our musical sensibilities for a song, a set of music, we are trying to create a vibration, a feeling, an energy, something bigger than ourselves. And by doing, we transform ourselves. And we hope that this energy, this vibration, this power can seep into other people’s consciousness. Maybe we inspire by example?
And it’s doesn’t really matter if the song is light or dark, the main thing is it real, is it heartfelt, is it well done? And when it works, there is love in the doing. So there is love. Love. And maybe this love can be given away, passed onto someone else. And yes, maybe in that way we can make the world a better place. It all might sound a little sappy and soft-hearted, but it’s certainly a worthy experiment. And gives us a reason to believe. – Jammer
never leave me/walk close beside me/your hand my hand/fits so easy/no tomorrow/let us stop here/we did some great things/didn’t we/dry and dusty/i am a capsule of energy/you speak softly/we are capsules of energy/work as i’ve been told/in return i get money/small feet in the hall/and i long for every moment – fever ray
It’s spooky and surprising when a song, a record, takes hold. Lately Fever Ray has taken hold of me. The 2009 record is amazing. Our band doesn’t sound anything like this band. I don’t think there are any organic/analog instruments on this record, even the voices are heavily processed; for the longest time I thought I was listening to a male voice on some songs, but that’s Karin Dreijer Andersson doing the vocalizing. This record is cool, icy, techno, electronic. It’s weird, moody, haunting. And the song, “Dry and Dusty” finally, after many listens, has totally penetrated and captivated me. So beautiful, simple, and off-hand. A synthesized, almost robotic voice kicks open the door to a certain, aching, beauty. Magic. – Jammer
whitewolfsonicprincess 