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Have you ever seen the classic SNL "cowbell" skit? It's a rock industry spoof where a music producer, played by Christopher Walken, thought that Blue Oyster Cult just needed more cowbell... and a legend was born! It is fantastic! Anyway, some friends of ours sent me a link to an NPR segment titled There's Just Something About That Cowbell that is definately worth listening to. And the best part is that it also has a link to watch the SNL skit - or you can watch the link by clicking here. And if you still haven't had enough cowbell (and I mean really, is there such as thing as too much cowbell?), check out The Cowbell Project at Geekspeakweekly!

Posted by bunger at 6:30 PM | Comments (0)

We played. We rocked. It was good. Jam Sessions III. The advent of a new era and the introduction of a new year. The raw power of a group of guys, joining together with instruments and energy, and changing the lives of those (namely, themselves - or me, at least) who got sucked into the vortex that was their rocking . Walls shook, pictures and candles fell, donuts flew.

While terribly missing the slapping base sounds of Gruber, Jam Sessions III saw the debut of an up and coming new drummer in Patrick Kernan. Once setup and settled (and finding the right seat height), Kernan laid down beats that redefined rhythm and groove and set a new standard for percussionists the world over (ok, maybe not the world over, but he is really good). The addition of Kernan and his drum kit definately filled a void that our little jugband was missing. As a side note, once again Greg floored everyone as he, in his ever-so-humble-Luyt-fashion, sat down at the drums to try them out and ended up being really good also! Who knew?! Word has it that next session Tursman and Bageris might surprise everyone with a harp duet... :-)

The song list was not quite as defined as the previous session with more impromptu playing taking form. But we did manage to knock out Light My Fire, Born to Be Wild, Go and Say Goodbye, Henry, La Bamba, Johnny B. Goode, Rockin' in the Free World, and a few others. I do believe that Rockin in the Free World may make a encore appearance at the next session as everyone seemed to fully embrace the true rock of that song - if we can just get Kernan to hit the chorus on time (as a backup singer, that is), we would give Neil Young a run for his money!

Once again I managed to snap a few pictures (Kernan helped also) and take a couple of 30 second video clips. Just click on the links below to see each clip. A quick note about the pictures: there is a series of Kernan shots (the drummer) that appear to be his impersonating a seal, when in fact, he is merely trying to catch a donut hole (tossed by Tursman) in his mouth. He never made a clean catch, but the effort was there!

A quick thanks to Wayne and his wife for hosting us (again) and feeding us and I am already counting the minutes to the next session!

In the words of School of Rock's Dewey Finn:
"Dude, I service society by rocking. Okay? I m out there, on the front lines, liberating people with my music..."

Some impromptu playing

More impromptu playing

Posted by bunger at 9:32 AM | Comments (1)

We had another Jam Session last night, this time hosted at Wayne's house. Infinte praises to Wayne and his wife Linda for hosting us (until midnight!) and for going above and beyond the call by laying out a spread of food that was unbelievable!

This time around went even better than the first as I think we all are getting a little more comfortable with the fact that we aren't so good, which considerably lowers that "nervous" index. Everyone did a fantastic job playing songs like Light My Fire, Born to Be Wild, Go and Say Goodbye, Henry, Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing, Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood, We Got To Get Out of this Place, House of the Rising Sun, and Down on the Corner. Greg surprised everyone with a song he brought called Nightclub (which basically rocked) and we had a rockin' impromptu session at the end during which Gruber transcended to a higher lever of being that left everyone in awe!

In addition to snapping some pictures of our session, I took a handful of 30 second video clips that may someday be worth millions on Ebay! Just click on the links below to see each clip.

In the name of rock, jam on!

I can't remember which song this was?!

Go and Say Good Bye

House of the Rising Sun

Henry

More of Henry

Pulp Fiction Theme Impromptu by Wayne and Greg

More Pulp Fiction Theme Impromptu by Wayne and Greg

If you have problems playing the files, please let me know. I will also be working to better streamline the video clips in the future...

Continue reading "Jam Sessions II"

Posted by bunger at 11:07 AM | Comments (0)

Well, I just got back from the first official meeting of the Basement Jug & Washboard Band! And let me tell you, we had a blast! Basically, a group of us brought instrument and enthusiasm ( and some beer ) together for an evening of fellowship and musical enlightenment ( and did I mention the beer? )!

We had Greg on acoustic and electric guitar; Bill and Bill both on electric guitars; Drew and Gruber slappin' out the rhythm on Bass guitars; and Wayne on electric guitar and keyboard. Greg and Wayne led the group ( Greg has quite possibility missed his calling as a music teacher ) through various songs, including Down on the Corner, Sweet Home Chicago, Whiskey Bar, House of the Rising Sun, All Along the Watch Tower, and a few others. Gruber and Drew really shined on the blues songs, Bill laid down some sweet rhythms, I just tried to keep up, and Greg and Wayne danced circles around the music. It really was a blast! We even had groupies show up as Steph and Grady made a brief appearance!

Thanks to Greg for hosting, Steph for her patience and understanding, and all the guys who made tonight such a blast! We are hoping to get together again soon, so I will post more then!

Posted by bunger at 8:44 PM | Comments (0)