TOAST-N-JAM

TnJ 094 (11/12/09)

2009-11-12T21:06:00.000-08:00

-HOUR ONE-

NEIL YOUNG – Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black) (12/10/1989 Muziektheater Stopera, Amsterdam, Netherlands)
NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE – Powderfinger (2/28/04 Tingley Coliseum, Albuquerque, NM)
CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED – Train to Birmingham (2009 Happiness and All the Other Things)
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND – Four Walls of Raiford (2004 Under the Influence, Lynyrd Skynyrd Tribute)
RANDALL BRAMBLETT – Visions (2008 Now It’s Tomorrow)
GOV’T MULE – Railroad Boy > Monday Mourning Meltdown (2009 By a Thread)

-HOUR TWO-

WIDESPREAD PANIC – Bowlegged Woman > Worry (7/22/03 Paolo Soleri Amphitheatre, Santa Fe, NM)
GOSHEN – To Begin Again (2007 Lioness)
MEDESKI, MARTIN & WOOD – Strance of the Spirit Red Gator (1996 Shack-Man)
THE SOUL of JOHN BLACK – Betty Jean (2009 Black John)
GUMBO PROJECT – Old Man and the River (2009 Roux EP)
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW – Fall on My Knees (2003 Live)
GRATEFUL DEAD – Wharf Rat (2007 Live at the Cow Palace, 12/31/76)

# # #

CHRIS on ALTO SAX w/ PAPA GROWS FUNK

2009-11-09T20:05:00.001-08:00

10/16/09 Santa Fe Brewing Company

I am nowhere near as good as this guy - Jason Mingledorff

Finally, all those years of marching band are about to pay off!

These guys are great -
everyone should own at least one of their CDs

Seriously fun sitting in with these guys -
but altogether nerve-wracking...

SOLO TIME (^_^)

THX, guys!!!

Photos by Jay A. Johnson

# # #

TnJ 093 (11/5/09)

2009-11-05T21:23:00.000-08:00

-HOUR ONE-

moe. – Lost Along the Way (2008 Warts and All, Vol. 6, 1/28/07 Lawrence, KS) moe.org
MARK STUART & the BASTARD SONS – Best Thing (2009 Bend in the Road)
DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS – TVA (2009 the Fine Print, c. 2003)
LEFTOVER SALMON – Dance on Your Head (10/19/94 Charleston, SC)
LUBRIPHONIC – Mixin’ in the Kitchen (2008 Soul Solution, 1/10/08 Chicago, IL) homegrownmusic.net
SOULIVE – Tabasco (2000 Turn It Out)
PROFESSOR LOUIE & the CROWMATIX – Night Time in the Switching Yard (2009 Whispering Pines)
JOHN COURAGE – Stuck in Encinitas (2009 Lovers Without a Care) coming soon from Frogville Records

-HOUR TWO-

PHISH – Sneakin’ Sally Through the Alley > Taste (2008 Live Phish, 12/30/97 Madison Square Garden, NYC)
RODRIGO y GABRIELA – 11:11 (2009 11:11)
CHUCK MEAD – Gun Metal Gray (2009 Journeyman’s Wager)
GREENSKY BLUEGRASS – Hoxeyville (2006 Tuesday Letter)
REBEL ALLIANCE JAM – Franklin’s Tower (8/16/08 Yarmony Grass, Copper Mountain, CO) festivalink.net
KINGS of LEON – Closer (2009 Only by the Night)

# # #

TnJ 092 (10/29/09)

2009-10-29T21:55:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

PIGMENT – John Henry (2008 Pigment) pigmentjam.com
TAARKA – A Whole New You (7/18/09 Horning’s Hideout, North Plains, OR)
ELEPHANT REVIVAL – Scottish Reggae (1/17/08 Fox Theatre, Boulder, CO)
EASY STAR ALL-STARS – Time (2003 Dub Side of the Moon)
BEN HARPER – Voodoo Chile (Slight Return) (1997 the Will to Live, bonus live EP)
THE BAD PLUS joined by WENDY LEWIS – Feeling Yourself Disintegrate (2009 For All I Care)
WIDESPREAD PANIC f / IVAN NEVILLE – Slippin’ into Darkness (6/27/08 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO) livewidespreadpanic.com

-HOUR TWO-

STRING CHEESE INCIDENT – The Wedge > Get Down Tonight (2009 Trick or Treat, 10/21/00 Portland, ME)
BONERAMA – Turn on Your Love Light (2009 Hard Times EP) boneramamusic.com
UMPHREY’s McGEE – Don’t Do It (12/31/04 The Riviera, Chicago, IL)
LEVON HELM BAND – Atlantic City (4/26/08 Merlefest) festivalink.net
MARK STUART & the BASTARD SONS – I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (2009 Bend in the Road)
JJ GREY – Tupelo Honey (2009 the Choice Cuts – vinyl only, Alligator Records)

# # #

TnJ 091 (10/22/09)

2009-10-22T21:30:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

JIMI HENDRIX – Stone Free (1999 Live at the Fillmore East, c.1969)
GOV’T MULE – Steppin’ Lightly (2009 By a Thread)
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – Life In the City (7/1/07 Taos, NM) festivalink.net
CADILLAC JONES – Late Night with Merle Epstein (2009 Rhythm Method) homegrownmusic.net
ZACH DEPUTY – Paramus (2009 Sunshine) homegrownmusic.net
moe. – Wind It Up (2006 the Conch) moe.org
BOB MARLEY & the WAILERS – Stir It Up (1978 Babylon by Bus)

-HOUR TWO-

THE MOTET – Nemesis (2009 Dig Deep) themotet.com
FRANK ZAPPA – Village of the Sun (9/3/78 Ludwigspark Stadium, Saarbrücken, Germany)
RODRIGO y GABRIELA – Ixtapa (2006 Rodrigo y Gabriela) rodgab.com
NEIL YOUNG & CRAZY HORSE – Slip Away (1997 Year of the Horse)
HOLLIS BROWN – Don’t Wanna Miss You (2009 Hollis Brown) hollisbrown.com
SAM BUSH – Circles Around Me (2009 Circles Around Me) sugarhillrecords.com
THE INCREDIBLE SANDWICH – Bluebird 1 > Bluebird 2 (2009 The Incredible Sandwich EP) muletrainrecords.com

# # #

BLACK CROWES CANCELED

2009-10-21T08:09:00.000-07:00

The news just in from the promoter today - no Black Crowes show tonight. Those who used plastic to purchase tix will be automatically refunded, other holders should approach point of purchase for refunds. No further details avail at this time. Alas!

# # #

TnJ 090 (10/15/09)

2009-10-15T21:23:00.001-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

BLACK CROWES – Goodbye Daughters of the Revolution (2009 Warpaint Live)
BLACK CROWES – Nonfiction (8/12/06 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO)
JACK JOHNSON – Bubble Toes (2009 En Concert)
BLOODKIN – Rhododendron (2009 Baby, They Told Us We Would Rise Again)
KELLER WILLIAMS – Twinkle (2007 Dream)
Interview – John Gros part 1 (10/13/09 KBAC, pre-recorded)
PAPA GROWS FUNK – Pass It! (2006 Live at the Leaf)

-HOUR TWO-

Interview – John Gros part 2 (10/13/09 KBAC, pre-recorded)
PAPA GROWS FUNK – Walkin’ In Our Own Shoes (2007 Mr. Patterson’s Hat)
KARL DENSON’s TINY UNIVERSE – Mighty Rebel (2009 Brother’s Keeper)
LOTUS – 72 Hrs Awake (2009 Feather On Wood EP)
TOUBAB KREWE – Lamine’s Tune (2008 Live at the Orange Peel)
WIDESPREAD PANIC – Surprise Valley (6/11/05 Bonnaroo)
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND – Ain’t Wastin’ Time No More (2007 The Benefit Concert, Vol. 2, 12/21/00 Asheville, NC)

# # #

TnJ 089 (10/8/09)

2009-10-08T21:12:00.001-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

LITTLE FEAT – Don’t Bogart That Joint (1978 Waiting for Columbus)
LITTLE FEAT w / CRAIG FULLER and VINCE GILL – Spanish Moon (2008 Join the Band)
LITTLE FEAT – Rock and Roll Doctor (1981 Hoy-Hoy!, c. 1974)
LITTLE FEAT – All That You Dream (1978 Waiting for Columbus)
MONSTERS of FOLK – Losin Yo Head (2009 Monsters of Folk)
EMORY QUINN – Blue Gone (2008 the Road Company)
SAM BUSH – Junior Heywood (2009 Circles Around Me)
STRING CHEESE INCIDENT – Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! > Hot in Herre (2009 Trick or Treat, 10/31/03 Las Vegas, NV)

-HOUR TWO-

PAPA GROWS FUNK – Gorillafaceugmopotamus! (2007 Mr. Patterson’s Hat)
STEEZ – Saz > Bass Theme > Duderfunk (2009 Creepfunk Crusade)
GRATEFUL DEAD – Playing in the Band (1974/2005 the Grateful Dead Movie Soundtrack)

# # #

HALLOWEEN MASQUERADE REQUESTS

2009-10-08T08:53:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of the upcoming holiday, T-n-J is planning another harvest of Halloween "masquerade" covers for the broadcast on 10/29/09. You know, bands masquerading as other bands - cover songs (^_^)

If there's a song you'd like to hear covered, please leave a comment.

Check out Phish's Festival 8 album cover countdown. It's ghoulish.

# # #

CONCERT REVIEW - MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD at PUMPKIN FESTIVAL day 1, Santa Fe, NM

2009-10-04T11:50:00.000-07:00

MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD setlist 10/3/09 Santa Fe Horse Park

This is corrected compared to what the actual printed setlist says…

A Little Bit of Riddim
Hello Bonjour
We Don’t Stop
Rude Boys Back in Town
All I Want Is You (w/Tainted Love tease)
East to the West *
Everyone Deserves Music
(You Got to Walk and) Don’t Look Back (w/Casey Jones tease)
Sometimes (Electric)
Anytime You Want Me
Never Too Late
Yell Fire * (w/Smells like Teen Spirit tease **)
Sound of Sunshine *
I Got Love for You

E:

Everybody Ona Move (w/Billie Jean tease)
Hey World (Remote Control version)
Hey World (Don’t Give Up version w/new arrangement, new lyrics)
Say Hey (I Love You) ***

* with guest Robert Mirabal
** with Mirabal and audience members Erica and Denny
*** with Mirabal and lots of kids from the audience

# # #

Michael Franti has God-like powers. I’m not just referring to his notorious ability to connect with an audience like the tractor beam connected with the Millenium Falcon in “Star Wars,” nor am I referring to the way he somehow manages to be political and positive at the same time – I’m talking about being able to deliver a performance which proves he has those powers and more while sweating out a fever of 104 degrees.

Michael Franti & Spearhead have been in their current configuration (minus Cherine Anderson) for some 15 years, but they’re now amidst an audience growth spurt with the release of their first, bona-fide, across-the-board, hit single – “Say Hey (I Love You)”. This is a roundabout way of saying there were a lot more “norms” in the crowd than usual, but also just a lot more people, period.

All the hoopsters (that particular brand of show regular first seen, by me, at String Cheese shows in the early 00’s) had started congregating on the grass. One already sunburned hippy-shaker managed to balance a glass of beer on her head while hula hooping in a very heavy, warm-looking, presumably homemade, patchwork halter top dress. These typical Franti-show-free-spirit-types mingled with the vaguely “Colorado-jock-and-their-perfect-family-with-2.5-children” types, and a few thousand varying degrees of us grooved along somewhere in between.

I had been in line for one of the ridiculously small number of port-a-johns about 30 minutes when the first drum-and-bass driven notes of “A Little Bit of Riddim” came thumping across the Santa Fe Horse Park. One of my favorites from their most recent release, “All Rebel Rockers,” its siren’s call nearly pulled me away from the queue, but I resigned myself to missing the first couple of songs in the interest of finally urinating. Nearby Apsen beckoned me to relieve myself in a more primitive fashion, but I was on the clock and reluctant to be branded as uncivilized.

“Hello Bonjour” came on, another personal favorite from 2006’s “Yell Fire.” That gal with the 2.5 children had certainly been in the plastic toilet a long time. “We Don’t Stop,” from Everyone Deserves Music (2003) may or may not have been great, or even played for that matter. I was now delirious with how close and yet so far I was from civilized relief.

Ah! At last! And “Rude Boys Back in Town” provided the soundtrack for my return the concert area. First though, I decided to take a load off and watch people pass by. I’d been standing or walking for about 5 hours straight and the row of hay bales looked comfy enough. Though I was now right at the center of the festival grounds (which also included vast expanses of kid’s activities, food and craft vendors, and carnival rides), the bustling crowd of earlier appeared to have vanished. They apparently couldn’t resist Spearhead’s call to positive, beat-driven revolution, and I supposed I shouldn’t either – so much for giving my dogs a rest.

During “All I Want Is You,” it seemed from a distance that Franti descended from the stage and was absorbed by the crowd, song still playing. He interpolated quotes from the terminally 80’s club hit “Tainted Love” which miraculously meshed with the former’s acoustic dub structure.

He returned to the stage without missing a beat, and welcomed Taos Pueblo flautist Robert Mirabal to the stage for a particularly delicate reading of “East to the West.”

A rousing “Everyone Deserves Music” followed, and I had finally made my way close enough to the front to really see what was happening: they had the audience – hippy hoopster and Colorado jock alike – totally caught in their tractor beam. Everyone was completely bewitched by Franti’s charms, and well they might be, for his charms are legendary. Young parents bore small children atop their shoulders; some were thoughtful enough to stuff makeshift napkin earplugs into their children’s ears. The children were also bewitched – clapping when asked to clap, hands in the air like they just didn’t care, singing along with songs to which they couldn’t possibly know the words. Thankfully, Franti leans less on the expletive-laden raps these days.

In the midst of an otherwise faithful rendering of Motown’s “Don’t Look Back” via Peter Tosh’s “Bush Doctor” (1978), Franti quoted “Casey Jones” with more happiness and conviction than I ever heard The Grateful Dead themselves muster in concert. I’m assuming Sly & Robbie turned him on to “Don’t Look Back” while he was recording with them in Jamaica, or perhaps they just helped show him how it was played, since they were also part of Peter Tosh’s band way back when. At any rate, I was glad that, if he was going to do an actual reggae cover, that it wasn’t a Bob Marley tune. Not because Bob Marley doesn’t have the most archetypal and broad reggae catalog in history, just that I’ve been sick of most of Bob’s material for years. I know, Rasta heresy.

I was glad to hear the electric version of “Sometimes” again. Originally arranged this way on the 2001 recording “Stay Human,” I’ve seen him perform this since in the acoustic “Songs from the Front Porch” arrangement more often than not. It’s a great song either way; I just prefer the one with a beat.

By contrast, I was perfectly happy with the next number, a beautiful acoustic sing-a-long called “Anytime You Want Me” according to the setlist, which I’m guessing is a new Franti original since I can’t Google up any responses from the lyrics.

“Never Too Late” reminded me that Franti’s never afraid to reveal that he has emotions and that it’s okay for us to have them too. At some point during the show when I broke away from looking at the stage, I saw two teenage boys (presumably not gay from the way they were dressed) put their arms around each other and sing something which involved the repetition of the word “love.” This was a welcome change for me, accustomed to seeing teenage boys mimic the thuggery they see in mass media, or some other form of alienated, bruised-but-tough guy. The entire audience was joyful – full to bursting, actually.

The title track from “Yell Fire” always get my blood pumping, and I remember thinking if anyone’s not sold yet, they surely will be now. Though, I really couldn’t imagine someone so determined to remain mired in their own cynicism they hadn’t been won over at this point, because I’m usually that person, and I was in. Mirabal guested on didgeridoo, which added an interesting new dimension to a song I already knew backwards-and-forwards. Then Franti pointed out a couple of audience members for security to let onstage – their names were Erica and Denny and I’m assuming they were picked at random since Franti had to ask their names – and they were given guitars and busted out with the riff from Nirvana’s angst anthem “Smells Like Teen Spirit!” All that rocking took the chill off the fact that the sun was setting on an already crisp fall day.

Franti introduced the next song – another acoustic number called “Sound of Sunshine” – by pointing out the blazing sunset (average by Santa Fe standards) and stated plainly that “the sunset can cure a lot of bullshit.” This was the only vulgar term I heard him utter all day, and I wondered if this sunset could go so far as to cure his fever, which he hadn’t remotely let on he was suffering through.

He prefaced the last song the same way he had almost exactly one year ago at Paolo Soleri, by telling us he’d written it for his then 21 year-old son when Cappy departed San Francisco for NYC on a Greyhound bus. The song was “I Got Love for You,” from “All Rebel Rockers,” and it really is a pretty song, at least the way it appears on the record. I don’t know if this is a typical reggae affectation, but I have seen Toots and the Maytals do it often: take a nice slow song (or a nice fast one) and, once you get a nice groove going, send it into double time and totally ruin the audience’s ability to keep up. Then, back to normal time just long enough to get the audience back into it, then, for no apparent reason, back into double time. Repeat until everyone, including the band, is totally exhausted. Despite all this annoyance, I remember thinking how blessed Cappy was to have a father who’d write such a heartfelt ditty for him to listen to while he was thousands of miles from home.

After the world’s shortest encore break (during which I presume Franti realized if he sat down now, he wasn’t getting back up without medical assistance), came a spot-on reading of “Everybody Ona Move” (no double time shenanigans) with a sprinkling of synth from Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean” toward the end, like the toy surprise at the bottom of a Cracker Jack.

The “Remote Control version” of “Hey World” followed. Franti changed one lyric from the album version, and I thought it was a good change: before reprising the chorus, he would say “You’ve got to let go BEFORE IT TAKES ALL YOUR SOUL.”

Next was the “Don’t Give Up version” of “Hey World,” which began much like the recorded version. After about one verse and one chorus though, Franti stopped the song dead in its tracks, and told us he and the band had totally re-written the song the night before and we would be the first to hear it in public. WOW! If anyone has a recording of this PLEASE post it somewhere. Maybe, if we’re lucky, the band will release it as a bonus single or something. I tried to write down all the new lyrics, but simply couldn’t, and I don’t know enough about music theory to say what had changed about the arrangement, but this version of that song was a whole different ball game. They made a good song great and I sincerely hope I get to hear it again someday.

Finally, Franti instructed security to let the front-of-crowd children (he called them "all the little pumpkins") on stage. One presented him with a brown paper sack full of New Mexico green chilé (packed with vitamin C, y’all), which Michael said should help cure his cold. He announced that Spearhead was currently enjoying their first run in the top 10 of the nationwide charts with “Say Hey (I Love You)” (which means all you ingrates who complained about the $30 ticket price should be ready to pony up $60 next time), and I’ll be damned if those 2 dozen-or-so "little pumpkins" didn’t know just about all the words. Franti even passed his microphone to a couple of them during the “song about a boy and a girl” part, and this one boy totally nailed the words and the rhythm perfectly. The kids all bounced happily and sang along on stage while we all bounced happily and sang along in the audience. It was the kind of moment which seemed right at home in a Spearhead show but which, somehow, had never happened before and, sadly, probably never will again. I doubt most Spearhead shows take place at a kid-friendly pumpkin festival.

I did manage to write down some of the changed lyrics to “Hey World (Don’t Give Up),” and I now notice they seem to sum up the whole Spearhead vibe and are good words to go out on. They are: “Don’t let nobody tell you that it couldn’t be done | Don’t let nobody tell you that it shouldn’t be sung…” and what should be writ large and shouted from the mountaintops, a trio of perfectly distilled Spearhead-isms: “Don’t ever give up,” “Everything is possible,” and “Keep on believin’.” Coming from anyone else they would sound trite or childish. Coming from Michael Franti and Spearhead they sound sincere and powerful, almost holy.

God bless you, Michael, and get well soon.

~ Chris “Toast” Diestler

# # #

Chris’ interview with Michael Franti – Hear HERE

# # #

TnJ 088 (10/1/09)

2009-10-01T21:16:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – Yes I Will (11/26/04 the Fillmore, San Francisco, CA)
LEVON HELM BAND – Going Back to Memphis (4/26/08 Merlefest) festivalink.net
RED ROOSTER – The Places In Between (2009 Walk)
CROSS CANADIAN RAGWEED – Bluebonnets (2009 Happiness and All the Other Things)
NEW RIDERS of the PURPLE SAGE – Barracuda Moon (2009 Where I Come From)
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN and DOUBLE TROUBLE – Testify > Mary Had a Little Lamb (1999 Texas Flood [Legacy Edition], 9/23/83 the Palace, Hollywood, CA)
TREY ANASTASIO BAND – Mr. Completely (8/6/05 Jones Beach Amphitheater, Wantaugh, NY)

-HOUR TWO-

OYSTERHEAD – The Owner of the World (2001 the Grand Pecking Order)
LES CLAYPOOL FROG BRIGADE – Cosmic Highway (2002 Purple Onion)
BONERAMA – When the Levee Breaks (2009 Hard Times EP)
STEVE KIMOCK’s CRAZY ENGINE – Night Train (live, c. 2009, promotional e-release)
DAVE MATTHEWS BAND – Two Step (8/9/08 Alpine Valley Music Theatre, East Troy, WI)
BIG HOUSE – I Know You Rider (2008 Never Ending Train)
MICHAEL FRANTI – People in the Middle (2000 Live at the Baobab, c.1999)

# # #

TnJ 087 (9/24/09)

2009-09-24T21:09:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

HOT BUTTERED RUM – Limbs Akimbo (2009 Limbs Akimbo)
STRING CHEESE INCIDENT – Looking Glass (9/23/03 Austin, TX)
KYLE HOLLINGSWORTH – Wide Open (2009 Then There’s Now)
JIM WEIDER’S PROJECT PERCOLATOR – Release Yourself (2009 Pulse)
CADILLAC JONES – Rhythm Method (2009 Rhythm Method)
JOHN COLTRANE – Equinox (1964 Coltrane’s Sound)
JIMMY CARPENTER – Don’t Believe It (2008 Toiling in Obscurity)

-HOUR TWO –

PAPA GROWS FUNK – Dolemite Returns (2006 Live at the Leaf)
RED ELVISES – I Wanna See You Bellydance (1999 Your Favorite Band LIVE)
PHISH – First Tube (8/1/09 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO)
moe. – Time Ed (2005 Warts & All Volume 4, 7/18/98 Carbondale, IL)
EMORY QUINN – Ships and Planes (2008 the Road Company)
MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD – Sometimes (2001 Stay Human)***
GOOSE CREEK SYMPHONY - Head for the Hills / Will the Circle Be Unbroken (2009 Head for the Hills, c. 1975)

*** As of this writing, wikipedia incorrectly lists www.stayhuman.org as Franti's official site - DON'T BELIEVE IT!

# # #

NATHAN MOORE NEWS

2009-09-24T08:19:00.000-07:00

Santa Feans may remember Nathan Moore from ThaMuseMeant days. Since relocating back east, he's joined forces with The Slip and Marco Benevento to re-form Surprise Me, Mr. Davis, and also continues to release great solo roots records, such as his latest ("Folk Singer," on the Royal Potato Family label). Also check Frogville Records for Nathan's past releases.

Here's a couple of links you can check out to see what he's been up to lately:

A performance of "Hard Times" from the RELIX Magazine offices

And a brand new feature from JAMBASE

Santa Fe loves you, Nathan (^_^)

# # #

IF I HADN'T SEEN IT...

2009-09-22T22:14:00.000-07:00

...I wouldn'ta belieft it. If the Chuck Mead / Felice Brothers / Old Crow Medicine Show combo rolls through your town (and I think I overheard them saying they were going through Arizona next) -- YOU -- MUST -- SEE -- THIS.

I was so transfixed by the amazing, bestial showmanship on the stage tonight, I couldn't even bring myself to break away for a "trip to the loo." For like, 3 hours.

I'm still too shell shocked to make any cogent statements right now, actually.

SEE THIS

You won't be sorry. Forget what other people are saying is worth checking out. This is it. The most authentic, jubilant, visceral, insane, possibly deadly spectacle I've ever witnessed. Their energy level was so off-the-chart I kept thinking they were gonna hurt themselves. If they can keep this up indefinitely, they're definitely on to something.

God bless you all for such a magical night (^_^)

# # #

JAMES FELICE interview posted

2009-09-20T11:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to James Felice for taking time out before hitting the road to speak with me from rural, upstate New York. Thanks to Holland Nix for setting things up and turning me on to The Felice Brothers' "Yonder Is the Clock." It's great stuff.

Listen to the interview HERE

Don't forget they're playing in Santa Fe this Tuesday night (^_^)

# # #

TnJ 086 (9/17/09)

2009-09-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

LITTLE FEAT – Dixie Chicken > Tripe Face Boogie (1978 Waiting for Columbus)
James Felice – Interview part 1
FELICE BROTHERS – Penn Station (2009 Yonder Is the Clock) thefelicebrothers.com
FELICE BROTHERS – Run Chicken Run (2009 Yonder Is the Clock)
James Felice – Interview part 2
OLD CROW MEDICINE SHOW – Alabama High-Test (2008 Tennessee Pusher)
fun. – All the Pretty Girls (2009 Aim and Ignite)
CHARLIE HUNTER – Two for Bleu (2000 Charlie Hunter)

-HOUR TWO-

LETTUCE – Twisted (2002 Outta Here)
TAJ MAHAL – Leaving Trunk (1968 Taj Mahal)
JOE COCKER – The Letter (1970 Mad Dogs & Englishmen)
JIM McPHERSON – Left Out In the Cold (2009 A Promise Kept, c. 1982)
BEN HARPER – Burn One Down (8/18/96 San Rafael, CA)
ZACH DEPUTY – Games (Roll Tonight) (2009 Sunshine) homegrownmusic.net
WIDESPREAD PANIC w/DEREK TRUCKS, SUSAN TEDESCHI, and YONRICO SCOTT – Angels On High (7/12/08 All Good Festival, Masontown, WV) livewidespreadpanic.com

# # #

FELICE BROTHERS interview

2009-09-16T18:13:00.000-07:00

Tune in this Thursday (9/17) to hear Toast's interview with James Felice of The Felice Brothers - then catch The Felice Brothers live at the Santa Fe Brewing Company on Tuesday (9/22). They're on the bill with Old Crow Medicine Show!

# # #

CD REVIEW – PHISH “Joy” – 9/14/09

2009-09-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

PHISH “Joy” – released 9/8/09 - phish.com

It’s been a long time since Phans have had a new studio disc from Fishman & co. Five years, in fact. Of course, a number of those years they weren’t even together anymore – seemingly for good this time.

I haven’t looked as forward to a CD release in a while, and yet rarely have been as disappointed with the release once it was in my stereo.

Of course, it’s arguable that anything so anticipated couldn’t possibly live up to expectations (“Phantom Menace,” anyone?), nor do I mean to say there aren’t some things to love about “Joy,” but it’s not an instant classic like “Rift” or “Billy Breathes.”

Maybe Burlington’s Phinest are merely trying to reclaim territory they already conquered from upstart, would-be usurpers who arose in their absence, but much of the material on “Joy” has a real “been-there, done-that” feel to my ears.

And yet, it’s exactly some of this shopworn material which pleases me the most among these 10 new tracks:

“Kill Devil Falls” recalls one of their earliest radio singles, “Chalk Dust Torture,” from 1992’s “A Picture of Nectar.” It chugs along in a passable rock-n-roll groove and is one of my favorite songs on this disc, yet lacks the ebullience in its execution which compelled me to drop everything and dance, or at least air-guitar, when “Chalk Dust Torture" was heard.

“Time Turns Elastic” certainly manages to masquerade as a classic Phish jam, clocking in at 13 minutes and change, and there’s never been a studio track of that chronological magnitude. But where an early epic like “The Divided Sky” or “Reba” succeeds without the benefit of a rabid audience to fuel its madness, “Time Turns Elastic” seems to merely hint at jams-to-come without ever actually jamming. It’s more akin to the carefully plotted, sprawling suites of Zappa, Rush, or Yes than to a Phish jam, but it certainly has the potential to blow the roof off a venue live, if allowed to breathe.

“Come hide in the herd and float with the flock,” from the anthropomorphic curiosity “Ocelot,” comes off like a quintessential Tom Marshall lyric – maybe a little too quintessential. For the uninitiated, Marshall is to Anastasio as John Perry Barlow is to Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, i.e. he cobbles together the trippy lyrics which make a Phish song so very Phishy when doled out over the psychedelic alchemy of the band’s musical structure (anyone feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). There’ve been many of these kinds of songs in the Phish catalog and, though not nearly as cringingly embarrassing as “Guyute,” from 1998’s “The Story of the Ghost,” it has an undercurrent of Phish going through the motions.

Of course, I’d argue all of Phish’s albums since “Ghost” have had that feeling all the way through, and I’d like to state for the record I think “Joy” is definitely a stronger statement of purpose than any of those. Maybe it’s the burgeoning curmudgeon I find myself becoming in the second half of life, but “Joy” is just oozing with happiness, and it’s not like I don’t get the feeling they’re sincere about it (this is the first album they’ve released without major label backing), it’s just a bit much for me to endure from a Phish album. Wither something akin to the creepiness of “Tweezer,” or the playful menace of “Fee”?

The title track, “Joy,” starts in the same earnest, heartfelt vein as “Waste,” from 1996’s “Billy Breathes,” also produced by Steve Lillywhite – no slouch of a producer, I might add – but quickly veers into a blissful and uninteresting chorus which begs me to turn my frown upside-down. Personally, whenever some twirly-dancing flower child begins orbiting me at a show, it’s usually all I can manage not to punch their lights out.

Honestly, I’ve heard more interesting stuff from the members of Phish during their individual jaunts of the last few years and, while this reunion is not nearly the half-hearted train wreck the last one was (see their clunky read of “Chalk Dust Torture” from SNL at the dawn of their last reunion), I can only hope that this is merely the first toddling step into a brave new Phish world yet to come.

~ Chris Diestler, A.K.A. Toast

TnJ 085 (9/10/09)

2009-09-10T20:53:00.000-07:00

PHRESH PHISH PHRY-UP (^_^)

-HOUR ONE-

PHISH – Ocelot (2009 Joy)
PHISH – Joy (2009 Joy)
PHISH – Kill Devil Falls (2009 Joy)
GOV’T MULE – Frozen Fear (2009 By a Thread)
STEEZ – Trouser Snakes (2009 Creepfunk Crusade) homegrownmusic.net
FOUR FINGER FIVE – Bullets (2007 Four Finger Five)
JOHNNY WINTER – You Done Lost Your Good Thing Now (2009 the Woodstock Experience, c. 1969)

-HOUR TWO-

GRATEFUL DEAD – It Hurts Me Too (2/18/71 Capitol Theater, Port Chester, NY)
LEO KOTTKE – I Yell at Traffic (1995 Live)
CRACKER – Buenas Noches from a Lonely Room (2003 Countrysides)
MiLkDrive – Baby Arm (2009 Live ’09)
EMMITT-NERSHI BAND – Mango Tango (2009 New Country Blues) scifidelity.com
GREG MERRITT’s HEAVY ROAD – Improvisation #4 (2/26/09 Day 2 demo) myspace.com/GregMerrittMusic
PHISH – Time Turns Elastic (2009 Joy)

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TnJ 084 (9/3/09)

2009-09-03T21:07:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

WEEN – A Tear for Eddie (1994 Chocolate and Cheese)
THE FELICE BROTHERS – Chicken Wire > Ambulance Man (2009 Yonder Is the Clock)
THE RADIATORS – River Run (2009 the Lost Southlake Sessions)
KARL DENSON’s TINY UNIVERSE – Brother’s Keeper (part 1) > Brother’s Keeper (part 2) (2009 Brother’s Keeper)
OZOMATLI – Can’t Stop (2007 Don’t Mess with the Dragon)
UMPHREY’s McGEE – Mantis (2009 Mantis)

-HOUR TWO-

GREAT CAESAR’s GHOST – Bertha (2009 Better Off Dead)
RAILROAD EARTH – Railroad Earth (2005 Elko)
CASEY DRIESSEN – Uncontinental Breakfast (2009 Oog)
ROBERT WALTER – Snakes and Spiders (2008 Cure All)
ALLMAN BROTHERS BAND – Desdemona (7/10/04 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO)
THE SUBDUDES – All the Time in the World (2008 Live at the Ram’s Head)
BONERAMA – Funky Miracle (2001 Live at the Old Point)

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SHOW REVIEW - Yonder Mountain String Band 8/29/09, Santa Fe Brewing Company, Santa Fe, NM

2009-08-30T00:34:00.000-07:00

First of all, Ben Kaufmann is a gracious, thoughtful human being. He soldiered on through not one, but two interviews. I am a technical Neanderthal. If you'd like to hear what the second interview sounded like, it will be posted on kbac.com (HERE)

I felt as though there were some things worth repeating from the first (unrecorded) interview, though. Firstly, Kaufmann is 5 months clean and sober, not that he was anxious to be preachy about it - far from it, actually - but he seemed very forthcoming about YMSB and their place in the world. I am truly sorry that his insights were lost to the ravages of technical ineptitude on my part.

Let me just say in summary, because I feel it may be a document to anyone who may write about them in them future, that when pressed to sum up the 4 characters who comprise YMSB, he listed them as follows:

Ben, himself, "The Foundation," which I took to mean "The Roots," as in, without those you have nothing upon which to stand, musically, philosophically, what have you.

Jeff Austin (mandolin), "The Rockstar." Hardly surprising an assessment, as I've seen him play that role happily through many years, despite not being in a rock band.

Adam Aijala (guitar), "The Rock," as in solid, the touchstone which grounds all the madness -- and grounded Ben after a particularly "out there" episode involving multiple shots of tequila. Not that Kaufmann wants to say that anyone out there doing something similar shouldn't be allowed to gauge their own abilities, just that it was, for him, time to rein it back and see whether or not he could perform sober. He admitted it has been, at times, difficult.

Dave Johnston (banjo), "The Mad Genius." Actually, what Kaufmann said was that he reminded him of Keith Richards and that he's written more amazing, groundbreaking material than will probably ever see the light of day. Apparently, Johnston has notebooks full of unrecorded, unreleased, absolutely brilliant material.

As for the show, itself - fun, fun, fun.

Xavier Rudd, the opener, said it best when he said it was like "being at a family barbeque." I didn't take it as an insult (though it may have been meant to be, due to the change of venue from an amphitheatre to a large outdoor patio). It really did have that casual feeling, as if you vaguely thought you actually knew everyone there, but just couldn't quite remember their names.

Carolyn Wonderland and Pigment both seemed good sports about sharing the evening with the displaced Rudd and YMSB, who'd been scheduled for a date at Paolo Soleri Amphitheatre which was, we are told, suffering from severe old age in the plumbing department.

After hearing YMSB rip through the John Hartford number "Up on the Hill Where We Do the Boogie," via Leftover Salmon's arrangement, they had me very nearly from the beginning.

Somewhere in the middle of the show they managed to invent, on the spot, a nice little ditty about changing a string while Dave Johnston restrung his banjo. It seems these guys are so dedicated to the string band art form they each have only one instrument, so all we could do was wait while Jeff Austin regaled us with ad libbed “lyrics” to the string-changing song, teasing Johnston for not being ready because he “never breaks a string.” Austin conceded to a string-breaking tally in the thousands, and told how even Kaufmann had broken a bass string once (in Moscow, ID, for the curious – having grown up near Moscow, I wondered if the gig might’ve been at John’s Alley, a quintessential roadhouse-style dive bar where many amazing up-and-comers have played). Finally, the banjo was restrung and retuned, and the show continued. Maybe I imagined it, but the banjo seemed particularly bright and plucky (no pun intended) for the remainder of the show.

Absolute highlight was their rendition of Frank Zappa's "I'm the Slime." You should be so lucky to hear something this amazing in your lifetime. After Adam Aijala's brain-melting guitar solo, the band seemed a little amazed as well.

I've seen Yonder many times over the years, and listened to many show recordings besides, and they seem to have a whole new show every time I see them. Yes, they played the "Boatman" dance, and yes, I've sat through many a rendition, and it's just impossible for me to resist its charms every time.

But most of the material was new to me, possibly because they just finished a new studio album (one of few in their collective career), and that's one thing I really like about YMSB - like snowflakes, no two shows are even remotely alike.

Kaufmann expressed immense gratitude that the audience seems to be there for their particular brand of jamgrass, which I can't help feeling needs some official moniker to carry it into the annals of music history. I was enjoying the show with an acquaintance from “the south” and it occurred to me that this kind of bluegrass might be a little different from the traditional "Kentucky" style, and I decided to call it "Colorado Bluegrass." The kind Sam Bush (uncrowned "king" of the venerable Telluride Bluegrass Festival) and Benny Galloway (unsung architect of the Colorado folk sound) have been championing for years without getting radio play. Though YMSB are about to release a studio album ("The Show," in September), I suspect their real fans have accumulated through word of mouth on the "Colorado Bluegrass" scene. It's like bluegrass, only without having to apologize for taking you into orbit for a few turns around the planet.

Thank you all for a great show. And if rumors that the opening soundcheck number was Metallica were true, and I missed it, well, sucks to be me.

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LIPBONE REDDING & the LIPBONE ORCHESTRA

2009-08-27T21:33:00.001-07:00

Live from KBAC's Studio 2 on 8/27/09! Thanks to Karen Grossman for setting it up. They are loads of fun live, and you should all book them on your show / at your venue a.s.a.p. (^_^) TOAST

GO HERE TO LISTEN

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TnJ 083 (8/27/09)

2009-08-27T21:21:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

BLACK CROWES – Oh, Josephine (2009 Warpaint Live, 3/20/08 the Wiltern, Los Angeles, CA)
mary and mars – Sloop John B (2004 Live at the Old Blinking Light)
NEW RIDERS of the PURPLE SAGE – Dirty Business (7/29? Or 7/30/06, Turkey Trot Acres, Candor, NY)
NEW RIDERS of the PURPLE SAGE – Higher (2009 Where I Come From)
MIKE STERN – Check One (2009 Big Neighborhood)

-HOUR TWO-

GREYBOY ALLSTARS – Still Waiting (2007 Whatever Happened to Television?)
IVAN ‘FUNKBOY’ BODLEY – A Skunk & A Monkey (2009 Pigs Feet & Potted Meat)
ASSEMBLY of DUST featuring JOHN SCOFIELD – Borrowed Feet (2009 Some Assembly Required)
WIDESPREAD PANIC – Fishing (7/22/03 Paolo Soleri Amphitheatre, Santa Fe, NM)
WILCO – Solitaire (2009 Wilco [the Album])
XAVIER RUDD – No Woman No Cry (2005 Solace)
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND – Elzic’s Farewell > No Expectations (4/28/06 Sunshine Theater, Albuquerque, NM)
NATHAN MOORE – Hard Times (2009 Folk Singer)

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TnJ 082 (8/20/09)

2009-08-20T21:19:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND – Complicated (2009 the Show)
YONDER MOUNTAIN STRING BAND – Too Late Now (4/11/09 the Fillmore, San Francisco, CA)
LED ZEPPELIN – That’s the Way (9/29/71 Osaka, Japan)
SAM BUSH – the Ballad of Stringbean and Estelle (2009 Circles Around Me)
LIPBONE REDDING and the LIPBONE ORCHESTRA – Be Thankful for What You Got (2009 Science of Bootyism)
THE MOTET – Mighty (2009 Dig Deep)
PHISH – Mike’s Song > I Am Hydrogen > Weekapaug Groove (7/30/09 Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Morrison, CO)

-HOUR TWO-

ERIC CLAPTON – Motherless Children (1974 461 Ocean Boulevard)
CHET ATKINS / LES PAUL – Caravan (1977 Chester & Lester)
TINARIWEN – Mataraden Anexan (2001 the Radio Tisdas Sessions)
GOGOL BORDELLO – Dub the Frequencies of Love (2007 Super Taranta!)
FRANK ZAPPA – Drowning Witch (11/3/84 SUNY, Stony Brook , NY)
KYLE HOLLINGSWORTH – Phat Cat (2009 Then There’s Now)
CULTURE – No Night (1997 Trust Me)
BERES HAMMOND – Give It All You’ve Got (2008 A Moment in Time)

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TnJ 081 (8/13/09)

2009-08-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

-HOUR ONE-

ASSEMBLY of DUST featuring MIKE GORDON – Arc of the sun (2009 Some Assembly Required)
GOOSE CREEK SYMPHONY – Number One Gravy Band (2009 Head for the Hills: Special Edition, c. 1975) goosecreeksymphony.com
DAVIS COEN – You Gonna Miss Me (2009 Magnolia Land) daviscoen.com
BEN HARPER – Fight for Your Mind (4/12/98 Biskuithalle, Bonn, Germany)
OZOMATLI – Believe (2004 Street Signs)
STEVE KIMOCK BAND – Better Git Hit in Your Soul (10/28/01 Tipitina’s Uptown, New Orleans, LA)

-HOUR TWO-

JOAN OSBORNE – Dreamin’ About the Day (1996 Early Recordings, c. 1991)
BOB MARLEY & the WAILERS – Stop That Train (10/31/73 the Record Plant, Sausalito, CA)
moe. – Kyle’s Song > Interstellar Overdrive > Brent Black (2008 Dr. Stan’s Prescription, Vol. 1, 3/8/04 moe.cruise) moe.org

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