Garage Set

8/22/2010

Plymouth Studios

"Sometimes you eat the bar and sometimes the bar.........well."

Tonight (the last month actually) certainly feels like the latter. It's been tough days at Chez Jasse and a little musical reprieve was necessary for this strummer.

I made my way down Rt. 3 south, and when I walked into the future home of Fozapalooza all was well with the world.

Foz, Crystal and I caught up with all things Justin, Jennifer and Amanda as well as having a couple of howls recapping the Comedy Central Roast of The Hoff; just some scathing, brutal and hysterical one-liners.

"David, when alcohol does it's taxes it claims you as a dependent." Brilliant.

Well, the teenage lovebirds had claimed the basement for movie-watching so instead of jammin' in the den Crystal suggested that we rock out in the garage. Outstanding suggestion; we can really let 'er rip, have instant access to the outside for pre and mid-show festivities and it was a SPECTACULAR breezy evening. Quasi-outdoor jam it was.

As we were going through our usual rigmarole of what to play first (or some nights what to play at all), I had mentioned to Foz I ran into a guy who was in a band who played Folsom Prison Blues by Senor' Cash. So, leading off the night was a little FPB.

The on-deck circle was occupied by Sweet Virginia by Mick and the boys (which we nailed, I might add) and the 3-hole was Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath (which we also nailed). I stepped up for the clean-up spot for an emotionally relevant Can't You See by Marshall Tucker.

Crystal revealed that this was her single favorite guitar night song (stunned but gracias, gracias). She then started to tell Jeff and I that she played the accordion (news to us) and I made some reference to a squeeze-box and suddenly, thanks to Jeff's never-ending mental collection of chords and lyrics, we found ourselves bangin' out a decent version of the Who's Squeeze Box.

Now I'm here to tell you followers of the Cellar Dwellers (all 5 of you) this next musical lineup was about as good as we get; Jeff just CRUSHED Treehouse by Buffalo Tom and then we slapped on the capos for a TERRIFIC version of Beautiful Wreck by Shawn Mullins-such a good, catchy tune. We ended the first set with an incredible go at The House of the Rising Sun.

Always nice to enjoy the break with a couple of cold ones. Cheers.

Prior to the well-deserved break Crystal had requested some Eagles, so we came back from the reprieve and starred the 2nd set with a nice harmonious version of Take it Easy. The Band's The Weight was next and this tune is either a hit or miss for us and this time it ended up being a pretty solid 'hit'. It was nice to have Crystal's vocals on this one because of all the harmonic nuances; particularly the chorus. Good stuff. On to Blood & Roses by The Smithereens which is quickly becoming a fave of the band.

I had mentioned to Foz in the pre-show that my melancholy state was begging for a little darkness, a little heaviness, a little gloom and despair & that a Floyd medley was in order. Well, you ask the Foz and you shall receive.

We didn't play four, five, or even six. We played eight.

"Eight. 8 Pink Floyd tunes in one night, Renee'.

Breath, Brick in the Wall, Mother, Nobody's Home, Vera, Comfortably Numb, Wish You Were Here, and we wrapped it up with Hey You.

My need for musical darkness was completely and utterly satisfied.

We just ripped Dan Bern's Black Tornado (which Foz just nailed along with nice vocal harmony from Crystal), a FUN, FUN version of Dylan's All Along the Watchtower (good vocal trio on this one) and closed it out with Dead Flowers by Mick & the boys.

Not only a great night musically but one that was good for this strummer's soul.

Thanks to Jeff and Crystal for hosting a muuuch needed strum. Thanks also to Amanda who's movie night in the basement ultimately led us to the garage; which given the tremendous weather that evening turned out to be a great place to jam.

Please enjoy a little audio of Foz's rendition of Black Tornado

All Along the Watchtower-audio

21 Song Salute

6/6/2010
Basically what happened was I called Jeff and said,
"Sorry for the rude self-invite but I need to jam and I'm comin' down."
What is poor Jeff to do but open the doors to the Plymouth studios and crack open some cold ones?
Treehouse by Buffalo Tom lead it all off; one that we had played maybe once before but is sure to become part of the CD's stable of tunes. Hotel California was next followed by a regular Dwellers fave, Ring of Fire.
Michael requested Shawn Mullins' Beautiful Wreck which is another one of those tunes that once you hear/play it's tough to get it out of your head.
We ripped through both Born to Run and This Hard Land by his excellency, Mr. Springsteeen.
We then added to our Rolling Stones repertoire with Sweet Virginia (good good stuff) and then dusted off a classic in Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath. Neil Young's Hurricane was next followed by another Cellar Dweller first; Fake Plastic Trees by Radiohead.
Back to Neil for Powderfinger and then yet another first in Allman Brothers' Sweet Melissa.
Just to we got the somewhat complex strumming right, we went back to Beautiful Wreck and then on to one of my personal recent adds; Blood & Roses by The Smithereens. And then just for good measure, ANOTHER TWO FIRSTS; What's Going On-Four Non Blondes and Me & Julio by Simon & Garfunkle;OUTSTANDING ADDITIONS!
Take it Easy followed and then Michael took the vocals for Petty's Yer So Bad and then back to Jeff and Mr. Young for Cortez the Killer.
We wrapped it up with Runaway Train and of course, Dead Flowers.
All in all, another good way to have a few pops and enjoy the company of good folk. Another fun evening.
Thought I would post a vid of our closing song, Dead Flowers by the Rolling Stones.
Enjoy

6/6/2010 Set list:

1. Treehouse Buffalo Tom
2. Hotel California Eagles
3. Ring of Fire Johnny Cash
4. Beautiful Wreck Shawn Mullins
5. Born to Run Bruce Springsteen
6. This Hard Land Bruce Springsteen
7. Sweet Virginia Rolling Stones
8. Locomotive Breath Jethro Tull
9. Hurricaine Neil Young
10. Fake Plastic Trees Radiohead
11. Powederfinger Neil Young
12. Sweet Melissa Allman Brothers
13. Beautiful Wreck2 Shawn Mullins
14. Blood & Roses Smithereens
15. What's Going On? 4 Non Blondes
16. Me & Julio Simon & Garfunkle
17. Take it Easy Eagles
18. Yer So Bad Petty
19. Cortez the Killer Neil Young
20. Runaway Train Soul Asylum
21. Dead Flowers Stones

Cocaine, hookers and Jack Daniels

6/3/2010
Jeff swung by to watch a little Celts-Lakers, catch-up and play some tunes. The title of this blog came from Michael looking at a very haggard Jack Nicholson on the sideline and quipped to Jeff that,
'He doesn't look like he's going to make past halftime'.
Jeff retorted,
"That's what happens when the last 30 yrs of your life is dedicated to cocaine, hookers and Jack Daniels."
Cheers.
We opened up with an ez-peezee by CCR; Looking Out My Backdoor followed by a nice rendition of Ring of Fire by Senor Cash. A rarity for the 3-hole in My Hour of Darkness by Gram Parsons (not sure if we've ever plated that tune but a good one nonetheless).
Similar E minor/G/D strumming patterns brought us Melloncamp's Rain on the Scarecrow and The Smithereens' Blood & Roses (a tune that when we play I can't seem to get out of my head).
We then strumbled our way through Dan Berns' One Thing Real and realized we desperately need to play with Robert ASAP. We made up for it w/ Dylan's Tangled Up in Blue (been a while on that one) and a newbie from our Rolling Stones song list; Sweet Virginia.
Michael took the vocal helm with Petty's You're So Bad and Foz introduced a newbie to the Dwellers; Treehouse by Buffalo Tom. MJ went back to the mic for Seger's Hollywood Nights and then Foz belted out Dweller fave, Home on the Range. He then had a great time with Springsteen's This Hard Land. We rounded out the evening with Under the Milky Way Tonight by The Church, an appropriate Comfortably Numb by Pink Floyd and ended with of course, Dead Flowers by The Rolling Stones.
A nice way to spend a Thursday evening.
Set list for 6/3/10

1. Looking Out My Backdoor CCR
2. Ring of Fire Johnny Cash
3. My Hour of Darkness Gram Parsons
4. Rain on the Scarecrow Melloncamp
5. Blood & Roses Smithereens
6. One Thing Real Dan Berns
7. Tangled Up in Blue Dylan
8. Sweet Virgina Stones
9. You're So Bad Petty
10. Treehouse Buffalo Tom
11. Hollywood Nights Seger
12. Home on the Range Higley
13. This Hard Land Springsteen
14. Under the Milky Way Tonight Church
15. Comfortably Numb Pink Floyd
16. Dead Flowers Rolling Stones

A Night of Firsts

Fellow Dwellers,
As was noted during our pre-show prep last evening, it had been exactly 3 months since our last strum session. 3 months! We just can't let can't let that kind of time go by in between gatherings. That being said, after a Sunday Valentines Day filled with family, Omaha steaks on the grill and an all girl sleepover with Madison and her cousins, this strummer had a sudden and urgent need to let the girls have their fun whilst getting out of Dodge for a wee bit of playing. So, I texted Foz and pretty much invited myself down to the Plymouth Studios for a rare Sunday evening of tunes. The self-invite was received with open arms and I headed down Route 3 South with guitar in hand.
I arrived in the midst of some drama; Jeff and Justin had been embattled in a wrestling match and an errant elbow had caught Justin right in the kisser. In the eyes of this bystander, no intent on Jeff's part but it could have easily been deemed a flagrant indiscretion. However, the old sandlot rule abides; no blood, no foul. Game on.
Nothing like a little pre-bed ice cream to heal all wounds and that's just what the good Doctor ordered.
As Justin was licking both his bowl and wounds, Amanda came home with boyfriend Tom from her first official Valentines dinner. Sounded like the happy couple enjoyed a whole lotta deep-fried for dinner. Yum.
They immediately proceeded downstairs, overtaking the studio for an evening of young couples only movie-watching; only to be periodically interrupted throughout the night every 7 minutes by concerned but well intended mom, Crystal.
The first-first for the night was yours truly leading off the night at the mic when we had a nice rendition of Accompany Me. Major vocal gaffe aside, it sounded pretty good. We continued with Seger with Foz leading us in the always fun, Hollywood Nights. Foz continued with CCR's Looking Out My Backdoor which led right into a terrific version of Neil Young's Powderfinger-a song that Jeff just nails and is quickly becoming a CD's favorite. We continued with Neil by performing a solid version of Long May You Run.
The 3 month lapse reared it's rust with Bad Company's Shooting Star- where due to a near complete loss of vocal recall, it almost became our first completely acoustic song in our repertoire. We then revived our selves with a first for the Dwellers, Beautiful Wreck by Shawn Mullins. A tune that once you hear just remains implanted in your head for days-good stuff.
Springsteen's Highway Patrolman was next followed by a requested Take it Easy. Once the requests started flowing, the unthinkable happened. Amanda broke the silence from the darkened basement with a pleading cry for Dead Flowers. Jeff and I stood dumbfounded; Dead Flowers? Now? Can we do that? What would we close with? We almost had to call an emergency meeting of the CD board of directors (whoever that is) to decide if this was completely against established CD protocol. But we chose to give into the fans and we rocked it as usual.
Well, a mid-set version of Dead Flowers prompted a slew of firsts:
Jeff, introduced us to a tune he hadn't played in 10 years; Jethro Tull's Locomotive Breath. I didn't see that one coming but it was great-fun tune to play. We then turned to Mr Cash for Ring of Fire and a newbie-Folsom Prison Blues. Soul Asylum's Runaway Train was next followed by (get this):
Science Fiction Double Feature (the intro song to Rocky Horror Picture Show), In Your Eyes by Peter Gabriel and Sister Golden Hair by America.
Wow! Did NOT see those coming! Good stuff.
I jumped back in front of the mic for Marshall Tucker's Can't You See and Foz closed the night out by taking lead vocals on Jonathan Edwards' The Shanty and Dylan's All Along The Watchtower.
All in all twenty songs were belted out (also a first for the Dwellers) and an excellent way to spend a Sunday evening with friends.
2/14/2010 Set List:

1. Accompany Me Seger
2. Hollywood Nights Seger
3. Looking Out My Backdoor CCR
4. Powderfinger Neil Young
5. Long May You Run Neil Young
6. Shooting Star Bad Compamy
7. Beautiful Wreck Shawn Mullins
8. Highway Patrolman Springsteen
9. Take it Easy Eagles
10. Dead Flowers Rolling Stone
11. Locomotive Breath Jethro Tull
12. Ring of Fire Johnny Cash
13. Folsom Prison Blues Johnny Cash
14. Runaway Train Soul Asylum
15. Sci Fic Double Feature Richard O'Brien
16. In Your Eyes Peter Gabriel
17. Sister Golden Hair America
18. Can't You See Marshall Tucker Band
19. Shanty Jonathan Edwards
20. All Along the Watchtower Dylan