Sunday, September 6, 2009

Feel like Jammin'

We've been blessed to jam with so many friends over the years, but I was thinking the other day, who would I love to have jam with us. Several came to mind, but many of whom you might not have heard. I guess I should, first of all, point out the etiquette of jamming. The unwritten rule is that a picker/singer should NEVER invite themselves. One should only do it if the band invites them. We have so many folks who invited themselves to jam with us. A few promised that they were "great" singers or players, and of course were either lying or thought they were so much greater than they were. Sooooooo....rule of thumb....if I don't know you or have heard you.....don't ask....it's in bad taste anyway. Here's a few who have an open invitation:

I thought of Paul Size of The Red Devils. Now the Red Devils flamed out a long time ago, but in their time, they were awesome. Size was "The Kid." The Red Devils go back to LA in the time of one of my favorite bands from that era, The Blasters. In fact, I think the drummer used to be in the Blasters.



There's always a place on our bandstand for Lou Ann Barton, and/or the great Derek O'Brien. I actually met O'Brien once and he was awesome. He told me, "any friend of Snooky's (Pryor) is a friend of mine!"



I've been blessed to play Eddie Pennington's festival in Princeton and have known him for years. He's such a dear person, but dang it, I've never hauled him up onstage with us, even though Alonzo, his son (another extremely talented picker) has jammed with us. Eddie's is at least 200% more talented than I'll ever be and such a dear soul. Several years ago, at the Chicago Blues festival, at Andy's Jazz Club, Dave Spector's drummer came up to me and started talking and when he found out I was from Western KY, the first thing he asked me was, "Do you know Eddie Pennington?" Whenever someone asks me, "Who's the beat guitar player in Western Kentucky, I don't hesitate...Eddie."



Also, Eddie's buddy, whom I've never had the pleasure to meet: Tommy Emmanuel.



I think jammin' with Nick Curran would be a hoot!



Gosh, I'd love to jam with Hubert Sumlin. I met him once and he's such a nice person, along with being a legendary player!



I can't leave out my fellow Gibson Countian, Scotty Moore. One of my biggest thrills was when he signed my guitar!



There are so many more. I love jamming and I love spontaneity. To me, that's what music is all about.

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