THANKS AGAIN BILL!!!!!!!

Almost twice as many players this year compared to last year. Looking forward to the next one already, and I have a year to practice! (I gotta get me a BIAB!)

It was a record turnout of steelers for SJ jam #6, and great music was wafting about from about 10:30 in the morning to nearly 6pm. Lunch break, at about 12:30, lasted well over an hour as everybody seemed to be getting into socializing more than at any of the previous five SJ jams. That was gratifying, since some attending steelers don't get to see each other for extended periods.

My thanks to the following:

* Jim Baron, who was there even before I was (before 9am) with his laptop, BIAB, and PA system. Jim is the BIAB king, and was an absolute staple at the event. I gave his PA setup a rest that day by holding down the fort with my 25 year old Pioneer 100W receiver and a pair of Boston Acoustics CR-9 bookshelf speakers that managed to do ok filling the rooms with sound. (The speakers, small as they are, are visible up high in the group photo seen here.

* Bobby (b0b) Lee, for being a co-equal in BIAB support. Bob brought his Mac laptop and shared in supplying the jam with accompaniment tracks. Solid work, as usual.

* Pat Ickes and his wife Debbie, for lending us a PC projector. For some reason, it wouldn't talk to Jim's laptop, so we spared it the wear and tear of the day (it couldn't hook up to b0b's laptop because of connector incompatibility).

* The informal clean-up helper crew of Charlie Wallace, Steve Benzian, Dave Zirbel, and Larry Chung (did I miss anybody??). They vacuumed and set up the rooms for the next day's Sunday activities, relieving me of some of my usual post-jam work. Thanks, guys!

* All participants, without whom there would be no jam.

* Did I forget anybody else?

Maybe I should make this a biannual event, one in April and one in October? Any comments?

[This message was edited by Bill Llewellyn on 24 April 2005 at 10:02 PM.]

Thanks for arranging this again this year. I really appreciate the work you put in to make this happen. It was a wonderful group of guys, and some really great players! Thanks again.

Jim Hankins
Steve Benzian
John O'Neill
Dave Zirbel
Mark Eaton
Charlie Wallace
Bobby Lee
Tom Cooper
Al Vescovo
Jim Baron
Doug Laurece
Douglas Berry
Henry Brooks
Chris Unterseher
Boyd Potts
Don Gage
Sina Gegu *
John Jacob
Joe Padilla
Herman Visser
Bob Kout
David Phillips
Steve French
Johnnie Robbins
Larry Chung
Patrick Ickes
Todd Clinesmith
Mike Perlowin

(* forgive my spelling if it's wrong)

A few missed the sign-in sheet (Pete Grant, others?).

2 MSA Classic S12s
1 MSA Millinim D-10
1 Mullen D-10
1 ZB Custum D-10 (guess who)
2 Excel Supurb s14s
1 Sierra S-8
1 Fulawka D-10 (R.Davis' old Blue Darlin')
2 Carter s12s
1Carter s10
1 B & B s10 (?)
1 Fender 400 S8
2 Ricky lap steel (a 6 and a 7 string)
1 Supro lap 6 string
a few resophonics-Clinesmiths and National
1 Kline S12
1 Emmons S10
1 Dekley S12
1 Williams D-12
1 Fessy D11-12
1 EMCI D-10

Those Ricks and the Fender were going through tubes and sounded KILLER!

Sorry guys, I'm slow at work today.

DZ

I just got back into lap and dobro playing a couple of years ago after many years of dormancy and one thing I really picked up from the jam is that I need to invest in Band In A Box software. Thanks to Big Jim and Bobby Lee for having that thing so together. I took a dobro workshop last year in Sacramento from Jimmy Heffernan (Pete Grant and Brad Bechtel were there for that one) and Jimmy told us we really need to get BIAB-and now I know why. It's too bad Pat's projector didn't work out because it really would have helped an amateur like myself follow the changes on some of those songs I have never heard of, let alone have never played. I'm already thinking of putting together a dobro/acoustic steel jam with the circle of players and the BIAB concept.

It didn't slow down the pro guys though. I was in awe of the talent in the room. It helped remind me that pedal steelers are some of the world's best musicians and have incredible intellectual knowledge of music in terms of theory and understanding the fret board. A lot of you guys didn't skip a beat when it came to playing around all those oddball chords-various 9ths, 13ths,minor 7th flat fives-and whatever else there was!

Al Vescovo-you were blowing me away-this guy must have been born with a steel in one hand and picks on the other-you look like you are completely relaxed behind that Excel-and what a great sounding guitar. Have a great time on your next tour of Japan!

I'm glad Todd Clinesmith came with Pat and some of you could check out his dobros-and I'm happy some of you were able to play mine. A lot of you hard core pedal guys that don't usually play dobro would fall in love with it if you got a nice instrument. That's cool that David Phillips has one of Todd's early guitars.

Now I know what all the fuss is about among the lap players in regard to those old Rickenbacker Bakelites. Charlie and Todd's sounded incredible.

All the outstanding pedal guitars in the room-I really need to get past my fear of the "learning curve" and take the plunge. Like I said after one of the mournful, sad songs-I was ready to burst into tears!

Thanks so much Bill for putting this together-I really appreciate it, and thanks Dave Z. for letting me plug into your amp-except following you on every song put an awful lot of pressure on me-that was cruel!

[This message was edited by Mark Eaton on 25 April 2005 at 11:24 AM.]

I'm all for a bi annual steel jam. Just say when and I'll cancel my gig.

b0b, you really sounded great on C6. I wish I would have chickened out on Secret Love like Mike P.

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Dave Zirbel-
ZB Custom D-10 8 x 5, S-12U Kline 7 x6, Dobro Cyclops reissue, 1967 Fender Telecaster, Webb 6-14E, Fender Super Reverb, PV NV112
The Mother Truckers
The Cowlicks

quote:

---

at least you didn't get stuck following Pete G. like I did many times!

---

At one of the first So Cal jams, I got stuck following J.D.

Nice to meet and listen to many new players....very friendly group.

Look forward to the next jam.....!!

Here are a few of the tunes played:

Release Me
Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain
Secret Love
Farewell Party
Crazy Arms
Rocky Top
Deep Water
I Just Destroyed the World
Panhandle Rag
Waltz Across Texas
Cheatin Heart
Together Again
All Of Me
Coconut Grove
Sweet Georgia Brown
Blues-different keys and tempos

[This message was edited by Steve Benzian on 28 April 2005 at 09:34 PM.]

I think I'll aim for another jam in October. So polish up your favorite axe, change your amp's tubes (if it's got 'em), wipe down them strings, and practice your chops.

Also.....

In addition to the still photos I took that day, I shot about 1/2 hour of video. I'm piecing it together into a DVD that I hope to make available to whoever wants it. But first I'll send out an email asking if there are any objections (that is for anyone who wants to be edited out). But no real worries on the content, I plan on deleting any real train wrecks. And being the photographer, none of my lackluster pickin' got taped, thank goodness! (On second thought, maybe I should have had somebody tape me for the humor element.)

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My Website..... www.cmedic.net/~almarcus/