Rennie Neubecker: News & Updates

Man Oh man. We now are into our third (can ya believe it) year of LexJam II Unplugged herein after referred to as LJ II Unp.,and it is wonderful to report that we had the best season opener yet. Yea I know its only our Third (did I say that already) season. but the number of musicians was outstanding. Normally The February LJ II Unp. will net 3-5 musicians including your humble host, but this year we had like a dozen or so. I don't know but I think sometimes I might be one of the luckiest people alive. I get to hear a lot of great music every month that most people wont get a chance to hear, unless of course they come down to LJ II Unp. Now, yes, You can hear a lot of these musicians out on the town, which is a good thing because that means you are supporting live music, but I'm talking on a larger scale, a larger audience. I get to hear all these musicians playing their original music, and it just keeps getting better. There are so many indie artists out there and some of the finest make it to LJ II Unp. Unfortunately there are a few people out there that still don’t get it. Fear of the unknown I guess.
For example, I have a buddy that always says ,"hey cant we hear some "Dust in the Wind'? And I say,"yes we can & most likely will, but why"? Yes we'll hear some cover tunes, and I'm in no way bashing Kansas, or any other mainstream artists', I like Kansas, but you can turn on any classic rock radio station & hear "Dust in the Wind', etc. I keep trying to impress on my friend that there is Soooo much good music out there,(that can't be heard on mainstream radio, just yet),just as good as the ol "Dust in the Wind', some even better, that you are cheating yourself by not looking for the indie & singer/songwriter stuff that is out there. And that is one of the main points of LJ II Unp. to bring you really good kickin tunes that you might not hear anywhere else. I say "might not", 'cause we all [as artists] hope to get some air time somewhere. And if you pay attention you just might here it out there somewhere. I know I get a charge when I hear something I've written on the airwaves. So yes, you will hear a balance of mainstream acoustic music but you will also hear some really good original stuff and the only place to get such a variety is at one of the LexJam sessions. Or on WRFL 88.1 FM. But I digress.
SO what do we have to report about on such a neat event?
We will start with the all important kudos to the folks who do so much to help produce LJ II Unplugged. In the order they fell in of course. First off Grover Mollineaux and Steve Knopka, AKA FUZZY. Thanks for the help getting set up & especially your ears in getting the sound tweaked in as we know it a challenge getting the board set in the environs of Lexington Center. Also want to give a big thanks to Steve (again), & Rich Coffield for all the help doing tear down. Its a big job for one person but only takes 'bout a half hour when you have three guys doing it. Good job men.
Ok, now instead of trying to break down every set every musician played, I will let you know who they were & say a few kind words about them. Not to mention the fact that I have been trying to get this update done for 2 1/2 weeks now, 5 or 6 sentences a day!
First we will start off with Grover. Grover always brings a lot of original easy listening music to our stage & has 1 CD out (Just Me)& working on the 2nd. Everybody loves Grover & you can find more @ www.groversmusic.com.
Of course Fuzzy, was there to back EVERYBODY up with his skillful harp playing. We always encourage Fuzzy to join us and look forward to seeing him pop up in various music venues around town.
Ok as has been the pattern Donovan "Big D" Howard showed up for the first LJ II UNP of the year to play some of his original country/folksy/gospely songs, cover a few tunes & back up our next to be mentioned guests. We hope to see more of Big D this year & anticipate his return.
At the urging of Big "D", we also had Mr. Joe Lemay & Sherri Reese Jump on board. Joe & Sherri came all the way from Burnside Ky,armed with guitar & banjo. They treated us to some of their original bluegrass & gospel music as well as some traditional tunes. Joe & Sherri, have a record out called,"Cumberland Rose'. I have been listening to this CD and really get a laugh every time I listen to "Make Them Chickens Fly",and they have a stamp certifying that "No chickens were injured during the recording of this CD". Priceless! We also hope to have Joe & Sherri grace the LexJam II stage again. It was also nice to have some of the bluegrass music back in the line up considering that Bluegrass was a huge part of getting LexJam II off the ground in the beginning & that it has been a bit scarce lately.
Next up we had our young musician of the month in Mr. Slade Warnken. Slade is 12 years old & played 2 songs for us. 2 original songs I might add. Slade absolutely kicked it on the guitar & vocals. This young man has an extraordinary vocal range & his guitar skills are beyond most his age. I facebooked his guitar teacher Paul Felice to thank him & David McLean for sending this type of talent our way & his words were, and I quote "That kid is a MONSTER on stage, and his dad's no slouch, either". I hope to get his dad Travis(I believe), to join us at one of these LJ II UNP's. Travis, Slade, Please come back! Special note to David & Paul: Please keep sending this kind of talent our way.
Also making a reappearance to the LJ II stage was Mr. Sam Wooden. Sam is a killer country singer & can cover just about anyone in country music, but really wows the crowd with his original country music. Sam's songwriting prowess & guitar playing, coupled with his POWERFUL voice commands attention wherever he plays & now has a full band known as the Urbane Gentlemen. ANY chance you get to hear these guys will be an evening well spent. I promise. Really, check them out, you'll thank me. Also want to thank Adam, Sam's lead guitar player for coming out to jump in with Sam & bless my Martin' by virtue of using it.
Ok last but in NO way leastRich Coffield was on board to engage us with a set or two, of his covers and an original or two. Rich is always a welcome guest in any lineup. What, with his guitar playing skills and all. This young man adds a distinguishable element anywhere he plays.
So here it was. The first installment of LexJam II Unplugged, for 2010. And what a grand time it was. I'll wrap up this summery & finally get it posted.
Mark McKinley has the pictures posted at the LexJam website, so be sure to check them out & I will have some posted here soon. I'll also have more news soon. And fill you in on some of the things going on between the forces of dark & light that shape my world. Til then & as always...

TTYS,

Rennie
P.S. As of this posting, we are still searching for a March venue.

Ok I really am almost finished with the Season opener of LexJam II Unplugged report. I will also explain why this one is so late. Please bear with me. I'm still here.

Rennie

We'll get to that, but for now. I'll be shootin some e-mails your way. More importantly we have the start of our 3rd year of LexJam II Unplugged coming up quickly. February 6th, as a matter of fact. So lets all make this one the biggest year yet. Hey, this year should bring opportunities to many local musicians, with the Equestrian Games' coming up. See ya down town if I don't talk to ya sooner.

Rennie,

P.S. Stay tuned here for the next week for updates on LexJam II Unplugged!!!

Ok, so it's about 5:30 sun is going down, 24 deg, snow showers & flurries. Time to get loaded up & set up at GOSHINS TAVERN for the second annual "Holiday" edition of the Jamily Reunion series of musical events. So the Son & me, we git er loaded up & Down to the tavern. Set up takes us about an hour for the main stuff, then it's back to the house for an expertly prepared dinner of leftover Christmas Lasagna & salad. And I will add it was really tasty. 7;00 finds us back at Goshins, and finishing the setup, ya know, mic's, sound check, that kinda thing.
Getting close to 8:00, musicians are showing up, listeners are showing up. This is looking good. & it turns out to be just that & Better.

Yes the 2009 holiday edition of Jamily Reunion was a great success. Without trying to break down the sets & how they played out, I'll give a brief overview & do some name dropping.

When we got back there after dinner Kevin Smith was already there waiting and anticipating a good night of music.Being a well respected musician in the area, Kevin also has a nice studio setup, in which I am doing a good portion of recording for my next record. Kevin will set in with most of the rotations for most of the evening, but still able to get enough breaks to keep his beer cold, an occasional smoke & mingle with some of the people in the audience.
Door swings open, and in, blown in in a rush of cold air its Tom Cool & Peter Griffen, I call him the "Family Guy', or maybe it should be the "Jamily Guy'!
I don't waste much time getting things going. Matter of fact I get the evening started with 2 or 3 songs, then immediately start getting the talent thats mounting up on stage. After all With Tom Cool & Peter Griffen in the house, you have 2/3rds of The Cooligans. So we get Kevin, Tom & Peter up & they start into some awesome jamming with a bluesy rockin overtone that sets the mood for the next few hours. During the early part of this, the next cold breeze blows in Rich Coffield, you know of the Slagsmiths, solo artist/performer/singer/songwriter & also a big supporter of LexJam II Unplugged. With Rich up on stage, we now have 4 awesome musicians putting it through the wires. The crowd is enjoying the sounds & I your humble host, am running around like crazy trying to make sure the sound is good, record the event, schmooze with the crowd & find out what other musicians are here to join the fun.
Sheila Smith owner of Goshins, points out a young lady setting at a table with a gentleman & says, Thats Lady & her husband Tim, and that, Lady wants to get up & sing a few. Thats cool, and speaking of cool, Tom Cool,remember Tom Cool, we spoke of him earlier, Tom points out a young man setting at another table. this turns out to be none other than Dan Hill, an area singer/songwriter, oh and another COOLIGAN! Yup thats right we now have one of the many complete incarnations of the COOLIGANS right here for the Jamily Reunion. Wow...

So yes we get Lady up to do a little Motown & a few other tunes And a bit later her husband Tim. I should mention here that Lady & Tim are part of the local dance scene with their band, a local dance band.I'll get back with the name...

We also had another gentleman whose name eludes me at the moment, come up & sing. I'll get back to you on that too...
The rotations were to numerous to mention, but everyone mentioned here played with everyone else at some point that evening. Weather it was Dan Hill leading an ensemble, or the Cooligans proper, or with the added enhancements that Kevin & Rich added, or Tim jumping in on some of the other songs later, there was quite a variety of music to be had. Matter of fact my only regret is that I was so busy with sound, recording, coordinating & schmoozing, I only got to play (I think), a total of about 5 songs. Really had planned on more but "so much music,so little time'. I was also trying to teach a bit about the boards to my son, who is mildly interested in sound engineering. Hey another aspect to look at on this particular session is, I advertised the gig from 7:30 til about 11:00. Now I knew it would probably go longer, as the holiday jams usually do. However it was a pleasant surprise when we went to almost 12:30. I have lotsa audio to go through & have been so busy the last couple of weeks that I have only listened to about 15 minutes of the 4+ hours. Cant wait til I hear it all & start to put together a CD from this year & last!

So again a HUGE THANKS to all the fine musicians that came out.Tom Cool, Rich Coffield, Dan Hill, Kevin Smith, Peter Griffen, Lady, Tim, that other guy & anybody else I might have forgotten. Hey, we were ALL a little foggy by the end of the night.
A special thanks to Shelia Smith for giving us a place to hone our craft.
Also thanks to Ryan Pennywitt, for the help with setup, tear down & helping run sound. And thanks to my daughter-in-law, Holly, for also helping teardown.

I also wanna thank my good friend Dan French for coming out & bringing some friends. I only wish I would have played a few more songs from my upcoming record for you guy's.

So there you have it in a nutshell. Another great holiday edition of Jamily Reunion. In the books. I'll let you know when the CD's done. It will be awhile though.
Go check out the photo page. I put a few pics up from this kick a** event.

Rennie
P.S. Remember to click on the pics to enlarge, or click the first one & it will do a slideshow. Now Git!

I'm hoping to get that news post up this weekend concerning the Jamily Reunion. The pics also. Sorry its taking so long. A lot has been going on.

TTYS

Ren

The Jamily Reunion @ Goshins was a Huge, Huge HUGE, success. Thanks to all the musicians & listeners alike for making this event the biggest jam ever at Goshins Tavern. Cant wait to get the CDs made. I'll have news & pics, on this event coming soon.

Ok tonights the "Jamily Reunion" at Goshins Tavern come on out to a warm bar, hot food & Ice cold beer... See you at the JAM!

6 days and counting, til "JAMILY REUNION'. C'mon out folks @ Goshins Tavern on the 28th.
I know your wondering where the news & You Tube links have been, but, I lost my whole HVAC system at the beginning of the month, got a funky cold right after that, but mostly Wifey has been pretty sick for the last couple of months. So... taking care of her IS priority ONE. We did get some promising news from her test results, so I'm hoping for a course of treatment that will get her back to aces soon.
Should be back in the studio next week to continue on my project.
I'll have more news to post soon & sneak another retro You Tube link for ya. Hint: A wintry & slightly sad ballad by what was one of my dads favorite singer / songwriters from the 50's & 60's.
I'll also have a recap on how the "JAMILY REUNION' Goes for those who are to far away to make the trek. But hey, If you got frequent flier miles stacked up, then by all means come on down to the Lex. for the event.
Matter of fact since it's Christmas, eve,eve,eve, I'll play Santa & give you that "You Tube' link now...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2fyFumisiU Hope you enjoy it. I'm not gonna tell you this time who it is. You'll just have to follow the link.
Ok hope you got all your Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, etc. shopping done. Be safe out there & please help anyone you can.
And to the folks on my blast e-mail list, I'll be sending out a few reminders for the 28th.
Ok 'nuff for now It's SLEEPY Time...

Nite,

Rennie

LexJam II Unplugged Rocks. Yup thats what I heard. Heard it on the multitracker. Heard Rich Coffield say it. Must be true. If the response from those who stopped to listen or stop too play has an ounce of weight, then yes LexJam II Unplugged ROCKS. The season finale of LexJam II Unplugged (herein after referred to as LJ II or LJ II UNP), had a great cross section of singer songwriters. The events being held in Lexington Center also contributed to a revolving cross section of listeners throughout the afternoon. I am excited about the future of LexJam II Unplugged in that, at the beginning of the season I was worried how this year would go. Why? Well because if you read my news article In March @ www.lexjam.com (LexJam II Unplugged: 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY), you noticed I touched on the fact that the last 2 months of LJ II were kind of slow. Now we did have enough Musicians & music to fill the time slot, but it was on the lean side. The audience participation was very lean those last two months. I'm talkin lean as beef jerky. We did have some listeners, but... So it was decided to take the holiday break. So starting the year I had some concerns. However those concerns were quickly abated when the year started falling together. We have had a consistently good turnout this year for every jam. This, I believe, pleases the music gods greatly. So lets talk about the final session of the year.

Getting there early, I had to navigate the crowd waiting to board busses, going to the UK football game. They stage the busses there & take hoards of folks to the stadium for these home games. it's always funny the looks I get when I pull up on to the sidewalk. I'm sure at first that the people must think, "'who the heck is he? He needs to wait in line like everyone else". "S'cuse me folks,not here to cut in line. Here to unload the nucleus of my universe, the PA system for the loveliness that is LexJam II Unplugged! ."When you guys all get back from the game, we'll still be here just inside. Come in and make the perfect end to you day downtown". Enough digressing.

So, I get unloaded & the first person to show up & help with setup Is Grover Mollineaux. Now, Grover is becoming a regular at LexJam II Unplugged & thats a good thing. Anyhoo, Grover is helping me with mic. placement & running cables, I look up "oooh goody". Here comes more help. Rich Coffield of The Slagsmiths is also here to help. I always like when Rich shows up to play & even more when he gets there early to help. Rich has a really great ear & knows the sound system inside out, so he gets the sound check job when there. So first of all I want to give a big THANKS to these to fine gentlemen for all the help. I mean this particular LJ II UNP has another dimension to it. We are recording today. Trying to capture some more of these sessions for an eventual CD release of LJ II's, greatest moments. We are hoping to do the same with regular LexJam also. So as you can see, it's almost like setting up two different sound systems. Hmmm, actually it IS setting up two different sound systems.

So with everything tweeked & ready to go,I kick ff the show with "Sun Up 2 Sun Down", the instrumental fingerstyle tune I wrote for my first CD. This is the theme tune for LJ II Unp. Then I do my announcement speil, giving props to WRFL 88.1 FM, Doo Wop Shop, etc. Do a few more tunes then its time to get Grover up on stage. Grover, as always, entertains us with his killer originals from his first CD Just Me. Like, Kentucky Quarter Moon,and others.Grover also did a cover or two, like, Arlo Guthries, City of New Orleans. And this was just Grovers FIRST set. Next it was Richs' turn. Rich is also a songwriter & cover artist. Rich gave us several tunes including a cover of John Prines' Paradise. I came up & backed rich on the chours. Hey, it's Prine, I'm gonna get involved if I can.Rich has this unique gravelly voice that’s cool to listen to & draws you into his world. Which may or may not be a Big-Ol-Goofy-World. (Prine, I mean pun intended)!

Next up all the way from Corydon, In. we have Katie & Matt. That is Katie Toupin & Matt Myers. A folk duet That is hitting the coffee shop circuit pretty heavy in the Southern Indiana / Louisville area. They came on strong with some covers of Gillian Welch, The Beatles, Jack Johnson as well as some of their originals. They have a wide variety of music, mixing blues, classic rock, folk & jazz style. Their music includes original material by both Katie and Matt. One of their originals in the first set was Norma Jean. You can find this cut at their MySpace website: http://www.myspace.com/katietoupin. This again shows that LJ II Unplugged is growing. They came to Lexington Just to do the LexJam sessions, & again, a feather in the LexJam cap.

Then it is time to welcome the return of John Forgey. John Blazes the acoustic guitar & has absolutely put his own footprint on his style. John treated us to some great instrumental stuff & did a cool Zepplin medley as well. It was time for Grover to come back up & do a few more originals from his next record, (yet to be named). No thats not the name of his next record, he just hasn’t named it yet silly! Anyway he did “Going Up” & “Going Gone”,
Rich came up to back him on “Going Gone”, and for someone who never heard or rehearsed this song before, he did a KILLER job of throwing some backing leads into this song. It is an instant classic for me. Of course this is my humble opinion & yes there is such a thing as “backing leads”,for those of you in Athens. I know it sounds kinda oxymoronic.

The next hour or so saw us all rotating in various incarnations on stage except that when Katie & Matt came back up they were joined By Adam A.W.O.L.. Now Adam is the front man for Slackjaw, and the sound man for Scott Said & Backroads. So he joins in with Katie & Matt on”Steal My Kisses’, then leads them on some of his own bluesy tunes he wrote like: “Gotta Do what I gotta do’ amongst others. So their up there doing their thing and I see this young lady dancing her way through the Food Court, heading our direction. So of course I, the humble host have to engage her in conversation, as see is obviously into what shes hearing. So after quick introductions, she tells me that she just called her boyfriend Spencer. She says “Spencer’, is on his way to the pawnshop to get his guitar & come down & play. Hey, don’t say nothing, I remember my old Epiphone PR 250, used to be in & out of the pawnshop so much, It didn’t know where to call home. Doesn’t seem like that long ago really.

So after Katie & Matt do some more covers & some more of their own originals, I see a young man coming through the door with a guitar. This must be Spencer. It is. We got Spencer up there the next break. After lengthy tune up, Spencer treated us to about 15 minutes of cool instrumental stuff and I think he was improving most of it on the fly. So wow what an afternoon so far eh? Where’d the time go. So with about half an hour remaining I set out to do a few more songs that I just knew I had to get in there. “Lord Wont’Ch Guide Me’, (from my upcoming record), “Like A Rock’, a song I learned after I carried a close friend to his grave. It was his favorite song of all, and I get awesome response with my version, which is true to the original with my folksy flair added. Now its time to get Katie, Matt & Spencer to help me close out the afternoon with,”Wagon Wheel’ & ”Knockin on Heavens Door’, both Dylan tunes, the former being best known as one of Old Crow Medicine Shows biggest hit covers. So yes Its been a great year for LexJam II Unplugged, and I cant wait til next year. Matter of fact, I just got off the phone a little while ago, with Caroline Puterbaugh, And I should have the February & March dates, by the middle of next week. Yeaaa..

So this leads me to where I want to give the thank yous to all of the following people.

First of all Lexington Center & Caroline Puterbaugh, for with out Caroline & Lexington Center we would have no place to play. I want to thank The other folks who work for Lexington Center, James,Jerry, etc. for always having tables, chairs & everything they need to do, ready to go when I get there. You guys don’t know what this means to me in regards to me getting my stuff unpacked & set up as quickly as possible.
Next up I want to thank two people doing a lot behind the scenes. Though they have not been upon stage,yet. I expect we’ll see them on stage at some point next year. Eric Hutchens & Mylinda Dockery, Mylinda has been coming to LJ II UNP, as of late & supports what we are trying to do for the area. You can find her link on my link page & I have talked about the Music Institute of Lexington here before. Mylinda is the founder & executive director of the Music Institute. Eric has done so much to support us including helping me with setup / teardown on many occasions. Erics daughter, Serena plays fiddle & has played LexJam II on several occasions. Eric is also a luthier & did a nice job fixing up my Martin DM.
As always Mark & Tammy McKinley, For piloting the LexJam website, & all the photography, and their help with setup / teardown.

Ok so now I’ll give thanks to all the musicians who came out this year to play at LexJam II Unplugged:
as I mentioned:
Serena Hutchens
Blakeley Berger
Almira Fawn
Tom Cool
Mark Taylor
Donavan “Big D” Howard
David Price
Tom Grafton
Tony Jasper
Steve “Fuzzy” Knopka
Sam Wooden
Madalyn Boy
Jerry Belsak
Matthew Connery
Rich Coffield
Brett Higgins
Grover Mollineaux
Michael Anderson
John Forgy
Jennifer Forgy
Katherine Peppiatt
The guys from Transy University (Who left before I could get their names)
Katie & Matt (Katie Toupin, Matt Myers)
Adam A.W.O.L.
Spencer (last name unknown)
A few guys from the Hope Center And maybe a few others that drifted through.

Wow. Pretty impressive huh? So we have had quite a few folks come down & play. Most of these people show up time & again, and for that your humble host is most appreciative. Please, please, if I left anyone out, LET ME KNOW, so I can get you posted here. Also If you find any inaccuracies in my reporting, please bring them to my attention ASAP, so I can get them corrected.
A lot of these fine musicians have their own websites & MySpace pages. You will find them sprinkled through out my news updates & some on my LINKS page.

One last time, THANK YOU, to everyone for making our second year of LexJam II Unplugged a huge success. See you in February LexJam II wise.
Keep checking here for news of what I’m doing & how my record is coming along & who I’m out there bringing music to the masses with. See you out & about.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I think you just found out one of the big things I’m thankful for.

TTYS,

RENNIE
P.S. I have a handful of pics posted here, but go to lexjam.com to see a large gallery of pics from the Season Finale.

Ok It's here. The season finale of LexJam II Unplugged. We have a large lineup of talent headed our way tomorrow. Katie & Matt. A folk duet from Corydon In. Headed our way to promote their New Music, the return of Grover Mollineaux, singer/ songwriter from Lexington, Ky. John Forgy of Languid Blue & acoustic guitar blazer. Rich Coffield Yet another killer singer/songwriter/band leader, & the backbone of the SlagSmiths,
also the possible return of killer singer /songwriter Sam Wooden. Steve "Fuzzy' Knopka on Harmonica. Eric Hutchens, Luthier, and playing guitar with us next year. Man! I just cant wait. I say that & before I know it it'l be over & all I'll have are, GREAT MEMORIES TO SHARE with all of you through my up dates here , pic's, My Facebook & A nice round up post @ lexjam.com. I just hope to get all the songs in I want to play??1!!
See you tomorrow and beyond that...Stay tuned...

Your Humble Host,

Rennie

Another great LexJam II Unplugged has passed. What a great time.
The October session was held inside of Lexington Center, because of course we had damp chilly weather. Now as much as I like to play outside, I didn't mind setting up inside. I think this helped with a few extra spectators.

We had the return of Grover Mollineaux. Grover brought his songlist combining his own original material with a tasty variety of covers & was the first guest. Grover also returned at various points throughout the afternoon. You can learn more about Grover at his website, www.groversmusic.com
Were were also once again treated by music from John Forgy, who along with his (cousin I believe) Blakely. John plays several styles & teamed up with Blakely on fiddle, to give us several sets of awesome music. John can be seen with his band Lanquid Blue at Common Ground's on November 10th at 10:00pm. Blakeley's mom Jennifer Forgy also came up and sang a song with John & Blakely.

Eric & Serena Hutchens, were also in the crowd. I wanna thank Eric for all his help with teardown, as this is always appreciated. Serena is also coming along nicely on the fiddle. Eric also took the ol Martin with him to do a tune up & brought it back to me at Goshins on Monday night. I'm impressed with his growing skills as a luthier. My guitar played great for the Goshins jam & it feels better in my hands.

Fuzzy (Steve Knopka), was in house as well. As always, Fuzzy puts his "harp" & soul into backing us up on many different tunes with his harmonicas. Always a treat to have him help us out.

I was glad to see Mylinda Dockery back at LexJam II. As I mentioned in last months LexJam II update that Mylinda is the executive director & founder of the Music Institute of Lexington. So when you have the talented ear of this young lady in house, you know you want to play your best. We hope Mylinda can encourage some of the various students from some of her programs to participate In Both incarnations of LexJam. With the resources & talent of Mylinda & her crew, I look forward to what they will continue to bring & foster in & around the Lexington area. So once again I will put the web address right here>>> http://www.musicinstituteoflexington.org/.
I want to thank all the great people & kind comments I hear about LexJam II Unplugged & what we are trying to achieve.
The next LexJam II Unplugged will be November 14th.
This will wind down the end of the second year & we will take a break. Already looking forward to The start of our third year in February & our second anniversary session in April.

On then to, GOSHINS, Jamily Reunion. Ok, so I,m sitting at the bar getting ready to eat some dinner, and I,m thinking, three people have bailed on me. People of which due to their musical prowess, I wish would be there. So I says to my self "Self", we'll give this thing til nine & see what happens. If no one shows, we know at least we will get to bed at our normal bedtime. So as I,m sitting there pondering that thought & trying to convince myself that would be good, lo & behold someone comes through the door. It is Patty Butcher, of "Patty Butcher Blues Band", fame. She comes up to the bar & I have to tell her I'm not sure that we're gonna get anything off the ground tonight. She says she talked to M.A. (Full name left out to protect the semi-innocent) and I tell her I left Him a message. I no sooner get that out of my mouth when off goes the door dinger, & here come John Forgy & Mylinda Dockery. before I could even sort my thought process, here comes Fuzzy. OK thought process now sorted for me. I jump up, I'm sure grinning ear to ear & proclaim "lets do it". I believe it took us only 20 minutes to set up the PA system complete with extra preamps. It helps when you have 5 people helping. and while getting setup, who walks in & starts helping, non other than our good friend David Harrod. So we ended up having a whole lot of fun in an abbreviated Jamily Reunion, but fun none the less. Thanks once again to Mylinda, we have some pictures of this event & I'll have them posted with the LexJam II pic's, soon. So stay tuned & give me another day or two to get them sorted, then I'll blast everyone with an e-mail.
I have more news to report on progress of upcoming release & other stuff, but I think I'll end this update here & give you more later this week.

Rennie

It's time for the October Installment of LexJam II Unplugged Yes that monthly extravaganza of Acoustic Music for the masses. Our mission to promote live music in the Lexington Ky area & beyond! We support ALL musicians of ALL skill levels & ALL styles in the acoustic arena. Having said that if you show up with something electric, we wont show you the door. We just like to emphasize our little corner of the world with Folk, Bluegrass, Blues, etc. We have had keyboards before & will NEVER turn down electric bass. We are always on the lookout for bass players to come & help fill out the sound. Of course we love standup & acoustic bass, but as I just said 'We'll take ANY bass we can get.

Looks like we will set up inside this month, as it is supposed to be a bit chilly & damp. We'll be in the "foodcourt" area of the Civic Center Shops.

OK I haven't given you your "blast from the past" music links in a few weeks, so today I'll treat you to 2 of them. First up we have The Little River Band IT'S A LONG WAY THERE. My favorite LRB song & Probably in My top 20 fav's of all time. This is the FULL 8 1/2 min version, but it's killer awesome. Enjoy.
Here's your link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDZyG0KJqik
Next up Kate Bush WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Whats that ? Gasp you say, "Ren you like that? We just don't see that in you". Yup. I like it, always have. The piercing voice of this English beauty get's me every time.
Heres your link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv0azq9GF_g BTW. She wrote this song based on an English novel of the same name. It's supposed to be a good read if your into that kind of reading.


Had a great time in North Carolina. 8 days on the beach & a new song or two. Putting the tweakings on "Seashore Dreamer". I wanna thank my brother Ed for his help in penning about 85% of the lyrics for this song. It will be available for your listening pleasure before too long.

Work IS finally moving forward on my new record & hope to have it out in time for Christmas. Would hate to miss the sales opportunity& jip you out of thrill you can have finding it in your stocking. Ok,ok, I know I'm being a bit

MONDAYnight, 10/26/09. It's time for a Goshins Jamily Reunion. Come on out. Cold Beer, good food & Hot tunes. Look's like the majority of the old Goshins Jam gang are planning to attend, so YOU should too. Lotsa good music & you can jump in with us. Actually, we encourage it. Hey once in a while it's a healthy thing to break the Monday night routine & blah's. Don't you agree?

As you can see we lost Brutimus B. Puss,(that's Kitty to my wife Marsh), the day we got back from Topsail Beach. Its been pretty hard & especially hard on her. He was one "cool cat'. He and our Jack Russell, Oscar, would wrestle together. It was never one sided either. It was pretty even on who would start it, and the would roll around on the floor in bear hugs. No really. It was fun to watch. Like Oscar say's (yes he talks to Me), some days you get the cat. Some days the cat get's you. I remember one Saturday morning, Oscar was lying on the corner of the bed & bam. The cat comes running, jumps, get's Oscar in a bear hug & rolls him off right on to the floor. He then takes off, fast as he can with the big "O", hot on his tail. Funny stuff. And! If the cat ran outside when he wasn't supposed too, Oscar would grab him in a bear hug & hold him till me or wifey got there. Again, funny stuff. Anyway like I have on my home page, I sure miss him. God forbid the day when Oscars time is up. Don't even wanna think about it. Hope I'll be able to find a good therapist cheap. 'k... 'nuff about the pets, after all this is a music site.

I think I'll wrap up about here. I should have the LexJam II up date up within a week of the session tomorrow. Who knows I might surprise you & do it after the jam. But don't hold your breath. You know me. Hope you like this weeks musical selections. So on that note:
Tomorrow LexJam II Unplugged 1 to 5 PM!
Monday Night Goshins Jamily Reunion 8 - 11 PM.

see you tomorrow
"Hey everybody yeaa aa, don't you feel that there's somethinnnnn...."
"and I feel like I've been here for the whole of my life, never knowin..."

Rennie

Back from North Carolina, back to work & lost our Kitty cat. He was one cool cat that loved to wrestle with our Jack Russell "Oscar". You can tell lil Oscar misses him too. Ill have some kind of update after my mourning period.
Thanks for understanding.

Rennie

Me Thinks...
Me thinks I should try to find some way to get the updates up faster from LexJam II Unplugged. We'll work on that, but of course, don't hold your breath.
Pictures are posted. Don't forget the new format for pics. Click on the thumbnail photo & it opens up complete with captions.
Ok then... On to the update.
Another beautiful day down at Lexington Center. Set up went smoothly & Jerry & the fine folks down at Lexington Center, once again, had the tables & chairs set for us. This helps a lot & is very much appreciated.
The week before I was at LexJam, and I got a chance to hear & meet John Forgy, Katherine Peppiatt, and Blakeley B. These fine folks put on a set of really god acoustic music & even as Tom Martin noted, we needed these guys (and girls) at LexJam II Unplugged. So after listening to them, I introduced myself & had a chance to talk to them about the acoustic version of LexJam. John is a great guitar player and working with the young lady on the fiddle known as Blakeley B. Also singing with them was Katherine Peppiatt. Young Blakeley is a very good violin player for her age & complimented everyone she played with. Fast forward to LexJam II Unplugged. I was just about done setting up when they arrived with some friends. I got the show started as usual, then they came up & played several numbers to everyones delight. Let me say that John is one of the founding members of Languid Blue, an acoustic folk group the can be found playing around the area. I have not had the chance to check out this band yet, but hearing John on guitar I cant wait to see Them play as Lanquid Blue. You can check them out @ www.myspace.com/languidblue and the can also be found at Facebook. Check them out & support them at a venue near you. We also had several students from Transylvania University, show up & one of their group pulls me aside and asks me "whats going on here"? So i explain what LexJam II Is about and ask them if any of them play. Sure enough two of them play together. So of course me doing my "hostly" duties, encourage them to give us a set. They played a good half hour, and although I cant remember a single song name, I know they rocked us & the crowd was very much liking what they were hearing. Dont forget to check them out in the photo gallery.
It was then time for me to do several more songs from my list, then give up the stage so we could get John & company back up there. John treated us to more of his guitar magic with some awesome instrumentals. I was able to get some half way decent video of his set & hope to get some snippets of that embedded here as soon as I get that "process" figured out. (soon).
We were fortunate enough get Blakeley back up & her & John did a really cool cover of KT Tunstall's Black Horse & the Cherry Tree.
We cant forget to mention that Steve "Fuzzy" Knopka came with "harps a blazing", to jump in where ever he pleased, and WE were pleased to have him do so. I always have to thank Fuzzy for backing me on several numbers & for being such a huge supporter of LexJam II Unplugged & live music in general. I look forward to getting Fuzzy involved on my current CD project.
I have to also give a special shout out to Mylinda Dockery. A few years back this young lady, founded The Music Institute here in Lexington. She & her staff work diligently with various age levels of musicians. They offer instruction in more areas & instruments, than I can mention here, so I am going to drop another website on you.
www.musicforlexington.org Go look around this site and see the multitude of different areas of music instruction, including instruments, vocals, music therapy, early childhood development in music & their new endeavor the Garage Band Program. The Garage Band Program, is an aid to help existing Performers & bands hone & refine their skills, so they can up their stage presence, teach the band how to work as a "team", increase their marketing skills, etc. I expanded a bit on this particular area of what The Music Institute does because two2 of the coaches for this program are none other then the founding fathers of LexJam, Tom Martin & Mike Thompson. I personally think that's just cool. I really hope to see Mylinda back at the next LexJam II Unplugged, bringing some of the talent that passes through the doors of The Music Institute. We hope to see Blakeley, John, Katherine, Fuzzy, The guys from Transy & anyone else at the next installment Of LexJam II Unplugged. Please check out the web addresses I gave you and help us to bring music, especially "Live" music back to the forefront here in Lexington.
Thanks Mylinda for covering for me & getting some pictures when I was up playing.
Ok I know this update is slightly shorter than usual, but I have to get ready for North Carolina & some recording work for my CD. I'll be in touch. Until then, behave yourselves, have fun & make music.
Your Humble Host
Rennie

A BIG Happy Birthday to my Daughter Candy As Neil Young said "24 and there's so much more"...

Not to worry friend's. I will have the update up soon from LexJam II Unplugged. I am working with the photos & working on the text update as well. Next day or two. Promise.

Rennie

K', It's been a crazy week, but Ill have the September LJ II Unplugged update & photos soon.
A Very Special shout out to JOHN FORGY, and the amazing talent of BLAKELEY on "fiddle" & "vocals".

Oh good times to tell you about...!

IDTTYS

RENNIE

Yes folks. it time for another exciting edition of LexJam II Unplugged Tomorrow at Lexington Center. Hope to see you there.

Ok Your video challenge for this week. Another of my favs from the past. Kinda 'splains where I want to build my cabin someday. follow the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1ILFZAR1vg Jesse Colin Young-Ridgetop

Catch Tom Cool every Wednesday at Rumors bike night. He usually starts about 6:00.

And Almira Fawn has been spending a lot of time in Nashville lately. I,ll have more on that later...

I have you September LexJam II review for you in a few days.
Tomorrow Taterz

Rennie

Ok the Pictures from August 22nd, are posted both here & at the LexJam website. Have a look. When you get a chance @ the LexJam site let Mark McKinley, know that you appreciate his work keeping that site fresh & up to date.
I'll Have some misc. news rambling's soon.

Later Taterz
Rennie

All the news that's fit to print...
First your August 22nd LexJam II Unplugged Update...
What a beautiful day for music. We usually do not see this kind of weather in August "'round these parts". 78°. Very comfortable for this time of year. And to think I almost had to bail. This would've broke my heart, but you see, my Pop In Law broke his ankle a few weeks back and the wifey needed the car to travel to WV. That being the SUV that fits all the PA system for LJ II Unp. SO I say to myself "Self, no big deal". I figure out of the two trucks at work, surely one will be available right? Nope. not gonna happen. The boss was going racing that weekend. He needed both trucks to haul race car, pit crew, and all that goes with racing, tools, tires, spare parts, etc. You get the drift. Let me digress here for just a minute to say that my boss Wes, is an accomplished race driver. They had a 3 driver team & were racing in the 12 Hours of Nelson Ledges, an endurance race. Their team won. I grew up close to Nelson Ledges & spent a lot of time there in my misspent youth. Oh Wes has also raced in several 24hrs of Daytona, so that just shows you at what level he races. OK. Enough digressing.
so you see I was running out of options to get the sound equipment downtown for the big jam.
Enter my good friend Mike Anderson. A core member of LexJam II, close friend and as mentioned many times in the past here, the Bass man for Velveeta Jones and a part time Cooligan. He also does a host of other events. Mike & his lady Deb came through big time for me/us/the people of Lexington. They were able to make it & pick me up including all my S***. Thanks guys, you don't know how much it means to me. It was good to have Mike back in the line up as he's been MIA for a few months as far as LJ II goes. When Mike shows up you know its gonna be a party for your ears, as Mike not only is a Bass player, but an accomplished acoustic player as well. The music was even more special when he pulls out the slide & throws slide guitar in the mix.
So with some of my material plus a few new songs, plus Mikes material we had quite a nice selection of music to get the afternoon rolling. The crowd, which is some what typical for Aug, was come & go, but thats ok. Most people stuck around for at least 4-5 songs so it was slow but steady.
Next up came Grover Mollineaux . Grover, both, rotated with us & played with us. He brought a lot of his original material from his CD JUST ME, some new material from an upcoming Cd yet to be named & a plethora of cover tunes. Grover's style is laid back folk. And he can play a bluesy folk type lick as well. Grover has been to LexJam II before & we always welcome him back. To quote Grover on LexJam II he said:"Rennie this is a wonderful thing you do for the community here & it would be nice to see this thing grow further for all musicians". Those were kind words & I agree, I wanna see this thing grow into what I believe it has the potential to be, and the outlet it can be for the amazing amount of talent we have in the area. We look forward to the return of Grover at a future LexJam II, And you folks will want to be sure to see him as well. You can learn more about the man & his music at www.groversmusic.com. Swing by, check him out & leave a comment.

One other thing. Grover's comment got me to thinking. I know from time to time a lot of the area musicians have other obligation's, like paying gig's to do, and I for one encourage them to go for the pay. BUT. It has also come to my attention that there are some who believe they are above doing an occasional gig like LexJam II Unplugged, because it's not a "paying" gig. How sad. I find it hard to believe that anyone that has the gift of music, has the ability to even think that way. After all why not (once in a while), give back to the community that supports your music & give's you the very foundation enabling you to get paid for what you do. The "Rock Star" mentality of "you can't touch me", is a thing of the past, is B.S. & has no place in the music community. Please, those of you that think this way, I ask you to reconsider. With your broad talent, you can inspire young musicians & help pull Lexington out of it's present level and bring it more in line with other cities, that have a more vibrant music scene. A much BETTER paying music scene. It is this mentality that has helped to thwart our effort's of being taken seriously, as a city known for it's music reputation. And club owners, the money is here, you can pay better. There are better paying gig's in cities, both close & far, that do not have the money & resources that we have here. Take care of our musicians!
Thank you for this opportunity to rant & blow off a lil steam. Some of you might not think it's "politically correct" to rant like this once in a while. Let me let you in on something, political correctness is only warranted 10% of the time. "The over saturation and over use of political correctness, is the bane of modern American society". This is fact,not opinion! Say what you mean, mean what you say.

OK, nuff of that for now. Don't forget the next LexJam II Unplugged is September 19Th. Hope to see you there. Encourage your fellow musician to come out to either LexJam session.
The next regular LexJam is September 12th, at Natasha's Bistro.
Also don,t forget to tune into WRFL 88.1. For the best music programming the area has to offer. Check them out @ www.wrfl.fm.
That'll do it for now, gotta go finish writing a song I started.
Oh the pics from the August LJ II Unp. should be posted here & at the LexJam website pretty soon. www.lexjam.com.
If music be the food of love, play on er on er on. (Shakespeare)
Over & Out

Rennie

Ok. Well then. just got back from the big Green Acres Campground gig. And what a gig at beautiful Lake Milton Oh.

This thing just gets better every year. The crowds get bigger, the food gets bigger & the music gets bigger. Not to mention its a Family Reunion as well. It's great to see my family & friends, that I don't get to see to often, so you might say its a Jamily Reunion.

Its a 6 hour drive each way, but that's why I make a 4 day affair out of it. Also, This is a chance to get to jam with Kent Eric Gardener (herein after referred to as CUZ). Our 5:30 to 7:00 pm slot at the main pavilion always goes by too fast, but that's why we do it all again at my brothers campsite. We will get started back up around 9:00, then go to the wee hours of the morning. We have been known to have 30 or 40 people hang out for that "aftergig" as well. I finally went to bed at 5:20 Sunday morning.

Cuz & I both had new material to grace the crowd with, along with a lot of other stuff. Cuz showcased a good portion of his new CD Shame On You & I broke out some of my new songs that I plan on releasing on my new CD around Halloween. It was awesome to hang out with all the good folks like Bobby Ault, Bobby Hay, Brenda & Stein, Booter, Johnny, Kaleb Gardener, Devonte' My cousins, nieces' & nephews' & a Host of people whose names I cant remember or didn't get a chance to meet. Thanks for all your kind words & support of my music.

Now the next morning was interesting, in the fact that being up til 5:20am I would have liked to sleep in but as I was in formed the day earlier, "Hey Ren, summer just got here the day before yesterday". What that means is that even though our tent is big, airy, & we have the best queen air mattress you can get, the sun had the interior of the tent @110° by 10:00am & I am not exaggerating. Really it was that hot. Normally the days are in the upper 70s in N.E. Ohio. So much for sleeping in.

Sunday was a day of schlepping around, trying to sneak in a nap or two before the evening's festivities. Now I know your asking REN! didn't you get enough last night? Heck no! I was on a four day vacation. Just cause' it,s a gig doesn't mean I don't treat it like a vacation. So Sunday evening's festivities were that we were invited to dinner & a sundown cruise at Bobby Hay's beach house. Bobby Hays & Bobby Ault are huge fans of my music (Thanks guys) & cooked some mean London broil & brats on the grill. Wifey & sis-in-law, made up a BIG salad from stuff left from the day before, including the banana Peppers & tomatoes from my garden. So a second day of feasting. After that we went down to the dock & swam in Lake Milton & had cocktails on the dock. After Bobby & Bobby straightened up up at the beach house, they came down & we boarded Cap'n Hays' pontoon boat.
The sun was setting, the temperature was perfect & the 6 of us were off. The good Cap'n Hays, cranked up the jams & we motored along til well after dark with a cool libation in hand. It was good to get to talk to him & bobby Ault & get to know these guys better. My bro & sis-in-law have known them for years but I didn't get a chance to meet them til last year & well our conversations of last year are a lil fuzzy. Truly some of the finest friends a person could ask for. Thanks for the great evening gentlemen. I guess we arrive back at the campground around 11:30. The girls were beat so they went to bed & bro & I sat up by the fire, shared a great cigar & talked (with beer in hand) til about 2:00am. Yes another late night.

Up in the morning Baked by the sun Sweat running in your eyes Sure ain't no fun Uh, just sing that to John Prines, Big Ol Goofy World.

So, yup, once again "Ol Sol" prevents my sleeping in, except that Monday was to be the hottest day yet and I we were ran out of the tent by 9:00. This was travel day so I had to tear everything down & completely repack the Explorer.all our camping gear, clothes & oh yeah. Pa system & all the stuff that goes with it. This is how it went foe 2 1/2 hours: Teardown & pack for 10min. Run into bro's camper lay down & cool off for 10 min, teardown & pack for 10min. Run into bro's camper lay down & cool off for 10 min, teardo... You get the drift. Man when we got on the road @ 1:00pm I cranked the A/C for the next 6 hours. It was 92° by 11:00am. I don't think I got cooled down til Wednesday. Really.

Oh. I forgot to mention that In addition to the music & setup & teardown of the PA system for the Jamily Reunion part of the weekend, I even contributed to the food service by 1. Helping Ed, Booter, Stien & Cuz with the deep frying & grilling of 6 turkeys, 80 hot dogs & 60 hamburgers & 2.Battering & deep frying a ton of banana peppers, from my own garden thank you very much. I wanna thank everyone for raving about them. That made me feel really good, and I must admit they were pretty damn tasty. I couldn't keep my cousin Ken Johnston out of them. Glad you liked them.

So there you have it, the wrap up of this years "Green Acres Campground" gig. I will have pics posted shortly & if I forgot any "key" points or kudos, I will post them as I remember.

Ok 1 other thing I'm gonna do each week. I'm gonna post a link or tell you where to search for a particular song on the web. These songs are some of my favorites from the years & a lot of the are either "One Hit Wonders, obscure, or b B-sides that didn't (in my opinion) get quit the recognition they deserve. So for this week, considering everything I just wrote about, your mission is to paste this link in your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhSZAhepf1w .
If that doesn't work, go to "You Tube" & search For Tony Carey, It's A Fine Fine Day. a fav of mine from 1984. Tony was the front man for Rainbow as well as Planet P. Hope you like the tune. I think it kick's ass! Ok, til next time, I love each & everyone of you, family, friends & Fans.
Peace Out

Rennie P.S. Almira Fawn is in Nashville as we speak & I will let you know what shes doing, soon as I'm allowed to.

Home from the funnest gig of the summer. Your humble host will be revisiting with you for all the News & Pics.. Stay Tuned...

Ren

Howdy Folks
Hope you all are having a great summer, one thing for sure, it's flying by wayyyy to fast. before you know it the snow will be flying.
first off. Tonight Tom Cool & the Cooligans will be playing at BUDDY'S at 8:00pm.
Almira Fawn is in Wilmington NC, & is playing The Downtown Sundown Concert Series. Tomorrow she opens for Keller Williams in Myrtle Beach. A big good luck wish for Almira, on this part of her summer tour. See her latest doings @ www.almirafawn.com.
A big "HAPPY BIRTHDAY" to Almira AUG. 8th.
Next week is the big Green Acres Campground gig. I'll have a review for you at some point after.
I want to thank Steve "Fuzzy" Knopka for the opportunity to play at the Pine Meadow neighborhood asso. picnic @ Addison Park.
It was a good time & we also had Mike Anderson in with us. I always look forward to the chance to play with Mike & Fuzzy. Their was a pretty decent crowd & the food was excellent. a good time indeed.
A new improvement to my web site. Now when you go to my photo gallery, you can see all the pics in thumbnails. All you have to do is click on any picture & it will open in a a shadowbox, then you can page forward or back, "slideshow" style. You're welcome. Ok I'm gonna end this quick newscast & work on some of the new material for my upcoming record.
Keep Pickin & TTYS
Rennie

Now the rest of the post from yesterday.
Now you know why the updates were late. I was in New Jersey to visit my daughter & granddaughter. It was time to see the granddaughter as she is now 9 months old. This was my first time to see her. I will say she is the cutest, happiest baby I know. (Yes I am probably prejudiced). But hey. Went a visited some really cool Battlefields & forts while there. Such as Red Bank Battlefield at Fort Mercer. It is located in Red Bank National Park, in Deptford New Jersey, which is where my daughter lives.
The next day Jeff (future son-in-law) took us down to Fort Mott & then we ferried over to Fort Delaware. A lot of fun & more than I can post at this moment. I will say that I now have a whole different take on New Jersey, at least southern Jersey. The landscape is absolutely beautiful & the little towns are Norman Rockwell for sure.

The music part of this post is that the first night there Jeff & Candy says,"hey lets have a fire & play guitars out in front of the apartment". So we tune up the guitars, Jeff builds said fire and a good time ensues. Several of their neighbors join us and we start playing & singing. Then one of their neighbors comes over with a police scanner saying," Hey guys I hate to tell you this but the police are on their way. Someone called in a bonfire". Were like oh boy, this should be fun. In about 5 minutes, sure enough not one but 2 of Deptfords finest show up. Jeff drops the lid down on the grill, and I keep playing. Hey I don't like to stop in the middle of a song. So after I finish the song, the cops are standing there & it goes like this:
COP 1: we got a call about a bonfire. You got a fire in that grill.
Smoke is rolling out of it so we cant lie.
Jeff: Yes sir
Me: Were gonna cook some hot dogs
Cop 2: looks around "Well I don't see a bonfire".
COP 1: Looks around & sees we are drinking some cold beer and says. "I heard the music, sounded pretty good"
Me: Thank you officer
COP 1: Looks at Cop 2 and says,"Looks like a good time to me"
Cop 2: "I dont really see a problem here, just dont get to loud".
Us: in unison "Yes officers".
COP 1: Carry on. Have a good evening".
So then they leave. Now am I dreaming. Were playing music, having beer & a fire & we get a free pass??!! Wow.
This is why I said in yesterdays post that the Deptford New Jersey cops are the coolest. SO Jeff lifts the lid on the grill & we have a good time for the rest of the evening. We did make sure to wrap it up by midnight so as not to push our luck & out of respect for the neighbors that weren't in attendance. Hey if that happened here in Lexington, tho cops here would have made us put out the fire, ID everyone & probably give us a bunch of s*** & broke up our little party. In fact Most places I've been, the cops would have tried to use their "cowboy cop" tactics, to ruin our fun. To many now a days love to abuse their power & of course wanna look for the first excuse to use their tazers or guns. Its a shame. Not like 25 years ago, when a cop considered it the highest honer if he could go through his career without shooting someone. So my hats off the Deptfords finest. Thanks guys & next time I'm in town, and your off duty, you have a cold one in the barrel on me.
So you see people can party & coexist with the police when BOTH sides show mutual respect.

So in a nutshell that was the highlites of my trip to New Jersey. Like I said I could go on for a long time, but I wont bore you with the details.
Almira Fawn is at O'neills Pub tonight. I've been invited to play but I'm waiting on the inlaws from West Virginia. One of which is driving a 1928 Model A sedan. And I just got word he was overheating in Morehead Ky. Hope he gets here safe & we get it cooled down for the Concourse D'Elegance tomorrow at Keeneland. So on that note.
Later Taters

Rennie

Where to start? I guess by answering the questions, "wheres our update & where have you been? I've been in New Jersey, visiting my daughter & grand daughter. More on that later first lets give you the quick synopsis on the last two LexJam II Unplugged'.

The June LexJam II Unplugged was somewhat subdued in the fact that most people had a lot going on that weekend so we were thin on musicians & spectators alike. However that being said, It was still fun for me & even had some family show up for the event. We see a lot of folks who will come sit for 4 or 5 songs then go on their merry way & we don't mind. Its good that these people give us some of their time & we always appreciate that. We missed Childrens Hour as our Master o Ceremonies was doing 2 gigs that day & Serena was on vacation. We didn't have any other kids show up that day. Like I said, "people had a lot going on that weekend". I would like to thank Eric Hutchens for coming down & helping with teardown.

Now the July LexJam II Unplugged, was only 2 weeks after the June one so more effort was put into promoting that one. When I was given the choice of dates for July, I immediately saw the 4th as a possible date and it was a no brainer. I knew that the town would be flooded with people coming down for "Red, White & Boom". There were droves of people of course & bands all over town playing. One band stand was set up in the park across the street from Lexington Center, & of course they wanted everyone in a 10 mile radius to hear them, (guess they thought they were the only act in town). Non the less I adjusted our sound accordingly, & it worked fine. In fact, We had several people come over from that band 'cause they heard us & were like "hey this is awesome, we can hear those same old covert tunes anytime". You guys are playing some killer acoustic stuff we haven't heard in a while". It was nice to get those type of compliments. Serena Hutchins, once again, treated us to her fiddle, and give us an abbreviated Kids Hour. My good friend Rich Coffield, of The Slagsmiths (www.myspace.com/noondaysun65), came with guitar in hand ready to sing & play, lead, backup & all that he does best (which is pretty much anything to do with the music). Eric brought two Ovation guitars as well as a Gibson.
I played the LX series Ovation & really liked it. These guitars are for sale & I will post them on my home page as soon as I find the "cut sheets" that Eric gave me for each of them. (side note to Eric, sorry I meant to get them posted before I left for Jersey). But anyway We had a blast on the fourth (pun intended), played a lot of fun music & just generally had a good time. As always I have to thank Rich & Eric for helping with teardown. I also want to Thank the helpers from Lexington Center, who do a fantastic job providing us with the setup of tables, chairs and anything else we need to put on the jam. Thanks again everybody.
Mark Mckinley, has posted the July 4th pics on the LexJam.com website, as well as the Lexjam II Unplugged dates for the next 3 months. I am sending him some pics from the June session & will post, both, some of those & some of the ones you see at the LexJam site here, ASAP.

The time draweth neigh, so I will tell you about New Jersey tomorrow. Oh and how the Deptford N.J. cops are the coolest cops I have ever dealt with.

Munyana (or however the heck you spell it).
Rennie