Rennie Neubecker: News & Updates

Ok. Just finished editing the pics from Saturdays (02/07/09) LexJam II Unplugged. So hopefully I'll post them tomorrow, and have the narrative.
An old friend & a few new faces. Some killer original music & some killer covers.
The painful part is the process of getting the pics off the computer (or Memory card in this case), all the way through to the point where you can see them. I think I have mentioned before that it is one pic at a time through various levels. I wish my web host would make it easier to post pics! I put the pics on the computer, edited them on my very limited Kodak software, then sent them back to the card. That way I might be able to get them posted at work tomorrow. Note to boss; On my lunch break of course.
We'll have it for you soon folks. Time for the Ky/Fla game.
Ren

News coming soon about the Feb. installment of LexJam II Unplugged, ( it was great), & other news.

Wow. 2nd ice storm in 6 years, that I had to chainsaw my way out of the drive.
2 days now without power & might not be back on til Sat, or Sun.
Music news will be late as always.
Wish us luck...

Rennie

The time is getting close for the start Of this years LexJam II Unplugged sessions. I have e-mailed everyone on the blast list with a plea for more "core band" members this year. I know I missed putting some addresses on my list. Please send me your e-mail addresses, even those out of area folks who want to be kept informed. If you haven't received an e-mail with the date of 01/23/09, then please send me the address & I'll be sure to add it to the list.
As stated an appeal to musicians to join LexJAm II Unplugged as "core members". Lots more very soon, (yeah I know your sayin "we've heard that before"). No really. Things are starting to roll again.
TTYS
RENNIE

Hey everyone.
Tom will be playing at "Rumors Restaurant" this Saturday. He starts @ 8:30. Head on out & support this very talented & funny artist. Rumors has an extensive dinner menu, with a vast array of Surf & Turf appetizers, Dinners, Sandwiches, Soup's & Salad's, etc.
A full bar, Good Food, & the awesome musical talent of Tom Cool. What else do you need???

RUMORS
3110 Mapleleaf Drive
Lexington Ky.

Hey, we have a few Tom Cool pics from the November installment of LexJam II, posted at the photo gallery. You can see more pics from the Nov. 15th, session with Tom as our special guest @ www.lexjam.com. You can also see more of Tom, sample his music, buy CD's,etc at his really "Cool" website @ www.tomcool.net Check him out, check us out, & dont forget next LexJam II is FEBRUARY 7th. 1-5 pm.

I opened up the latest ME news yesterday & noticed that they had a date of 01/10/09, as the next LexJam II Unplugged.
I almost went into shock!
This is a mistake. The LexJam II Unplugged sessions are scheduled to start on FEB 7th Although not completely etched in stone, I am fairly confident we will restart then. By weeks end, we will know for sure.
I have yet to talk to the core band members & find out which ones will commit to this years effort. I will be looking to list 2009 official core band members ASAP. Anyone interested in becoming part of this fun event, to promote live acoustic based music in the area is welcome to e-mail me. I will have more on this very soon. After I talk with last years core band, I then can determine our needs for the upcoming year.

Well it's the 1st. quickie of the year.
GUESTBOOK
You may remember I turned my Guestbook off last fall. This was due to the amount of SPAM & foreign porn links that were being posted there. Since its a new year & I'm a nice guy were gonna turn it back on, and see how far we get before it starts getting corrupted again.
All previous posts have been archived, so if anyone wants to see their old post (or someone else's, for that matter). Drop me an e-mail & I can get it.
Also, Thinkin 'bout a new look for the sight. When I do this I will pull all the old NEWS
post's, from the beginning to about 3 or 4 months back. Like the old Guestbook entries, I will archive these to disk. Soooo, if you want to look at any of the old articles, e-mail me & i'll dig them up.
TTYS
Rennie

Here's to wishing everyone a HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR!!

Lets look forward to a new Year of great music!
Thanks to all my music friends for a fun 2008 of music, in spite of the economy. I really had a blast.
My Thoughts On...
Live recording at the open jam at GOSHINS.
I've listened to the first hour so far, and we've got some good music & some seriously funny stuff too.
I want to personally thank; Mike Anderson, Tom Cool & Peter Griffin, for a really fun night. Cant wait til you guy's get to hear it.
I, have more of "My Thoughts On..." Coming up. I'll probably start off with my upcoming record.
As for today I'll cut it short & get that PORK LOIN on the grill & get the cabbage cookin.
Be Safe Friend's...
Till next time...
*** HAPPY 2009 ***

Without wasting time doing extensive research, I'm gonna go out on a limb here & say the word NEWS, is a derivative of the word NEW. (Naw... Ya think?). Now, whoever decided to call current events or the latest "goings on", news most likely
did it because it was in fact, "current events or the latest "goings on", and it was, in fact, new!
So now yer sayin, "Ren what does this have to do with the price of tea in China, or the price of tea anywhere for that matter & why are we talkin 'bout tea now anyway?. Were not, were talkin News & Olds. Huh, Old's???
Yes OLD"S, I'm so far behind in updating, that its no longer news, (well some of it will be later in this post). So here are My Thoughts on some of the "OLD'S"...
My Thoughts On...
November Installment of LexJam II Unplugged.
As advertised our special Guest Host for the November installment was "Tom Cool".
www.tomcool.net.
Tom brought his many years of musical experience & talent to the floor as well as his ability to infuse quick witted, ad-lib comedy into the show. We had a "pleasant" turn out for the show & families with children and all. Now the nice thing about having Tom Cool as you Guest Host, is that Tom can appeal to ANY audience. The kids in the audience really took to Tom as he interacted with them. Another family, sitting at one of the side tables, had their kids dancing in the isle to "The Wheels on the Bus". I immediately went into the first 2 verses of my original song "The Wheels", 'cause it was a nice fit. However I had to stop abruptly because...get ready for it......I haven't finished writing the song. It is however, close to being done. And when finished & tracked will be one of my favorites. Think Bob Dylan meets Jim Reeves,meets Roger Miller, meets Bruce Springsteen, for a Country/Folk, not to kinky, 4 way. If you can imagine such a thing, then sing it from the heart to make it serious, then you'll finally have it.
I want to thank the musicians who showed up to play & support LexJam II Unplugged.
We had Jim Olive, banjo player extraordinaire & brother of Lindsey Olive, a great guitar player. I've known Lindsey since first moving to Lexington & we've been friends a long time. Good to finally meet Jim, who I'd heard so much about.
Mark Taylor also came with his fiddle and sat in on a few tunes. I know Mark wanted more Bluegrass & I plan to get the ratio back to at least a 3rd (maybe half) bluegrass for the 4hr. jams. Gotta get the core bluegrassers back on board for the coming year, as they went missing in action the last several months. We'll try to fix that.
Thanks to Tony Jasper who has 3 or 4 LJ II Unplugged's under his belt now as well.
Tony likes to set in and play a little rhythm with us, on his 6 string.
There are some pics @ the lexJam website as always. www.lexjam.com.
My Thoughts On...
The Economy.
All i can say on this one is it sucks. I am very fortunate to work for a great company, (when not doing music). At this point we are weathering the storm very well & I hope this trend continues into next year also. Its good to see the prices of gas back to a reasonable level, after the ridicules & totally unsubstantiated 4 dollars plus we saw last summer. Having said that don't think for a minute, that these low prices are here to stay. We, (at my day job), actually had one of our biggest customers, ask us to drop our prices now that the price of fuel & metals has come down! Yea & by the time we spend another 6 grand printing new price books were back where we started. Like I said, hold steady so you can be ready, ( hey another song lyric), for the next wave. I'll close this thought by repeating what I said. "If you think for a second gas or metals will stay this low for ANY length of time, we'll your just plain crazy.
There is ALWAYS some corporate asshole's looking to gain their golden parachute at our expense. There is No job on earth deserving of 20, 30, 100, etc. million dollar pensions. This, my friends is not a matter opinion, It is a matter of cold hard fact.
Ok sorry 'bout the rant. It happens sometimes.
My Thoughts On...
Getting my Studio back together...
Man oh man, what a fiasco. As you might remember, it got flooded last spring. Yea, not a lot got done over the summer. There was some things done however. The carpet had to be at least laid back out & cleaned, re vacuumed, and furniture put back down for the time being. This all with no pad underneath. If your wondering why I didn't put the new pad down & get this all done over the summer, then go read all my posts from then. Yes it was a very busy time.
So October found me once again taking out the furniture, rolling up the carpet & getting new pad laid. Didn't hire anyone. Did it myself.
It all came back together nicely & while in the process, I expanded my capabilities & am now more advanced with digital multi track recording & a new look. oh now have a much better sump pump & dual watchdog alarms. Soon as I go through & tune up & make a frame & fuel tank, I'll have a generator to cover any power outages. Anyway I'm back in the music saddle as far as my music room is concerned. Thanks for asking.
My Thoughts On...
Being a grandpa!
I became a Grandfather this fall. I am Proud to say. I feel like I'm pretty young to be a grand dad, but wifey & me had our kids early so when they grew up & moved out we would still be [relatively} young. My daughter (a musician herself) gave birth to a healthy baby girl in October.
Phenix Aamira Storms. NO, there are no misspellings here. Thats the way they wanted it, & I'm quite tickled my self. Although me thinks, Phenix will have a bone to pick with mom, when she gets older. She'll be getting a lot of things, cards, etc. with an "O" in her name, or people leaving the extra "A" out of Aamira. We'll see how this pans out & as Grampa, I will just sit back & enjoy the fun this might conjure. I love my Grandbaby & my family & the HOLIDAY SEASON is mostly over now. But good memories & the hope for an exciting & hopefully prosperous 2009, fill me to the hilt.
I'll have more to say about everything & whats coming down the pike.
tomorrow I'll update you on the Dec. 29th recording at Goshins, news on my upcoming album, & who knows I might be inclined to wish you a Happy New Year.
OH BTW
HAPPY NEW YEAR Hows about I talk to you tomorrow.
Peace
RENNIE

Steady as she goes captain..
I can see the NEWS from here....Its almost here.
And maybe a new look for the Website as well.
Dont forget tonights Jam at GOSHINS. We will be recording it.
Ren

Where in the world is Rennie???
Lost in the mist's of time thats where. Hell have that long awaited news & LexJam II Unplugged update soon. (I sure hope so...)

OK Kiddies
LexJam II Unplugged Vol. 8 is in the funny pages. We'll have the story & a few pics, coming by the end of the week.
So....Stay tuned!
Ren

Tomorrow. Lexington Center. LexJam II Unplugged. 1 to 5 o'clock. See You There.

Our good friend's & webmasters for LexJam (both I & II), Mark & Tammy McKinley, have posted our Sept & Oct pics @ the website. www.lexjam.com.
Run along now & check them out. We have some great Almira Fawn pics there, plus some of the usual suspects.
C U Soon

Rennie

Get Ready folks for this years LAST installment of LexJam II Unplugged.
As mentioned we have Mr. Tom Cool as our special guest host. www.tomcool.net.
I know I'm a bit late as usual with news & it's not that there hasn't been any, it's just, well you know me by now. Always packing 10 lbs of (stuff) in a 5 lb bag. Thats the story of my life. And I wonder why I'm ALWAYS tired. Still in the finishing stages of getting the studio set back up. But now with added recording capabilities. I'll have more on that and other news soon. (Probably after Sats LJ II). Please encourage as many people as you can to come out Saturday. Free parking in the large upper lot of Rupp, then just come down through the Civic Center Shops.
See you Saturday.

Rennie

We have TOM COOL coming as our Special Guest Host for the NOVEMBER 15th LexJam II Unplugged. I'll have more on that & other stuff soon.
Later Taterz
Ren

I was a little late reading this months edition of Music Entertainment, and it was with great sadness, that I read about Darrel Mullins', loss. Darrel Mullins is A Judge and a music aficionado from Eastern Ky. He writes for M.E. Music Entertainment. Darrel's House burned down in early September. Now you may ask "What does this have to do with you"? Well, actually nothing in the physical sense, but I do read M.E. every month. Do I know Darrel personally? No. Have I ever met Darrel? No. Heres what I'll say. After reading this monthly music rag since it's inception, I feel That I've come to know Darrel through his articles, titled "My Back Pages". SO yes it seems like Darrel is a friend. His articles take me back to my early days in music, as he likes to touch on a lot of "old School", music topics. I always find something in his works that I can relate to on a personal level, so when I read about his tragedy, it touched me & it totally bummed me out. To think of the music collection he lost, (a lot of it irreplaceable), The instruments he lost(like his first guitar, a 63 Fender Jazzmaster). Amongst other things. Like his house & a quadrant of his life. I just wanna say my heart goes out to Darrel & his family. we're pulling for your unhampered rebuilding. Thanks for the words of wisdom & we look forward to more.

Rennie Neubecker

The final batch of pics, from the September LexJam II Unplugged", have been posted.
Lotsa pics for your perusal. Enjoy & that gets me off the hook for a few weeks til I do it all again.

The October session of LJ II Unplugged was somewhat subdued, what with the game & Keeneland & a host of other things planned for this day. Plus the fact that I had to make it a short 12:00 to 3:00, session. But we knew that was going to be the case.
I wanna thank Tony Jasper, for coming down & sitting in, for the last half of the jam. Also thanks Tony, for helping us with teardown. Folks don't realize how much goes into setting up & tearing down an event like this.
A big thanks to Caroline Puterbaugh & Lexington Center for having us. Thank you Michelle for all your help with tables, chairs,etc.
OK next LexJam II Unplugged is November 15th. Hope to see a big turn out for probably the last session for this year. Special guest will be announced a bit later.

With the holidays looming large & an "only Available", date of Dec. 20th We might just take a break. Unless there is a big enough call for a Christmas type show. It's up to YOU "Musical Public", to let me know!

A lot of recording is being planned for the up coming several months, so a break in the jams might give us a little breathing room.
I'm really excited about what is coming down the pike & can't wait to see how it all pans out. At the moment we have 2 demos & at least 1, feature length CD to get busy on. I'm already a year late starting the CD project & now have the afore mentioned demos ,to boot! So, yeah, I think were gonna be busy.

I'll have some comments to make about something sad I read in M.E.(Music Entertainment), in my next update.

Till then, I'm headed outside, 'cause it's beautiful out. To nice to set behind this computer any longer.
Grab your guitar or, banjo, or whatever your favorite instrument, head outside & make a joyful noise unto the Lord. After all it is Sunday.
Till Next Time...
Rennie

Ok... The next 10 pics are up.
Go check 'em out.
The final batch for this section will be posted by the weekend.

Unfortunately I have had to turn off my "Guestbook" for now. Seem the idiots in the Ukraine &some in Russia, think its a good place to dump links to their porn. As you know I try to run a family / musician friendly site here. There is no room for porn here. I will leave it off for awhile then we'll get 'er back on. In the mean time, you KNOW that you can drop me e-mails here. If you wish to e-mail me somrthing that you want on the guest book, by all means, do it. I will make sure to put in the G.B. when I turn it back on.
Thanks for your patience & understanding.
Rennie

More pic to be posted as promised. I'll post these on Wednesday sometime. I think there is 10. Then I will have the final batch up for the weekend.
Again these are LexJam II Unplugged pics from the Sept. 20th gig, with Almira, D.J. & Fuzzy.

Wed. night, don't forget
Jim Hurst will be at Arts Place taping Red Barn Radio.
Red Barn Radio is a worldwide syndicated radio show, taped at ARTS PLACE every Wednesday night.

Dont forget this Sat. is time for this months installment of LexJam II Unplugged.
I'll have more on that tomorrow. We might be making a slight time adjustment. I'll fill you in.
'Nuff for now. Late at GOSHINS last night. We'll talk more about that too.
Ren

Ok Here its.
The first seven pics show a small portion of the Green Acres Gig". Here we have various pics of family & friends. This was the 4th year for Kent & I to do this thing. It seems to grow every year from the standpoint of spectators falling in to hear the music. Things got moving so well musically, that the evenings "Dance Band" was late getting a start, because we were a bit late tearing down our stuff. Hey, its great when people want you to keep doing "just one more". So to everyone,(Family, friends & the people we didn't even know), thanks so much for your support. It wouldn't be worth it with out you guys. I believe I speak for Kent, & Kaleb as well as my self, when I say, "we love each & everyone of you".

The last 3 pics in this group were actually taken 2 weeks before at LexJam II Unplugged. Kent was our special guest for this session, and we had one of the best LJ II Unplugged's ever.
I have to note that these pics were taken by our good friends Mark & Tammy McKinley. They are the official photographers of all that is LexJam. They are the proud owners of Marks Online Graphic Source. www.mogswebsite.com. Hop on over & check them out. They have a huge collection of resources & thousands of really cool pictures. I spent about 3 hours there one afternoon & think I barely scratched the surface. That was the first time. I find myself poking around there from time to time. Still have not seen it all!

This LJ II Unplugged as well as the Green Acres Gig, is documented much deeper for you, if you go back to my 5 part "Where To Start" series. It begins with part 1 on August 27th. A good read. Go check it out.
As always if you have ANY questions about the pictures or articles I write, just drop me an e-mail and I will 'splain further.
I have pictures ready to post from our Sept.20th, LexJam II Unplugged, (the beginning anyway), That featured Almira Southworth as our special guest. We will start out with about 15 or so, and when all told there will be about 35-40. I did not have time to do a bunch of editing or snappy captions for these, but I had almost 200 pics to go through. Now if you could just find me a 25th hour for each day...
Look at the Sept 26th, news article for a more in depth account of the September session. The next one will be October 11th. Please come out, bring your friends & support the performing arts & live music (isn't that redundant) in our town & area.
Till Next time
The Cities On Flame, With Rock & Roll...Folk & Bluegrass too.... ;)
Rennie

OK
Slow but sure. Pictures will be posted as promised over the next few days. The first few are up From the Green Acres / Family Reunion & 3 from Aug.2nd, LexJam II Unplugged. Narrative Tomorrow...
Ren

we are close to pics. I know I,m past due, but as I have mentioned before, This webhost is not picture friendly & is very time consuming. No way to put pics in a file & import to image bank. Every one has tobe done 1 by 1. Everyone has to
be named in the image bank. Nooooo you cant pull it into the "gallery" along with the name you gave it for the "bank". You have to name it again. And.... again you cant pull a group in to the gallery. 1 by 1 baby! Soooooo there you have it in more detail, why it takes me so long to post pics. I will have a large group, & will post them over a couple of days, but I already have 2 hours in & 16 pics ready to post later today.

Thanks for your support
BARTYLS & JA...wait...no....
RENNIE..yea thats it...RENNIE!

With yet another LexJam II Unplugged in the bag, it time to start thinking about the next one. But, first we'll talk about the one last week.
As everyone knows we had a very special guest with Almira Southworth to keep us on our toes. Almira came well prepared and by that I mean ready to play & well equipped. How well equipped? She came with Guitar, Stand up Bass, two Ukulele's, Harmonica,bells, her Boss Looping Station, oh, and a Slinky. Yes Almira even uses a Slinky in her performances.
Almira backed us up on to many songs to mention them all. I will Say she did a great job on Stand up bass and harmony vocals on "Wagon Wheel" (Old Crow Medicine Show). Also rocked with me on "Knockin On Heavens Door". With the great backing harp of Steve "Fuzzy" Konopka, and we cannot forget D.J.Crowe on rhythm guitar.
Almira also did quite a few songs "solo". We want to learn these, so we can play them with her. The young lady has some pretty amazing talent, (as I've mentioned before), and it will be fun to play on some of her originals.

We all need to wish her well on her next endeavor. She has something pretty big in the works. I am sworn to secrecy at this point as to exactly what it is she is starting on, 'cept to say it will involve several trips to a town about 3 hours south west of here. Our thoughts & prayers will be with you on this project.

After working with Almira and seeing how nice things stack up on a "looper", I am now interested in adding one to my arsenal. Looking at the Digitech Jam Man unit.
Anyone out there with experience with this unit please e-mail me here at the site, and give me your feedback.

D.J.Crowe also was there for the whole "shebang", and if he was'nt backing us up, then he was treating us & the audience to his great original material & a smart selection of cover tunes. We all appreciate what D.J. brings to the table.
Also D.j. will be performing on Sat. Sept 26th, with his band Actual Size at Goshins Tavern. Start time is about 9:00 pm, I believe. Also want to thank FUZZY for hangin with us the whole show and backing us all up with his harmonica skills. I want to also thank everyone for the help with setup & teardown.
All I All, I think we did pretty darn good with only 4 musicians for this show. Hey when you can do 4 hours with 4 musicians & not do everything in your respective song lists, then I think you've got a good thing going. We actually had 6 (count 'em) 6 core musicians, "missing in action" for various reasons. We hope to have everyone back for the Oct. 11th jam.

More news to come soon but that about wraps up the news part of this update & I'll somehow make the time this weekend to get some pics posted as well.

Till Then
Keep Pickin
Ren