Rennie Neubecker: News & Updates

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

We'll now... I think I can finally come up for air, at least for a week or so before I get bogged down again. BUT!!! that means I should get updates & pictures up here on "The Ol' Site", for you to enjoy. Then we'll talk about Goshins, Regular LexJam & I'll have some other music morsels for you to chew on. So, stay tuned & check back in 2 or 3 days. Till then, go put on some retro folk music or maybe some old Prine & I'll see you in a day or two.
Musically yours

Rennie

OK everyone. The next installment of LexJam II Unplugged is THIS SATURDAY. Thats right! The 20th.
Hope to see everyone there.
Don't forget we have Special Guest Almira Southworth.
Come down and jam with us. And if you think you can keep up with Almira..!!??? We'll just see if you can. This is one very talented young lady & we are honored to have her as our special guest for this session. If anyone has any questions you can always E-mail me here at the website.
See you on Saturday. & for all the out of state fans, stay tuned & well have the update as well as pictures of this session & the August session up as soon as we can.
Thanks

Rennie

I knew when I worked on the August 6th. update that it posted before it was supposed to.
I have realized that I left out probably the most important person at the wedding. I must therefore ask forgiveness, & mention a very special thanks to the Pastor who married Ryan & Holly.
The reverend Cardy Edmundson.
Sorry for the delay, but as mentioned that updated published before it was finished.
Thanks Reverend.

Rennie

I will have pics posted from the last LexJam II Unplugged, as well as from the Green Acres Campground gig, pretty soon so stay tuned.

Oh, I cannot forget to thank Dave Doll AKA "Peter Pan", (No Really.), for the CD of Left End, doing some of their classics. A lot of you probably don't know about "LEFT END".
"LEFT END" was a powerful rock band from,Youngstown, Ohio, during my whole "growing up", period in the 60's,70's & 80's. These guys rocked the region. Google them! Again thanks Pan. This CD is appreciated & an integral part of my collection.
Rennie

Oooooooh. were getting close to getting caught up, maybe...
Ok next up was our Green Acres Campground gig. I pulled out of Lexington @ 10:00am straight up @ pulled into Galluppi Dr @ exactly
3:30 pm. Hows that for makin time. 379 miles. After gettin my brother loaded up, and ready to go we made the 30 mile journey (30 miles back this direction), to Green Acres Campground.
CUZ (Kent Gardner) was already there, With son, Kaleb & girlfriend Deb. After a dinner of some of that northern (Best In the World ) pizza. It was time to break out the guitars and rehearse some material for the next days festivities. That rehersal lasted from about sundown til 2:00am. I love this gig! The only thing I think that made us stop then, was knowing that the next day was gonna be a busy one. I remember asking my brother Ed, (herein after referred to as just ED), "Hey Ed. What is the game plan for the morning?". Without skipping a beat, he says, "Get up, Start working"! Shoulda known, ask a stupid question.
Anyhoo, Thats exactly what we did. Got up & started working. You see, a big part of this gig is our family reunion. So, that means setting up and getting ready to deep fry Turkeys, cook corn, burgers & dogs. Heres what we had; 5 count em 5 turkeys to deep fry @ an average of 15 lbs per bird. 4 dozen ears of corn. 40 hamburgers & 40 hot dogs. Now, thats a lot of food when you factor in all the food that the rest of the attendees brought, well, we fed a small army. So how much of that wonderful "food of the gods" that is Deep Fried turkey was left. about on small 9x9 pan. Oh & 2 hamburgers. Yes we all ate healthy.
Now during all this flurry of activity that started early, one of my jobs is to set up the PA system & get the music rolling. which was done without incident. But it was hard to get motivated immediately after consuming said food, & fire up the "ol guitar. Of course that was quickly overcome by ED sayin,"Hey Ren, time to get playing". So we did.
I don't remember the exact song list we did that evening.
We sort of did it in the "In The Round" style of Nashville clubs like the Bluebird Cafe, where each one of us will do a song or two, the others will accompany. All I know is we played some old, some new & some cover tunes. I believe the chemistry between Cuz, Kaleb & myself, is really moving in the right direction. I say this because of a few songs we did, had some tears in some eyes. Some had everyone rolling with laughter. And some had folks in awe.
This was our fourth year doing this gig & no telling how many people listened to our sets. When the live music starts, its not only the "Family reunion" attendees, but people from all over the campground. So....
All in all , this was the best Green Acres gig yet.
Thanks Cuz, thanks Kaleb. It wouldn't be the same or as fun without your help.
After we tore down (which includes helping finish up with the food cleanup), we as always head to Ed's campsite to continue the evenings festivities. All I can say is its one of the best outdoor party's of the year. We had a crowd of about 30-40 people for that, so that made it more of an intimate setting. We played everything we played at the pavilion (I think) and a ton more of great music. Oh by the way this portion of the gig lasted till 4am! So the next day was kind of a fog when I finally rolled out of bed the second time around 1:30 in the afternoon. Had to get up around 10:30 because sister Sandy was cooking breakfast & wanted to see Cuz, Deb & Kaleb off. recrashed about 11:30. It was great to finally go out on Ed's boat,(we've been trying the last 5 years & its been either raining or to cold). That crazy upper Midwest weather ya know.
It was also a lot of fun to drive the boat for a few hours, as I have not driven a boat in about 16 years.
When we got back to camp A glorious dinner of HUGH Ribeyes, Corn on the cob & baked potatoes awaited us, courtesy of our good friends Paul & Janet. Thanks guys that was yummy.
So, after that big meal< Sandy headed home & Ed & I stayed at camp. We passed out around 9:00. Yup thats right, no guitar, no campfire, no beer, that night. Exhaustion & fatigue finally win out. So next morning it was time to head home. Ironically enough I left @ 10:00 am & got home @ 3:30 pm. Just like the trip up. Ok Ed, Cuz & the rest of you guys. How come it takes ya'll 6 1/2 hours to get to & from my place???
The last word is that for that four day gig, the weather was perfect. Thanks God, thank you for bringing me safely there & back.
One last note about the food. How come NO ONE & I mean NO ONE, down in these parts can make pizza as good as all most EVERYPLACE & I mean almost EVERYPLACE up in Northeast Ohio & Western Pa. can???
Oh the Amish Pearls & Gold Corn on the cob that Paul & Janet cooked us that Sun., was the best I've had in at least 5 years. Again I am not exaggerating. There are just some foods no one here can do as well. I just dont know why???!!!>>#@#%

Well I'm a runnin down the road, tryin to loosen my load....
Rennie

Where To Start...Part 3...
Ok as I was sayin, Tom Martin e-mailed me & LexJam (the original) wants To open their sessions at Annette,s Cafe & Event Center, With BLUEGRASS.
This is to better accommodate, the brunch crowd, before the founding LexJam core band starts raising the volume & the intensity level. I mean that "AS IN" intensity in the electric sense. As we all know, Bluegrass can also be intense, but the softer sound is a better fit during the brunch rush.
So, please ALL bluegrass people consider doing this & contact Tom Martin @ www.lexjam.com.
PLEASE spread the word to all bluegrassers. Paul Dorval will be on hand to run sound & you will have the compliment of a full PA system. Don't worry the sound will be set for bluegrass during this portion of the show. You may also contact me here. This will be an excellent opportunity for the blue grass community to interface with each other, established Bluegrass bands to try out new material &/or band mates in front of a live & lively setting. also, this will be a great exposure opportunity for bands to showcase new material and gain name recognition.

The return of the GOSHINS Monday night Open Jam sessions will start on September 8th. which is (Ironically enough) Monday!!! Betcha didn't see that one coming...

After a Hi-level meeting, (in the the Meat Dept at Kroger). It's a privilege to let everyone know that Mike Anderson Will also join the cause, and be a member of the LexJam II Unplugged core BAND.

We Welcome Mike Aboard & say...Hey... Mikes already been aboard for awhile now.

With the addition of Mike & D.J. I'd say LEXJAM II UNPLUGGED, has a fine cross section of musician's now, to bring you the finest in Folk, Bluegrass & Americana. With your help of course!

So please come out and play with us. As always, we want all acoustic musicians of all skill levels. We also want music lover's who don't play, and just like to listen, to join us. Hey... Let's all help put Lexington on the music map.

Ok when we last left our hero...Oh wait, thats a different story.
I left off of part 1 promising to thank the rest of our guests, so here goes.
In the Lexapalooza that was LexJam II Unplugged Aug.2, we also were graced with the presence of Steve "Fuzzy" Konopka.
Fuzzy showed up with his "Great Big Box-O- Harps", and proceeded to accompany almost everyone on every song. He has a knack for not only Blues harp, but can throw down some pretty good harmonica on just about anything you throw at him. Thanks for being there Fuzzy, Hope to see you soon. (mmm like at Goshins. Yes I will be announcing the restart of the Goshins open Jams, very soon). Next up, backing us up with HIS bottomless talent we had Mike Anderson. Mike can back you up on anything you toss his way & has the talent to take over, so watch yer back, he'll get you with his guitar. Thanks Mike, we appreciate all you do.
Once again D.J. Crowe came to grace us all, with his awesome original material. D.J. also plays some killer obscure covers like "Sheep Go To Heaven, Goats Go To Hell", which I believe was written by a band named CAKE. I love that song I LMAO every time I hear it. I also want to take this time to announce th D.J. has agreed to Become an official LexJam II Unplugged core band Member, I want everyone to welcome D.J. aboard. I am hoping to get Mike on officially as well.

Now its time to recognize the rest of my "Partners In Crime",
Dick & Shirley Hudson; Guitar, Fiddle & vocals.
Carol Smith; guitar & vocals.
Keith Elkins; Banjo, vocals.
Carla an Hoose; guitar & vocals. Carla was unable to attend this session, but we know she was there in spirit & we look forward to her return.
And yours truly on, guitar, vocals, pa system, camera, chairs, sidewalk, adrenalin, etc...

I have an announcement from Tom Martin.
Regular LexJam would like all interested BLUEGRASSERS to open the regular LexJam sessions at Annettes Cafe & Event Center. This will be during brunch at Annettes. From 11:00am -1:30pm. There will be a sound system provided & Both LexJam & Annettes would like to open this invitation. I will go more in depth in installment #3 of "Where To Start". For now I gotta run. I'll talk to ya tomorrow.
Keep the Radio on...
Rennie

LexJam II Unplugged August 2nd, 2008

It's been a while & I know your are antsy for updates. Well fear not here they come!
It's been a busy last few months & the updates are lacking due to just that.
So this update will be about the last LexJam II Unplugged. But first let me quickly say I posted the St. Simons Island update before it was totally complete, so there will be more references to that gig.

The August 2nd LexJam II Unplugged was probably the best one yet. Well..Not probably but definitely the best one yet. If you remember our special guest was Kent Eric Gardner. Kent brought his own style of Folk/Americana to the table with his music spanning a period from when he was 15, (Saigon written for his brother Rick, after his return from Vietnam), To his present compositions, now some 30 years later. One of [those] songs is, more so than less, the answer or the sequel to Saigon and is called Veterans Day. Which unfortunately closes the final chapter on Ricks life, as he passed away close to Veterans Day 2007 from the scars of Vietnam. This is a beautiful, yet deep song and I believe it will appear on Kents next CD. Kent played a nice cross section of music from his first 3 CD's as well as several tunes from the upcoming effort & even some unrecorded songs he hasn't put anywhere just yet. We all look forward to the next Record and sit in excited anticipation.
Kent also had his son Kaleb Gardner, on board. Now let me tell you as I have mentioned in previous updates, Kaleb is quite the picker himself. He backed Kent up on several songs & also sat in with the core band for a few numbers.
I want to extend my thanks to Kent and Kaleb for coming from Pennsylvania & Ohio respectively, To be a part & help to make this the best session yet. I also want to extend thanks to Ed Neubecker, (Yes, my brother) for coming with them & helping with setup & tear down of this session. It was a great weekend for all. They were in town for 42 hours, and with visiting, eating & {not a lot, but some} sleeping, we got in a full 16 hours of serious music, all told. I talked to Kent this past Monday & he has submitted his material to WOODSONGS for consideration. He was advised to do that at LexJam II Unplugged. Cool. Now, lets all keep our collective fingers crossed & say a prayer. Kent also looks forward to a future return to be our special guest at LJII. As always there is much more to say about Kent & we will. Love ya CUZ, now get to the studio.
I will also be talking about Woodsongs in a near future update.
I am working on the pictures from Aug. 2nd and hope to have at least some of them up before Labor Day.
You can view The pics taken by the LexJam official photographers @ www.lexjam.com. There is a nice photo gallery of the session there.
So that leads me to again thanking Mark & Tammy McKinley for doing such a great job of donating their time to chronical all that is lexJam (which is both versions) & maintaining the LexJam website.
Ok this about wraps it for part 1. I will post the next installment of this multi part update tomorrow. This is where I will announce & thank the core band as always, and announce the rest of our guests (one of which will be announced as a new core member of the LexJam II ensemble.
talk to ya tomorrow.
Rennie
P.S. this just in. Got An e-mail from Tom Martin, which will involve all interested Bluegrassers. I will share it tomorrow, Aug 28th.

C'mon guys, you know me. I will have a killer update coming for the Aug.2nd LexJAm II Unplugged. I,ve still gotta edit pictures. It was the best one yet & Kent Gardner was our special guest for this session, along with Mike Anderson & D.J.Crowe. Sorry to keep you waiting Honest. It'll have to wait til I get back from my OHIO gig.
Thanks for your patience.
Your Humble Servant
Rennie

As usual I'm late with the updates (Hey, you try being me). Forward then to St.Simon's Island.
I had wedding detail down on the "Golden Isles", a family gig it was. I had been approached by my Son & future Daughter-in-Law, about writing a song for their wedding. I spent about 6 months working on the lyrics to this song. Now the music on the other hand, eluded me for quite a while. It had to be fresh, unique & fitting for a wedding. It had to be something that could be played during the wedding ceremony & fit in the general theme. I must admit I was getting somewhat nervous as the event approached. I had words but not the tune. Then the words themselves started wearing on me, as not quite the caliber I thought necessary. Sooo... more arranging of words ensued & with input from my own beautiful bride, the words came together. Oh but wheres the music?

Crunch Time With only three weeks to go, I'm wondering if I'll be able to pull this off. Then In a stroke of inspiration the music came. Now let me just say that at the time I was learning another song that I love to play, & out of that song, with a little rearranging & a key change, I had my music. (No I will not divulge that information, as it would somehow make me feel as though I am compromising my self). If you can figure it out I will send you a free copy of my next CD. This CD will contain the song I wrote.

The Name & The Goal
The name of the song is "When Our Toes Touch In The Sand".
The goal was to make someone shed a tear. You see, if I could do that then I know the song was where it was supposed to be in space & time. I guess the moon & the stars were aligned perfectly. I made some tears fall. The Bride cried. The Groom cried. The Bridesmaids were crying. And half of the people seated were misty eyed. Mission Accomplished.
Yes. Their Toes Touched In The Sand & the wedding was wonderful. I think every person there came up to me at some point to tell me how much they liked it. And the Bride & Groom? They love it.

On our journey down there, wifey & I also met up with some old friends on Jekyll Island. That would be Cindy Smith of the Beachview Club & Brenda Anderson of Saydees Restaurant & Martini Bar. We met these wonderful ladies last year on our trip to Jekyll. You can read more about their hospitality, if you dig deep in my news pages & read my Jekyll Island Update from last summer.
I did not get a chance to see Ric Minix, but hope to get an e-mail from him. (Ric if you read this e-mail me.) I still would like to have this fine musician do some work on my next CD, & you the listener will like what you hear. I promise.

Now for some special shouts out to the people who helped make this occasion one to remember:
Caroline Carter www.eventsbycaroline.com Caroline helped throughout the last year coordinating most phases of the wedding & we appreciate her help.

Scarlett Starr Anne Thompson &
Debra Of the KING & PRINCE BEACH RESORT. for all their hard work to get us set up for the wedding ceremony & the reception afterwards. Thanks ladies, we could not have done it without you. Also at the KING & PRINCE. our truly excellent bartender,
Thomas Farago Thomas kept everyone well saddled with cold libations & I can say there were no dry throats at this party! Thanks Thomas.
www.kingandprince.com
Cathy Dart Cathy was the baker who supplied the best cupcakes I've had in a long time. Thanks Cathy.

A shout out to our photographer Johnathan Adams This guy is phenomenal & cant wait til we get our albums. Thanks Jon. I will recommend you & hope to have the opportunity to work with you again.
www.jonathanadamsphotography.com

Pegge Elam www.musicbypegge.com It was great to meet this fine young lady & she set us up with fine musicians on violin & keyboard. Thanks for the music & working my song into the ceremony.

Lotsa updating to come as promised. St Simons Island & LexJam II Unplugged with Kent Eric Gardner. All with pics. Yes I gotta get it done before I have to do the Green Acres gig update.(Which is coming up fast).
I think I'm running out of hairs to pull out.
TTYS
Rennie

Hello fans around the world.
I'm back from my Island gig & wedding. I'm 85% recuperated & will have pics & news postings coming at you over the next several weeks. There are tons of content to add, so keep checking back (OFTEN).
TTYS
Rennie
P.S. Guess I need to clarify. Not MY wedding, my sons wedding.

This Saturday..JULY 12th. LexJam II Unplugged...Hosted by The one...The Only...Ms Carla Van Hoose www.carlasings.com. Need we say more??? We will if we need too!

Hope everyone still has all their fingers. 'specially all you pickers.
Hope everyone had a great 4th of July. New music has been slowly BUT steadily flowing from my pen & I will have much material to choose from when I finally start recording later this summer or early fall. I will keep you informed as always. Breaking out a new song for the Sons wedding, that I think will surprise everyone. We'll see...
Don't forget its already time For the next installment of LexJam II Unplugged. Sat July 12th. Hosted by Carla Van Hoose. Her website is www.carlasings.com. You can get info there or if you have any questions about this weeks LexJam II.
Thats my update for today Kids......
Rennie

I love the smell of gunpowder, first thing in the morning..
Have a HAPPY and a SAFE 4th. But by all means Play with fireworks & have a COLD BEER.

Just use your head...

Oh, and Make Music!!!
Ren

Well now. We have LexJam II Unplugged Volume 3 past us.
As usual we all had a lot of fun. I believe I am speaking for everyone involved. By looking at the pictures, I see lotsa smiles. We had some new faces with a couple of guys (Rich & John) who rocked us all with an extended set. They also stayed around and played with the core band on quite a few numbers. Hope to see these guys back.

We also had a very special guest with Almira Southworth. I had a news update about her last week. And you can hear our opinion there. Almira started out this LexJam II Unplugged session, with the live version of Hotel California. She brought her Looper & put down the drum track, then the rhythm track. when it was time for the lead, you guessed it she had everything in the Looper & WOW, what a stellar performance. Almira also performed 2 of her own original songs. One called Appalachia The name of the other eludes me at the moment. She played guitar & harmonica on these selections. As I stated before this young lady is far beyond her years in musical talent. She has 3 students that she teaches guitar. She also plays keyboards and a host of percussion instruments as well. Oh by the way She is 10 years old!!!. I took a viedo of Hotel California, and hope to post it here soon.

As for the rest of us we did our usual standards & mixed some new tunes in as well. We had perfect weather.
This seems to be growing at a nice pace & hope to see all of you that can make it to these events come out for the variety of Live Music. Don't for get regular LexJam, hosted by Tom Martin for some Rhythm & Blues, Jazz & more Electric type Rock as well.

Thanks to our LexJam II Unplugged core crew consisting of Dick & Shirley Hudson, Carla Van Hoose, Keith Elkins & Carol Smith. Thanks guys for all your help. LexJam II Unplugged could not exist without all you do to help.

The July edition of LexJam II Unplugged will be on JULY 12th. This session will be hosted by Lexingtons own Carla Van Hoose. Be sure to catch her show with the usual suspects & the other talented musicians who show up. I will be on Wedding Duty that week so will not be able to make it.

Regular LexJam is also on July 12th. It is now being held at Annette's Cafe & Event Center.

Please come out & support live music. We have many quality jam sessions in our area & you can find one for just about every type of music.

Dont forget Southland Jamboree every Tuesday night with a feature band from 7-8 pm, Then the open jam session that follows. The feature band for July 8th will be DRIVING RAIN.
Come down and check out Jim Willoughby & his crew for their amazing line up of both Traditional & Gospel Bluegrass and original tunes.
You won't be disappointed.

Anyone interested in The Street Scene busker program, I have contracts & can get you set up with Jessica Gies @ the Downtown Lexington Corp. who sanctions this program.

We now have pics posted from LexJam II 06/28/08.

Get out there & Jam!!!
Rennie

Howdy folks. Less than 24 hours til the 3rd installment of LexJam II Unplugged
Grab your friends & c'mon down...
Rain or shine, The Show Must Go On. In case of rain we will move inside the FOOD COURT (Mall Area). Music lovers & Musicians, see you there.
Rennie
P.S. I mentioned earlier about a very special guest. We hope to see her there.

I just got home from the Southland Jamboree where PickinTime Played an awesome set to a possible record crowd. With the the following open jam session of many(to many to mention) great musicians. Me being the lessor. But hey, I had fun any way. BUT I was absolutely stunned by one guitar player/ Singer in particular. A young lady by the name of Almira. This singer / guitar player is the future of music. Why do I say that you ask???!!! Let me just say this at this point Go to You Tube & punch her name into the search bar, Thats it, just put it there & play her "Hotel California" or "When You Say Nothing At All" video.
I met this talented young lady tonight at The SOUTHLAND JAMBOREE, talked to her Dad & Mom. I was absolutely stunned. She just might be at LexJam II Unplugged this Saturday. I sure hope so.
Oh...I didn't mention shes 10 years old...Yes folks, you will be camping out someday to buy tickets to her concerts!
I'll have more on Almira in the future.
In the mean time if the city of Lexington is lucky, she'll be at LexJam II Unplugged, this Sat June 28th.
Hope to see you there.
Over & Out
Ren

LexJam at Annette's Cafe

LexJam moves its monthly Saturday afternoon community jam sessions to Annette's Cafe on Old Vine Street on July 12.

"It has taken time to find a spot that balances the realities of live, amplified music with the comfort of hosts and convenience to players and listeners," said co-organizer Tom Martin. "ArtsPlace," the LexArts headquarters and most recent location, "has been super accommodating, has great acoustics and easy storage and we appreciate the hospitality we have been shown," he said.

But when offered the opportunity to locate the session in a place that is within walking distance of several large urban neighborhoods and combines acoustics and secured storage with an open bar and food service the LexJam organizers decided to make the move.

"We hope this will become our permanent spot," Martin said. "Annette Jett and Frank Bickle are enthusiastic supporters of our mission and we can't thank them enough for making their wonderful new cafe and event center available as an incubator of local music."

Since launching in January of 2007 LexJam has spawned at least two local bands, the alt-country quartet Some Other Meanness and the New Orleans flavored blues-funk unit, Old Vine Street Social & Pleasure Club. "We hope to see this continue," said Martin. "Besides the fun of just getting together with other musicians for a Saturday afternoon of improv, our main mission is to encourage the formation of bands."

LexJam provides a drum kit, congas, a choice of guitar amps, a bass rig, keyboard and full, tech-operated sound system with monitors. Musicians are encouraged to bring their guitars, horns, harps, voices and ideas, sign-in, plug-in and play.

TOM MARTIN

Will wonders never cease...
I finally got my technical problems dealt with & NOW we have pictures from the MAY LexJam II Unplugged. Yee-haw!
Our May session was great & the weather was perfect, this made for an afternoon of killer music & seems our visitors agreed, though a few people were chilly in the shade. I'll stop here about Mays LexJamII unplugged, because the JUNE edition is coming up next week. so mark your calenders for
JUNE 28th 1-5PM down at the good 'ol Lexington Center. I really hope to see more people showing up and watching this thing grow. (This makes me think about my rant from March 3 rd go read it...now...). I will be relentless in my mission to get Live Music back on the streets. Which brings me to:
The Street Busker program. Yes it is still alive. You can contact me Or Shanna Perino @ shanna@downtownlex.com. either one of us can provide the contract. As I mentioned in an update on MAY 21 st, these are paid positions +tips.
We are looking for donations in the fund to add more spots and/or keep the program going further into the fall.
LexJam & Gallery Hop If you missed LexJam last night for Gallery Hop well...then you missed another great evening of music.(at the risk of offending you, I will say SHAME ON YOU, ya should'a went) the main flavor of the evening was started out by Some Other Meanness. a rockin band that was born out of LexJam.
With the dynamics of Scott Whiddon on lead guitar & Brian Powers on bass. These guys rock & when you see them scheduled to play, you need to go check them out.
After their performance, next up was the band Old Vine Street Social & Pleasure Club, another band born out of LexJam. This band is headed up by The Founding Father of LexJam, Mr Tom Martin. With Tom on keyboards & Mike Thompson on drums and Brian Back on bass Plus the rest of the musicians (whose names elude me). finished out the evening with a rockin hour +, of jam style music. crossing a broad musical spectrum. Again you need to see their power performance when you see them listed to play. Hey even my 72 year old Mum-in-Law who dos'nt look even close to her age & drove down from Huntington WV by herself. (yes shes that sharp) was absolutely impressed by the LexJammers. She was on the edge of her seat & ready to dance I think.
LexJam regular Sherry McGee finished the last song with her absolutely stunning drum playing. As I'v mentioned in the past, this lady can really play the drums. One of the best for sure.
What a A full evening of music with the Stella Vees at Als Bar, & then we had Actual Size at Goshins Tavern. Actual Size being D J Crowe & Randy.
As always the best part is when DJ does the set of originals. This guy is a great songwriter & you can catch him next week down @ LexJam II Unplugged.
OK... speaking of LexJam II Unplugged, as mentioned its next week Sat June 28th 1 to 5 pm. Wow...End of June Already??? Man where is this summer flying off to.

JULY will bring us a double LexJam With regular LexJam moving to a new venue @ Annette's Cafe & Event Center on Old Vine st. This venue will have food service & an open bar. So now you can feed your belly & quench your thirst while enjoying the music. LexJam II Unplugged will be at the same time at its usual location @ Lexington Center. This session will Be hosted by the lovely & talented CARLA VAN HOOSE. www.carlasings.com. Carla brings a wide variety of music (including awesome originals) to the stage & I feel lucky having played with her & having her cover for me while I'm off on wedding detail. Yup is here, the sons big wedding. I'll have some news about that later in July when we get on the other side of it. I'm hoping to hook up with Ricky Minix while I,m in the south. I'll explain more about that later also. So there you have it, or part of it anyway. I could go on for another hour about music related stuff, but I'm gonna stop here for now. Dont wanna feed ya past your saturation point. If I left anything important out (which I might have), please dont hesitate to e-mail me & I'll fix it, post it, whatever...

Last thing. Want to again thank Paul Dorval for the magnificent job of running sound for LexJam & Thank Tammy & Mark McKinley for all their hard work taking pictures & keeping the LexJam website up. And everyone else who helps with both LexJams. Thanks Guys, I mean that from my heart.

Remember Support Live Music.

Your Musical Brother
Rennie

P.S. We are taking a break from the Monday Night Jam sessions @ Goshins, and should be back on board after the Green Acres gig in August.

OK Another reason for the very late update is some technical difficulty with the image bank & photo gallery. I am in contact with my Web Host & hope to have these issues resolved soon.
Working with pics in this web format is a slow process as is, (see my previous bitching about picture posting labor buried in my news pages) when you add technical problems, well it grinds to a halt. Bear with me & we'll get through this thing together. Meanwhile go put on my CD. & I'll go work on the next one..
TTYS
Rennie
P.S.
I haven't said anything in a while but be sure to check out my good friend Tom Cool @ www.tomcool.net .