Hey guys and gals

Normally I’d wait to run some of my reply by Vanessa before posting, but why wait? Restraint of tongue and pen you know, but sometimes you just have to say what you feel! Ness pretty much eloquently said what I would have said, only more so. Boy you just can’t make this shit up. There is no reason for someone to really know or care anything about my life or the travails thereof. That would be truly self-centered on my part and as self-centered as I am, I’m not there yet. All that being said (and keeping in mind it’s not my business what other people think of me) humans sometimes appall me.

So, as some of you might know I wrote a memoir, Been So Long,’ that came out in 2018. St. Martin’s Press just released the paperback edition and my publicist Cash arranged some press to go along with the release. Now all this was scheduled way before our Ostrich-In-Chief (head in the sand) decided that the Coronal Virus was actually something to worry about. Anyway, I was on the phone with my pals up there in Columbus, Ohio on radio WQFM and we shot the shit for a while, pushed the book a little and talked about life today in 2020.

I had a good time chatting and having chatted moved on. I guess Vanessa posted a link for the interview with QFM. Cool… or so we thought. Vanessa gets this email from this guy Michael R.

‘I question why jorma would release his memoirs about his “musical life” at this time, when we are at war with a virus that is killing 1000 people a day in new york city. Seems like a very selfish gesture to me. I don’t care about his musical life at this time. How about using his talent to help someone at this time of war?’

Wow Michael. Heavy. I can see you’re a deep thinker. Well, since you’re being a dick let me point out that Jorma is a proper noun and should be capitalized as should New York City. You’re no e.e.cummings of that I’m sure! You’re spending too much time in your iPad.

OK

Here’s Vanessa’s response and my opening shot is quite simply, that’s my girl!

‘Michael

Jorma wrote his book in 2018. The paperback was just recently released. This radio interview that was just released and posted was scheduled prior to our excuse for a president even acknowledging COVID-19 was an issue. If you’d done your fucking homework before you went off and made yourself look like as asshole you’d know everything that Jorma has done and continues to do for his community. Are you aware that he’s been supporting veterans for nearly two decades or that he donates his tour money and time to habitat for humanity, literacy organizations, children’s museums, teen drug and alcohol recovery, music in the schools, local food banks, equine rescue and to specific organizations that feed the hungry in our country? Shame on you! Shame on you! You know nothing about his philanthropic work. As far as this virus goes, we’ve turned our down time into making masks and hand sanitizer with the help of my sister and my 91 year old mother who has Alzheimer’s. We’ve sent masks to first responders and patients in New York, Long Island, Massachusetts, Chicago and here locally in our own community. They are free. We are not gouging anyone (like so many large corporations are doing) for our efforts.

I’m sorry your own ignorance has you so confused and clearly hateful. Next time you want to take someone to task, do your homework!

I wish you well and only hope you are stepping up in this time of crisis.’

Hey Vanessa, thanks and a big socially distant hug to you. Hey everybody, it’s nice to be liked and appreciated, but it’s not a given and it’s surely not mandated. That being said I really try to avoid caring about what other people think of me. Vanessa was way more verbal on my behalf than I would have been.

I guess I’m a little perplexed about what some people seem to think the life of a performer and an artist is like. I used to say, ‘It beats digging ditches,’ but, but these troubled times digging ditches might be a lot more productive. The talents and skills I’ve spent my life trying to improve have little survival value in a post-apocalyptic world. Yeah, I’ve put aside some food and important survival needs and yeah, I’ve got a generator, but nothing lasts forever and when they’re gone, there gone. I won’t be harvesting a deer with my guitar that’s for sure. And BTW, I’m not whining about that. If and when the time comes, I’ll figure how to survive with my family.

OK… Thanks Vanessa for being my fierce protector. Our family could not survive without you having our back. We are truly blessed. You just can’t beat a strong family in times of need.

In the words of my father, Jorma Sr.
‘Why are there so many more horses’ asses than there are horses?’

Thanks Dad!

Now a reminder to all you out there in the Peanut Gallery (Howdy Doody reference). Remember:

Saturday April 4, 2020 at eight PM that selfish, egocentric, uncaring, unfeeling and totally un-empathic guitarist, Jorma Kaukonen will be doing an online free concert from the (sad to say) empty Fur Peace Station:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75XiVQiWvlM

As for my readers here, we may not always agree, but thanks for hanging in there.

Have a great day all!

PS The Fur Peace Ranch is pretty much abandoned but there is always maintenance and a skeleton staff. I was just outside talking to John Hurlbut our Ranch Manager and we were appreciating the smell of the grass that was just cut this morning. I looked up at the blue sky and strange say in that moment I was briefly transported back to my old house in San Francisco on Yerba Buena Ave. The blue sky, the tiny yard and the smell of freshly cut grass… and then it was gone and I was back in our Meigs County Spring.

What a day!

Monday, March 30, 2020

Whatever time it is when you read this, I hope you’re doing OK in this time of crisis… and it is a time of crisis. I have been blogging since before the word ‘blog’ existed as we know it. Fifteen or twenty years ago when I used to design my own site I didn’t have a page for comments and I didn’t care. It was a place for me to spew and frankly, I didn’t care what anyone else thought. My notes From The Captain’s Table (as that page was called back then) were much more personal and interesting for me as a writer. When our dear friend and resident artist, Kevin Morgan, took over my site design he suggested that accepting comments would be a good idea. I was resistant to the idea but he convinced me and in the long run I believe it to have been a good move. I’ll save most of what I consider to be my incisive writing for my next book.

Over the years I have only blocked two commenters and have deleted very few posts. You all have had free run here on my property. When I was a kid in the 40’s we were one of the few Jewish families in the neighborhood we lived in back in Chevy Chase, D.C. There was absolutely no racial diversity. We Jews were the outsiders. We were not observant Jews so we did not enjoy the comfort of that community either. I never knew what was behind the doors of the B’nai B’rith Synagogue around the corner from my house until I went to my first Yom Kippur service there with Vanessa and my son Zach some fifteen or so years ago. All that being said almost every fight I got into in the neighborhood was about being Jewish. I know what Anti Semitism feels like first hand. I have a funny foreign sounding name that was not appreciated by ‘good’ Americans during WW II. I know what xenophobia is and I don’t need anyone to reference it for me by quoting the classics. I am part of a biracial family in a world where this is still not accepted by everyone.

I’m going to try not to slip into the vitriol that our miserable President has made acceptable. President Trump is the worst president I have had the displeasure to share the world with in my lifetime. Has he accomplished anything? I don’t know. I do know he has made mendacity and lack of honor the norm. This is not a moment for ‘what aboutisms.’ I didn’t vote for Hilary either. (There is no one in the electable political spectrum who speaks for me today… which is OK. That’s life.)

We can agree to disagree, and on the subject of disagreement, I have deleted some pro-life posts. I am pro choice. No one gets to tell my wife or daughter what they can or can’t do with their body. The lieutenant governor of Texas, Dan Patrick thinks people like me should sacrifice their lives for our grandkids? I’m going to try to make sure there is a life for my grandkids. Good luck with that Dan.

Probably not last, and certainly not least. My position on religion is that it is for people that are afraid of Hell and spirituality is for those who have been there and don’t want to go back. I consider myself a spiritual person. Having graduated from a Catholic University and also having gone to a British school in Pakistan in the 50’s, I have read and studied the Bible, as I have the Old Testament. These are books written by men. Good literature it you like it and disposable if you don’t. Your choice. I don’t use my site to promulgate my personal beliefs and this is not your bandwagon either, whoever ‘you’ might be.

This is a tough conversation to have. I have friends that are pro Trump. (Again, this does not make me a Democrat either. I consider myself a true Independent.) I take issue with most of what they say on a political front. With this in mind we have agreed not to discuss our opinions for the most part. We’re never going to agree so why waste the breath which is so precious in these days of WW C.

As my Grandmother Vera used to say, ‘A word to the wise is sufficient.’ Let’s just see if we can get through this.

Nuff said…

Ness and I take a break from yard work for a Hot Tuna pizza from Avalanche in Athens

Selfie by Vanessa Kaukonen

Every day has been feeling like Sunday. Normally a weekend without a Fur Peace Ranch camp is the only time i would deign to do yard work. Well, with our world on pause down here Tuesday might as well be Sunday so out came the rakes, the leaf blower and the wheelbarrow. Before I go any further, I need to digress with a note on our very own Avalanche Pizza on East State Street in Athens, Ohio. Even before the ‘take out’ only mandate in Ohio, Avalanche Pizza has always been ‘take out’ only. If they had table service, I’d be eating there all the time. Anyway, years ago John Gutekanst the owner of said pizza joint came to us and wondered if we had a good idea for a specialty pizza. Having spent some time in Italy where their pizzas have little to do with pizza as we know it here in the States, Vanessa and I came up with this:

Hot Tuna Pizza From Avalanche:

24hr cold fermented thin crust dough, hand-tossed. Creamy béchamel sauce, aged mozzarella and provolone cheese, tuna, artichoke hearts, fresh mushrooms, Roma tomatoes, and asiago cheese. Finished with swirls of spicy ninja sauce. Best pizza joint around and the best and coolest staff. Life is good… today… well at least as far as pizza is concerned.

We all have our own worlds to contend with along with the specific demands than inhabit these worlds. I have been making time every day for at least two hours of solo guitar performance. That’s how I practice. I’m always taking notes and writing stuff down. From yesterday.

‘3/24/20 11:17 AM

I sit in the workshop with my guitar. A moment of communication between me and a dear old friend. In this time of COVID -19 virus isolation it is a moment of untethered solace. I sit near the little stage in the old workshop at the Fur Peace Ranch. Behind me is a picture of myself and Bob Weir and Ken Kesey in ’96 at the Furthur Festival in Eugene, Oregon. I am playing Too Many Years and as I roll into the IV chord through a tiny window above my head over the stage a shaft of sun enters the room and bathes my face in light and in this small moment, there is a smile in my soul!’

Then having invited my soul thusly I return to the house to see how our teenage daughter is faring in moderate confinement. She always puts on a brave face but I can see the weight behind her eyes. I tell her things will probably be all right but that in reality there are no guarantees in life and as she has noted herself on more than one occasion, the only constant is change. I hope that the change will be for the better. Some wag noted on the internet today that in their time of crisis our parents went to war while in our time we are relegated to watching Netflix on the couch. That helps to put it in perspective for me. We are able to keep food on the table, the septic works and Rumke just emptied the FPR dumpster. Life is still decent enough I guess.

I just a note in the comments section about me and my ’stuff.’ I’m just going to ruminate a little here because I’m too lazy to sign into the comments page. Hey, I know to my family I’m just dad, but some folks find aspects of my life interesting… like guitars I might own. Many have heard me talk about this before but i don’t mind doing it again. I’m not a collector and I have no interest in becoming one. Almost a decade ago I looked around my guitar room and saw that in spite of myself I wound up with more guitars than I would ever play and some were quite valuable. I sold everything that I didn’t use and put the money in the kid’s college fund. acoustic and electric… gone, and I don’t miss any of them. It is true that I have a small, but significant number of vintage amps on the stage of the Fur Peace Ranch, but that’s a little different. They all get used either by me, or by visiting musicians that come to play our room. I guess the most interesting guitar in my possession is my 1958 J-50 Gibson. It’s the Embryonic Journey guitar, it’s the Live At New Orleans House guitar. Anytime I played an acoustic guitar on an Airplane or Hot Tuna session, it was that guitar. It’s the guitar on the typewriter tapes with Janis. Yeah, It’s a cool guitar and still a great one! I am now playing a David Flammang J-35 as most of you know. It feels like going back to the old J-50. Anyway, the point is there’s not much to see you won’t see on stage when I’m gigging on the road. Yeah, gigging on the road… I have a vague recollection about that.

Anyway, all of us who can afford to do so have earned the right to gratify our acquisitional whims. I am not judging. As a guitar player and teacher I sometimes feel like reminding my friends to learn to play the guitars they have. Just saying in a non-judgemental way.

That’s it for now… stay healthy out there.

Happy first day of Spring in the Northern Hemisphere!

As Rev. Davis might say, ‘There’s a bright side, somewhere.’ I’m going to start with my bright side. Aside from the fact that my family is still healthy and we have food on the table, I’ve really been enjoying my Flammang J-35’s. There’s a lot of great builders out there right now and indeed, it’s acquirer’s heaven for guitar players. Great thanks to our friend Jason up in Canada for turning me onto David Flammang’s superb J-35 guitars, Tom Feldman up there in Minnesota for the personal introduction to David and David himself for his artistic vision and fine craftsmanship in building truly great guitars.

One Flammang

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Another Flammang

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Does this mean I’m divesting myself of my beautiful Martins? (And yes, I have four and my daughter has one of the two short scale Jorma M-30’s made) Of course not. Long scale Martins and short scale Gibson style guitars are apples and oranges. For example. It is difficult for me to execute Mann’s Fate on my Martin. For that reason, it has been out of the rotation in performance. It was written on my old 1958 Gibson J-50 and the song’s evolution is predicated on that guitar’s physical properties. My new Flammang is that guitar only in the present and without dings. I see this tune coming back and more.

Now, on the subject of ‘coming back,’ that may or may not be another story altogether. First of all my heroes today are the health care workers who put their lives on the line every time they interface with a patient whether there is confirmed COVID-19 present or not. Bless these brave souls! Not far behind are everyone else who is still able to go to work to keep this country and our world running. If I am still able to go to a filling station and buy gas or fuel this means that somewhere workers have extracted the petroleum, refined it and trucked it to its destination. You get the picture. That’s just an example.

To take the long and somewhat dour view of all this there are many possibilities for the new reality as it evolves, and one of them is that people like me will be superfluous for a while. Yeah, I live in a rural invoronment pretty much in a world that is somewhat easy to control… to some extent. At some point as social gangrene eats away at our extremities survival will make as adhere to some cold equations.

(As I’m writing this, our daughter, Izze, is cooking her breakfast and the first tragedy of the day is that the bakery in Athens is closed.)

The Cold Equations… a short story by Tom Godwin that I read in 1954 in Astounding, a science fiction mag. Astounding would become Analog in time but back then it was Astounding and I bought it every single month. This short story has engaged, and enraged readers for over sixty years but that’s a discussion for another time.

Wikipedia Summary:

‘The story takes place entirely aboard an Emergency Dispatch Ship (EDS) headed for the frontier planet Woden with a load of desperately-needed medical supplies. The pilot, Barton, discovers a stowaway: an eighteen-year-old girl. By law, all EDS stowaways are to be jettisoned because EDS vessels carry no more fuel than is absolutely necessary to land safely at their destination. The girl, Marilyn, merely wants to see her brother Gerry, and was not aware of the law. When boarding the EDS, Marilyn saw the “UNAUTHORIZED PERSONNEL KEEP OUT!” sign, but thought she would at most have to pay a fine if she were caught. Barton explains that her presence dooms the mission by exceeding the weight limit, and the subsequent crash would kill both of them and doom the colonists awaiting the medical supplies. After contacting her brother for the last moments of her life, Marilyn willingly walks into the airlock and is ejected into space.’

Cool… a little time travel for me here. Anyway, there may be some ‘cold equations’ in our future. Who knows. Looking at the news this morning and listening to the drunken babble from spring breaker twenty somethings on the beach in Clearwater, Florida… it gives one pause for thought. What a time indeed and what a bunch of dumb asses.

OK… moving right along here. Check out a 2015 Arnold Schwarzenegger movie with Abigail Breslin called ‘Maggie.’ This is a really cool little post-apocalyptic movie where Arnold has a great dramatic role. In this little movie compassion triumphs.

For us here in the time of World War C… what next. Hard to say.

At some point, those of us not working and ‘sheltering in place’ will no longer be able to afford that. What then? As I’ve been fond of saying with a wry smile on my face, I (and folks like me) am like a court jesters and without a court and a king… we’re out of work. I’m not a farmer or a survivalist so I don’t have a lot of the skills that might become necessary. I’d probably have to be a taker to survive unless the future offers something else. Predictions of the future whether from you, me, the government or anyone else are gratuitous. Reality will tell us what’s real.

With that in mind my post World War C reality is still kicking in while the pre-C world hangs on. I have an interview at 1300 about the Fur Peace Ranch and while I’m waiting for that I think I’ll pick up my David Flammang J-35 with a torrified top and work on a cool little ending I’m adding to Blue Railroad Train.

My thought for today…

So far, so good.

Hope for the best. Prepare for the worst, and keep smiling.

Creative suggestions:

Waste not, want not

From Jack Casady

Olé

From Zach Kearse

Enjoy!

Indeed… no matter how you look at it, it is the end of the world as we know it, and hey… perhaps we should have all had a wider world view in the past but like it or not, it’s here now. At my age, I’m a bulls eye for COVID 19. There are more cases that have yet to be diagnosed than we can imagine. That’s just the way it is. Will, we get through it as a global population? Of course we will but right now I don’t think it’s going to be easy and it’s not going to be quick. Well, I’m sure we’ve all been watching the news so you don’t need me to tell you what you already know. For me, kudos to our Governor Mike DeWine… right now Ohio is one of the states leading the way. Most of us are doing our best. Some are still whistling in the grave yard. We’ll see who fares better as things evolve.

Now, life doesn’t grind to a halt just because stuff is happening we don’t like. Living in a sparsely populated area as we do we figured what better time to take a scenic walk while one still can. Time for a trip to Cedar Falls.

Nature... still beautiful!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

I’ve lived here for almost thirty years and I’d never been to Cedar Falls before.

Nessa, Izze and a pal at the Falls

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Very few people here on this day… the nature… awesome!

Prehistoric!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

To just get away from the relentless news for a moment!

Priceless!

Moments of peace!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Toilet paper? Dog food? What next?

More time hiking on the trail!

Ohio rocks

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Now this was a couple of days ago and much has happened since then… I’ m these relatively peaceful moments!

Go placidly among the noise and the haste...

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

The Desiderata just never seems to go out of fashion!

I could have done this all day...

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Wait a minute… I did do it all day!

Well, I’m guessing none of this is going to go away quickly no matter how much I would like it to. In the meantime love your neighbor, albeit from a distance if necessary, hold your family close and keep your powder dry!

As an older man in the cross hairs of COVID 19 with a wife more or less in the same zone, a teenage daughter and a son in his twenties I am obviously concerned about this pandemic. First of all, even though I believe that COVID 19 will be everywhere because that’s what pandemics do, I am not surrounded by people and for now, I like it that way. In the course of my life I have had scarlet fever, a mild form of polio, chickenpox twice, mumps twice, dengue fever more than once, amoebic dysentery more than once, malaria more than once, shingles, high blood pressure, infectious hepatitis and the usual aches and pains that being alive for more than twenty four hours visits upon us. Will I survive this one? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I understand that people are entitled to their own opinion and one of mine is, if you are an anti vaxxer you are putting my children at risk and you are no friend of mine. Harsh? not really. To survive in the real world we need facts not superstition. The BS about vaccines and autism has been thoroughly debunked more than once. An un-vaccinated person is a Typhoid Mary to me. Stay away from my kids. By the same token, to apply biblical metaphors to reality is, in my opinion not only absurd but dangerous. This is not the time for a discussion about who has the most powerful imaginary friend. Do I believe in a higher power? Absolutely. Do I think he, she or it has my ultimate best interests at heart? Hardly. There is a higher power, and it’s not me… or you. That’s all I need to know about that.

As far as the lack of COVID 19 testing in this country the fact that in this country there is less money in preventing disease that there is in trying to cure it would seem to provide some insights. Just saying. As far as being able to survive in a world after the SHTF in a world that finds itself WROL I don’t have those kinds of survival skills. I would be a court jester and court jesters don’t exist without a court and a king. Hmmm…. Well, we’re not there yet, and frankly I think we’re going to get through this in spite of the ineptitude in the idiots running this country. In Ohio, all schools are closed for the next three weeks, and it could be longer. I’m not touring right now, but pretty much all tours are being cancelled or at the very least postponed. This is going to effect guys like me profoundly and who knows what the endgame will be?

Lastly, don’t criticize me for using Prepper acronyms. I’m not a prepper. Maybe I should have been.

We’ll see…

Onward

Life is more than interesting on so many fronts… Thanks to all for the illuminating discussion following the complaint at the Boulder Theater. Sometimes you just can’t please everyone.

Moving along…

We pull into River City in St. Louis

Foto by Phil Jacobs

We limped into River City with some transmission problems on the good old bus… but we made it. Stephen did some parking lot repairs… and we were good to go. It’s a new age for the shade tree mechanic. Anyway, walking into the registration lobby I was greeted by this:

Elvis?

Obviously this is not our normal type of venue… but hey, a gig’s a gig and the production folks here were absolutely the best!

The boys onstage at River City

Foto by Gary Sudin

Hot Tuna 15, 2020
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
And Justin Guip
River City Casino
St. Louis, Missouri
Tuesday, March 3, 2020

First Set:
1. Been So Long
2. Hesitation Blues
3. Ode To Billy Dean
4. Talkin’ Bout You
5. Second Chances
6. Living Just For You
7. I Am The Light Of This World
8. Can’t Get Satisfied
9. Bowlegged Woman

Second Set:
1. Serpent Of Dreams
2. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
3. Roads and Roads &
4. Rock Me Baby
5. Hit Single # 1
6. Watch The North Wind Rise
7. Sea Child
8. Walking Blues
9. Good Shepherd
10. Funky # 7
11. Encore: Water Song

All in all it was a great show for us and the St. Louis audience was awesome! Justin, Angus and jack flew home and Stephen and Myron and I started driving after load out. Spring ain’t here yet, but it’s coming. Here’s a picture Vanessa took in the morning before we rolled in:

Show au naturel!

Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen

It was a great tour across the spectacle that is America, but it’s great to be home and just be Dad again.

Great new Rock 'n' Roll room!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Hot Tuna 12, 2020
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
And Justin Guip
The David Bromberg Band
The Commonwealth Room
Salt Lake City, Utah
Wednesday, February 26, 2020

1. I See The Light
2. Hesitation Blues
3. Ode To Billy Dean
4. Talkin’ Bout You
5. Living Just For You
6. Barbeque King
7. Bowlegged Woman
8. Come Back Baby
9. Watch The North Wind Rise
10. Sleep Song
11. Good Shepherd
12. Hit Single # 1
13. Funky # 7
14. Encore: Water Song

Then we all beat feet to Boulder and checked into the Boulderado… one of my favorite hotels of all time.

Breakfast at the Creole Restaurant

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Great place for breakfast. Don’t miss the Beignets!

First of two sold out nights!

Foto by Jack Casady

David has been graciously inviting me to join him on his acoustic Buddy Brown original. Big fun… every night. Thanks David!

Here we are pickin' it Old School...

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Hot Tuna 13, 2020
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
And Justin Guip
With
The David Bromberg Band
The Boulder Theater
Boulder, Colorado
Friday, February 28, 2020

1. Been So Long
2. Candy Man
3. Ode To Billy Dean
4. Talkin’ Bout You
5. Wolves & Lambs
6. Living Just For You
7. Can’t Get Satisfied
8. Bowlegged Woman
9. Sea Child. Chet
10. Watch The North Wind Rise
11. Hit Single # 1
12. Trial By Fire
13. Good Shepherd Chet
14. Funky # 7
15. Encore: Genesis

My buddy Kyle Brunnetti presents me with an Ian Buchanan CD

Foto by Kyle’s Dad

Here Kyle gives me some Ian Buchanan material that he passes on from John Sposato out on Long Island. Kyle’s a great young man… and a lucky one too. He’s got his Dad’s Les Paul!

With Day One at the Boulder Theater under our belt… a good night’s Boulderado sleep, and on to day 2.

Justin... tuning up the tubs!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

The Bromberg Quintet… A Capella

Standin' In The Need Of Prayer

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Tuna’s Set:

Hot Tuna 14, 2020
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
And Justin Guip
With
The David Bromberg Band
The Boulder Theater
Boulder, Colorado
Saturday, February 29, 2020

1. I See The Light
2. Hesitation Blues
3. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
4. Can’t Get Satisfied
5. Baby What You Want Me To Do?
6. Second Chances
7. I Am The Light Of This World
8. Rock Me Baby
9. Bowlegged Woman
10. Roads and Roads &
11. Trial By Fire
12. Walkin’ Blues
13. Hit Single # 1
14. Water Song
15. Encore: Embryonic Journey

Then it was time for our class picture.

Cast and Crew

Daggone it… I lost the card of the photographer who took the picture!

Note must be taken of David Bromberg’s wonderful band.

David Bromberg… Vocals, guitar, mandolin, fiddle and outstanding personality!
Mark Cosgrove (guitar, mandolin, backing vocals)
Suavek Zaniesienko (bass, backing vocals)
Josh Kanusky (drums, backing vocals)
Nate Grower, Fiddle, Mandolin
And of course Mike Russo (tour manager)

Tuna here in KC, MO tonight and off to St. Louis. We’re gonna miss David and his pals for sure. Safe trip home guys!

We finished our second night at the Fillmore thusly:

Hot Tuna 10, 2020
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
And Justin Guip
The David Bromberg Band
At The Fillmore Auditorium
San Francisco, California
Saturday, February 22, 2020

1. Serpent Of Dreams
2. Second Chances
3. Barbeque King
4. Walkin’ Blues
5. That’ll Never Happen No More
6. I Am The Light Of This World
7. Bowlegged Woman
8. Rock Me Baby
9. Sea Child
10. Good Shepherd
11. Hit Single # 1
12. Baby What You Want Me To Do?
13. Encore: Bar Room Crystal Ball
14. Encore 2: Funky # 7

Then we moseyed east toward Chico, California for a gig at the Laxson.

Beautiful theater on campus!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Hot Tuna 11, 2020
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
And Justin Guip
Laxson Auditorium
Chico, California
Sunday, February 23, 2020

First Set:
1. Been So Long
2. Hesitation Blues
3. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
4. Can’t Get Satisfied
5. Ode To Billy Dean
6. Second Chances
7. Living Just For You
8. Talkin’ Bout You
9. Bowlegged Woman

Second Set:
1. I See The Light
2. Candy Man
3. Barbeque King
4. San Francisco Bay Blues
5. Walkin’ Blues
6. Wolves & Lambs
7. I Am The Light Of This World
8. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
9. Hit Single # 1
10. Trial By Fire
11. Good Shepherd
12. Funky # 7
13. Encore: Water Song

Microscopic at the Laxson

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Then east on I-80 towards Salt Lake City with a stop at the Bonneville Salt Flats.

Back at the Flats again...

Foto by Phil Jacobs

It was a beautiful day so out came the Mavic Pro Drone.

Prepping the little beast

Foto by Myron Hart

Best day possible for this!

Up, up and away!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Then… the flats…

You can't make this up!

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

Come home little guy

Foto by Myron Hart

Enough fun. On to Salt Lake City!

Old School Marquee

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Hot Tuna 12, 2020
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
And Justin Guip
The David Bromberg Band
The Commonwealth Room
Salt Lake City, Utah
Wednesday, February 26, 2020

1. I See The Light
2. Hesitation Blues
3. Ode To Billy Dean
4. Talkin’ Bout You
5. Living Just For You
6. Barbeque King
7. Bowlegged Woman
8. Come Back Baby
9. Watch The North Wind Rise
10. Sleep Song
11. Good Shepherd
12. Hit Single # 1
13. Funky # 7
14. Encore: Water Song

And now… Boulder, Colorado bound!

View at the top!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Thursday the Tuna Gang was invited to play the National Anthem at the Warriors game against Houston… and yes, It was 60’s night. Here’s a shot of the rehearsal.

On the hardwood

Foto by Phil Jacobs

And here’s a link to the performance:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/m0ibrp0ue74hbg4/GSW_BSR_20200220_National%20Anthem.mov?dl=0

Exalted life back stage

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Then Friday was our first night at the Fillmore with David and the guys.

Hot Tuna 9, 2020
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
With
The David Bromberg Band
At The Fillmore Auditorium
San Francisco, California
Friday, February 21, 2020

1. Been So Long
2. Living Just For You
3. Can’t Get Satisfied
4. Talkin’ Bout You
5. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
6. Roads and Roads &
7. Hesitation Blues
8. Ode To Billy Dean
9. Bowlegged Woman
10. Trial By Fire
11. Sleep Song
12. Walkin’ Blues
13. Good Shepherd
14. Funky #7
15. Encore: Water Song

A rockin’ good time had by all… finished at 1215. Whoah…

Playing the Star Spangled Banner was an honor indeed…

More will be revealed…