Yeah… a trip to the D.C. Metro Area and a gig at the Birchmere. It’s been more than a minute or two since I have been to this wonderful stage and it was great to be back. It’s also been about nine months since I got to see my son so that was awesome as well!
Jorma Kaukonen 3, 2021
The Man Alone @
The Birchmere
Alexandria, Virginia
Wednesday, January 13, 2021
Whining Boy Blues
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Great Divide Revisited
Ain’t In No Hurry
Too Many Years
In The Kingdom
Trial By Fire
Hesitation Blues
Broken Highway
Take Your Time
Been So Long
Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
Barbeque King
True Religion
Corners Without Exits
Good Shepherd
Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
Encore: Water Song
Indeed, it’s still not ‘normal,’ whatever that means these days, but it sure felt good.
Here I am with Gary Oeltze, the proud founder of this great establishment!
Photo by Myron Hart
Back home at the Fur Peace Ranch in time for dinner. A more than awesome venture!
Saturday last was our #34 in our Quarantine Concert Series and a dandy it was.
Jorma Kaukonen 2, 2021
Quarantine Concert Series #34
The Fur Peace Station
Darwin, Ohio
Saturday, January 9, 2021
Ain’t In No Hurry
In The Kingdom
Heart Temporary
There’s A Bright Side Somewhere
Rock Me Baby
Corners Without Exits
Re-Enlistment Blues
Flying Clouds
Stand By Me with John Hurlbut
This Land Is Your Land with John Hurlbut
A Life Well Lived
Yeah, another grand time for us.
Tomorrow I’m leaving for the D.C. Metro area to actually play a show at the Birchmere in Alexandria. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while and I decided I just couldn’t let the shameful events in D.C. last week keep me away today. Got my Covid-19 test today and I’m still negative. Onward indeed.
Today I got together with Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley and we spent three really fun hours co -writing a song together. You’re going to love ‘Pay Someone To Pay My Dues.’ Waiting for the demo…
More will be revealed.
National politics may be depressing, but the music has certainly been sustaining me. On this note, gotta get some sleep. Up to drive to Arlington.
So, tonight, Friday the 8th of January, Hurl and I are heading to Columbus to one of our favorite ‘local’ spots… Natalie’s. The venue is closed to the public, of course. We’re spiking here in Ohio. We were supposed to actually perform a gig there tonight but indeed, we’ll be streaming live.
It’s a Facebook Live gig and I don’t do Facebook so I can’t embed the link here… or rather I couldn’t figure out how to do it. In any case, seven PM tonight. Facebook Live featuring Kaukonen and Hurlbut from Natalie’s in Columbus. Please join us this evening!
PS It’s seven not eight… and on YouTube as well… I stand corrected.
Tomorrow, of course, is #34 of the Quarantine Concert Series.
Well, every day is a good day if you’re a canine member of the Kaukonen Family. That said, on this New Year morning we are certainly hoping for better one. Throughout the last year I have been studiously avoiding voicing my opinions about that state of things. I am an opinionated SOB so this has been tough for me, but I believe it is the right decision. Every time I have opened my my mouth and actually listened to what came out I realize I sound exactly like the whiners I decry. I guess I must still be human.
So be it.
As always, family as well as the music sustains me.Vanessa and I are constantly re-evaluating our professional models as reality changes around us. Of course we are hoping for the best as 2021 evolves, but I’m not betting the farm on anything yet.
More will be revealed I’m sure.
It is a rainy winter morning here in Meigs County. I keep telling myself that every day is a day closer to Spring but on a day like this, it is definitely not around the corner, but it will come. Speaking of things that will come, tomorrow will be our first concert in the Quarantine Concert this year and the 33rd in the cosmic scheme of things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfArgNZUPIU
It’s certainly good to have a number of things to look forward to besides just getting up in the morning although that’s high on my list always!
To to walk the Little Guy again with a Happy New Year to all!
So a number of years ago, and I mean back in the 80’s, someone gave me this little National 3/4 size student grade guitar in its original cardboard case. it was a complete basket case so as I was flying home to New York where I lived at the time, I just checked it into baggage and figured that if it made it to the baggage carousel on the East Coast it was destined to live with me which it did in pieces for many years. I gave it to my buddy Myron some years ago after I moved to Ohio and figured that if anyone could do anything with this sad case, it would be him.
Fast forward to today:
Text Photo by Myron Hart
I heard Myron play some slide on this little jewel through an ancient tube amp that used to belong to his aunt. I sounds awesome. This is a good example of why you should never throw anything away!
Moving right along…
Don’t miss this one!
Now, I’m in New Jersey playing the Vogel Tomorrow and Sunday for a total of four socially distant shows. If I weren’t it would either be live or I’d be on the chat feed.
Enjoy. Remember if you’re somewhere near Red Bank, come see me play.
Well, with the virus spiking we canceled our Thanksgiving trip to the Chesapeake Bay Area. It just made sense. Not much else to do but roll with the punches. That said, this Saturday night, the 21st we’re back live and in person for #27 of our Quarantine Concert Series.
So Myron and I had a spirited run from Pomeroy to Connecticut to New Hampshire and home… 1700 some miles. Some interesting weigh-ins on the RV… or Hawke as we affectionately call her in the comments section. I’ve been driving for 65 years as of this year. I might have profiled at some other point in my life but with a 17,000 pound vehicle and passengers in my charge, this is not time to be hanging out the window. This rig is eight and a half feet wide. The drivers compartment is not that much smaller than a Prevost. That Ford F-35 chassis with a Triton 3 valve V-10 has almost as much torque as my Cummins Diesel. She sh-ts and gits when she has to as well. I should have done this years ago. Anyway, it was a great trip musically and scenically. Strange to say, leaves were still on the trees.
Anyway, as noted, Ridgefield was great and Tupelos up in Derry was awesome as well. They did about 130 shows outdoors this year of which ours was the last.
Jorma Kaukonen 33, 2020
Tupelo Drive-In
Early Show (Noon)
Derry, New Hampshire
Sunday, October 25, 2020
Whining Boy Blues
Candy Man
Ice Age
Been So Long
Barbeque King
Search My Heart
Trial By Fire
Sleep Song
I Am The Light Of This World
Blue Railroad Train
Great Divide Revisited
Come Back Baby
Things That Might Have Been
Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
How Long Blues
Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
Encore: Embryonic Journey
This was a noon show and there was still a chill in the air. Heck, we were up in Vermont., not a big surprise. On the other hand, the 3 PM show was so warm I did it in my T shirt. Go figure.
Jorma Kaukonen 34, 2020
Tupelo Drive-In
3 PM Show
Derry, New Hampshire
Sunday, October 25, 2020
1. Dime For Beer
2. I See The Light
3. San Francisco Bay Blues
4. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
5. Things That Might Have Been
6. True Religion
7. Sea Child
8. Good Shepherd
9. Watch The North Wind Rise
10. Highway Song
11. The Terrible Operation
12. Trouble In Mind
13. Death Don’t Have Know Mercy
14. That’ll Never Happen No More
15. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning
16. Encore: Water Song
(Hm… format discrepancies… don’t sweat it!)
Oops… Ridgefield list:
Jorma Kaukonen 31, 2020
The Ridgefield Playhouse
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Early Show
Saturday, October 24, 2020
Too Many Years
Ice Age
Whining Boy Blues
Barbeque King
In The Kingdom
Sea Child
Song For The Stainless Cymbal
I Am The Light Of This World
Uncle Sam Blues
Serpent of Dreams
Death Don’t Have No Mercy
Follow The Drinking Gourd
Another Man Done Gone
Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
I Know You Rider
Encore: Embryonic Journey
Jorma Kaukonen 32, 2020
The Ridgefield Playhouse
Ridgefield, Connecticut
Late Show
Saturday, October 24, 2020
Been So Long
Dime For Beer.
River Of Time
99 Year Blues
I See The Light
Sleep Song
Good Shepherd
Watch The North Wind Rise
Day To Day Out The Window Blues
Hesitation Blues
Hamar Promenade
Trouble In Mind
How Long Blues
Waiting For A Train
3rd Week In The Chelsea
S.F. Bay Blues
Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
Encore: Water Song
We drove home 600 and change yesterday and as much as I like my ‘RV King’ there’s no place like the home bunk!
So… this weekend we’ve got # 25 of the Corona Concert Series and I’ll post the link as we get closer to the weekend. In the meantime, stay well…
Wait, there’s more. The Hurl/Kaukonen opus is emerging soon…
Fancy limited edition vinyl
We’re over the moon on this one. Don’t be late, they’re limited… limited I say.
So we had a six hundred some mile trip yesterday and I have to say, driving a 17,000 pound RV is not as relaxing as a trip in our truck. That said, when we got to Ridgefield, I had my house with me. I’ve been ‘camping’ with this rig, but this is my first road trip.
A good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast and I’m good to go.
Since I’m actually on the road working I won’t be at the Fur Peace Ranch tonight for Quarantine Concert Series #24. Jack and I and the team thoughtfully recorded tonight’s show earlier in the week.
If it ain’t free, it ain’t me.
So if you’re not coming to my show in Ridgefield tonight, give a listen. If you are, you can catch an archived replay when you get home. I had hoped I would be able to chat on the feed, but I’ll be doing my second show then. Fortunately, Mr. Casady and Mrs. Kaukonen will keep the chat alive.
Well, here it is 0858 in Connecticut. I think I’ll seek out socially distanced sustenance.
PS There is a purchasable live stream from Tupelo tomorrow night. I can’t embed the link for some reason, but I’m sure you can find it on the web if interested.
I’ve lost all track of time in this pandemic season. I’m tuned into Saturday nights for the obvious reasons but other than that, the days just seem to run together. Mother’s Day this morning and it suddenly occurred to me that I had missed my Mom’s Jahrzeit which was on May 8th. May 8, 1998 my brother Peter and I drove down into Mill Valley, Calfornia to get her some flowers and when we came back to the house she was gone. The hospice folks told me she would probably wait until we were gone before she took her final journey and that’s how it was. In the Foto above she is ten years younger than I am now, and so it goes.
From the Kol Haneshama
In Many Houses
In many houses
all at once
I see my mother and father
and they are young as they walk in
Why should my
tears come,
to see them laughing
That they cannot
see me
is of no matter:
I was once
their dream:
now
they are mine.
I still miss you and dad, but that’s as it should be.
And also as it should be, all the living moms get a shout out. Izze and I couldn’t do it without Vanessa, and that’s a fact.
Back in the ‘present,’ we just have so much fun with our Quarantine Concerts that it is definitely the highlight of our week. For the first time we had some technical glitches this weekend. I know that poop happens… that’s life but we won’t be partnering with anyone again. Not that I have control issues, but we just do better on our own. At east we know who to blame. Anyway, Andy, our video director, is putting the who up from our recorded files so it will live again… perfectly.
Jorma Kaukonen 6, 2020
#6 Of The Quarantine Concert Series
Live From The Fur Peace Ranch
Fur Peace Station
Darwin, Ohio
Saturday May 9, 2020
1. Dime For Beer
2. In My Dreams
3. River Of Time
4. Living Just For You
5. Uncle Sam Blues
6. Song For The High Mountain
7. I Am A Traveling Man featuring Myron Hart
8. Kansas City Southern featuring John Hurlbut
9. Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door featuring John Hurlbut
10. Trial By Fire
11. That’ll Never Happen No More
12. This Land Is Your Land, Hurl leads a world wide singalong.
Nessa is working on the global singalong… this should be fun.
Monday is coming, things are starting to open and well, we’ll just see what happens.
