Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

While we were waiting for Paul, Fred, Kenny and Gabe to show up there was a break in the endless rain we’ve been having and I took the opportunity to put the bird up.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

They were running a wee late, so I just kept on flying.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

Then the boys showed up… and so did the sold out crowd!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

We had been trying to get these guys for a decade, and it was worth the wait!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

The sleek, stripped down Funky Feat delivered the goods in spades!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Again, so grateful the guys spent two days with us!

Selfie by Vanessa Kaukonen

I got to sit in on Dixie Chicken and Spanish Moon… Thanks guys… for everything!

Back in my little world our Espresso machine was on the fritz. I talked to the folks at Whole Latte Love. ‘It’s the solenoid,’ the tech said, and he emailed me instructions. I ordered the part and it came the other day. There are more tiny little parts in this machine than Carter has Little Liver Pills.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

I took pictures at every step of the disassembly so I could reverse the process. It worked!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

A fine week indeed…

ps

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

The ROK unit is awesome! Check the link. This is not a stove top boiler… and it’s all billet!

jk

So another camp here at the Fur Peace Ranch has come and gone.

Foto by John Hurlbut

The great Woody Mann was teaching last weekend as well as myself. I gave a songwriting workshop and I have to tell you, I am impressed and humbled by the hard work and honesty these guys all manifested.

Foto by John Hurlbut

Each one of these guys came away with five songs in various stages of completion. Truly awesome!

Saturday night with had our first guitar free concert… and I say this with a benign smile on my face. It was a jazz shows featuring Eric Alexander on Sax, Peter Dominguez on upright bass, Larry Willis on piano and Victor Jones on drums. So we’re live streaming the show from our Fur Peace Ranch channel and I’m occasionally going backstage so I can weigh in on comments. Most people really dug the transcendence of the show, and I’ll get to that in a moment. One soul simply said, ‘I don’t understand jazz.’ I found this interesting. As someone who likes a great and utterly disparate landscape of music, I never found I really had to ‘understand’ anything. I just liked it or I didn’t. Now there are lots of different kinds of jazz just as there is a great variety of rock etc. Some touches me and some doesn’t. Eric and his A Team of players were playing songs and exploring an ever changing musical universe of changes and sonic delights. Again, I’m not a jazz player and I never will be, but I love good music, and theirs touched my soul. Thanks guys! I appreciated this evening more than you will ever know. It was first rate music played by world class guys!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Foto by jorma Kaukonen

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Anybody who owns anything knows that constant maintenance is well… constant. Nessa and I as owners of the Ranch are constantly called upon to step up to the plate, metaphorically speaking. We had some water problems again and here’s how we dealt with it.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Notice, She’s in the hole… I’m taking the picture.

That’s my girl!

Plumbing problems sort of in the rear view mirror, I took some updated drone shots of the Ranch in between storms.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

All this excitement notwithstanding, our daughter, Izze, joined here classmates for their Eighth Grade Class Trip to Washington, D.C. Now Izze has been to D.C. a lot… with Mom and Dad. I know this one was different for here… and different for Nessa and myself as parents. Time is slipping through our fingers like water. Our girl and here pals will be in high school next year. I know this is all good… and as it should be. Still and all, it is a bittersweet moment for us.

Foto by Izze Kaukonen

There have been many wars during my lifetime and the monuments in D.C. are more than powerful. Vietnam of course, is a war that defined my time in many ways, but for some reason, the Korean War Memorial has always had an effect on me.

Well… the kids are growing, the world is still turning and all I can say is… so far so good.

Onward!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

I had a private event in Montauk so it made sense to stop by The Stephen Talkhouse and pick a set. I’ve been working for Peter Honerkamp for thirty years and the good old Talkhouse just never gets old. My good friend G.E. Smith stopped by and we had some big fun!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Jorma Kaukonen 10, 2019
Stephen Talkhouse
Amagansett, LI
New York
Friday, May 10, 2019

1. Dime For Beer
2. Serpent Of Dreams
3. Hesitation Blues
4. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
5. Death Don’t have No Mercy
6. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
7. I See The Light
8. Candy Man
9. Embryonic Journey
10. Sleep Song
11. Watch The North Wind Rise
12. Trial By Fire
13. Good Shepherd with G.E. Smith
14. Worried Man Blues with G.E.Smith
15. How Long Blues with G.E.Smith
16. Denomination Blues with G.E. Smith
17. Trouble In Mind with GE. Smith
18. Long Gone From Kentucky with G.E.Smith
19. Nine Pound Hammer with G.E. Smith
20. Encore: Water Song

A truly great night for us! Thanks to Peter and all my old friends at the Talkhouse and G.E. Smith as well!

Then this great gal Kim through a 60th birthday party for her man Johnny… a long time Hot Tuna friend. With the help of Joynny’s sister, Jennifer, and a host of friends we all conspired to surprise the Birthday boy… and surprise him we did!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

They had the Jan Hanna Band playing some great music before and after my set. Johnny didn’t know what was coming.

Then it was my turn.

Jorma Kaukonen 11, 2019
The Secret Party
In Montauk

First Set:
1. Ain’t In No Hurry
2. Second Chances
3. Hesitation Blues
4. Barbeque King
5. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
6. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
7. Serpent Of Dreams
8. Sleep Song
9. San Francisco Bay Blues

Second Set:
1. New Song For The Morning
2. True Religion
3. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
4. Come Back Baby
5. Waiting For A Train
6. Serpent Of Dreams
7. In My Dreams
8. Watch The North Wnd Rise
9. Sea Child
10. Trial By Fire
11. Good Shepherd
12. I Know You Rider

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

To see so many old friends come together and include me was… truly awesome!

Photographer unknown

A great weekend… and now I’m back at the Ranch getting ready for a songwriting workshop this weekend.

Good times!

Foto by Jennifer

Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen

Well… Friday before last, G.E.Smith joined me for a weekends worth of workshops and on Saturday night he Joined foe Arlen Roth Band for an evening of cool Telecaster riffs.

My class was awesome too!

Foto by John Hurlbut

Then last weekend, our own John Hurlbut stepped up to teach The American Songbook class for our dear Spencer Bohren as he dealt with his own visitation from the storms of life.

Foto by Marilyn Bohren

The great Tom Feldmann ably assisted me in a weekend of spirituals and a grand time was had by all!

Foto by Stephanie Layton

Monday morning Hurl and i warmed up the breakfast crew, and then Tom Feldmann took the ’stage.’

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Monday, our daughter Izze and her friend Tess nailed a Billy Eilish song at the Middle School Talent Show. Double guitar and two part vocal harmony.

Life is good…

Onward

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Wishbone Ash with Andy Powell fronting Bob Skeat on bass, Joe Crabtree on drums and Mark Abrahams on guitar mesmerized a full house last Saturday at the Fur Peace Ranch. The music was as fresh as it was well… a long time ago. This is heady stuff and Andy and the guys really laid it down for us. Andy invited me up for the encore, a rousing rendition of Jimmy Reed’s ‘Baby What You Want Me To Do?” Always an existential question and always fun to play. Nothing like a slow shuffle.

Thanks guys! We sure hope to have you back sometime!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Spring has finally truly sprung here in Southeast Ohio and I’ve had a chance to get in two motorcycle rides this week. For me, there’s nothing like a good ride to clear the head and put things into perspective. Perhaps I’ll even get in another one before this weekend at the Fur Peace Ranch with me and G.E.Smith.

I know this one is going to be a great hang!

Time for dinner!

Poster by Kevin Morgan

Brother Ray Heads For The Shore
Monday, April 15, 2019

Here at the Fur Peace Ranch we just concluded another amazing weekend with Larry Campbell and myself as teachers and Larry, Teresa, Justin and Jesse as the concert. Well, they dealt me in for the second set and it is always a joy and an honor to hang with these folks. The circumstances the Ranch never ceases to elevate me from my daily world… always; The giving and receiving from friends, old and new sustains us… it really does!

Time moves on relentlessly, inexorably… because that’s what time does. There is no ‘pause’ button, no ‘rewind…’and absolutely no ‘do overs.’ Sometimes one is part of a story greater that oneself and one of these amazing stories in my life involves the Hurlbut family.

Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen

John Hurlbut has been our Ranch Manager for twenty some years but he and Vanessa and I go way back beyond that. I met Johnny in the early 80’s when Kurt promoted a solo Jorma show and Johnny was somehow involved. We became friends, he and I and his brother Pete, and his friend Wally and Jay the Bass player (now long gone) and a host of Columbus characters; some still with us, some on the shore of the River Of Time.

In 1984 I left twenty years of life in San Francisco and hit the road for the East Coast. It was a long-awaited homecoming. I always was an East Coast kid! I would stop off in Cleveland and Ray and Lucy Hurlbut would let me sleep on a couch in their basement as long as I needed to before the next stage of my journey They would tap me on the shoulder in the morning and coffee and breakfast would be waiting.

When Vanessa and I started out thirty-year relationship in 1988 in Key West, Johnny was down visiting his folks who were snowbirding. He stopped by our pad down by the Southernmost Point and as Vanessa was getting to know him she said, ‘I don’t trust him. He’s too nice.’ But that’s just who he was and that’s who the Hurlbut family is. Our daughter Israel carries the name of three strong women. Israel Love Diana Lucy Kaukonen. Love was my mom’s middle name, Diana was Jack’s beloved wife and Lucy was Ray’s other half. She was Mother to John and Pete and Mary Lou.

The Kaukonen’s will never cease loving and respecting the four generations of Hurlbuts we have come to count as friends and family.

After Lucy passed away eight or nine years ago the relationship that Ray and I shared changed. He was no longer John’s dad to me… he was more like an older brother .I embraced his counsel and he always had a relevant view of current events and family. I loved the man dearly… and still do. Time has a relentless way of leveling the playing field. Ray was born in 1921, flew as a radio operator in bombers in the Pacific in WW II. He had a long and productive life! Today at 1640, Ray Hurlbut went home for the last time. Johnny was able to be there and sing songs and then by the Grace of G_d Ray gently left us… like the passing of a tree. He was 98 years old~!

I could go on, but then I would start repeating myself. Nessa and I got to visit him last Wednesday and we were able to swap hugs and stories. He was still sharp as a tack… the Ray I had known for years. For some time, I had graduated from being Johnny’s friend to being Ray’s brother. It was honor I shall not soon forget!

At moments like this, we all say ‘I’m sorry for your loss.’ The real loss would have been if I had never known the man. He was one of my many blessings. Our friend Wally and his wife Cat visited him the other day and Ray told Wally, ‘Tell my brother Jorma I’ll be saving him a seat next to me on the stage… but tell him not to rush.’ That was Ray.

I will miss the man of course, but the honor was mine to have known him and the rest of his family.

Anchors aweigh my brother and as always… fair winds and following seas.

Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

So a week ago tomorrow Myron and I set out from the Fur Peace Ranch To meet Jack and Phil up in Woodstock to play a gig at Levon’s Midnight Ramble out on Plochman Lane.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

I had really hoped to get some more Fotos from my bird, but it was just too darn windy. The three gig run with Jack was a great excuse to celebrate his 75th birthday. Sometimes time seems to fly and sometimes it drags on. In any case, life is life and Jack and I are having more fun than ever sharing a journey that started a long time ago for us! up at Levon’s Barn the warmth and love for JC was overflowing!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Everynight there was a yummy cake for Jack. Fortunately there were lots of people to help him dig in.

Foto by Phji Jacobs

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Larry Campbell and Justin Guip dropped by and we added our brothers in arms at the end of the second set.

Hot Tuna 10, 2019
The Acoustic Duo
Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Casady
The Midnight Ramble
Levon’s Barn
Woodstock, New York
Thursday, April 4, 2019

First Set:
1. Too Many Years
2. Serpent Of Dreams
3. How Long Blues
4. Hesitation Blues
5. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
6. Been So Long
7. Living In The Moment
8. Sleep Song
9. Trial By Fire
10. Barbeque King
11. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning

Second Set:
1. Ain’t In No Hurry
2. Second Chances
3. San Francisco Bay Blues
4. Come Back Baby
5. The Terrible Operation
6. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
7. Whining Boy Blues
8. Sea Child
9. Good Shepherd
10. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out with Larry Campbell & Justin Guip
11. Louisiana Blues with Larry and Justin
12. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here with Larry & Justin
13. Trouble In Mind with Larry & Justin
14. Encore: Water Song

Foto by Suzy Perler

Friday morning we saddled up out of Kingston and drove down to Mt. Tabor for a Tabernacle Gig and more cake for Jack!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Being i Mt. Tabor is a little like a day in Legoland… a Lilliputian adventure!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

We had an interview in the historic house next to the green room building. This is really cool stuff.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

The spread they give us at the Tabernacle is always off the charts!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Hot Tuna 11, 2019
The Acoustic Duo
Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Casady
The Tabernacle
Mt. Tabor, New Jersey
Friday, April 5, 2019

First Set:
1. Dime For Beer
2. Search My Heart
3. Hesitation Blues
4. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
5. Wolves & Lambs
6. Been So Long
7. Come Back Baby
8. Sea Child
9. Watch The North Wind Rise
10. How Long Blues
11. San Francisco Bay Blues
12. Trouble In Mind

Second Set:
1. Wining Boy Blues
2. I See The Light
3. Brother Can You Spare A Dime?
4. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
5. Barbeque King
6. Ain’t In No Hurry
7. I Am The Light Of This World
8. Sleep Song
9. Good Shepherd
10. Bar Room Crystal Ball
11. Water Song
12. I Know You Rider
13. Encore: Genesis

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

It’s hard to beat the Tabernacle in the Good Times category!

Then a dash to Brooklyn and the Murmrr Theater.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Hot Tuna 12, 2019
The Acoustic Duo
Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Casady
Murmrr Theater
17 Eastern Parkway
Brooklyn N. Y.
Saturday, April 6, 2019

First Set:
1. True Religion
2. What Are They Doing In Heaven Today?
3. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
4. Hesitation Blues
5. Been So Long
6. Too Many Years
7. Wolves & Lambs
8. Barbeque King
9. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
10. Trial By Fire
11. Sea Child
12. Trouble In Mind
13. San Francisco Bay Blues

Second Set:
1. Candy Man
2. How Long Blues
3. Serpent Of Dreams
4. River Of Time
5. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
6. Ain’t In No Hurry
7. That’ll Never Happen No More
8. Sleep Song
9. Good Shepherd
10. The Terrible Operation
11. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
12. Encore 1: Water Song
13. Encore 2: Embryonic Journey

Nothing like a New York audience… which finds itself distilled in Brooklyn. Really good time had by all!

Sunday on the way home as Jack was winging his way back to L.A. I stopped by my friend Dubi’s place in the mountains for a two set house concert. Big thanks to the Silversteins for the accommodations and hospitality!

Jorma Kaukonen 9, 2019
Jorma Kaukonen Solo
Dubi’s Place
The Poconos, PA
Sunday, April 7, 2019

First Set:
1. True Religion
2. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
3. Been So Long
4. Barbeque King
5. Ain’t In No Hurry
6. I Am The Light Of This World
7. River Of Time
8. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
9. Sleep Song
10. Watch The North Wind Rise
11. Whining Boy Blues
12. Trouble In Mind

Second Set:
1. Hesitation Blues
2. Wolves And Lambs
3. Too Many Years
4. San Francisco Bay Blues
5. Come Back Baby
6. Brother Can You Spare A Dime?
7. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
8. Sea Child
9. Trial By Fire
10. Good Shepherd
11. Bar Room Crystal Ball
12. Water Song
13. Encore: Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning

Back at home, I could plainly see that Spring had sprung while I was gone!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

And this morning…

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Yep, back in the swing of things! Getting on the Honey Do’s and driving the kid around.

Onward!

Foto by Tom Lee

So the week before the Fur Peace Ranch opened for the beginning of our 22nd season, John Hulbut and pals (myself included) took the stage at the Station for a maiden run of the venue and our new streaming service.

Foto by Tom Lee

The show was a gas and the first outing of our video stream was not bad and just got better for the Hot Tuna show!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

The Double Dose weekend at the Ranch was awesome… truly great students. A good time was had by all. The Acoustic Tuna show:

Hot Tuna 7, 2019
The Acoustic Duo
Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Casady
Fur Peace Station
Darwin Ohio
Opening Weekend Fur Peace Ranch, March 22, 2019

First Set:
1. Ain’t In No Hurry
2. Second Chances
3. Serpent Of Dreams
4. Hesitation Blues
5. Barbeque King
6. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down & Out
7. Living In The Moment
8. Sea Child
9. Trial By Fire
10. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
11. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning

Second Set:
1. Dime For Beer
2. Whining Boy Blues
3. Wolves & Lambs
4. Too Many Years
5. San Francisco Bay Blues
6. Come Back Baby
7. Candy Man
8. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
9. Sleep Song
10. Good Shepherd
11. Bar Room Crystal Ball
12. Trouble In Mind
13. I Know You Rider
14. Encore: Water Song

Then on Tuesday Jack and I drove up to Columbus and played two shows at Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza… this is a great gig

Hot Tuna 8, 2019
The Acoustic Duo
Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Casady
Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza
Worthington, Ohio
Tuesday, March 26, 2019

1. Search My Heart
2. Candy Man
3. Been So Long
4. How Long Blues
5. I See The Light
6. Hesitation Blues
7. Barbeque King
8. Watch The North Wind Rise
9. Sea Child
10. Living In The Moment
11. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
12. Day To Day Out The Window Blues
13. Waiting For A Train
14. Trouble In Mind
15. I Know You Rider
16. Encore: Embryonic Journey

Hot Tuna 9, 2019
The Acoustic Duo
Jorma Kaukonen & Jack Casady
Natalie’s Coal Fired Pizza
Worthington, Ohio
Tuesday, March 26, 2019

1. Ain’t In No Hurry
2. Re-Enlistment Blues
3. Serpent Of Dreams
4. Come Back Baby
5. I Am The Light Of This World
6. River Of Time
7. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
8. The Terrible Operation
9. Too Many Years
10. San Francisco Bay Blues
11. Sleep Song
12. Good Shepherd
13. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
14. Encore: Water Song

Jack’s back in LA, Nessa’s getting a birthday tattoo and I’m Mr. Mom for a couple of days. This weekend we’ve got a concert with A.J. Croce at the Station.

Good times!

And speaking of good times, my cousin Eric Eisenstadt sent me this interesting stuff.

From Eric Eisenstadt

From Eric Eisenstadt

Coincidence?

Onward

So I was playing at Space up in Evanston outside of Chicago a couple of years ago and I became friends with Dave Specter, a great blues guitarist. Dave’s the one who got me fired up bout Fender Jazzmasters. (Now I have two. Thanks Dave!) I had been sitting on some lyrics I wrote some years ago called, ‘The Blues Aint’ Nothin.’ Try as I might, was never able to come up with the music for it as much as I liked the lyrics. I gave the lyrics to Dave and he set them to music and did an arrangement. He was going to include this tune on his new album and asked me to come to Chicago to play on it. ‘Count me in!’ I loaded up my truck with my Louis Electric Deltone and my Gibson Custom Shop Beano Les Paul and up the road I went.

The weather sucked all the way up. Non stop snow… but nothing was sticking. With heated seats and four wheel drive, ‘Bring it on,’ I said! I made it up to Evanston where the hotel was in about nine hours and right there in the hotel was a farm to table restaurant. The Farmhouse more than rocked. Two dinners and a breakfast. Delightful!

Anyway, back to music. Tuesday noonish I drove over to the Delmark Studios. Delmark has an almost seven decade tradition of great records. Buddy Guy, Magic Sam, Junior Wells, Otis Rush, Anthony Braxton, Fareed Haque and more have all been a part of this amazing legacy. Julia Miller, the President and CEO is more than keeping this legacy alive. Without losing the lineage she is moving into the future with fearless artistic integrity.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

We were cutting live, so I put my amp in the Ladies Room for isolation. The first of the great musicians I met was Harlan Lee Terson, bassist.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Photographer Harvey Tillis was on hand to document the session and I got to pick his brain a bit about some photography geekery.

The personnel was as follows:

Dave Specter, guitar and vocals
John Kattke, piano, organ and vocals
Marty Binder, Drums
Harlan Terson, Bass
Jorma Kaukonen, guitar
Steve Wagner, engineer

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

We got the two tunes I was involved in cut in about five hours and I got ready to say goodbye to my new pals.

Foto by Harvey Tillis

It was a true honor for me to be a guest of Dave’s on this project. More than good times. It was also more than exciting to see what Julia is doing to shepherd Delmark into the 21st Century.

The job done, I loaded up the truck and drove back to the Fur Peace Ranch. Traffic, of course, getting out of Chicago in the AM and then non stop rain for the next 400 miles.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

A grand trip!

A few more studio shots:

Foto by Harvey Tillis

Floto by Harvey Tillis

Foto by Harvey Tillis

Foto by John Hurlbut

Our second week at Sanibel was a so called ‘Master’s” class. I am a little reluctant to use such terms of exalted description but the guys guys could all really play well and were all ‘masters’ in their own realm. This class was a little experiment on my part and I shall digest the results from my point of view in time. I had been thinking about what I could offer a good player in such a class. Song catching is important, but anyone can learn a song. To me it is the interpretation, the way one communicates and inflects emotion in an accessible way that is important. In my own way I tried to talk about what I consider to be the four important qualities in a musician. Technique, Tone, Timing and Taste… not necessarily in that order. I’ll wait for some feedback to determine how successful I was.

Including the jam Cruise and the four gigs Acoustic Hot Tuna did in Florida by the time I landed yesterday I had been gone a month. I thoroughly enjoyed the fellowship and the quality of life to be found on Sanibel, but here at home I’m not minding the sub freezing weather at all!

Anyway, Thursday night Hurl and I did a little show for friends and Ranchers in the FPR Room at the Sundial Resort.

Foto by Pete Stern

After about a half an hour with me, Johnny took center stage and I had the honor of accompanying him for about an hour!

Foto by Pete Stern

This is big fun for both of us and on Friday the 15th, we’ll be playing four our Valentine’s Day Dinner here at the Fur Peace Ranch!

As for sunny Sanibel in the winter…

Foto by John Hurlbut

Foto by John Hurlbut

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

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