Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Well, it’s been a week since I left home. Our bus for this run, ‘Fast Times,’ pulled in shortly after sunrise and we loaded up for the journey to Colorado.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

I put the bird up for a quick flight, and took the moment to admire my new tin roof. Then we finished loading up and headed out.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

The new FCC driving regs are too lengthy to list here, but the bottom line was that it took three days to get to Colorado. I could have made it in one in the old days… but I was younger then. Anyway…

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

I gotta say, I love little towns like this. Driving across the Great Plains is majestic in an odd way, but seeing an A & W Drive In brings me way, way back!

We picked up Mr. Casady in Aurora at DIA and drove up to Nederland where we checked into the Sundance Lodge.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

The Lodge was up the road from Nederland not far from Eldora… and Nedfest was in the offing.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

There were more panorama shots than Carter has Little Liver pills so I just picked a couple for the blog.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

I sometimes get asked if I ever bring my bike on the road and the answer is ‘No.’ When I ride, I ride… when I play music, I play music. Focus on the good stuff at hand. Although, on this day I must admit I missed my 110 cubic inch Screaming Eagle Breakout. Oh well… onward.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Steve and I got together in the back of the bus before our set Saturday night at Ned Fest. Steve had more than done his homework, and it was more than good!

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Hot Tuna 21, 2018
The Electric Trio Plus One
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
& Justin Guip
With Steve Kimock
Ned Fest
Nederland, Colorado
Saturday, August 25, 2018

1. Been So Long
2. San Francisco Bay Blues
3. Ode To Billy Dean
4. Talkin’ Bout You
5. Living Just For You
6. Sea Child with Steve
7. Hesitation Blues with Steve
8. Can’t Get Satisfied with Steve
9. Bowlegged Woman with Steve
10. Serpent Of Dreams
11. Watch The North Wind Rise
12. Trial By Fire
13. Sleep Song with Steve
14. Walkin’ Blues with Steve
15. Hit Single # 1 with Steve
16. Funky #7 with Steve

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Up on Sunday morning, I snagged one more picture from the Sundance Lodge.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Then it was back to Nedfest where I was scheduled for a solo set.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

It was still light when I hit the stage.

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Jorma Kaukonen 27, 2018
Jorma Solo @ Nedfest
Nederland, Colorado
Sunday, August 26, 2018

1. Ain’t In No Hurry
2. True Religion
3. Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out
4. Barbecue King
5. I Am The Light Of This World
6. River Of Time
7. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
8. Things That Might Have Been
9. Keep On Truckin’ Mama
10. How Long Blues
11. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
12. San Francisco Bay Blues
13. Second Chances
14. That’ll Never Happen No More
15. Come Back Baby
16. In My Dreams
17. Candy Man
18. Good Shepherd
19. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed & Burning
20. Bar Room Crystal Ball
21. Water Song

Foto by Phil Jacobs

It was dark when I finished and we started our drive to Jackson Hole.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

And there you have it. Half the ‘day off’ was riding in the bus, but dinner is starting to sound pretty good about now. There was a sunshower with lightning a moment ago but now the shower is gone and the sun remains.

Done, and onward!

I meant to have this up last week, but Aretha’s passing changed that. Anyway, better late than never.

Last weekend we were so fortunate to not only have the wondrous Dave Revels teaching for us here at the Fur Peace Ranch but on Saturday night last he brought his amazing Shadows Of The 60’s show to the Fur Peace Station. The musical director was Melvin Miller Jr. on guitar. I send you all to this site for all the amazing talent that made this show possible. Dave did not bring the horns on this gig, but he brought everyone else. The stage was really full… and it was truly awesome! Thanks to all of you… so very much!

Shadows Of The Sixties!

This was indeed a night of joy… and funk!

We sure look forward to haing them back again!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

In 1984 as I was weaning my life away from California (It’s in the book) I played a gig at the old Tralfamadore Club up in Buffalo. They were renovating.’Do you want this old hand truck.?’ ‘You bet I do do,’ I said. I took it, threw it in my van and it’s been with me ever since. The other day I was loading copies of ‘Been So Long’ into the Company Store here at the Fur Peace Ranch and I just thought I wished that everything was this useful and lasted this long.

This weekend at the Ranch, I was not teaching but I wasn’t working either so I got to enjoy all the good stuff going on around here. Bryan Sutton was teaching and last night was his concert at the Fur Peace Station. This was yet one more awesome show for us.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

You just can’t say enough about Bryan, his music and his band. They showed us all how it should be done! I also got to play a couple of songs with Bryan and the guys!

That’s pretty much up to date… and as always…

Onward!

I’ve got a longer post waiting in the wings about my dear friend Dave Revels and his amazing Shadows Of The Sixties show that he brought to the Fur Peace Ranch last weekend. This post has been put on hold for a bit by the passing of Aretha Franklin.

I first became aware of Aretha in 1959 when my first roommate at Antioch College, Marshall Jones, turned me onto the sermons of the Rev. C.L.Franklin. As I recall, he was preaching somewhere in northern Kentucky and I purchased two LP’s of his sermons. The one I recall was ‘The Eagle Stirreth Her Nest.’ Marshall talked about Aretha’s singing in Rev. Franklin’s choir. Although not a Christian then or now, those sermons moved me in ways I could not really understand at the time.

When I first heard Aretha’s I Never Loved A Man The Way I Loved You I was unaware that it was her eleventh album. That recording enveloped me in its sound and Aretha Franklin and her music would forever be a part of my life. She was such a mature and breathtaking talent that it never occurred to me that she was younger than I was. When I became aware of her fragility earlier this week, it became crystal clear that the time of my generation is resting on a bubble. This is not a bad thing to be aware of and I thank Aretha for bringing it home to me.

She touched so many generations and we will all miss her presence on this earth. She never failed to bring beauty to the garden.

May she rest in everlasting peace…

Foto by Matie Argiropoulos

I found myself at one of those Times Square tourist hotels… the Paramount. With the room just big enough for a bed and a small suitcase, obviously it was designed for sleeping only. Good mattress though. Except for me, I would venture that almost everyone else in the building was there to sample the bright lights of Times Square.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

But this could be Times Square too…

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

I wanted to tell the folks swarming the streets that there was more to America than this, but hey… they all seemed to be enjoying themselves. But I hadn’t come here to be this close to the Deuce just to lollygag around. My mission was to show up at CDM Studios. These folks’ specialty was doing audio books and more and I was there to read my book, Been So Long. Now this was to be a production of Macmillan Audio from St. Martin’s Press.

It’s been a couple of years since I put the first words of Been So Long on ‘paper.’ In a way, it seems longer than that and in another, the time has passed in the blink of an eye. In any case as my project has unfolded I find myself more than grateful to all the people it takes to make a book happen. The writing was only the tip of the iceberg. The editorial team was more than awesome. My sincerest thanks to you all!

In any case, this reading business was something completely new. Again, this is an industry that until now had been way off my radar. Matie Argiropoulos, the producer and director, was sure I could do it. Me… not so much. What the heck. If you want to run with the Big Dogs, you have to get off the porch, and so off the porch I got!

I had two and a half days to do two hundred and eighty four pages and as I began reading, it looked like two and a half days would not be enough. Slowing down to a moderate tempo has always been a problem for me, in music and in life itself. Matie was a real pro and always pointed me in the right direction whenever I would stray! I found some of the chapters easy to read. When I got to the one where both my Mom and Dad passed… it was more emotional to me than I could have imagined. They’ve been gone for twenty years, and writing about it was nowhere near as hard as reading what I wrote out loud. The little poem from my Grandfather that I close the book with affected me as powerfully as it did the first time I read it. You’ll see, if you read the book. I felt good that after all the work I had done on this project I could still be emotionally touched in a very real way.

Foto by Matie Argiropoulos

After I finished the reading, i got to play a little guitar music to go under the closing credits. The guitar was like an ice cream dessert after the feast that was the reading. I would like to thank Matie Argiropoulos the producer and director of my project. Thanks for the hand holding! It was recorded by Charles de Montebello and Raunak Mukherjee. Post production is by Danny Meltzer and the text copyright 2018 is by me, Jorma Kaukonen. The production copyright 2018 is by Macmillan Audio and of course, all rights are reserved.

I felt more than good as I wrapped this up at noon on Sunday and headed back to the Fur Peace Ranch. The official release date of the book is August 28, 2018. I’d like to think Mom and Dad would have gotten a kick out of this.

i know I did!

Selfie by Matie Argiropoulos

Friday night we had our first Pho Peace Dinner since February… and it was awesome if I do say so myself. The food was excellent, John picked a gaggle of great songs for me to accompany him on, and it was a great evening in all respects. Saturday night as we were driving home from town, Nessa snapped this picture coming up the driveway.

Foto by Vanessa Kaukonen

There have been a couple of great sunsets I got some shots of.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Yep, it’s been pretty pastoral around here over the last week. Today being Sunday and all, I drove down to the river and I got to watch one of the longest strings of coal barges I’ve seen in a long time. Three wide and five long… that’s a big string!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Well, I’ve got a gig in Bucks County, PA next week and then I’ll be recording the narrative for my book. It’s an intimidating project, but I’m sure it will work out. For now, I think I’ll hit the sack. Tomorrow is indeed another day and another week…

Onward!

Saturday Myron and I drove 590 miles from the Fur Peace Ranch to Ronkonkoma. We barely stopped for gas on that run, so hen se go to the hotel we were starving. Fortunately, right next to the hotel was this:

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

La Villetta was quite simply… awesome! What a way to end the drive up!

Sunday we checked out of the hotel and drove to the venue in Patchogue. As an honorary Long Islander, there were lots of old friends as well as new!

Photographer unknown

I brought a box of the great Hot Tuna vinyl reissue of the first LP, and Jack and I signed them for the Company Store at the Fur Peace Ranch.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

It was a great hang. Got to hear my old pal Michael Falzarano as well as all the other great acts. We also got a little time to actually check our stuff out on stage before our set. Rare in a festival situation.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Then our moment came…

Foto by Phil Jacobs

Hot Tuna 20, 2018
The Electric Trio
Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady
& Justin Guip
The Great South Bay Music Festival
Patchogue, N.Y.
Sunday, July 15, 2018

1. Been So Long
2. Hesitation Blues
3. Ode To Billy Dean
4. I Wish You Would
5. Sleep Song
6. Trial By Fire
7. Bowlegged Woman
8. Come Back Baby

Dicky Betts and the guys were coming on after us but they had some setup problems and Myron and I had to leave before their set.

Foto by Myron Hart

Myron and I slept for some hours off of I-78 and then made it home. A fine surgical strike of music.

More anon!

Well, last night Rob Ickes and Trey Hensley came to our little corner of the universe and made a whole lot of people, including me and Vanessa very happy with their magnificent show. I got to briefly share the stage with Rob and Trey at the Folk Alliance in Kansas City, MO earlier this year. I’ve known Rob for some time now and have always admired his technical mastery of the dobro that was always deeply marinated with soul. Getting to know Trey both musically and personally was equally a treat! This gentleman’s guitar playing is stratospheric to say the least! That said, the song always comes first with him and never gets lost in the notes. I love these guys!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Marginal foto I know, but I left my camera with the long lens in the house. What a show!

Photographer lost in antiquity

Now to back up a little… I opened the show for the guys, and here is my set list.

Jorma Kaukonen 24
Jorma Solo
The Fur Peace Station
Darwin, Ohio
Saturday, June 30, 2018

1. Dime For Beer
2. Heart Temporary
3. Let Us Get Together Right Down Here
4. Barbeque King
5. Sleep Song
6. Watch The North Wind Rise
7. Death Don’t Have No Mercy
8. San Francisco Bay Blues
9. Bar Room Crystal Ball
10. Water Song
11. That’ll Never Happen No More

When Rob and Trey came out for their much deserved encore, they honored my by inviting me to share it with them and we did an outstanding (If I do say so myself) version of Nobody Knows You When You’re Down And Out.

The guys stayed over at the Fur Peace Ranch and while Nessa was fixing a yummy breakfast for everyone Maverick, the Big Dog, and I took a walk.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Nothing like a morning walk with one of your best pals!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Well, Rob and Trey are off to Maggie Valley, NC and I think I’ll go outside in with by the pool for a while before it gets too hot.

Onward!

My Daughter Asleep

Carrying a child,
I carry a bundle of sleeping
future appearances.
I carry my daughter
adrift on my shoulder,
dreaming her slender dreams
and I carry her beneath the window,
watching her moon lit palm open and close
like a tiny folded map,
each line a path that leads where I can’t go,
so that I read her palm not knowing what I read
and
walk with her in moon light on the landing,
not knowing with whom I walk,
making invisible prayers to go on with her where
I can’t go,
conversing with so many unknowns that must know her more
intimately than I do.

And so to these unspoken shadows and this broad night
I make a quiet request to the great parental darkness
to hold her when I cannot, to comfort her when I am gone,
to help her learn to love the unknown for itself,
to take it gladly like a lantern for the way before her,
to help her see where ordinary light will not help her,
where happiness has fled, where faith will not reach.

My prayer tonight for the great and hidden symmetries of life
to reward this faith I have and twin her passages of loneliness with friendship,
her exiles with home coming, her first awkward steps with promised onward leaps.

May she find in all this, day or night, the beautiful centrality of pure opposites,
may she discover before she grows old, not to choose so easily between past and present,
may she find in one or the other her gifts acknowledged.

And so as I helped to name her, I help to name these powers,
I bring to life what is needed, I invoke the help she’ll want
following those moonlit lines into a future uncradled by me but parented by all I call.

As she grows away from me, may these life lines grow with her, keep her safe,
so
with my open palm whose lines have run before her to make a safer way,
I hold her smooth cheek and bless her this night into all these other unknown
nights to come.

-David Whyte

I have posted this poem before… and I’m sure I will again. We dropped Izze off at cam[ but before we did we stopped by the museum at Bethel, N.Y.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

‘You might find this interesting,’ I say. In my mind, ‘Perhaps not.’ We walk through the gates and buy tickets.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

The Woodstock memory is so interesting to me almost fifty years down the road… in many ways like a dream! The kids don’t seem to see kids, just strange people from another time.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

We walk about… surrounded by the past.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

She marks time, diligently waiting for the Woodstock experience to fade into arrival at camp.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

And then it was time to drop her for… for the next month. All this and she turned 12 today.

And then I was home…

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

I miss that girl…

Good things come, good things go
If it lifts you up, it’ll lay you low
People leave and they don’t come back
Life is a disappearing act…

Gretchen Peters, Life Is A Disappearing Act

From Dancing With The Beast

We had another wonderful weekend here at the Fur Peace Ranch With Tom Feldman, David Wolff and myself. All that being said there’s no good time for bad news. Saturday night before the show with Peter Rowan and his Twang And Groove, I found that my friend Steve Story had passed away on Friday. I just texting him a couple of days ago and we were planning on getting together in a week or so. Life is indeed a disappearing act and my friends are starting to disappear at an alarming rate. Indeed, in death all you are, all you might ever be disappears into the ether like dust, and that’s just the way it is. ‘We are all travelers in this world. From the sweet grass to the packing house, birth till death, we travel between the eternities.’ I’ll be at your service in Thursday but I’m sure going to miss talking to you Steve. Fair winds and following seas brother… fair winds and following seas!

Because life goes on no matter who dies, back at the Ranch, good things were happening.

Drone shot by Jorma Kaukonen

Peter and his buddies sure helped to cheer us up Saturday night.

With Paul Knight on bass, Jamie Oldaker, percussion, Dave Easley, steel guitar, and Don Rigsby mandolin it was truly a night to remember.

Foto by Wally Himmelman

It was a bittersweet weekend on the on hand, but a joyous one on the other and that is good because life is too short to be anything but joyous!

Foto by Mutt

Last Thursday I rode up to Akron for Founders Day… the 83rd anniversary of AA. To be in a crowd where the language of the heart is spoken by all… is rare indeed. I so look forward to this trip every year.

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Photographer Anonyous

The ride up was flawless… the weather perfect!

Foto by Jorma Kaukonen

Then it was time for a trip to Henrietta Seiberling’s Gate House.

Foto by Mutt

The weather turned Saturday night and lightning storms cut the Big Meeting short… rain started pouring and didn’t let up until I was almost 60 miles south of Akron. It’s only water right… and the spend a weekend where the language of the heart is spoken by all… is worth any storm I have to go through.

Back to the my world here at the Fur Peace Ranch and a gig on Tuesday in Columbus at Natalie’s. Well, Worthington actually.

Life is good!