In my blog a couple of days ago I thanked our legion of musician friends who made the Beacon Show possible… (go back a day and you will see them all!) but of course there are so many more and I will get to that now. It takes a lot of people to make for any successful show… with a big one like the Beacon, there are indeed quite a few.

To begin with, when we were up in Woodstock rehearsing at Levon Helm’s Barn, one of my aging Gibson Chet Atkins SST guitars developed some electronic problems at the eleventh hour. My trusty sidekick, Myron Hart grabbed the Kingston phone book and called and called Ernie Saker over there in the Stockade District of ‘downtown’ Kingston. It was after six but Ernie brought the needed part over to the Holiday Inn and the old SST lived again. Thanks Ernie… that’s customer service!

Now let’s move on to the myriad folks who made this show possible. They are all important to me:

Martin Guitars who honored me with the Jorma Kaukonen M-30 Artist Model. Who would have thought?
Louis Electric Amplifiers Not only do I play and praise Louis’ fine tube amplifiers, but Louis Rosano provided all the guitar amps we all used on these two nights!
Aguilar Bass amplifiers… Jack Casady always plays Aguilar. On this night, Lincoln Schleifer played the Aguilar Tone Hammer we use at the Fur Peace Ranch. Many thanks Dave!
GHS Strings… all of our electric instruments are strung with GHS strings and we also use GHS cables and assorted accoutrements.
Red House RecordsEric Peltoniemi, Ellen Stanley, Luke Welsh and the whole team
JGM Coaches (Our ride to the stars)
Carmelo LoMonoco… My old friend who came out of retirement to do this gig with us!
Myron Hart… Our guitar tech, sound engineer, luthier, also my neighbor and friend!
Stage Crew at the Beacon… thanks for your consistent professionalism
Metropolitan Entertainment for hiring us over the years…
JJohn Scher without him many of us would be struggling… thanks old buddy!
Ian Noble
Rich Nesin
Rene Pfefer
Cash Edwards our tireless and inventive publicist.
The Agency Group
Steve Martin one of the biggest of dogs at the group… Steve and I have been friends and worked together for well over a quarter of a century.
Seth Rappaport our amazing and trusty agent at the Agency Group
Ryan Edmundson at the Agency Group
Phil Jacobs: our worthy road manager and friend for more than twenty five years. Phil handles our logistics on the road and tirelessly listens to our infantile whining on the road. He knows that musicians complain about two things: Having a gig, and not having a gig.
Kevin Morgan… Kevin did the beautiful Tuna Beacon T-shirt… in fact, if it has to do with art, Kevin does it all for us.
The Fur Peace Ranch folks:
John Hurlbut
Brett Thompson
Kelly Stewart
…and the rest of the folks at Team Fur Peace.
Barry Berenson and Vernon Webb… two fine photographers who shot the show and captured the spirit of the night. I’ve known Barry since the 70’s when he was, well… younger… and so was I.

Finally, last but most assuredly not least, our Manager and my beloved wife and trusted partner… Vanessa Lillian Kaukonen. Vanessa’s loving spirit… attention to detail… creative spirit, deep love and commitment to just decisions and profound loyalty to her friends and family make all these things possible. Without her I would be something… but not what I am!

Thank you all!


Comments

  1. Comment made on December 15, 2012 by Chris Hepworth

    Was only able to make the friday nite show, as we previously committed to working the Graham Parker and The Reuinon show on saturday,(another Metropolitan Talent Presents show), at the Concert Hall 8 blocks away on w64th st. Thank you for such a great show. Maybe not many people heard the old “Airplane” roots to some of the licks, but i sure did. You and Jack have a great band there. I especially loved “99 years blues”. We brought my older brother with us to the show again,and he always asks me, “Will they play “True Religeon?” Maybe….Glad to see Jack is doing ok….Ya gotta love that guy….My honey wants to send me to the ranch for the weekend,(prob just to get rid of me)….Just a vacation thought…..See you soon and keep on truckin’……..

  2. Comment made on December 14, 2012 by RJ King

    Thank you all for putting on such a fantastic show for us at The Beacon. We hope to make it back next year. It’s always great to be in NYC, and the show was the icing on the cake. What a wonderful weekend! A million thank you-s!

  3. Comment made on December 7, 2012 by eaglesteve

    12/7/12
    HAPPY ANNIVERSARY #23 Vanessa and Captain And many, many mo’!

  4. Comment made on December 6, 2012 by joansaraniero

    I remember. Just went through all of yours and Vanessa and Johnny’s blogs. Theirs have been left off from long ago. But yours are current, and vibrant, and refreshing. Thanks. Thanks for keeping me in the loop. It is through these blogs I keep up with my old friends. It is good to see you having a life with your son. What a great baby girl. Glad I could have been a part of bridging you to Athens.
    Best to you and yours, I think of you all often,
    Joanie.

  5. Comment made on December 6, 2012 by CD

    CD :Hey Jorma! Grew up around the block from Louie Rosano in good old Bergenfield NJ. Used to play stickball and hang in Bergenfield bars…no town in this country had more Tuna fans in the 70’s. BTW never even knew Louis made such a kick ass amp? Was at the show Saturday, I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a free ticket as part of a Birthday present to a friend…Thanks again Dude!!! The show was AWESOME…first time I’ve seen Teresa Williams and she blew me away. Sugaree and Keep Your Lamps, off the wall!!!Larry plays a mean fiddle and GE’s Arrowhead…too much!!! ( by the way Skoota kicked ass on Arrowhead ). Cindy and the rest of the crew were great also…good rockin show…reminded me of the old days, playing well into the night! Tuna core was GREAT as usual…just keeps getting better with age…Good to see Jack having fun and bopping around. See you soon….

  6. Comment made on December 6, 2012 by HOGAN

    Hey Jorma

    You know they say that next to every good man is a great woman..kuddo’s to Vanessa both shows were outstanding. And to Doug I know how you feel that’s why I usually try and get an aisle seat because I can’t sit when they are on stage, and to quote a very wise man “The dancin isn’t over till the last note has been played.”
    Hogan
    🙂

  7. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by Cyndy Consentino

    Dear Jorma,
    My friend Doug Mlyn could not have said it better!
    Thanks to the entire Tuna family for really rockin
    NYC! This past weekend! We really needed it!

    Be well,
    Cyndy

  8. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by Craig K.

    Many thanks to the Hot Tuna Gang! Great shows all around! Thanks for the Music and Commraderie through the years.

  9. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by joe in dC

    cool beans Jorma
    tuna is tuna
    tuna rocks

  10. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by jim hitchcock

    Take Five, Dave Brubeck.

  11. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by doug mlyn

    Oh and another thing Jorma, you shouldn’t have to apologize about the lack of encore on Saturday. We actually got more music that way, rather than going through the motions of of getting off the stage and coming back on. Probably gave us at least 5 more minutes of music. Thank you Jorma!

  12. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by doug mlyn

    Had the great pleasure of attending both shows at the Beacon this year. All I can say is WOW! As a veteran of many Hot Tuna shows, this one is at the top of my list. How can I say it, but you guys sounded so good. Seems like everyone was in sync. I really loved Sugaree, Theresa really nailed it and the rest of the band followed. Bar Room Crystal was freaking incredible. Literally gave me goose bumps. Loved Bill Kirchen and all of the guests. This is going to be hard to top but you guys always seem to top the last one.

    The only thing that disappointed me a little bit on the second night was people really weren’t up and dancing. There were a lot of people dancing to Sugaree on Friday and when I got up to dance on Saturday, I was told to sit down. But hey.. that’s a minor complaint.

    You guys rocked my world once again!!!

  13. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by Rob

    And as a Tuna fan for the last 39 years a big thank you to you, Jack and the gang for making late fall, early winter a fun time in NYC!

  14. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by Cash Edwards

    Thanks Jorma, you are the inspiration, both your quality and your kindness. Not to mention I love your wife, She’s so great to work for!

  15. Comment made on December 5, 2012 by CD

    Hey Jorma! Grew up around the block from Louie Rosano in good old Bergenfield NJ. Used to play stickball and hand in Bergenfiels bars…no town in this country had more Tuna fans in the 70’s. BTW never even knew Louis made such a kick ass amp? Was at the show Saturday, I was lucky enough to be the recipient of a free ticket as part of a Birthday present to a friend…Thanks again Dude!!! The show was AWESOME…first time I’ve seen Teresa Williams and she blew me away. Sugaree and Keep Your Lamps, off the wall!!!Larry plays a mean fiddle and GE’s Arrowhead…too much!!! ( by the way Skoota kicked ass on Arrowhead ). Cindy and the rest of the crew were great also…good rockin show…reminded me of the old days, playing well into the night! Tuna core was GREAT as usual…just keeps getting better with age…Good to see Jack having fun and bopping around. See you soon….

Write a Reply or Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *