Jorma Kaukonen's Online Diary

The stay at the Full Moon reminds me of when I was a kid at Lake George with my mom and dad and my brother Peter. Summer in the mountains... trees, morning fog... the clean air of the hills. To be here with my wife and kids just can't be beat.

This is our first time up here for a Fur Peace Ranch on the road and I know we're going to be back. I love this place... It's a perfect summer spot. The classes are going well and everyone is really digging in. Tomorrow in the evening GE Smith and I are going to do a little show together. It just doesn't get much better than this. So many things I dreamed of as a kid are coming to pass.

I think I'll play cards with my son.

The gig at the Sinai Free Synagogue is always a treat and a pleasure. Last night was that and more. For me it truly was a perfect evening. My son Zach (G_d bless him) even said unbidden, 'Dad, I think it was the best show i have ever heard you play!' Well... I don't know about that, but it sure was near perfect for me and Barry.

We set up on the Bimah... we didn't bring any amps so we really relied on the great sound company and the perfect sound of the room. It was so comfortable that we did A Walk With Friends as a duo which we have never done before as well as a new ballad I wrote in February of this year called 'My Brother And I.' We closed the first set with Mann's Fate which we haven't played for a while and well... here's our set list:

Jorma Kaukonen & Barry Mitterhoff 11, 2009
The Sinai Free Synagogue
Mt. Vernon, New York
Sunday, June 28, 2009

First Set:
1. Parchman Farm
2. Keep Your Lamps Trimmed And Burning
3. How Long Blues
4. More Than My Old Guitar
5. A Walk With Friends
6. I See The Light
7. My Brother And I
8. Hesitation Blues
9. Preaching On The Old Camp Grounds
10. River Of Time
11. Mann’s Fate

Second Set:
1. Blue Railroad Train
2. Been So Long
3. Sea Child
4. Nashville Blues
5. San Francisco Bay Blues
6. Izze’s Lullaby
7. Come Back Baby
8. Good Shepherd
9. There’s A Bright Side Somewhere
10. Just Because
11. Encore: Water Song

The sound and the attentive audience allowed us to play with concert definition. Let's put it this way. I'm still smiling. I'm going to wake Zach up in a few and we're going over to the airport at Kennedy and meet Vanessa, Izze and Hurlbut and then we're off to the Full Moon Resort.

Myron, Zach and I drove in from Ohio day before yesterday. There were storms all the way and crossing the Verrazano Bridge into Brooklyn was quite dramatic. Yesterday we went out to long Island for our Talkhouse gig. It's been a year and a half since I played there and it was nice to be back. Zach, Phil, Myron and I took Zach out to Montauk to see the lighthouse which was completely shrouded in fog... of course. Barry got stuck in traffic coming from New Jersey and took five hours to go 130 some miles. Ah... modern times. Anyway, when we finally hit the stage, we were ready to play and the audience was ready to listen. Here is our set list:

Jorma Kaukonen & Barry Mitterhoff 10, 2009
Stephen Talkhouse
Amagansett, Long Island
Saturday, June 27, 2009

1. Search My Heart
2. Blue Railroad Train
3. I’ll Let You Know Before I Leave
4. More Than My Old Guitar
5. Been So Long
6. I See The Light
7. There’s A Bright Side Somewhere
8. Come Back Baby
9. Sea Child
10. Nashville Blues
11. Hesitation Blues
12. Operator
13. Bread Line Blues
14. I Know You Rider
15. Serpent Of Dreams
16. Good Shepherd
17. The Terrible Operation
18. I Am The Light Of This World
19. 99 Year Blues
20. Encore: Embryonic Journey

Today we're off to the Sinai Free Synagogue and right now it's... well, breakfast time.