So another camp here at the Fur Peace Ranch has come and gone.
The guys from last week.
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.
Me and the guys...
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!
Live on the Fur Peace Station stage!
Foto by Jorma Kaukonen
More of the guys
Foto by jorma Kaukonen
Larry Willis on the 1903 Chickering
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.
Nessa... in the mud up to her knees with a leaky pipe
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.
Looks nicer greened out!
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.
Izze and her friends at the Korean War Memorial
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!
Great to hear of more live streaming! Are all Fur Peace Station concerts being webcast? What’s the best way to remain aware or such webcasts in the future? Thank You…and counting the days until the Asheville show!
The best way is to subscribe to our Fur Peace TV YouTube channel plus we make announcements on our Facebook page. Streaming is up to the artists. Stay tuned and thanks for asking!
Jazz explained:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYSEQImJnNw&feature=share
@AndyK Another great place to visit is The Blues Hall of Fame.It’s located a Block away from the Cvil Rights Museum.For a large selection of Beer http://www.beerknurd.com/locations/memphis-flying-saucer
@johno
Not woodchuck, nutria rats. Crawfish boil is always a good backyard party. A little boudain on the grill. My son lived in Slidell LA for a few years, other side of the Pearl.
That whole Delta Blues region is so cool. My brother in law lives right on the Pearl River which is the border between Mississippi and Louisiana. He eats catfish, frogs, squirrel, woodchuck and crayfish. His wife is Cajun and frys everything except the crayfish which you boil. When I visit we go to little honky tonks at night. T hear lots of delta blues and bluegrass down there.
That whole Delta Blues region is so cool. My brother in law lives right on the Pearl River which is the border between Mississippi and Louisiana. He eats catfish, frogs, squirrel, woodchuck and crayfish. His wife is Cajun and frys everything except the crayfish which you boil. When I visit we go to little honky tonks at night. T hear lots of delta blues and bluegrass down there.
The whole north Mississippi delta regions great as well,rich musical heritage,fish fry and the waterfowl hunting in rice fields is great
Yes, I live in zydeco country, so I’m pretty familiar with that. I’m looking forward to Beale Street, and thanks a million for the museum tips. I’m looking forward to the trip up there as well. There’s some good museums along the way, as is Alligator Records studio. Clarksville, Rosedale, Greenville, Tunica – I know we gonna find a juke joint or two along the way. BB King’s museum oughtta be cool, too. As for cuisine, I’ll be looking for that Memphis bar-b-que and some genuine down home soul food. Collard greens and chitlins, I’m talkin’ about. Just follow the Tuna, and have some fun.
Sweated
We could and will talk music ,but the most poignant picture was of Vanessa amending a broken water line.Those rocks in Miegs county are pernicious and with the slight vibration of conductive pipe ,become abrasive.Trooper on Vanessa.
We just saw Roger/Pete in Nashville with 48 piece orchestra and sound check was a Fukien blast.
If you’re coming to TN ,there are still tickets available in late August at the Caverns for electric hot tuna”UNDERGROUND MAN”., a few nights later it’s Knopfler at the Ryman( we might have to become resident volunteers.FUNKY FEAT at ranch will bring some down home Red Gumbo to the Ranch.
Enjoy Beale street,we flew back from Caymans in January 2002& we had flown out road bikes for the backside view of islands.That soon after 9/11 they pulled our bikes as we might be importing explosives in the bike tubing,WTF?So the same night there was a calamitous ice storm in Lex Ky ,our final destination ,but the bike tube inquiry caused us to miss our connection and than they shut Bluegrass field down.
We spent the night on Beale street and what did our wonderous eyes behold but a battle of the Zydeco bands,it was mobile ( between bars ), but we parked our arses in the shed where the final competition would resolve itself.Id heard buckwheat zydeco and a few others ,but did not proclaim to be aficionado.It was a trip and we serrated out all the brew & Barbacue we had enjoyed earlier in the evening.
Long live rock -be it dead or alive
@carey georgas
There are three fantastic museums in Memphis that you should definitely check out. Stax and Sun record studios are both there with their most amazing history in Rock and roll and rhythm and blues. And then there is the most incredible national civil rights Museum. Plan to spend several hours at that. Afterwards you’ll find lots of great restaurants including rendezvous, for ribs, or Felicia Suzanne‘s for some of the tastiest cuisine around. Enjoy!!!
Good seats…3rd row…Not to mention at Elvis’s Graceland…
Make sure you check out the pure gospel soul singers and blues men live on Beale St…A soul-satisfying memory I have during a Greyhound lay-over coming back from California…
I had a eureka moment and acted upon it. My opportunities to see Hot Tuna are limited by geographical constraints. Imagine my dismay when I found the closest they get to Texas this summer is Memphis, TN. I guess my imagination took over, and I realized I could kill two birds with one stone. I called a good friend since early boyhood living in Austin and asked him if he’d like to take a little trip up Highway 61 to Memphis with Hot Tuna awaiting at the terminus. “Hell yeah”, came the reply. So, we’re gonna hop from here over to Natchez, pick up the trail there, and meander north through the delta soaking up some blues history along the way. Our trip will culminate sitting in seats C102 and C103 at Graceland, witnessing Hot Tuna for what will be my third time. Yee Haw!!!
Sorry I couldn’t make it out for the Eric Alexander show. I bet it was indeed great. My father taught and shared many things with me as I was growing up. One was his enjoyment and appreciation of jazz. As I was expanding my musical tastes in my teenage years, he turned me on to the great Gerry Mulligan as well as many others. Dad’s favorite was Gerry because he was in his 2nd grade class and they were buddies in Marion, Ohio back in the early 1930’s. As time went on, we saw a few jazz shows together…Gerry Mulligan, Miles, Dizzy, etc. And, one of my favorite memories was when I was living in NJ in the early 90’s and Mom and Dad came out east from Cleveland and we spent the weekend in NYC and went to see Art Farmer down in the Village. Dad passed back in 2008 and his memory lives on in many ways. Looking forward to heading back to FPR for Funky Feat in a few weeks. Before that I’m planning to see Paul Thorn in Richmond.
Looks like you’ve had a wonderful and productive spring. I’m with you on the Korean War Memorial. There’s something about walking among those statues that evoked a sense of reverence different from what I’ve experienced with the others. What moves me most when I see the Vietnam Memorial is to see the people who visit. You can tell the ones who have direct ties to that wall by watching. Thank the Lord that me nor none of mine were taken in the war that helped define the era of our time (plagiarism not intended).