Happy Labor day. It is one of those beautiful late summer days. Cerulean blue skies and fluffy white clouds. Not totally unlike that Fall day almost twenty years ago that we simply remember as 9/11. Our daughter was not even born yet and my son was only four years old. In some ways it seems like a lifetime ago, but for those of us of a certain age, it wasn’t. We lived in a different world then and we live in a different world now in this time of Covid19. As a touring musician and a small business owner it has become painfully clear that nothing is ever going back to ‘the way I was.’
That is going to have to be OK. I was not allowed to exist on this planet simply to try to live in the past. That’s not up to me.
The Fur Peace Ranch is closed this Labor Day as it is every year. Things are quiet for now although I’m thinking about firing up my noisy motorcycle in a bit and going for a ride. We have a camp coming up this weekend. Larry Campbell and Teresa Williams will be here as well as Tom Feldmann. It will be nice to see them as well as our guests and to once again see our facility do what it was designed to do.
At 80 years old my perspective on things has changed considerably. Long term plans are becoming a mutable concept for me although they are still what they were for my wife and kids. That’s just a real time fact.
All that being said and thought about, it is a beautiful day here and I hope it is wherever you are. By the grace of G_d we missed the storms that hammered Louisiana and the Northeast and we have no fires here today like they do in California. I mourn the loss of life and quality of same in those places. We here in Southeast Ohio have been lucky this time around.
Driving on…
Happy Labor Day
Jimmy Vaughan is opening for Clapton this week in Austin
Hope I can figure out how to get the LC/TW show on my smart TV! I know it will be a super show! On another note, just got the new Jimmie Vaughan box set in the mail today. I guess I got the deluxe version because it is LOADED (5 CDs, Vinyl 33 1/3 and 45s, booklets, T, etc). JV is a true American musical treasure! If and when the world opens up again (after damn variants), it would be great to see Jimmie Vaughan on the FPR stage.
Maybe it’s good karma coming full circle from the Matrix to the Matrix promo with the White Rabbit (as well as helping fund Izze’s college fund) Rock on
Thanks, Jorma for coming back to Wisconsin, to play. We last saw you in December 2019, in St. Paul, with Larry Williams and Teresa Campbell. Great show but super cold outside. The December 2021 show is at the Mineral Point Opera House, a beautifully restored treasure that dates back to 1915. You’ll love it! They draw from southern Wisconsin, eastern Iowa and northern Illinois. And Mineral Point has an interesting history as a lead and zinc mining town, when the Welch miners were referred to as “badgers”. Plus, the Covid protocol at the theater makes it a very safe (vax and mask) location. Would still love to get down to Fur Peace again, but the current Covid trend is in the wrong direction. Stay safe and thanks for years of great music and insights!
Jormas cover of Operator is a fitting tribute to Pigpen ,”the egg suckingest man in showbiz”, a quote from Weir at
the Yale Bowl concert in summer of 71 if any out there were in attendance .I Believe it was debut of Sugaree by the Dead .Another song covered by Larry /Theresa /Jorma .
Keep on Truckin
@eaglesteve
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUeHBtAMifo
I’m havin’ fun. I’m learning Bkue Railroad Train and Water Song. What better way to learn than sit at the feet of the master. I went through every quarantine set list and found the shows where those two songs were played, not big the minute mark where they start, now I can watch the nuances that appear in each song and learn. Hooray for archives!
Ron McKernan
born 9/8/1945
Gone….never forgotten
RIP Bro
‘Scuse the butchered typo.
Hey Brandon. Thank you for your concern. My grandson has healed completely healed, as sixteen year olds are wont to do. My son has healed as well, but will have limited range in his left arm. It looks as though th residual pain was I’ll be manageable without I’ll effect, a true blessing given the severity and f the crash. All in all we have been blessed and are looking forward to happy times thanks again. I feel your compassion.
@Brendan Carroll
Hi Brendan,
I can only speak for myself: I feel I was fully informed in a timely manner – via beeping phone alerts that really got your attention, and emails/calls from my town. I got endless updates and warnings, including an “Extreme Alert” tornado warning, but most of them were extreme flooding warnings. I think there are almost always ways to improve messaging; but you also get unfortunate cases of some people apparently not fully heeding warnings.
And yeah, where are those people gonna live? What about the families with kids starting school last week and this, out of their homes, much of their stuff gone forever. A guy a few blocks from me went out in the middle of it to clear storm drains. His wife called the cops after a while. They found his body the next morning. The hurt for people lasts a long time in many ways. They need our sympathy and help.
Hello, Ed
Thanks for consideration. Did you get idea govt and media were loud enough about keeping off NJ roads? Maybe fragmented news blurs message, or unpredictability of where and when torrent would fall lulled some, or I didn’t hear. Not looking to blame, but if dozens drowned in cars two years ago I think we’d be asking. Where are the over 55’s in Middlesex gonna stay while residences are fixed? Are they downstream from Pompton Lakes? I saw a mountain was removed just north of there and a big culvert built under 287. I have a song tie-in, but how crass would that be?
Hey, Carey. How’s son and grandson recovery progressing?
5782
L’Shanah Tovah to the Kaukonens and Tuna Nation.
Happy Birthday to your boy.
Algorithms. Another portent of change. Just went on YouTube to watch Jorma play Blue Railroad Train on Quarantine #40. First up, a brief ad from GoMedicare Benefits Help Center. Can anybody say “target marketing”?
@Brendan Carroll
Hang in there, Brendan. And no worries about the CDS – whenever you have the time…Glad you had them with you for some comfort.
A lot of heartbreak in New Jersey. I have a roof over my head in a dry house. Far too many people don’t. I’m extremely grateful and glad I’m able to help others.
Apples and Honey, Apples and Honey… “Shanah tovah umetukah” (a good and sweet year)
Especially so with all that has this World, this Creation reeling and teetering.
“Grounded in Hope, Onward in Peace” indeed
May my heart, words, and actions live up to and contribute to that choice this day.
“Driving on…” pretty much says it all. Lament is a healthy component of grief, not a state of mind. This blog has helped me be able to look upon the future as a wonderous realm of possibilities even as I edge ever closer to the next stage of eternity. Stasis never lasts long. The pandemic has been the greatest global disruptor of my lifetime, but who’s to say what new medical discoveries will come from the chase to its demise? We don’t know. There is a choice between despair and hope over what is transpiring. I know which state my being thrives in. The words of wisdom I find here help keep me grounded in hope. Onward, in peace.
HAPPY EVERYTHING to you and yours Jorma. Your wise and practical words are a comfort to me. THANKS !!!
Happy Labor Day. Rough times all around so we need need to appreciate blue skies, family and friends. I think it was Ray Wylie Hubbard who said: “The days my gratitude is higher than my expectations are pretty good days!” Not sure what we can expect day to day any more but we can keep the gratitude high.” Bummed out that LC / TW show is off limits to season ticket holders but safety is of the utmost importance in these challenging times. Probably no cure for Covid in next couple of weeks so I am guessing GE show will be limited too. I will miss live music going forward but so thankful for my vinyl/CD collection…dipping into it heavily now and for the foreseeable future. Y’all stay safe and let’s all keep on keeping on and helping out those in need.
Grief was heavy already before I started Saturday drive North. Then I read of an Asian-Indian software engineer swept away from her vehicle in NJ, leaving children behind. I lost it (some might take issue with ethnic heritage being reported and repeated here. My society, culture and news sources have always thought it worth mentioning). I have a bunch of CD’s I’m to send Ed in my truck, so grabbed and popped one passing Woodstock – your friend Rick D’s set from a Kingston show you shared. I believe he had some peace during 90’s. I guess I prayed in some form for that nice man and wondered if his remainder has some union with his son. Started to wonder about the Rev. and fiery band, but brought myself back.