November 2009

Last Friday was a long time coming. The week seemed to drag on to the point where I spent a great deal of Thursday staring at the clock, doing my best to force time to speed up by the sheer force of my will and failing miserably. There had been deadlines and long work days since Monday morning and it drained me to the core. I needed Friday badly. You see, on Friday, the Mother Hips were coming to town. By Wednesday I was jonesing pretty bad. Friday was a long time coming for certain.

I got to the venue early and grabbed a table by the wall to wait for the right moment to give up my seat. The Doug Fir Lounge in Portland is a very intimate theater with a low rise stage that faces a roughly 30’ by 40’ dance floor. Behind the dance floor is a set of stairs leading to the bar area and merch table on one side, with the sound booth in the middle and a ramp to the bar on the other side. There are a few tables on either wall to the side, but sitting down affords one only a good look at the back of most of the audience. The best place to be at the Doug Fir is on the stairs, leaning back against the front of the sound booth. One or two steps up, with something to lean on behind me to rest my aching back and an unobstructed view of the stage, I try to grab this spot whenever I’m here.

I needed to sit till the last moment to rest up for the show. Triple bill, with Matthew Lindley & Troubadour Deluxe first and Jason Isbell & The 400 Unit in the middle slot. I grabbed the spot on the stair just ahead of a couple who were content to be against the booth, but one step down.

READ ON for the rest of AJ’s review of the Mother Hips…

Seattle rockers Pearl Jam make their Austin City Limits debut this weekend on your local PBS channel. Eddie Vedder and his mates focus on material from the recently released Backspacer

Ekoostik Hookah bassist Cliff Starbuck, who has held down the low end for the Ohio-based jamband since they formed in 1991, will play his last show as a full-time member of the band on New Year’s Eve. The band will resume playing gigs after a six week break following their New Year’s show at the Newport Music Hall in Columbus with a new, as-of-yet unnamed bassist.

READ ON for Cliff’s statement and the band’s statement…

Jam Cruise 8 will set sail from Ft. Lauderdale on January 3rd filled to the brim with amazing artists and the band fans who love them. Today, we’ve got our third Jam Cruise Files column which profiles a band or musician scheduled to perform on the MSC Poesia between January 3 & 8. This installment of Jam Cruise Files features singer/guitarist/Jam Cruise Veteran Brock Butler.

Brock Butler Plays Graceland on Jam Cruise 5

Name / JC8 Gig: Brock Butler / Solo Performer
Band: Perpetual Groove
Past Jam Cruise Experience: Perpetual Groove (JC3, JC5, JC6) Solo (JC7)
2009: Solo Album – Lately Here Though, PGroove Album – Heal

Hidden Track: How much has Jam Cruise changed from your first cruise to last year’s cruise?

Brock Butler: The first year we played Jam Cruise, there was a vibe similar to going to camp–the coolest camp ever mind you. I remember not knowing a good deal of the faces I was seeing, I had been on a cruise before, so seeing the ship was fun , but watching my comrades enjoy the size and treats of our vessel was about as much fun too.

Cut to the end of the trip – you have jammed with musicians you never thought you might jam with, played blackjack with Ivan Neville and leave torn up at the realization you wont be seeing your new friends on a daily basis. After a few trips back on board, it’s just as much fun. The vibe now being more a reunion than a group of strangers, you can spot the virgins. Look on the schedule to see who you want to say hello to, if they might be up to letting you sit in again, hell, would they like to sit in with you? Any year I’m unable to go would be a heart breaker. I think that sums that up.

READ ON for more of our Jam Cruise Files on Brock Butler…