Catch up time: My Lesson, gigs, 65 Sally, etc., etc

Ok, time once again to catch due to my slack ass blogging habits. Actually, lately I have been trying to more of an effort to actually write in my journal. You  know, actual pen and paper...hahaha! For thos of you born in the past 20 years, that is what you had to use before computers. I actually write in two journals, one that is in real-time (in other words writing about what is going on now) and another that I am writing about things from earlier in life, ie... college, high school, childhood... I will probably transpose some of those here at some point so beware.................

OK, first thing.... My lesson with Oteil came and went. It was great! I had to play the night before and didn't get a lot of sleep, but I woke up around 6:30 and I was wide awake. ha! I picked up Krista about 7:30 or so. I drove about 70% of the way, then Krista took over. AT Oteil's house, he offered Krista to hang out in his living room, but she declined and went shopping instead.

The lesson was awesome....We talked a lot about chord voicings and improv. Not a lot of stuff that I get to use in the SCF bands, Some stuff for The Stallions. It was more theoretical than anything. Learning how to voice chords on 4, 5, and 6 strings and such. He did touch on some slap stuff and that was bad ass. One thing that helped me with SCF stuff... he showed me a new way to aproach playing with a pick. I am not normally a pick player, but there are songs in our show that require the sound of a pick (Several in the 90's and a handful in the 80's). I am however a slap guy and he showed me how close "picking" can be like slapping. And the best part is that it has made a difference in the last couple of gigs.  

There was a cool part in the lesson, and yes I did record it, where I was playin a walk and Oteil just jammed over it. It was about a minute of playing, but it was perfect.

Special thanks to my KICK ASS girlfriend, Krista, for riding with me..... hell, she did the majority of the driving.

That night I played with Electric Boogaloo in Suwanee, and once again a packed house and a fun time. As always special thanks to all our regulars. You know who you are....

Next up, Thanksgiving.............. We didn't play the night before at Dixie, so Krista, Jersey and Undietaker and I went and caught the Slippery When Wet show at the Suwanee Wild Wing.... We started at the Boogaboo Creek for dinner then meandered to the Wing. The Slippery show was great as always. It was also good to catch up with Jason, Anthony, Brian and Paul. Sean and Luna were out as well. It was fun to hang out with them in a non playing setting.

For Thanksgiving, I went to Krista's parents house for a very nice lunch and a rousing game of Scrabble.

After that it was time for the Mafia to get fired up. Not the normal crowd, but a decent one none the less. again, thanks to all the regulars for their continued support. We couldn't do it without you.  

Some of you that make it out to Rock Mafia on a regular basis have may have noticed that I have been playing my 4 string a lot lately. In fact, unless you have been to a Stallions or Dock Martins show, you haven't really seen much of my 5 string. Some have even asked if I have abandoned the 5. No, I have not. I still consider my 5 string Lakland my main bass, just playing the 4 for kicks right now. 

Black Friday weekend was an off weekend and on Friday I went out and saw my friend Justin play at PUB 71. Saturday I went to Dixie Tavern for Hipnotic Unplugged. Good shows all around.

The following weekend, we played in Gainesville on Friday night. It was Stone Cold Fox with Ashlee singing. A good show and a great response form the crowd. Ashlee did a bang-up job.

The next night we met up with Sean and Luna to see Justin at the new club Primal. What a nice club! Justin played bass with the opening act, Spencer Rush, I think was his name. Great original stuff. Primal is a neat club. I know Jason is trying to get us in there at some point. nice stage with a great PA.

Next  up was a Dock Martins/Electric Boogaloo weekend at the Alpharetta Wing. Both nights were a blast! I debuted my new Curly Neal/Harlem Globetrotters jersey with the DMs on Friday night. The crowd was great! My girlfriend actually came to a DM show....ha! Team Bower was also in the house.

After the show a bunch of us went to Waffle House, here are some pics from that.

 

Krisa & Skelly getting ready to order.

 

 

 

 

 

                         Sean seeking my autograph.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Michael are friend and waiter at the Casa De waffle

 

My friend and bad ass bass player /singer. If you have seen the Band Justin, you seriously need to check them out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Luna Ahslee. And I think she might be thirsty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Saturday night was even more crowded. The people in Alphy sho do loves them some Boogaloo on a Saturday night. Unfortunately, that night was our last Saturday in Alpharetta for a while. Starting next year they are opting for a DJ on Saturday nights, at least for the first few months. At the moment we are booked for the Friday AND Saturday at the end of March, but that could change.

 

This past weekend, Angela came and got me and I picked up my Mustang. Woohoo! I drove it from Japer, GA all the way to my house in Duluth. it rocks! I have a lot of work to do on it, but mostly onsie/twosies such as the door hanlde on the interior left side. I even it rode it to work after lunch on Monday and showed it off to everybody at the office.

The first and foremost things are getting insurance and getting the ignition switch fixed so I don't have to pop the hood to start and stop her. ha!

Last night we had a pretty decent crowd at Dixie Tavern. If we could judt get a good consistent non-holiday schedule there, I think we could get that place rockin pretty good on a regular basis.

Coming up...... Tonight is the last Rock Mafia In Alpharetta before we take 2 weeks off for XMAS Day and New Years Day. Then I am heading home to my flks for the week, then back next Friday for a gig at Suwanee. After that, New Years in Greenville. WE should have a pretty decent group from Atlanta coming up with us. That mixed with the GVegas regulars should be a blast. I should blog more before New Years and then it is time for my yearly recap.

Later,

OJJ

My Lesson

In the past 26 of playing the bass, only the first couple of years was I ever really nervous playing in front of a crowd. Excited I have been many times. Big crowds, special events, New Years in a packed Greenville Wild Wing..... whatever the case may be, but I haven't felt nervous really since doing a recital in high school on the Double Bass (upright bass for those that not knowing what the hell a double bass is....... and the Bull Fiddle for those that are still confused).

Well my friends, times are a changing. Tomorrow at 9am central time, I will be in Birmingham, Alabama for a lesson with Otiel Burbridge, an incredible musician and bass player. And I am Rolling! I have felt butterflys like this in a long long time. I am so pummled I can barely contain myself. Feels pretty good. I even have the shakes a little bit. I feel like I want to sweat a lot. haha! Feels pretty good. When I get off work I am going to clean my bass and et it nice and spotless for the lesson. (not playing it tonight, playing the 4 string)

Oh well, I need to get back to work. just wanted to blog something about the lesson before the fact.

An update on the lesson as well as updates on the past few gigs including Halloween will be out in the coming days.

And for those of you not familiar with Oteil Burbridge........ Oteil was the bass player for Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit back in the early and mid 90's. they were and incredible band with bunch of talented player all anchored by Oteil. More recently he has played with his own band Oteil and The Peacemakers and of course, he as had the duty of holding down the bottom end for the Allman Brothers Band. NOW do ya understand where I'm comin' from?

Later,

OJJ

A NEw MAFIA NIGHT!

Starting Wednesday October 29th, Rock Mafia will be adding a Wednesday night show at the Dixie Tavern in Marietta, GA.

The show will run for four weeks on Wednesdays from 9:30 - 12:30 through November 19th, 2008. (Extensions will be decided at the end of the 4 weeks)

Come out and eat, drink & sing.

Check out Dixie's menu they have great food. In particular, try the Andoullie Sausgae Sammich......YUMMYTIME! They also serve Tator-Tots!



Dixie Tavern
2319 Windy Hill Road SE
Marietta | Smyrna
770.690.0090
http://www.dixietavern.com

Thursday

First of all many thanks, to all the fine folks that came out last night especially those that sang. There was a lot of good talent last night.

We did three new ones last night.

Lit Up by Buck Cherry. Sean sang it and even though we weren't planning on playing any of the new DM ones, I thought it came out pretty darn good. I look forward to playing it tonight in the 90s show.

Sober by Tool. Probably my favorite of the night. This song is just fun as hell to play on the bass. Luna Ashlee sang it and kicked it in the arse!

Paralyzer by Finger Eleven. This one was actually added last week, but this is the first time it was picked. Tyson sang it. I thought overall we did good with this song, considering we hadn't played it yet.

And a song we added over a year ago, but haven't played it until now..... Lady Marmalade by LaBelle. BreeAnne from Toronto. She was awesome. turns out she sings in a band not unlike Stone Cold Fox in Canada. Hahahaha. We held the arrangement together pretty well on this one.

And that's about it. Short post.

OH yeah, one more thing. If Come As You Are were an Adult Film, then when Skelly rides the crash cymbal during the guitar solo and the end................that's the money shot.



later - - j

Random Thoughts

OK, time for some more of Johnny's Random thoughts.........

First of all, Happy belated Independence Day to all of you. The 4th is a special day for me (as, I'm sure it is to most of us) for the fact that my parents are naturalized citizens. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think their citizenship is anymore important than those of us that are citizens here by birth.....a citizen of the USA is a citizen no matter how it came to be. I often think that being born in the US that sometimes I take it for granted. My parents, however, had to earn their citizenship. Before coming over here they lived under a dictatorship. A benevolent dictator's regime, but a dictator non-the less.

That's why it pisses me off anytime, I hear someone say stupid shift like, "If whathisname gets elected president, I'm moving to Europe!" Yeah, go ahead and move to Europe ass head, and pay 10 dollars a gallon for gas! Don't let the door hit you on the ass! Now I'm not really a fan of our current administration, but I'm not gonna run just cause my guy didn't win. Either way, an American will be in the White House. The beautiful thing about it is that every four years he/she has to answer for what they've been doing. If you don't like him then campaign a bit harder in four years!

Personally, I haven't decided between Obama and McCain. Honestly I don't really like either one of them. And of course, I ave already been told that if I don't vote for Obama, I am a racist. I have also been told that if I don't vote for McCain, I am anti-American. You know what I say, "Fuck em All! I'm writing in Clark Howard!".

OK, enough of that.

I just had sinus surgery last week. So far so good. no real bad pain, just a lot of discomfort and sinus headaches. The worst part is that my throat is nasty as hell and it hurts to swallow so I am on a nice clear liquid diet for the next couple of weeks. Actually I can eat some stuff like grits, soft scrambled eggs, mashed taters. yogurt.

You know, I always say that my favorite food is fried chicken and sushi...... wrong, after being on Clear Liquid for a week, I realize that I am craving more than anything.....Pepperoni Pizza! And a COKE! mmmmmm, in particular, DiCarlo's Pizza in Wheeling, WV.

So, while I was laid up for the surgery, my mom came to town to help out. She actually flew in last Saturday and went to a couple of gigs with me. She actually saw three shows in two days. Stone Cold Fox in Marietta at their birthday bash and later that night she saw Electric Boogaloo in Alpharetta. Two days later she saw the Insatiable Stallion Brothers at B-Dubs.

She liked SCF a lot, and was really impressed by Luna Ashlee's showmanship and her vocal abilities. Electric Boogaloo, I don't think was so much her bag. It was packed crowded and she was sitting by herself next to the stage. I suppose it was a bit too much for one day.

Of course she said The Stallions were her favorite. I think she remembers me playing that music when I was a kid and remembering that that is he music I love playing the most. She did however remark on how we fit 9 guys on such a small stage. HA! The craziest part part is that I actually was not crowded into the corner. Well, I was in the corner, but I had plenty of room to maneuver for once.

So back to the Clear Liquid Diet....... Yesterday I returned to work and I was trying to figure out what I would do for lunch and such. I finally realized that a Smoothie would be easy for me. ummm...... is there a trick to making Smoothies? DO you need some sort of specialized training or something? All I know is that the Smoothie King near my work employs idiots! How long does it take to blend some fruit, yogurts and other powders? I was there for about 30 minutes and there were only two people in front of me.

So, tomorrow I return to gigs. it might be a little to early, but I plan to take it easy. Gonna take my small rig. I'll have a stool on stage as well. I will also probably not set up a microphone any night because I can't sing anything for a while. I am off on Saturday and Sunday. then the following week..... I am playing that Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. and the following Sunday is my birthday. I hope I will be clear to have a drink or two that Saturday night. Hell I hope I will be able to eat solid food that day. A trip to Felini's that afternoon may be in order.

OK, now that I've bitched and moaned and probably bored everyone, I better end this blog.

For anyone that wants to see me play my bass, or just hang out, here are the gigs for this week.........

Wednesday - July 30th - Buffalo Wild Wings (Dunwoody) - ROCK MAFIA Live Band Karaoke. 8:30-11:15

Thursday - July 31st - Wild Wing Cafe (Alpharetta) - ROCK MAFIA Live Band Karaoke. 9:30 - 12:30

Friday - August 1st - Buffalo Wild Wings (Dunwoody) - Foxxy Cleopatra not sure the start times, but I will find out.

Monday - August 4th - Nemoe's Seafood Barr & Grill (Norcross) - The Insatiable Stallion Brothers - 8pm - 10:30pm

C-ya soon

OJJ

Rock Mafia Adds A New Night!

Starting Wednesday July 16th, Rock Mafia will be adding a Wednesday night show at the Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar in Dunwoody, GA.

The show will run every Wednesday from 9:30 - 12:30 through October 1st, 2008.

Come out and sing.

***This doesn't affect the Thursday show at the Alpharetta Wild Wing Cafe.



Also, starting Friday July 18th, Foxxy Cleopatra will be perfomring every Friday at the Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar IN Dunwoody, GA.

That show will run through August 15th, 2008



Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar
8371 Roswell Road
Atlanta, GA 30350
770.643.0074
http://www.myspace.com/buffalowildwingsdunwoody

Laroo! Laroo! Larue is on FIRE!!!!!

As I have stated in previous blogs, during my musical career thus far, I have been very fortunate to play with very talented drummers. some from the past include Brent Cash, Pat McDonald, Scott Bachman, Matt Donaldson, and Brian Keaney And that certainly includes my current gig(s). Skelly, Chadwick, Rodney, Joey (when I get to play with him which is pretty much never.), all great drummers. But this post is about one drummer in particular. For those of you that have seen my "other" band, The Insatiable Stallion Brothers, then you have seen Larue Riccio behind the kit.

Larue is very much what I would call a song drummer. In other words, he is not up there just simply playing a drum part, while the rest of the band plays along. He is playing a song. He totally gets into the songs and feels the other parts going on around him. IN my experiences with such great drummers, with most of them, I have all ways experienced what I call "the lock". Pretty much locking in and getting in the pocket of a groove, whether it is playing the same thing as the bass drum or the opposite. It also means, doing things together, with minimal communication. Things like drastic changes in dynamics together. Knowing when to play less, so the other can play more. All of that with sometimes just a look. Well, Larue is right in there with those other guys.

The reason I am writing this is because a few weeks ago I ran across a video of Larue doing a drum solo in his old band Baby & The Pacifiers from like the early to mid 80's. He looks a lot different, but it is definitely the same high energy Larue that we all know and love. hahaha.

I am going to embed it here, but if that doesn't work you can either go to the Stallions myspace page to see it....... http://www.myspace.com/theinsatiablestallionbrothers

or you can go directly to the youtube page here........http://youtube.com/watch?v=_xfSBJZaJLs

enjoy!

j

Sean and the Halls of Jamerson

On Monday May 19th, 2008 I played at Smith's Olde Bar in midtown with Sean Thomason & The Halls Of Jupiter. We/they opened up for Jimmy's Chicken Shack.

For those of you that don't know, Sean is the lead singer in my regular band(s), Stone Cold Fox, Electric Boogaloo, The Dock Martins, and Rock mafia. Unfortunately, his Bass Player, Mahlin, had a family emergency to tend to and was unable to play. Sean asked me if I could help out and fill in and I agreed to do the gig.

So, preparing for the gig was an interesting, strange and fun process. I decided that right on, since I am not all that familiar with Sean's songs, it would be best to actually transcribe the bass parts, meaning to write then down in Bass clef notation. Normally when making a cheat sheet, I would write down the chords or a number chart, just cause it is easier and I am familiar with the song and can play the part, but maybe I need a road map. With this stuff I figure I should have it all written out so there is no question.

Now some out there are very against having any kind of music/cheat sheet on the stage. They say it doesn't look professional. I'm sorry, but before telepromters, I saw Prince, Sting, even Paul McCartney with some form of Cheat in front of them in concert, whether on a music stand or (in prince's case, a giant Ten Commandments tablet shaped book that was flipped by a hand from beneath the stage). I guess if those guys are being "unprofessional" I'm gonna be ok with it. Besides most of the people that I find complain about this sort of thing are the ones that can't read music and are generally insecure about themselves anyway. Enough of that, let's move on to the next thing.

The Halls of Jupiter have a rehearsal space. One of those big ass warehouses where the have put up a lot of dry-wall and sound proofing and made a maze of practice rooms. You walk in and you can hear the muffled sound of several bands practicing all at once.

The first practice was Monday. We went over the first 6 songs or so. Wednesday we went over everything else.

Now the only people I have told about this next part are Sean (and the rest of the band was in the room too) and Krista.

On Wednesday after the first run through we took a break, and I venture out to find the bathroom. As I am going through the maze looking for the bathroom, A guy walks by. This guy was wearing a suit. An older looking suit like something out of the 50's. It was brown and he had a skinny black tie. A black man with a goatee and a moustache. Totally didn't fit with ay of the bands you see roaming the halls while they're practicing.

Now I don't know whether or not I believe in ghosts. Honestly, I have never had any reason to not believe in them.

Anyhoo, when I realized that the guy that walked buy was the spitting image of James Jamerson, the greatest Bass Player ever, I looked back....... he was gone. Was it a ghost? Or just a guy that looks like Jamerson? Regardless, if it were a ghost visiting me, could there be any cooler ghost than James Jamerson?

Ok, enough of that, for more watch Ghost Hunters.

So Monday rolls around. I get off work around 4pm and have to haul ass home to let the bass out and get my dog. Wait a minute, let the dog out and get my bass. I also have to change into jeans and grab my "Rock Mafia" black shirt and head towards midtown.

On my way to Smith's, I call Sean and he delivers the best news I have heard all day.... the guys from Jimmy's Chicken Shack would prefer that we use their speaker cabinets. Woohoo! So all I have to carry up those damn stairs is my bass, my amp head, and my bag of cords and such.

When I got up there, I met all the guys from the Chicken Shack. Probably the nicest band I have ever opened for.

We get sound check out of the way and I have to get my charts tabbed in order of the setlist so I can get to them quickly between songs. Special thanks to Krista for bringing me some PostIt tabs and helping me write numbers on them.

So, 9pm rolls around and it's show time. It was cool. Granted I am not that familiar with Sean's songs so I was glued to my charts and it kept me from interacting with the guys in the band on a visual level, but I think the musical interaction was there. The crowd was great.

About half way through the show, a group of folks started chanting, "OJJ! OJJ! OJJ!". I haven't admitted it until now (in fact I've kind of down played it), but it really made my night. Any of you that were chanting (and you know who you are), that read this....thank you, your support is humbling and much appreciated.

After the show, I watched a little JCS, then headed downstairs and hung out with Krista, Angela, Lisa, Yoga-MD, Metal J, and Kevin. We stood around talking for a long time till I finally expressed my desire to have dindin. We grabbed a table and ordered food.

Smith's Olde Bar, Home of one of the best burgers I have ever had. It's no Ted's, but it was yummytime none the less.

After that, we all went upstairs and hung out in the back room with Jimmy (yes, of Chicken Shack fame). There we enjoyed the infamous poop wall at Smith's. Basically it is a wall covered with stickers of Bands and graffiti, but all stickers and band/artists names have been changed to reflect poop. Example, Emmilou Harris, is now Emmipoo Harris. Or Rage Against The Machine is now Rage Against The Latrine. Pretty funny stuff, especially the fact that Jimmy wrote "Jimmy's Poop Shat with Sean Thomason and The Balls Of Poopiter". hahaha.

After that, there was just nothing more that could top the night. After loading my stuff in the truck we hung out in the parking lot talking for a while.

Overall a fun experience. I would probably do it again if called upon. Again, to those that came out to support the band, or that came out for my sake, I thank you. It humbles me no matter the band or place.

j

Stinkin' Thinkin'

Once again it seems that my thoughts are starting to back up in my head, so I need to unload them onto paper. Well, in this case, convert them into 1s and 0s.

1st things 1st, I would like to thank each and every one of you that made it out to the last Insatiable Stallion Brothers show at the One Star Ranch Sunday night. (Krista, Skelly, Brandi, Brandi's kids, Yoga-D, Metal Jenn, UndieT, Joey, Ashlee, Sean, Skip & Tyson...Thanks).

It was a fun and interesting gig. We were set up in the parking lot which was a bit strange. And even though the sound people were having a time with the sound, All my peeps said that the sound was incredible. I had a great mix in my ears, but I was only using one ear with vocals, horns and my bass. everything else was coming ala natural through my right (human) ear. Once again a lot of good locking in with Larue. That guy is an incredible drummer. In my 25 or so years of playing bass at gigs I have been blessed with grooving with some really fantastic drummers and Larue is certainly one of them.

We ended the gig early it seemed, but I think that was because it was getting dark and there were no lights in the parking lot for tearing down. HA!!! The food there was pretty good. On the break, I was admiring Yoga-Doc's Brontosaurus Rib. That thing was huge. Once I figured out that the rest of the band was ordering food, I went ahead and ordered mine. I got the pork plate. No rib tonight. The Q was good, but unfortunately we had to go back up almost as soon as I got mine, so I got Krista to box it up for me whilst I tended to the bass playing matters. In the end I had to eat it cold and because I was the last one to order, the rest of the band had used up the tab for free food... I ended up having to pay for my food.

Oh well. (For more on the Stallions, various members will probably be posting blogs on our band myspace page in the near future.) http:myspace.com/theinsatiablestallionbrothers.

ok, next thing.....For those of you that have had the pleasure of meeting my 40 pound pet rat, Roxanne, she is a year old this month. That's right my puppy is becoming a dog. I think she will always be my puppy though. I don't know her exact birthday. ON paper we are saying May 6th, but I think we are going to celebrate it on May 17th. Why may 17th? Petapalooza at the Town Center Park. Should be fun.

While I'm on the Roxanne subject. She has gotten in the habit of eating her toys. Yep, anything that can be chewed up is getting chewed up and swallowed. strands of her plush toys are showing up in her poop. Any suggestions for good HARD RUBBER toys are now welcome. Thanks.

ON a good note, somehow, without the aid of the CPAP machine (which bites ass by the way). I only woke once in the middle of the night that I know of. Today I feel more rested than I have in a very long time. No yawning and no nearly falling asleep at my desk. Maybe why I am finally catching up with some blogging. Sleep Apnea update: The CPAP works, if I can just leave it on my head through the whole night. I take it off in my sleep. It's not so comfortable. It looks like I am going to opt for the surgery. Basically it's out-patient, it will hurt to swallow for about 10 days, and I will have tubes in my nose for the first three allowing me to breath through that very same nose. FUN!!!!

Rock Mafia:I am thinking about getting bowling shirts made up with the Rock Mafia logo on the back and out names on the front. And I'm not just talking about the band.....I am talking about the regulars, the ones that sing the ones that just watch and drink from buckets, anybody that wants one. Well, you have to pay for your shirt but I was thinking about finding a custom bowling shirt company and getting these made for anyone that wants one. The back would be our logo, your name in the front over the breast pocket. I will be posting another blog with more info about this later, but in the meantime if you are interested, please comment or send me a message. the more idea of how many we would buy, the better idea I can get of a price. Also, if any of you avid bowlers know of a good place to get this done, please let me know.

Ok, now that I have written a novella, I better get back to work. Still need to update some projector prices, print some RM setlists and add a couple of playlists to my iPod.

Till next time,

OJJ

Richard Edward Arnold

When I was just a wee lad (Then they called me Tangerine Julius), I remember having a stack of record LP's (vinyl for those born in the 80s) that my dad let me play on his old record player pretty much when I wanted to. One of those was an album called Cattle Calls. It had a song on it called Cattle Call that I used to love to play and sing along with.

The artist was Eddy Arnold. During his career Eddy had 145 charted songs, 28 of them reaching number one. Second only to George Jones.

Other than Cattle Call, I remember other hits of his....... Just Call Me Lonesome, The You Can Tell Me Goodbye, and probably his biggest hit, Make The World Go Away. That song made him an international star. Of course all that happened before I was even born, but I dug it just the same.

Early in his career, Eddy was managed by Col. Tom Parker, who as most of you know, would go on to manage the King.

I write this today because I just heard on the radio that Eddy Passed away this morning. He was 90 years old. Not bad. RIP Mr. Arnold.

And for those of you that just don't know me and are going, "OJ? Country?" You g**damn right! As a good friend of mine once said, "Every style of music has its own version of a groove. You just got to open yours and find. once it makes you tap your foot, your hooked."

later,

OJJ

Some Wild Horses

Monday was the debut of The Insatiable Stallion Brothers Band. A 9 piece Band formerly known as Lou's Blues Review. Lou's Blues has been around for about 21 years or so playing old soul and R&B music in the Atlanta area.

The original members include Lou Vandora (Guitar, Vocals), Michael Milsap (Keyboard, Vocals), LaRue Riccio (Drums), Wally Tirado (Tenor Saxophone). The new members are: Steve Molitor (Alto & Bari Saxophone), Doug Murrey (Trombone), Ray Tanner (Trumpet), Bill Khaler (Alto & Tenor Saxophone), and myself on Bass.

So anyhoo, et's talk about the show at Nemoe's. When I got there I was a little concerned. We were in a room in the back that I wasn't sure anyone would even find. The room looked like it was gonna be loud as hell....and it was. the bad part is that being the last one there, I kind of got the scraps as far as set up space. I had to stuff my amp behind the drummer and it was a bit loud for him but I had to be able to hear it and get to it. But that is just part of the business and part of being a bass player.

So after set up I et a cocktail and hang out. JB, my boss from my day job shows up and we sat around and talk and play the gambling video games for a little bit. Eventually Steve the Marketing guy as well as my buddy Jeff show up as well. we enjoy the current round. Pretty soon it is time get it cranked up.

As we begin, Angela from work as well as Angela aka Dimples walk in at the same time and apparently they have met each other and Dimples is sitting with my work crowd. Nothing wrong with that but it is that weird 2 worlds colliding type of thing.

The crowd loved it right from the beginning. Even with the loud echoey room there was no denying the sound of the horns. Those guys are bad ass. Actually the whole band is bad ass. I am humbled everytime I play with these guys. I feel like a kid in school or something. I am pretty much in awe of all the guys in this band.

After a song or two, Joey and Tim walked in.. Followed by Skelly, Bert, Brandi and her little ones. Followed by JP and Big A, and eventually UndieTakerand Phil from work.

On the 3rd song, I think it was one of the Zuzu Bollin blues shuffles, Lou's looks at me and says, "I'm gonna have you walk one." Now usually that wouldn't be a big deal, but on this song on this night I was playing my new Electric Upright Bass. But I think I pulled it off pretty good. The crowd seemed to enjoy it.

Toward the ed of the set Sean and Ashlee walked in. I think they saw the last couple of songs of the 1st set.

On break, it was cool...... I got to introduce everyone to my friends. During the break, Krista got there and at that point my guest list was complete.

After the break, we started of the set with another round of Pass The Peas. I'm not sure that I like starting each set off with the same song. I think I would rather find a song similar to Pass The Peas and at least do a different short jam type song at the beginning of each set.

The set was great, probably needs some tweaking from my point of view because I am switching to the EUB almost every other song. I think that set has too many of the blues shuffles too close together. There are two in the first and 3rd sets, that one has like 5.

The fun part of the set was in one of the last songs...Hey Little Girl. IN the middle, Wally and the horns went out to the dance floor and played. I went out there with them with my EUB. Even LaRue got a cymbal and walked out there. The peeps really seemed to dig that part. Check out the pick that K took of us during that part.

After the gig everyone seemed to really enjoy the show.

In all, I think the Insatiable Stallions will be a fun side project that will allow me to play music that I really love. It's also a nice outlet to play my Electric Upright Bass.

Stay Tuned for the next show...April 13th @ The Onestar Ranch, not far from the Alpharetta Wing.

ojj

The OTHER Band

Along with Rock Mafia, Stone Cold Fox, Electric Boogaloo and The Dock Martins, I also play in another band. A band not in the SCF Entertainment family. Kind of a side project. The Insatiable Stallion Brothers, is a 9 piece, Rhythm & Blues Review type band. We play songs from the Motown era, Stax, Old Soul and some Blues. The instrumentation is Bass, Guitar, Drums, Keyboard, Tenor Sax, Alto Sax, Bari Sax, Trombone and Trumpet. The band used to be known as Lou's Bluz Review, a standard in the Atlanta all through the 80's and 90s anchored by guitar player/singer Lou VanDora.

Some of the songs include:

634-5789, Mustang Sally - Wilson "The Wicked" Picket

Knock On Wood - Eddie Floyd

Cold Sweat, I Feel Good, Sex Machine - James Brown

Cut The Cake, Pick Up The Pieces - Average White Band

Thrill Is Gone - BB King

Dock Of The bay, I've Been Lovin' You To Long, Can't Turn You Loose - Otis Redding

Soulman - Sam & Dave

Hold On I'm Coming - Sam & Dave

Take Me To The River - Al Green

Midnight hour - Wilson Picket

What Does It Take, Memphis Soul Stew - Jr. Walker & The Allstars

Put It Where You Want It - The Crusaders

How Sweet It Is - Marvin Gaye

My Girl - Temptations

Honky Tonk Woman - The Rolling Stones

Green Onions - Booker T and the MG's

And many more...........

Any of you that know me well, no that Motown is some of my favorite stuff to play. So I am really looking forward to playing out with these guys. I will also get to play my new electric upright bass (once it comes in)on a lot of the songs with this band. (I would play my real upright, but it is just too big to have on a stage with 8 other people.) Also those of you that hang out with the SCF bands, no worries.....I have no intention of leaving the SCF family. This will be a side project that gives me the opportunity to play the stuff I grew up playing.

Now most of our gigs will probably be private parties here and there. In fact, our first is April 2nd at the Hilton. However we are going to play a few warm up gigs out in bars. And they are as follows:

Monday March 31st - 7:00 - 10:00

Nemoe's Tavern & Grill

6025 Peachtree Parkway
Norcross, GA 30092-3348

Phone: (770) 263-7101

Fax: (770) 263-7102

Sunday April 13th - 6:00-9:00

Lonestar Ranch in Alphretta

(I will post more about this when I get the info)

So for any of you that may want to come see us play, your best bet is going to be the Nemoe's show. Honestly, due to the nature of the band, we probably won't do a lot of bars, so it might a few and far between kind of thing.

The MySpace page is http://www.myspace.com/theinsatiablestallionbrothers

I hope to see you there.

j

How Will I Know If I'm Awake

When I joined the jazz band late in my freshman year in High School, I met an incredible drummer by the name of Brent. This guy was ridiculous. I had only been playing bass a couple of years and I knew very little of what I know now. But I did know, that this guy could seriously play the drums like nothing I had ever seen. What I would learn later, lucky for me that it was not much later, was that Brent was incredible on every instrument. You see Brent is one of the guys with the gift of picking up an instrument and figuring it out pretty quickly. It was the first time I had ever heard of perfect pitch. Basically he hears a note without any kind of reference and can tell you what that note is.

Pretty much the rest of my freshman year, my band mates and I revered Brent and only dreamed of playing with someone of his caliber. Well, not very long into my Sophomore year, I got a call. Actually it was Brent and a Guitar player named Harry, they pulled me aside one morning as we were waiting for the morning bell. They basically asked me if I would join their band for the talent show. I was stunned. I was on cloud nine. I remember walking with my friend Kabuki, who played guitar in my first band, to the pay phone to call the singer/sax player in our band (he was home sick) to tell him that I would be leaving the band. It was tough to leave a band with my buddies, but this was a golden opportunity. And it was the start of a great musical relationship.

Playing in the band with them was great! I was just then starting to learn how to use my ear to learn songs as opposed to reading it off of the music staff, so I often needed help learning parts. Brent was always there to show them to me. That's right, the drummer showed me how to play my parts. I'm telling you, this guy is BAD ASS. I learned more about playing bass from my "drummer friend" Brent then I did from my music teacher. (No offense Jack, I learned a lot from you too).

Throughout the next few years, Brent and I played together in several different versions of the same band. A lot of fusion, some rock n roll. UP until Brent moved away to Atlanta.

After Jr. College, I moved to Athens to attend UGA and low and behold a few months later, Brent had moved there too. Eventually he was filling in with the blues band I used to play with and we were playing together again.

Then eventually I was no longer in that band, and I had moved on to other things. A new band, new drummers........

About two years or so ago Brent contacted me about playing on an an album he was making. I told him I would be happy to play on his songs. I actually thought I would only get to play on a couple of songs and assumed that Brent was going to play bass on others. Nope, I played on every song. I played Electric Bass on most and my Upright on a couple. I had a blast. the studio he was using was great. Andy, the owner/engineer was very cool. I did the recordings in two sessions. half of the songs the first time and the other half the next.

One day I got a copy of the finished cd in the mail and I was blown away. Then I talked to Brent on the phone............ He got signed to a record deal with Marina Records out of Germany. This Saturday is his Album release party. They are even putting out vinyl version of the album. HA! I"M ON VINYL!

If anyone reading this is interested in hearing it, please go to www.brentcash.net or www.myspace.com/brentcashmusic or search iTunes for Brent Cash.

It is one of my favorite projects that I have ever worked on and I am very proud of Brent for making such a brilliant album and I am extremely proud to say that I was able to play bass for Brent's record.

j

Cleaning, Gatos and Such

Ok, once again I'm in the mood to blog, but have no subject matter. So here is another installment of Johnny's Random Thoughts/Blog

First up, House Cleaning! While it is not so hard to get the house clean, why is it such task to actually get started. I woke up about 11 today and I really need to clean my garage, clean all the junk off my dining room table. gather all my stuff for my taxes, clear out my office, throw out boxes, bathe Roxanne, etc etc. But I just can't seem to do anything but hang out on the deck or sit on the couch and watch TV. Actually that's not so true....

(next subject?)I am bout to make the best of beautiful day and put the bike rack on the car and head out to the Silver Comet and get that first ride in. (I'll take my camera so I can get some pics) Maybe that will actually get me to write a blog about the silver comet or cycling or something.

Next up, The Georgia Aquarium...... Where do I begin? Let's start with the first thing you think of when you see fish.......... Alligators. This is the newest addition to the Aquarium. Now, I enjoyed the exhibit, as did K. Especially the Purple Hat, Blonde and Dimpled Gators. However, when they advertise on their site that they've added this new exhibit, they had a picture of a 9 foot big ass gator. The ones they had in, although full of personality and charm, where about 4 feet or so. And to top it off, they don't let you feed the Gators.

The Beluga, once again, was worth the price of admission. Niko, was hanging out at the window and watching the folks. I still wonder if he looks at the little ones and thinks they would be fun to play and swim with or does he think, "mmmmmm. dinner to go!"

My favorite part of the aquarium, the end of the Ocean Voyager section. Shortly after you go under the tank there is a big ass window with steps you can sit on that make it like a big ass theatre. I like that part because you can sit and watch the fish on your on schedule. No one is pushing, if you want to count the number of fish in a school, or simple make fun of the big Mafioso look on the giant groupers. Check em out, the look like gangsters staring at everybody.

I think I have commented on another blog that the Shrimp boat in the GA Waters section is totally inaccurate, but that is ok, they do have live shrimp. Once again I was tempted to grab one and de head, de-vain it and grill it, but luckily K was there to slap me upside the head.

The fun loving Sea Otters..... Yeah, more like the sleeping all day Sea Otters. The first trip by they and the Sea Lions were all asleep. The 2nd time on Otter was awake, while the other was floating on his back sleeping. Still cool to sea and the sleeping, floating otter kept rubbing his chest while he floated around. They need to give those Otters a Coke or a Red Bull or something. Hell give them a Bucket of some sort. We want to see them play!

The last aquarium thought......Nemo, I mean Deepo. Are they in cahoots with Pixar? We saw some Nemo stuff for sale in the gift shop, but still not sure if there is any kind of agreement. Deepo is basically Nemo without the strips. They talk alike, they look alike, they have the same friends. OH well, the trip to the aquarium was a lot of fun. If you haven't been, do yourself a favor and go. Make sure give yourself about 3-4 hours. OH and be careful if you see a gator brandishing a cleaver.

Finally.......Gainesville. We played in Gainesville this weekend. Dock Martins on Friday and Boogaloo Saturday. Good shows both night and a great crowd. Last night we thought we had made it thru the whole night without seeing a fight. No. While breaking down equipment some idiot decided he was going to shove a girl. May hat is off to the security staff in Gainesville. Anytime a fight breaks out, they waste no time getting those people out of there.

Ok, that is enough. I am done thinking. Gonna go to the comet and ride.

j

Nothingness

Just got home from having a couple of drinks with co-workers and our Hitachi Rep. I don't really have anything to talk about, but for some reason I just felt like blogging. I only had two drinks and I am not even buzzing. So here goes a blog on "nothing".

Let's start with The Rocket. I was watching some of it in our lobby at work today. It was kind of gut-wrenching. My favorite baseball player is Greg Maddux, so I am more about placement and movement when it comes to pitching. But I do enjoy seeing some heat. Hell that is what produces my favorite sound. (fastball hitting the mitt) And The Rocket surely brought the heat over and over again. The fact that he is having to defend his name after so many of years, it just is hard to watch. It is also seems like he is having to prove himself innocent. Isn't that just the opposite of how our society is supposed to work. We give child molesters, mass murderers, rapists and other scum bag pieces of shit the benefit of the doubt and the burden of proof is placed on the prosecution to prove guilt. But a baseball player accused of using roids, A legendary baseball player at that, has the burden of proof for his innocence. Now with that in mind, Roger and his legal team are not doing such a great job. As someone said to me(k), his team was back-pedaling and it really made him look like he is lying. That whole thing about Pettitte "mis-hearing", what the hell was that? OH well, as Forrest Gump would say, "that's all I care to say about that."

Onward we go into more nothingness. Due to the busy day at work, I didn't leave for lunch and with the after work cocktails...... Roxanne, my SuperMutt, was able to hold it for nearly 12 hours today. "Good dog! Now that's a good dog!" Oh sorry. Forgot I was blogging and was actually typing that to Roxanne. Problem #1, she can't read so much. In fact, she can't really read at all. But if reading were anything like chewing on her Kong, she would be reading like a champ.

Ok, what's up with the HildeBeast not congratulating Barrack on winning the Potomac states?

Here's some presidential trivia, yesterday was the 9th anniversary of Bill Clinton's acquittal on impeachment charges. Also, 199 years ago yesterday was Lincoln's birthday.

Speaking of trivia, I am in the mood to go win somewhere. Anyone wanna go play trivia somewhere some time. Not this Sunday though. I will be traveling back from Knoxville trying to get home in time to watch the Daytona 500. Go JR!!!!!!!!! Anyone wanna come watch on my big ass TV, please let me know.

Speaking of this weekend, we are playing in Asheville on Friday and Knoxville on Saturday. Although I enjoy playing both places, Friday will be rough because I have Rock Mafia tomorrow, then work at 7am then a 3 hour plus drive to Asheville. I will have to get on the telephone to stay awake. So those of you who's number I have, beware of the tired bass player call. haha.

On another gig note, I talked to Doc the manager of the Alpharetta Wild Wing today. he said that we are going to an 80's night, not unlike the 70's night we did last week. That will be on Saturday April 12th. That should be a hoot.

Ok, I better end this. I need to work on new songs for tomorrow night and I need to get to bed at a decent time. I need to getup early and get off in time so I can go see a lady about money for a horse. A horse born in 1965. A red and black horse.

maybe the next blog will actually be about something.............

OJJ

GATOR Tags?!?!?!?!?

Ok, so I'm perusing through the morning online papers and I see that the State Of Georgia Department of Motor Vehicles is going to grant the University of Florida alumni in the state a vanity plate featuring the roadkill of a mascot! WHAT IN THE BLUE HELL?!?!?!?! It's bad enough they are already allowing Auburn University to the same. Now granted Auburn is just over the border, but it is still in Alabama.

I'm sorry folks, but I always thought of the vanity plates for schools as a special privilege for those that choose to work in the state in which they went to school. Someone here at work just said (yeah I'm venting out loud, not just on the blog) that if that is the case, then you should have to be alumni to get one as well. I'm fine with that too. I will gladly walk into the tag office with my degree (Frame, Tassel and all) to claim my UGA tag........in GEORGIA!!! I wonder what what happen if I tried to get a Dawg Tag in Florida? They would laugh me out of the state.

What a croc, no pun intended.

And to those of my friends that are Florida alumni, congrats. Even though I thoroughly dislike your team, I still respect your school pride. Put those tags on your car proudly. Just be prepared when a Silver Tacoma or a Red Mustang (Hopefully), or any car driven by a member of the DAWG NATION blows by you with horns honking and you hear the words, "GO DAWGS, SIC EM WOOF WOOF WOOF!".

And for those of my friends that aren't Florida alumni, but just Florida fans......... WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?!?!?!

And please, no comments about the past 15 years and how you guys have one most of the games. You are 2-2 the last four, but we should just look at the overall record anyway............45-37-2. And guess who has the 45..... Hint: Move Over Gators and Let The Big Dawg Eat!!

If A Tree Falls In The Woods

A while back I wrote a blog of my favorite sounds. I think it all started with a question on Inside The Actors Studio. I think James Lipton's survey at the end of the show asks the actor what their favorite sound might be. SO I asked myself and I realized that I have several favorite sounds........... Now I am updating that list and adding a couple of new sounds. ................ Here are my top 5 favorite sounds. Please reply with your favorites.

5. The train down the street from my parent's house in the middle of the night. The junction where they changed rails as well as the GA Port Authority where they load stuff onto the trains from the cargo ships (for those that don't know my hometown is St. Simons Island/Brunswick, GA) was just far enough from my bedroom window that I could here the sound of the metal as they would shift the tracks as well as the bracks on the train as they would line up the cars with the cranes that unloaded the boats.

4. The motor on a Harley Davidson. All I need to say........ potato, potato, potato

3. Raindrops hitting the top of the Elephant Ear plants in my mom's backyard.
(A great example of this sound is in Saving Private Ryan, just before they get to the town where Vin Diesel buys the farm, when it starts raining and you can barely distinguish that sound from the sound of the Thompson machine guns firing in the background)

2. Roxanne barking. This is the new addition. My dog Roxanne is a fairly quiet pup. She makes whimpering type noises when she wants to go out, but that is about it. However, if you have any kind of food and you eat it or prepare it in the kitchen, it drives her nuts and she barks. She has two barks, a high pitched one and a very low pitched one. I like them both. The first time I heard it, it was like hearing Opera for the very first time.

1. The sound of a 95+ mile an hour fastball hitting a catcher's mit. Nothing like that pop. When I think of that sound I can literaly smell the fresh cut grass, the hotdogs cooking on the grill and I can taste that first ice cold 7 dollar stadium beer. Most of the time I get to hear all that on Opening day, but this year I am going to Spring Training in Kissimmee, FL. Baseball in March, now that is America! PLAY BALL!

ojj