Bastille day festivities

Tonight at the Elevens in Northampton, I'm playing a set with my all-star band (Ryan Quinn, Brian Marchese and Henning Ohlenbusch) called the Hallucinajasons. Also on the bill are Tasha Yar (sleezy, electro fun with Bowie-esque vocals), Zachary Cale (ramshackle, twang delight) and This Frontier Needs Heroes (family folk at its best (photo by Bek Anderson above)).

It's a free show that starts at 7:30. There will be cake, bread and cheese.

-jason

Read about it here

The caravan heads north

I think I owe Tony an apology

I remember about ten or so years ago my neighbor Tony had an extra ticket to see the Moody Blues at Foxwoods Resort Casino in Connecticut. I had absolutely no interest in going, but eventually attended the concert after a series of pleas and cash bribes.

The whole ride there I complained and most likely stated that I would much rather be watching television. I may have continued with "Tony, why do you take it into your own hands to ruin my life?" This was and still is typical fare. And though I may have conceded that I enjoyed the performance afterward, I still was intractable when it came to my views on the Moodies on the whole.

I'm rather disappointed in my younger and completely ignorant self now as I come to the realization that the record "In Search For the Lost Chord" is one of the most beautiful albums I've heard. On the "Lost Chord" and the five or six albums I own, the Moody Blues create a perfect marriage between the psychedelic and the romantic worlds. With their classic 60's & early 70's line-up, each player wrote for the band, many sang and drummer Graeme Edge served as poet or narrator on their records.

Watch this video below of Justin Hayward's classic "Voices in the Sky".

Thanks to JP Boneyard and Mike Swiatlowski, I finally returned to my favorite place to play: Palmer, MA! Brian & Henning joined me for a set of hits, near misses and soon to be classics. Six songs in all. Though I was experiencing some head/brain/dizziness issues at the show, I still felt comfortable performing. It was great to see some familiar faces and some pals from back home (special thanks to Lesa, Debbie, Karen, Mark & Emily for making the trip).

Diamond Junction's wonderful interior color scheme and lay out, which I haven't encountered in ages, recalls various rolling skating rinks, bowling alleys and arcades from the mid 1980's. Birthday parties from the distant past flooded my memory.

After my set and those by the great Eric Hnatow and the also great San Serac, candlepin bowling commenced:

Lastly, I'd like to mention that I'm on the look out for a (and I don't remember the name of the brand) plastic hip-hop dog by the name of "Sassy". This bitch is part preppy and a whole lotta pimp. She was the one I had my eye on, but it wasn't in the cards. Below are the dogs that I randomly purchased from the dispenser at Diamond Junction. If I had $80 in quarters, they would've all gone into this machine:















Ahhhh, I wish all shows were like this one...
-jason