The tree is up, the presents are out, and the kids are wound up (in a teenage, jaded kind of way). Must be Christmas.

  There's not much going on around here, but being home has been pretty wonderful. If I could scare up some gigs it would be perfect!

  I'll be hosting jams and giving lessons at Red House for the next couple of months. Saturday Afternoon Blues Jams run from around 3 to 5, and I'll be there all Saturdays in February, and all but the first and last Saturdays in January. I'll probably be doing some Thursday "Players Club" jams on Thursday afternoons at 5, warming up the crowd for Johnnie Nitro's Thursday night hullaballoo (spelling?). Come by and check the place out.

  In the mean time, I've got to start working on my Year End Blog Extravaganza; my annual "Best and Worst Of" which I'm sure everyone awaits with baited breath.

  The nice thing is, thinking about it, I believe that this is the second year in a row, if not the third, where I feel like I had maybe my best year ever! The World's Luckiest Man strikes again!

In case you haven’t guessed by the inactivity around here, I’m home. Have been for a week now. Alaska was nice, but cold. Everyone I talked to said we should come back in the summer, when the days last forever and the town is crawling with people. Okay. If you book it, I will play. The new bass performed admirably, and I wrote a quick review on a Bass Player Message Board here, if you’re interested.

One of the drawbacks to being a touring musician is that when you come home, there are no gigs. All the thirty-seven bands I was playing with before I went on the road have found other part time bassists, and/or just kind of forgot to check my schedule for availability (the nerve!). So the last week was spent getting out and being seen. Tuesday night I hit the jam at the Mojo Lounge in Fremont, where I got a chance to play quite a bit, seeing as how there weren’t any other bassists there.

Saturday night I went to the Baltic in Point Richmond to see Tia Carrol and Hard Work. Tia’s a great, great singer, and her band features the fabulous Artie Chavez on drums. Tom Bowers was kind enough to let me sit in (I just happen to have a bass in the van) and overplay all his parts into the ground. The band, rounded out by Pierre LeCour and background vocalist Marla (I’m sorry for any last name messups) was outstanding, with a hell of a fun set list.

On the way home, Club Tac in Crockett had a band, so I stopped in to see if there were any familiar faces. Turns out the Salinas Brothers were making some noise, so I stayed and played. Pep was the drummer in Double Dose when we were both kids, and his brother Steve is a fellow Crockett…ian? Crocketteer? Well, whatever, he currently plays keys for Cold Blood. Great players and legendary smart-asses. The bass player Paul
Olguin was a very gracious host and a damn good player.

A lot of Emails and a couple of phone calls just to say “Hi, I’m back and available”. I’ll be at Red House more now also, and will be hosting the Saturday afternoon jams while I’m around, which looks like until March for the most part. Got gig?

"The gold is on the floor and the booze is in the safe."

This is how one tourist described Alaska back in the early part of the last century. After spending some of the day downtown, going to the Museum, and learning a little more about the history of the place, I get the whole frontier thing a little better.

Alaska shares some of the same features that helped to build my two favorite 'historical cities', San Francisco and New Orleans; they are geographically limited, and were 'melting pot' port cities where a large and varied cast of peoples all contributed to their becoming what they are.

Ofcourse, it doesn't snow in SF or NO. Which is big, as far as I'm concerned.

A related story is from breakfast, where we fell into a conversation with a guy at the next table. Phil was talking about the guys who work for his company that fly North for three weeks of work in the remote, frozen arctic. Three weeks on three weeks off. There's nothing up there but work and sleep. Phil talked about what he called the "Chamber of Commerce flight schedule", where the workers, flush with three weeks worth of pay, lonely and thirsty, arrive via chartered 737 at 9:00AM, but  there aren't any flights out of Anchorage until 1:30AM, so the men have about 15 hours to get everything out of their system (or, I guess, into their systems) before heading to their homes in the lower 48. Apparently, Anchorage's many Strip Clubs come alive on those days, with a hierarchy all their own ("Stay away from P.J.'s").

Phil's other Strip Club Tip was this; sit next to the guy who brings a date. All the dancing girls are lesbians and flock to any females in the club, and by sitting next to a couple, you can pick up the "Collateral Damage". Let me know how that works out.

That's Alaska's nickname. It also says that on all the licence plates, which brings two things to mind;

a.) How cruel is it for the prisoners who make the licence plates to have a constant reminder of how wide open and outlaw this place is? and
b.) Are licence plates the only place where State Motto's make appearances? Don't State Seals usualy opt for some random Latin phrase?

Well, whatever. I spent a good portion of the morning walking around the area of my hotel, and frankly, it looks like Monument Boulevard or maybe Hegenberger in Oakland, just with a bunch of snow. Hotels, resteraunts, tire stores, a Wal-Mart, various fast food...nothing very "frontier-y". Walking itself is kind of interesting. I've got Cowboy Boots, and while they are comfortable and warm, traction is not their strong suit. I keep my hands out of my pockets for balance and just in case I go down, and walk mainly on my heels, as the bottom of the boot is pretty slick. The other obstical is that even though they "plow" the roads and some sidewalks, sometimes it's hard to find where exactly the sidewalk is in the plowed snow. As a result, you end up walking right next to traffic, and you hope you don't slip into the lane, and you hope nobody loses control of their vehical anywhere near you!

I spent a lot of time out and about today, taking in a movie, eating in a Sports Bar while watching football. I'm rooming with Mike, and his focus up here seems to revolve around certain substances...which seems to require brief Microwaving(?), so the room smell overwhelmingly like said substance, and Mike spends a lot of time watching T.V., really loud, and then yelling over it. It's kind of harsh to double us up in weather like this!

The whole daylight thing is facsinating! Where we live, the Sun comes up in the East, makes it's way across the sky, and sets in the West. It's been overcast here, but it seems that at this time of the year, the Sun comes up, lingers briefly, and then just goes back where it came from. I haven't been able to detect a path. Kind of neat. Occasionally, the clouds part, and the view of the local mountain range is beautiful. I just stand with my face to the Sun, soaking up all I can!

I didn't understand why people even lived here, but I was talking to a guy at the club, and he was talking about how much he loved the cold! It never occured to me that there are such people! Cold loving people! He talked about his five year old daughter visiting him from her home on Oahu, and how she liked to play outside without her jacket, and his "That's my girl" pride. It really does take all types.

Everybody up here seems to hunt and fish, which is reflected in the stock at the Wal-Mart. I've never seen so many Fishing poles. I enjoyed looking around at the things I didn't know exsisted, like "Ice Fishing Rigs" and "Predator Calls". There's a DVD on the art of calling Bears! It says something like "They'll come running, ready to EAT!" Isn't that something you'd want to avoid? I would.

Everywhere you go there's taxidermed animals and fur stores. Pretty "Anti-California". After all, fur pretty much fueled the existance of this whole State!

I guess it's not very hard to find the Last Frontier after all, if you just look around a little.

Greetings from Alaska! The locals swear we're in a heatwave, because the temps are in the low 20's and high 30's. I don't think "Heatwave" and snow really go together.

Everything's relative.

Let me take care of some odds and ends;

I bought a new bass! And I brought it (and only it) with me to Alaska! So it's a 'sink or swim' situation. What is this snappy new axe that can take the place of my fine vintage Fenders? Well, it's a $300 Indonesian Squire. It's called a "Vintage Modified Fretless Jazz", and it's, dollar for dollar, an amazing bass. It's not going to become my all around "Number One", but I sure don't have to worry about travelling with it. I'll be sure to write a review after this run of gigs.

Last Saturday, I played at the Elk Grove Brewery with Mojo Madness, a rare treat for me these days. I've been playing with James for years now, and now with Jim Caroompas on guitar and Artie Chavez on drums, it was a hell of a lot of fun. I played my ass off, thanks to those guys.

The remainder of December, outside of this Saturday the 9th, I'll be hosting the Saturday Afternoon blues jams at Red House. Plus I'll be available for lessons, sessions...whatever!

So, four shows in Anchorage, during the heatwave. Break out the sunscreen!

I had to go back and find out where I was when I last left an entry!

The reason it's been so quiet around here is that a.) I came home for a few days, and b.) I went to Mexico City and left the laptop behind.

But first things first; Oregon. It's been suggested by my Blog Conscience, Jon, that I'm sounding depressed. Not so, says I. I'm just kind of running out of cute quips to write about motel rooms, van rides and fried foods. I'm looking forward to being at home for more than a couple of days. Which is why it was such a treat to have a "slumber party" in Oregon. A couple of years ago, a friend of the family, Pat Sullivan, moved from the bay area to a "Hilltop Estate" with her daughter Jennifer, and grand children Hillary and Hunter. Pat and Jennifer came to the Salem show, and swept me away to their compound in the wilderness along the MacKenzie River.

The place is a menagerie, with dogs, cats, rabbits, rats, and snakes. Then, outside there are goats, roosters and chickens, turkeys, peacocks, geese, and a pot bellied pig. You never know what you'll see when you look out onto the football field they call a front lawn. I was dissapointed that the herd of Elk hadn't shown up yet to graze on their lawn - just pictures from last year.

It was a real treat to get away even for a few hours and be around a family, and they were nice enough to drive me to Bend for the final show of the tour. Thanks again, Sullivans!

So the tour ended, we drove home in a day, and I had a nice little Thanksgiving break with family, not writing blog entries.

The day after Thanksgiving, I had to be at SFO at 4AM for a 6AM flight to Mexico City, for two shows at the Festival de Blues. Any "road boredom" definately got paid off by this one. We had three nights at the Sheraton Centro Historico (beautiful single rooms, mine on the 21st floor), an embarrassingly light work schedule (one 45 minute set opening both shows), a great, great sound crew, and some of the best hangs ever. The rest of the bill was Chicago blues groups of various stripe, including people like Harp legend Billy Branch, who's bassist Nick Charles is an absolute monster (but I hear he can't juggle), Marcy Levy, the legendary Sam Lay, and a bunch of other fun, nice people. Not a butthole in the bunch!

Even with all of that, the person I was most drawn to was Marie Dixon, widow of the late great Willie Dixon. Willie Dixon's biography is the blues, and his influence can't be underestimated.His widow Marie is dedicated to carrying on the traditions and supporting and fostering artists whenever she can through Willie's Blues Heaven Foundation. Plus, she's got a ton of great stories, and whenevr I saw her over the weekend, I'd grab the nearest chair! She'd talk about "the boys" acting up on a plane, and "the boys" are Muddy Waters, Son Seals and other giants. She talked about "ofcourse, the Rolling Stones would always come over to the house", and how President Reagan sent Willie some cufflinks, and how she still had Willie's main bass and the pink Electric Upright he could never bring himself to play live and...well, I was mesmerized. If I ever get to Chicago, that's one home cooked meal invitation I'd never pass up.

Oh yeah...the shows. The shows were outstanding! Saturday night we played the Teatro de Cuidad, one of those old style four tiered Opera Houses, as beautiful a setting as I've ever played. The next day was a big outdoor festival at the Monumento de la Revolucion, with the stage facing the giant tower in the big square. At both shows, the people were so responsive and so into the whole thing that it was a damn shame we only got 45 minutes. These are the gigs you live for, these make everything else worthwhile. When my time on stage is over, these are the kind of shows I'll remember. Thanks to Raul the promoter ("Thanks for coming, and thanks for going home!"), the incredible sound crew, and the people of Mexico City.

And wait till you see the boots I bought!

November 18th, 12:09AM

Well FINE. Apparently, here in Port Townsend, when you have a big neon sign that says “OPEN 24HRS” doesn’t mean the same as it does most places.

Or maybe, the neon sign at the Cyber Bean Café lost the bit on the bottom that said “-NOT!”

Whatever the case, they were closed. So no blog download, no checking Emails, no looking up what Hipshot model number I need. All I got was a late, after-gig walk in the cold.

The walk probably did me some good, seeing as how I ate so late. Here’s how that worked; we went to sound check at 4:00, unloaded, set up, and worked with the “sound system” and sound man. In the meantime, we ordered our food, a contractual arrangement. So we finish up our work around 5:00, but the cook says he probably can’t have the food ready before 6 or 6:30. Hmm. Okay, we don’t want to sit around there, so we arrange to come back at 7:30, and our food will be ready. So we do. And we wait, and wait, and wait. Finally, our food is ready. The problem is that it’s 8:15, and we play at 8:30. So I eat my Seafood Linguini and Cheesecake at 11:30, after the gig.

Geez. Waa waa waa. Pretty soon I’ll be whining about the color of M&M’s and the brand of bottled water in the dressing rooms.

Well, Mark who runs the Upstage is a real nice guy, and in fact all the people tonight were really nice. Dirk Anderson, an upright player whose band played the Upstage the night before was there with his wife, both very nice people. Dirk is a very good jazz bassist, with great tone.

I bought a great black cowboy hat in Seattle. I like wearing it onstage. It’s better than closing my eyes when I want to, ummm…concentrate.

What else.?...what else?...there’s a little diner here that makes great Fish & Chips, and has fantastic Milkshakes. Wish I’d eaten there for dinner. It's called "Sea J's" if you're ever there.

There I go again.

November 17th, 5:23PM

Friday night, the last Washington show, in Port Townsend. The Upstage is a dinky little place that serves really good food and seats the audience all around you while you play in more of a pit than a stage.

I ordered the Seafood Linguini and Cheesecake for desert. Mmmm! We’ll go back to eat at 7:30.

I feel like I’ve run out of steam on this tour. Seattle was great, and while I would never denigrate any gig, small town, small club, small stage just kinda sucks the wind out of the sails.

Hopefully I’ll see some friends of the family in Salem tomorrow. Pat?

My laptop is still wireless-less…or ‘wire’…or…well, messed up. There’s a place down the street called “The Cyber Bean Café”, so I’m hoping for a little late night download of this blog entry. We’ll see.

Also, any musicians reading this, I’ve got some time off from the Hooker gig coming up, and I’m looking for work. Drop me a line and let me know what you got! Gigs? Studio? Lessons? Confessions? Anything around home.

November 16th, 11:14AM

The biggest disappointment so far, was being in Spokane for almost three days and NOT being able to see Patrick. He says he had “Location Shoots” and he’s working on a production during the day…but I think he doesn’t actually live there anymore, and for some reason, doesn’t want anyone to know it.

Terrorist? Super-spy? Out-sourced to India? I have many questions that won’t be answered without a return trip to Spokane.

The drive from Spokane to Seattle was wild. It goes like this; Spokane, then nothing, nothing, more nothing, the Columbia River, some more nothing, then the snowy mountain pass; a veritable Winter Wonderland, then Seattle.

The Triple Door in Seattle is a really cool Supper Club type of joint, with their own backline (no lifting!), a big stage, and good food. The gig itself is only from 7:30 to 9:00, which some people like, and some people feel it’s a shame to have such a nice set up for so short of a gig because after all we’re not out here because we like hotels.

After the show, we got to hang out again with The Red Hot Blues Sisters, who took us to a local jazz jam at The Whiskey Bar, and later for a surreal late-night breakfast at the 5 Points Café.

The jam was fun; we made some noise and met a lot of local musicians. I got to play “I’ll Take You There” with the Sisters, so my night was made.

The 5 Points was a great, crazy, “oh I guess the bars are closed” scene, with over inebriated denizens of the night floating in and out. Very entertaining.

Today, our last day off, instead of hanging out in Seattle, with lots of things to do, we’re going to go to Port Townsend. I’m sure it’s a nice place, but we know people here, we have stuff to do here (The RHBS’s both work at the Seattle Museum of Art!), there is stuff here. It’s disappointing.

My Wireless Card has gone out! I'm stuck on lobby machines and internet cafes until I can figure this out.

Send help!

We travelled all day yesterday through some...shall we say "Wide open spaces", and arrived in Spokane last night. We'll be here for three nights, with a full, true day off today. I'm going to do some exploring, and hopefully get together with Patrick at some point.

Maybe I can find someplace to get my Laptop fixed!