Austin Wills James's Comments

That's me! I get to wear a lab coat and look all smart!

Yup, still alive and kicking.   You can find me nowadays in the basement of our local science museum cleaning trex teeth.  No computers or scanners there, so not lots of mailarting lately.  But I did make you something today!  Keep your eyes on the post!

Thanks so much for the first welcome!

Confession....I write how I talk. I realized after I hit send that I had dropped my favorite variety of the fbomb in your mail.  Sorry about that, truly unintentional

Austin,

I will reciprocate shortly...thanks...

dave

This kind of music has a history now. I think a lot of musicians dig into it - the same way Clapton, Page,Beck - dug into obscure blues records going back to the 1920s & 30s. They are blues scholars - they know every riff on every Mississippi Delta album ever cut. Or the way the members of Steely Dan are jazz scholars.. You have a tremendous advantage knowing roots. Jimmy Page solos were collages - quotes - of old blues riffs. It sure worked.

And the old Acid Tests with the Dead - before LSD was made illegal in 1966 - they filled garbage cans with punch laced with acid and the concerts were these strange "happenings." You can see how Owsley and musicians got connected. The rave thing - you must know a lot more about that - was really an extension - and the techno stuff from that is pretty mazing.

I'm sorry you missed Garcia; can't be helped - but I know you would have appreciated it. It sounds like the remaining members are keeping the tradition, so that's pretty good and would have given you a sense of it. I mean, shit, the Rolling Stones? Jagger and Richards are the only two originals left. The other jam band legend - beside Pearl Jam (haven't seen them) - Phish, right?

I'd sure like to hear "White Room" live.

Auburn - where I am - has a lot of musicians through the NYC pipeline. It's close enough to do your business in NYC but basically country & cheap. And, you know, music is about touring. Who can afford NYC?

Anyway, there's a guy in town Andy McDonald - who is the guitar player for Blue Cheer. He's a replacement for the original, but Blue Cheer is an interesting band. They were started by Owsley Stan in San Francisco at the same time the Dead were founded. You know he financed bands & got into sound systems and stuff. Blue Cheer was one of his other creations.

Blue Cheer didn't make it like the Dead - "Summertime Blues" was their only hit - but they do this really heavy,distorted music that's given credit for inspiring Heavy Metal. A lot of people get that credit, but the music is seriously heavy. At this point, they're better known in Europe - the guy was always gone to Europe - but an original Owsley band is pretty interesting. I think there are only two original members - pretty old now - but they go back to Garcia and the Acid Tests - you know, untuning your instruments and jamming all night. 

I saw the Grateful Dead once. What about you?

And 2x one more - I think acoustic/eletric is the way - the best sound, IMHO. Good for you.

One last - I think you should consider doing some experimental music for the network. Think about it.

This is great. I can talk music forever, but have to head out due to a hard dealine anyway.

I knew you had that music heritage in your family. You should be proud of that. I never saw Clapton and REALLY have wanted to because the reputation is so huge and live, in-person is the test.

Your mom was fortunate indeed. Some friends went to the Cream Reunion in NYC a few years back and said it was spectacular, but that thing cost a small fortune. I saw Ginger Baker (Cream drimmer) with PIL - Johnny Rotten's band. That was strange. Jack Bruce (Cream) is a genius bass player - if you're looking to the classics.

A long time ago Clapton did a huge arena show in Buffalo and passed out on stage and had to be carried off - ruined the show. So locally, people were really bad-mouthing him - burnout and all that. I missed a few chances to see him as a result, due to peer pressure I suppose.

Later, remember not to get me started.

Speaking of Hendrix - when I was a really little kid - like I never could have gone - Hendrix played in town. He was the warm up act for The Monkees. That urabn legend is definitely true. It was billed The Monkees with Jimi Hendrix. All the kids cared about was the Monkees. No one had any idea.

Thanks, I wanted to know. Didn't mean to turn it into a chat room. I remember when IUOMA was so small people just carried on conversations on the board.

Well, I'm old ya know, and the thing that impresses me now most is what you can do w/ foot peddles. Dw has a ton and a "Bro" recorder that con do, I think, up to 32 tracks. I play with it.

Yeah, I had a Cry Baby wah-wah peddle - that was high tech then. But they are still around.

So glad you like it!  Framed it.....WOW!

The CD's are AWESOME!!!!  I love working to them!  Thank you again!

Sounds peaceful.  Nice.

You're welcome!  Glad you like it!  Why are we up so early?

Austin, you are the best. I just found a live version of Pearl Jam's "I've Got A Feeling" - didn't know they covered it. They brought the song to life. You know, for "Let it Be" the Beatles recorded hundreds of hours of music and could barely squeeze 1/2 hour of decent music out of it. Sad story. Thanks for the Pearl Jam!