Jam – 2011-09-27 – Caroll’s

28 Sep 2011 Leave a comment

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , ,

Back at Deadstein with no guests this week and no agendas, just a night to make good music.  We did have a few guests including Rob and Miriam and a friend of theirs.  Additionally, Rich had a buddy stop by and we also had the inevitable Scott Bayer with his friend Carol live via the cell network.

I had some new stuff to deal with that made my night a fulfilling experience.  Since I ruined Alan’s MXR envelope filter 2 weeks ago, I found a Proton Envelope Filter by 3LeafAudio last week and had it delivered on Monday and ready for Tuesday’s jam.  As I was off on Monday, I had some time to set up the new effect in my effects rack and practice some new things.  I worked on Operator, New Speedway, Stranger and Brown-Eyed at home at playing them at the jam was really good.  We did Operator twice and they were both really good and the New Speedway was the best Deadstein has ever done.

In addition to the new envelope filter which I have to say was pretty darn good and solid.  It was filled with more good sounds than bad ones and handled chords with some decorum.  I added by Boss compressor to the effects tray as well as my chorus.  I didn’t use the chorus at all but I did find my compressor useful, which I had previously had trouble doing.  The use of both envelope filter and compressor really get you in touch with your touch to make both effects work properly.  I felt as if I was within their grasps throughout the night.

Coupled with all this changed effects stuff I also changed my guitar from my 1979 Stratocaster to my mid 2000 Epiphone Les Paul Standard.  I have never been comfortable with the Les Paul but I’ve been playing with it more at home and I changed the strings this weekend, lowered in the action and intonated it.  This all lead to my best use of the Les Paul to date.  I really enjoyed it during the night, the touch, the action and the sound.

I think as a band we played better than usual this night.  Our first set was really solid.  Our only great faux pas was the Help -> Slip -> Estimated and some (Kevin and Scott) slipped into Estimated without the knot!  That hurt that segment of the night, but short of that we did pretty well.  We had lots of meaty songs starting with the Stranger Shakedown, very few blues, ended the first set with the Playing à Morning Dew that was one of our better Dews.

For the second set we picked up the playing following the Uncle John’s we dished out.  I had some nice feeling leads during the Looks Like Rain and the While My Guitar Gently Weeps.  I totally flubbed the Help on the Way lead.  You can get them all, but I got enough, more Ying than Yoink.  Next week promises to deliver even more Ying, so stay tuned.

To hear what we played go to:

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/09-27-11/

Jam – 2011-09-19 – Carroll’s

21 Sep 2011 4 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , , ,

This was a nice week of Deadstein where we were able to play once again with Andy Trister.  We are pretty comfortable these days with our 5-man arrangement with e on lead and Alan playing rhythm, so Trister playing with us sends us back to days of lore, when I had Bob on my mind.  This is a challenge for us as I traditionally hand off all the Jerry part to Andy when he is there leaving Alan and I to fend for the rhythm spectrum.  I think there is enough spectrum there for the two of us to coexist without stepping on each other’s signals and I think we achieve that this week.

Playing Bob is once again a very comfortable thing for me to do compared to  having the responsibility to play Jerry leads, so I found myself in a good zone during this jam, which I am sure helped contribute toward the goodness of the jam.

You know it is a good jam and a fun one when Andy finishes playing theBrokedownPalaceto end the night and says, “Damn that was the best Brokedown you guys have played and this is too much fun to leave.”  As such, he ended up playing an addition 3 or 4 songs and then he parted ways with us.  It just goes to show how when you try and make good music, the music is good.  It’s self fulfilling in so many respects especially verbally.  As a matter of fact, that may be the only respect, but I digress.

It was an especially rewarding and satisfactory evening because from the beginning it did feel as if it was to be such.  We were bickering at the beginning about when or when not to invite guests, playing for a keyboard last week that we did have to elevate to the of having to pay for it and other issues.  They excellent music and attitude during the playing itself, made all that other nonsense trivial compared to the reason we get together anyway, so G-d bless us all and pray for more ying than yoink.

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/09-19-11/

Jam – 2011-09-14 – Carroll’s

15 Sep 2011 3 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , ,

I was at dog camp last week and missed the Deadstein jam.  It was probably a Brotpen dominated night.  This week the tide turned as Brotpen was sick and unable to attend.  Marty Goodman filled in on the keys so we kind of had that covered.  It was Scott’s birthday earlier in the week so it should have been his turn and obligation to call the setlist.  Unfortunately the stars didn’t quite align to achieve that.  First of all, Marty’s repertoire favors the simple songs, as he calls them, and I was on the waning side of a cold I picked up at dog camp.  With the prospects of having to sing every song for the night while being as sick as I was; well let’s just say it wasn’t going to be pretty.

In the end, it was a challenging night.  I was coughing between every verse, I think we lost Kevin sooner than usual and Marty  didn’t quite know every thing we played.  My head was swimming in it’s own mucus.  Thank G-d I think Scott seemed to be on his game and leading us more so than usual.  It was a big help.

I was able to borrow an MP3 recorder to capture the night so I do have MP3s to listen to, so check them out if you must.  The recorder at least worked. By the way, the orange poster for the Nov 4, 1981 JGB Concert at the Albany Palace Theater was from my first show.  I was just searching the web for an image to place up for this weeks jam posting and stumbled upon this thing.  It popped out in my mind as hung in my freshman dorm-suite.  It’s a pretty cool memory.

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/09-14-11/

Jam – 2011-08-29 – Carroll’s

30 Aug 2011 Leave a comment

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , ,

Monday was the only night we could get together this week for a jam.  We collectively decided it was best the ruin the rest of the week in order to get the jam in on Monday.  From the perspective of a jam, I think it is helpful in that we are well rested from the weekend and ready to put forth a good effort.

We didn’t have a theme for this week but Kevin kept asking for songs that were indicative of a great Dead show that you would go to.  I started the evening’s song list as such with the Stranger opener and the night had a lot of promise.  The Stranger was hot and well done and set us in the right direction.  Speaking of which, the Love Each Other fell right in line thereafter.  I kept us moving going right into a Minglewood out of the Love Each Other.  Trying to keep us moving forward with momentum.

It took us a while to eventually veer from this concept but eventually we did with the closing of the first set with a Good Night Irene.  While Hurricane Irene from the weekend was a non-event for the most of us, I was still out of electricity as I came to the jam.  By about 8:30 I received word that I finally had power back after about a week ad a half, and it was Good Night Irene.

Rob and Miriam commented how that one started terribly, but by the end of the song they were amazed how much fun it was and how good it was.  Scott Bayer showed up later in the night so he and Rob and Miriam were our only guests.  Rob and Miriam seemed to really like the Loose Lucy we gave them.  Seem to hit a chord within them.

Second set was surprisingly strong for a second set.  We closed with a few Beatles songs prior to finishing the night with a Brokedown in the modern key.  It is a little more fun playing in G rather than F.  Just my two cents.

As I am in dog camp next week and will have a week off, I sure everyone will hold the reigns of the Ying-Yoink experience so I am expecting a full report.

Jam – 2011-08-24 – Carroll’s

27 Aug 2011 4 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , ,

This week we were jamming on Wednesday, August 24 and we were scheduled to have the whole band back together again. This was almost the case as Rich was late so we played a not-so-core-4 first set without him and without a recording.

During this first set I decided to try to try to sing some song I usually do not sing since Rich handles the vocals on them.  This was true for the Shakedown, Deal,Gomorrahand Tennessee Jed.  I liked the sound of the first set. Alacommented on how open it all seemed and we discussed how the room can be so much softer and cleaner when the Piano mic is not on.  It’s a different feel.

Rich arrived and we played solidly and recording for the rest of the night through the midnight deadline with a pretty strong While My Guitar Gently Weeps.  As I am writing this blog posting on Saturday afternoon; awaiting the arrival of Hurricane Irene, I don’t remember much and the MP3s haven’t been released yet. “Saturday night I got whammied…Goodnight Irene, Goodnight Irene, I’ll see you in my dreams…,”   I don’t recall any guests but the music was fun and good. We did the creative and well executed Estimated Eyes of the Maker, I thought that was pretty cool, and considering it was late in the night, we did the Eyes of the Maker as well as we do it.  Additionally, we all stayed vertical all night so that was a bonus.

As we are scheduled to play the night after Irene leaves, playing on Monday night will be a bonus that I will truly appreciate.  Be safe and can’t wait to see everyone on Monday.

  • Shakedown Street
  • Deal
  • Gomorrah
  • Tennessee Jed
  • Tangled Up in Blue
http://www.deadstein.com/audio/08-24-11/

Jam – 2011-08-18 – Carroll’s

21 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by deadstein in Jams Tags: , , , , , ,

This Thursday night was a tough Deadstein to get together, but we pulled it off.  With Scott no able to play and Alan on the mend, it was not easy to find people to play.  Fortunately, Rich was all over it and got Bill Sloan to play drums while Bayside Mitch filled in for Alan on rhythm guitar.  He was playing his nice, sweet Gibson Les Paul Studio.  Short of these two guests, we had no others on this night with the exception of Scott Bayer.  He brought a bag of popcorn for us to munch on and that was the beginning of the end  of Kevin.

Some stuff toward the middle of the night approached our best including the Althea, Jack Straw and Fire.  By the ed of the night the limitlessness of it all just about knocked the socks off of everyone, but it seemed to hit Kevin the hardest as we completed the last song and a half without him.  It was a fun night though that had a different feel than usual.

If you want to hear the song we played, go to the links below:

http://www.deadstein.com/audio/08-18-11/

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