Laurence Juber Plays The Americana In The Park Series In Santa Monica, 9-29-24

The first time I met Richard T Bear, he introduced me to Laurence Juber, and told me he’s the absolute best acoustic guitar player. That’s a mighty strong statement. That night Laurence was pretty damn impressive on electric guitar, which made me all the more eager to see him on the acoustic. Well, today he played the closing show of the Americana In The Park music series at Gandara Park in Santa Monica, the series’ fourth year, and the first set was a solo acoustic set, all instrumentals. And it turns out Richard was not exaggerating. (He was in the audience, by the way.) Laurence Juber can play the hell out of an acoustic guitar.

He started that first set at 4:10 p.m., opening it with a fantastic version of The Beatles’ “Day Tripper,” and following it with Del Shannon’s “Runaway.” He was all smiles up on the stage, and everyone else was all smiles down in the audience. Some seriously impressive playing, but almost nothing compared to his guitar work on his next number, “Cobalt Blue,” an original composition. Fantastic stuff! And it wasn’t until after that third song that he spoke to the audience. Before that, it was just phenomenal guitar playing. He said that hearing the list of the food trucks lined up in the park got his mouth watering, and then mentioned his album A Day In My Life, on which he covers Beatles songs. From that album, he played “Strawberry Fields Forever,” his rendition having a jazzy, yet somewhat introspective vibe. He also joked around a bit, saying that in the spirit of McCabe’s and the guitar lessons that happen there, he was going to mention his tuning, and said the next was in the ADD tuning which makes it “hard to concentrate.” He did a couple more originals, the pretty “Mosaic” and “Guitar Noir,” the latter having a very cool vibe, and then blew a whole lot of minds with his rendition of “Won’t Get Fooled Again.” In introducing that one he said, “The first time I ever played this in public, it was in front of Pete Townshend.” The entire set was great, but this was probably the highlight for a lot of folks. The crowd couldn’t hold back during certain sections, crying out for the sheer joy of witnessing his mastery of the instrument. He then changed gears, delivering a totally delicious rendition of the standard “All Of Me.” He also delivered a Jimi Hendrix tune and wrapped things up with another Beatles song, “A Day In The Life.” That first set ended at 4:58 p.m.

After only a ten-minute break, Laurence Juber was back on stage with his band Airfoil, a group that focuses on music by Wings. As you are likely already aware, Laurence Juber was the lead guitarist in Wings for several years. They opened the set with a fun one, “Jet,” from the great Band On The Run album. Bass player Bill Cinque was on lead vocals. Laurence then sang lead on “Getting Closer,” a song from the 1979 record Back To The Egg. The band rocked on this one, and Laurence reminded folks that he is not just a fantastic acoustic guitar player but can deliver some amazing work on electric guitar too. Keyboardist Jeff Alan Ross took lead vocal duties on a nice rendition of “Maybe I’m Amazed.” They followed that with an instrumental rendition of “My Love” and then a fun version of “Junior’s Farm,” which included a nice jam at the end. The line about the prices being higher at the grocery store stood out this time. Laurence Juber introduced “Spin It On” as a bit of an unusual song for Paul McCartney because it’s a sort of punk rockabilly number. This is another song from Back To The Egg. The band did quite a few songs from that album today, which makes sense, as it’s one of the albums that Laurence Juber played on. Anyway, it’s a pretty cool song. Also cool is that Laurence treated the audience to some anecdotes about his time playing with McCartney, including one about Paul playfully teasing him in concert about his original first name, saying “Take it, Ivor.”

“Baby’s Request” is a sweet song, and another to come from Back To The Egg, and the band followed that with “Arrow Through Me,” also from that album. Not every song in the band’s set was a Wings song, however. They turned to an earlier rock and roll number, Eddie Cochran’s “Twenty Flight Rock.” Though there is still a Paul McCartney connection, for this is the song that Paul sang for John Lennon back in 1957.  They delivered a great rendition. They also covered The Moody Blues’ “Go Now.” The McCartney connection there is that Denny Laine was an original member of The Moody Blues and sang that song. The more important connection is that song that ended up getting Laurence Juber the audition to join Wings, after Denny Laine was impressed with his playing of the guitar solo. And the band did a James Bond medley, beginning with that wonderful main theme, then going into an instrumental version of “Nobody Does It Better” before getting into “Live And Let Die,” which is still one of the best Bond theme songs. The other medley the band did today was “Goodnight Tonight” into “Coming Up,” both songs released as singles near the end of the Wings years. The set also included “Let Me Roll It” (with guitarist Rob Bonfiglio on lead vocals), a great version of “No Words,” and “Band On The Run.” They closed out the evening with an absolutely fantastic rendition of “Rockestra Theme,” with Richard T Bear joining them on keyboard for it. What a great way to wrap things up. The show ended at 6:44 p.m.

The Americana In The Park music series is held at Gandara Park in Santa Monica, California. See you there next year!

I See Hawks In L.A. Play House Concert In Sierra Madre, 9-28-24

I See Hawks In L.A. playing "Live And Never Learn"

I’ve decided to do my best to avoid giving even another dollar to the greedy music-devouring demon known as Ticketmaster/Live Nation. My focus will be on smaller venues, more intimate music experiences. And what stronger antidote to Live Nation is there than a house concert? And when the band is I See Hawks In L.A., well, things just couldn’t be much better all round. Last night the Hawks gathered in Sierra Madre to deliver two wonderful sets in a back yard that became one of the coolest venues I’ve been to recently. There was a great, inviting and relaxed vibe about the place, sort of how I always imagined my back yard would be if I could ever afford to own a home.

To start the evening, Victoria Jacobs did a short set of mostly new songs. Apparently, she’s not only been writing new material, but recording as well. So I am hopeful there will be a CD release in the near future. If the songs she played last night are an indication of her direction, then it is going to be a powerful and moving and personal album. “Trying to live my life without you/It’s not easy to do,” she sang in her first song of the set. Her set was approximately twenty minutes, ending at 7:20 p.m.

Ten minutes later, the whole band was on stage. There was a short delay as Paul Marshall rearranged a couple of things. While he was doing so, Rob Waller told the story of a show a long while back in Pasadena where the entire band nearly got electrocuted and their amps were fried. He then explained that just now Paul had gotten a little shock from his vocal microphone and so was creating a grounding system. It was the briefest of delays, and within a minute, perhaps two, they were ready to give it a go. Paul joked, “Tell me if my lips light up.” They began the show with “Hope Against Hope,” a perfect choice to open the set, to put things in motion. I was digging Paul’s bass line, and Dan Wistrom delivered a really nice lead on pedal steel. Dan then switched to electric guitar for “White Cross.” It’s interesting to me how sometimes different lines from a song will stand out to you, or hit you in some way. From songs you’ve heard many times, I mean. For example last night from “White Cross,” it was these: “Well, the good times didn’t suit me/I had to taste the pain.” And for a moment I thought of how certain people can’t seem to accept when things are good, when things are actually going their way.

The band then delivered an especially fun rendition of “Poour Me,” Paul Marshall counting the others in. “Coming in on the one,” he reminded them. Dan was back on pedal steel for that one. “Pour me more wine.” And indeed, Paul Marshall had a little more wine after that song. They followed that with “If I Move,” with Rob Waller first saying, “You know, if you live in Los Angeles, and you’ve lived here a while, you can’t really afford to move anymore.” At the end of that song, Dan Wistrom was adjusting his microphone stand, and Rob joked, “We gave Dan the ‘new guy’ stand.” There was then some joking about Paul Marshall’s secret family in Burbank, and the band went into “Highway Down.” Dan had switched to electric guitar for this song. This is still one of my personal favorites, and I saw I wasn’t the only one singing along. Then during “Live And Never Learn,” the song suddenly became funky in the middle there, thanks to Paul’s bass work. It was a delightful surprise. I know I’ve said before that one indication that a concert is something special is if there are several musicians in the audience, and such was the case last night. Rob even mentioned that half of Old Californio was there.

"Truth Is You Lied"

Paul sang lead on his “Truth Is You Lied,” a song that he included on his Weed And Water album, and one that was another highlight of the set. Victoria Jacobs then sang lead on “Kensington Market,” a totally enjoyable song. For some reason, the line about the mods hanging around delighted me. Again, different lines from the songs were striking me last night, and I just felt completely immersed in the music and mood of the evening. It was a beautiful spot, among good folks, and with one of the best bands playing. Dan switched to pedal steel for “Still Want You,” delivering a lead that received applause from the audience. I love hearing this song, in part because of its humor, in part because of its sweet vibe. “Please love me if you can.” The first set then concluded with the always-appreciated “Good And Foolish Times.” The set ended at 8:30 p.m.

Just after 9 p.m., they kicked off the second set with “Raised By Hippies,” with Dan on pedal steel. The lines that stood out to me last night were those about Reagan being president, and not knowing what to do. We are in some kind of twisted fantasy land these days with regards to the Republican Party, but one of the things that has alarmed me is that the few so-called “normal” Republicans look back to Reagan as being what their party should be striving toward again, forgetting just what a complete and total bastard that guy was, and all the harm he caused. So, yeah, I’m sure adults in the early 1980s looked around, and said, what they hell should we do? But all that played in my head for only a moment, as I was thoroughly enjoying the energy of the song. And they followed that with what was possibly the answer for many folks dealing with those Reagan years, “I Fell In Love With The Grateful Dead.” I myself fell in love with the Dead during the early 1980s. Paul Marshall dedicated the song to a guy named Art who was wearing a Grateful Dead shirt. This was Dan Wistrom’s first time playing the song, at least the first time in concert, and Rob joked about how this one has more chords than all their other songs put together. Well, it was wonderful hearing this song again, and Dan did a great job with it. “He did it!” Rob exclaimed at the end.

They followed that with “Carbon Dated Love” and “California Country.” Dan delivered some really nice work on guitar on “California Country.” And then we were treated to “Ohio,” which is always fun. Whenever I hear it, I think about where home is for me, whether it’s here now in Los Angeles or back in Massachusetts. But the music seems to tell me it doesn’t matter, that it’s all home. Still, that conversation continues for many of us, doesn’t it? Are we going to eventually go back to wherever it is we came from? The set then took a beautiful turn with “Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulet” and “Salvation,” the latter with Paul Marshall on lead vocals, and one I don’t think I’d seen these guys play since April. Glad to have back in the set list. It was then time for Victoria Jacobs to sing another one, and you could feel the excitement among the crowd, for almost everyone there knew which song was next, and folks were eager to hear it. It’s one of my girlfriend’s favorites too, and that is “My Parka Saved Me.” The band delivered an especially delightful rendition last night, with what seemed like an added backing vocal bit. There is so much about this song to love, and I hope all music fans get a chance to see the band perform this one at some point.

Rob mentioned seeing John Cougar Mellencamp, Bob Dylan and Willie Nelson at the Hollywood Bowl recently, and from the reactions of some people in the audience, I’m guessing a good portion of last night’s crowd was at that show too. The band then played Willie Nelson’s “Me And Paul,” a song that has been a part of the Hawks shows lately, done in tribute to Paul Lacques. Last night’s rendition featured lots of great pedal steel work. Rob then told the crowd the band had “one more song for you, then we’ll send you off into the Sierra Madre night.” That song was the high-energy number “Humboldt,” which rocked in all the right ways. But it was not the last song of the show. They ended it at 9:59 p.m., thinking that 10 p.m. was a strict cut-off time. But everyone was having too much fun to adhere to that, and so the band did one more, “Hippie On The Road,” fitting as the band will be hitting the road this week. The show ended at 10:04 p.m.

Set List

Set I

1. Hope Against Hope
2. White Cross
3. Poour Me
4. If I Move
5. Highway Down
6. Live And Never Learn
7. Truth Is You Lied
8. Kensington Market
9. Still Want You
10. Good And Foolish Times

Set II

1. Raised By Hippies
2. I Fell In Love With The Grateful Dead
3. Carbon Dated Love
4. California Country
5. Ohio
6. Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulet
7. Salvation
8. My Parka Saved Me
9. Me And Paul
10. Humboldt

Encore

1. Hippie On The Road

Tickets were $20 (or, rather, that was the encouraged donation amount).

White Noise & Lightning: The Continental Drifters Story (2024) Book Review

If you know the Continental Drifters, then you are almost certainly planning on buying a copy of White Noise & Lightning: The Continental Drifters Story. If you are unfamiliar with the Continental Drifters, then you should definitely pick up a copy of the book. This is a band that more folks should know about, and that, in fact, has been a big part of their story all along. Throughout the book, different people express variations of the idea that the best bands do not always make it to the level of popularity that they deserve, something my friends and I have been fuming about for decades. And if you’re the kind of person who reads this music blog, I bet you can name ten or twenty bands that deserve more recognition than they’ve received. What’s interesting about the Continental Drifters is that you are probably more familiar with the band than you think, at least as far as you know many of the band’s members through their other work. For among the band’s ten members are Mark Walton (of The Dream Syndicate), Peter Holsapple (of The dB’s), Susan Cowsill (of The Cowsills), Vicki Peterson (of The Bangles), Danny McGough (of Shivaree), and Robert Mache (who played with Steve Wynn). You’d think a band like that might start at the top, or quite near it. But no, this book tells the story of a band’s struggles, with everything you might expect of an unknown band, such as vans breaking down and troubles securing the interest of a record label. And while the book details that stuff, it’s not really the focus. The focus is the joy and sense of family that the band had from the beginning, and that is why reading it is such an enjoyable experience. Plus, it is written with a clear love for the band.

The book largely tells the band’s story in chronological order, and gets into the important part Raji’s played in the band’s development and history. I wish I had been in Los Angeles to experience those shows, but author Sean Kelly does a great job of getting across the feel of those special nights. Kelly writes, about Raji’s, “It was a welcoming environment; one where nobody was too precious about anything” (p. 11). There were plenty of guest musicians from the beginning, including Rosie Flores and Jackson Browne, and that’s in fact how some of the members, including Peter Holsapple, ended up joining. The story of The Continental Drifters is also, in part, the stories of several other bands, essential to understanding this group, and Sean Kelly does an admirable job of keeping all these connecting threads clear. And it started with The Subdudes, the band’s original name being the Continental Drifters, something I had no idea about.

There is some fascinating detail about the recording of Vermilion, and about the eventual signing to Razor & Tie. We also get details on how certain beloved songs came about, such as “The Rain Song” (that stuff about Dwight Twilley is crazy), “Who We Are, Where We Live” and “Na Na.” And we learn the various relationships of people within the band (marriages and divorces and children and so on). There were ten members over the course of the band’s history, and this book does a great job of detailing the musical history of the various members, including some information on Rittenhouse Square, the band Peter Holsapple had with Mitch Easter and Chris Stamey in the years before The dB’s. And even when a member has left the Continental Drifters, that does not mean he is out of the story. After all, this band is like a family, as all the members attest to. And while the members of this band were mostly already known for their other projects, as Sean Kelly writes, “Because of how they were marketed and the, at times, sparse touring schedule, the assumption was often that they were a side project; a ‘supergroup,’ if you will, whose members had other things going on and made the occasional record together when time permitted” (p. 150). That was a description and notion the band members did their best to dispel. And the book succeeds in doing so.

Reading this book is such an enjoyable experience, though that doesn’t mean there aren’t sections toward the end that will have you in tears. The material on Carlo Nuccio’s declining health and the stuff about Hurricane Katrina (band members lost so much) are particularly compelling. The book also includes several photos, including a group of photos documenting the band’s 2015 reunion, in which all ten members were on stage together. I do feel a need to mention the author’s incorrect use of the word “unique.” At various points, Kelly writes “extremely unique” (p. 22), “most unique voices” (p. 72), and “one of the more unique obstacles” (p. 144). But something is either unique or it isn’t. There are no degrees of uniqueness. But that of course did not detract from the book’s impact. Read the book, then go pick up whatever music you can by the Continental Drifters. You will not be disappointed.

White Noise & Lightning: The Continental Drifters Story was published in September 27, 2024 through Cool Dog Sound.

Dogs Run Free Episode 7: Arielle Silver Interview

In this episode, singer/songwriter Arielle Silver talks about her latest release, Watershed, as well as about her “Tomes And Tunes” series which she conducted remotely during the pandemic. She also talks a bit about her earlier releases, and her move from Boston to Los Angeles. At the end, she treats us to a gorgeous rendition of “Ghost Ships,” my personal favorite song from Watershed.