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Shenandoah Bootleg Collector's Limited Edition CD |
First, a little history. Dan and I met when he bought a house, with my wife Debi as his Realtor. Debi and I are both Realtors in “real life.” During the course of the transaction, Dan mentioned that he played the blues harp, and Debi mentioned that I played guitar. Dan and I checked each others’ playing out, and we both liked what we heard. After enjoying jamming together at a few open mics, we got a little more serious by rehearsing a few tunes and started considering playing some gigs together. About that time, Pops Walker contacted me to consider booking him to perform at the house concert series Debi and I host in our home the Church House. After listening to Pops’ CD, I realized that the music Dan and I were playing together would be a good match for Pops’ music. We arranged to have Pops at our series on November 13, 2004. As we promoted that show, I told our audience that we would have a couple of local performers opening the show. After making the typical opening remarks, I introduced “Mr. Dan Gage…” (It’s also worth noting that we had already arranged to record Pops’ performance for his CD “Live ‘n’ Drivin’ On”, so the quality of the recording that night was very high.) Track 1: “Gypsy Woman,” by Muddy Waters. Solo performance by Dan Gage at the Church House, 11/13/2004. Dan began playing as he entered the room, eventually climbing onto the stage to complete the song. Track 2: “Sundown Blues,” by Dan Gage. John and Dan performing at the Church House the same night. Track 3: “Stewmeat Blues,” by John Friedlander. JD Bone performing at Javapalooza, a coffeehouse in Middletown, CT on Thursday, 4/20/2006. This was our second “actual” gig somewhere other than our home territory, the Church House. Recorded on Dan’s mini-disc recorder in a room with a somewhat talkative crowd makes the quality a bit lower than the previous two tracks, but the energy starts to come through. Track 4: “Growin’ Old With You,” by John and Debi Friedlander. Performed by JD Bone 5/7/2005 during an unexpected opening set at the Church House, originally planned as a co-bill with master songwriters and Alabamans Pierce Pettis and Tom Kimmel. But when Pierce couldn’t get off Nantucket island due to bad weather, JD Bone jumped into the breach with only a couple of hours’ notice. The recording quality is high, but the lack of preparation is a bit more noticeable than we would have liked. Track 5: “On My Mind,” by Ryan Hartt. Another selection from the 5/7/2005 opening set. Track 6: “Walmart Princess,” by John and Debi Friedlander. John and Dan premiering this tune during the opening set for Pops Walker 11/13/2004. (Why is there a “1” in the title on the CD liner? It’s a remnant of a computer audio file editing process that I couldn’t resolve at deadline, it has nothing to do with the song.) Track 7: “Allatime Woman,” by John Friedlander. JD Bone performing at Javapalooza on 3/30/2006. Our first “actual” gig recorded on Dan’s mini-disc recorder featured a quieter, more attentive audience. This was one of our first tunes of the set, and you’ll note the intimate setting and our helpful audience. Track 8: “No Mojo Blues,” by John Friedlander. JD Bone at Javapalooza 3/30/2006. After we finish explaining the inspiration behind “Allatime Woman,” we explore the ironies of white folks singing the blues. Perhaps we’re blue about the espresso machine frothing forth during Dan’s solo… Track 9: “Commitment Blues,” by John Friedlander. JD Bone at Javapalooza 3/30/2006. A very new song at the time, clams and all. (Why does the CD liner say “w/ Talk”? Again, it’s a remnant of the audio editing process. Please ignore…) Track 10: “Mean Little Mama,” by Billy Branch. JD Bone at Church House studios 12/4/2004. One of the first tunes we put together for performance. There’s a video clip of a different performance of this song here. Track 11: “Good Time Charley’s Got the Blues,” by Danny O’Keefe. JD Bone accompanying Pops Walker in concert at the Church House 11/13/2004. Pops had showed us the song earlier in the afternoon, and we’d played it a couple of times. Needless to say, we were definitely playing it by ear. We were honored that Pops decided to include it on the CD recorded that night (“Live ‘n’ Drivin’ On”), and grateful that he allowed us to add it to this compilation. We left in Pops’ comments at the end, where he dubs us “JD Bone.” |