LB JAM 2006

PHOTO GALLERY #1

I'll make some notes at the bottom of each photo. This was one of the best jams ever and we sure missed many folks that were not able to make it. Everyone is already looking forward to next year.

The garage cleaner than it's ever been. Preparing another jam area. I also put carpet on the work bench so setup work could be performed on guitars at the jam. The yellow chair will suck you in if you're not careful.

Setup some benches on the side yard for another cosey little jam and learning spot.

Finally got the backyard treated, cleaned and ready for the carnival to come to town. Now we just need to get some firewood.

The fire pit is a little grown over with weeds and piles of kindling. Little did we know Carle would make a nuclear bomb out of this before the jam begins with a gallon of diesel fuel ;)

Here's Carle in my office checking his emails and the forum after we ran errands all day for Kay. Carle is both helpful and extremely enthusiastic about the jam and here days in advance. He's a good friend and cracks me up sometimes.

Above is John Burdon (unk) and Carl Darnell (Carle) picking as jammers begin to arrive on Wed. Alan Porton (Surreal McCoy) is around the room somewhere and the excitement is building. Plus you can tell Carle is thinking so hard he's going to burn a hole in the floor. Unk is playing the little Stella replica made by luthier John How. Unk is a sandbagger. Don't let him tell you he can't play. He's got some chops! Carle has been coming out of his playing shell for a few years and has a rock solid thumb and tons of potential.

Fast forward to Thursday when even more jammers arrive and start picking in the dining room. They've all checked into the hotel and coming over to say hello. Left to right is Harmon on his Goodall, John (TCrust) Cooley on his Paragon 13 fret dread and Steve (SteveO) Orr on his Tacoma jumbo. I swear I didn't even recognize SteveO for about a minute when he arrived. He's looking and feeling so good. It was a joyful reunion. John Cooley was instantly like someone we'd all known our whole life and Harmon, well, he's just my good buddy from the local area and a great guy, singer, player and musician. He always adds something positive.

As Joe Carpenter, a super picker from Nashville warms up we slipped the flying pig out on the stage area and flew it. Due to the title of his CD and past jokes on the forum SteveO found this pig somewhere and brought it. What a huge laugh we got. Who said pigs can't fly? Joe goes by TennToad on the forum and is the sweetest guy on earth with hands that need to be insured. He can play!!!

 

Here's Myles after the first night of jamming. He's got the sound and stage shutdown and cutting loose for a little while. He can play sing and do anything. You just can't imagine the jam that exploded when our local friend and picker Gene Hilbert on the left showed up after midnight and grabbed Joe Carpenters Taylor jumbo. Ask Carle about it. These guys smoked the fretboards until 2:30am when I had to run them home. It was utterly amazing. Next year Myles is going to have to perform on stage. He's too good to sit behind the sound mixer all night. That smile on Myles is all you ever see. Oh yeah and Gene said that's the best guitar he's ever played. Thanks Joe!

 

Recovering early Sat morning and checking to make sure none of the PA and lights got wet overnight. The ground froze a little but the weather is expected to reach 70 degrees today.

 

I like to walk around in the morning checking out the scene from the night before and remembering each act and performance. What fun we had last night and another day is ahead!!

You can see the overall picture from here. The yard slopes up and in combination with the tent creates a natural theatre and carries the sound perfectly up through the yard. The wierd part is that you can barely hear anything from the front yard and the neighbors never complain.

Kay's in her pajamas at 7:00am already working on 10 boston butts being smoked for the BBQ today. The food tent is sitting with jaws opened wide waiting on the good food to come along. This place will be a madhouse in a little while. She would kill me for posting this photo... shhhh........! I think she's cute working away like a little bee.

I'm just remembering all the good music around the campfire too. We really went through the firewood so we'll have to be careful tonight and use it sparingly. I still can't believe how much heat it put out. We also had a bunch of learning classes over under Carle's little blue tent.

This is only a fraction of the cool guitars sitting all over the house and more are coming today. More cool guitars than any music store I've ever been in.

I caught Carle hiding in the dining room testing his Corrinna with the How Parlor. I think he completely fell in love with it on that morning. I think this one is going on a road trip to several players and then probably to Kentucky for a permanent home on Carle's stand. That was one fine little guitar.

Cams Campbell teaching a Celtic guitar class Saturday. The weather was incredible at this point in the day.

One of my best buddies Mike (DrMike) Gillum picking and interacting with our newest friend from Nashville and super picker Joe Lipman. They are the nicest people you'll ever meet and great players. I couldn't believe some of the licks I heard. Oh and these are two Greven guitars. Left is my Prairie State jumbo and right is #3 prototype of the L-00v with some fresh strings on it.

Left is Glen (UGB) Giles picking a few tunes and Bob Mahfood checking out the various guitars while most of the crowd is outdoors and this rare quiet moment came along. Looks like Tim McKnight is looking for his guitars which seem to vanish and reappear all day as jammers test and use them in various jams. Tim is also about to get his setup class going.

Who could NOT love this face? Not only does Joe Jordon leave a strong impression where ever he goes but there is no doubt why these two wonderful people are a couple. His lovely wife Marilyn is our chief heckler in the audience too. She added real life to the whole party. She was so much help to Kay preparing the fantastic food. This photo captures Marilyn better than any other one I've seen.

 

Some of the best people you'll ever meet here. Fred Pitman my old pal and luthier Paul Woolson enjoying tunes played by Kelvyn Evans and John Cooley. These little jams pop up everywhere all day long.

Joe Jordan testing out one of the new Tim McNight guitars in the garage which has excellent acoustic sound. James Burkett about to say something to Joe as he listens in. James is one of the best Gibson style luthiers I've ever met. His work is getting to the point of amazing. He had a couple of guitars here also. Joe Jordan is probably one of the most talented songsters I've ever met. He reels me in like a tractor beam when he plays and he's far too humble about it. If you ever get the chance to see Joe perform please break your neck getting there.

I could not figure out what to get Kay for her birthday on Friday and my friends at the jam thought of this idea and it blew her away. I bought one of them and the guys chipped in on the other. She really flipped out over these. Thanks guys for saving me on this one!!

Here's a custom hand made mug made by Bernie Nabozny (Naboz) on the APM forum. A talented artists and more importantly a fantastic guy. I still have one or two of these and Bernie will also take orders for them and I have the order forms if you missed out on them. They will last a lifetime and bring back the memories. Contact me for details.

Bill Strickland (Strick), Joe Lipman and James Burkett watch on as Joe Carpenter shows me what my Donmo resonator is suppose to sound like. You can see Mike Gillum's Paragon dread hanging there too.

Gail (Joe Lipman's Wife), Marilyn (Joe Jordan's wife) and Joyce Rigby visiting and relaxing.

Luthier Paul Woolson moving slower than the rest of the table after some good food. The weather was so nice you just wanted to lay back and relax. Everyone was in a fantastic mood and the music excitement was building. Now time for some jams in the house and yard all day before the stage begins in the afternoon. Paul brought an incredible all sapele small body that was a work of art and sounded fantastic.

The jam would simply not be the same without the face of our good friend John (Unk) Burdon who has a heart of gold and razor sharp wit and a great sense of humor. He's one hell of a player too if you can get him to admit it. Don't get him started telling jokes or you'll be in stitches.

Another super picker Pete Readey from Nashville and originally from Great Britian. He was an amazing player with a sharp wit and a really nice guy. Pete we'll have that Helo-Pad ready next year (laugh). Bing Hunt from Marrietta is another good friend and picker that comes to every jam with a huge smile and great vibes. He's also wanting to become a luthier from what I hear.

 

My good friends and fellow playing partners from here in town left to right is blues singer Tony Bryant, guitarist Adrian O. and John Paskoff. They all had great performances and a great time over the weekend.

 

Tim McKnight teaching a guitar care and setup class. This class went over with huge success. Tim was also giving out free setups and work all weekend. What a trooper! You can see many of the faces we love.

John (T Crust Diddy) performing his title tune "Thin Crust Pizza" that had me in stitches. He's a great guy and even on his first year blended right in like he'd been here for years.

Most of the crowd hanging back by the fire heaters and the brave ones moving forward once they found out the tent was heated too. The weather got a little chilly in the evenings but we made it work. The music was sounding fantastic.

Joe Jordan sits in with Harmon Koeltz and Dennis Keefe on one of the most impressive sets of music I've heard in a long time. The tune "Kennesaw Line" about the civil war and another about Montana smoke jumpers was deeply moving. You can't imagine how good these acoustic guitars sounded through these mics and speakers into the whole yard. You can see the giant propane heater and the portable electrics we used to keep the pickers warm this year. This worked out really well.

My good friends and musicians from the local area left to right Marta, Ross Pead and Marta's husband Paul on guitar. They were sounding amazing and began drawing a big crowd into the garage from what I heard. Their performance on stage later was awesome.

Frank Eastes of FineCases.com has to be the most tasteful and skilled banjo player I've ever known. He adds so much to any jam. In this case he was blending right in as Ross's wife Virginia listens in total utter bliss!

Pete Readey and John Cooley watch as Bill Sheffield gets cranked up on my 1930s Kalamazoo. Bill Strickland is picking some licks on a Luttrell resonator. Bill tunes down a step then capos on fret one which sometimes throws other players off at first. Not to mention he plays like a run away freight train that's on fire. Then his vocals begin which almost shake the pictures off the walls. God I love it.

Kelvyn Evans plays a wonderful set of open tuning original songs on the Paul Woolson 00 guitar. It sounded fantastic. Kelvyn creates heart felt mellow songs that remind you of a mellow Pink Floyd style blended with a slack key style. If I lived in Hawaii I think I'd be writing the same music. He's one of the best friends we have and one hell of a guy. Play on Kelv.

 

Kelvyn on his Brook Bovey

My favorite Scotsman on earth Cams Campbell who never misses the jam and always blows my mind with his vast musical talent and even more huge heart of gold. He does a version of Hurt by Nine Inch Nails that just kills me. What an amazing musician, father and friend. He's playing his new SCGC Vintage Artist with the latest Rick Turner pickup system which was very impressive sounding.

Joe Carpenter another super picker and super guy that comes from the Nashville area and dazzles us everytime. What a cool guy with amazing talents. This Taylor 12 string and slide makes a wall of sound that's like a huge wave. Inspiring stuff to say the least.

Our dearest friend and fellow picker Tom (Orsino) Young playing onstage. His original compositions are so impressive I can't believe the progress he makes every year. I mean DAMN he is getting good! Tom's recent leap to playing live in local venues has transformed him into a real player in my opinion. I was utterly blown away. The Lowden sounded awesome too but it was all Tom in my book. Tom kicks ass.

Myles Loud our on duty sound and light man with Glen (UGB) Giles on a break during the show. They absolutely did a fantastic job and are some of the most talented folks I've ever met.

Okay I think we have from left to right Marta, Chili Bill, Joyce Rigby, Lori, Cams, Joe Carpenter, Jersey Julie. They blew us away and to my great surprise Lori who is leading the band on guitar has only been playing a year or two. Proving some people are just born musicians. Julies sax solos floored the audience. They did some Stones songs too that were awesome. I was really blown away.

Julie blowing the hell out of the saxophone. Man she was on fire tonight. I guess we can count on her being here again for future jams. I think she had a great time. She is another musician from the local area and tours Europe quite a bit. She used to play with Mudcat for a year or two also. That's where we first met. She's always been great but I think she showed us all another whole level on that night.

John Paskoff playing John How's parlor on stage and spanking the crap out of it. George Mitchell on about a 100 year old oil can bass and Julie ripping the sax a new one. They were on fire. I know them from the local music scene and I can tell you they were on fire like I've never seen before. The audience ate it up too. I was really amazed how much people opened up and let it all hang out.

John putting his song out on the line!

Another good friend and local musician Eddie Hinton who really put on some real deal blues for us. The best performance I've ever seen from him. He has a gentle but deep grooving style like a mix between John Hurt and John Lee Hooker. Old school all the way. We became instant friends the first time we met and have ultimate respect for each other. He lives out by Cora Mae in Oxford-Covington Ga. He works on a road crew in the daytime and plays blues at night. Sweetest heart you will ever meet too.

Joe Bruno and his first LB Jam having the time of a lifetime. He's also touring other acoustic concerts and events this week around the south and says it's been a trip of a lifetime. I think the look on his face says 1000 words. What a great guy and yet another great new friend.

Mike Gillum on his Luttrell Reso and Frank Eastes cranking out some very cool ragtime. I loved it.

Luthier John How playing Joe's mandolin and just soaking up the good vibes floating around the jam. The stage going out on the patio. It's fun to see the looks on the luthiers faces when people are playing and enjoying their guitars. It must be a very rewarding feeling. The sense of love and respect going around at this jam was amazing and it was especially fun to see how the luthiers got along like old friends do. I first met John at the Healdsburg guitar show and he's a gem of a guy and hell of a builder.

Frank Eastes and Joe Carpenter starting to show some fireworks as everyone looks on.

My son Joshua home from College for a visit and loving every minute of the jam and hogging up my Greven Prairie State.

Our buddy Steve (SteveO) Orr and again I mention his health and spirit are 100% now and I didn't even recognize him. This has to be my favorite photo. We love you man and so proud of your recovery and progress. If you ever read this I want to thank you for taking that young player under your wing at the jam. You are truly a golden heart.

Harmon and Dennis picking a few in the parlor. I'm so sorry I did not take more photos but I was having TOO MUCH FUN.....

 

ONWARD TO NEXT YEAR !!