“Dear Prudence…” With winter fast approaching and December now in its 1^st day as I type these words, here’s my latest offering regarding my musical comings & goings….  As always this endeavour requires locating my thinking/writing cap, while some inspirational music plays on in the background. For this installment, I’m listening to The Beatles…the 2009 remasters of the original mono mixes…the ‘White Album’ in particular.  These remasters sound resplendently good!  (I only wish that the ‘mono box’ was released on 180-gram vinyl LPs as well…but I’ll take the CDs!)

I had bags of fun at Zippah recording studio in Boston last month, playing drums for singer-songwriter Jody Blackwell’s forthcoming album.  I’d met Jody about three years ago – at her wedding!  Jody had been taking some guitar lessons from Mike Mele, and naturally had heard Mike play with the Ken Clark Organ Trio.  When it came time for wedding plans, KCOT got the call to perform the reception.  So apparently that’s where the seeds were sown for my involvement on her latest project.  Joining me in the rhythm section for these sessions was Joe McMahon on electric bass. I’d played with Joe a few times over the last decade, but mostly in jazz situations [with Joe playing brilliantly on acoustic bass].  But earlier this year I got to hear Joe’s rock playing with Will Dailey at the Cutler theatre – on the opening slot for Pete Yorn – and not surprisingly – he blew my mind.  He was thoroughly tasteful and entirely grooving on the whole gig.  Needless to say, it was an honour to work with Joe in the studio, helping to lay down the foundations for Jody’s songs.  I can’t wait to hear the finished project!  Zippah proprietor Brian Charles was engineering the sessions, and I’d be remiss if I failed to mention that he did a fantastic job with the drum sounds.  I wound up using three different Eames drum sets on this album, though for most of the tracks I used my orange Eames kit.  My raspberry vistalite snare drum was used for all but 1 tune.  I typically use a number of different snare drums in the studio, depending on the songs, production, etc., but this drum seemed to work best at Zippah for almost every tune of Jody’s album.  Brian achieved an incredible bass drum sound with his double-mic’-ing technique.

A couple of months back I was fortunate to get a call from veteran guitar virtuoso Bobby Keyes for a gig with his trio up at the Ellacoya Barn & Grille on Lake Winnipesauke.  Bobby has worked with Ken Clark over the years and likely heard of me through Ken. Marty Ballou often plays electric bass with Bobby, and I was psyched that he was on this gig as well!  Marty & I had played together a bunch in the early years of The Soul Band, when Marty was the 1^st call bass sub.  Marty is the kind of musician I’ve been striving to be for years.  He’s a masterful chameleon; a bassist who plays a bunch of different styles and plays them all amazingly well.  Marty gets deep into the nuances of what makes a genre work, and knows just as much about what not to do as about what to do.  He prepares fastidiously, and always shows up to the gig ready to play.  He is also one of the nicest guys I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing…I simply cannot say enough good things about this man.  Bobby Keyes is an absolutely amazing musician.  A totally original artist; Bobby sounds like no other guitarist I’ve heard or worked with.  He writes magnificently original instrumental music, and his crossbred style and commanding use of dynamics makes for a truly special & enjoyable live show. This gig keeps me on my toes!  His CD ‘Lady Luck’ is brilliant; definitely check it out.  Just around the corner, on 12/19, I’ll be performing with the Bobby Keyes Trio again, this time in Portsmouth NH at the Dolphin Striker.  {Ed. note: Steve is back @ the Dolphin Striker w/B0bby & Marty on Fri. 15-Jan-2010!}

The Tough Love Trio had another gratifying show at the Acton Jazz Café on 11/28.  Greg Loughman was in on bass, subbing for our beloved Blake Newman (who was in New York performing for the show Orpheus X), and as usual Greg did a tremendous job.  [As mentioned in my last missive, Greg & I had a blast playing together over the summer in Kendall Square for vocalist Celia Slattery].  Once more the house in Acton was full, and we are enormously thankful for that. AJC proprietor/host Gwenn Vivian is an extraordinary human being and does a fabulous job running that venue, and as I told the audience that night, we don’t take her efforts for granted…we try to do our part as well.  We had such a nice mix of folks in attendance, and it’s always enjoyable for us to see so many friends from far & wide.  We’ll be back (Blake too!) at the AJC on the 3/13, playing the early show again – 7pm.

For those on the South Shore/Cape Cod, there are a pair of gigs at the venerable Harry’s Blues Bar in Hyannis with legendary blues singer & diva Michelle ‘Evil Gal’ Willson, on 1/16 & 3/20.  I’ve had the pleasure of performing with Michelle on several gigs this year, including the 2009 Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Festival in Pennsylvania.  It rained like mad all day, but that didn’t keep the blues loving folks away.  [I put up a few pics from that festival here.]

I try my best to keep the gigs page updated on a [somewhat] regular basis, so check there for more area performances.

For any interested drummers, check out the bottom of the gear page for a piece from me about Eames Drums.

Happy Holly Daze!

Michelle 'Evil Gal' Willson @ the '09 Honesdale Roots & Rhythm Festival

Recording @ Zippah for Jody Blackwell, with Joe McMahon on his '73 Gibson bass

Firehouse Theatre, Newburyport MA, 11/09