The CAMI Tour is rolling along like a freight train. The band is picking up speed with every new performance, and with GE as the Fireman stoking the flames, you can bet every show will get hotter. Be sure to check out this tour, it’s smokin!
You can get regular updates from the road along with set lists over at Jorma’s blog, Cracks in the Finish
Jorma and Jack sat down with Brian Robbins at Jam Bands to talk about the new record. Here is some of what the had to say:
“The long-limbed, wild-haired, gold-toothed, furry freak of yesteryear is now a slicked-back big ol’ bear of a man – but Jorma Kaukonen’s passion for life has only intensified with time … and there’s still plenty of freak left when he goes deep into a jam. When not at home with his family on his Fur Peace Ranch (a music mecca in its own right), Kaukonen continues to tour the world with guitar in hand and a smile on his face.”
This statement sums up everyones excitement about the new record:
“You mentioned the freshness you heard; you know what it was like? In a way, it was like doing a Jefferson Airplane session where one of the other guys wrote the chart and I was really free for the lead stuff. I didn’t know where I was going with all the changes, you know what I mean? For me, it was really exciting in a way that, in some respects, I haven’t had for a great many years.”
Jack gives a nice shout out to his partner on the bottom end, Skoota Warner.
JC: I give a lot of credit for that freshness to Skoota Warner. He’s a unique drummer: he’s energetic, but he never overplays. Skoota picks his spots to do things that are unbelievable, but not at the expense of the meter or the groove or anything like that.
For me, it’s one of the best working relationships I’ve ever had with a drummer. We’ll work out good groove parts for the song, but at the same time, when I want to be “Jack” and put in a melody or a long-running line or something, the bottom never falls out. Skoota’s foot is as strong as any other drum he has; the foot doesn’t hole up while he’s doing a long drum roll or something – it’s part of the way he plays. And that frees everybody up to communicate.
I enjoyed reading those interviews…well done.
Anybody know the status on the release of the December Beacon shows? Jorma said on his blog that they would be released. I’m assuming they’ll be on iTunes?
Enter your comments here…It’ll be a real pleasure to hear the birthday shows. I caught the Friday gig. Simply amazing. Best show I’ve seen in along time if not ever.
Hey Todd,
Thanks for the note. There is no clear date set. The band is ripping through the CAMI tour and is focused on that. We’ve got lots of people working hard on the “Steady As She Goes” upcoming release. I think you can expect to see a DVD of selected songs from the Beacon Shows to be released around the same time as the official CD release of “Steady As She Goes” (4/28-5/01/11) see the tour page for those dates. The live recording of the shows could be sooner, on iTumes of course, maybe end of March or beginning of April, dunno really. Lots of things happening if you know what I mean. Heck, the 2011 workshops at the Ranch start in less than 30 days! ALL GOOD. Keep Tuning in. We will post regular updates as soon as we find out more. Until then, keep rockin on!
Awesome interview! Really looking forward to the new cd and DVD of the beacon shows. I feel very lucky that I was able to attend the birthday shows. See you in Santa Barbara and San Rafael. Oh and I Noticed that Jorma is playing Kate Wolf in June… Sweet!!!!
Enter your comments here…new album is great can’t wait for beacon show in december got my tix keep rockin boys
Hey Jack and Jorma, I love the new album, You Guys sound better than ever. Any chance you’ll be playing around Los Angeles soon? My Daughter and I would love to see you. The Hollywood Palladium is very active these days, I saw you play there a couple times in the 70’s, it would great to see you in that building again!