Tag Archives: Aptos St. BBQ

December 19, 2015

Cornbread: Guerrilla-Raw & Gittin’ It [LiveVideo]

By pbistyping
photo by Jake J Thomas

photo by Jake J Thomas

 

Cornbread

(scroll to the bottom of the post to see guerrilla-raw live video performance!)

Peggy sat cross-legged in her tri-cornered hat
with a Barbie and a GI Joe, playin’ ball and jacks
and the sun went from touchin’ ground, to straddlin’ north and south
to settlin’ on the roof of Mr. Beckman’s house

and when the sun came down, Peggy’s mother put her hands
in the shape of a megaphone, and she yelled hard as she can, she said:

“c’mon honey, c’mon now, I gots a big surprise
there’s fresh butter from the dairy, and the cornbread’s on the rise”

Maxwell ran lap after lap, around the ol’ backstop
with a baseball glove in one hand, in the other soda pop
and Autumn sunshine and moonlight shared a dusky place
and there were shadows and a tan competin’ over Maxwell’s face

and when the clock hit 7 Maxwell’s papa pulled his pipe
from between his yello teeth so’s he could holler into the night, and he said:

“c’mon sonny, c’mon now, I gots a big surprise
there’s fresh butter from the dairy, and the cornbread’s on the rise”

I like a little bit o’ butter, on my cornbread

Jake drew Orphan Jennie motorcycle pictures every day
and he passed him to her during class, when the teacher turned away
at recess and after school and all the weekend long
they’d sit up together on the Beckman’s fence and pretend they was ridin’ on

and Jake’s ma would come around to fetch her son for supper
and she’d tell that Orphan Jenny she was welcome to come over, she’d say:

“c’mon honey, c’mon now, I gots a big surprise
there’s fresh butter from the dairy, and the cornbread’s on the rise”

i like a little butter, on my cornbread

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September 25, 2015

Live Recording! Country Blues w/ Virgil Thrasher

By pbistyping

PreacherBoy_VirgilThrasher

I had the great pleasure of bein’ joined on stage last night at Aptos St. BBQ w/ blues harmonica legend Virgil Thrasher (you may recall him from decades of mojo-laden music w/ country blues icon Robert Lowery). We did about 2 hours straight, and amongst other things, hit on some lovely ol’ country blues songs that have been real close to my heart for a real long time … Here’s some raw, guerrilla audio of two of those tracks (recorded last night); hope you dig:

Maggie Campbell

Motherless Children

The first is a tune by Delta man Tommy Johnson, and it’s worth noting that it opens with what I think is one of the great haiku-spirit blues couplets of all time:

Who’s that yonder, comin’ down the road?
Lord, it look like Maggie, but she walkin’ slow

That’s a whole lot of pathos right there … so simple, but I get chills even typin’ it out … so much meaning writ into those few words …

The next song is a staple of a kind, and this arrangement is a bit of a modge podge worth of versions, drawin’ mainly on a cocktail of Blind Willie Johnson, Mance Lipscomb, and Dave Van Ronk …

Anyhow, hope you dig, and thanks as always fer listenin’…

~Preach

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September 17, 2015

#ZenBlues

By pbistyping

One year ago, I debuted at Aptos St. BBQ. I had no idea then that I’d still be there tonight. But I was there tonight.

That night one year ago, I debuted a song I’d never ever ever ever played live before. It was newly written, and I called it “Blister And A Bottlecap.” You can see a video of that performance at the end of this post. It’s me, and the very great Virgil Thrasher, doin’ it.

So tonight, it was my one-year birthday at the ‘Q. To celebrate, I debuted a new song. One that I’d never ever ever ever played live before. One that was newly written. I figure if I do this every year, then a decade from now, I can release an album entirely comprised of songs debuted at Aptos St. BBQ.

One must have goals.

So the song tonight? “Now Is The Only Moment That There Is (Zen Blues)”

If you wish, you can listen to tonight’s performance of the song by clicking below:

“Now Is The Only Moment That There Is (Zen Blues)” live at Aptos St. BBQ, 9.17.2015

And if you wish to follow the lyrics along, here they is:

The more you want, the more it hurts
and it only gets worse
Still, everybody want to go to heaven

Just ask St. Christopher
he know for sure
how it feel to fall from saint to legend

CHO:
Oh, people be so unkind
but honey, it’s ain’t none o mine
she gon’ get hers just like he gon’ be gettin’ his
And the past gon’ have to ‘low
that we makin’ the future now
because now is the only moment that there is

When the war took that one more step
and bled upon her doorstep
she broke the arrow into point and feather

And when the river was agitated
she just sat on the bank and waited
for the wind to put the moon back together

CHO

Mona Lisa
Mother Theresa
Billie Holiday singin’ “Stormy Weather”

King Macbeth
Malcom X
Willie Johnson singin’ “God Moves On The Water”

CHO

~

And here’s that video of “Blister And A BottleCap”

Thanks so much to Aptos St. BBQ. And everyone that hangs out with me down there. By the train tracks.

ASBBQ_TrainTracks

Dig.

 

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September 6, 2015

You Gonna Need Me Some Ol’ Cold Winter Day

By pbistyping

ASBBQ

Boots to the floor, national in my hands, and my good friend Dr. Virgil Thrasher on my right side. That’s how the night began, and that’s how the evenin’ ended…

And I put the slide to brass, I said I put the slide to brass, and Virgil put them reeds to lips, and Virgil put them reeds to lips and that’s how the night began, and that’s how the evenin’ ended…

Some nights you work your favorites, try and turn ’em inside out, upside down, shake ’em out, to see what secrets they might hold for you that evenin…

Other nights you pull deep into the fedora, see what’s down there in that cavern, see what songs are rattlin’ roundin your sonic sound spelunk for that evenin’

This night was one of the latter sort of evenin’… lots a songs was rattlin’ round the caverns…

So here’s some fresh, raw recordin’ of some live tracks from the evenin… this was Thursday, three September, at the ‘Q…  Aptos St BBQ, that is…

First up, a lil’ somethin’ called:

Cornbread (never yet been released: lyrics at the conclusion of this post)

Then, quite the lil’ rarity for a Preacher Boy set, an arrangement of:

Cold Winter Day (learned from a recording by Blind Willie McTell)

followed by a fine performance from Virgil on a poppin lil’ rendo of There Go John

And finally, a new live performance of a never been released PB song that actually was debuted at ASBBQ back in September of 2014, a lil’ thing called:

Blister & A Bottle Cap (never yet been released)

~

Here’s them lyrics I promised ya:

CORNBREAD

peggie sat cross-legged in her tri-cornered hat
with a barbie and a gi joe, playin ball and jacks
and the sun went from touchin’ ground to straddlin’ north and south
to settlin’ on the roof of mr. beckman’s house

and when the sun went down, janie’s mother put her hands
in the shape of a megaphone and she yelled hard as she can

she yelled “come on honey, come home now, i got a big surprise
there’s fresh butter from the dairy, and the cornbread’s on the rise

now, maxwell ran lap after lap around the ol back-stop
with a baseball glove in one hand, in the other soda pop
autumn sunshine and moonlight shared a dusky place
and there were shadows and a tan competin over maxwell’s face

and when the clock hit seven maxwells papa pulled his pipe
from tween his yella teeth so he could holler into the night

he hollered “come on sonny, come home now, i got a big surprise
there’s fresh butter from the dairy, and the cornbread’s on the rise

i like a little bit of butter, on my cornbread…

jake drew orphan jenny motorcycle pictures everyday
and he passed em to her during class when the teacher turned away
at recess and after school and all the week-end long
they’d sit up together on the beckman’s fence and pretend they was ridin on

and jake’s ma would come around to fetch her son for supper
and she’d tell that orphan jenny she was welcome to come over

she’d say “come on honey, come home now, i got a big surprise
there’s fresh butter from the dairy, and the cornbread’s on the rise

I like a lil’ bit of butter, on my cornbread…

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March 26, 2015

You’re No Townes Van Zandt

By pbistyping

PreacherBoy_7

It was a classic bar heckle, and it happened at Jerry’s Front Pocket earlier this month. But the story doesn’t start there. The story begins in Colorado, at the Durango Songwriter’s Expo, back around Y2K days.

I don’t normally attend events of this nature, but the missus and I were livin’ in Colorado at the time, my manager was keen on amplifyin’ my songwriting efforts, I’d just come off a run of lovely publishing mojo courtesy of my work with Eagle-Eye Cherry, and so we figured, why not? Let’s go be a pro songwriter …

Lots of meetings with agents, lots of listening and perfoming, and lots upon lots upon lots of song critiques. Which leads to the beginnings of my story. I was on a Townes Van Zandt kick of fairly epic proportions at the time, and apparently that was in evidence on my new demos. What happened was this, in a room of some 30 songwriters, a to-remain-nameless publishing VP listened to my tune, announced that it sounded a great deal like Townes Van Zandt, then said to me, “But you’re no Townes Van Zandt.” Shades of Lloyd Bentsen, what?

Well, the room let out the requisite groan, and we moved on.

All was not lost, however. I killed it at the closing show with –if I do say so myself—rippin’ good versions of Spaceman and Comin’ Up Aces.

And I also met my certified brother-of-another-mother soul mate Colin Brooks. In another song critique session, this was the song he played:

#NowPlaying Nobody by Colin Brooks on @Rdio: http://rd.io/x/Rl7WwEErUMw6Xg/

And I was completely, totally, floored. Just incredible stuff … Colin and I ended doing a lot of writing together, including this one:

#NowPlaying Wheels on the Ground by Colin Brooks on @Rdio: http://rd.io/x/Rl7WwEErUOGw0w/

Colin is a king high motherfucker. Plain and simple.

Anyhow, fast forward to Jerry’s. Announcing the next song over the mic, I said to those assembled something to the effect of, this song was my attempt to write a Townes Van Zandt song. To which someone in the crowd responded, “Do you know any REAL Townes Van Zandt songs?”

Damn …

PB_SettingSun_Still

Anyhow, here is a live recording of the song in question, recorded live at Aptos St. BBQ just last week. The song is called “Seven’s In The Middle, Son” and this performance includes an appearance by a wonderful accordion player. Please click the link below to listen:

Seven’s In The Middle, Son: recorded live at Aptos St. BBQ

What’s particularly delightful about this whole saga, is that the individual who heckled me at Jerry’s, happens to also be the accordion player on this recording! So of course I told him the Durango story, and it was in fact him who reminded me of the Lloyd Bentsen bit, which if you know your political debate history, was an awesome slice of political pie.

Anyhow, the point is, I’m still trying to write Townes Van Zandt songs, and I hope you like this one! Lyrics below (and p.s. the heckler/accordion player is none other than Jon “Captain Ahab” Dryden!):

seven’s in the middle, son

made a deal with a strange man
he could deal his deck with either hand
winked at me and said goodbye
then switched his patch to the other eye

i did my best to play my song
but he stopped me before too long
took my guitar off my lap
tuned it up and then gave it back

rise and shine, and give god the glory, glory
rise and shine, and give god the glory

wrapped himself in an overcoat
silver necklace ’round his throat
rattlin’ keychain in his pants
sounded like bones when he danced

i faced myself in the mirror glass
swear to god i heard him laugh
felt his name rise in my gut
seven years of bad luck

rise and shine, and give god the glory, glory
rise and shine, and give god the glory

he said “seven is in the middle, son
pick a side and ride that one”
like jewels hangin’ on the vine
it’s a pendulum that’s drowning time

i lay my head down window-side
neon lights like a reaper’s bride
i tried to sleep beneath the black
of the space behind that devil’s patch

rise and shine, and give god the glory, glory
rise and shine, and give god the glory

he put a shiver in my soul
shook my hand and froze it cold
walked me ’round that endless shore
’til i knew i’d never been before

i hear him singin’ from the road
it’s a children’s song he knows i know
i lay myself down on the ground
emptied both my ears of sound

rise and shine, and give god the glory, glory
rise and shine, and give god the glory

 

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March 20, 2015

Live Blues, Every Night

By pbistyping

You know you got a good town when you got a good place that’s got good blues, every night.

PB_LiveBlues_Moonlight

 

Ain’t so many of these around any more: Live Blues, 7 Nights A Week. I’m awful grateful we’ve got one of ’em right here in this town. Aptos St. BBQ.

Live Blues. Every Night.

How ’bout you? You got a blues club in yer town? Place that’s got blues every night? If you do, let me know, yeah? I’d like to say thank you.

And as to you? Well, go on down and drop a fiver in somebody’s kitty soon as you can, and tell ’em it’s from Preacher Boy. Thank you.

~

Lovely night tonight. Some family came down to hang out. A lil’ 17-month ol’ girl by the name of Charlotte came and danced. I tried a new song out and didn’t f&*K it up too bad. And best of all, my ol’ mate Captain Ahab from The Useless Bastards came down and squoze some box. Always a treat. The man’s a bloody genius.

What a band that was, The Useless Bastards …

TheUselessBastards

If you’ve never heard the inspired Americana-Mayhem that was the Bastards in their cups, I offer you the following: a recording of a tune called “My Ruby Mandolin” … written about … a ruby mandolin. Which was bought for me by my lovely missus in Galway, when we was livin’ in lovely County Clare … Anyhow, here’s the Bastards in all our glory: Park Miller, Preach, Bullpork, Sinnerman, and Captain Ahab:

 My Ruby Mandolin

~

As to the songs we actually played tonight at the BBQ …

PreacherBoy_CaptainAhab_ASBBQ

… this one hyperlinked below was a particular favorite of mine; a not-yet-released-ever-on-an-album rarity called “Down The Drain.” You can listen to it by clicking the link:

Down The Drain, live at Aptos St. BBQ, with Jonathan “Captain Ahab” Dryden on Accordion

And here’s another lil’ blast from the Bastards past. This is a live version of Down The Drain from all the way back in 2002. The show was at The Knitting Factory, and I had the pleasure of bein’ on the bill to support my good friend Park Miller — of Useless Bastards fame — who’s band Miller’s Farm was celebrating an album release that night. Park sings harmony on the tune, and I am joined by some other unbelievable talents as well, including Jim Campilongo on guitar, Tim Luntzel on bass, and Brian Fay on the drums. Check it out:

“Down The Drain” live at The Knitting Factory, NYC

What a night that was …

~

The point being: Love your local. Live Blues. Every Night. Amen. Goodnight.

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March 5, 2015

Blues Under The Moonlight: The Setlist From Tonight

By pbistyping

If every picture is a poem, this is a haiku:

PB_LiveBlues_Moonlight

 

What song to sing when
the moon’s white eye shines? Which tu-
ning, and how open?

~

In alphabetical order, these are the songs I chose:

  1. 99 Bottles (PB)
  2. A Little More Evil (PB)
  3. Baby, Please Don’t Go (Bukka White)
  4. Big Road Blues (Tommy Johnson)
  5. Catfish Blues (Willie Doss)
  6. Comin’ Up Aces (PB)
  7. Cornbread (PB)
  8. Dead, Boy (PB)
  9. Death Letter Blues (Son House)
  10. Down & Out In This Town (PB)
  11. Down South Blues (Sleepy John Estes)
  12. Down The Drain (PB)
  13. I Shall Not Be Moved (Mississippi John Hurt)
  14. If I Had Possession Over My Judgement Day (Robert Johnson)
  15. Jesus, Make Up My Dying Bed (Blind Willie Johnson)
  16. Livin’ On A Bad Dream (PB)
  17. My Car Walks On Water (PB)
  18. Seven’s In The Middle, Son (PB)
  19. That’s No Way To Get Along (Rev. Robert Wilkins)
  20. There Go John (PB)

PB_#SauceAndASideOfSlide

 

 

 

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February 27, 2015

#SauceAndASideOfSlide

By pbistyping

Truth be told, my steady at the BBQ is fast becoming one of my favorite gigs I’ve ever had.

AptosStBBQ
Don’t get me wrong, those days on stages in front of 200-person audiences, 2000-person audiences, even the occasional 10,000-person audience; those days are something to remember, and to treasure.

I’ve been very, very, very lucky in that regard.
SFBluesFestival_PB
Imagine, I turned 30 on stage in front of some 1000 Londoners as the opening act for Shane MacGowanl! I played the San Francisco Blues Festival with John Lee Hooker as the headliner! I toured 17 countries with Eagle-Eye Cherry! I played Glastonbury, and got to see my name on the same poster with Bob Dylan, Nick Cave, and Portishead! I’ve played Sonny Boy’s in Helena, BB’s in LA, and Buddy’s in Chicago!

I tell you, I’ve been lucky.

But in all honesty, the music I grew up on, the music I learned by, the music I still play today, the music I will forever return to when I’m lost, it didn’t grow up in clubs. It didn’t grow up in theaters or arenas. It didn’t grow up at festivals. It didn’t grow up on radio, or tv, or the internet. It didn’t even grow up in concert. It grew up in backyards, on porches, in fields. It grew up around food, around drink, around people. It grew up on chairs, in corners, on the floor. It grew up in places just like Aptos St. BBQ, where people of all kinds come to eat, drink, talk, and listen to music.

I’m very, very lucky to have this gig, and I’m proud to share some music with you from my shows there. Please see below, and I hope you enjoy!

~

~

Preacher Boy | The National Blues

http://preacherboy.com/
twitter.com/NationalBlues
facebook.com/PreacherBoyAndTheNationalBlues
reverbnation.com/PreacherBoyAndTheNationalBlues
youtube.com/PreacherBoyBlues
https://preacherboyblog.com/

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February 5, 2015

What’s A Preacher Boy Setlist Look Like These Days?

By pbistyping
The stage at Aptos St. BBQ

The stage at Aptos St. BBQ

To be honest, I’m not much of a setlist person, though I will say, there do tend to be patterns as regards the songs I select, and the order I play them in. More often than not, it comes down to simple questions of tuning. Because I use a number of different tunings, I generally try to do songs in such an order that I don’t spend the entire time mucking with the pegs.

So, what’s a Preacher Boy set list look like these days? Well, it’s pretty heavy on the country blues, that’s for sure! Here’s the crop from tonight’s show at Aptos St. BBQ, though to be honest, I have no idea what order I played these in, but I do know these are the songs I played (in parentheses, either the composer, or the musicianer I got the arrangement off of):

  1. If I Had Possession Over My Judgement Day (Robert Johnson)
  2. Fixin’ To Die (Bukka White)
  3. Death Letter Blues (Son House)
  4. Jack & Jill Blues (Sleepy John Estes)
  5. Cornbread (PB)
  6. One Good Reason (PB & Eagle-Eye Cherry)
  7. Catfish Blues (Willie Doss)
  8. That’s No Way To Get Along (Reverend Robert Wilkins)
  9. Baby, Please Don’t Go (Bukka White)
  10. 99 Bottles (PB)
  11. Old Jim Granger (PB)
  12. There Go John (PB)
  13. A Golden Thimble (PB)
  14. A Little More Evil (PB)
  15. Down & Out In This Town (PB)
  16. My Car Walks On The Water (PB)
  17. Need Mo’ Blues (Sleepy John Estes)
  18. Seven’s In The Middle, Son (PB)
  19. Death Don’t Have No Mercy (Reverend Gary Davis)
  20. Motherless Children (Dave Van Ronk)
  21. Slidin’ Delta (Mississippi John Hurt)
  22. Cornbread (PB)

I’m just starting to read Dave Van Ronk’s autobiography, so that’s what got me in the mood to play one of his arrangements. The book is:

and so far, it’s pretty delightful. Dave Van Ronk was such a huge influence for me. All those Tom Waits comparisons over the years used to just make me laugh, ‘cuz for fuck’s sake, haven’t you ever heard of Dave Van Ronk before?

The first time I ever performed a country blues kind of tune before an actual audience was courtesy of my old high school English teacher substitute Mr. Tom Nolet. He was a blues player, and knew I was hopelessly into it all as well, and very graciously invited me to sing a song at his gig at a coffeehouse. I was 16, and I played (or attempted to play, I should say) Dave Van Ronk’s version of Po’ Lazarus, and I was bloody awful, and Tom apparently lost the gig, and well, that wasn’t a very good start to my career (and obviously not good for his either!) and I don’t think I sang on mic again for another 5 years!

But I still play Po’ Lazarus sometimes, as well as a spin-off of Dave’s version of Come Back, Baby, and of course the version of Motherless Children that I noted above.

So that was me tonight. The Mayor of Aptos St. BBQ.

If ya’d like a lil’ taste, here’s a VERY rough live track from tonight’s show. The tune is “A Little More Evil,” a never-yet-recorded-and-released PB cut (and that thumpin’ sound is me boot!):

Preacher Boy: A Little More Evil (live at Aptos St BBQ, 2.15.15) 

Lyrics below:

a little more evil

jesus christ, look at you, you lookin’ like you dead wrecked
i wish i had a way to pay for you to get your head checked
you so fuckin’ strung out man it’s time to face the music
you ain’t got but the one life and you about to lose it

that isn’t opportunity
that’s knockin’ on the door
and it ain’t fire that you playin’ with
it somethin’ that’s a little more evil
a little more evil

it’s always a maria gettin’ suckers like you laid up
tryin’ to live the myth the ones that came before ya made up
i hate to break it to ya but her name is not maria
she might look ya in the eyes but i swear she doesn’t see ya

that isn’t opportunity
that’s knockin’ on the door
and it ain’t fire that you playin’ with
it somethin’ that’s a little more evil
a little more evil

i ain’t gon’ to be the john to baptize ya in the river
and you too old to be a baby that i’m called on to deliver
there’s a train to judgment and you got a ticket to go
but it ain’t gonna be the lord who come to meet ya at the depot

that isn’t opportunity
that’s knockin’ on the door
and it ain’t fire that you playin’ with
it somethin’ that’s a little more evil
a little more evil

(p) PreachSongMusic/KobaltMusic/BMI

 

 

 

 

 

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