Just finished a three-song Rubber Souldiers demo, with engineer Jeremy Goody at his Megasonic studio in Piedmont CA.
It Won’t Please Me Long
Norwegian Boy
Here Comes the Sun
Please post a comment here – let us know how you like the music, and please spread the link around,too! We’re looking for gigs, a record deal, management, investors – whatever it takes to get this joyful music out into the world! Come hear us play and sing, and please spread the word and the music!
Hello, friends -
This is a gigspam message with some extra stuff in it.
It’s been a busy and musically rewarding summer despite the weird and somewhat depressing state of the music business. Although gasoline prices have come down from their alarming peaks of last summer, the cost-benefit analysis of doing club dates is not terribly encouraging, so I have largely stuck to the festival gigs rather than strings of one-nighters. I passed up an opportunity to play A Bear’s Picnic for the third year in a row in order to spend my wife’s birthday with her in one of her favorites places: Point Reyes National Seashore. I had a fine time at Grateful Fest (Nelson Ledges, Ohio) and Gathering of the Vibes (Bridgeport, Connecticut), and I’ve been playing a lot in the Bay Area in various solo and ensemble configurations. And Rubber Souldiers have had some swell times, too, in between the Rowan Brothers’ and my own musical commitments. We are gearing up for more adventures with our “Beatles jam band,” including a return to MagnoliaFest in October and (we hope) more touring in 2010.
In September I will play Schwagstock, my second appearance at Camp Zoe (Missouri) this year; October will see my much-anticipated (by me!) debut at Shakori Hills in Pittsboro, North Carolina – hosted by the wonderful band Donna the Buffalo. I’ll tour in the east between Shakori Hills and Magnolia Fest; I am hoping to fill in the mid-October stretch with performances in several southeastern towns I’ve been missing for way too long; I’ve already got 10/20 confirmed in Cullman, Alabama, and I am working on other possibilities in the region. I’ll post the gigs at dgans.com/gigs.html as they’re confirmed.
Okay, now here’s the “extra stuff.” On June 21, my longtime friend and musical partner Alan Feldstein died at home from a heart attack. The news hit our old Berkeley crowd hard; to me, it feels like a major thread of my life’s tapestry has been yanked out. Al and I had what you might call a tumultuous relationship over the years; his wife, Caryn, told me recently she called me “Al’s other wife” – undoubtedly because we fought like a married couple a lot! But we made a lot of music together, and I have been laughing and crying through an extensive audio archive of our history since we got the news.
Our friendship and musical relationship began when I moved to Berkeley in 1973. We bonded over Grateful Dead music but shared a love for many styles, and we played each other’s original music in various bands, most notably The Reptiles, off and on for more than thirty years. Many of the highest moments of my life had Al in ‘em, and I’m having a hard time getting used to the idea that we won’t have any more.
You can read about Al, hear some of the music we made together, and see some of his own words from online posts, on my blog – cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/tag/al-feldstein – and I would especially like to direct your attention to the comments section of this post, where several dozen others who loved Al Feldstein have shared their thoughts and stories.
You might also enjoy looking at these photos from our mutual history: on my flickr page and, from Rich Burgdorf.
We’re getting the old band, and gang, together in Al’s memory on Friday, September 4, at the Starry Plough in Berkeley. I’ve been performing two of Al’s six Reptile originals for several years, and I am working up the other four because I can’t imagine not playing them ever again. Anyone who attends the four solo shows I’m doing in the next week and a half (details below) will hear these works-in-progress.
Friday, August 28: House concert in Salt Lake City. Email kasidybaker@hotmail.com for info & reservations.
Saturday, August 29: Private event in Moab UT
Sunday, August 30, 6:00 pm: Dolores River Brewery, Dolores CO with The Lindells. No cover!
Tuesday, September 1, 7pm: The Rim Rock, 2523 East Utah Highway 24, Torrey UT. No cover!
Thursday, September 3, 7:30 pm: Rubber Souldiers in the Parking Lot at Adele’s, corner of Curry & John Streets in Carson City
Friday, September 4: Reptiles reunion in memory of Al Feldstein. Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley CA
September 18-19: Schwagstock, Camp Zoe MO. The Schwag, EOTO, Panjea, Nailhouse, and more.
Saturday, September 26, 1:10-1:55 pm: Rubber Souldiers @ Rock’n'Blues By the Lake, Stafford Lake, Novato CA.
Saturday, September 26, 7:30 pm: Celebrating Songwriters with DG, Garrin Benfield, and host Caren Armstrong. $10 donation. Left Coast Cyclery, 2928 Domingo Ave, Berkeley CA.
October 8-11: Fall Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance, Pittsboro NC
Tuesday, October 20: Berkeley Bob’s Coffee House, 304 1st Ave, Cullman, AL.
October 22-25: MagnoliaFest, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL. DG will play solo and with Rubber Souldiers
Friday, October 30: Chico CA – benefit for KZFR community radio. Details TBA.
Saturday, October 31: DG opens for The Waybacks in Mt Shasta CA
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As always, more info at dgans.com/gigs.html
If we’re not already friends on Facebook, please friend me! And I’m twittering now, too, a little – I’m davidgans there.
How are you?
Courtesy of Rich Selleseth, an excellent recording of a fairly decent Rubber Souldiers set (see below for links):
Rubber Souldiers
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Todos Santos Plaza, Concord CA
You’re Gonna Lose That Girl
This Norwegian Boy
All My Lovin’->
Rain Within You
If I Fell Across the Universe
Things We Said Today->
Girl
No Reply
It Won’t Please Me Long
~
Doctor Robert
Here Comes the Sun
I Should Have Known Better
Yesterday
The Word
~
Eight Days a Week
Rubber Souldiers top the bill at a “60s British Explosion Unplugged!” extravaganza at the Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison Street in Berkeley CA.
Also appearing at the Raveups (Yardbirds tribute); Drew Harrison of the Sun Kings; Steve Emerson; and Al Chan of the Rubinoos.
Rubber Souldiers fancy ourselves as “Beatles jam band” rather than a tribute or clone. We take these great songs, stretch them out, improvise, and reinvent. We’re having a blast doing it, and we hope you’ll join us. We’d like to play The Freight again, and so we need a good turnout tonight. Showtime is 8pm.
Geoffrey P. Stevens has posted a collection of videos of the backstage jam after the close of the Suwannee SpringFest March 29. This was Rubber Souldiers and Friends, including Jim Lauderdale, Jeb Puryear, Tara Nevins, Bobby Miller, Randy Judy, and others. Chris and Lorin and I gave up at around 3 am, but we heard that it went on til around 6 in the morning!
Chris and Lorin’s niece, Amanda Rose, caught us backstage preparing for our performance at the Rex Foundation benefit.
Upcoming Rubber Souldiers gigs:
Still trying to fill in a Las Vegas play for Tuesday, March 3. Stay tuned…
Friday, Feb 27, 7pm: House concert in Placitas NM. Email for details & reservations
Sunday, March 1, 7pm MST: “House” concert at KZMU in Moab, Utah. Live performance at the radio station (1734 Rocky Road, Moab) and streaming online at kzmu.org. It’s the Kokopelli Coffee House with host Backofbeyondananda. Suggested donation $10 and some food to share.
Monday, March 2, 6:30pm: House concert in Salt Lake City. Suggested donation $10 and some food to share. Email wickenden@gmail.com for more info.
Wednesday, March 4, 9:00 pm: Flagstaff Brewing Company, 16 E. Route 66, Flagstaff AZ. No cover!
Saturday, March 7, 9:30 am to 1:30 pm: Grand Lake Farmers’ Market at Splash Pad Park (across from the Grand Lake Theater) in Oakland CA. Free! Great produce, crafts, and prepared foods.
Saturday, March 7, 6pm: Rubber Souldiers and Batacha play a benefit and auction for the Nonesuch School. Masonic Center, 373 N. Main, Sebastopol CA. $20, or $15 if you bring 3 cans of food for the food bank. 707-696-6800.
Saturday, March 14, 3-5pm: Saturday Casual & Cozy winter time Music Series at Iron Springs Pub and Brewery, 765 Center Blvd., Fairfax, CA. No cover!
March 26-29: Suwannee SpringFest, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak FL (just across the Georgia line). DG plays solo and with Rubber Souldiers! Plus Donna the Buffalo, Emmitt Nershi Band, The Duhks, The Lee Boys, Darrell Scott, Darol Anger & Mike Marshall with Väsen, Blueground Undergrass, Dread Clampitt, more TBA.
April 17-18: SpringJam 5 at Camp Zoe, Salem MO. The Schwag, NRPS, Donna Jean Gochaux, Moonalice, DG, and more.
Sunday, May 17: Rubber Souldiers, the Raveups, and others perform “’60s British Explosion Unplugged!” at the Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison Street, Berkeley
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My CD The Ones That Look the Weirdest Taste the Best is getting airplay all over the country. If you aren’t hearing it on your local AAA, Americana, or jamband station/show, please help the cause by requesting it! And of course, buying a copy. Lots of info, audio samples, and several ways to buy it, either all at once or individual tracks – see the Weirdest page.
Amazing. An 8-minute interview with Paul and George by Hilly Rose of KCBS in San Francisco.