Cloud Surfing

More listening notes from our just-completed tour/vacation:

Bill Frisell Live Download Series: 11/15/05 at the Barbican Theater, London. A John Lennon tribute! Bill Frisell with Greg Leisz (acoustic guitar, pedal steel) and Jenny Scheinman (violin).

Jack – Blind Corn Liquor Pickers, Appalachian Trail
Scootch – Boris Garcia, Once More into the Bliss. We listened to the whole CD all the way through, too.
Fleet Foxes
Re-Inventions – Sandy Bull

Playing in the Band – Grateful Dead 5/21/74
Weather Report Suite – Grateful Dead 2/24/74

Our friend, host, and guide Bob Lippman – a Deadhead buddy since 1974 – brought along cassettes when we went up into the La Sal Mountains for a hike. I completely agree with him that 1974 GD is excellent music to listen to while driving around this amazing part of the world.

Pinko Boogie and Spade Cooley – Ry Cooder, I, Flathead
Let It Rock – Yardbirds live
Guinnevere – CSN demo
Esther – The Maxwells, Maxwell Street
End of the Line – Traveling Wilburys
Sex and Gasoline – Rodney Crowell
This Hotel Room – Steve Goodman, Jessie’s Jig and Other Favorites
The Felice Brothers
Shady Grove and This Is a Good Street – Mudcrutch
Time to Stand – The Belleville Outfit
First Kiss and The Dream – Mike Agranoff, Ain’t Never Been Plugged
Break Up the Concrete – The Pretenders
Yellow Submarine Songtrack – Beatles

My wife and I were shopping at the Grand Lake Farmers’ Market yesterday when one of the managers approached me and asked if I could fill in for the scheduled performer, who had canceled at the last minute. I happily ran home to get my gear – I love playing the Farmers’ Market! Here’s an audio sample from the performance, an improv I titled “Mirea” in honor of our neighbors’ newborn daughter, who also made an appearance at the Market with her parents.

Mirea->
Loser – David Gans 5/30/09 Grand Lake Farmers’ Market, Oakland CA

Lots more free music downloads on the tunes page.

The Extra-Terrestrial Highway, southern Nevada

Van Morrison Astral Weeks Live at the Hollywood Bowl. Sublime performance! Rita saw the show live at the Greek Theater in Berkeley a few weeks ago.

Songs from the Road Band, As the Crow Flies. I know Mark Schimick from his work with Larry Keel. I guess this is a sort of all-star band made up of players whose main gigs are with other bands. All I know is, the songs are great! This collection walks the fault line between bluegrass and honky-tonk, where Emmylou Harris led thousands of players of my generation back in the day.

The Belleville Outfit, Time to Stand. You know what my number one criterion is: without good songs, the rest is beside the point. This record has good songs, good singing, and spirited performances.

Genevieve Little, Fire from the Sky. She sat in with Zac Matthews, Bear Kittay, and me at the Nomad Cafe last weekend. Bear met her in Australia, where she came from and where she’s returning next week because her visa has expired. I expect we’ll hear from her again. Powerful singer with a style that recalls Joni Mitchell and doubtless several other singers I have never heard. Truth is, the songs started to sound alike after a while, but she’s young yet and I think she’s got a lot of potential.

Sandy Greenfield, “Hole in the Sun.” I interviewed his father, Robert Greenfield, on Sirius XM the other day, and Bob mentioned that his son is a recording artist. I grabbed this free download from iTunes. I liked it, and I’ll buy the rest of the album asap.

Idaho Pines – Hot Buttered Rum, Well-Oiled Machine. My partner Zac’s former band. I’m looking forward to hearing them at Desert Rocks this weekend, and Aaron Redner has offered to sit in with my on my set, too. (This CD has an instrumental titled “Waterpocket Fold,” named for one of the zillions of amazing geological formations in Utah. We’re at Zion today; we will probably drive across the Waterpocket Fold tomorrow. Utah-12 is an astonishingly beautiful road, ending just outside Capitol Reef, where the Waterpocket Fold is located.

Rita and I left Oakland at 10 am and drove to Lee Vining CA via the Sonora Pass. Lunch at the Diamondback Grill, dinner at the Whoa Nellie Deli. After listening to a CD of the set I played Saturday night with Zac Matthews and Bear Kittay, we plugged the iPod into the stereo and heard the following (not necessarily in this order):

Zoe Keating, One Cello X 16 (complete EP). A looping artist I have been meaning to check out. VERY impressed with this work. I’m going to invite her to play on DTTW.
Won’t Get Fooled Again – Richie Havens, Nobody Left to Crown. I heard him live at SpringFest. Amazing.
Hardball in the Holy Land – Dirk Hamilton, More Songs from My Cool Life
Too Many Daves – Dylan Hears a Who
Don’t Piss in the Well – Earl Vickers, The Converted Garage Tapes. An old friend, not seen from in a while, popped up a few weeks ago to announce this album; I ran over to iTunes and bought a copy.
Green Girl - Jango Monkey
Stand By Me – Jesse Winchester, Love Filling Station. First JW album I’ve heard in many years. This is a beautiful cover of a beautiful song.
Maxwell Street – The Maxwells, Maxwell Street. I heard this on KBOO while on tour in February, called the station for some info, and then found this out-of-print album on a download site. Very cool stuff, with a vocal jam in the middle of a long instrumental jam.
Another Dawn Another Day – Mike and Ruthy, Waltz of the Chickadee. Ruth Ungar has about the sexiest voice since Dusty Springfield.
Baby – Mike and Ruthy, Waltz of the Chickadee. Parenthood agrees with these two – I met the baby at the Suwannee SpringFest.
Can I Smoke in Here – Ry Cooder, I, Flathead. The man is a treasure. This record is the third of a trilogy, a great piece of literature that is also a love song to a nearly-vanished California.
Scarecrow Jesus – Mr Smolin 11/15/08 Taix Lounge, LA. I was on this gig with Barry, and we had a great time. This song is from a new project he’s planning to record this summer.
Lookin’ for Trouble – Steve Goodman, Jessie’s Jig and Other Favorites. One of my all-time musical heroes.
Eight Days a Week – Rubber Souldiers Feb 6, 2009 Davis CA
In The Flowers – Animal Collective, Merriweather Post Pavilion. This band comes highly recommended by many friends. I’m just starting to listen.
My Wife’s Home Town – Bob Dylan, Together Through Life. Co-written with Robert Hunter. I am having fun imagining Bob and Bob collaborating on songs via email.
Gulf Coast Highway – David Gans and Eric Rawlins, 4-11-09 roughs. We will be editing and mixing in a couple of weeks.
All My Lovin’->Within You Without You/Rain – Rubber Souldiers w/ Eric and Suzy Thompson 4/2/09. We were driving down US 395 from Bridgeport to Mono Lake, admiring the heavy clouds all around; as “Rain” commenced, the rain commenced to fall from the sky! Amusingly, the rain stopped when the song ended.

TONIGHT! Friday, May 15: With Zac Matthews and Bear Kittay, UNPLUGGED, at the Nomad Cafe, 6500 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland (near the Berkeley line)

Sunday, May 17: Rubber Souldiers, the Raveups, and others perform “’60s British Explosion Unplugged!” at the Freight and Salvage, 1111 Addison Street, Berkeley

May 23: Desert Rocks Music Festival, Moab UT. ALO, Hot Buttered Rum, The Mother Hips, The Motet, and more.

Sunday, May 31, 2:15-3:45 pm: Rubber Souldiers play the Larkspur Flower and Food Festival, on Magnolia between Ward and King Streets, downtown historic Larkspur CA. Free! Info: Larkspur Community Association 415-924-3808

July 4 weekend: Grateful Fest at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park, Garrettsville OH. Dark Star Orchestra and many more!

July 23-26: Gathering of the Vibes, Bridgeport CT

October 22-25: MagnoliaFest, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live Oak, FL

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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. http://www.dgans.com/weirdest for lots of info, audio samples, and several ways to buy it, either all at once or individual tracks.

Rubber Souldiers is a Beatles “jam band” with Lorin Rowan, Chris Rowan, David Gans, and friends. http://www.rubbersouldiers.com
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As always, more info at http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html