johnny the clock: Journal

On Saturday night (April 30), I played with Blue Mother Tupelo in Johnson City,TN at an event called the Little Chicago Blues Festival.
This yearly event is held at the Down Home. The Down Home is a great listening room that hosts a wide variety of music.
Blue Mother Tupelo headlined the event, delivering a funky,rootsy set to a packed house.
Look for a fun week of shows with Blue Mother Tupelo next week, starting with an "Americana Tonight" taping at the Sutler on Wednesday May 11.

Hi everyone.
This last Friday I had the honor of playing behind my favorite person in the world..my wife Jeanne.
Jeanne performed a 30 minute set of her original music at the French Quarter in east Nashville.
This was the first time that Jeanne used a full band behind her to perform her own material, and she did a great job.
We were lucky to have Kiwamu Stewart and Steve C. playing guitar and Hubert Knight on bass; they all delivered in a big way. Hopefully there are many more of these fun shows to come.

Hey everybody. This weekend I played a couple really fun shows in Bristol,TN.
The artists on the show were The Drifters,The Coasters and The Marvelettes.
The shows took place in a beautifully re-stored theatre called the Paramount Theatre.
All of the guys in the band did a great job. Dale Herr was m.d. and guitar player, Hubert Knight was on bass, and Jeff Lisenby manned the keyboards.
As usual, all the acts put on a high-energy/entertaining show to packed-houses both nights.

Last night I got to see the great Steve Gadd put on a drum clinic. Steve hasnt done clinics in years and is doing only 12 this year for Zildjian. Nashville's clinic last night (sponsered by Forks Drum Closet), was the 4th in the series. Steve has played and recorded with everyone in the biz..Chick Corea,Eric Clapton etc..and will be on tour with James Taylor this summer. The clinic featured Steve's legendary groove/playing,and his humble observations on drumming,groove,feel and music. This was a night I will not soon forget.

Hey yall! Today I got to do a cool recording session with a singer/songwriter named Tom Brehm. My good buddy Dale Herr helped bring me in on the session...something I really appreciate. Anyway, we recorded 6 songs. It was mostly a rock n roll session, though one song had a "train beat" "alt-country" thing goin on...very cool. The session took place at another friends studio; Eric McConnel's. Eric's studio is where Loretta Lynn recorded her critically acclaimed "Van Lear Rose" album. Yall have a GREAT week!
jtc

I had a blast last night with BMT at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts, doing their weekly "Frist Fridays" event. A good time was had by all. Tonight,on a rare night off, Jeanne and I will go hear some great music at 3rd & Lindsley (Pat Buchanan followed by Jeffery Steele).

We (Blue Mother Tupelo) are back from our trip to Florida. We had a great time and made many new friends. The band was well received everywhere we went and we look forward to many trips back to the Keys. I'm looking forward to jammin' again with my friends Ricky & Micol tomorrow night in Nashville. (Look for pics from the Florida trip in the photo gallery soon)!

Today BMT and I are taking off for a 10 day tour in Florida and a little bit of Georgia. Can't wait to lay down the grooves.