Happy Holidays Folk!
To steal a phrase from my You Tube buddy Bill Goudy (outdoor living, cooking, fishing, exploration and so forth)... man, oh, man!
It (2017) has been another whirlwind year! So here is an update from Jamie Slate & The Crew.
1) The Art Arch Show found some steam with exclusive interviews on You Tube --damn fun-- a 6 week run as a radio show on KB Radio --more damn fun-- and even a run on Spreaker as a podcast with more exclusive interviews. Most of those are rather funny and include some great music you may have never heard before. I put the show into hibernation (YT is back in Winter 2018/Spring 2018) but continue the #artarch enterprise with a #new item, Spotify M-F playlists! Find Jamie James Slate on Spotify and follow the #artarch lists, which are chock full of quality indie artists and awesome songs. Or just follow me on twitter and look for the #artarch posts.
2) Sloppy Bud Grass. Well, we went for it. The Charts. We even had some air play on reporting stations for the AMA charts. We just did not have the budget to get enough air play to bust into the Top 40. In the meantime, "He's Ridin' an Old Mare" and "Tracy" --both on the original release-- have become very popular songs in our local live market. And we typically rock the house with "Greenhouse Blues" every show as well. You can hear the original release here.
3) Playing Live. Ha ha ha, if you have never been to a live show from Slate & Rev Rich you are in for a surprise. We swap vocal duties. We change genres from one song to the next. We change instruments with me moving back and forth from acoustic guitar to bass, and Rich moving back and forth from acoustic guitar to electric guitar. It certainly is not boring. And practice, yeah we practice quite a bit so we can play intricate stuff easily live. Our market is slowly expanding and will continue to do so in 2018.
And my second consecutive eastern Virginia run has led to bookings for Summer 2018. We hope to make a 10-11 day run for 6-7 shows in July. We are definitely going, just have not finished the bookings yet.
I was asked why I took this approach. That is, why build a base in central NC, then go all the way to eastern VA to build another base? The simple answer is, I am from eastern VA and have a lot of music connections there. But, in addition to that, the group has always planned to be a regional I-85 act. So, in 2018 we continue to build our metro-Charlotte base and do the eastern Virginia run. In 2019, we will fill it in with Raleigh and Richmond --giving us a show market from Charlotte to Greensboro to Raleigh to Richmond and then east to the Alantic, and most likely into the DelMarVa area of the coast. Once that is done, major strategy one will be complete. Phase two will be to head down I-85 towards Atlanta, until we get there.
4) How come nothing was released in 2017? Uh, Sloppy Bud Grass was released and there was a major effort to break the charts. We have already begun recording the next release, but have decided to release them as singles with a B-side. Once that reaches 8 songs total, we will likely do a compilation album with those 8 songs plus some live recordings. That will likely occur in 2019.
--and here are a few more questions I have been asked in recent months by various friends and associates with answers you may be interested in, per se--
Are you going to write the songs as you go? Ha, ha, ha. Well, I have already written a lot more than 8 that have never been recorded. But these songs will be folk-roots based, me and an acoustic playing through some high end expensive microphones. Think Bob Dylan meets John Prine. I would not be surprised if new songs are written by me before we finish the project. Heck, the first two songs were written within the last month, and one is already mixed.
Why are you doing a folk release? Because I have already done a pop release, a rock/wave release, an alternative release, a southern rock release, and an Americana/roots release. Plus, I need something I can sell at my solo shows that actually reflect what the fans hear live.
Are you going to stick with a folk/roots approach? As a solo artist, yes.
Well, thanks for reading through my friends, and I truly wish you all a peaceful and relaxing Holiday Season!
~~peace ~jamie
Saturday, December 23, 2017
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Happy Thanksgiving - 2017
Hello everybody,
And Happy Thanksgiving to all!
I am thankful, of course, for my family, friends, and health. Thank you Lord.
But, I am also thankful for all the new music friends I have met during the last five years.
You see, when I was much younger, music was core to my being. Hell, it always has been so. I learned to play guitars as a child (including that bass thingy), then played in many bands as a teen and a 20-something young man. I always had a punkish "just go" attitude about playing. I wrote some stuff, but was much more interested in playing live. And boy, did we. From halls to frat parties, bars and house parties, and cafes that were really bars, but that is another story. In 1990, at the old age of 26 and 10 years under my belt playing live music in a college AND resort town (gigs everywhere) -I went off to graduate school to explore the world. I then raised a beautiful family with my lovely bride, Beth, while holding various academic posts around the southeast. Music was still very much part of my life, but more like a pot simmering on the back of the stove.
Yeah, I played my guitars at home, for my wife mostly. And I even wrote songs during the 90's and 00's --though I lost many of them-- but was not playing live. The last time I played live was in some swank hotel in Williamsburg, Virginia in July of 1990 as the bass player in the ever popular "Part-time Blues Band" which had become "Straight No Chaser" when I played with them to "Hot Potato" after I left. All told, that group was around for about 8 years playing regularly. I was only with them for around 18 months before leaving the group to move out to Tennessee. The last song we played was "Blues in C" --which was an impromptu blues jam in C at the request of some drunk who bellowed "nobody leaves until y'all play the blues." Well, the front man turns to the band and says "blue in c" and off we went on an 8 minute jammer. That is how my ten year live music career ended. LOL.
Anyway, I rejoined the "scene" in 2013. Holy mole, music distribution was vastly different. Having no one to jam with, I resorted to building a home recording studio doing my old originals and new covers and releasing them on Sound Cloud. Low and behold I began to meet like my minded souls from around the damn planet. I was amazed. I also got the writing bug and have since released 23 pro cuts over a 4 year period. I have actually written 100+ tunes in various genres over the last five years, just to do it.
And in 2016 I began performing live again. At the age of 52 and exactly 26 years after walking away from playing live, I returned. And something clicked. I realized what was missing in my life. After a few months of flying solo I joined the Jamie Slate & Rev Rich duo, which most often plays as a trio and sometimes as a full band. I live to play live and preferably in a band. The energy and pure joy of playing in a live band, with the freedom to play what the hell we want to play, is enough pay for me to do it. And we do. :) Just go baby, just go.
But, more importantly for this post, I am thankful to have met so, so, so many people across the dang globe who perform, write or just love music as a fan. Some of these folk are listed below, and they are each a super person. Thanks to everybody and Happy Thanksgiving!
WriterWrWriterS
Writers: (w/ twitter accounts)
Chris Watkins: @ chrisdrunkpoets
Laura Marie: @ lauramariemusic
Tracy Colletto @ TracyColletto
Ryan Boyce @ _RYANBOYCEMUSIC
Ray Wilson @ raywilson
Neil & Adam @ neiladammusic
Merique: @ merique_h
Hannah Clive @ hannahclive
Elm Treason Band: @ elmtreasonband
Lost Generation Metal: Edmond Crabtree @LostGenMetal
Rubber Clown Car: Dirk @ rubberclowncar
Carlos Wilde @ carlos_wilde
Radio Stations & Personalities: (w/ twitter accounts)
KB Radio: Al Yardy KBRadio_THP
Big Time Radio: Ronnie Sparks bigtime_radio
Fish Creek Radio @ fishcreekradio
Radio Wig Wam @ Radio_WIGWAM
Spider Radio: Al Machette @ Spiderwebradio
Country Boy @ ignitionCountry
Music Fans: (w/ twitter accounts)
Sherry Baby @ SherryBabyRuth
Ave Marie @ Sherabphagmo
Gina Whitt @ @WhittginGina
Deb @ swydersk
Elizabeth O.S. Chute (also a musician) @ Passion_Meaning
Lis Vnorrland @ Lisvnorrland
Sorry for those not included, I just know so many folk I simply can not list everybody.
I do want to give a shout out to @GMAYMUSIC and to beccagohnmusic & @MosesMo oh and PellattGUITAR as well as Miccoliofficial & CocoOConnor OKAY, I must stop now, I could go on all day. Thanks to all! Oh and elorrey , SteveDunfee , MattBoydston , @stevoscully ...... .... ....and on and on
~~peace ~jamie
And Happy Thanksgiving to all!
I am thankful, of course, for my family, friends, and health. Thank you Lord.
But, I am also thankful for all the new music friends I have met during the last five years.
You see, when I was much younger, music was core to my being. Hell, it always has been so. I learned to play guitars as a child (including that bass thingy), then played in many bands as a teen and a 20-something young man. I always had a punkish "just go" attitude about playing. I wrote some stuff, but was much more interested in playing live. And boy, did we. From halls to frat parties, bars and house parties, and cafes that were really bars, but that is another story. In 1990, at the old age of 26 and 10 years under my belt playing live music in a college AND resort town (gigs everywhere) -I went off to graduate school to explore the world. I then raised a beautiful family with my lovely bride, Beth, while holding various academic posts around the southeast. Music was still very much part of my life, but more like a pot simmering on the back of the stove.
Yeah, I played my guitars at home, for my wife mostly. And I even wrote songs during the 90's and 00's --though I lost many of them-- but was not playing live. The last time I played live was in some swank hotel in Williamsburg, Virginia in July of 1990 as the bass player in the ever popular "Part-time Blues Band" which had become "Straight No Chaser" when I played with them to "Hot Potato" after I left. All told, that group was around for about 8 years playing regularly. I was only with them for around 18 months before leaving the group to move out to Tennessee. The last song we played was "Blues in C" --which was an impromptu blues jam in C at the request of some drunk who bellowed "nobody leaves until y'all play the blues." Well, the front man turns to the band and says "blue in c" and off we went on an 8 minute jammer. That is how my ten year live music career ended. LOL.
Anyway, I rejoined the "scene" in 2013. Holy mole, music distribution was vastly different. Having no one to jam with, I resorted to building a home recording studio doing my old originals and new covers and releasing them on Sound Cloud. Low and behold I began to meet like my minded souls from around the damn planet. I was amazed. I also got the writing bug and have since released 23 pro cuts over a 4 year period. I have actually written 100+ tunes in various genres over the last five years, just to do it.
And in 2016 I began performing live again. At the age of 52 and exactly 26 years after walking away from playing live, I returned. And something clicked. I realized what was missing in my life. After a few months of flying solo I joined the Jamie Slate & Rev Rich duo, which most often plays as a trio and sometimes as a full band. I live to play live and preferably in a band. The energy and pure joy of playing in a live band, with the freedom to play what the hell we want to play, is enough pay for me to do it. And we do. :) Just go baby, just go.
But, more importantly for this post, I am thankful to have met so, so, so many people across the dang globe who perform, write or just love music as a fan. Some of these folk are listed below, and they are each a super person. Thanks to everybody and Happy Thanksgiving!
WriterWrWriterS
Writers: (w/ twitter accounts)
Chris Watkins: @ chrisdrunkpoets
Laura Marie: @ lauramariemusic
Tracy Colletto @ TracyColletto
Ryan Boyce @ _RYANBOYCEMUSIC
Ray Wilson @ raywilson
Neil & Adam @ neiladammusic
Merique: @ merique_h
Hannah Clive @ hannahclive
Elm Treason Band: @ elmtreasonband
Lost Generation Metal: Edmond Crabtree @LostGenMetal
Rubber Clown Car: Dirk @ rubberclowncar
Carlos Wilde @ carlos_wilde
Radio Stations & Personalities: (w/ twitter accounts)
KB Radio: Al Yardy KBRadio_THP
Big Time Radio: Ronnie Sparks bigtime_radio
Fish Creek Radio @ fishcreekradio
Radio Wig Wam @ Radio_WIGWAM
Spider Radio: Al Machette @ Spiderwebradio
Country Boy @ ignitionCountry
Music Fans: (w/ twitter accounts)
Sherry Baby @ SherryBabyRuth
Ave Marie @ Sherabphagmo
Gina Whitt @ @WhittginGina
Deb @ swydersk
Elizabeth O.S. Chute (also a musician) @ Passion_Meaning
Lis Vnorrland @ Lisvnorrland
Sorry for those not included, I just know so many folk I simply can not list everybody.
I do want to give a shout out to @GMAYMUSIC and to beccagohnmusic & @MosesMo oh and PellattGUITAR as well as Miccoliofficial & CocoOConnor OKAY, I must stop now, I could go on all day. Thanks to all! Oh and elorrey , SteveDunfee , MattBoydston , @stevoscully ...... .... ....and on and on
~~peace ~jamie
Sunday, October 22, 2017
Unusual Summer Shows
So,
We are playing a sunset-into-evening gig outside Friday. Fortunately our roadie (my wife) thought to plug in the outdoor lights halfway into the second set, ha ha ha.
Actually lost a pic during a song, when it was dark. Never found the dang thing until after we broke down the gear.
But that was more amusing than annoying. Annoying is playing inside a converted warehouse --decent sound system - with no AC in the middle of summer. All 3 of us were drenched! My left hand was so wet I could barely fret the bass! I am guessing it was north of 110 degrees in there.
The folk liked it. I could tell. They were dancing on the sidewalk, to stay cool. LOL I did not think to photo-doc that show, which I regret. That was an unusual show.
Oh, almost forgot. Me and Tracy Colletto played a gig in the middle of a tornado warning. True story.
Peace y'all!
~jamie
We are playing a sunset-into-evening gig outside Friday. Fortunately our roadie (my wife) thought to plug in the outdoor lights halfway into the second set, ha ha ha.
Actually lost a pic during a song, when it was dark. Never found the dang thing until after we broke down the gear.
But that was more amusing than annoying. Annoying is playing inside a converted warehouse --decent sound system - with no AC in the middle of summer. All 3 of us were drenched! My left hand was so wet I could barely fret the bass! I am guessing it was north of 110 degrees in there.
The folk liked it. I could tell. They were dancing on the sidewalk, to stay cool. LOL I did not think to photo-doc that show, which I regret. That was an unusual show.
Oh, almost forgot. Me and Tracy Colletto played a gig in the middle of a tornado warning. True story.
Peace y'all!
~jamie
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