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