It’s been awhile since I’ve updated this blog. What can I say? Sometimes life gets crazy and updating the band blog has to get put on the backburner for awhile. I will try not to take 4 months off again though. That is a bit extreme. However, it is a bit past the point of finishing the tale of our glorious cat trip. That one will just have to remain with those of us on the trip.

A lot has gone on for the band in the past few months. Most of it has to do with being closer to home. In April, we decided to test the waters at Brad’s house. He has an extra bedroom that would cozily fit a four-piece band the size of Jababa. We were all getting tired of paying a lot of money to practice infrequently at Dog House in Lafayette. The hour round trip drive was killing our motivation to practice, and seriously inhibiting the band’s ability to move forward. Brad’s house seemed like a worthwhile option to explore.

So far we have been playing there for about a month and a half, and it has been working out great. We can all walk to and from practice, which is beautiful for summertime. It has led to us getting together more frequently, and we are starting to get a few new tunes in the rotation as a result. They should be ready to go for our summer gigs.

I think that overall, the move to Brad’s house has been one of the best things to happen to our band in a long time. We have all seemed to come together as a tight-knit group in the past few months, and I think our new practice situation has had a profound impact on that. I forsee many good things coming from Jababa as 2009 progresses.

We have also played a few Lazy Dog gigs this spring. Our late April gig was very successful. We had a great turn-out and the music was well-received. We shared the night with DJ Russo. He opened for us and played a short set during our set break. He did a great job, and everyone enjoyed his music selections. DJ Russo also sat in with us for several songs, and the collaboration yielded some of the most intersting moments of the night. I think everyone involved enjoyed having a DJ add a layer to our music. I know most of the feedback I received was very positive. We are looking forward to playing with DJ Russo again. Hopefully, we can develop somewhat of a regular collaboration with him.

We also played the Lazy Dog again at the end of May. This was somewhat of a last minute gig. We found out about it the day before, so there was not much time to promote. If you never heard about it, you have my deepest apologies, but when we find out on such short notice, it is hard to put the word out. We shared that gig with Raymond’s revolving door of musicians called the “Toothless Rednecks.”

That gig went very well too. Raymond put together a wide variety of music for the opener, and it all sounded great. We brought the night home, playing one long set from about 11:30-1:30. That set was one of our more spirited efforts, and I think many of the songs we played that night got into some great musical spaces.

We also played an impromptu jam at Brad’s house for the Bolder Boulder. The race goes right by his house, so we set up on his driveway and played all morning. Quite a few people stopped by to enjoy some music and cocktails, and to take in the race. That set was everything you’d expect from a “crack open a beer at 8 am” jam session — loose, improvisational, and very free form. Most of our songs got the extended treatment that morning. Sometimes it’s a lot of fun to have an opportunity to play that way and not have to be too concerned with issues such as tightness and execution. It is rare that we have such an opportunity.

As it has all spring, the weather refused to cooperate all day, so we had to bring the jam inside after about noon. Many of our local musician friends stopped by that afternoon, and the event turned into a musician’s jam party. From about 2-8 pm, there was a rotating lineup of musicians using our instruments. If you knew how to play an open instrument, you just sat down and gave it a whirl.

There were many moments were the Jababa boys were involved in some capacity. Others participating included Paul, Jubal, Timmy, Chris Carlin, Matt Johnson, and Chris Addison. I’m sure there were others as well. If I forgot to include you on this list, please accept my apologies.

We do have a few gigs cominig up next month. We are playing the Topo Ranch in Boulder on July 17th. It is an early show, starting at 5. There will be free beer and wine. What can be better?

We are also very excited to be a part of Some Mountain Jam 2 at the end of July. This year the festival will be the weekend of July 24-26. For those of you who missed it last year, you missed one of the best weekends of the summer. You should make an effort to get there this year. Jeff Lineback, the owner of the property and promoter of the festival, has put in a lot of work to make the festival grow this year. There will be music on both Friday and Saturday — 8 or 9 bands total. The party is on 7 acres of land just outside of Fairplay. There is also a full disc golf course and hopefully another pig roast. The band Yam is bringing their light show for the evening bands, so be prepared with all your favorite party favors. Jababa plays at 2 pm on Saturday. Check out the festival website for more information: www.somemountainjam.com

Stay tuned for other summer surprises out of Jababa. I’m sure there will be a few.

“The Jababa Chronicles”: All musings, anecdotes, philosophies, ramblings, rants, and tirades written exclusively by Andrew Martin unless otherwise specified.