Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    

Well, then.  I hope to see you there!
  

    

I was drafter to play the Grand Lake Farmers' Market yesterday when the
scheduled artist canceled.  Here's an improv I did, leading into a cover
song:

<http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/1962>
  

    

Greetings -

Rubber Souldiers have three appearances scheduled in Northern California over
the next several weeks. We're starting to pick up steam, with the help of a
great article by Regan McMahon in the San Francisco Chronicle on May24.

Here's the article:
<http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/05/22/PKTA17AHN5.DTL>

Or you can download the PDF here:
<http://www.trufun.com/rubbersouldiers/Datebook.pdf>

More information on the band, and some audio and video samples, at
<http://www.rubbersouldiers.com>


Sunday, June 14, 7pm: Rubber Souldiers at Don Quixote's International Music
Hall, 6275 Highway 9, Felton CA. $8. Tickets and reservations at Don
Quixote's - call 831-603-2294 <http://www.donquixotesmusic.info>

Saturday, June 20, 3pm: David Nelson Band, Lorin Rowan's Rattlebox, and
Rubber Souldiers at the Nelson Family Vineyards, 550 Nelson Ranch Road, Ukiah
CA. <http://www.nelsonband.com> <http://www.nelsonfamilyvineyards.com/>

July 4 weekend: David Gans plays Grateful Fest, Nelson Ledges Quarry Park,
Garrettsville OH. Dark Star Orchestra, Keller Williams, Donna Jean Godchaux
Band, and many more!  <http://www.nlqp.com>

Thursday, July 9: Rubber Souldiers in Concord CA. Details TBA.

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

October 22-25: MagnoliaFest, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live
Oak, FL. DG will be there, and it seems likely the Rowan Brothers and Rubber
Souldiers will be, too.

*
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>
* * *
As always, more info at <http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html>
  

    

Jon Winer's review of "Weirdest" on amazon:

<http://www.amazon.com/review/R3N611U9BA5D4T/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm>
  

    

Hello, friends -

This is a gigspam message with some extra stuff in it.

It's been a busy and musically rewarding summer despite the weird and
somewhat depressing state of the music business.  Although gasoline prices
have come down from their alarming peaks of last summer, the cost-benefit
analysis of doing club dates is not terribly encouraging, so I have largely
stuck to the festival gigs rather than strings of one-nighters.  I passed up
an opportunity to play A Bear's Picnic for the third year in a row in order
to spend my wife's birthday with her in one of her favorites places: Point
Reyes National Seashore.  I had a fine time at Grateful Fest (Nelson Ledges,
Ohio) and Gathering of the Vibes (Bridgeport, Connecticut), and I've been
playing a lot in the Bay Area in various solo and ensemble configurations.
And Rubber Souldiers have had some swell times, too, in between the Rowan
Brothers' and my own musical commitments.  We are gearing up for more
adventures with our "Beatles jam band," including a return to MagnoliaFest in
October and (we hope) more touring in 2010.

In September I will play Schwagstock, my second appearance at Camp Zoe
(Missouri) this year; October will see my much-anticipated (by me!) debut at
Shakori Hills in Pittsboro, North Carolina - hosted by the wonderful band
Donna the Buffalo.  I'll tour in the east between Shakori Hills and Magnolia
Fest; I am hoping to fill in the mid-October stretch with performances in
several southeastern towns I've been missing for way too long; I've already
got 10/20 confirmed in Cullman, Alabama, and I am working on other
possibilities in the region.  I'll post the gigs a
http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html as they're confirmed.

Okay, now here's the "extra stuff."  On June 21, my longtime friend and
musical partner Alan Feldstein died at home from a heart attack. The news hit
our old Berkeley crowd hard; to me, it feels like a major thread of my life's
tapestry has been yanked out.  Al and I had what you might call a tumultuous
relationship over the years; his wife, Caryn, told me recently she called me
"Al's other wife" - undoubtedly because we fought like a married couple a
lot!  But we made a lot of music together, and I have been laughing and
crying through an extensive audio archive of our history since we got the
news.

Our friendship and musical relationship began when I moved to Berkeley in
1973.  We bonded over Grateful Dead music but shared a love for many styles,
and we played each other's original music in various bands, most notably The
Reptiles, off and on for more than thirty years.  Many of the highest moments
of my life had Al in 'em, and I'm having a hard time getting used to the idea
that we won't have any more.

You can read about Al, hear some of the music we made together, and see some
of his own words from online posts, on my blog -
http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/tag/al-feldstein - and I would
especially like to direct your attention to the comments section of this
post, http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/2056 , where several dozen
others who loved Al Feldstein have shared their thoughts and stories.

You might also enjoy looking at these photos  from our mutual history:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dgans/sets/72157621957950690/ and, from Rich
Burgdorf, http://www.flickr.com/photos/18362510@N03

We're getting the old band, and gang, together in Al's memory on Friday,
September 4, at the Starry Plough in Berkeley.  I've been performing two of
Al's six Reptile originals for several years, and I am working up the other
four because I can't imagine not playing them ever again.  Anyone who attends
the four solo shows I'm doing in the next week and a half (details below)
will hear these works-in-progress.




Friday, August 28: House concert in Salt Lake City. Email
kasidybaker@hotmail.com for info & reservations.

Saturday, August 29: Private event in Moab UT

Sunday, August 30, 6:00 pm: Dolores River Brewery, Dolores CO with The
Lindells. No cover! http://www.lindellsmusic.com
http://www.doloresriverbrewery.com

Tuesday, September 1, 7pm: The Rim Rock, 2523 East Utah Highway 24, Torrey
UT. No cover!  http://www.therimrock.net/

Thursday, September 3, 7:30 pm: Rubber Souldiers In The Parking Lot at
Adele's, corner of Curry & John Streets in Carson City

Friday, September 4: Reptile reunion in memory of Al Feldstein. Starry
Plough, 3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley CA

September 18-19: Schwagstock, Camp Zoe MO. The Schwag, EOTO, Panjea,
Nailhouse, and more. http://www.campzoe.com/schwagstock42.html

Saturday, September 26, 1:10-1:55 pm: Rubber Souldiers @ Rock'n'Blues By the
Lake, Stafford Lake, Novato CA. http://www.rnblake.com/


Saturday, September 26, 7:30 pm: Celebrating Songwriters with DG, Garrin
Benfield, and host Caren Armstrong. $10 donation. Left Coast Cyclery, 2928
Domingo Ave, Berkeley CA. http://www.celebratingsongwriters.com/

October 8-11: Fall Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance,
Pittsboro NC. http://www.shakorihills.org

Tuesday, October 20: Berkeley Bob's Coffee House, 304 1st Ave, Cullman, AL.
http://www.berkeleybob.com

October 22-25: MagnoliaFest, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live
Oak, FL. DG will play solo and with Rubber Souldiers. http://www.magmusic.com

Friday, October 30: Chico CA - benefit for KZFR community radio. Details TBA.

Saturday, October 31: DG opens for The Waybacks in Mt Shasta CA

* * *

As always, more info at http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html

If we're not already friends on Facebook, please friend me!  And I'm
twittering now, too, a little - I'm davidgans there.

How are you?
  

    
Sorry to hear of Alan's passing, David.
  

    
(tnf) posted on Facebook that he is in the hospital in Carson City
with Pericarditis.  He is canceling all of his gigs this week.  He
said not to worry though, and that the prognosis is good.
  

    

Oh no!
  

    
Good lord.

Please reform healthcare.
  

    
Indeed! Mend well, David.
  

    

Not pericarditis after all, but a goddamn heart attack!  "Mild to moderate,"
and not bad enough that I wasn't able to drive myself two hours to a hospital
for what turned out to be an angioplasty.

I am home now, in the capable and loving hands of my beloved <reet>.

I am writing it all up; it's a hell of a tale, and I am happy to behere to
tell it.
  

    

Let's begin with a very upbeat health update!

I rode my bike to my cardiologist yesterday. My blood pressure and heart rate
are "excellent."  Cutting my beta-blocker dose in half did the trick. My EKG
is still abnormal, but in the expected way, and headed back toward normal. As
Bob Dylan sang, "You can always go back, but you can't go back all the way" -
and it may never return all the way to "normal."  But I'm doing fine. I still
have to carry nitroglycerin, but it seems highly unlikely I'll ever need to
use it.

And as you can see, I'm ready, willing and able to make music, starting
almost immediately!


Saturday, September 26, 1:10-1:55 pm: Rubber Souldiers @ Rock'n'Blues By the
Lake, Stafford Lake, Novato CA. http://www.rnblake.com/

Saturday, September 26, 7:30 pm: Celebrating Songwriters with DG, Garrin
Benfield, and host Caren Armstrong. $10 donation. Left Coast Cyclery, 2928
Domingo Ave, Berkeley CA. http://www.celebratingsongwriters.com/

Wednesday, September 30, 4-8 pm: Fairfax Farmers' Market, Bolinas Park,
Fairfax CA. Free!

Thursday, October 1, 9:00 pm: Dead night at the Ashkenaz. The Reptiles open
with a 75-minute set; DJ gankmore spins high-grade GD for the rest of the
night. 1317 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley CA.

Saturday, October 3, 9:30 am to 1:30 pm: Grand Lake Farmers' Market, Splash
Pad Park (across from the Grand Lake Theater), Oakland CA. Free!

Sunday, October 4: DG plays the Poster Room (upstairs bar) at the Fillmore,
Fillmore @ Geary, San Francisco. Dark Star Orchestra is the headliner. DG
plays before the show and during the break.

October 10-11: Fall Shakori Hills Grassroots Festival of Music and Dance,
Pittsboro NC. http://www.shakorihills.org

October 14-16: Asheville NC (tentative). Details TBA - check
http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html for more info as we know it.

Saturday, October 17: The Music Room at Carillon, Kennesaw GA. DG, Sundown
Underground, Gr8ful Dude and Frenz. Potluck dinner at 6:30, then music! Email
jim@jimroe.com for info and reservations.

Sunday, October 18: house concert in Decatur GA. Potluck dinner at 4:30pm,
music 5:30-ish. $10 suggested donation. Email david@trufun.com for
reservation/more info. You might need to bring your own chair, too!

Tuesday, October 20: Berkeley Bob's Coffee House, 304 1st Ave, Cullman, AL.
http://www.berkeleybob.com

October 22-25: MagnoliaFest, at the Spirit of the Suwannee Music Park in Live
Oak, FL. DG will play solo and with Rubber Souldiers. http://www.magmusic.com

Friday, October 30: Chico CA - benefit for KZFR community radio. Details TBA.

November 5-8: Northern California tour with DG (solo electric) and Boris
Garcia http://www.borisgarcia.com

Thursday, November 5: Boris Garcia and DG at the Connecticut Yankee, 100
Connecticut Street, San Francisco

Friday, November 6: Boris Garcia and DG (et al) at Harvest Hoedown -
Brooktrails Lodge, 24675 Birch St, Willits CA

Saturday, November 7: Boris Garcia and DG at the Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck
Avenue, Berkeley CA

Sunday, November 8: Boris Garcia and DG at Humboldt Brews, 856 10th Street,
Arcata CA. 707-826-2739

Saturday, December 12: House concert in Berkeley CA. Details TBA.

Friday, December 18: DG plays the Poster Room (upstairs bar) at the Fillmore,
Fillmore @ Geary, San Francisco. Steve Kimock Crazy Engine is the headliner.
DG plays before the show and during the break.

Monday, December 27: DG plays the Poster Room (upstairs bar) at the Fillmore,
Fillmore @ Geary, San Francisco. Railroad Earth is the headliner. DG plays
before the show and during the break.

* * *

As always, more info at http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html
  

    


Positive review of "Weirdest" in the online magazine Bluegrass Special:

<http://thebluegrassspecial.com/archive/2009/november2009/gansnov09.php>
  

    
Nice one!   
  

    
Sweet!
  

    
Great!
  

    

Video clip from Mystic Hot Springs 1/4/10:

Like a Dog->
Terrapin->
Cassidy's Cat->
An American Family

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iMfIbA1Kwa0>
  

    


Rubber Souldiers - "Beatles jam band" in Berkeley tonight!

Thursday, January 7, 9pm: RUBBER SOULDIERS (Beatles Jam Band with Chris
Rowan, Lorin Rowan, David Gans, Joshua Zucker, and CC Dawson) at the
Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Ave, Berkeley CA. http://www.rubbersouldiers.com
  

    


David Gans - "solo electric" except as noted

Friday, February 12, 7pm: House concert in Placitas NM. Contact me for more
info.

Saturday, February 13, 8-11pm: Mountain High Bar, 12220 N. Hwy 14  (next door
to Ribs BBQ), Cedar Crest NM. $5. 505-281-4227

Saturday, February 20, 9am to 1am: the annual KPFA Grateful Dead Marathon.
Also celebrating my 25th anniversary of broadcasting!

Wed Feb 24, 8pm: BK3 live in the KPFA performance studio.
http://www.billkreutzmann.net

Saturday, February 27, 8pm: The China Cats, David Gans, and Jeni Swerdlow's
DRUMMM at the Starry Plough, 3101 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley CA. $10

Sunday, February 28, 8:30am to 1pm: Marin Farmers' Market at the Marin Civic
Center in San Rafael CA. Free! Great organic produce, prepared foods, etc.

Monday, March 1, 8pm: Wake the Dead and Rubber Souldiers play a benefit for
Haiti relief at the Freight and Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley CA.
Tickets are now on sale!

Saturday, March 6: Sutter Creek Theater, Sutter Creek CA. 916-425-0077
  

    

Happy SPRINGTIME, everybody!

Below you will find a complete listing of confirmed gigs for the spring and
summer.  Coming right up are a Dead jam in San Francisco this Friday and two
Bay Area farmers' market gigs next week.  More events are being planned and
will be posted as they're confirmed.

I'm always looking for house concert opportunities in the vicinity of the
music festivals; if you're interested in hosting one, please get in touch.

We are on the verge of releasing a digital single titled "LIFE IS A JAM," and
today I am offering a special limited-edition promo CD to help with the cost
of getting this thing to market.  Please visit http://www.dgans.com/liaj for
a link and more info.

Short version: "Life Is a Jam" was recorded last December.  I wrote the song
and sing lead and play guitar, accompanied by Mark Karan (Ratdog, Jemimah
Puddleduck) on lead guitar; Mookie Siegel (David Nelson Band) on keyboards;
Joe Kyle, Jr. (The Waybacks) on bass; Dave Brogan (ALO) on drums; and Zac
Matthews (Hot Buttered Rum) and Bear Kittay on background vocals.  We had to
press some promotional CDs to send to radio and press, so we made a few extra
copies to sell at a premium price to help finance the release.  Please visit
http://www.dgans.com/liaj for a link to buy a copy of the special CD.
(There's an option to request that the CD be autographed if you like.)

As always, more information on these performances at http://www.dgans.com


David Gans shows

Friday, April 2: Dead Dreams (Dave Stein, David Gans, Jeff Faust, Mark
Corsolini, and Ray Hauck) acoustic Dead night at the Connecticut Yankee, 100
Connnecticut Street, San Francisco. $10

Thursday, April 8, 8:30am to 1pm: Marin Farmers' Market at the Marin Civic
Center in San Rafael CA. Free! Great organic produce, prepared foods, etc.

Saturday, April 10, 9:30 am to 1:30 pm: Grand Lake Farmers' Market, at Splash
Pad Park (Lake Park and Grand Avenues), Oakland. Free! Great organic produce,
prepared foods, etc.

Saturday, April 17, 8:30pm: DG opens for Mark Karan and Jemimah Puddleduck at
the Mill Valley Masonic, 19 Corte Madera Avenue, Mill Valley CA

April 23-24: Shakori Hills Grass Roots Festival of Music and Dance, Silk Hope
NC

Tuesday, April 27: DG and Friends @ Jay Sanders' Mindtonic Music Series at
Rocket Club, Asheville NC

Wednesday, April 28: Greensboro NC (tentative)
Thursday, April 29: DG and Friends at Mo Daddy's, Asheville NC. $7
Friday, April 30: DG and Friends at the Reel House, Boone NC
Saturday, May 1: TBA

Thursday, May 6, 8pm: The Curios, Michael Foley, and DG at the Freight and
Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley.

Friday, May 14: Rubber Souldiers at the Mill Valley Masonic, 19 Corte Madera
Avenue, Mill Valley CA

Thursday, May 20: XTra Ticket and DG at the Sail Inn, Tempe AZ
Friday, May 21: Flagstaff AZ
Saturday, May 22: Mountain High Bar, Cedar Crest NM
May 28-30: Desert Rocks Music Festival, Moab UT

Wednesday, June 16, 4-8pm: Fairfax Farmers' Market, in Bolinas Park, Fairfax
CA. Free! Great organic produce, prepared foods, etc.

July 2-5: Grateful Fest at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Nelson/Garrettsville
OH
July 29-August 1: Gathering of the Vibes, Bridgeport CT
August 13-15: A Bear's Picnic, Laurelton PA
September 9-12: Terrapin Hill Harvest Festival, Harrodsburg KY

http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html
  

    

Solo performance of "Life Is a Jam" from last Friday at the Mill Valley
Masonic:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lqkel1LCnNI>

And I believe the new single is ready for download now at
<http://www.dgans.com/liaj/>
  

    

The "Life Is a Jam" download is ALMOST ready to go. Maybe by the time you
read this - give us a try at http://www.dgans.com/liaj/download

To refresh your memory, "Life Is a Jam" is a studio recording with me on
guitar and vocals, Mark Karan (Jemimah Puddueduck, Ratdog) on lead guitar,
Mookie Siegel (David Nelson Band) on keyboards, Joe Kyle, Jr (The Waybacks)
on bass, Dave Brogan (ALO) on drums, and Zac Matthews (Hot Buttered Rum) and
Bear Kittay on background vocals. The download package and promo CD contain
three versions of the song, each with a unique jam - a total of about 27
minutes of music for your money!

Here is a solo performance of "Life Is a Jam," recorded April 17 at the Mill
Valley Masonic: http://cloudsurfing.gdhour.com/archives/3321

We still have a few copies of the limited-edition promo CD available at
http://www.dgans.com/liaj/

-

I'm about to get on a plane for North Carolina, where I'll play two
festivals, four club dates, and my good pal Mark van Allen's wedding bash -
can't wait!

In May, I go to the southwest for a short run of shows that ends Memorial Day
weekend at the Desert Rocks Music Festival in Moab, Utah. And while I'm
there, on Sunday, May 30, I will be participating in a guided bike tour of
the Moab area sponsored by Rock the Earth (rocktheearth.org). Details haven't
been posted yet; stay tuned.

I'm hoping to add a gig or two to my Ohio trip in early July. If you have an
Ohio venue in mind, or if you're interested in hosting a house concert,
please get in touch.

Anyway, here's a complete list of confirmed gigs as it stands today. Details,
links, and more info at http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html - and new performances
are being added to the schedule as they're confirmed.

I hope to see you at one or more of these shows, and I hope you'll spread the
word!



April 23-24: Shakori Hills Grass Roots Festival of Music and Dance, Silk Hope
NC

Sunday, April 25, 7pm: The first annual Franallen Jam (celebrating the
wedding of my good friends Mark van Allen and Fran Cooper!) at Eddie's Attic,
515 B McDonough Street, Decatur GA. Tickets are on sale now.

Tuesday, April 27: DG and Friends @ Jay Sanders' Mindtonic Music Series at
Rocket Club, Asheville NC

Wednesday, April 28, 9:30pm: DG and Friends at the Blind Tiger, Greensboro NC
Thursday, April 29: DG and Friends at Mo Daddy's, Asheville NC. $7
Friday, April 30: DG and Friends at the Reel House, Boone NC
Saturday, May 1: French Broad River Festival, Hot Springs NC

Thursday, May 6, 8pm: The Curios, Michael Foley, and DG at the Freight and
Salvage, 2020 Addison Street, Berkeley.

Thursday, May 20: XTra Ticket and DG at the Sail Inn, Tempe AZ
Friday, May 21: Flagstaff Brewing Company, Flagstaff AZ
Saturday, May 22: Mountain High Bar, Cedar Crest NM
Sunday, May 23: Mike's Music Exchange, Santa Fe NM
Wednesday, May 26: The Rim Rock, Torrey UT
May 28-30: Desert Rocks Music Festival, Moab UT

Sunday, June 12: Fairfax Festival, Fairfax CA
Wednesday, June 16, 4-8pm: Fairfax Farmers' Market, in Bolinas Park, Fairfax
CA. Free! Great organic produce, prepared foods, etc.

July 2-5: Grateful Fest at Nelson Ledges Quarry Park in Nelson/Garrettsville
OH
July 29-August 1: Gathering of the Vibes, Bridgeport CT
August 6-8: A Festival of Family, Millerton NY - benefit for the Rex
Foundation
August 13-15: A Bear's Picnic, Laurelton PA
September 9-12: Terrapin Hill Harvest Festival, Harrodsburg KY

http://www.dgans.com/gigs.html
  

    


Video of my Cabaret Tent set at Shakori Hills 4/24:

<http://www.justin.tv/tourcast/b/262769267>
  

    


Really nice interview in the Mountain Times of Boone NC:

<http://www2.mountaintimes.com/entertainment_focus/David_Gans_Playing_in_the_Ba
nd_id_001237>
  

    
That is an excellent article -- I think it's my favorite of all the DG 
coverage I have read. Number one, he never says it's been a long strange 
trip. Number two, he's a really excellent writer and he hits all the notes 
and uses good quotes. Frank Ruggiero -- I will keep an eye open for that 
byline.