Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
According to the McCabes Guitar Shop Facebook page , Elvis was there last night with Jackshit
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verbal gymnastics
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Re: Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
The hat is back! 
Who’s this kid with his mumbo jumbo?
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bronxapostle
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Re: Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
can't wait for some NYC Jackshit this summer!! 
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Man out of Time
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Re: Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
Recent Pete Thomas interview and article by Brett Leigh Dicks regarding Jackshit:
"They are the most famous band to come out of Cochtotan, California. In fact, they are the only band to ever come out of Cochtotan. A trio of brothers who polished their chops playing six sets a night at the local Tufted Nighthatch Tavern and Bird Sanctuary, Jackshit would throw forth a good rockin’ soundtrack that had locals humming long after they’ve left the bar and being put into protective custody. Or so the legend goes. Not only could you be forgiven for thinking the three members of Jackshit look rather familiar, you could very well be right. The likes of Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams and Richard Thompson don’t usually join the ranks of just any back road bar band. Of course Jackshit is no ordinary band. Featuring the collective talents of Val McCallum, Davey Faragher, and Pete Thomas, the trio play a selection of country rock classics as only a band whose members have served tenure with the likes of Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, and U2 could. On Sunday, February 16th, Jackshit will bring their highbrow playing and lowbrow humor to Santa Barbara for the very first time when they string the chicken wire across the front of the Sings Like Hell stage at the Lobero Theater for a peanut shell crushing, beer bottle breaking, Cochtotan good time.
How is bar a band from Cochtotan going to fare on the stage of an ornate old opera house in Santa Barbara do you think?
Perhaps we will become more operatic. Jackshit is fairly adaptable. Back in Cochtotan, which, by-the-way, is about 90 miles south of Bakersfield, the only opera house we have is a barn. So perhaps this will inspire us to expand our professional musical outlook.
How did Jackshit come together?
Are you asking about the truth or the myth? The myth is we’re three brothers that grew up in Cochtotan behind the barn, but we all originally met doing the music for the television show Ally McBeal. That was a pretty regular gig. When I moved back to Los Angeles that was the gig that brought me back. It was regular work for three years and we all met doing that. We all liked that psychedelic country music, Johnny Cash and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and we started the band as an anecdote to original work. We don’t do any original songs so there’s no pressure there. You know when an original artist releases a new record and you go on tour and have to play all the songs from the new album, well, there’s none of that. We just get together and play some really good songs and fun have doing it. We just pick stuff we like and play it. There’s certainly no shortage of good material.
The three of you have been together for quite some time. Being pseudo-brothers, is it a case of blood being thicker than whiskey?
Maybe! I think we’re just very lucky because there are lots of musicians in LA that all play together on sessions, but not many of them get along well enough to have something like this go on for so long. We’re lucky that we’re friends and that musically we get along and don’t drive each other too mad. It’s not unique, but there aren’t many outfits like this. We just get to let off steam, really. But we’re always in pretty good form, even though we totally wing it. And now, because we play on other people’s records, people come down and sit in with us. Jackson Browne comes down all the time and Lucinda Williams stops by when she’s around. People come to see us and they’re half hoping there will be a couple of celebrities as well.
Jackshit throws forth an impeccable selection of classic Americana music. How did a lad from Sheffield, England, develop such an affinity for Americana?
When I was 19, I was in my first professional band in England called Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers. If you liked bands like Poco, Little Feet, Paul Butterfield and Dan Hicks, you would come and see Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers. We had pedal steel and banjo and I was in that band for two and half years and it was very formative. The two lead guys knew everything about that genre so I got turned on to that music really young and have always really liked it. So when I came to LA and met those Americana guys, that was a real treat for me. I have a slightly different take on it coming from England, I turned the other two onto a few things.
What brought you to the United States in the first instance?
After Chilli Willi I came to Los Angeles and played with a guy called John Stewart who was one of The Kingston Trio and through that I got to see the folk culture and met Dave Guard and all those guys and went to chili cook outs with very preppy people with check shirts. From there I went back to England and joined Elvis Costello. And Elvis Costello also came from that English pub rock background and knew people like Little Feat and Jesse Winchester, so me and Elvis were really on the same page in regard to all of that. I actually introduced him to Clover who played on his first record, so we all really came from country rock. Then I got with Elvis and we went a bit more punky and new wave, but it wasn’t too long before we did “Almost Blue” where we went to Nashville and recorded some great country songs.
I love the fact that you referenced Jesse Winchester in there. He is one of my favorite songwriters. He performed on “Spectacle,” the television program you did with Elvis Costello. I even remember him bringing a tear to Neko Case’s eye!
That’s right. I discovered him through Chilli Willi. I love him. I think Lyle Lovett took a lot from Jesse Winchester. And Elvis has always felt the same way about Jesse. So when he had that TV show it was a real treat for him to have Jesse on there.
Working on that show must have been a real treat for you, too. You got to play with some incredible people, usually across the span of just one episode!
It was more fun now I look back on it. There wasn’t a big budget so there wasn’t much time to rehearse and agree on what we’re going to do so there was a lot of looking around and thinking ‘when are we ending this tune?’ and all that sort of stuff. But, what is there to complain about? Me and Davey, who is also in Jackshit, got to play with Bono and The Edge, so essentially we were in U2 for three songs. How often does that happen? And then we got to be in Bruce Springsteen’s band. There he was turning around and throwing his first in the air and I’m thinking ‘what does that mean?’ “Does that mean stop or does it mean play louder?’ ‘Help!’ It was such a killer experience. Elvis has always been great for getting to meet and play with really great musicians.
Speaking of playing with really great musicians, you and Davey were an intricate part of WPA with the Watkin siblings, Benmont Tench, Greg Leisz, Luke Bulla and of course Glen Phillips. Elvis wasn’t involved there, so how did that come together?
I met Glen first. I played on his album “Winter Pays for Summer,” which John Fields produced. And he was friends with the Watkins so I started going down to their Family Hour shows at the old Largo. I knew Benmont from the good old days, from the height of new wave. He would come over to my house in England. Greg Leisz used to be the steel player in the John Stewart Band when I was here in 1975 so I have known Greg since way back then. It was really the jamming band from Largo and we did an album and a few gigs, but it was a bit much to keep together because there were a lot of people with other commitments. We did some great gigs: we did that Telluride Festival and that was great and also the show at the Lobero there in Santa Barbara. It was definitely a killer band. It is the sort of thing that can probably happen again.
You guys in Jackshit all have other commitments too. How often do you get together?
We play a lot at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles, which is a great club run by musicians for musicians. There’s no bullshit there. And we play at McCabe’s, which is also a great place. And then we do a few parties and occasionally go to Texas and now Peggie is bringing us to Santa Barbara. It would be great to build that up. We have promised to do our Jackshit best and I think we will be extending the hand of friendship to some of our Santa Barbara friends. My wife wants Jeff Bridges to come down. We can just lie and say they are coming down – Jeff Bridges, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Glen Phillips, and anyone else famous that lives in town!"
MOOT
"They are the most famous band to come out of Cochtotan, California. In fact, they are the only band to ever come out of Cochtotan. A trio of brothers who polished their chops playing six sets a night at the local Tufted Nighthatch Tavern and Bird Sanctuary, Jackshit would throw forth a good rockin’ soundtrack that had locals humming long after they’ve left the bar and being put into protective custody. Or so the legend goes. Not only could you be forgiven for thinking the three members of Jackshit look rather familiar, you could very well be right. The likes of Jackson Browne, Lucinda Williams and Richard Thompson don’t usually join the ranks of just any back road bar band. Of course Jackshit is no ordinary band. Featuring the collective talents of Val McCallum, Davey Faragher, and Pete Thomas, the trio play a selection of country rock classics as only a band whose members have served tenure with the likes of Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raitt, Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow, Willie Nelson, Bruce Springsteen, and U2 could. On Sunday, February 16th, Jackshit will bring their highbrow playing and lowbrow humor to Santa Barbara for the very first time when they string the chicken wire across the front of the Sings Like Hell stage at the Lobero Theater for a peanut shell crushing, beer bottle breaking, Cochtotan good time.
How is bar a band from Cochtotan going to fare on the stage of an ornate old opera house in Santa Barbara do you think?
Perhaps we will become more operatic. Jackshit is fairly adaptable. Back in Cochtotan, which, by-the-way, is about 90 miles south of Bakersfield, the only opera house we have is a barn. So perhaps this will inspire us to expand our professional musical outlook.
How did Jackshit come together?
Are you asking about the truth or the myth? The myth is we’re three brothers that grew up in Cochtotan behind the barn, but we all originally met doing the music for the television show Ally McBeal. That was a pretty regular gig. When I moved back to Los Angeles that was the gig that brought me back. It was regular work for three years and we all met doing that. We all liked that psychedelic country music, Johnny Cash and The Flying Burrito Brothers, and we started the band as an anecdote to original work. We don’t do any original songs so there’s no pressure there. You know when an original artist releases a new record and you go on tour and have to play all the songs from the new album, well, there’s none of that. We just get together and play some really good songs and fun have doing it. We just pick stuff we like and play it. There’s certainly no shortage of good material.
The three of you have been together for quite some time. Being pseudo-brothers, is it a case of blood being thicker than whiskey?
Maybe! I think we’re just very lucky because there are lots of musicians in LA that all play together on sessions, but not many of them get along well enough to have something like this go on for so long. We’re lucky that we’re friends and that musically we get along and don’t drive each other too mad. It’s not unique, but there aren’t many outfits like this. We just get to let off steam, really. But we’re always in pretty good form, even though we totally wing it. And now, because we play on other people’s records, people come down and sit in with us. Jackson Browne comes down all the time and Lucinda Williams stops by when she’s around. People come to see us and they’re half hoping there will be a couple of celebrities as well.
Jackshit throws forth an impeccable selection of classic Americana music. How did a lad from Sheffield, England, develop such an affinity for Americana?
When I was 19, I was in my first professional band in England called Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers. If you liked bands like Poco, Little Feet, Paul Butterfield and Dan Hicks, you would come and see Chilli Willi and the Red Hot Peppers. We had pedal steel and banjo and I was in that band for two and half years and it was very formative. The two lead guys knew everything about that genre so I got turned on to that music really young and have always really liked it. So when I came to LA and met those Americana guys, that was a real treat for me. I have a slightly different take on it coming from England, I turned the other two onto a few things.
What brought you to the United States in the first instance?
After Chilli Willi I came to Los Angeles and played with a guy called John Stewart who was one of The Kingston Trio and through that I got to see the folk culture and met Dave Guard and all those guys and went to chili cook outs with very preppy people with check shirts. From there I went back to England and joined Elvis Costello. And Elvis Costello also came from that English pub rock background and knew people like Little Feat and Jesse Winchester, so me and Elvis were really on the same page in regard to all of that. I actually introduced him to Clover who played on his first record, so we all really came from country rock. Then I got with Elvis and we went a bit more punky and new wave, but it wasn’t too long before we did “Almost Blue” where we went to Nashville and recorded some great country songs.
I love the fact that you referenced Jesse Winchester in there. He is one of my favorite songwriters. He performed on “Spectacle,” the television program you did with Elvis Costello. I even remember him bringing a tear to Neko Case’s eye!
That’s right. I discovered him through Chilli Willi. I love him. I think Lyle Lovett took a lot from Jesse Winchester. And Elvis has always felt the same way about Jesse. So when he had that TV show it was a real treat for him to have Jesse on there.
Working on that show must have been a real treat for you, too. You got to play with some incredible people, usually across the span of just one episode!
It was more fun now I look back on it. There wasn’t a big budget so there wasn’t much time to rehearse and agree on what we’re going to do so there was a lot of looking around and thinking ‘when are we ending this tune?’ and all that sort of stuff. But, what is there to complain about? Me and Davey, who is also in Jackshit, got to play with Bono and The Edge, so essentially we were in U2 for three songs. How often does that happen? And then we got to be in Bruce Springsteen’s band. There he was turning around and throwing his first in the air and I’m thinking ‘what does that mean?’ “Does that mean stop or does it mean play louder?’ ‘Help!’ It was such a killer experience. Elvis has always been great for getting to meet and play with really great musicians.
Speaking of playing with really great musicians, you and Davey were an intricate part of WPA with the Watkin siblings, Benmont Tench, Greg Leisz, Luke Bulla and of course Glen Phillips. Elvis wasn’t involved there, so how did that come together?
I met Glen first. I played on his album “Winter Pays for Summer,” which John Fields produced. And he was friends with the Watkins so I started going down to their Family Hour shows at the old Largo. I knew Benmont from the good old days, from the height of new wave. He would come over to my house in England. Greg Leisz used to be the steel player in the John Stewart Band when I was here in 1975 so I have known Greg since way back then. It was really the jamming band from Largo and we did an album and a few gigs, but it was a bit much to keep together because there were a lot of people with other commitments. We did some great gigs: we did that Telluride Festival and that was great and also the show at the Lobero there in Santa Barbara. It was definitely a killer band. It is the sort of thing that can probably happen again.
You guys in Jackshit all have other commitments too. How often do you get together?
We play a lot at the Baked Potato in Los Angeles, which is a great club run by musicians for musicians. There’s no bullshit there. And we play at McCabe’s, which is also a great place. And then we do a few parties and occasionally go to Texas and now Peggie is bringing us to Santa Barbara. It would be great to build that up. We have promised to do our Jackshit best and I think we will be extending the hand of friendship to some of our Santa Barbara friends. My wife wants Jeff Bridges to come down. We can just lie and say they are coming down – Jeff Bridges, David Crosby, Jackson Browne, Glen Phillips, and anyone else famous that lives in town!"
MOOT
Re: Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
All in Hat!verbal gymnastics wrote:The hat is back!
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bronxapostle
- Posts: 4915
- Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:27 pm
Re: Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
according to Pete at the BOOK:
CRY CRY CRY
A GOOD YEAR
TONIGHT THE BOTTLE
WHY DONT YOU LOVE
CRY CRY CRY
A GOOD YEAR
TONIGHT THE BOTTLE
WHY DONT YOU LOVE
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bronxapostle
- Posts: 4915
- Joined: Wed Jul 12, 2006 2:27 pm
Re: Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
lookie here what a new fbook friend sent my way; SWEET!!!!!!!!!!! good shit!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXkuMzF ... UXrlVRYv5w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHXkuMzF ... UXrlVRYv5w
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Man out of Time
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Re: Elvis with Jackshit, McCabes, March 22 2014
Good indeed, good audio and video. Your new friend has also posted this to YouTube:bronxapostle wrote:lookie here what a new fbook friend sent my way; SWEET!!!!!!!!!!! good shit!
Napoleon Dolemite and the Attractive Imposters (sic) playing 33 minutes of EC favourites. Not as good, in several ways, but may be of some interest. If nothing else a reminder why the originals are still the best.
MOOT