Southeast Shows Cancelled

Dear friends -

I regret to inform you that I will be rescheduling our dates in the Southeast.  This includes the Atlanta, Chattanooga, Birmingham and Nashville dates.

My father  passed away of bone cancer recently and my family will likely be holding services during that time.

He was a strong man and I will miss him dearly.   I'm thankful and comforted to know that I was able to give him his last wishes.  He spent his last months in my house, close to his children and loved ones.  In his final moments, we were all able to be there and we surrounded him with love and music.   He passed peacefully on Friday, October 21st.

Going through some old photo albums, my mother came across this photograph.  This is my father singing to me as an infant.  I find it a beautiful and poignant statement right now.   (not to mention my kick-ass headband.)

The Chico shows this weekend will go on as planned.  Hope to see y'all there.

Thanks for understanding.

Sincerely,

Jackie

Fall Tour 11'

Thanks to all those who attended our East coast and midwest shows this Fall.  We had a great time and we hope to see you again real soon.  Special thanks to Tim and Nicki Bluhm and Truth and Salvage, who accompanied us on much of this journey. Extra special thanks to Ringo,  Big D, Joe, Chuckles and Nora for taking good care of us out there.

Thanks to everyone who attended my very first art shows.  Hopefully, I'll get to do more sometime soon.

I'm off to play the Southern Grounds festival this friday with Trigger Hippy and then headed back west.  Hope to see ya out on the west coast.

Jackie

Fall Tour Coming Up

Hi Folks! We are looking forward to our Fall tour!  Hope to see ya'll out there.  Don't by shy, now!  We'll be starting in Pittsburgh, (let's try this again, shall we?) and heading up to Syracuse and Buffalo.  A couple nights in Ann Arbor.  Chicago and Cleveland are also in the mix as well as lovely little Burlington, VT.  Of course, we will be getting nasty in Boston and Philly (Hell of a season for the phillies, by the way!) and of course....a couple nights in New York.

I'm also pleased to announce that we will be showing some of my artwork at some of these shows.  The details are still coming on which ones, but I'll keep ya updated.  I hope ya'll can have a chance to browse around and say hello.

Speaking of... I'll be doing a gallery show in DC on the 28th.  If you are interested in attending, please RSVP:

marydouglasdrysdale@yahoo.com

Tickets for the shows are available online! Some are going pretty quick.  Hope to see ya'll out there!

Jackie

Art Show in DC

Hello friends, I'm pleased to announce that I'll be doing another art show in DC soon. Here are the details: Mary Douglas Drysdale and Cross MacKenzie Gallery

invite you to attend a private showing and reception for JACKIE GREENE

Musician/Songwriter/Artist

Wednesday, September 28, 2011

6:00 pm-9:00 pm

2026 "R" Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20009

R.S.V.P.

Esther@ (202)588-0700 or marydouglasdrysdale@yahoo.com

Aspen, CO

Hi friends,We've added a few dates to our tour calendar. Next up is a an acoustic show at the Belly Up in Aspen, CO on August 17th. Come on out and get folky with us. Also I'm doing my very first gallery show the next day (August 18th) at a gallery in Aspen. If you're interested and in town, come on out. Info below.

Jackie Greene- Paintings, Drawings and Prints Thursday, August 18, 2011 Reception: 6:00 pm - 8:00 p.m.

Unique Modern Art Gallery 307 S. Galena Street Aspen, CO 81611 970-920-2200

Things I Love About The South

Thanks to all you folks who came out and supported our first Trigger Hippy shows this past week! It was a blast (albeit ridiculously hot and humid) and we had a great time. Hope to do it again sometime soon.I've always had sort of a love / hate relationship with the South (as I think many folks do) but after some pondering, it turns out that I just plain love the South. Here's why:

1. Music. I don't believe I need to explain this one. 2. People. Some of the nicest, most genuine people i've met are from the South. 3. Women. Let's face it. There's a disproportionate amount of really beautiful women down there. Drives a single boy crazy. 4. Sun Drop in the glass bottle. It's delicious. And we don't have it in California. (as far as I know) 5. BBQ. One of my favorite activities is trying out new BBQ places. I'm such a dork that I actually carry a list of my favorite BBQ places in my wallet. Needless to say, most of the places on that list are in the South. 6. North Carolina in the Fall. 7. Charleston, SC

Don't get me wrong -- I love a lot of other places too. It's just been on my mind after spending a lot of time in Nashville this year. Hope to get back there soon!

In the meantime, we'll be gearing up for our Fall tour of the East coast. (yes, we love you guys too! Especially Boston. You guys are crazy!) Hope to see ya'll out there!! J

Ladies and Gentlemen, Introducing Trigger Hippy

Hello friends, I just got back from an awesome gig in Woodstock with Phil Lesh and his sons Brian and Grahame. I got to hang out with my old pals Larry and Teresa. Joey Russo was back on the skins kicking some serious ass. Fun times, all around. Of course, the Levon Helm band killed it (as usual). Danny Louis and Marco Benevento were also in the house and tore up a few numbers. For those of you who have never been to a Midnight Ramble....GO TO ONE! You won't regret it. It's just about the most fun you can have with your pants on.

In other news, I'm excited to tell you that I joined a group called Trigger Hippy. We've been rehearsing some in Nasvhille and have some select dates planned for summer. It's an awesome lineup: Steve Gorman, Nick Govrik, Joan Osborne, Audley Freed and little ol' me. Check us out: www.triggerhippy.net Look out ya'll!! We be on the facebook as well.

There are still some tickets left for the Swedish American Hall shows in San Francisco. These are special acoustic shows and I'm going to try and focus some attention on the unreleased songs from my lyrics book that just came out. We'll have copies for sale at the show if you wanna check it out.

New book is here!

photo-e13078401789661.jpg

Hello friends - It is my pleasure to announce that my book is finished and will be released at the Swedish American Hall acoustic shows. That was always the plan, but I wanted to make sure it would get printed in time before I announced it. The book is a collection of song lyrics for every song I've written over the past 10 years. There's lots of stuff in there that nobody has ever heard. I'm planning on performing many of those songs for the first time at these shows. It took me quite awhile to put this book together. I went through old notebooks, demo tapes, etc. I made some footnotes for many of the songs, just to give a little bit of insight into their origin and whatnot.

For those of you on the east coast who are interested but can't make these shows, fear not! It will be available online and at select bookstores in the near future!

Hope to see ya'll out at some shows this summer!

Love and licorice - Jackie

Updates and such...

Greetings friends - First I'd like to announce that the Fairytale Town show in Sacramento has been rescheduled to 6/26 due to a likely rain-out. We figure even if it doesn't rain on that day, the ground will be too damp from previous rains for everyone to sit down. We want people to be comfortable and have a good time. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Those of you present last night in Chico may have noticed the new "Art Table". As some of you may or may not know, I do a lot of drawing and painting both on the road and at home. Some of the pieces have been turned into fine art prints and are for sale in very limited editions. Each one is signed and numbered (by me) and comes with a certificate of authenticity. (Those of you who are collectors will understand and appreciate this.) Right now, we have just one print. It's limited to 100 pieces and once it's gone, it's gone! There's no telling which shows we will have the art table and what pieces we will have in the future, so keep an eye out!

Over and out Jackie

On The Road Again

Hello friends, First, I'd like to apologize to all the Pittsburgh fans for canceling tonight's show. I truly did my best to get there, but it didn't work out. I thought I would take this moment to update those of you who are interested in our tour status. I figure I can elaborate a little more in this space, rather than a few snippets on Facebook.

The rest of the band flew into Pittsburgh on Monday. I decided not to fly this time because I had a recent incident involving a small plane and a tornado in Nashville. Needless to say, I didn't want to fly after that crazy episode. Frankly, I'm scared shit-less to fly right now. So I thought it would be fun to join Charles (our trustee road manager) on his cross country journey driving our van and trailer full of gear from Sacramento to Pittsburgh. Charles is a road warrior. He can do a 12 hour day and get up and mix a festival show the next afternoon. It's impressive, truly.

I'm sorry to say, the whole thing started badly. About 3 hours after we left Sacramento, we had to turn around and go straight back because our trailer break lights went out. As you can imagine, it's highly dangerous (not to mention against the law) to drive around without brake lights on your trailer. Luckily, Charles had a mechanic pal in Sacramento who fixed us right up and we were back on the road.

At that point, we'd only lost 1/2 a day. No big deal. We could make it up with one long haul. Then the bottom fell out. (Not literally, thank God.) We were nearing the town of Rawlins, Wyoming at around 10pm on Friday when we started to lose power. We pulled off to a gas station to see what was wrong and it turned out the battery was dying. They didn't have one at the station, so we called the Travel Center (basically the next truck stop) and they said they could send somebody out within 45 minutes with a new battery for us. Fantastic! Well, that dude didn't show up until 2:30am. Meanwhile, we are waiting in the freezing cold. (Every so often going inside the gas station to warm up and buy crappy coffee.) Finally the dude shows up and, of course, the battery doesn't fit. He gave us a ride to the truck stop (where he worked) and luckily there was a motel next door. So we check in and go to sleep. The next morning, we discover that it's in fact the alternator that has gone bad. The only place in town that can fix it is the dealer and they don't open up until Monday. By then, there's no way we can finish the drive to Pittsburgh to get there on time. So we look at options. We decide to do a really long haul to Des Moines, IA so I can fly out Tuesday morning and meet the band to make the show. The opening band was gracious enough to let us use their gear, since ours wouldn't have made it. (Big thanks to Waylon Speed)

Charles and I had Easter dinner at a truck stop in Rawlins, WY. He had corned beef hash and I had the lasagna. As my dad would say -- "that builds character!". I've had enough character building for one week...

Anyways -- ! After a 14 hour drive to Des Moines, we get in at 5am or so. I'm all set and scheduled on the 10am to Chicago, then to Pittsburgh. Arriving in Pittsburgh around 3pm. Perfect! Just in time for soundcheck. Guess what happens next? I go to check in and my flight to Chicago has been cancelled. Unbelievable! After a confusing conversation with the desk guy, I agree to go on stand by for the next flight to Chicago, then try and make the next available flight to Pittsburgh. (Which would have been arriving around 745pm. No soundcheck, but just in time for the show.)

Long story longer, I wasn't able to get on the flight. The next available option for me would have put me into Pittsburgh at midnight. Obviously, no good. I'm Sorry Pittsburgh -- I really tried to make it happen. I'll make it up to you.

So, after continuing our road journey east, I'm sitting in an airport motel in Chicago. I'm booked on a flight to DC, hoping to make the show at the Birchmere tomorrow. Still don't have our own gear, but we will use whatever is available to us and make it happen. I'm exhausted, but I'm totally ready. Ready to fucking tear that place up. Bring it!

Jackie

New Book and Updates

Greetings friends and neighbors, It is my unfortunate duty to inform you (if you haven't heard) that the Nateva festival has been cancelled. It's a shame because I was looking forward to it. We'll do our best to make our way to that part of the country anyways though.

I've been working on a number of projects. One I'd like to mention is my book. No, it's not a novel. It's a lyrics book. It's a collection of every song I've written for the last 10 years. Both released and unreleased songs. It took me a long time to compile this collection. (10 years, to be exact!) I think you'll enjoy it when it comes out. I dug deep into my memory and made some notes about many of the songs. It's all in the book. Anyways, I'm not sure the exact release date as I'm still editing and fiddling with it some. Hopefully soon.

We are continuing to add tour dates, so please check back to see if we are coming your way. Or you can download the iPhone app (for free) that will keep you informed and updated.

Hope to see ya out on the road - Jackie

PS Thank God it's baseball season again.

Tour Updates!

Hi all - so far this has been a fun tour.  My sincerest apologies to the folks in Fargo, ND.  I'm sorry we had to cancel.  We will make it up to you guys as soon as we can. We are adding lots of tour dates for the spring and summer - so keep checking back, or subscribe to the RSS or iCal feed to be updated automatically.

Hope to see ya out there on the road!

Jackie

Another Random Ramble....

Feb 11, 2011  2:37am You know, sometimes it sucks to be me.  Ok, that came out wrong.  Let me rephrase.   There are times when it's difficult to be me.   Okay, that sounds petty and painfully obvious.  Fuck it.  Sometimes it sucks to be me.  Yep.  That's it.

Somebody asked me once: "What makes good art?"  The truth is, I don't know.  Nobody does.  If somebody tells you they know the secret to being a great artist, they are either full of shit or have little talent.  But I answered the question anyways:  "What makes good art?"  Well, I suspect it has something to do with sacrifice.  Everybody gives up something, now and again right?.  It's true.  Being an artist of any sort takes a lot of time and effort.  Sacrifice.  You gotta give up something to get someplace.   Dig?

So what then, did I give up?

Well the first thing that comes to mind is a college education.  I dropped out of school in order to pursue music full time.  It's not a choice I regret, however.  I'm fine with it.  Most kids in college have no idea what they want to do with their lives anyways.  That's what college is for:  exploring options.   Luckily for me, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.  I've wanted to do it since I was 14 years old.  Play music for a living. I made up my mind when I was just a kid.  Best decision I ever made.  It's taken me places I never dreamed of.  And the crazy thing is -- there's still lots more to do.

Sounds great, but what's that about sacrifice?

Everyone I know is happily married or at the very least has someone to come home to that they are in love with.  I haven't been in love for many years.  I've forgotten what it's like.  As I get older, I start to wonder:  Will it ever happen for me? Am I going to miss out on one of the most fundamental experiences of human existence?  Because why? Because I chose to ignore all of my romantic relationships in order to work on my craft?  Was that foolish of me? Or is it precisely the reason I enjoy even the moderate success that I currently experience?   It's a tough question.  Perhaps the two are unrelated.  Perhaps not.  I don't know the answer.  But it nags the shit out of me each day.

This is a conversation I have quite often.  Between me, myself and I:

Me: Fuck this bullshit!!  So many hot chicks at my show and not one of them is single!  The only attention I get is from old women twice my age.  What a drag!

Myself: Easy, tiger.  It's all good.  They all enjoy the music, that's why they come to the shows!  You're making people happy! Isn't that enough?

I : Did I remember to turn the heater off at the house before we left?

Me:  Look at the blonde over on the left.  She's about to take off her shirt.  Fuck yeah!  What an awesome gig!!!

Myself: Dude, her boyfriend looks pissed off.  She must be drunk.  Better not pay attention.

I:  Do they have Waffle Houses in Vermont?

Me:  What a drag.  Everyone in the band is married and their wives are all here.  They're gonna go out and have a good time and i'll be stuck on the bus reading George Orwell.

Myself: Pay attention!  Here comes the bridge!  Don't forget the words, asshole!

I: Who the fuck is George Orwell?

Me: Oh great, I'm gonna get cornered later by a bunch of old smelly farts who want to freaking chit chat.

Myself: Not unlike yourself,  you chitchatting mother-fucker!

I:  I'm craving a hotdog.

I really don't know what the point of this whole post was,   Oh yeah --- sometimes it sucks to be me.   Only sometimes though.

The honest-to-god truth is this:  What brings me the most happiness is when I am able to bring others happiness.  I try and do it through my music.   I endeavor to create what I believe to be good and true in the kingdom of music.   Perhaps a man can only have one true calling....

J

"Till The Light Comes" available 6/28

Hi all -My new record comes out today. It's called "Till The Light Comes". It was produced by Tim Bluhm and myself at our San Francisco studio. It was engineered and mixed by our dear friend Dave Simon-Baker. I did some of the drawings on the cover and in the booklet. We had a really great time making the record. We took our time getting things right, figuring out the best parts and whatnot. I think a lot of that labor shines through. Anyways, I hope you like it.

The band and I are getting ready to head out on our summer tour with Gov't Mule. As of now, there are no west coast dates....but stay tuned. We also have some cool new stuff coming. New tee-shirts and other fun stuff for the kiddies. Hope to see you out there on the road.

jackie

Reasons To Love Baseball

Somebody asked me recently why I like baseball. Usually, I just answer: “because it’s the best sport ever and if you don’t agree, you are wrong.” But since I’m not doing anything important today, I thought I’d think about it a bit. Most of the reasons I love baseball have been said many times before, but it doesn’t make them any less true.Here we go….swing batter, batter, batter…swing!

1. I’ve played baseball most of my life. For as long as I can remember, i’ve always wanted to play for the Cubs. I still do. Don’t ask me why. I played all through my youth and one year in high school. My neighbor Chris played shortstop and I played second base. He was much bigger and stronger than I was. By my junior year, I realized that I wasn’t getting any bigger and I gave up and played music. It’s a hard thing to realize your own physical limitations when it comes to sports. Especially when you’re a kid. I pretty much stopped caring about baseball until 2001 when I noticed a tiny Japanese guy playing for the Mariners. Ichiro Suzuki hit .350 his first year with Seattle. His arm was a strong as someone twice his size. The guy was smaller than I was. Ichiro re-kindled my love for a sport that I gave up on.

2. I’ve noticed a lot of similarities between baseball and music. Baseball is a game of failure, it’s been said. Music is kind of the same way. I figure, writing a song is a lot like hitting. They say you have to write a bunch of bad songs before you get a good one. Seems to me, it’s like hitting. If you can write 3 good songs for every 10, you’re doing pretty damn good. It sort of works for albums too: If there are 3 hits on a 10 song record…. (hey, we even call them “hits”)…Wow!! If there are 4 hits on a 10 song record…..that’s like a Ted Williams album cycle right there!! (Who was the last recording artist to hit over .400?)

Bob Dylan’s lifetime musical batting average is probably .390. He’s like the Ty Cobb of songwriting. Some say he’s just as much of an asshole too. Go figure.

3. Not unlike music, Baseball has had a history of (although never really fatal) drug use. (And I don’t mean steroids.) Music has Jimi Hendrix and Jim Morrison. Baseball has Dwight Gooden and Daryl Strawberry. Sandy Koufax stopped pitching because he was tired of taking pain killers after every game he threw. They say Joe DiMaggio smoked a pack a day. I used to not believe it until he died from lung cancer. I have this picture of Hank Aaron after a game smoking in the locker room. Legal and illegal substances in baseball goes back a long way. I mean they used to have a “Beer and Whiskey” League for crying out loud. That’s SO rock n’ roll!!! Then there’s the weird deaths of Stevie Ray Vaughn and Roberto Clemente. Vaughn died in a helicopter crash. Clemente died in a plane crash. Both were in their 30’s.

4. Most people who don’t like baseball tell me that it’s boring. Not enough action. There’s plenty of action, it just doesn’t happen all at once. It only seems slow because there’s no clock. There’s no time limit. Much to the chagrin of fans who have to work the next morning, a baseball game can go into the wee hours of the night. It’s the only sport (besides golf…which really IS boring) where time isn’t an issue. There’s no shot clock. There’s no half-time. It takes as long or as short as it needs to complete a game. Often, with remarkable conclusions.

5. It’s the only sport where the defense has the ball. Most other team sports (football, soccer, basketball) will look the same to aliens viewing from outer space. A court or field, and a mass of bodies running from one side to the other. Defending their goal and charging at the other teams goal. Back and forth. Baseball is a sport that would look drastically different from outer space.

It’s also the only sport where the field itself can legitimately affect performance. Got a team with right handed sluggers? They might have trouble in Boston. A football field is always 100 yards. A basketball hoop is always 10’ high. A baseball diamond is always the same dimensions, but the outfield walls can very quite a bit. The shape can be different, too. Baseball fans are attached to fields like no other sports fan. (Can anyone say Ebbets field?) The Green Monster, The Ivy, McCovey Cove….you get the picture.

6. It teaches us how to lose. (It doesn’t teach us how to lose gracefully, however!). You can’t dwell on things. (As the old baseball adage goes). If you hit the game winning home run the day before, you could just as easily hit into the game-ending double play tomorrow. And there always is a tomorrow. The biggest challenge a ball player faces is coming back from a bad “something”. A bad throw, a bad at bat, a bad inning, a bad game, a bad two weeks, etc. Chase Utley came back from his costly postseason throwing error with some giant lumber in the Series. That’s a ballplayer. Baseball is a losing game, it’s been said many times. The teams with the “best” records still lose an awful lot. This year, the Yankees won 103 games. Which means they lost 59. As unbeatable as they seemed, they still lost nearly 36% of the time.

Even more to the point of losing are the teams with amazing season records who don’t make it all the way. Think of the 2001 Seattle Mariners. They won a staggering 116 games. What happened? They lost to the Yankees in the AL Championship series. The Yankees then lose the World Series to the Diamondbacks, who as it turns out had won 92 games that year. The 2001 Yankees won 95. The point is, over a long season…the best teams in baseball still lose 30-40% of the time. Which is a lot. (In case you’re wondering…yes I had to look these stats up. No, i don’t carry them around in my head. I’m not THAT nerdy)

7. Baseball statistics are almost as old as baseball itself. Which means that every player, no matter how good, is always compared to his peers of the past. A 12 year old kid could go watch the Cardinals play and cheerfully declare: “Albert Pujols is the best hitter to ever live!!” His older brother would chime in quickly: “Are you crazy? Mark McGuire is!!!” Dad rolls his eyes and says: “You’re both crazy. Willie McGee used to play here and he’s clearly the greatest.” At which point, Grandpa pipes up and wheezes: “Stan Musial could’ve eaten those guys for breakfast.” Just when Grandpa thinks he has the last word, a big booming voice from the heavens says: “This is God. You are all wrong. You will all be condemned to Hell unless you recognize Rogers Hornsby as the greatest.”

This of course adds to the Myth of Baseball. The “what if’s” are endless. What if Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Satchel Paige and countless other Negro League stars had been allowed into Major League Ball? What if the 1920s Yankees played the 1970s Angels? How would Babe Ruth do against Nolan Ryan? Or for that matter, Barry Bonds Vs Bob Feller. Ty Cobb vs Sandy Koufax. Ted Williams vs Roger Clemens. Who thew harder in their prime, Randy Johnson or Walter Johnson? The combinations of what-ifs are endless and we’ll never really know. But it’s fun to think about.

8. The last thing I like about baseball is that it causes people to ramble on and on. I’ve just wasted an hour of my day writing this and I couldn’t be happier. Oh yes…the best baseball player of all time? Willie Mays, of course. Duh!!