WOOOOOOO, EUROPE HERE I COME!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey y'all, last night's party jam was a lot of fun, not a lot of folks came, but oh well. The guys and I are listening to the tapes tonight and editing them, so there will be a commercial live album out there for y'all. Also, as of tomorrow, I will be in Europe with Varsity Men's Glee Club, until the 13th of June. I'll be making a mark on France and Britian with fellow Vishnu Bluesers Lee and Larry. This blog will be my travel log... and I will try to update whenever I get near a computer. Well, take care y'all and keep looking to the stars........... oh wait, that's not my catch phrase........... hmmmm..... Eat, Drink, and Be Happy..... nope still not it...................

Here's to Music,
Jesse











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And here we go
Howdy y'all,

Here goes another week... but this week is THE WEEK... Piano Test, Dictation Test, and PATTERSON's TEST!!!!! I just need to make it through this week, and it will all be so sweet. Anyway, we've been jammin it up here at the HIGH 707 in anticipation for our first concert... ALLEN HALL, FEB 28th, 7:30..... It'll be an experiment on improv. and it will kick major ass. Well, just thought I'd check in with y'all, see y'all at Allen!

Whatever Get You Through the Night,
Jesse

I hear the notes of echoing music
Howdy y'all, Its been an interesting week or so for me. The band has decided that the 28th of February WILL be our first concertm at a venue yet to be determined. God willing, the concert will take place Allen Hall and will be.... FREE!!!! Also, I've decided to do a few acoustic shows on the side (with a little help from my friends and special guests) to do some much more personal stuff, and acoustic stuff, since I've been writting songs like a speed demon. Ohh, and I should be playing second fiddle and harmony to a new undiscovered singer on the horizon... so just be on the look out. Well, I'm going back to a little homework and writting, talk to y'all later.

Here's to the Music of our souls,
Jesse

Home for some time
Well, ain't it cold out there.... damn -17 last night in Urbana, IL. WOW. Well, I'm back at home for the weekend with my folks and my dog in wonderful Auburn. So, though I know it is a bit silly... I'm gonna go see Jesus Christ Superstar tomorrow at Sangamon Aud. in Springfield... hey, I think that the music is awesome... oh well. So, I've been punmpin out the songs lately, since classes aren't too bad yet. Be on the look out for a cut of "Weekend, People," a kind of 60ish party song to be on the site soon. Also, look out for the next Varsity Men's Glee Club C.d. coming out this semester (I'm in it) and for the VMGC fundraiser concert which will feature Vishnu Blue, Roy G. Biv, and a cover project band made up of guys from both bands and guys from Men's Glee.. Well, I'll let y'all go so my Pop can get back on the internet and finish his U of Phoenix homework.

Here's to being home and relaxing,
Jesse

Saturday.... the 1st
So, today.. did nothing except put band fliers around campus is strange places and watched "Lionhear" with Jean Cauld Van Dam, one funny movie. Oh, I learned how to play "Mask of Majora," and I realized something about games in general. While walking in the Union, Sean and I saw some young kids playing old folk on Otello (however it is spell) and just wondered why???? Why were they spending their Saturday in the Illini Union Vending Rooms playing that game??? Seriously.. then we saw people studying in the Courtyard Cafe, on the Saturday of the first week, and we saw people going into the ACES Funk Library to study.. saying.. "Darn, it closes at 5," this being 3:00, I was wondering what they could be researching this early in the semester.... Come on people, do something like... nothing, with your Saturdays.... of course, its not as lame as watching Jean Claud Van Dam movies and taping fliers up on a Saturday... but oh well.

Here's the Shitting Away Saturdays,
Jesse

Keller says... laugh
Sitting here in the Music Building Library, waiting for my last class (Doc Patterson's music history), and waiting for the weekend!!! Looks like this semester will be interesting, but fun. I figured it out though. What, you say....? I figured out that one of the most perfect intro to weekend music is Keller William's "Laugh," grooving to sweet and melodious tunes about kidneys, one-hit wonders, and crazy dances and swimming styles in an alley inhabited by an alligator. There we go....

Here's to the Weekend,
Jesse

Suck, suckity, suck, suck = Today
So, to sum up the day... Toilet broke... Leak in the ceiling... Me still sick... need to find a new roommate cuz one of mine decided to bail for next year... still no real work schedule... low on money... how will I pay for this summer... got in a verbal fight with someone... So life has sucked a lot today. I hope that the day might turn for the better if I listen to a little Beatles before bed and then watch a little T.V.. Goodnight y'all, hope your day went a little better than mine. Night!

To the Music that sustains us all,
Jesse

Sweetness is when the power comes back on at 12:00 am (don't have to reset clocks)
So friends, the power went of tonight around 10:45, right in the middle of the Troma horror classic "Killer Condom," I might add, and stayed off until 12:00. Sean, Jon, and I were sitting in our front room and realized that it would start to get really cold, really quick, so I left to go get fire wood and candles. What the heck, don't any of the gas stations around campus have back-up generators???!!!??? I had to go out to Meijer... MEIJER!!!! and it was kind of funny because as I am standing in the fruity, scented, candles isle I saw another dude there and I looks at me, and I say.. "Black out??" and he just bows his head and says "yup." Well, I finally got back to the house, built a nice size fire, and lite some candles... ta dah!!! the freakin' power comes on.... rrrrrrrrrr!!! Well, I'm still sick and need sleep. Night y'all

Here's to Illinois Power,
Jesse

Wakeing to Barnaked Ladies'
Just woke up, and now I'm listening to Medeski Martin and Wood's "Univisible"... thanks Ben for this great C.D. I feel like absolute crap right now though, my throat is hurtin' to high heavens, but I think that it is the last of my week long sickness. Oh yeah, I found out last night that our Playboy gig in February is gonna involve a whole Sorority from Northern acting as Playboy Bunnies.... That's sweet!!! Well, "Revenge of the Nerds" beckons... and tonight we are renting Troma Films' "Killer Condom," and "Blooksucking Freaks," which look hilarious. That's all I got now...

Here to Music for Music's Sake,
Jesse

1st time around.... here we go
Howdy y'all. So, I figured that I should add personal blogs for each of us in the band, hopefully the rest of the guys put entries into theirs.

Well, anyway, so I've been listening to music a lot (more than normal that is) and I've discovered the Grateful Dead, I know that I'm the last one to get on the train. Seriously, I hated them for all my life, then, a few weeks ago, I picked up "American Beauty," and it blew my mind. This last friday I got "Working Man's Dead," and "Terrapin Station," and as much as "Working Man" is great, "Terrapin," is freaking awesome. I can't even explain how great it is, just go find a copy of it.

Also, Sean and I just saw the Jazz Mandolin Project at the Canopy Club and it was just great. If they ever come near you go see them, just great improv and great musicianship.

Finally, as the new semester dawns, I can only hope that my life will be a little easier than it was last semester... All I can say is that being a music major is a lot harder than I thought it would... well at least when you are an improv/experimental musician in a classical college. Well, I can only hope that Doc Patterson takes pity on me in his Music History Class.

Here's to Music for Music's sake,
Jesse