Even after all the craziness that is Christmas, it still dosen't seem like 2011 is at an end. Maybe it's the unseasonably warm weather, or maybe it's just the simple fact that I don't want to see such an incredible year come to an end but either way I'm in denial. And as I begin making my New Years' plans today, I can't help drifting away, remembering this exciting year 2011. So for those who are interested, this is a brief recap of where we were and what we did this year.

As you may know, we don't do New Years' shows. It's a tradition in this band to avoid it. No reason why really. It's just tradition. So our first show of the year was on January 7th at the Lexington Ave. Brewery here in Asheville with our good friends the Honeycutters. We figured it was the best way to start the year, in our town, with one of our favorite local acts. Then the snow came....
And it kept coming...
And coming....
We were strating to get discouraged. People don't tend to go out when it's snowing like that in Asheville. We found that out before a year earlier when we had our CD release party for "Blood In Black and White" at Mo' Daddy's in one of the craziest storms I've ever seen in Asheville. We figured we were starting the year off with the same disappointment. But oh how wrong we were! We ended up playing to a packed house that night! Not only that but it was probably one of our best shows ever in Asheville. You just never know. All we did know was that we were starting the year off right. And it never slowed down from there...

The rest of January saw us with shows in Bristol, TN; Hickory, NC; Salisbury, NC (with Jim Avett, father of the Avett Brothers); Durham, NC; Johnson City, TN; Morgantown, WV; Newark, DE; New York, NY (another huge snow storm there); Philadelphia, PA; and Salem, NJ.

We spent a good amount of time in the studio in Feb.  finishing up the new album but still made time for shows in Raleigh, NC; Blacksburg, VA; Eggleston,VA; Charlottesville, VA; and Knoxville,TN.

We kept rolling through March with shows in Wilkesboro, NC; Atlanta, GA; Savannah, GA; Johnson City, TN; Fayetteville, WV; Huntington, WV; Little Rock, AR (the farthest west the band has ever been); Hendersonville, NC; Asheville, NC (for the Highland Brewery/ LAMA Agency's all day festival at the Grey Eagle); and Greenville, SC.

April was a bit of a blur. There was so much going on, We got the album mastered then had to get some small issues fixed on it that kept us very worried whether or not we would have it in our hands for MerleFest. Add to the fact that we had shows in Greensboro, NC; Durham, NC; Richmond, VA; Eggleston, VA; New London, CT; New York, NY; Phildaelphia PA (at the World Cafe Live!); and of course, good ol' Salem NJ. The CD's were ready after we left Philly and luckily Discmakers is in New Jersey so we saved ourselves some shipping costs and picked them up right at the factory. "Mockingbird" was completed. We were ready for MerleFest!

The last weekend of April has always only meant one thing for as long as I can remember. MERLEFEST!!! It took on a whole new meaning in 2010 when we were asked to perform and it got elevated to a whole new level in 2011 when we got asked to play bigger stages. We actually had a line of people waiting to get autographs! The CD sold great, the weather was perfect, and the weekend as a whole could not have been more perfect.

So after our success at MerleFest and finally having the album done, we decided to take a break. Just kidding! We hit the month of May running with shows in Pittsburgh, PA; the Cheat River Festival in Albright, WV; Fredrick, MD; Music City Roots in Nashville, TN; Franklin, TN; Maryville, TN; Knoxville, TN; Sherherdstown, WV; Thomas, WV; Lansing, WV; Black Mountain, NC and Spindale, NC.

We kept that ball rolling in June and July with a huge schedule that included Hickory, NC; Raleigh, NC; Wilmington, NC; Kill Devil Hills, NC; Blacksburg, VA; Floyd, VA;  Deepwater, NJ; Pennsville, NJ; New York, NY; Montpelier, VT; Burlington, VT; New London, CT; Salem, NJ; Fletcher, NC; Asheville, NC; Charleston, SC: Awendaw, SC; Folley Beach, SC; Savannah, GA; Charlotte, NC; and we ended the month of July in Moravian Falls, NC at John and Trish Adair's, where "Mockingbird" was recorded.

We remained busy in August but kept it close to home, playing shows in Knoxville, TN; Atlanta, GA; Asheville, NC; Chattanooga, TN; Winston-Salem, NC; and Murphy, NC.

Fall time seems to always be our busiest time and this September and October were no exception, playing shows in Hickory, NC; Bristol, TN; Oak Hill, WV; Black Mountain, NC; Fayetteville, WV; Morgantown, WV; Shepherdstown, WV; Fredrick, MD; Bristol Rhythm and Roots in Bristol, TN/VA; Richmond, VA; World Cafe Live in Wilmington, DE; Philadelphia, PA; New York, NY; Somerville, MA; Montpelier, VT; Burlington, VT; Portland, ME; Portsmouth, NH; Fayetteville, WV; Folly Beach, SC; Greenville, SC; Wilmington, NC; Weaverville, NC; and ending October back at the Lexington Avenue Brewery in Asheville, NC.

Things start to slow down for us in November and December but by no means do they stop. We still managed to play some shows to end out the year at Boone, NC; Greensboro, NC; Sumter, SC; Fayetteville, WV; Eggleston, VA; a terrific house concert in Palmyra, VA; Hickory, NC; Folly Beach, SC; Spindale, NC; and finally Bristol, TN.

So needless to say, we had a busy year! Also, we got to share the stage with some terrific acts along the way, which include but not limited to: The Honeycutters, Keystone Mountain Boys, Manatawny Creek Ramblers, Chris Kasper, WALLER, Jeremy Aggers, Jenna Lindbo, The Wild Rumpus, Big Smith, Uncle Mountain, Now You See Them, Lyndsay Wojcik, Underhill Rose, Grant DaSantos & Fatback, Jim Avett, PJ Pacifico, The Grand Ole Uproar, Chatam County Slim and Papa Mike, Daphne Lee Martin & Raise the Rent, The Armadillos, The 23 Stringband, The Whiskey Gentry, American Aquarium, Michael Burgin, Moses Atwood, Gabriel Newell, and The Whiskey Hickon Boys. All of these acts are worth checking out for sure.

I'd like to thank everyone who played in the Johnson's Crossroad lineup this year and I hope I don't forget anyone; Keith Minguez, Corey Lee McQuade, Justin Eisenman, Moses Atwood, Lyndsay Pruitt, Garry Segal, Chris "Bubby" Weller, Michael Libramento, Peter Holsapple, Allan Sizemore, Jeanne Hoffman, Gary Wiley, and Ian Harrod.

Our very, very special thanks go out to John and Trish, Suzy and Walter, Steve and Brandi and the whole Hutch crew, and Lowell and Rebbecca.

And lastly we want to thank each and every one of you! Whether you gave us a place to sleep, a hot meal, an encouraging word, or just showed up for a show or two, we cannot thank you enough!

I hope you have a wonderful new year. Our 2012 schedule already looks amazing and we can't wait to see you again!!!!

All of Our Love
JXR

We are fully into fall and I'm loving every minute of it. This is always my favorite time of year. Warm sunshine with a cool breeze during the day. Chilly nights that allow you to get out that favorite jacket or hoody and here in Asheville we are seeing the beginning of the leaves changing. How can you not love fall?

We celebrated the beginning of fall the way we always do- with a tour of the northeast. Keith once again booked an incredible run that kept us busy every day from the 23rd of September to the 4th of October. We had stops in Richmond VA, Wilmington DE, Philadelphia PA, New York City, Boston MA, Montpelier and Burlington VT, Portland ME, Portsmouth NH, and a return to New York City to wrap it all up. Add the fact that we had good ol' Moses Atwood with us and it all equaled one hell of a good time!

People often ask how we are able to do it and I've got the answer for you. First, we have Keith Minguez tirelessly emailing and re-emailing  these great venues months in advance trying to put it all together and somehow pulling it off every single time! The time and dedication he puts in every single day is nothing short of amazing. Secondly, we have all our friends who see to it that we have a place to stay, a meal to eat, an encouraging word when we need it most, and even a hundred bucks from Moses's mom to get us a room for the night. These people keep our heads above water and our hearts in the right place. A million thank yous couldn't begin to show our gratitude.

Without their belief in who we are and what we do we would never have had the million poop jokes, the two million Michael McDonald impressions (which Moses has really perfected) , the great story of how Scarlett Johannson tipped us a measly two dollars, and of course the opportunity to play our music in the cities and towns of this country. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Please keep checking back here on the website for more news and tour dates. And if you haven't signed the mailing list yet please take the time to do it today. We hope we get to see you soon!

Paul Johnson

 I have spent the last couple of days typing out a blog of our tour up North. It was wordy to be sure (perhaps too wordy) but I was really happy with it. As I went to send it an error occured which wiped out the entire text. So here I am starting all over. I tell you this only to remind you how important it is to back things up. If you take nothing else away from this blog be sure to at least remember this. Now I'm going to give you the condensed version and we'll just have to dream of what could have been...

It's been 3 days now since we returned from our 11 shows in 11 days marathon in the Northeast. The feelings of exhaustion have faded. The insatible need for my own bed has been satisfied. The long, tiresome treks in the middle of the night are no longer a chore but a memory of sunrises at the end of those journeys. Looking back I don't remember just how tired I was. I remember $1 oysters (east and west coast) in the hippest neighborhood in Brooklyn. I remember us joining No One In The Room at Suzy's 4th of July Bash in Salem, NJ for an all Grateful Dead set, I remember the look of solid determination on Keith's face when that pile of blue claw crabs was placed in front of him. I remember laughing hard with Moses at Archie Goodwin's one-liners on our Nero Wolfe radio show we listened to late at night driving. I remember getting the news that Geoff and Brigette gave birth to another beautiful boy named Cian. I remember us giving some guys hell in Blacksburg, VA for watching A League of Their Own in the bar (What's the score guys?). I remember sitting on a bench by Lake Champlain in Burlington, VT and feeling so at ease. I remember the couple who brought their RV down to our New Jersey shows and how I had the realization seeing that RV in the parking lot that we finally had a lot scene! I remember the fireworks that went off in every town we passed in Tennessee as if they were announcing across Sam's Gap to North Carolina that we had returned. But most of all I remember all the wonderful people that helped us along the way and the ones who came out to support us. We couldn't have all these memories without you. Travelling the country playing music I like with people I love has been my one and only dream. Thank you so much for allowing us to live it.

So now we're back in Asheville gearing up for some local shows this weekend. Friday we'll be at the Feed and Seed in Fletcher. Saturday will be our return to the Jack of the Wood right here in Asheville. We'll be showcasing a 6 piece band (the first time since MerleFest). The rest of the month will see us in WV (for the Rust King Reunion shows), SC, GA, and return to Blue Ridge Big Sky (where "Mockingbird" was recorded) for an outdoor concert to end the month. We hope this is the month we get to see you again!!!!

Paul Johnson

Here is a list of HUGE THANK YOU's. If I forgot to mention you, please realize that you were more than likely mentioned in the blog that got away:

Suzy & Walter
Chris & Joanne
Betty
Steve & Brandy
Raquel
Jamie
Wiley
John
Daphne
No One In The Room

 

Carol Rifkin, of the band Paul's Creek and host of "This Old Porch" on WNCW. is in the process of writing up our bio. To help her in this process, she has asked me to write up a timeline of the band's history. So in the interest of giving Carol something to go on for our bio and to have a new blog posted on the website, I give you a brief history of Johnson's Crossroad.

Johnson's Crossroad officially started in 2005, in the small town of Lewisburg, WV. Unofficially, it began much earlier...

Throughout junior high and high school (90-96), I was really getting into playing. I had sang in a few bands, played bass in a metal band, and started learning to play guitar. Even though Lewisburg, WV was such a small town (pop. approx. 3,500), we had an abundance of players in our group of friends (many of which are still out there doing it). People such as Corey Lee McQuade, Geoff Richards, Jeff Curry, Jeff Morrison, Fen Ikner, Charlie Hatcher, Dan Freeman, and so many more were trading licks, teaching each other songs, and playing around campfires, garages, and basements. A lot of us were beginning to get our feet wet with songwriting also. It was an incredible place to grow up.

Around 1998, I moved to Morgantown, WV. Many of my friends were attending WVU (at that time the #1 party school in America) and I wanted in on the fun. At that time the Grateful Dead was what we ate, slept, and breathed. Most of us were lucky enough to have caught a few shows before Jerry Garcia died in 1995 and we were smitten with the music and the culture. My hometown friend, Geoff Richards, and I would play Dead tunes at house parties almost every night. Also around this time, I was getting into classic country. I was getting a new appreciation for the stuff my dad used to listen to on those long drives we used to take when I was a kid. Songs by Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, and others were slowly starting to creep into our Grateful Dead party sets.

1998 was also the year I met Keith Minguez. Keith was from south New Jersey and was attending WVU and learning to blow glass. He introduced me to the music of John Hartford which changed my life forever. He also told me about a festival he had just attended in Wilkesboro, NC called MerleFest. Two years later I met Keith at MerleFest which started a long standing yearly tradition. We would soak it all in and dream about playing what we considered (and still do) the greatest festival ever.

Back in 1998, Keith knew a few things on guitar and was just starting to pick up the mandolin. We would pick together every now and then and he would show me his progress on the mandolin. It was a hobby for him while he went to school and honed his glassblowing skills.

At the same time, Geoff Richards and I started taking the knowledge we had gained from learning and playing songs and started really getting into writing our own songs. We had both written a few songs previously but nothing like the ones that werw now coming out of us. I specifically remember the day we wrote "In the Breeze". We were at Keith's house and there was an old, crappy banjo there. Geoff picked it up and started playing what would become the verses and we played around with it for a few minutes. Keith was downstairs blowing glass and would come up every 10 minutes or so to check our progress and offer advice. Before we knew it we had the song completed. Most of the songs we wrote were written in a similar manner. It would start with a line or a riff and run wild from there. I love every one of those songs to this day. No regrets.

Keith left Morgantown in 2000. We'd meet at MerleFest every year, hit every John Hartford show we could (until his death in 2001), and talked on the phone every once in a while. Meanwhile, Geoff Richards and I started playing shows in Morgantown and Fayetteville, WV regularly. We went by the name Laurel Creek Ramblin' Gamblers (LCRG) and played pretty steadily until the end of 2001. We even made a recording that I still see occasionally rummaging through CD cases of old friends. I moved back to Lewisburg at the end of 2001. I would play some solo gigs, occasional LCRG shows, and started my college career.

Around this time. I started playing a lot with Corey Lee McQuade, a longtime friend of mine still living in Lewisburg. Corey was already a terrific guitar player (in fact, he taught me my first chords when I was starting out) and he was really starting to find a unique sound on dobro and banjo. We started playing around a bit and really started feeding off each other's style. We started trying to get folks together for a band.

In 2005, Keith called me one day expressing an interest in moving to Lewisburg to play music. His motivation for this only he can tell you but I like to think it was a song I had written and played for him at that years MerleFest ("Keith's Blues"). Whatever his motivation, he did make the move and set out to truly learn the mandolin. With Minguez on mandolin, Corey Lee McQuade on dobro and banjo, Xander Hitzig on guitar (and later fiddle), Charlie Hatcher on bass, and myself on guitar and vocals- Johnson's Crossroad was born!

Johnson's Crossroad, in its original form, played steadily in the southern West Virginia area for a year. We were gaining fans, making friends, and having a great time.

In 2006, Keith, Charlie, and I were asked by a duo in the area, the Rust Kings (Allan Sizemore and Jeanne Hoffman), to join the band and play shows outside of West Virginia. We were to record an album also. The idea of getting a taste for touring was too tempting so Johnson's Crossroad took a hiatusand we set out to learn the ways of the road. We travelled the east coast and recorded the album "Hotel West Virginia". It was a great album and a wonderful experience. I still listen to it from time to time and it always gets me singing. Afterwards Keith and I knew what we wanted to do with our lives and began scheming a way to hit the road with our own material.

So Johnson's Crossroad was back in 2007 with Keith, Xander, and I hitting the road and Corey Lee and Charlie joining in for the local shows. Keith began his love/hate (mostly hate) struggle with booking shows and managed to book us some great gigs, especially in the northeast.

In 2008, in an attempt to find people who wanted to tour with us and an attempt to get my head out of the bottle, Keith and I made the move to Asheville, NC. The music scene, the mountains, the food, and the geographical placement were perfect for establishing a home base. I fell in love with Asheville back then and that love has not diminished in the slightest.

So we went about trying out MANY people, searching for our sound. Eventually, with the addition of Moses Atwood on dobro and Justin Eisenman on bass (with the occasional Corey Lee McQuade appearance) , we felt like we had a pretty tight group.

Keith was booking some solid shows but there was one thing holding us back- we needed an album! So in 2009, we began work on what would become our first album "Blood in Black and White". Mars Ferris (a legendary Asheville blues guitarist) recorded us at his home studio. The lineup included myself, Keith, Moses, and Justin with help from Corey Lee on dobro and banjo, Garry Segal on harmonica, and Jason Flournoy on banjo. I personally love how the album turned out. I think for the most part we did what we set out to do. The album got some good reviews and booking better gigs became possible. Then...

The good folks at MerleFest took a shining to our album and invited us to play as part of their 2010 lineup! We were estatic! Our dream had become a reality.  By this time Moses and Justin had left the band to concentrate on their solo careers (which was a great move for them) . We now had Gary Wiley on bass and Corey Lee began making more frequent appearances. MerleFest was just incredible. We were treated like royalty. Everything that made MerleFest great to be a spectator was doubled many times over being a performer. Sweet bliss!

I have no doubt that performing at MerleFest helped us get into FloydFest and Bristol Rhythm and Roots that same year. After MerleFest we had Chris Weller join us on bass and we tried a drummer for the first time, Ben Hunt (also from my hometown of Lewisburg, WV). We also began playing with Lyndsay Pruitt on fiddle and Garry Segal on harmonica.

The time had come to begin work on the new album. We chose John Adair at Blue Ridge Big Sky and we thank ourselves every day for being so wise. John is a master of the mix and his studio, far away from the troubles of the world in Moravian Falls, NC is the perfect setting to make beautiful sounds. The lineup included myself, Keith, Corey Lee, Chris Welleron bass, Michael Libramento on drums, Peter Holsapple on keys, Lyndsay Pruitt on fiddle, Jeanne Hoffman on vocals, and Allan Sizemore on guitar. We took our time on this one and not only did we do what we set out to do, we did more than we ever thought we could. It was an amazing time and it makes me jones for the studio where once I used to dread it. "Mockingbird" was released in April 2011 , just in time for our second appearance at MerleFest!!! We are waiting patiently for the reviews to start coming in.

Today, Keith and I are stilltraveling the east coast doing our thing. We are occasionally blessed with the appearance of Corey Lee McQuade, Lyndsay Pruitt, Garry Segal, Gary Wiley, Justin Eisenman, Moses Atwood, and other friends. We have well over a hundred shows booked for 2011 including a return to Bristol Rhythm and Roots in September.

What the future holds for Johnson's Crossroad I cannot tell but we will continue to keep on singing to anyone that will hear. We want to thank you for all the support you have given us and we hope to earn your continued support in the future.

-Paul Johnson

Till the dirt, clear the rocks, row the soil and plant the seed, Spring, the annual face lift....

The temperature read 87 today in the ol' 'Town and Country' heading home to the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains from an amazing weekend of shows which lead us to one of our most favorite places on the East coast, the Tuckahoe Plantation. Tuckahoe is a place where everything changes while simultaneously nothing changes. Lucille the big beautiful black Lab still owns the place, Daniel and Emily are hard at work raising grass feed beef, lamb, rabbit, free range chicken and farm fresh eggs. The green house is full, the soil has been prepared, and the potato's are in the ground. They still have bags of frozen sugar snap peas from last year and the bee's are buzzing. Something fitting sitting around a fire at 3 a.m., at the stump, on the plantation, friends old and new doing the same old things we use to do. It's exactly where we wanted and needed to be. It is a direct reflection of where 'the Band' is and hopefully where it is going....

Weather definitely changes mood and everyone a benefactor.

It is 11:32 p.m. on April 4, 2011 and tomorrow morning we begin the final stage for the release of 'Mockingbird' our new album recorded by our good friend John Adair at his studio 'Blue Ridge Big Sky.' And in few weeks our second effort will be yours. As I type this the final touches for the album art are being completed by the very talented Jeremy Ray and Dave Harris at 'Studio B Mastering' just needs an order number from the duplication warehouse. It's time for this bird to sing.

The month of March ushered in a string of amazing weekends beginning with a run to Atlanta and Savannah with our good friend Jason C. Waller who also just released a new album 'My Poor Queen' which we highly recommend. A big thank you to Andrea Cervone for her great review of our show she wrote for the 'Ink Well.' The following weeks took us to WV sharing a show in Huntington with good friends 'The Wild Rumpus' and then off to Little Rock, AR to perform at the historic Dreamland Ballroom!! As if the month couldn't get any better, then it did with L.A.M.A. Fest, a home town gig, at the Grey Eagle, sharing the stage with Jim Avett, Uncle Mountain, and Now You See Them, all friends of ours. So what will April bring??

It is an understatement telling you we are excited for Merlefest so we will leave it at that. Just mark April 28th-May 1st on your calendars and get your tickets!! We hit the road again for the North East stopping in NYC, Boston, and Philly for a performance. Looking forward to kicking back in Brooklyn at 'The Hutch' and enjoying spring city style and getting the opportunity to perform on the 'World Cafe.' We are truly blessed with with the people around us and the familiarity of the road has been a delight.

T-shits on and shoes off.

We will be leaking more album art and will even been streaming 'Mockingbird' in its entirety. Keep checking back as often as you can.....

JXR

It was our last night in New York City. In the morning we would leave for Philadelphia, where we would play Chris Kasper’s Warm Your Face Off Bluegrass Review at The Fire. And the next evening would find us at The Little Brown Derby in Salem, New Jersey, wrapping up the last of ten days on the road that included seven performances and all the late night capers and carrying on that comes with the territory.

But for the moment we felt quite content to be stationary, not traveling anywhere at all. So there we sat, at a table on the ornery side of The Rodeo Bar in Manhattan, drinking beer and eating peanuts. In an hour or so we would punch the clock and get down to the business of entertaining the people who sat at tables all around us – drinking beer and eating peanuts themselves.

Meanwhile, the floor grew increasingly littered with shells.

There’s something moderately satisfying about tossing your spent peanut shells beneath the table in a public establishment. I can’t quite put my finger on it. It just is. One shameless flip of the wrist and the shell is gone. Cast unto the hardwood floor, in a pile with all the others. Someone else will deal with it later. If only everything were this easy. For all of life’s worries and woes, this simple satisfaction brings a smile to my face.

It’s that subtle feeling of breaking all the rules, everything your mother taught you about appropriate social conduct – politeness, cleaning up after yourself, not tossing unwanted food onto the floor. This tiny breach of standard table etiquette is fairly innocent, though it’s enough to warrant a sly glance about the room every now and then for a pair of those weighty, disapproving eyes. And yet there are none. The bartender pours the beers. The waiters go about their business. We continue to shell our peanuts and toss the remains onto the floor. Sometimes we toss them at each other.

I don’t lose any Brownie points. My name doesn’t go on the board. I don’t get sent to my room.

In some small, incredibly insignificant way, it feels almost too good to be true. Like I shouldn’t really be getting away with this.

But then, I feel that way about a lot of things when we’re on the road. I’m traveling to exciting places. Meeting exciting people. We’re playing our music and folks seem to genuinely appreciate it. They invite us to come back. More often than not, we do. A terrific applause still agitates a remarkable feeling deep in my chest.

And somehow, back home I manage to pay my rent and keep food on the table.

It seems almost too good to be true. I shouldn’t be getting away with this.

On Thursday we’ll play in Indianapolis, my hometown. I can’t wait. And whether it’s peanut shells on a hardwood floor or the sound of a really terrific applause, I know I’ll find myself scanning the room for a pair of eyes that assure me I’m only dreaming.

But if this gig is anything like the last seven, all I’ll see in that crowd are friends and family, and exciting people who genuinely appreciate what we’re doing. They’ll invite us to come back. Good Lord willing and the creek don’t rise, we’ll do just that.

Back at the Rodeo Bar that night, we played our three sets. The crowd loved us. We played an encore, “Long Gone Daddy,” one of my very favorite Hank Williams songs.

And then we were gone.

The peanut shells remained on the floor.

It felt too good to be true.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

PS - A very special thanks to Brandy Ruelas, Steven McClellan, The Hutch, and Karry Bennett for the love, support and the roof over our heads during our time in New York City. We truly appreciate it.  

I don't typically watch football. Or any sports, really. I don't typically eat Thanksgiving Feast near the end of January, either. And yet somehow, just yesterday, I found myself hunkered down in Suzy's basement in Pennsville, New Jersey - doing just that - as the hours continued to slip by and by, and the day shifted from morning, to afternoon, to evening, and finally the lights were out.

To be fair, I was only passively watching the games, gliding equally in and out of concern and consciousness for much of the day. I took breaks, too. I read at least two chapters of Moby Dick. I did some aggressive chatting online. I posted a couple videos to Facebook. I even convinced myself to do a short workout. Thankfully, I didn't really care who won the Championship games, which was a relief on the heart and the brain. I must be honest and confess, however, that the very bulk of my mental and physical activity for much of the day consisted of venturing upstairs to seek out various leftovers and snackfoods scattered about the kitchen. It was one of those kind of days.

I hold the basement fireplace personally responsible for this impromptu holiday. It's abnormally large and extraordinarily warm. There was also a refrigerator full of beer, which by most accounts ought to be considered a seasoned accomplice on days like this. I suppose you could also blame the Tryptophan in the turkey, too. Whatever that is.

I'd like to call it a genuine impromptu holiday, but this day of rest was scheduled. It provided a bit of respite from the past few days on the road - as well as some much-needed preparation for the days that lie ahead. In a few shorts hours we'll be en route for Manhattan for crying out loud, and Lord knows it's best to take your rest and water any chance you get before you set foot in The Big Apple.

I have no idea what the Beastie Boys were thinking when they screamed "no sleep till Brooklyn!"

If you ask me, it's probably best to accumulate all the natural sleep you can before you get there. All those late nights (and late night pizza shops) will put a hurtin' on ya without a little preparation. Whatever the case, I did my time yesterday and this morning I'm feeling particularly well-suited for whatever lies ahead.

And that's a good thing, because there's no rest for the weary it seems - after New York City we're shipping off to Boston, and then back to Manhattan at The Rodeo Bar, and then down to Philly, and finally back to Jersey before a long ride home to Asheville.

All of a sudden I'm not feeling so bad about celebrating Thanksgiving in January.

Here's to a big special thanks to Suzy and Walter for being incredible hosts, as always. Every day feels like a holiday when we're here.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

PS - I'm supposed to add "Paul is a super great guy, and thank Goodness he braved the freezing temperatures and cleaned the van so at least we'll look good rollin' into New York City." There, I said it.

A very good question this time of year.

This is my third year in Asheville - and I swear to you, each winter gets a little more treacherous than the winter previous.

But hey, it still beats the hell out of a harsh winter back home in Indiana where there's not much to do with all the heavy precipitation other than bundle up and grab a shovel. At least there are real hills around here. With a sled, a bit of courage and a flask of whiskey a man could get outside and even find a little recreation in these parts. Sled optional. And let's be honest, those Blue Ridge Mountains look pretty with a helping or two of winter splendor heaped on top of them. Like a snowy scene from one of those Hallmark cards my mom would hang upon the front door during the holidays.

If we could just find a way to keep the actual snow away from my own front door - and my car, and my driveway, and my street, and all the streets that get me from Point A to Point B during these increasingly wintery months - we'd really be onto something. Add the sidewalks of Downtown to that list, because I've recently discovered that a leisurely stroll down Lexington Avenue in cowboy boots can easily become a trip to the hospital if your pedestrian skills are not honed and on the ready. Fortunately, I'm particularly talented at walking.

It seems there's a good side and a bad side to doing anything Downtown in the midst of these blizzard-like conditions - but for the purposes of this blog, we'll focus specifically on that of booking and playing shows. Let's begin with the bad - and perhaps the most obvious - getting people out of their cozy little homes and into the chaos that lurks outside. Frostbite. Broken hips. A sea whitewashed roads inhabited by pathetically hopeless vehicle operators, most of whom probably have Florida tags. Convincing folks to even consider searching for the car keys is half the battle. But the way I figure, they've got to run out of beer sometime - and there's no better way to consume a pint than with a good dose of live music - which brings us to the good side of this equation. Once you amass a little crowd within the confines of your cozy little venue, chances are pretty good that they will stick around for a while and have a great time. Because once you're out, you've got to do everything in your power to make it worth all the effort to get there.

Whatever the case, we packed 150 people into The LAB a week or so ago for our show with The Honeycutters. If you've been reading this blog somewhat carefully, then you can make an educated guess at the conditions outside that evening.

Allow me to now share with you the conditions on the inside - standing room only.

We killed it that night (as did The Honeycutters), and I'll be damned if those folks weren't completely satisfied with braving the extreme weather and coming out to the show. If this is any indicator as to how 2011 might turn out for Johnson's Crossroad, then I'm cashing in my chips on a terrific year. Since the end of December we've opened for Larry Keel, packed the house in our own hometown, made two television appearances, shared a bill with Jim Avett and we're currently laying down the finishing touches to our forthcoming album, Mockingbird. We made the mistake of seeing Tron 3D before our gig in Durham on Saturday, but hey, you win some and you lose some. On Thursday we're hitting the road again and headed up North - with dates in Johnson City, Morgantown, Manhattan, Boston, Philly, Newark and Jersey - which means we'll be spending some quality time under the hood knocking the rust off and tightening the screws.

And then it's off to the races with an ironclad schedule that will keep us busy right up until our sophomore appearances at Merlefest in April.

You know what they say, "Time flies when you're having fun."

If that's true, then I'm counting on hardly noticing as this snow melts away and surrenders to wildflowers in the Spring.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

PS - If you've missed our promotional leaking of "Scars," then please click here to give the latest unfinished version a listen.
PSS - If you missed our recent television appearances, then please click here to view us on WCYB News at Noon Bristol.

The holidays. A time for giving. A time for family. A time for reflection. A time for resolution.

See also: A time for taking a break from the road. A time for dayjobs. A time for being more broke than usual. A time for recording albums.

All the bands are doing it.

We took the months of November and December to relax at home in the mountains of Western North Carolina - away from all the traffic, and all the dive bars, and all the strange couches, and all the complimentary shots you shouldn't have accepted, and that waking feeling of "I'm getting too old for this. I could really use a shower."

And yet, somehow, here we are again. About to dive headlong into a schedule that's getting packed tighter than Paul's hamper on laundry day. And I've got a secret for you, please allow me to be frank - Dammit, I can't wait.

The holidays are over. It's time to get off the couch and hit the stages. Besides, as I now take a moment to reflect upon my 2010 Holiday Experience, it's not like I really took much of a break from the norm, anyhow. I played a lot of music. I saw a lot of shows. I drank a lot of PBR. I just did all from the relative comfort of my own home.

Anyway, I've discovered that "taking a break from the road" is really just a nice way of saying that we're taking an appropriate amount of time to handle, manage and maintain all the things that a hard-working independent band doesn't have time to do in the thick of touring season - planning, booking, coordinating, designing, organizing, and lots of other busy-sounding words that end with "-ing." Not to mention working exciting dayjobs to make ends meet.

But most importantly, we've been recording another album.

If you've been following this blog, then you'll know that we've been leaking unfinished versions of our song, "Scars," which will appear on the new album. The album is nearing completion, and we are pleased to share with you yet another version of this song. We hope that as you listen, you can get a sense for our grand anticipation for the release of Mockingbird - an album that will prove bravely progressive and a fine example of a sound that we like to call "Appalachian Soul."

Please click this link to be directed to the latest version of "Scars," hosted on our ReverbNation page.

All three versions are available for your listening pleasure, including this latest version.

And now it's time to hop into the Town & Country and travel to Bristol - the Birthplace of Country Music - where we will be thawing out after a long holiday season.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

"Turns out, harmonica players are real musicians after all."

I recall thinking this upon returning home from the recording studio on Sunday evening.

I'm only teasing of course, but nevertheless - for one reason or another - I found myself pleasantly surprised. Something about the mouth harp always felt strangely impromptu, for lack of a better word. Ad-lib, off-the-cuff, or simply improvised, perhaps. Take your pick.

I'm not entirely certain as to why I've felt this way about such a charming little instrument, but I do have my suspicions. For starters, it could be an image thing. Maybe it's just difficult to take an instrument seriously when it can fit into your back pocket. Especially as an upright bass player. That's probably why the penny whistle never made it out of Ireland. Not legitimately, anyhow. And spoons? Nobody plays the spoons anymore. They're meant for eating yogurt and stirring hot cocoa, not getting your slice of the pie in the cutthroat music industry. But there's got to be some other reason the harmonica just exudes this feeling of freewheeling harum-scarum.

"What key are y'all in? I think I've got one of those laying around here somewhere. Just keep on truckin' and I'll jump in and solo for a while once I find it..."

Like that.

I might also take into consideration the great bulk of my previous encounters with said instrument. Allow me to list them for you - blues jams, buskers, open mics, John Popper, and drunk guys who stumble up to the campfire picking session with a serious axe to grind. Also, there was that elderly lady who regularly attended the old-time jam back home. She would always show up with her harmonicas - and finger puppets. Scarred for life, folks. I've seen brilliance and blunders alike, just like any instrument, but somehow the harmonica always leaves a strange taste in my mouth (I just couldn't help throwing that pun in there, many apologies). It could be that I simply struggle to relate to the curious little device. Making music with my mouth on any professional level seems completely foreign to me. I used to play the trumpet back in high school, and a couple times I even got paid to play taps on Veterans Day - but that's not the point. What I'm getting at is that I can't really sing and I certainly can't play the mouth harp. The only thing I do worth a damn with my mouth onstage is drink beer and bite my lips - and I don't even do that on purpose.

Every once in a while I'll say something moderately funny. But that's about it. You get the point.

I've never understood the harmonica. I've never truly appreciated it. I've never really thought of it as serious musical instrument.

And then I met Garry Segal.

The man is an incredibly gifted musician - and a harmonica player. We were honored to have him as our guest in the studio at Blue Ridge Big Sky Music to lay tracks for two songs on the new album. Watching the man work was a real treat. And when I say work, I mean work. It's not like he just stepped into the studio and jammed for two songs-worth of warbling and raunchy blues licks. Not at all. The man was prepared. Practiced, rehearsed, ready. He had studied our songs, and knew exactly what he could offer to complement them. He added legitimate parts that added flavor and depth to the songs in significant ways. There was something calculated and studious about it, not at all how I had previously observed the breadth of harmonica playing.

The man can blow.

Besides, it's not like he just strolled up and pulled a shiny little instrument out of his pocket, either. Garry had entire cases of the damned things. Image is everything, people.

In some ways I feel like we should pay him for both the studio time and the live performance for our own enjoyment. I know there were times when Paul would suggest that Garry have another go at a particular section, and part of me was wondering if Paul really wanted another take, or if he wanted to simply enjoy another kickass harmonica solo for the hell of it. Just wait until you hear the tracks for yourself. If Christopher Walken were there, he would've forgotten about the blasted cowbell.

Best line of the day? "That was swampy as hell!"

I gave Garry a ride back to Asheville that evening. We talked about what gigs pay well back home, and what qualities make a good band member. We talked about the joys of being on the road and playing music with like-minded, talented people. He even bought me a sandwich.

Turns out, harmonica players can be really good company, too.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

Drip. Drip. Drip.

You get the picture. The album is progressing at dangerous speeds at Blue Ridge Big Sky Music in Moravian Falls, NC. It's time once more to open the floodgates of the Johnson's Crossroad music vault and leak an exclusive promotional version two of "Scars," from our forthcoming album, Mockingbird.

Simply follow this link to give it a listen.

Can't access the link? Be sure to join our email list and the song will become available to you. Want to share the song with a friend? By all means, send away...but your friends, family, co-workers and long-distance pen pals will have to join the email list, too.

We've left version one posted on the Tunepak as well, so you can listen to both of them and witness the magic of song evolution for yourself. That's right, it's magical. Don't shoot me, I'm just the messenger.

We were honored to host the lovely Lyndsay Pruett in the studio last weekend, so be on the lookout for a special little somethin' somethin' on the next version. Tonight we're headed to the mountains of West Virginia to tear it up in Lewisburg, and on Saturday we'll be playing a show with Larry Keel and natural Bridge at 123 Pleasant Street in Morgantown!

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

I wanted to begin this entry with something like, “November came and went.”

Because it did.



But the line sounded vaguely familiar, and in the back of my mind I knew that I had stolen it from somewhere.



Oh yes, an Avett Brothers song.



“November came and went like the summer that I spent with a no-name girl who walked in jelly shoes.”



And then I got to thinking about something entirely different. The Dude. I have no idea why, but I began repeating this line over and over in my head, menacing and methodical, like an alarm clock without a snooze button.

“The Dude walked in jelly shoes.”

He did. And by most social standards, footwear aside, The Dude was but an unemployed slacker. He spent his waking hours in pajamas. He drove a junker. As far as I can tell, his food pyramid rested soundly upon a foundation of marijuana, bar nuts and White Russians. His very height of physical activity consisted of bowling and Tai Chi, unless you include inadvertently running from the cops or sleeping with strange women. He could scarcely recall the day of the week.

The Dude was, in the words of Mr. Jeffrey Lebowski, a "bum." Or perhaps even, a "deadbeat."

Or was he?

In some ways, I'd like to think that there is more to The Dude that the Coen Brothers aren't telling us. I'd like to think that maybe The Dude was a fledgling musician, taking a break from the road to record his latest album, with good times and financial rewards just around the corner. Holding tightly to the dream, and refusing to submit to the rat race. Just a stone's throw away from being in just the right place at just the right time. And sometimes that means whipping out the checkbook for a half gallon of milk. Taking the odd ransom delivery for a little extra money in the pocket. Transporting the remains of your best friend in a Folgers can when times are tough. Going to great lengths to track down your stolen rug, because it really did pull the room together, and finding the damn thing is certainly more economical than buying a new one. You make sacrifices. You trudge onward.

With a little bit of perspective, The Dude can be an inspiration to all artists and musicians struggling through these bleak economic times. Especially during the holidays, when money tends to shrink more than usual (surely a natural effect of the cold) and curious family members simultaneously question and caution against your latest professional endeavors. "My advice is to do what your parents did; get a job, sir..."

And this, somehow, brings me back to that initial thought. The Dude walked in jelly shoes. I have no idea why he chose to dress his feet in such a way. We'll never know if his motivation was primarily stylistic or purely financial. But I do know that I want a new pair of cowboy boots. With good times, financial rewards and Christmas just around the corner, I might just end up with a pair.

And maybe when times get a little better for The Dude, he could lend those jelly shoes to Barefoot Andrew Adkins of The Wild Rumpus, who played two incredible shows in Asheville this past weekend! Be sure to Like them on Facebook, if you haven't already.

The bums may have lost, but the music lives on. And The Dude abides.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

PS - Check out our schedule for upcoming dates, including our show with Larry Keel and Natural Bridge at 123 Pleasant Street in Morgantown, WV!

Our time with John Adair at Blue Ridge Big Sky Music in Moravian Falls, NC has been incredible thus far, and we would like to include all of you in this experience. So, as promised in the latest Johnson's Crossroad Newsletter (The Lowdown 11/20/10), we are releasing an exclusive promotional "sneak peak" of our new album, Mockingbird, for all the folks on our email list.

It's truly fascinating to witness the evolution of a song in the studio. Whether it's new ideas, a beautiful mistake or just a fresh set of ears for feedback, it seems that a song never comes out of the studio sounding quite the same as it did when it first walked through the door. The recording process of rehearsing and evaluating, adding and subtracting, tracking and layering, mixing and mastering is very interesting to observe. Through trial and error, calculated or not, the song takes form. From scratch beings to its grand, decisive conclusion, the song changes and evolves. We would like to share a tiny bit of this evolution with you.

We've chosen to stream "Scars" on our website for a limited time only, and we hope that you'll check it out. You'll not hear this version of the song anywhere else. It will not appear in this form on the album. What you hear is the fundamental groundwork of the song, before it is molded and shaped by the sounds of other instruments and the technical prowess of our sound engineer, John Adair. You will hear "Scars" as we heard it the first time Paul set foot into the studio to record this album.

In the coming weeks we will stream updated versions of this song, as it continues to evolve towards the final, completed version which will appear on Mockingbird. In some small way, we hope this "sneak peak" will grant you a tiny glimpse at the process of recording this new album, which is so important to us. And we hope that you enjoy this process as much as we do.

Click here to stream this version of "Scars" now. Please feel free to share this link with your friends, but take note that visitors must sign up for the email list before the link can be accessed. Enjoy!

Happy Thanksgiving,

Chris "Bubby" Weller
Johnson's Crossroad

See you at MerleFest!
Just in case you missed the official announcement (or maybe you have yet to stumble upon the official website, or dare I say that perhaps you have somehow missed out on each one of our extremely enthusiastic posts on the subject), Johnson's Crossroad will be performing at MerleFest 2011. We'll be taking our blend of "Appalachian Soul" to the stages all weekend long on the campus of Wilkes Community College, and we could not be more excited about it. The new lineup is stellar, as always, and we are pleased to announce that our friends - and fellow Ashevillians - Town Mountain will be performing as well. Merlefest is scheduled for the last weekend of April, and yes, you can purchase your tickets now.

Mockingbird is taking flight.
Perhaps you've noticed that Johnson's Crossroad has taken a brief hiatus from the road for the month of November. We've been hard at work in the studio, laying down tracks for our new album. Mockingbird, our sophomore effort, is being recorded at Blue Ridge Big Sky Music in Moravian Falls, NC. The rhythm components (upright bass, rhythm guitar, drums) as well as dobro and banjo have been completed, and we now have lead instruments and vocals in the bullpen - along with a couple surprises. The album is shaping up brilliantly and we cannot wait to share it with you. Public release is tentatively scheduled for early March, 2011. Keep an eye out for updates on the JXR News Blog, Facebook and Twitter.

Giving Thanks.
As you know, next week is not only the very last week before all the Christmas mayhem officially begins, but also the week of Thanksgiving. Johnson's Crossroad has enjoyed an incredibly blessed and fortunate year and we have mountains of people to thank for that. As much as we'd like to name each of you at the feasting table on Thanksgiving Day, we all know that would be impossible. Early next week we'll be posting a sale on merchandise, including Blood in black and White, AND we'll be "leaking" a track from the new album, Mockingbird. We'll be conducting this sale and "leak" exclusively through the newsletter. Nothing could ever say "thank you" as deeply as we mean it, but we hope that you'll take this as a token of our sincere appreciation.

On the Road Again...
If you know anything about Johnson's Crossroad, then you know that we're always chomping at the bit to get back out on the road again. The next few months are filling up with performances up and down the East coast. And we'll be kicking off the new year in style, with a bit of a head start in December. Lots of big dates coming up. Our next show around the old home place happens on December 4th with our good friends, The Wild Rumpus. On December 11th we'll be opening for Larry Keel and Natural Bridge at 123 Pleasant Street, in Morgantown, WV. Then it's back up to the Big Applel, with a stop at NYC's best honky tonk, The Rodeo Bar. And we're particularly excited to be playing a show with The Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band in Peoria, IL on February 11th. 2011 is looking mighty fine, and we hope that you'll be joining us.

A Picture's Worth a Thousand Words.
Or perhaps a thousand beers. Or a thousand songs. Anyway, we have new photo galleries posted on the website. Check them out. Special thanks to Polly King, Jaime Wykle, Graham Shepherd, Fiona Harrar and Julie McQuade for the terrific shots!

Please feel free to follow us, friend us, share us, or simply stomp around the website a bit and get to know us a little better. We love you all, and wish you safe travels for this coming holiday week. Thank you for your continued support of Johnson's Crossroad.

Cheers,

Johnson's Crossroad

I've done a few things that make me proud.

I finished college. I survived an eight-hundred-mile sailing expedition. I had a beer with Sam Bush on his tour bus at Merlefest. One time I took a dare to shave my head in imitation of male pattern baldness for Easter Sunday (much to the chagrin of my mother). I've kissed a pretty girl in my day. Hell, I was even voted Homecoming King back in high school.

But I've never been so proud of anything at all as I am to be a part of this new Johnson's Crossroad album. I'm not sure how exactly I fell into this gig, but Mockingbird is shaping up to be brilliant and I feel honored to be included in the liner notes.

My time in the studio has been a little stressful, tiresome, extremely enlightening and incredibly exciting all at the same time. Sure, I've definitely earned the record for most number of takes per track thus far, but that's not to say that I'm not extremely pleased with my work. The bass lines sound better than ever before, many thanks to the patience and constructive feedback of Keith and John. We wrokshopped and rewrote several parts right there in the studio, and personally, I feel more than satisfied. And besides, it's not like I even have to even shine on the album whatsoever, with so many other talented musicians participating in this little endeavor of ours. You know what they say, "keep it simple, Stupid," which in bass language translates to something along the lines of "keep a warm tone, play it like you have a pair, and for Pete's sake, be right on tempo and don't pop the strings too much."

So that was my focus.

My bass instructor always told me that a bass player in a roots country band is a lot like the center on a football team. Your job is not at all to be the star, but dammit, every time the quarterback throws a winning touchdown you can dance like a madman and drink your fair share of the champagne. It's about participating in and celebrating the collective good of the whole, and not trying to be the hero of the day. And maybe that's what I like most about this project. Because I know that on every track that Keith or Corey hammers out a face-melting solo or a really hot lick, and every time Paul sings a line that sticks in your head like a good buzz, I'll be laying down the beat that makes your hips sway, right on cue. And I know my mama will be proud.

It's that feeling of accomplishment, served with a heaping plate of anticipation, that fuels my enthusiam for this project. This album is about so much more than countless hours, and countless dollars, spent in the studio. I've only been in the band since June and I can tell you that it's about more than that. It's about countless days spent away from home, away from your friends and away from your loved ones. It's about countless nights spent on random couches and random floors. Countless mornings on the road en route for the next gig. Countless gigs spent playing for tips and beer en route for the show that will help pay your rent. And yet my short amount of time spent with Keith and Paul assures me that this album is about more than that still. Mockingbird is a statement.

"We've done our time, and we're ready to turn some heads. We're musicians now."

It's a real pleasure to receive an invitation to this coming out party. I feel like I joined this band at just the right time. Maybe it's that feeling of brotherhood that really fuels my sheer enthusiasm for this album. Being welcomed into something so meaningful, so monumental, and granted a certain poetic licensing to leave my very own mark upon it. I do look at Keith and Paul (and Corey) as older brothers of sorts, and you bet your ass that every young lad has always dreamed of having a personal set of keys to the big dogs' clubhouse. Laying down those bass lines felt a little bit like that.

Something else that strikes me every time I think about this album - these songs could stick around long after I'm dead and gone and pushin' up daisies. I'd like to think that I'll be doing my thing for a good while anyhow, but something about pressing a disc like this lends a feeling of permanence, as though friends and family might someday say something like, "Goodness, Bubby was a darned fool, but he sure did stumble upon something good with that Mockingbird album." And yes, to me that is somehow very refreshing.

The studio at Blue Ridge Big Sky Music is like a breath of fresh air. Mountains and pasture as far as the eye can see from the front porch. Peaceful. Inside you have hardwood floors, plenty of music industry memorabilia (including this awesome t-shirt that reads "Waylon f@#$in' Jennings, that's who"), a coffee pot that never gives up the ghost and a spot against the wall where John swears the woodstove will soon take up residence. And speaking of John, he is calm and reserved, and also ready to share his extremely professional opinon should you ask. And courteously, too. It's been a real treat to share this experience with him.

Highlights of the experience so far? Hitting the last note on my final take of "Wind's Gonna Blow" and seeing Keith jump out of his seat with touchdown fingers raised high above his head. Receiving a text from Paul that read, "the bass lines are top-notch." The first time I heard the drums on "Scars." Cookie bars and chex mix. And last but not least, hearing John Adair say "This is a really great album. Now we just gott get people to hear it."

So lookout, folks, and get ready. This album is gonna blow your socks off. I'm so proud to be a part of it.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

PS - we have plans to "leak" a track or two very shortly, so don't miss out. If I were you, I'd sign up for the newsletter right this very instant. Just sayin'.

“I know every inch of highway, every foot of back road, every mile of railroad track.”

Ok, that’s an overstatement. Blame it on Jimmie Rodgers. Or you can blame it on three weeks spent driving up to the top of Vermont and back down to the bottom of South Carolina, before returning home to Asheville – just in the nick of time to hop back in the Town & Country and ramble on over to West Virginia, where I sit now sipping chocolate mint coffee at The Wild Bean in Lewisburg. The van has certainly earned its keep as of late, and we’re working hard to do the same.

My recent travels have taught me that if you must spend any sizable portion of your waking hours out on the highway, you might as well be doing it up North, as the blazing fall palette descends upon the rolling hills of Vermont. And a little Waylon, Willie, Aretha, Dylan, Hartford, Pink Floyd, Al Green, MGMT and the Delta Spirit on the box can certainly add to the general van morale – give or take a few lost games of cribbage…

But now I’m getting ahead of myself. We didn’t just wake up one morning surrounded by the Berkshires in all their autumnal glory. We had to drive up there. And that required more than a little pickin’ to feed the gas tank and our stomachs.

We kicked it off with an evening at the historic Little Brown Derby in Salem, New Jersey. It was a fairly tame evening spent with friends and Suzy’s famous chili cheese dip. We spent the next day rehearsing and relaxing, though it wasn’t long before the tall buildings of New York City were calling our name once more. A few hours in the van, and soon enough we were circling the blocks of East Village in search of a parking spot. Any parking spot. And the closer to St. Dymphna’s on St. Marks Place, the better.

I found it quite comical that Willie Nelson was on the stereo singing “Phases and stages, circles and cycles, and scenes that we’ve all seen before…” over and over as we went ‘round and ‘round the streets and avenues in hopes of finding a spot to park the van. Even Paul, our ever-vigilant man at the wheel, got a little chuckle out of that one. He’s pretty handy at a number of things that I could hardly dream of doing – including, but not limited to - singing in front of large crowds and successfully navigating the busy streets of New York City via automobile. The man can sniff out a parking spot like airport security can sniff out minorities to hassle.

We eventually found a decent spot for the van and proceeded to set up at St. Dymphna’s (but only after I made the first of many stops to Nino’s Pizzeria on the corner). The show at St. Dymphna’s was terrific, and star-studded. That place is increasingly elbowing its way, ever so gently, to the very top of my personal list of All-Time Best Pubs in the United States. Maybe one of these days I’ll mail them a plaque or something, courtesy of Bubby from Johnson’s Crossroad. Special thanks to the exceptionally-talented Katy Rose Cox, from Shotgun Party, who sat in on fiddle for a handful of songs. And let’s not forget about Greg Garing – the man, the legend – who also gave the audience (and fellow performers) something to marvel at for much of the evening. I left that show with a genuine feeling of “good friends, good music, good times,” which beats the hell out of “another day, another dollar” often associated with too much time on the road.

It must’ve been a good time, because I woke up the next morning with Keith saying something like “Bubby, you look like hell,” and Paul on the point after touchdown with “Bubby, you ate thirty slices of pizza!” Maybe I’ll send the plaque to Nino’s instead.

The next day was spent amidst the sea of tight blue jeans, incredible mustaches, vintage t-shirts and formidable headpieces of Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn. Keith journeyed off for some target practice with his retro Canon AE-1. Paul followed me to the bagel shop, and then promptly disappeared to meander hipster village solo. I ducked inside a trendy men’s clothing store, pretending/wishing that I might actually buy something (and eventually settled for simply admiring a Bushmill’s advertisement being physically painted onto a building). After an hour or so, we returned to the van satisfied and ready to escape the City en route for Pittsfield, MA – where we would find our stage for the evening and some of the best tapas this side of the Mississippi.

We were pleased to find Mission Bar & Tapas looking handsome as ever, and certainly just as welcoming as the last time we played there. I was also extremely pleased to find Fiona Harrar, a cousin of sorts, in the audience that night. Fiona is a farmer in Vermont – raising grass-fed sheep, pigs, turkeys and chickens. Be sure to check out Hidden Pasture Farm. She even brought her partner Seth and a few good friends. Reuniting with friends and family is definitely a huge perk of being on the road.

After a short drive north (with Keith being The Man on the smartphone) , we would eventually spend that night in Cambridge, NY, “enjoying” our first motel of the tour. A hot shower, a little babble from the boob tube – and a place to stretch our legs and dream of wallowing in the sights and sounds of Burlington, VT, where we hoped to spend the next day busking to our collective heart’s content before venturing elsewhere in The Green Mountain State.

And then the rain came...

Stay tuned for Part Two, where “The Boys of Johnson’s Crossroad Do Vermont.”

Cheers,

Chris “Bubby” Weller

There are some things I'll just never understand.  How does a fax machine work? Where did Marty Stuart get such glorious hair? Why is the mosquito a necessary piece of the food chain? What is Spam really made of anyway? Are the Tea Party folks really serious?

Also, how does the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion pack so much incredible talent into just one tiny town, over the course of just one tiny weekend?

I'll never know for sure, but I do have my suspicions.

For starters, Bristol is the birthplace of country music. The area is steeped in roots music heritage. That's gotta count for something. And the local community - residents and businesses, all country music enthusiasts alike - seem to truly embrace the festival. They take pride in this annual celebration of their country music heritage, which never fails to highlight both its past and present - granting festival patrons a unique taste of where the genre has been and where it's headed. Up and down State Street you'll find Americana legends and indie greenhorns stompin' the very same screws out of the very same plywood on the very same stages and it's all incredibly good. We have guys like Dave Stallard and Eric Blevins to thank for that. Booking a festival of this caliber can sometimes prove hit or miss, and with these two at the helm, I know this festival will continue in the direction of unchartered success. And special thanks to Festival Director Leah Ross - who, with all the duties and responsibilities she undoubtedly wears upon her shoulders throughout gameday weekend, still found time to give this exhausted musician and his upright bass a ride in her golf cart. And believe me when I say that after a weekend spent staying up too late, jamming far too long, dancing almost too much and drinking just enough to do it all over again - sitting back and watching the people fly by as we're headed in the direction of my next performance (and the weight of my bass is supported not by these tired boots but a vehicle capable of traveling with much greater speed, gusto and certainly better style than myself) - well, let me tell you that it's a real treat and not easily forgotten.

Last weekend, Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion celebrated its 10th Anniversary, and the lineup was stellar. Like Hollywood stellar, but better. In my humble opinion, the star-studded cast of performers shined even brighter than any of the Ocean's Eleven films I've ever seen. Now that's sayin' something. Johnson's Crossroad could not be more proud to be a part of it.

I cannot speak for the other boys, but I struggled to stay put in any one place for longer than about twenty minutes - so long as you exclude The Devil Makes Three, Darrell Scott, Todd Snider, Blue Highway, Boulder Acoustic Society, Carolina Chocolate Drops and the Drive-By Truckers. There was just too much awesomeness happening all around me. I felt like just another piece on some cosmic shuffleboard being shoved up and down State Street all weekend long - and loving every minute of it. But if you happened to be looking for me, chances are good that once my face had been sufficiently melted just fifty yards away in any given direction, I was back at the Dance Tent giving thanks to whatever band on that stage gave some pretty girl just a good enough excuse to do a few twirls on the floor with a guy like me. I'll say it over and over again - you don't have to be a good dancer whatsoever, because if there's somebody laying down a good tune nearby, all you have to do is smile and give it a try.

Every time I'd bump into one of the guys, we'd share stories of epic performances and new discoveries. It would take me days to remember all of it, but I do recall and earful or two of Unknown Hinson, Shotgun Party and Miss Tess. As for our very own fifteen minutes of fame, spread evenly amongst two sets on Saturday and Sunday, I could hardly find myself more satisfied. Playing with a six-piece band before an appreciative crowd, in the birthplace of country music (with gorgeous weather and several high-fives on the horizon) is definitely worth writing home about. We didn't play the main stage this year, but we were treated like celebrities nonetheless. The sound techs were easy to work with and the staff and volunteers were all very friendly. I know Paul must've been feeling sentimental, because he gave me an absolutely touching introduction during our set on Saturday. Nearly brought a tear to my eye. I love this job.

Getting back to the original question: "How does the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion pack so much incredible talent into just one tiny town, over the course of just one tiny weekend?"

The answer is simple. You take a quality town, fill it up with friendly people and local businesses who love quality music, wrangle a staff of knowledgeable folks who understand how to craft a quality weekend, and hire a bunch of quality musicians who absolutely love being a part of it. Light the fuse...and boom. Paradise.

I don't know if we'll be fortunate enough to play Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion again next year, but I can almost guarantee you that I'll be back again in 2011 as a lover of Americana music and dancin' my arse off either way, just like this year.

We're currently in South Jersey, kicking off the first bit of our Fall Northeast Tour, en route for lovely Vermont - with stops in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Boston, Newark, Montpelier, Burlington, and more. Tomorrow we'll be in Manhattan, East Village, at St. Dymphna's and I can't wait. I'm down five games of cribbage and this tour can only get better...

I'm taking plenty of video footage, and Keith has been hard at work with a vintage Canon AE-1, so be on the lookout for plenty of multimedia tour updates coming to a PC or Mac near you. We are working men, after all.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

Dear Friends and Fans,

It's been an extremely busy, extremely rewarding summer for Johnson's Crossroad. You check our last blog posting for all the evidence. And with a very promising autumn on the rise, we figured it was high-time for another newsletter - chock full of all the latest news from us, your humble purveyors of Appalachian Soul.

BRISTOL RHYTHM AND ROOTS REUNION
We'll be making two appearances at this incredible festival, performing Saturday, September 18th and Sunday, September 19th. We'll be introducing a very special guest, too - that being the very talented Lyndsay Pruett on fiddle. If that's not enough reason for you to to join us in Bristol, then check out the killer lineup for yourself. We promise you'll not be disappointed. And at a rate of just $40 for a weekend pass, the price is right. Now celebrating its 10th Anniversary, the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion is certainly one of the very best that the Southeast has to offer. We could not be more excited to be a part of it.

GET (ALMOST) ALL THE DIRT
Ever find yourself wondering what the guys are up to? Check out our JXR News Blog (you're here!) for some moderately-entertaining tales of high crime and adventure from the road. Besides, you never know when you might find yourself caught up in a viscious game of Johnson's Crossroad Trivia. It's best to be informed. Knowledge is power, after all. Visit our website and click the News tab.

T-SHIRTS ARE HERE
We've been peddling the new Johnson's Crossroad "Appalachian Soul" t-shirts on the road for a couple months, and they are now available online. Share your love for Appalachian Soul with a premium cotton blend t-shirt by Anvil, and wear it with pride. Visit our Store for details.

THE NEW ALBUM
We've begun recording our new album, Mockingbird, at Blue Ridge Blue Sky Studios in Wilkesboro, NC. Paul has been busy laying down the guitar tracks, and we'll soon begin working on the rhythm section - as well as inviting guest musicians into the studio to leave their mark upon these new songs. Be on the lookout for videos, photos, news and special promotions as we complete this process!

CHECK OUT OUR FRIENDS AT SMOOTH AMBLER SPIRITS
We concluded our most recent leg of the tour with visit to the Smooth Ambler Sprits distillery in Maxwellton, WV - not far from Lewisburg - where they enjoy the high-valley mountain air, natural waters and ideal temperature variations of rural Greenbrier Valley. Suffice to say, the folks were friendly, the facilities were impressive, the tour was informative, and most importantly - the tastings were exceptional. We loved the description on the bottle: "Smooth Ambler produces fine artisian spirits by combining patient Appalachian know-how with premium American grains and pure mountain water." And we were particularly fond of the "Whisk VodGinia" t-shirts.

KEEP IN TOUCH
Be sure to follow us on Twitter and friend us on Facebook. And you know how much we appreciate your support, so please share us with all the good-hearted women and good-timin' men you might encounter. Please feel free to email us with any thoughts, suggestions or comments. We'd love to hear from you.

Lastly, be sure to check the JXR website for upcoming tour dates. Thank you kindly for your love and support! We hope to see you somewhere down the line very soon.

Cheers,

Johnson's Crossroad

It's been a busy summer in the offices of Johnson's Crossroad, Inc. Our departmental staff have been hard at work conducting field demonstrations, market research, idea screening, strategic re-branding, interactive marketing, public relations, product engineering, personnel recruitment, vocational training, structural renovations, new product development and planning for the future.

At least, that's what I tell my folks. It sounds professional.

What I really mean is that we've spent a lot of time on the road playing shows, on the phone and computer booking new ones, trying out new songs upon unsuspecting crowds, creating new designs for posters and merchandise, building a new website and extending our social network, searching for media reviews/airplay/studio performances, writing new material, finding new members (like me), teaching those foolish greenhorns (like me) a thing or two about the "biz," maintaining and repairing the Town & Country, recording in the studio and hashing out a solid plan for 2011.

See also: old friends, new memories (including a few experiences we'd rather forget), cribbage, cornhole, diners, dive bars, gorgeous views and gourmet food, hotels, motels, beaches and beers, traffic jams, tow trucks, billboards and thrift stores, Merlefest, Floyfest, weddings and windmills. The list goes on and on. Yes, we even made paper from combat uniforms.

I don't know what sounds good next to "combat uniforms." So I'll stop there with the cutesy rhymes and alliteration (I mean, consonance - grammar, people).

Suffice to say, Summer 2010 has been a wild ride. And fall in the mountains could not come soon enough. In the meantime, we've been enjoying a few weeks of R&R and R. That being, rest, relaxation and rehearsal. Just a few quiet weeks at home in Asheville, punctuated by short weekend trips on the road for good measure. It's been terrific. We'll see how rehearsal goes tonight.

But we're getting the itch again to retire from this short-lived sabbatical, get out on the highway, into the studio, and back on the market with some fresh tunes. And we're kicking it off with one more quick trip to West Virginia (Gauley season starts this weekend, for crying out loud) and as for the next weekend...

...wait for it...

...we'll be playing two sets at the Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion. I haven't been this excited since Christmas Eve, 1993 - the year Legos unveiled their Black Knights Collection. And then it's "to the North, to the North" (Frank Turner, anyone?) for another couple weeks on the road with shows in Jersey, Boston, Brooklyn, Montpelier and many more.

As for last weekend, well, we played a couple great shows (The Mountain State Brewery and Songer Whitewater), the Mountaineers won and Keith skunked me twice in a row at cribbage. There, I said it. Now give a man a break!

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller

The money is pretty good. But the perks are priceless.

There's something incredibly satisfying about spending your weekends inspiring people to get up and dance. Making pretty girls dance is even better. Especially on a Friday night, in your favorite bar. The only thing better than that, as far as playing music is concerned, is watching a lovely bride and groom have the time of their lives as you hammer away at the strings in your Sunday's best. And then any show that follows any good wedding is generally low-key and a whole lot of fun. You work with what you've got left. That is how we spent last weekend, in a nutshell.

All in a day's work, as they say. Well, three.

We kicked it off with a couple days of solid rehearsal at Paul's place. Arranging new covers, tightening the screws on a few originals, and of course, a little jamming. PBR's and Big Lebowski quotes included. "Nice sesh," as Paul would say. "I'll punch you later," follows Keith, as I mention something about packing it up to meet a friend downtown. "I'll punch you later," is my only response. I'll be seeing them both again tomorrow evening for the gig, though I highly doubt any punches will be thrown. Empty threats and terrible comebacks. It's how I roll.

Friday night was spent at Jack of the Wood, in downtown Asheville. And by "spent," I mean something along the lines of "tearing the place apart." I had a good time, anyway. Which makes me wonder - do beer goggles work for making girls look prettier and making entire audiences look fuller, happier and more receptive? Hm. No way. Those folks were having a genuinely good time. Besides, I'm pretty sure Ben drank half of each beer I ordered. Drummers - "percussionists" as they like to say - are sneaky like that, especially when it comes to pillaging unattended pints between songs. Jason, Jack of the Wood's esteemed sound tech, had a good time too. Add him to the list of extremely professional and extremely talented sound guys we've had the opportunity to work with this summer. I'm really looking forward to rockin' that house again soon. Special thanks to Corey Lee McQuade for making it down for the show.

If only every night was as easy as making an honest dollar ten minutes from home and sleeping it off in your own bed. But hey, if the biz was that easy we'd still be dealing with bands like Crash Test Dummies and REO Speedwagon. I know, I know. "That's like, you know, your opinion, man." Keep it to yourself. Well, on Saturday morning we hit the road for The Mountain State.

"Why do all the trees in West Virginia lean toward Ohio? Because Ohio sucks."

I think of that joke every time we roll into wild, wonderful West Virginia. I also think about making an honest pact with myself to keep it together, and not get too rowdy. Something about those West Virginian trees reminds you of how other places just can't quite compare - be it Ohio or wherever - as well as reminding you of a particular need resting deep inside your soul. That being, of course, the need to party like there's no tomorrow. Enter Amy and J-Bird's wedding.

"Folks, I have an announcement. I know this looks like a festival," says J-Bird in earnest, as a donkey hee-haws in the distance, "but please remember, this is our wedding. Be courteous." I study the congregation as he steps away from the mic. First a respectful nod, then a muted chuckle, and finally a wave of laughter rolls over the crowd. The party's on. And there's nothing he or his beautiful bride can do about it. I now fall in step with the other guests in the general direction of those three glorious kegs. Don't get me started on the baked beans or the stuffing. Or Sneed. Suffice to say, I enjoyed every last bit of my role as part of the evening's entertainment. Congratulations to the happy couple. We were honored to be a part of it. And as for good times in West Virginia - til death do us part.

We found our way to Cantrell's on Sunday evening. Paul navigated through three sets, and we hung on for the ride. A great way to wrap up the weekend, with all five pieces intact.

A brief stop in Lewisburg for shakes and fried pickles with an old friend, and then it was time to pile back into the Town & Country, en route for Asheville. After three long days at the "office," we were ready for a little relaxation back home. Goodness I love my job.

Cheers,

Chris "Bubby" Weller