This Summer, 2024, sucked. I had planned to be out busking, booking gigs for my new old soul band, booking gigs for Radio Joe and the Jazzbos and playing sideman gigs. Ahh the outdoors on a battery powered amp is so freeing! But one day in early May my lovely wife Susan and I were […]
On Sept 15th I’m doing a show of music from the 1930’s and the love songs of Jimmy Durante. Tribute shows are all the rage these days and if not a tribute show then it has to be hip and new and cutting edge and a major production event with lights and cows and flying […]
I usually don’t write anything personal on Facebook. I use it to toot my horn about my band or gigs. It’s about the advertising. I know I’m not a big deal. I’m an okay self taught singer and guitar player. Love songs to the people is what I can do. I crawl up out of […]
We’re coming back to gig at the Eagles Club in October. Same players. Tony, Bruce and Keith. We’ll see how it goes from there. Been thru a ton of changes. Been in the woodshed trying to figure out my music. My voice. My guitar. I don’t have to do anything for money. I don’t have to […]
Before all this went down I had a nifty little plan to start doing solo shows in nursing homes after I retired from my dayjob. I was going to be booking a ton of gigs with the band and branching out into sideman work again. But my plan was not to be. I had underestimated […]
There’s this one regular who gives me cards and checks for tips at the gig. I’m fairly sure this person is not rich and lives on a fixed income. The tips are generous. Very Generous. Having this kind of support is so unusual and surprising. The Christmas show was a longtime desire of mine to […]
Joe Demko of Maple Grove never attended college, but he has received a priceless, Ph.D.-level education in music and the music business from many teachers—some of whom are familiar names to music fans—names like Bonnie Raitt, Bob Dylan, Benny Goodman, Willie Murphy and Bruce Henry. In six decades as a working musician, Demko’s had some […]
It’s 2:30 am after a gig in Rock Island, Ill. There is nothing on tv in the hotel room except for a still about the weather, which has been rainy and lousy all day. The gig didn’t go that well. They didn’t dig us. They ate they drank but not our audience. I’m maybe half […]
People ask me” When is your CD coming out?” When I get it done is the usual answer. There are some songs in this collection which are so emotionally true and good, I’m amazed and gratified that the process has worked so well and the idea that was in my head is actually what is […]
It’s 6pm after an eight hour work day which was real busy. I sit down to cut a comp vocal at the secret studio. 10 takes to edit to make a good lead vocal from. It’s starts to go bad right away when the phone buzzes with a text about a gig I can’t do, […]