Conscious Contact Newsletter (Edition No. 2) January 2024
Hey hey Kiddos… Happy New Year!
I know we are all holding our collective breath as we head into this oncoming typhoon of a year… I was just reading an article in the NY Times about how January is secretly “best month of the year” a time for quiet reflection, soup, fires, getting settled... I’m trying to go with it… tho, growing up in La Jolla as a kid… it’s a time when I now look out the window, here in Portland, and try to understand what sort of utter insanity in my life brought me to this view of a cold wall of rain water... and grey upon grey skies... the first inkling my children had, that something is wrong with daddy, was the first time they realized that I grew up on a sunny beach, with tacos... and somehow left and ended up in… the grey muck… my fondness for cool coats, hot baths, Sigur Ros and Harry Potter books, failing to bolster my case. My son actually said “I don’t like soup”… things are getting tense... it doesn’t help that they’re right... what in actual fucking fuck was I thinking? It (Portland weather) is not helping my “Authoritarian Nazis are coming and we should move to Shoreditch or Kilkenny” pitch...
That all said... the last month was lovely, at least as far as seeing you all in Sweden, UK (except you Brighton... I mean geez… wtf?) Montana, Utah... and over the JMO 4 nighter... I had a couple of magical moments with the Dimpker lads and my friend Casey Neill, a cool night in London with Our Man in the Field and Ella Spencer sitting in with Casey and I... then in Montana/Utah my spiritual crutch and mountain guide Patrick Kenny, was by my side... and finally, after a long stretch of acoustic guitar strumming, to finally have a electric guitar in my hands thru a loud amp, was simply sublime... those of you who know me, know I never include “playing my guitar” on a list of fun things I did last summer... but... love ‘em or hate ‘em... the Jackmormons... are a Fucking thing... not like any other thing... and I’m blessed to be part of “The Thing”… Beyond that… uh. Fuck 2023... the scary thing about ‘23, is the very real possibility we look back on it as our last year of sanity... my AI newsletter app... keeps trying to delete this sentiment...
One of the few times “Troubled Times” makes the assets list… is when it comes to art... so perhaps, we are in for some insanely cool music... and dare I say, music that actually addresses our current malaise... with honesty and nuance and… perhaps lyrics that matter… not saying “we” are going to be doing that... some argument, long ago, we should have stuck with the ZZ Top approach to songwriting… “keep it about Fucking”… granted, me singing loads of songs about sex... might prove to be awkward and icky for a large demographic but it beats trying to rhyme with Hezbollah or Samuel Alito Jr. …
Let’s see how I do?
First off... this week a run of solo shows
Tuesday Jan 16th @ Richmond Music Hall - Richmond, VA :: TIX
Wednesday Jan 17th @ In the Loft at City Winery Philadelphia - Philadelphia, PA :: TIX
Thursday Jan 18th @ XL Live - Harrisburg, PA :: TIX
Friday Jan 19th @ City Vineyard by City Winery - New York, NY :: TIX
Saturday Jan 20th @ Rockwood Music Hall - Boston, MA :: TIX
With my friend and producer Eric Rosco Ambel (Steve Earl and the Dukes, Joan Jett , Del Lords) on guitar in Philly, Harrisburg and NYC.
Plus… Craig Greenberg in NYC.
Plus... the new secret weapon Marley Striem in Boston... I’m excited for this plus I haven't been to Richmond or Boston in some crazy amount of time…
Then, our annual “JMO acoustic with everybody in town sitting in” run February 7th thru 11th at the LaurelThirst Pub.
LaurelThirst Acoustic Residency 2024 Details
And then (with a lot more on this later) I’m playing with my new friends from LA , Kareeta... very cool band, who, so far aren’t embarrassed to play with me (that will change!) I sang on their single Freeway Junkie Queen and we have a cool show planned... …suddenly things don’t seem so quiet...
also… keep on the lookout... as posted before... the good people at Terminus records are releasing Mouthful of Copper, the seminal (can I say that about my own record... AI Newsletter says I can!) JMO live in Butte, Montana recordings, 5 LPs on Copper Vinyl... pretty fucking dope… and we will be announcing JMO shows wherein we shall play the damn thing (we are thinking 2 nights). Where would you kids like to see this show?
Ok. I’m sitting by an indoor heater thingy and my fifth cortadito has gone cold. Anthony, our new interwebs master blaster overlord... has given me a lot of writing homework... and frankly, he shall not be denied… so. For now… have a lovely stress free January, hold your kids, say your prayers... you’re all smart... fucking vote! Love you. Jer Bear Das
My niece Kyra was making fun of me and my Ram Dass quotes and started calling me Jer Bear Das. I’m running with it... NMF
-JBD