Dr. AIX's POSTS

Jackshit The Band at McCabe’s

Yesterday was long. I got up early to participate in the Roadrunners LA Marathon training run (the race will happen on Valentine’s Day this…hopefully it will be cooler than the last couple of years). By this time in the schedule the groups are running 14-16 miles. I really struggle to keep myself moving but yesterday I had the juice and ran for almost 3 hours. There are water and fuel stops along the way but I was very happy with a long slow run (14.38 miles at 12 min/mile). I haven’t abandoned my quest to complete a marathon in less than 5 hours.

Following a run of that duration, I need a good breakfast and some serious rest, which I got once I returned home. Charlie had put in 5 miles at Will Rogers State Park with my wife, so he needed some down time as well. We both took a late morning nap. So I missed the couple of calls from my friend Alan Kanter. He’s one of the long-standing audio engineers at the local guitar store/music venue. It was almost 1:30 pm when I retrieved his message. He wanted to let me know that he had a couple of tickets to last evening performance by Jackshit: The Band and wanted to know if I was interested in attending the show. The message also included a “get right back to me” because the window of opportunity was narrow. I was sure I was too late. He left the message at about 10:30 am. But after a quick conversation, the tickets were mine.

You may not know much about Jackshit: The Band, but let me tell you that I’ve seen them play McCabe’s before. The band is a fantasy outlet for so fabulously talented guys. You can visit their web site and read their “story” about how they’re from a town south ninety miles south of Bakersfield called Cochtotan. The three go by Beau Shit, Pete Shit, and Shorty Shit and they dress and talk the part of bumpkins. In reality, these guys are the real deal.

Beau is actually Val McCallum and is currently a member of Jackson Browne’s band. He’s has also toured or recorded with such notables as Shelby Lynne, Willie Nelson, Bonnie Raitt, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant, Seal, The Wallflowers, Joan Osborne, Ron Sexsmith and many more. The guy can play guitar like he’s “ringing a bell”. Very impressive talent from the perspective of a wanna be guitar player.

Alan called me because the band is loud and smoking but also because Richard Thompson and Albert Lee would be sharing the stage as guest artists. The previous night Jackson was the surprise guest. As you can expect, it was quite a show. Despite my weary body, these guys engaged me for almost three hours.

Thanks Alan!

Dr. AIX

Mark Waldrep, aka Dr. AIX, has been producing and engineering music for over 40 years. He learned electronics as a teenager from his HAM radio father while learning to play the guitar. Mark received the first doctorate in music composition from UCLA in 1986 for a "binaural" electronic music composition. Other advanced degrees include an MS in computer science, an MFA/MA in music, BM in music and a BA in art. As an engineer and producer, Mark has worked on projects for the Rolling Stones, 311, Tool, KISS, Blink 182, Blues Traveler, Britney Spears, the San Francisco Symphony, The Dover Quartet, Willie Nelson, Paul Williams, The Allman Brothers, Bad Company and many more. Dr. Waldrep has been an innovator when it comes to multimedia and music. He created the first enhanced CDs in the 90s, the first DVD-Videos released in the U.S., the first web-connected DVD, the first DVD-Audio title, the first music Blu-ray disc and the first 3D Music Album. Additionally, he launched the first High Definition Music Download site in 2007 called iTrax.com. A frequency speaker at audio events, author of numerous articles, Dr. Waldrep is currently writing a book on the production and reproduction of high-end music called, "High-End Audio: A Practical Guide to Production and Playback". The book should be completed in the fall of 2013.

10 thoughts on “Jackshit The Band at McCabe’s

  • Paul Johnson

    Saw Val McCullum in Jackson Browne’s band a while ago in Birmingham UK – great show and great guitarist. If there is a chance that Richard Thompson might show up, always worth making an effort to attend! Will now look out for Jackshit: The Band!

    Reply
  • Rodrian Roadeye

    All my life I didn’t know Jackshit, and now thanks to you I do! I’m passing them on to others to enlighten them also.

    Reply
  • Must be nice to be Mark. 😉

    Reply
  • david whitton

    Quicktime 7 web plug-in now redundant and legacy on Macs since OSX Mavericks and will need to be reinstalled to listen to the tracks on their old design webpage. In my opinion, not worthwhile the bother – not my taste at all but they are accomplished musicians.

    Reply
  • Lon Freeman

    Fun Post! I normally read your posts for info on audio, but as a novice Bassist I really enjoyed this post!

    Thanks,

    Lonnie

    Reply
    • ‘Good music’ comes first – before ‘good capturing/delievering format’.
      If both come together, we can’t wish for more.

      Reply
      • Admin

        Very true…although personally I can’t listen to a good performance recorded poorly.

        Reply
  • Barry Kirby

    This is a link to a show I recently watched on sound. I enjoyed it. Hope you ore your subscribers might like it.

    Click here to watch show.

    Reply
    • Admin

      I read the article and would love to check out the program but it is limited to Canada.

      Reply

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