Happy Holidays from Florida, and another gig at Dominican Joe's

Lots of travels and jams to catch up on.  After a 5 day hiatus in NYC, I'm just about off to St. Augustine, Florida to celebrate with family (and rock out with the bro, no doubt).  

I get back to Austin shortly after Christmas, with my brother Mark, a killer drummer and multi-instrumentalist in his own right, in tow.  Look for us reuniting on stage in St. Augustine (why does my browser want to correct this to St. Augustness???) as well as at in Austin at Dominican Joe's, going on at 9pm on Saturday the 27th.  Hope to see you there.

Happy holidays to all!  

(p.s. - Did you know that "Notes from Berlin" makes an excellent stocking stuffer? Really.)

Jam at Happiness - Update

UPDATE:

What an awesome time.  After playing, we made a fire and strummed, picked, or thumped every potential instrument we could find.  Thanks to Lane, Ryan, Sumner, and everyone else who took part.  Can't wait to do it again.

Hey all,

Come out and see the coolest plants and crafts in Austin tomorrow afternoon at Happiness.  If you've never been, it's an great spot on South 1st with a great vibe and nice folks.  I'll probably play around 3 or so.  

Clementine Gig Shots and Clip

Great spot, fun times, bellies full of turkey...

Live for Turkey Days Video

From Abel James Photos 11/14/08

Click for video!

Clementine Cafe tonight with Gabe's Motive

Come listen to a jam out tonight at Clementine Cafe with Jason and Dan of Gabe's Motive (fresh transplants from Lake Tahoe).  Should be a good time, collaborative, and nice and loose, so come check us out.  

We start around 8 and play until we're done.  

They've got coffee and booze.  Sounds like a pretty good Friday night plan, eh?

Address is:

2200 Manor Rd
Austin, TX 78723

Gabe's Motive (aka Waiting for Tim)

Upcoming Gigs - Clementine Cafe and Maggie Maes

Solo Acoustic Gig with Gabe's Motive - FRIDAY AT 8PM at Clementine Cafe on Manor Rd.

Saxolicious Jamming with Rival City and the Contrabandits - SATURDAY 10-2 at Maggie Maes on 6th

Lucky Lounge and Flamingo Cantina

With the Contrabandits and Rival City

More Gigs, Baby

Tonight I'll be playing tenor sax at Darwin's with Rival City from 10pm-2.  Grab a beer and hear some reggae/hip-hop.  Then it'll be Lucky Lounge on Tuesday, and Flamingo Cantina on Wednesday.

Just booked a few more solo gigs, as well.  The night after Thanksgiving I'll be at Clementine Cafe, and Dominican Joes again on December 27th. 

The Scene

As some of you know, I've been bouncing around a bit since moving to Austin in August. I'm always looking for other players to jam or play out with, but it didn't take me long to find that there are far too many guitarists, singers, and songwriters to go around. With that in mind, I've dusted off the old tenor sax and decided to try to meet some folks and penetrate the Austin scene with an instrument that's in demand.

So far, I've played out with the Bus Stop Stallions, Soul Track Mind, Rival City, and countless others at TC's Lounge, Flamingo Cantina, Nuno's, and a few other joints. It's a refreshing change that setting up consists of rolling up to a gig, taking the loyal sax out of its case, stepping up on the stage and honking. No huge amps, cord routing, P.A. hauling, restringing and tuning or even set lists. And it's a cool way to meet some other musicians.

It'll take some time, a few sqeaky notes, sore lips, and undoubtedly some on-stage blunders before I get my chops back, but I suppose everyone could use a bit of humble pie. And it's a shitload of fun.

Next week is looking busy, with gigs at Darwin's tonight and Lucky Lounge with Boombox on Tuesday, followed by a few more jams and gigs. I'll keep you updated to see who I get in with...

Blue Note / Manhattan Records!!!

I am a member of Taxi, an independent A&R company that screens musicians for record companies of all shapes and sizes. I just got an e-mail saying that a few of my tunes have been forwarded to Manhattan Records, a subsidiary of Blue Note (which is pretty killer). They deal with Kenny Rogers and some other names you may recognize, and Blue Note is legendary.

Still a long shot that I'd get a deal or anything else significant, but pretty cool that the big guys are sniffin around. Gave me a few butterflies, at the least.

Yowzah

Snapshots from DJ's

Dominican Joes Gig

Thanks all who came out to Dominican Joes on Saturday night. It was a cool little spot for some relaxed, funky tunes. Got some great responses from the folks who run music there, so I'll be back.

I'm tentatively scheduled to play there again in late December. My brother Mark will be in town, so I look forward to jamming.

Playing Dominican Joe's Tonight

I'll be playing some new original tunes tonight, nice and loose.  Come pregame with some coffee, and feel good about yourself because you'll be supporting education for underprivileged kids.  Hope you can make it.

Honk for the Bus Stop Stallions

I've started jamming with the Bus Stop Stallions, a soul/rock band out of Austin as their new tenor sax player. Check out http://www.myspace.com/busstopstallions for more information and to listen to some tunes.

"Bus Stop Stallions seeks to alter the face of dance music with their funktastic rhythms. This group has rhythms and music to enlighten the mind, shake the body, and stimulate the soul. Tight arrangements, unified climaxes, hot solos, and original songs so fat that you know that this aint no diet funk! Seven members serve up the tastiest funk with all the trimmings and then some! Screaming horn lines hover over soulful vocals, blessing rhythms tighter than a heart attack. Singer Chris Varteressian sermonizes harmonies, and gets the crowd chanting in order to entice even the limpest wallflower to rise up and shine while they boogie the night away. The Bus Stop Stallions takes you back to funk's hey-days of rhythm and consciousness, when the only thing deeper than the message, was the music itself. Their music is partly a blast from the past, but more importantly it is a propulsion into the future of the funk. They are united in bringing the world pure positivity with their stanky hypnotic grooves. The Bus Stop Stallions put peoples heads in the clouds while their dancin' feet stay on the ground."

Welcome!

Welcome to the Abel James blog!  Check back soon for a calendar of gigs and news.

http://www.AbelJames.com