New Booking for Back In Time Band

Well, we just booked another performance at Farr best Theater in Mansfield, Texas for Saturday night June 15th, 2013. As a new start up band we are pumped to get asked back for a second concert. If you missed the Sept 29, 2012 concert is was a packed house full of family, friends, and their friends, and locals. We opened with an instrumental of Can't Find My Way Home by Steve Winwood. We went a little easy on the first set just wetting the audiences appetite for some classic rock. After a short intermission we rocked the house with our second set with heavy hitters like Stormy Monday and Gimmie Three Steps. We ended the night with our own version of Johnny Be Good and rocked it hard.
We built this band just for one event: to play my 40th high school reunion. I graduated in 73 right in the middle of an amazing music era of 70's rock. So much music came out then that is played today on any classic rock radio. You here them all the time! The reunion gig is Saturday night, Oct 12th, 2013 in Port Aransas, Texas on the beaches of south Texas. Our venue is the Sandcastle Conference Center in Port A. Guaranteed to be a rockin time bringing back those favorites we grew up with in high school.
So if  you like Clapton, Eagles, CCR, Allman Brothers, and Steve Miller you need to come see us!

Comments? What are your favorite classic rock songs?

Back In Time Song List

Many of you have asked what is our song list so far. Well, being a new band it's not super long but what we play we play really good. My goal is classic rock hits from the 70's. You will not see any country here and probably won't. My passion is classic rock and blues so that is what we are sticking too for now. Most all our songs you will here over and over on any classic rock radio. People know these songs and love hearing them! There are a few stray songs not from the 70's but I love them so we are playing them. These are the best of the best!

Current list performed:
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
Sunshine of Your Love - Cream
Keep on Rockin Me - Steve Miller
Born to be Wild - Steppinwolf
Gimmie Three Steps - Lynard Skynard
The Needle and the Spoon - Lynard Skynard
Cinnamon Girl - Neil Young
Stormy Monday - Allman Brothers
Can't Find My Way Home - Steve Winwood
Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen
Spooky - Classics
Evil Ways - Santana
Come Together- Beatles
Something - Beatles
Can't You See- Marshall Tucker
The Break Up Song - Greg Kihn
Black Water - Doobie Brothers
Old Time Rock and Roll - Bob Seager
Long Train Runnin - Doobie Brothers
Teach Your Children - CSNY
American Pie - Don McLean
Danny's Song - Loggins and Messina
Take It Easy - Eagles
Rock This Town - Stray Cats
Johnny Be Good - early version

New material being worked on:
China Grove - Doobie Brothers
Green River - CCR
Ramblin Man - Allman Brothers
Balinese - ZZTop
Long Cool Woman - Hollies

Back In Time Band

I never dreamed I would be performing concerts and getting paid to play! I had been thinking about and talking to some previous band friends about getting a band together to play my 40 year high school reunion. That is one of my bucket list items to play my high school reunion. Our 40th is coming up in 2013 and if  I don't play this one, it won't happen.

In Feb of 2012 I started making phone calls to guys I had played with in other bands and before I knew it I had a commitment from two guys; the drummer and a guitar / vocals guy. I then looked up a guy that played bass for me more than 10 years ago and is the BEST bass player I know.  I searched the internet and found him in Mansfield, Texas right where he was 10 years ago. I made the call and he overwhelmingly said yes to playing again. The guitar guy I already recruited recalled another name I had not heard for over 10 years that plays keyboard and piano. I searched the internet and found him also and made the call. He's in for sure!

Our first rehearsal was in March 2012 in the living room of the bass player, Darryl. We banged our way through a dozen classic rock songs and I was amazed it sounded so well for the first rehearsal. We rehearsed another time and decided we needed a second strong vocal. Our drummer, Steve (drummy) plays in another band and called his lead vocal guy. He said he would do our gig as well so now we have, Stan on guitar and vocals, Steve (drummy), Darryl on bass, Jet on keyboard, Dave on guitar and vocals, and me on lead and rhythm guitar.

Over the next several months we rehearsed once a month. All the band members are in the same are except I was 100 miles away so I drove the practice each time and home. It was well worth the drive to jam with these guys. The next thing I know we are booked to play a paying gig.

We played a classic rock concert on September 29, for 150 people with a 2 hour set list of classic hits from the 70's. We rocked the house and they loved us. In fact Farr best has since called and booked us again. We never planned it this way!

Just a note: Darryl our bassman played with Stevie Ray Vaughn in the early days and is incredible! Steve (drummy) is a sound tech for several churches and know his stuff man. Jet on keyboard was a concert pianist at age 21 and rocks. Dave plays acoustic guitar like no one else. Stan can sing country and knocks out some classic rock leads like no body's business. Me, I have been playing guitar since i was a kid and this is my fourth band to start and have fun with. By the way between all these guys we have enough sound equipment to play anywhere. Go figure!

Pedaling Forward

I started out using pedals for all my effects many years ago and then tried an all-in-one effects pedal from Digitech. For awhile now I have loved the all-in-one because it was so versatile but have since come to realize I rarely use but a few settings. You can customize each setting and save it but then who has the time to sit there and mess with each setting? So, with the purchase of my new Fender Blues Junior amp I decided to go back to separate pedals.

During band rehearsal today I used only two pedals and loved the sounds I got. Well, the new amp made a huge difference too. I have to say the Blues Junior came through for me with flying colors! WOW! I love the tone and the different sounds you can get just from the amp alone. Plus it brings out the different settings I have on each guitar as well. Ok! So I used a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal and loved the sound it gave me. It did the job for songs like Born to be Wild and Cinnamon Girl. I also used a Boss CH-1 Chorus pedal and it did just the trick on songs like Something by the Beatles. It gave me that warm and deep tone needed for that song!

So it looks like I will be adding to my pedal collection for a while and get that to where I need it. My next purchase will be an in-line chromatic tuner. I tried using a great app on my Ipad but it was hard to tune between songs with the room so noisy. An in-line will be much quicker and easier. After that probably a cry baby pedal. Once I do all those I will surely need a pedal box that holds all these and gives me direct power. I found out today that batteries do not last!

What pedals are you using? Any good recommendations for me?

Keep on Rockin Me Baby Original

Steve Miller is certainly one of my favorites from the 70's and here he is back in the day. I went to a lot of concerts when I was young and Steve was one of them. Back in the late 70's I sat FRONT ROW in his concert in Austin and was about 6 feet away from the front of the stage.That was when Steve just became popular and I had really never heard any of his songs. A friend of mine had extra front row tickets and wanted to sell the to me. I thought he may be ripping me off. Who is Steve Miller? Are you sure this guy will be good? I laugh every time I think i almost turned down front row to Steve Miller. It was an awesome concert. Boz Skaggs was the front runner for the concert. Not too shabby right?

Rockin me Baby will be our opening song at Farr Best Theater! I hope we can pull it off as rockin as this.

Classic Rock 70's Era Style

This Saturday will only be our second rehearsal and we have 15 songs so far to work through in just a few hours. Since our last practice we have recruited a keyboard player and lead vocals so we are pumped to see what we can crank out this next rehearsal. My job is putting together the song charts and making sure they match the original keys and that the chords are all correct.

In case you haven't heard we are Back in Time a classic rock band bringing back the classics from the 70's era. Most the songs we are playing are my all time favorites plus a few hits that anyone would recognize and love to hear again. We have two gigs coming up that we are getting ready for. Our major one is in the fall of 2013 playing for my 40th high school reunion. That's what started all this fun! Along the way we got booked to perform at Farr Best Theater in Mansfield, Texas on Friday night September 21, 2012.

Here is our song list so far:
Keep Rockin Me Baby - Steve Miller Band
Takin Care of Business - BTO
Born to be Wild- Steppenwolf
Come Together - The Beatles
Spooky - Classics
Long Train Runnin- Doobie Brothers
Cinnamon Girl - Neal Young
Susie Q - CCR
Some Kind Of Wonderful - Grand Funk Railroad
Wonderful Tonight - Eric Clapton
 Oh Girl - Chi Lites
Teach Your Children - CSNY
Can't Find My Way Home - Steve Winnwood / Eric Clapton live version
Something - The Beatles
Old Time Rock and Roll - Bob Seiger

We are working on some ZZTop and other classic rocks you will love. So stay connected to the band here at BlueschaserJR.

Comments? What is your all time classic rock favorite?

Brazos Nights Brings Name Bands to Waco in 2012

Hey Wacoans you do not want to miss some upcoming concerts in Waco.In case you did not know we have three incredible bands on the line up for Brazos Nights at Indian Springs Park in downtown Waco. You can check it all out at Brazos Nights web site but here is what i am excited about.

Los Lonely Boys on April 6
Guitar Shorty and Asleep at the Wheel on June 1st

Legendary bands that i love to listen to will be right at my feet in Waco this summer. First of all Los Loney Boys are incredible and have some awesome songs. Guitar Shorty is my top blues player and will bring it like never before i am sure. Then Asleep at the Wheel go back a long ways and will rock the house too.

Kudos to the city of Waco for finally getting some name bands here!

Comments? Are these bands on your concert list?

Bucket List Item

One item on my bucket list is to play at my high school reunion. Well my 40th reunion is coming up in the fall of 2013 so if i am going to make this item on my list happen, it has to be now. I talked about it for a few years and even mentioned it to a former band member a while back. Here it is 20 months out to the reunion and i took action. I started with that former band member and and then started calling some other former players and soon i had a guitar/ vocals guy and drummer and me. I play mostly rhythm and some lead and limited back up vocals, maybe! The drummer is a good friend that played a previous band and is the best drummer i know by far.

I then googled a bass player that played in my original band back in 97. I found him and emailed his work and in a few days i got a response that he was in. He was super excited to play again. This guy is the best bass player i know as well. and played with Stevie Ray Vaughn back in the day. In fact he has a poster in his house with him and SRV!

We actually met and played together for the first time and knocked out some really great classic rock tunes and sounded really good too. But we were missing a lead vocal and keyboard player. After that first rehearsal i googled another guy that i knew that was a concert pianist at the age of 24 and he played keyboard too. I found his email address and sent him a note. Within a few days he emailed back and was in. Finally, the drummer got a lead vocal guy for us that is in his other band, kind of like a loaner for this upcoming reunion gig.

So there you have it! I have a 40th High School Reunion, in the fall of 2013, in Corpus Christi, Texas, probably a non paying gig, that will require lots of rehearsals, and these friends and fellow musicians all committed to it for me. That is incredible! It is the love of music and the friendship we enjoy that brought us together again for a reunion gig.

One more thing! The bass player got us a gig this year at Farr Best Theater in Mansfield, Texas on Sept 21st, 2012 just because he knew the man that lines up bands for the place. So we are listed for that date. Our band name is "Back In Time"...bringing back classic rock of the 70's!

Back In Time Band members are: Rick Cadden- guitar, Stan Melton-guitar and vocals, Steve Byas - drums, Darryl Haynes- Bass, Dave Lucas- guitar vocals, and Jet Jones - keyboard!

I am having a blast with this and can't wait for the high school reunion now!

Comments! Are you playing in a band?

Did I Make the Right Choice?

Fender Blues Junior

I have been playing in bands on and off for the last 15 years and I have only owned one guitar combo amp....a Crate GTX 212 100 watt into two Celestian speakers. That amp has carried me for 14 years and has been a workhorse. The one i have is a hybrid tube and electronic component. It has 2 12ax7 tubes to boost a great sound and loud power. Just this past month the Crate starting acting up and the clean channel gets distorted after a few minutes of playing. So i decided it was time to get a new one.

I have been looking at the Fender Blues Junior for many years but never played one actually. I have a few friends that use that amp for small and large gigs and many times a mic in front of it for extra sound for the larger gigs. My fear was going from a 2x12 speaker 100 watt amp to a 1x12 15 watt amp. That did not add up to me but, after four referrals from guys that play every week, i made the purchase.

So what do i think so far? I am a little disappointed in the overall sound. It has a whole new sound and maybe i will get used to it after a while so i 'll get playing it. I have not used it yet in rehearsal and that will be the test i am sure. What i do like about it already is that the tone is so clear that you can really hear the character of each guitar. I have a Fender Fat Start and a Fender Tele and now I really hear the differences in those two.

So tell me what you think about this amp. Do you have one? Comments please!