I love it when this happens…
So we're pulling up to the gig last night and there is another band on… kind of feels like a festival… I don't know… don't pay enough attention these days! Just wind me up, point me in the direction we're going and in between I'm working on all kinds of fun things, learning… new ideas and building Team Scheffy.
One of the guys says, “It's Blue Oyster Cult” with us tonight! WOW… that really takes me back to great times in San Diego growing up with my Point Loma friends… that was the backdrop… well, and Chicago! haaaaaaaaa
And now all these years later to be able to be a part of it? Crazy…
So we get to the gig, go into catering to have a bite and I'm watching them on a tv monitor and notice, “These guys are really kicking ass! Really GREAT playing…”
And then I see the bass player! I blurt out, “WOW! It's Kasim Sulton!!!!” (Yes John Fields… I know you'll be tripping… we've talked about him before)… another sidenote… Fields is a self-proclaimed Todd Rundgren freak and Kasim was the bass player in Rundgren's Utopia.
So I'm texting Kasim freaking out! And then I just walk over to the side of the stage he's on and in between songs he spots me… and we both break out in the biggest grins…
Ok, a minor rant here… I have to go back a bit to how I met Kasim.
Tom Hamgridge, a KILLER drummer/writer/producer I met in Nashville through Bleu… (don't you love how these networks have a way of expanding into amazing situations?), asked me if I wanted to do a “Writers in the Round” at the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville… I of course jumped at the opportunity… and Kasim was there… we all marveled at how the diversity of the writers really created a unique experience… it wasn't a one trick pony that night.
Kasim and I connected and stayed in touch threatening to work on something… schedules just hadn't allowed it to happen, YET!
So there he was playing his BOOTY off! SUCH a killer pocket… THIS is a bass player.
After they finished it was so cool to see how all the members of the band wanted to come introduce themselves and hang out…
And to meet the 2 original members… Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma… The photo at the top of this post is (right to left) Kasim Sulton, Jason Scheff, Richie Castellano, Buck Dharma and Keith Howland.
Here's a picture of Richie, me and Eric Bloom…
So it was just amazing… the fact they were so great… wanted to hang with us… no names mentioned but some of the folks we run into out there don't reach out… I do… I know where I came from and I want to connect… most of them do want to connect and these guys did!
But the BEST thing to come out of it was when Kasim told me he's working on a solo record I said, “I HAVE to work on it!” and we made a deal.
He's sending me 2 tracks to sing to and I'll be doing it during my “Scheffy's Seacret Sessions” next week!
You see… as they say, say alert to life… meet people, reach out… be of service and the world opens up.
I love it! Stay tuned!!!! J
This is a great post — I love your zeal for music and that your tenure in ‘the biz’ hasn’t jaded you in recognizing that there are still good people in it. On a side note, if you don’t own ‘Something/Anything?’ Jason, you should hang your head in shame! 🙂
Best-