Boy, I've climbed two mountains in two days and are my feet tired!  This is the 4th day of my three week expedition out west with my wife, Amanda. She wrote and won a grant to travel out west to learn more about her Native American roots. It's been an honor to ride along with her, to experience some of the most beautiful scenery that this country has to offer, and to really experience the roots of the first indigenous people of this country. Though we are only 4 days in, I have truly felt blessed to have hiked the sacred Black Hills, or Paha Sapa in Lakota. This trip is such an awakening for me. I feel that this a time of rebirth, a time to walk the path that I have chosen to walk.  No regrets, no turning back. Just moving forward and beyond. Traveling is good for everyone.  It offers a new perspective, allowing you to re-examine your own view of the world.

--Krojo

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We recognize that there is a difference. What might be considered a large crowd is subjective only in the context of the environment itself. Example: The Morris Performing Arts Center (in South Bend) seats, maybe, 2200 eager beavers. And, equally as many actual people. On the smaller side, Trio's (also in SB), has a capacity for about 200? A mere fraction! However, both can illicit great amounts of energy on any given night. And saturday night had an energy surplus.

Our faithful Krojo sat in with Umphrey's McGee last night (saturday 4/18) at their show at The Morris. From what I hear, he killed it, yo! He played early in their set, so he could make it back across the street in time for our own show, at Trio's. I had the pleasure of seeing Umphrey's sound check with Kroj, and that in itself was both, cool, and inspirational. I've seen their sound checks before, seen their shows, etc… but it was tight last night. Touring has made them a 6 headed monster. They played 'Eminence Front', and served it up right! That's all I'm sayin'.

Our show was beyond our own expectation. I believe the place was at capacity, and the energy rose to the occasion. We were asked to play a pretty long evening, so we set out to pace ourselves. But, you know how things happen. You get movin', and then things just start unfolding. Good things. We showcased a lot of new material last night. There's always something elating about embarking on a new song in the live setting. We write a lot of stuff that never sees the stage, but when we hit on the songs that get our hearts pumpin', and then see them bloom on stage… it's a great feeling. They're like little, hopeful, banana buds on a banana tree, that grow into delicious, peel and eat, beautifully yellow adult bananas. Right? Yummy… bananas…! So the show was packed with energy.

The place really went to another level though, when Joel and Jake, from Umphrey's came over, after playing 3 hours at The Morris, and sat in with us. I'm surprised the fire department didn't show up, 'cause the house was on fire at that point! (Go ahead, you can keep that one;-) Watching Justin and Jake create spontaneous dialogue on their respective guitars was an absolute privilege. I'm also convinced that Mark 'Hushpuppy' Gamble rewrote the book of trumpet last night. 'Oil of Olivier' definitely played for Parker and Coltrane, and Joel had 16 vestal virgins carry in his fingers, and lay them, ever so gently, upon each and every appropriate key. Krojo may have had an actual 'out of body experience' last night, 'cause I'm pretty sure when I looked back at him, he was hovering above his kit with arms spread wide, palms to the air, and just staring at his drum kit that was driving along at about 137 mph. Angels surely fornicated to sweet sweet sounds slipping from the doors, windows, and loosely tuckpointed bricks at Trio's. (lol…) Playing on that stage last night, with my band, and our friends, was the reason I play the bass. It's an affirmation that making the decision to be a musician, was a good one.

We played that show in front of a large crowd. Sure, a large crowd for Trio's, but 200, or so, ain't half bad. It's subjective to the environment. But the point remains the same. Playing for a full house feels like you're playing for a full house, and that's what makes it a great night.

Peace and bacon grease,
-Jayson

I wouldn't call it an obsession. It is simply an aggressive curiosity. Flight has always been something I wanted to dabble in. I could never picture myself going to flight school, and although awesome, flying fighter jets seemed to demand a lot of prep time. I wanted a simpler design. Strapping myself to a kite and jumping off of a mountain seemed just right, and it fit my budget. My first attempt at flight was interesting. I had a life savings of $1000 dollars, it was college, and so I purchased a seat with a fan attached to the back. When the fan engaged, I was to start moving and a parachute was to fill with air and I would fly. What could go wrong, it was a flying parachute? Parachutes, by their very design, are meant to land anyone and anything softly to the ground. I didn't have the time nor the patience to learn the nuances of flying this thing, hell it was college, homework and a moderate social life took up most of my time, so I loaded this flying seat into the back of my buddies truck and headed to a field. Was it legal to fly there? I still don't know! Was it smart? I actually have an answer for that now that I've had the chance to reflect on the adventure. So I fired up my fan-seat-parachute thing, it purred like a fat house cat, mainly snorting but smooth at times. I was now ready to soar above my friends. Just in case, we said our final goodbyes, not that anything could go wrong, it is a flying parachute after all! Parachutes, by their very design are meant to.... you know. So there I was, tearing down the grass runway. For $1000 I was going to have the ability of flight! To be continued next week...... Actually, I'll fill you in. I don't like the ending because it is so anti climactic. It started pouring sheets of rain. It went from a cloudless sky, full of sunshine, to the worst rainstorm I've ever experienced. Perhaps the rain saved my life, but we'll never know. Hell, it was a parachute! What could have gone wrong!?

Justin

I remember when I was 16, and eager to get to the DMV, (a feeling never to be uttered through my slightly bloated cranium ever again), to get my next bench mark privilege as an american citizen. Turning 13 was awkward, and anti-climactic, so 16 with a driver's license was going to make up for a lot.

I had actually had my first experience behind the wheel, at the ripe age of 6. My parents used to let us sit on their laps and steer the car, (it was the 70's, and times were loose). As crazy as that sounds, I remember being good at it. I was obsessed with annoying my parents to let me "drive". When I turned twelve my mother took my older sister and I out for some mexican food, and I begged her to let me drive the car, solo, for my birthday. She finally cracked… kind of. She looked down at the large bowl of cascading Jalapeno peppers sitting on the festively dressed table, adorned with the classic mexican staples, and exclaimed "if you eat the biggest pepper in this bowl, you can drive the car". As the last r rolled out of that sentence and from her pursed, smirky looking lips, (as she was pretty confident I'd give up), I'd already started devouring a pepper that may have actually been classified as a small pickle, due to the immense size of it.

As I glowed from the elating combination of residual heat from the jalapeno pepper, and my excitement of driving the car solo, after years of only steering, two things occurred to me. 1. I knew right then and there that I loved mexican food, and hot peppers, and 2. Come hell or high water, I was gonna kick ass at driving that car. Donuts, reverse spins, a Starsky and Hutch across the hood of the car to make my entrance… It was all going through my head. However, when it was done, it turned out to be a fairly tame driving experience, but I felt on top of the world nonetheless, and it proved that driving was in my blood.

When it came time to get my license on my big day, my dad picked me up. This was a special father and son bonding day that we'd both been waiting for. A rite of passage was taking place. The day my dad knew his son would become a man. And no son of his was getting there the easy way. My dad showed up in an older Datsun that he had. Small, gray, and unassuming, but solid. And, for no apparent reason, the bucket seats had these furry, royal blue, seat covers adorned with the Playboy bunny logo on the head rest of each seat …(more about Playboy later).

But, the biggest shock was the unexpected stick shift. I broke into a cold sweat. "Dad, you showed up here in a stick shift car? Are you serious?" My dad just kinda chuckled and said, "if you're gonna get that license, you're gonna have to show me you can drive this just as well". Rather than cry like the defeated little scamp I felt like, I took it like a man, and said "give me the keys". After about an hour I had it down, and we proceeded to the test. I stayed confident throughout, and ended up getting a perfect score… in a stick shift car. It was an absolute high. I had reached mecca. I credit my relaxed state to what my dad had said to me right before I took the driving test. He said "don't think about anything, just drive, and do what you already know how to do. You'll do great". I always appreciated the confidence he had in me on such a monumental day in my life, and have never forgotten that.

When we were leaving, he flipped me the keys and said, "here, it's all yours… you earned it" As I looked at the Playboy bunnies, gleaming back at me, I thought two things. 1. My life couldn't be any sweeter, and 2. My dad has some explaining to do!

Lately I've been feeling as though the band has been studying hard for it's driving test, and we're pretty much ready for the license. Our live shows have a steadily growing confidence that feels really good. We're more relaxed, and the songs are slowly being refined and polished. Our last 6, or so, shows have been great achievements for us. Collectively, we've stumbled upon an unspoken feeling of cohesion that can sometimes only transpire, under the covered veil of a mysterious night. The kind of feeling that just shows up unannounced, but is welcome nonetheless. So, it's a good time for the brethren of Half-Pint Jones, and we hope you'll stay tuned to take part in the evolution of it all.

Peace and bacon grease!
-Jayson

Man,what a great weekend! We had the pleasure of sharing the concert stage with the band, The Young Dubliners.
Talk about two bands that don't sound anything alike, but yet fit like a well worn baseball mitt. The fellas in Young Dubs were very accommodating to us, both before, and after our set. I fully encourage anyone who is a lover of music to check these guys out. Nothing but class acts!

In an also encouraging set of circumstances, HPJ was approached by some film students who want to shoot an HPJ video! Thoughts are to have our first video be : The Bachelor". It's seems to be a no brainer, as who wouldn't want to see Justin in his true environment. You know, he really does eat scrambled eggs & Captain Crunch
(I swear, it's true). I have hard incriminating photo's to back up my statement!

Oh, and by the way, Jayson met his doppelganger in the Young Dubs bass player, Brendan, who it seems, like Jayson, like to talk to people as if they are

Christopher Walken. Very disturbing to watch when they were chatting to each other.

Saturdays show was a lot of fun as well. We played in Saint Joseph, MI. at Czars and had a great turn out! I really feel that people are starting to come out in droves to support us. That is super encouraging. It makes me and the guys feel appreciated, since without all of the fans, we would be playing tunes in my basement.
That's all from my cozy couch right now(wiped out, too much rocking!)
Namaste, Krojo

Hey Folks! It's a new dawn on the horizon, and we couldn't be happier about it.

As a show of our appreciation, we've uploaded a great new single from the new album, called 'My Name'.

We also put up some live cuts from a recent show we played at the Goshen Theater. They're new songs, that may even see their way onto a future album, called 'Urban Swamp', and 'Shogun Showdown'. The show was for the Globe Radio (fm 91.1) 50 year anniversary party. Great night! The Globe has been a huge supporter of the band, and we were really happy to be a part of the evening.

We hope you like the tunes, and are enjoying the new album, 'Single File'. Do you have your copy yet?

Peace,
Jayson

Hello my fellow Joneser's! I hope you all had a great Fourth of July weekend. WE had a great time playing on the fourth and the fifth and we appreciate all who came out. 
 We have some new tunes on our favorite radio station 91.1 the Globe, out of Goshen. And we can't wait for you to hear them. So, if your feeling like spreading the Jonesing love around, then please call the Globe @ 574- 535-7488 and request a HPJ tune. You know, the Bachelor is always a good one,(even though Justin is no longer one,,,,but Mark is!) Thanks again for all of your support and remember, the more you come to the shows and the more you request us, then the more lasting memories will happen for us all.
 Namaste and hope to see you this week!
Krojo

Greetings everyone,
I wanted to send along some news of saddness in Half Pint Jones.
Our publicist, Jill Rosen's grandmother, passed away  over the weekend while we were in the studio recording our next cd. Please keep Jill, and her family in your thoughts over the next week, and feel free to send any kind words if you so feel moved.
Thanks for all your support!
Namaste, Krojo

Hello friends. It's true, we're back on the tele. Tune in to WNIT, on April 13th, to see you're favorite fellas from Half-Pint play another song. It should be on at 7:30 p.m. EST. Check your local listings. The program is called 'Open Studio'.

It will re-air on thursday, April 17th. We believe that it airs at 5:30 p.m EST. Check those listings though, as we'd hate to have you miss it due to a silly little error on our part.

Peace,
Half-Pint Jones

For those of you that live close enough to Elkhart, Indiana, to dial in WNIT on your television, we have news for you. Half-Pint Jones will be performing on WNIT's 'Open Studio', Sunday November 11th at 7:30 p.m., and re-airing November 15th at 6 p.m.

We'll be performing "Love Dem Changes", which is only one out of 4 songs that we recorded to be aired throughout the this year and next year. We had a lot of fun recording the tunes for the station, and hopefully it translates in the viewed performance.

After the show airs, we're free to post the performance on our website, myspace page, youtube, and wherever else we feel like infiltrating. So, keep your eyes open, and maybe you can catch the web released version if you're unable to see the historic first airing.

Enjoy!
Half-Pint Jones