A1 Artist Spotlight has posted a podcast of their interview with Julien, also featuring music from The New Imperial. Check it out here: A1 Artist Spotlight: Julien Kasper Interview A1 Artist Spotlight: Julien Kasper Interview 

On Monday November 17, 2008 at 3:11 PM Pat Ramsey left this world. Pat was a singer, harmonica virtuoso, my first musical mentor, and one of my closest friends. Pat and I, along with Mike and Steve Howell, were the musical brotherhood known as Crosscut Saw.

Pat joined Crosscut Saw shortly after I signed on. He was fresh off the road with Butch Trucks and had recently recorded "White Hot and Blue" with Johnny Winter. I was sixteen and the rest of the band in their late twenties or early thirties. Whatever our ages, Pat was musically out of our league. However, from our very first rehearsal, he saw my potential and pushed me to grow. Pat, the newcomer, used his heavyweight credentials to bluntly revoke the other guitarist's solos in order to give them to me. This created discontent and personnel changes that eventually created the lineup that toured extensively, built a strong following, and recorded an album. Watching and listening to Pat on stage night after night was inspiring and motivating. No matter how exhausted (or inebriated) he gave body and soul to every harmonica solo and vocal performance. Having to support and follow Pat raised the bar for us. He gave me on the job training on every element of musicianship but his most important lesson was the importance of bringing absolute commitment to everything you play. By the time I was 18 Pat and I were going toe to toe and our friendly high energy competition was one of the primary elements that made Crosscut Saw such a compelling band. As my musical direction shifted towards jazz and an inevitable departure, Pat gave me his support and his understanding. As an innovator on his instrument he empathized with my need to push boundaries.


Pat was also extremely funny and exceptionally intelligent. He was outspoken about politics and loved to rant and rave. He obsessed over the weather (we called him "the weatherman"). He loved to hunt and fish. He loved wild women and they loved him. Like many musicians of his era his issues with alcohol and substance abuse are no secret and brought about his eventual demise. I miss Pat terribly but when I think of him, just as I feel the tears, I smile.

Above:  Pat Ramsey tearing it up with Johnny Winter in December 2007

Crosscut Saw in the 70's.  From left to right: Steve Howell, Julien Kasper, Mike Howell, Pat Ramsey

Our sincere thanks to those of you who have made it to our monthly Lily Pad shows. Starting October 20th we are moving to Monday night and, beginning in November, we will settle into the first Monday of every month. Our start time is 7:30 and following us at 10:00 jazz legends The Fringe will play as they do every Monday night.

As I've mentioned before creative music is moving to alternative venues because the few remaining clubs are not paying and/or booking very conservatively, or no longer presenting live music. With performance opportunities for musicians becoming so lean I am usually grateful for bookings wherever they may be but, in retrospect, I think the heavy musical encumbrances placed on us when playing small restaurant/clubs such as The Acton Jazz Cafe, The Beehive, and ridiculous mini corporate blues clubs such as Dante's at the Firefly etc. have, ultimately, hurt the musical development of this band. Because the Lily Pad is a venue for listening and nothing else, we are free to explore and play with the intensity and the subtlety the best suits the musical moment. Older tunes are taking on new life and the new music we add each month is free to grow without the fear that a conservative audience or club owner might react poorly.

The Lily Pad is in Inman Square, Cambridge and surrounded by pubs (one door away,The Druid is my favorite) and excellent, reasonably priced restaurants. We hope that you will be part of the rebirth of live music by supporting venues such as this! See you there.

Zac, Jesse, and I returned to Chris Rival's Middleville Studio (our home away from home) in June to record four new tunes for what will be my next CD.   The sessions went well and set a good vibe and direction for the project.  I'm returning to the studio in August to do some overdubs, including my recorded debut on acoustic guitar.  The plan is to do another session with Zac and Jesse and also to feature guest star rhythm section players on a few tracks to be recorded in NYC this fall.  I'm aiming for an early Spring '09 release.

I've been pondering... Do a significant enough number of people purchase actual CDs for me to release this in hard copy form?  As always we will labor and obsess over sound quality from recording to mastering, track order, and thematic continuity no matter what medium(s) people prefer.  However, it is disheartening to have your CDs cherry picked for favorite tunes, purchased, and/or listened to as mp3s after working so hard on such things.  Of course I'm grateful when people enjoy my music in any form but having listeners hear the music presented with the best sound in my intended context is certainly more rewarding.  If you have a moment let me know what you think. 

See photos of the June sessions in the Band Gallery on www.julienkasper.com.

Julien

Bryan Hopkins left this earth on March 30th, 2008.  He was called away on my birthday.  He was my closest friend.  I loved him and I miss him terribly.

The following is an excerpt from the obituary that appeared in the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Tallahassee Democrat:

"Bryan Clifton Hopkins, 47, Sarasota, formerly of Tallahassee, died March 30, 2008. Bryan died peacefully in his sleep at his home after a brief illness. His  beloved cat, Curtis, was in his lap.

Bryan grew up in Tallahassee, and lived in Sarasota for the past 20 years.  Bryan radiated humor  and joy to friends, family and strangers. He had a zest for life and a kind heart, and was a loyal, lifelong friend to the many who were fortunate to know him. Bryan's 16-year-old son, Mason, was his pride and joy and was always in his thoughts. Bryan also deeply loved his father, Grady Clifton "Cliff" Hopkins, and the two of them were exceptionally close.

Bryan was a passionate musician who played the bass guitar in Sarasota with The Hurricanes and Uncle Skinny. He was proud to have played bass guitar with the famous group, The Coasters, on New Year's Eve in 1992.  Bryan also was an accomplished marksman who enjoyed shooting skeet with his father and his son. Survivors include his son, Mason Hopkins of Sarasota; and his father, Grady Clifton "Cliff" Hopkins of Tallahassee."

Starting in May please join us for our monthly residency at the Lily Pad in Inman Square, Cambridge MA.  This is a small but good sounding art space and we are looking forward to debuting new music every month and playing exactly what we want to play when we want to play it.  There are numerous nice bars and restaurants in Inman Square so go out for a bite and/or a drink then come check out our set.  Creative music is moving to places like this.  Please show your support for live music in alternative venues!

On May 16th we will play the opening set for guitarist Jim Weider at The Center for Arts in Natick.  We shared the bill with Jim in January '07 at the same venue and it turned out to be a great gig.  "TCAN" is my favorite venue in the Boston region - great sound and lighting, nice stage, nice people, comfortable seats.  Jim sounds great and so does his band.  

We are returning to the studio in June to start the sessions for our next CD.  I hope to have the music completely recorded by fall.

When I was in Texas recently I spent an afternoon recording with my old friends and great players drummer Rob Avsharian and bassist James Driscoll.  We played live at Erik Herbst's beautiful Panhandle House studio in Denton.  It went well and at least two tracks will certainly be on my next CD.  A couple of brief clips from an outtake of that session can be found here: http://www.jampedals.com/fuzzphrace1.htm

One afternoon in December I took my old Vox AC-30 up to D'Pergo Custom Guitars world headquarters in New Hampshire.  Stefan was excited about his new Sony digital field recorded so we put the amp in a bathroom with the Sony, cranked it up, and I spent the afternoon improvising and free associating on some  beautiful D'Pergo guitars. 

Stefan liked the music so he put some of it up on his site.  It is low tech and was never meant to be a high end critical demo recording of the guitars though, to my ears, the unique sonority and depth of the instruments still comes through.  My intent was, as it is every time I pick up a guitar, to simply make some music.   Find it here and go to the recordings link http://www.dpergoguitars.com