gigglejuice

February 3, 2010 – ***important late breaking news*** – chill-i says; “Hold the Phone!!!  while in the midst of celebrating the arrival of our latest cd, Driving Around In Circles, it has come to our attention that gigglejuice’s beloved Saxophone Guru John Higgins will be going into surgery to have his torn rotator cuff repaired and will be out of action for a month recovery time!!!  I guess all those years throwing curve balls as a late inning reliever for the Boston Red Stockings has finally caught up with High Heat Hig.  We are so psyched to have Driving Around in Circles back from production and ready for all you gigglers out there, but, it would be a travesty, a crime against humanity, a slight against all that is good in our universe, to hold the CD Release Party without Hig.  He is such a huge part of our sound, our vibe, our magical mystical connection, we will wait.

The show must go on and so it will.  gigglejuice WILL persevere and play the February 20^th gig at the Governor’s Tavern in East Hampton, but we will wait for Hig’s return to action before celebrating Driving Around in Circles with a CD Release Party.  We will use this opportunity to raise some money to buy Hig a stand for his saxophone.  We have been talking about one for years while Hig has lugged around his two ton tenor, so now is the time to come through and literally give Hig the support he needs.  We really wish we could share our excitement over the completion of Driving Around in Circles, the third gigglejuice cd and the best one ever, but we will wait until the time is right, carefully planning and plotting, scheming to make the CD Release Party all that it can be.  Rumors have it that plans are under way for a Saturday April 3rd CD Release Party, well known to all as KDay’s birthday, will serve as a combo blow out event of major proportions.  So stay tuned to the giggleblog and send Hig your best healing vibes and positivity for a successful surgery as well as a full and quick recovery, irie irie irie!!!

October 23, 2009 – to the smell of melting plastic - chill-i says; “That’s right!! The new cd is on FIRE!!  Somehow the tracks are cleaner, brighter, more solid, more rocking, more jamming, more gigglejuice, than any other recording from the Ex-Governor’s Studios.  Is it as simple as Justin’s red wrestling mat baffle?? Or is it more like that musical mojo, that fickle muse of time space gravity energy??  I think the latter!!  But unlike so many bands today – we in gigglejuice have decoded NOT to release any mixes or half worked copies – no art ideas – not even the name – We will be holding out – making you wait – and wonder – while we cook the stew – simmer the soup – waiting and watching until all the flavors are bubbling up to the surface – waiting UNTIL the time is right!!  and by the look of things from here - we expect the time to be right in the beginning of December – finished, completed, ready to be ingested, digested, inspected, reflected, detected, expected and delivered!! ahhhh  a big glass of fresh squeezed gigglejuicey goodness!!”

september 26, 2009 - jake and laura's wedding in  the woods - chill-i says; “gigglejuice is so glad to have just been a part of the magical celebration that was known as the wedding of jake wein and laura higgins, two great friends of gigglejuice, music, love and positive living.  laura also happens to be the daughter of our beloved saxophone sweetheart, hig, the higmeister, hig-a-rama,  john Higgins.  the festivities were located way up a winding narrow road, nestled in a rustic log cabin lodge, perched on an Adirondack mountain side, surrounded by the untouched and preserved beauty of mother nature.  we were treated to two days of shining blue skies, crisp September air, spattered with the beginning of fall’s colorful dance of delight. sometimes you’re at a wedding and sometimes you’re lucky enough to be there when the magic happens, you feel the energy in the air, like aurora borealis enveloping the gathered crowd, binding two people, two families, two lives together.  we were so thrilled to be invited by laura and jake to come and play the night before the wedding.  after the long and windy drive we pulled in to the lodge right at sunset, watching the evening sky change from apricot, to fushia, to lavender and beyond.  we did the quick set up, many thanks to Dave Machan who lent us his PA after playing a fine Folk set on his guitar.   all tuned up and ready to go, there we are standing in front of the gathered wedding dignitaries, grandmothers, grandfathers, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, cousins. I see a lot of gray hair in the room and get a touch nervous, but we give them the ole gj soft touch, easing our way into the first set with a little extra jazz to the jazzy jam.  of course the entire Higgins family has been one of most stalwart group of supporters and we love them all.  they quickly let us know we were sounding fine and fitting the bill.  it was nice to see that jake’s family also warmed up to our sound and really seemed to get into the groove.  watching laura and jake and fine group of gigglers twirl and whirl and sway to the music filled my heart with joy.  the little log cabin lodge rang out with the music of gigglejuice, the higgins’ and the weins.  spot light on the father of the bride whaling out solos, sharing his heart through his music, showing how it is done, setting the stage for a lifetime of passion, happiness and celebration.

august 31, 2009 – chill-i says: “the replacement doors are on the way!!  

well you guys did it again – yes you – our generous, lovely, fantastic fans – you made the Governor’s Tavern ring out with positivity, fun and joy, we truly blew the doors off the place!!  There are two comments I heard last Saturday night that I thought, hey, that’s cool; one was from a bar local who said to KevinDay - “I’ve never seen this place so packed before.  What’s up with your band??” - and the other was from KevinDay to me - “There’s a lot of people here I’ve never seen before.”  And I agree on both accounts – What is up with this band?? I think it was one of our best shows technically, well practiced and well played, all you dudes played super fine – I hope you all enjoyed the show and a major big thank you to everyone that showed up and cheered and danced and sang along – you bring a special light to the room – you are indeed the 7^th member of gigglejuice – especially some of those foundation people that have supported us all along - I would love to name all of you but I might miss someone so I won’t – but you know who you are – and thanks for bringing your friends and friends of friends – it’s the word of mouth that helps us more than anything – thanks!!  and if you are reading this giggleblog for the first time, or Saturday was indeed you first gigglejuice show, we salute you!!  thanks for coming and please come back, bring more friends and we will all have another special evening of inspiration, jamification and irie-tion.  of course thanks to one of the best bartendresses in the world, the lovely Besty, as well as Colin and the patient staff of the Governor’s Tavern, please support them for supporting us. another special mention to JeffDay, Kev’s brother, for recording the show, soon to be posted on archive.org.  so stay tuned for that, in the meantime you can hear gigglejuice live from erinstock, where we opened for Cracker, peace and love”  : 

http://www.archive.org/details/Gigglejuice2009-05-16.KM140

good mention to justin jackson for moral support during the session, he was relegated to sitting in the dining room quietly playing his acoustic guitar.  there’s a picture of him doing just that, and a few others from the afternoon on the pic page.  and for an insight into what a recording session sounds like from outside the headphones check out the videos on the vid page.   peace and love from the Ex-Governor’s Studio in picturesque East Hampton, Connecticut!!!"

Big thanks and great job to Brian Malone and Bad Bass B-ill McBreen for playing the middle set.  You guys really can play some tunes, super energy and always enjoy Brian’s original songs.  Glad we were able to finish the set off after the broken string incident, sounded great with KevinDay sitting in for a couple songs on drums.  Check them out tonight, Saturday June 13^th, at The Hungry Tiger in Manchester, ct, you won’t be disappointed.

But I cant say enough about the gigglejuice crew last night.  It was a super fun evening, real tight and with a good sound both in balance and volume.  I can’t wait to find some of the videos and photos that are out there, I know some pretty in-depth jammin was captured.  The first set was mostly the short, tight, fast group of songs.  Barrelling out of the gate with 6299 we followed loosely our set from erinstock with a few older songs like These are the Days and a couple covers thrown in there.  We moved right through and hour and fifteen mninutes, the crowd soaking up the vibe and the energy just rising and rising.  We played You Draw Me In early in evening, its fast and furious dance beat getting the room really moving and setting the tone, hey Colin, hope you have extra hinges, the doors are getting blown off tonight!!  Btw – thanks to Colin and the good people at Governor’s Tavern in East Hampton, ct, it’s a really fine place, good food, good drinks, good atmosphere, please support them for supporting us and all local music, thanks brudda!!

We the first set ended with a holler!!  KDay was wading out in the crowd in no time, all of us feeling fine.  But I’m not sure we were even ready for what was going to happen in the second set.  Brian and B-ill filled the set break with a real fine set of their own, lots of people digging Brian’s voice and tunes, rightfully so. We love sharing the bill with these guys, its such a good fit.  After their set, gjuice rolled back onto the stage and set the tone by laying down a 17 minute Cinco De minor jam, with Hig weaving sax around JustinJackson’s fluid leads, Brendan’s foundation rumbling bass tones, Juan tapping, rolling, splashing and thumping like the cool latin jazz master we know he is, I threw in a little spice to the mix with bongos, and at one point Noah’s sister was sitting behind me playing a great line on a djimbe.  It was magic, pure and simple, that moment where the lines are erased and the people, the band, the music all become on great swirling vortex of expanding energy.  And that was the first song of the second set.  It surely set the tone and the rest of the evening was filled with extended jams, some very memorable guitar solos, a few power play bass solos, a 12 minute Money in the Bank for Lindida, a 14 minute BigDave (please bring two) with extendo didgeradoo jam, over the top crunchy goodness-(:>}=

Fopr those of you who weren’t there we’ll get some videos and photos up here as soon as we get a chance.  For those of you who were there, thank you from the bottom of our hearts, we, gigglejuice, will remember this evening with a special warmth.  It was a fantastic homecoming, thank you for all your great support, we hope you all will remember it as fondly as we will. 

Peace. chill-i

May 22, 2009 - chill-i says - Erinstock will forever live in gigglejuice history.  It will stand as the pinnacle of years of music, exploding in one joy filled day, complete with many close friends, lots of tequila, more brown liquor and the Last Rock Band on the Planet.  To imagine that you can still work hard, write good songs, practice endlessly, play ridiculous gigs, and eventually end up opening for a band like Cracker, is just amazing.  It is the rock and roll dream and it happened to gigglejuice on May 16^th, 2009.

The adventure starts on Thursday evening with Justin, myself and KDay sitting on the porch waiting for Juan.  The van is loaded, fueled and ready to roll, 1150 miles to go to Erinstock.  Juan called to say he was late but will be there soon.  We try not to look at every car that passes to see if its him, but we can’t help it.  Finally we hear an engine whining up the hill, tires slide on sand and Juan has arrived.  Yalla Yalla let’s go!!  We hit the road, pick up Brendan on the way and its off to Troy, but there’s thunder storms on the horizon.  We hit them just west of Scranton, PA, a crappy stretch of roads anyway, but now there are inches of water on the highway as rain pours down in sheets, damn!!  We struggle through only to hit patches of dense fog, not a great start. Somehow we made it, with Brendan pulling the 11pm to 4am shift at the wheel and bringing us into Ohio.  I think KDay drove next, before Justin took over, with most of us trying to sleep through his minor case of driver’s turrets.  It was a hell of a drive, sitting in a van for 19 hours straight, like some sort of weird sleep deprivation experiment.  Well, for most of us, as soon as we arrive at Tim and Erin’s house KDay says, “That wasn’t so bad.”

We were so psyched to be there, soon meeting up with the Cracker Crumbs at the Red Roof Inn.  Everyone was gathering for the evening’s Cracker show at Blueberry Hill in St. Louis.  We see Rosemary in the lobby, then find bigDave, Kimmy and Aaron, quickly to be joined by the Beachbum, OC Woman, Sector 7g, Angel in Black, Splinter and Cathie, T&V, Jan bbs, and a few others my fuzzy mind cannot recall.  We head on out to Vintage Vinyl, a great record store just down the block from the gig on Delmar.  The sidewalks are hopin’, lots of young people, lots of hipster shops and cafes, it’s quite a spot.   And in the middle of it all, in wanders Hig with a big smile on his face and a cold PBR in his hand.  The gigglejuice crew was finally together and ready for action.  Actually most of us seemed kind of dazed from the ride and lack of sleep, I think we were more interested in the beds at the hotel than the Cracker show.  But we were handsomely rewarded by one of the sickest shows of all time!!  The Duck Room at Blueberry Hill is downstairs in the basement, low ceilings and not great ventilation.  Cracker came out swinging and laid down three news songs of the album Sunrise in the Land of Milk and Honey.  They continued with a great set, and as all the Crumbs danced and sang and yelled the energy on stage just grew and grew and grew, until David, Johnny and Sal were jumping up and down on stage, David yelling so hard the veins were popping out of his forehead, it was awesome!!!  A great prelude to what was going to happen the next day.

It was finally May 16^th, the day of Erinstock, a day we were looking forward to for months and working towards for years.  We arrive at noon and get Labrador Dali set up and ready for their set..  It all went so smoothly, LabD playing a nice set of Rob Emmet’s proto-psychadelic space rock, including Lem’s funky work on the theremin.  Next Cracker came in for their sound check, we stepped outside for some fresh air and prepared for our set.  It was finally here.  Time to play!! Enough of the butterflies, jitters and anticipation, finally time to put our hands on the instruments and let the juice flow. 

Away we went, stepping right into 6299, followed closely by a rowdy Welcome to Santee.  The crowd was immediately into it, dancing, cheering, calling people in from outside to come check out the music.  The webcast was streaming and gigglejuice spread across the globe from England to Germany and all the way over to Japan and Australia, fantastic!!!  Reports coming through the chatroom said we were sounding good and the music was coming through loud and clear, sheeyat yeah!!!  About the third song we got the dust off and started laying it down for real.  At one point I look behind me and Sal Maida, the bass player from Cracker, was standing like two feet away checking us out and enjoying the set, freakin’ excellent!! We filtered into BigDave (Please Bring Two), starting out with the digeradoo intro, and people started looking around, trying to figure out that sound and soaking up the positive energy.  It rocked, a fantastic version, deep and rockin’, good dynamics, sweet solos by Hig and Justin, with Brendan and Juan throwing down the mean rythems, my personal spice on bongos and KevinDay howling on the vocals and banging his ovation like it’s a tom tom drum!!  We heard later that Johnny Hickman of Cracker loved the song and posted some very nice comments on the webcast chat room.  A few songs later and KDay announced, “This is my friend G-Money’s favorite song,” and right into You Draw Me In.  Wow, the room was packed, everyone was dancing, the place was just rockin’, sweeeeeeeet!!!  This was it, the moment we have worked for, the music was flowin’,  we were surrounded by some great friends, everyone was dancin’ and they were loving it!  I will never forget how special that moment was.  It was like time stood still, sort of an out of body experience, surreal, ecstatic, warm and fuzzy.  I know my feet were not touching the ground, and the tears of joy were hiding behind my sunglasses.  I was so proud to be a part of this band of brothers, KDay has worked so hard for so long to get to this moment.  The chance to open up for his most favorite band, and now there he was rocking it like there was no tomorrow.  It really gives you hope that you can still work hard and achieve your goals.  When we finally came to the last song, Story of the Man, I think we were all in shock to realize it was over.  But as soon as we finished it only got better.  Johnny Hickman came right up to the stage with a huge smile on his face, shaking our hands, telling us how much he enjoyed the set, “You guys have an original sound, you really set the mood.  I was standing outside talking with people when you started and your music kept pulling me inside, I had to come in and check you out.  It was great, we will have to do this again.”  Holy Sheeeyatt!! Freakin’ Johnny Hickman loved our set!!  He turns right to KDay and asks, “You wrote a song about the Campout?”, he was so impressed, he loved the idea, he loved the song, he loved the didgeradoo, he loved the band, “we’ll have to do this again,” sweeeetness!!!  This was it, the moment we have been waiting for, it was great to have a gifted musician like Johnny really enjoy our stuff, it is an amazing experience.

The rest of the night was just like a dream, I was floating on air. Not to mention that Cracker was on fire!  Great sound, not too loud, nice and clear.  David’s new songs, some oldies, some rarities and an ass kickin’ Low, all worked so well, filled in with way sick solos from Johnny and Kenny’s mesmorizing accordian and keys.  Sal is the freakin’ most excellent bass player, he just lays it down like there’s no tomorrow, and of course Frank holding it all together, and right, this is all happening in Tim and Erin’s living room!!  They played an incredible set, continuing the intensity they started the night before.  They all seemed to have a great time, for sure the lines between stage and audience were very thin, the love was flowing both ways, it was just intense.  We danced and partied the night away, shouting the words to each Cracker song at the top of our lungs, hugging, high fiving, toasting our good fortune, living the good life.

After Cracker finished their set it was one big love fest.  The house was electric the music seemed to still be echoing as positive energy filled the night air.  And then the most amazing thing happened – Mishawaka.   I was standing in a small crowd talking to Lee (Sector 7G) and KDay and Johnny walks over to say hi.  We all say how much we loved the show tonight, how special it was.  He agrees and says, “Yeah, it was special for us too.”  Then Lee and Johnny start chatting about Colorado and how DougE knows everybody in the whole state.  Then Johnny says, “Yeah I’ve always wanted to have a weekend thing in Colorado in the summer.” Johnny and Lee talk about a few places and then Johnny says, “Mishawaka, that would be a cool place, and you guys could come there too (pointing directly at KevinDay and myself), they would love you guys in Colorado.  We can get the Railbenders, Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, we could have a great time.”  A great time?  Holy sheeyat yeah – it would be so freakin’ excellent to play a weekend in Colorado with Johnny, Jim, Roger and gigglejuice!!!  Well, it was all coming together. 

But listen, we live in reality too, who knows if gigglejuice will get a chance to open for Cracker again or play in Mishawaka, but either way, we will cherish that moment, that evening, that weekend, as a highlight of our lives.  We all love Johnny so dearly, he is a great gentleman, full of warmth and goodness, his generous encouragement is so appreciated, it means the world to us.

The gigglevan floated down the highway on the way home, finishing off the 2,300 mile journey riding on a cloud of citrus scent and pine trees without incident.  We were all way tired and cramped, but I know we were all beaming on the inside, it was an easy ride home.  We cruised the northern route on the way, going across Illinois and Indiana, into Ohio up through Columbus to Erie across New York State to Albany, a much better drive than through the hell trail of southern Pennsylvania.  

Back in East Hampton my head is still spinning, memories overlapping and competing for space, so many laughs, such good times and such great music, perfect. And all of us in gigglejuice know it wouldn’t have happened without the faith and support of many people, especially Tim and ErinDepp.  You are now our Zeus and Athena, the ultimate peak of gigglejuice mythology.  We have worked hard at our craft, but you have given us opportunity, we will always be in your debt.  It is through their generosity we are able to share this story, the rock and roll story, the gigglejuice story.