Carlson's Corner

This last week found me with the busiest performing schedule in years. Four gigs, four days. The best part, each of the four shows were completely different: Wednesday June 24th, I hosted open mic at Intermission. This was the first time in over a decade I have hosted a formal open mic. Sure, I have 'invited guests, regularly, but this was a bit different. It was a great night with performances by Will Yates, the one and only Jerry Duginski, Rob Piehl, and instrumentalist Tom Cat. Friday June 26th I performed at the CVA for the Wisconsin Visual Atrists' Guilds "Rhythm & Blues 2009" gallery opening. This show found me performing totally acoustic guitar, no singing. It has been quite a while since I performed as an instrumentalist (in fact the last time was at a previous CVA Gallery Opening). Friday June 26th - I sat in with The Townies at Malarkey's on percussion. That's right, percussion. Years ago I used to sit in with Mary and The Mercenaries and jam wit...

A couple of brief announcements. First of all, three shows have been added for April 2009 : 04-04-09 - The Jim Carlson Trio Featuring: John Hocker and Sean McCue - Mickey's Billiards 04-08-09 - Jim Carlson Solo - Malarkey's Pub 04-18-09 - Jim Carlson & Roger Bardo - RedEye Brewing Company New Logos : I've been playing with some new logo ideas, here are the latest: New Music : After listening to the scrapped 'Further Out' sessions, I found a few gems that have triggered new writing, arranging and recording of basic tracks. I'm having fun working with the material, but at this point there is no imminent release date scheduled. The Jim Carlson Trio : After a bit of a break, the Jim Carlson Trio is returning to the stage. Although the Trio had a pretty consistent line up over the last couple of years, I fully expect that this year you will various versions of the Trio. What are the versions? Doc Holiday Era Trio: Jim Carlson, Roger Bardo (bass), Brian Miller (dr...

Thursday, May 22nd, The Jim Carlson Trio and Cool Hand shared the stage at Mickey's Billiards. The Jim Carlson Trio was the reunited "Out of Fashion" line up: with Roger Bardo (bass) and Sean McCue (drums). A unique performance note: This was the first Trio show that I played completely electric...no acoustic guitars, just my 60's Strat. It was a nice change up. As you can see from the pics, the Trio becomes Cool Hand when Rob Piehl jumps on stage. My role simply changes from 'Trio leader' to 'guitarist' as Rob leads the band. The Jim Carlson Trio Roger Bardo (bass), Sean McCue (drums) Jim Carlson (voice/guitar) Cool Hand Rob Piehl (voice/guitar), Jim Carlson (guitar) Roger Bardo (bass), Sean McCue (drums)

'It’s been a while since you’ve been around A stranger to this town - An empty lost and found' When Love Dies from the forthcoming Jim Carlson album Further Out For the last four months, I've been quiet. It is not that things are not happening, I'd just rather not talk about the details (or the generalities, for that matter). I've started several posts and writing them has been reflective and therapeutic, but I just couldn't hit the 'publish' button. Sometimes this media seems rather self indulgent. Musically, things have been interesting. On the Saturday before Saint Patrick's Day, The Jim Carlson Trio hit the stage at Mickey's Billiards with an unconventional line up that included John Hocker on bass along with former Les Nillissen Band drummer Dave Keefe and Cool Hand front man Rob Piehl on rhythm / lead guitar. The trio was once again a four piece. Now it is not unusual to see Rob and I on stage together, but historically I'm playing r...

I've tried to write this entry several times now. The first attempt came across as poorly written eulogy for a funeral. "She was a good Pub, lots of great memories. She will be missed." The second attempt was like a coach trying to rally the team together, "We've seen some great bands here, it has been an honor to share the stage. The Pub may be gone, but the music and memories will live on..." Rubbish. Much has been written about the way the Pub was closed down by CSI: Wausau. [To check out press/blog coverage, scroll down or click here .] All I have to say is that somewhere, someone could have picked up the phone and said, "We're closing you down at midnight, be prepared". I guess that would be too easy... it is a bigger statement to have officers enforce a vague interpretation of a licensing issue. By random chance, I was scheduled to play the last Thursday night the Pub was to be open. I knew from the outset, that this would be no ordi...

Thanks to Jim Sisko for uploading to his YouTube account! Jim Carlson Trio "Name"

My outdoor show at The Bar of Wausau was, well, hot. It was almost 90 degrees, I was in the sun.... and my Scandinavian blood was simmering. The Coppertone Sport sun block dripped into my eyes, making singing difficult, comfort impossible. The crowd was great. Missy's birthday was a blast.....John is a saint. The after party spilled to the open mic at the Glass Hat. Note: Future shows at The Bar will be from 5-9 (as opposed to 4-8). Thursday is my last show @ Scott Street Steak and Pub. Saturday is the final show. There will be several bands (The Jim Carlson Trio included) with the Corpse Show Creeps as the Pub's final act. Bring your camera. Send me your pics.

As many of you know, Scott Street Steak and Pub is officially closing on June 30th. My final acoustic show will be June 28th. Guests are welcome, but please let me know in advance if you'd like to play. The Jim Carlson Trio will play at the Pub Closing Party on June 30th. Also scheduled to appear: Cool Hand and the Corpse Show Creeps. Please keep an eye on Jim Carlson Music dot com for additional details.

Thursday's City Pages article on my Rockyesque return to the stage set the tone. Friday's gig would be no ordinary show. I thought about bringing my meager light rig to Mickeys, but decided against it when I remembered that there was a house rig... When I arrived at Mickey's and looked up, the lights were gone. [They are in the process of updating their rig.] So after a quick trip home to grab my lights, it was show time. John Hocker (bass) and Sean McCue (percussion) joined me and the three piece Jim Carlson Trio was resurrected. [For the last few years, the Trio has been a four piece with the addition of Will Heisler on guitar/vocals/harmonica.] With the last [four piece] Trio show over seven months behind us, one would think the event would have been nerve wracking. One less player, a ton of time since we'd played together. It wasn't. From the first song on, we clicked. I should mention that performing as a three piece acoustic act is considerably more chal...