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BassCliff Jams with "Uncle" Leo J. Eiffert Jr.

Hi folks,

I didn't have a gig last weekend but I took part in a jam session with a bunch of good old boys in the area. I even took my Dad out to hang with me in a honky tonk and hear me play. He hasn't done that in over a decade.

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"Uncle" Leo J. Eiffert Jr. and his band, The Pigeons, were hosting a jam session at the Whiskey Barrel in Hesperia CA, in the high desert near Victorville. They play great old school and classic country and are a bunch of cool old dudes to hang with. And the place did fill up quite a bit once the party got started.

Leo is playing the red Tele. Thats Ron Epperson on the steel.

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Uncle Leo has had a good bit of success in his career, played with everyone from Elvis to Merle and written a few hit country songs recorded by other artists back in the day, 30-40 years ago. He and his friends are still having their fun.

A really nice lady named Sharon Gibson usually plays bass and sings with them. She's got a great voice. But she let me sit in so I could share the fun.

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Also sitting in on the acoustic is Johnny Crockett, a local guy who's been around forever. That's Joey Lee playing the white Tele. Gary Hill is on drums. I used to work with Gary in another band more than 25 years ago.

Yes, I was having fun hanging with these guys.

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They even let me sing a couple. It's good to play the old stuff, Merle, Conway, George Jones, George Strait, etc. But these guys are really old school. They don't use vocal monitors. But we're not that loud.

That's Bobby Jay singing with the band while I photobomb. ;)

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If any of you TB'ers are in the High Desert, this jam session will be going on every Sunday from 2-6pm. I hope you'll get a chance to come on out and have a beer and pick a little. It's very low pressure and since food is served and there's a bounce house out front, you can even bring the kids. It's a cool place. Thanks for looking. I know it wasn't a huge prestigious engagement. I just wanted to share my fun. :)


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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That's about an hour fifteen drive away for me, I gotta go sometime. I love the drink table onstage, perfect! In lieu of chickenwire, you've got a baracade if things get rough. Out where I am, all I have is Pappy's with an endless parade of Gram obsessives(as you would expect)doing alt.country/Americana. Nothing wrong with that, but it would be great to hear a band doing Buck/Merle stuff without a hint of irony.
 
Hi,

That's about an hour fifteen drive away for me, I gotta go sometime. I love the drink table onstage, perfect! In lieu of chickenwire, you've got a baracade if things get rough. Out where I am, all I have is Pappy's with an endless parade of Gram obsessives(as you would expect)doing alt.country/Americana. Nothing wrong with that, but it would be great to hear a band doing Buck/Merle stuff without a hint of irony.

Yep, it's a bit of a cruise from Pi-Town.

I used to work at Pappy and Harriet's quite often back when Harriet still owned it. It didn't pay well but we got a meal and the Tex-Mex food there was worth the drive! The last time I worked there I was subbing for a guy named Joe Vegas. It was owned by a retired airline pilot. That must've been 8 or 10 years ago. Thankfully he hadn't changed it much. Sometimes my friend Bob Ryan still works out there with Three Chord Justice or Heather Myles.

Have you been to the open mic Wednesdays? Are they fun?


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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