What a great night Jesse Aycock w Hard Working Americans

Went to the Cains Ballroom last night to hear Jesse perform w Hard Working Americans.  Tulsa came out in full force and filled the room with love.  

Tulsa native Jesse Aycock is a Hard Working American and he's coming home - Tulsa World: Offbeat

Posted: Wednesday, August 26, 2015 12:27 pm | Updated: 12:50 am, Thu Aug 27, 2015.

By JERRY WOFFORD World Scene Writer | 3 comments

The renowned musicians in Hard Working Americans had already cut a record when Tulsa-native Jesse Aycock got a call from the band. Aycock was on tour with The Secret Sisters already, but the group wanted him to come along on the road with it.

“Neal (Casal) called me up and asked me what I was up to and if I was free,” Aycock said. “He said, ‘Hey man, I just got done recording this record and we need a second guitarist, and you were the first person who came to mind. I think the plan right now is to do a handful of shows. I don’t really know where this is going quite yet, but it should be fun.’ The songs are really cool. Of course I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d love to do that.’”

That’s how Aycock became a Hard Working American.

The rock supergroup, made up of Todd Snider, Dave Schools from Widespread Panic, Casal of the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, Chad Staehly of Great American Taxi and Duane Trucks who is the younger brother of Derek Trucks. Their first album was released in January 2014, a project done by a group of friends while they worked on their other steady gigs.

Aycock said while they weren’t sure where it was going — especially when he was brought in to be a road musician on rhythm and lapsteel guitar — the group dynamic was strong and close, a natural relationship they all enjoyed. The road grew longer, and they have now recorded a new album, this time with Aycock a full-fledged member.

And Thursday, the road comes to Tulsa with the band’s first stop at Cain’s Ballroom, a homecoming for Aycock. The show is set for 8 p.m. Thursday.

Before Aycock came on board, he said the group basically created Hard Working Americans as a fun side project, not necessarily something to run with.

“They basically just put together a group to record a record,” Aycock said. “I think initially it was all just everybody had other projects that were taking up most of their time. I think this was just a fun project and I don’t think anyone had any expectations of taking it.”

Their scope expanded after recording that self-titled album. When they realized they needed another guitarist for the road, Aycock was their first call.

Aycock has recorded and toured with several bands while also working on his solo albums. Aside from Hard Working Americans and The Secret Sisters, Aycock has worked extensively with the Paul Benjaman Band. His solo album, “Flowers & Wounds,” was released the same month as the Hard Working Americans album.

He was on the road when he got the call about Hard Working Americans and in a week had to learn the songs and make it to Colorado to hit the road.

“It wasn’t decided right away that I would be a member of the band other than I would be just a touring musician,” Aycock said. “It wasn’t decided I would be in on any other recordings, it was just strictly touring I think initially, which makes total sense because other than Neal, none of the other guys knew me. Once I got in there and started playing, everyone meshed really well, and everyone was really open to me.”

After a week of rehearsing that went well as the band settled in on their songs, Aycock said several members of the band came by independently to tell him he was part of the group now. And what a great group to be a part of, he said.

“It doesn’t always work when you get a bunch of musicians who haven’t played together in a room. It doesn’t always work personality wise, musically. But with this group of people, it was just a perfect dynamic,” Aycock said. “To me it was such a refreshing joy to be part of. Everyone was supportive and open to everyone’s idea, but yet it was still enough structure to get things done.”

After a first run on the road, the band hit the studio again for another recording session. Aycock said those sessions were great because of the group dynamic and the high from successful shows on the tour. That album is due out in early 2016. And last year, the group released a live album and documentary on its first collaboration, “The First Waltz.”

The Hard Working Americans are living up to its name.

“Whenever projects are given time away, when you step away from a project for a while, you come back into something like this with a fresh energy,” Aycock said. “Everyone has new perspectives. It’s always fun because it’s different every time.”

Jerry Wofford 918-581-8346
jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com 

Busy Month

I have several shows beginning and ending this month and we are hosting 3 house concerts as well.  ( http://houseconcertsunlimited.com) Just picked up 3 pieces that won entry into the Gilcrease Impressionist show in it's satellite gallery downtown, delivered one to Living Arts' Oh Tulsa Show, Delivered one to OVAC for its 12x12, entered 3 pieces in the Illinois River Salon, and still painting for Scott's and my upcoming 2 person show, " In Tandem"  which will be a show of paired poetry and paintings that will open on the first Friday of November.  I think that show will be a really wonderful one.  It has been a real interesting process as Scott writes mostly about people and feelings and inner life and I am a representational artist.  We will both have to stretch on this one and that is a good thing for both of us.
Here is a sample poem that I will work from:

CECIL

Cecil keeps our yard trim as a sailor’s beard-

not a blade of grass out of place.

With a surveyor’s eye he places poles along

the hedge row,

making Grandma’s English Boxwoods

level as poured cement,

stretching the length of the drive.

He starts early and works through, into the

heat of the day.

I am just a boy.

Cecil comes to back door, hat in hand, like a child asking a favor of a man.

“Mr. Jo Eddie’s grandson, you ‘spose I could have me some ‘freshment?”

I go under sink where grandma keeps the

drink, pour comfort from a bottle.

I place a capful in a glass, fill the rest with water.

It turns the color of rosin.

That’ll do, Mr. Jo Eddie’s grandson, don’t need no ice.

He tips his head, tosses the drink, and wipes

his mouth.

It is a litany of motion.

Five drinks into the day, his tools put away,

Cecil comes to the door-  a final drink to stay

the blues away.

I being home alone,

Cecil points with fingered bone

towards ivories lined up in a row.

“Mr. Jo Eddie’s grandson, I can make that

coffin sing.

Some folks they scared a dyin’, but they ain’t got that rhythm thang.”

Cecil straddles piano bench, with one leg north, the other east,

to work the pedals, to keep the beat.

With both hands poised on whitened keys,

his long black fingers fill spaces,

make dark holes in the music,

as he begins a slow growl, a low moan.

“How…how…how…uh…uh…unh.

Gonna’ chase those blues.

How…how…how…uh…uh…unh.

Gonna’ chase those blues.”

Bowed over the keys, eyes closed,

Cecil is there in some sepia-toned place. 

It seems with every note, with every chord,

Cecil spills more of himself between the keys,

as though the music is drinking him one note

at a time.

With an ear bent to the ivories, listening for the sound of suffering as it leaves his fingertips;

Cecil’s hand begins to jitter, and juke, and then to jive,

into some boogie-woogie slide.

 His huge black hands, like crows,

flap the width of the piano,

as  Cecil tosses back his head, enraptured.

I am just a boy held in time. 

Watching.

As Cecil’s shoulders sway in time to the beat,

mouth open, he eats.

Drinking notes, swallowing chords,

half-digested they come spilling forth,

crude and primitive.

A truer sound.

Oh Tulsa show entry at Living Arts

Actually it is the sister piece to this painting that is entered in the show.  Very similar, rainy Tulsa day.  The other one is a little more blue in color and is taken from another nearby street in Tulsa on the same rainy afternoon.

SOLD! OVAC 12x12 Summertime

This is my entry into the OVAC 12x12 show coming up in a few weeks.

4th of July Pancakes

Red, White, Blue
Blueberry pancakes made from walnut, millet, coconut flour with greek yogart , Honeysuckle Rose syrup

Wagon Race Girls

This is a little painting I did after attending a wagon race in Oklahoma.  We just happened upon it on a Sunday drive. 

To Bid and visit my Ebay Gallery

Gathering Herbs

To Bid

This painting started out by using a master work as a jumping off point.  Originally this girl was in a cathedral or castle and holding something totally different.  Since I like being outside and in the woods, and I like foraging, I thought I would put her there as well.  She has been out gathering greens for tonight's supper.  Can you see the fiddle heads?  The dandelion leaves?  Anyways she is actually residing above the fireplace in my house but would be happy to move to yours... To bid, click above.  It will take you to my ebay auction and also give you access to my online Ebay Gallery, Store.

Where to find inspiration

I think you find inspiration best when you are not actually looking for it.  It is best found when you keep an open mind and when an idea presents itself, instead of saying, "well that's not really my thing." just stop a minute and ask yourself if you might want to give it a try.  Sometimes, of course the answer is 'No' but every now and then when you say 'yes' powerfully and step into the moment, you find your new joy or new direction.  Here are a few things that presented themselves in that way to me.
1.  Tulsa Artist Coalition had a 5x5 fundraiser.  They supplied the canvas and asked you to paint on it or create something w those dimensions.  I had never painted small, nor did I have any desire to do so.  Here is what happened after accepting that challenge:
   1.  I loved it.  I could paint something that didn't take all day and had a beautiful resulting painting which of course, sold in their sale.
   2.  I joined an online daily painting group which inspired me further as I saw what others were doing.
   3.  I began to fill my kitchen wall w daily paintings which changed often as...
   4.  sales increased in my ebay gallery.
   5.  I found that my little photos of beach figures transferred perfectly to the snapshot size of a 6x6.
   6.  My students loved trying out the same thing.
   7.  I got a commission from an ebay buyer for even smaller paintings and discovered the idea of 'art cards' which were trading card size.
   8.  I got multiple commissions for clients who wished for me to paint from their own beach photos.  Below is one of the finished paintings.

2.  I went to France and stayed in an abby where an old friend is a sister.  I got to paint the beautiful countryside in Provence where the convent was. While there I met a French woman with a hideous painting on the side of her mini van.  With the help of a translator she asked if I could paint something on the side of her van to cover up that painting.  I tried to get out of it every which way and finally agreed to cover the old with a painting of Provence.  I had done several sketches prior to that so had some things to work from as well as looking out over the olive grove where the van was parked.  It had been 30 years since I had worked in acrylics and I gave it the old college try.  It turned out great and she was so pleased.  Now I can say I have a traveling show in France ! ha ha...Actually after that, I got tons of hits on my ebay site and blog from France as I am sure she shared the story of her new painting where ever she went.

3.  One of my students wanted to do a painting of umbrellas in the rain and brought in a file morgue photo to work from.  I didn't much like it and rearranged the figures and decided to try something out of the ordinary with it and try to create a real atmosphere of a rainy day.  It was very impressionistic as there were lots of lost edges as I drug the brush across well painted umbrellas and figures.  ( that is a jump for me as I want to work towards a painterly way of painting but my brain keeps wanting to paint things w perfect edges)  This idea gave me the push I needed to make the jump.  I have since been inspired to paint some cityscapes in the rain from my own town.  Finishing two that have both won entry into recent shows.

4.  Seeing the cityscapes and wanting something in that vein for his drum head, my son asked me to paint on his drum head ( the big one that you use a foot pedal for )  He also liked my big sky paintings.  My other son suggested a tornado. ( we are from Oklahoma, remember?)  Unable to decide, I told him I would surprise him.  I combined a rainy Tulsa with an approaching tornado.  I figured it would be perfect... his city, pitter patter drum/rain beats, and an approaching loud, exciting storm.
If you would like to visit my online gallery and bid on my latest daily painting, Click Here

Blooming Vetch

To bid

I took a walk with my pup way down into a  hollow that spread out into a beautiful field the other day.  The temperature was perfect, there was every kind of wild flower blooming.  I even spotted a deer and watched while she considered if I was a friend or foe.  She decided to lean toward the safe side and got up from her hiding place and made it across the field and into the woods.  I thought it was such a beautiful place and the weather was perfect that I decided to  hike back up the hill and go get my painting supplies and come back  I completed two little sketches that I am very pleased with.  They both feature the 'weed,' vetch which turned the ground to a pretty violet where ever it sprang.

It was too pretty to pass up...

It was too pretty today to pass up an opportunity to paint.  I took my dog for a walk down on the back 40 and then decided that the weather was perfect, the scenery was perfect, the birds were singing and so we hiked back to the car, went home, got painting supplies and hiked back down to paint.  A beautiful day

SOLD

Thoughts on gardening on the wild side

I was out in the garden yesterday and picked lettuce and some spinach.  I noticed purslane growing in with the basil, sorrel and lambsquarters growing in with the lettuce and dandelion and poke scattered around as well.  I wish people would stop seeing this stuff as weeds and realize that they grow without any help from you, provide food during more than one season and plant themselves again for the following year.  Why would I dig or pull these things up?  I no longer do.  I bring the sorrel in to add to my mint tea and pestos, lambsquarters for anthing that uses greens including salads, purslane for fresh salads and poke for cooked greens and to freeze for the winter.  We need to start seeing things differently if we expect these valuable plants to survive corporate farming. My garden probably doesn't look as organized as those with out a weed and everything in its proper rows but I have decided to see it as useful and beautiful as it is. 

Testing the waters

Memories... Everything about the beach makes me feel good.  Some of my favorite years as a child, as a teen, as a mom and now.... still makes me feel young to be there although I no longer catch the eye of the cute lifeguard :-)  This painting came out of some great photos sent to me by a client for a commissioned painting.  I have since used these photos for some lovely little paintings.  This is one of my favorites.


To Bid

Mulberry Tree

One more day in the tops of the trees and I think it is finished. 

I love my job.  Who else gets to hang out in the tops of the trees all day, listening to the birds, watching the squirrels race around and eating fresh berries while doing so.... oh, and did I mention, getting to oil paint too?  What a life.
If you want to bid on this it is on ebay for the next few days on auction.  Bid here

A work of art from the garden

Revisiting a painting from this time last year

I decided not to paint the peonies this year and just pick them and enjoy them.  I do love to paint them but this year put my energies into some other kinds of paintings like my rainy city series and my tree tops.

To Bid

Mulberry Tree

Sometimes the question pops up... " Should I pick it, or should I paint it?"  That was the case the other day as I climbed the steps to our little tree house garage apt. to check out the mulberry tree.  They are nearing ripeness but still white.  In the mean time I had a flash back to when I was a young girl who loved to climb trees and sit in the tallest branches.  Soooo I decided to paint the tree instead.  It is almost finished but not quite.

Canoeing the Boundry Waters

9x11 oil on canvas

Mayfest Invitational

I am excited to be invited again to participate in the Mayfest International Invitational show this year.  It opens Wednesday night ( tickets are around $25 and go to support the Mayfest) After that it is free until it closes on Sunday afternoon.  Always exciting to see what my artist pals pull out for this show. 

This is one and dang it, I can't find the photo of the other one which is a painting of a city street in the rain.

To Garden or to Paint? That is the question.

I love Google.  I googled a recipe for honeysuckle jelly and decided to add a few rose petals for good measure and color.  I thought I had everything covered and went to get the pectin and mine was powdered and the recipe called for liquid so I did some very quick reading and my fingers are crossed that it will jell properly.  If not, I will do the old trick with cream cheese w jelly poured over it, served with crackers and just say, " I meant to do it." :-)