by Colby Walter

Every Tuesday night Magoon’s at 8th and Locust brings an exciting and diverse evening of music. If somehow the unbridled guitar work of your host, Chris Jamison, isn’t enough to whet your appetite for good music, the open stage will offer many treats in different flavors.

What began as a ‘blues jam’ has evolved into a colorful session spanning from acoustic folk, singer/songwriters, classic rock, funk, jazz, bluegrass, and cosmic experimentation. Jamison navigates through these genres effortlessly, each time with some of the most incredible guitar playing you will find on a Tuesday night in Joe town. More often than not, jam sessions will include keyboards, and always guitar, bass and drums, with local musicians, and the occasional traveling player. Many times over the past several months there have been as many as three saxophonists, including the talented Beaux Lux who also plays a heck of a flute. Last Tuesday brought out a man who played the very best harmonica I’ve ever heard live and in front of me! Many of these players will jam over Chris Jamison’s original music, written over the years in Smilin’ Jack. The enthusiasm in the music is exciting for both those listening and contributing, and the sound can be explosively colorful.

The best part is that you can be the entertainment: this is an open jam session. Bring out an instrument and join in for a twelve bar blues or a funky groove or exhibit a tune of your own. These jams aim to be welcoming to all who are interested in participating, and what is more welcoming than the warmth of the antiqued delicatessen of Benny Magoon’s? And with plenty of excellent musicians around, jammers can put together a sort of ‘instant band’. I find it to be a real asset to the

CD Review:

WADE WILLIAMSON

‘First Date Mix Tape’

by Colby Walter

Local singer/songwriter Wade Williamson is becoming ever more prolific with his release of the latest EP ‘First Date Mix Tape’. I say prolific because it seems he is churning out the music with At Home Records on all cylinders, not long after releasing his full length ‘Trinkets and Treasures’. There is a rather casual approach to the recording studio with his work: these tunes are not fleshed out with the full band and refined for radio play. Rather, they remain connected to his strummed acoustic seemingly tracked without over thinking.

I was invited to join in on the recording last December and gladly obliged to provide electric bass and lead guitar. I also enjoyed the opportunity to dust off my table-steel slide guitar for its forlorn twang, and found even more twang in Wade’s tampoura: a folk instrument of

The music is generally simple: full acoustic chords under a vocal melody. These are not sleepy folk songs, much of the EP has an upbeat tempo with short and punchy phrases like “I wanna kiss you but I better shut my mouth”. The lyrics can have an ironic side, some dark humor as well as a bit of angst. The melody and the twang lead me to classify the music as emo-country.

Wade Williamson and The Helping Hands will be celebrating the release of ‘First Date Mix Tape’ at Café Acoustic on January 31st. Williamson’s merchandise table is always endearingly laden with handmade pieces of art now including this EP.

Disclaimer: It should be noted that it is my intention with this column to provide you with informative unbiased and entertaining reading on the music culture of this town. In so doing, I may on occasion reveal my view from my own perspective as a musician in this town. However, I do not view this ‘stump’ as a vehicle for my own self-promotion, and make efforts to avoid conflicts of interest. Want to expand the Regular Joe’s perspective? Let us know of your live events and send us music for review.

By Jay Kerner

Colin Robert Gutierrez is a colorful character. The thirty-four year old artist/cartoonist/ballroom dance instructor is hard to miss with his long dark hair and wardrobe which sometimes drifts between Renaissance Fair and somewhat pirate-like.

A St. Joe native, he spent a couple of years studying art at

He tells me that he enjoys experimenting in various art mediums, but most of his art time these days is spent painting. His large colorful canvases would best be categorized as modern in style. His bold use of contrasting hues and highlighting of negative space are distinctive to say the least. Working on the next Façade cartoon for the Regular Joe is a break from his time at the easel. We’ve heard a lot of great comments about the strip since it first appeared several months ago.

It’s, of course, the musings of a pair of modern day, couch loving slackers. Colin says writing the dialogue is the easy part. He just hangs out with his usual group of friends and keeps his ears open. They provide all the material necessary to keep him in generation whatever repartee. Their creator will be adding new characters every few issues, now that the basic story is established. They too will be inspired by those that travel in his circles of St. Joe arts and nightlife communities. His friends are getting nervous when he starts making notes at parties or other social occasions, and they all wonder if they will one day show up in our pages as a character in some future slacker drama. I bet you think this cartoon’s about you, don’t you, don’t you? (Full story)