Jorgensen Music

Dirty Mittens at RonTom's

The Dirty Mittens show at Ron Tom’s was really fun. The club itself was packed so full of early-20’s hipsters that I could barely get in the door. Despite the other great bands on the bill, we opted to hang out at the dive bar down the block until it was actually time to play. Much more comfortable. Over 30, married, and aware of the need to save for retirement, I am definitely no longer able to blend in with the hipsters. Tonight we’ll do it all again at Doug Fir. At least there’s a green room there.

This week I started rehearsing with a band called Dirty Mittens.  I met them through a recording session back in October for their soon-to-be released album, and their catchy songs stuck with me for quite some time. Now that I’m off the road, I’ve taken up a position as their trumpet player and will be performing my first show with them this Sunday, as part of RonTom’s 100th show party. The band has a great dynamic, is made up of very talented players, and seems very motivated yet upbeat. I’m looking forward to experiencing their live dynamic and seeing how crowds react to the band’s soulful dance-pop.

Sunday’s show marks the 100th that Rontom’s bar has put on since it opened a few years ago. Ron Toms, owner and creative agency ex-pat, built this club from the ground up and has managed to not only run a successful bar (hard to do in Portland), but also to continually present a live music night that doesn’t drive away business (even harder to manage). Sunday night live shows at Rontoms have done so well comparatively because they’ve remained free and consistently high quality. This Sunday’s show starts at 5:00 and features 8 bands, including Nick Jaina and Jared Mees. Should be a good time!

When I was new to Portland back in 2001, I got a job as a bank teller for Wells Fargo at their Moreland Sellwood branch. Just across the street stood the old Wilhelm Funeral Home, an eerie looking place complete with a built in crematorium. Every day, either Old Man Wilhelm himself or his young blond secretary would bring their deposit across the street- a pile of checks that each represented one dead person. I had long forgotten all of this, but over the course of 2009 while Blind Pilot was on the road, the funeral home was sold and converted into a music venue called The Woods. Then last night, things came full circle when I played The Woods as part of Rachel Starshine Robinson’s band. Although it was really just another gig, I couldn’t help but reflect on how odd life’s chronology can be as I looked out the window at my old workplace while warming up in the green room.

Harmonium, dissected

2010 has been surprisingly busy so far. The harmonium restoration has proved to be a much larger task than initially estimated- so far I have cleaned the rust and gunk from all of the key posts, replaced the balance rail felts, and lubed the keys so that the action is quite smooth. I still have some structural work to do on the cabinet and the bellows mechanism, which is literally a system of 1×2’s pivoting on dowels. The work is slow, but I’ve got to keep at it, as I’ve already committed the instrument to a gig.

Also with the new year, I started teaching trumpet lessons. Things are going well at this early stage- in addition to looking forward to helping some folks enjoy the instrument, I stand to learn a lot about clearly communicating musical ideas. Having dug into the new generation of trumpet lesson books (my favorite is Arturo Sandoval’s Method), I have already found myself rethinking my own approach to practicing and playing.

My old friend and former bandmate (Magic City- Madison, WI) Pete Surla and I have begun a film scoring and TV licensing music project. It’s quite fun so far- we spontaneously create one song per session with an emphasis on ear worms and catchy hooks. Over the next month or so, I will also be playing gigs with Jim Brunberg, Rachel Robinson, and the band Dirty Mittens. I’m very excited to collaborate with all of these bands’ great players. It will be quite a fun change of pace to play some intimate rooms again, and hopefully learning three band’s worth of material in the next few weeks should shake a few cobwebs out upstairs. In the meantime, this week it’s off to Northern Minnesota’s cold and snow.

Blind Pilot released an EP that is available only on iTunes last week. We recorded the material at Portland’s fantastic Jackpot! studios with Tucker Martine (Decemberists, Death Cab, etc) manning the boards. Most of the songs are from 3 Rounds And A Sound- just rerecorded with the touring band all included-however there is a new tune and a Gillian Welsh cover. The most memorable thing about these sessions for me was Tucker’s complimenting the sound of my home-made mini Rhodes piano. Bringing a homemade instrument into a recording studio is pretty nerve wracking because you never know what sort of previously overlooked sonic defects Protools will bring to light. Buy it here.

As a temporarily unemployed musician, I am privileged with a greater than average amount of time to view and respond to craigslist ads. Here is my first prize: a circa 1880 Boosey & Co harmonium. I got it for a song and it’s largely in working condition. The cabinet is beautifully built of hardwood and the leather bellows have been well taken care of.

Since touring with The Low Anthem, I have been eager to get my hands on one of these instruments- the drones that they produce by sucking air through tuned brass reeds are haunting and beautiful. I plan to mount a microphone near the reeds and run a line out to an amplifier so that a bit of overdrive can add to the haunting sound. Other exciting uses for this instrument include applying it in Blind Pilot, playing weddings, and a host of exciting recording scenarios.

MLB Part 1

MLB Part 2

MLB Part 3

While in New York with Blind Pilot in November, I ended up doing an interview for Major League Baseball’s website. It was quite last minute- for some reason I was the only band member that could make it- but it turned out to be a lot of fun. I got a chance to give some lip service to Wisconsin, The Brewers, Kieskagato, my family, and my wife; and I managed to avoid betraying Milwaukee’s true feelings about the new Brewers stadium.

The Hammond on a chilly afternoon

I’ve been settling back into Portland life. The weather has been awful- either painfully cold or very rainy. Our tiny little apartment is very tiny indeed, black mold grows on the window sills, and the cat can always be heard grooming himself. Aside from these minor gripes, it’s good to be back and settled into a routine-ish life. I’ve been cooking dinner every night, rediscovering the joys of listening to music on headphones, and making daily trips up to my friend Adam’s garage to practice trumpet. His garage gets quite chilly, so I burned quite a bit of propane last week to keep my face from freezing to the mouthpiece. I’ve also been reacquainted with my beloved Hammond Organ, which has been sitting idle at Adam’s since Blind Pilot started traveling last March. The harmonium was fun and all, but nothing beats the gritty tone-wheels and drawbars of a Hammond. As the new year approaches, I look forward to several new musical collaborations and getting down to some serious writing and recording.