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Tag: process

  • Get Into a Real Jam – Jason’s Interview in Acoustic Guitar Magazine

    Get Into a Real Jam – Jason’s Interview in Acoustic Guitar Magazine

    p.s. 2011!?!?!?!? Wow, I have been at this for a long time.

    Recently, I was passing along some approaches toward, and conventions within, a sing-along-style jam.  I was reminded of this article from Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

    I was interviewed for the article, and I’m proud to say that a lot of my thoughts were included!  

    ❞ Yet, it’s not a performance. Those people are your allies, not your audience. “It’s more like basketball than theater,” says Jason McInnes, a guitar teacher who leads several regular jams at Chicago’s Old Town School of Folk Music. “Everybody wants the game to keep going, so they’re going to do everything they can to keep it going.”

    Read or download the whole article here.


  • Robyn Hitchcock in at the South Broadway Cultural Center

    Robyn Hitchcock in at the South Broadway Cultural Center

    We got to hear Robyn Hitchcock at the South Broadway Cultural Center last week. He’s such a fantastic performer.

    He played two sets of music, all requests, with his wife Emma adding some harmony for the last few songs. Then, he played the “encore” in the lobby. It was incredibly beautiful when he started A Day in the Life by the Beatles and everyone gently joined in for a sing along. 

  • C is for Charlie – Learning to Use Loopy Pro

    C is for Charlie – Learning to Use Loopy Pro

    I remember hearing Andrew Bird perform a concert using live looping in, maybe, 2003? I’ve been wanting to learn more about looping ever since.

    I recently purchased Loopy Pro for ipad and a M-Wave Chocolate Plus MIDI pedal with th intention of finally giving it a try.

    This is my first loop, other than the sound of a bunch of random buttons being pressed when I first hooked everything up.

    The title refers to a young friend of mine who is learning so much about our world. This song goes out to her.

    I think this song came out so fun! I’m looking forward to making some more.

    Enjoy!

    Audio Version

    Download Here↓

    C is for Charlie

  • Listen to Guitar Crew Play Faded Love

    Listen to Guitar Crew Play Faded Love

    Last night wrapped up the Late Winter 2025 session of Guitar Crew. The Crew was made up of five guitar players with experiences ranging from less than a year to many years. 

    We finished by recording our own arrangement of Bob Wills’ Faded Love. This is a recording of the five members of this sessions’ Crew. I’m accompanying on percussion.

    We covered many skills and concepts this session. Some of those topics, which you can hear in this arrangement, were:

    • Basic chords changes
    • Learning songs by ear
    • The hows and whys of playing songs in different keys
    • Knowing our roots and 5ths of each chord and using that to play alternating bass strums 
    • Working with the major scale and using that to create bass walks in between chord changes
    • Singing and playing at the same time.
    • Playing the chord changes in different locations on the guitar, either with “mini shapes” or using a capo.
    • Ensemble playing (play strong and also make room for the other musicians)
    • Playing a melody and improvising over chord changes

    Here’s Guitar Crew with

    Faded Love


    White board with the written arrangement of the song.
    In class, we work together to make the arrangements of the songs we play. These are the notes from our arrangement of Faded Love.

    I think it sounds so good! Congratulations, Guitar Crew!

    The Early Spring session of Guitar Crew begins in mid-March. We’d love to have you be part of the Crew! Send me a note if you have anyquestions.

  • Guest Post on Banjo After Dark

    Guest Post on Banjo After Dark

    Screenshot of the accompanying video

    I was quite honored when, last summer, Jonas Friddle of Banjo After Dark, asked me to make a guest video.

    The topic  I choose was one we regularly work on in Guitar Crew; knowing which songs are appropriate to bring to the jam.

    In this video I share my thoughts on, why it’s fun to bring a song to lead at an open jam, the types of songs to lead, and a few pointers to smooth the bumpy road that that beginning song leaders alway encounter.

    Do you have any advice to share, or an interesting story from a time when you lead a song, or when you heard someone else lead a song? We’d love to hear it!

    p.s. I highly recommend joining Jonas’ Banjo After Dark Patreon page. It’s free to join (although tossing a few bucks his way is always helpful) and I think you’ll find some fantastic resources.


    Screenshot of the Banjo After Dark Page, featuring Jason's video
    Jason McInnes Teaches How To Choose A Jam Song on Banjo After Dark.
  • Little Birdie with Jason and Frank Hamilton

    Little Birdie with Jason and Frank Hamilton


    Jason McInnes and Frank Hamilton outside playing banjos.

    Frank and Jason Play Little Birdie

    In the previous post I wrote a about recording recording Little Birdie with puja and maria.  That got me thinking about Frank Hamilton who taught me that song when I went to visit him in 2010.

    Here’s a recording of Little Birdie as we sang it that day.

    I talked with Frank the other day and he sounds fantastic.  His enthusiasm and positivity rang through my earbuds just like always.  It had been a long time since we talked and I was very glad to hear his voice.

  • Listen to Little Birdie with maria, puja and Jason

    Listen to Little Birdie with maria, puja and Jason

    I was so honored that maria and Puja invited me to record this song with them for their album, an area of the celestial sphere under the pecan tree.

    This video is our first take of the song. It isn’t the one that made the album, but I love this version just the same. This is the album version. If you follow the link you can hear and purchase the whole album which is a truly beautiful collection of music.

    A couple of our friends, Jess Baldissero (Joybird) and Jonas Friddle, have recordings of the song, too.   You can add these recordings, and the accompanying albums, to your collection at their respective bandcamp pages.

    Joybird

    Jonas Friddle

  • New Music from mx puja singh and Maria McCullough

    New Music from mx puja singh and Maria McCullough


    I’m so excited to share with you some new music from my dear one, Maria McCullough, and a great friend and wonderful musician, mx puja singh. They have a new album which came out this week called an area of the celestial sphere under the pecan tree  

    Maria and puja wrote and recorded this music over about a week’s time at our house in Albuquerque, NM. What a gift I was give, to hang around and watch and listen to the process unfold as the songs were coming together.  

    And, I am honored that they invited me to play my banjo on a couple of the tracks. One of the songs is sītā rām (live) which you can listen to right here.

    Purchase the whole album at puja’s bandcamp page, https://mxpujasingh.bandcamp.com/album/an-area-of-the-celestial-sphere-under-the-pecan-tree

  • Songwriters’ Exchange with Jason & Jess – Replay from June 18, 2024

    Songwriters’ Exchange with Jason & Jess – Replay from June 18, 2024

    Jess Baldissero is not only a good friend, she is one of my favorite songwriters. I was honored that she sat with me earlier in the week to discuss the discoveries and accidents of the creative process. We shared some laughs, talked about good times and hard times and we each played a few songs.  

     

    Audio and Video

    Audio Only

    Getting to Know Trees knowingtrees.com · Songwriters' Exchange with Jason McInnes and Jess Baldissero

    Three tracks from The Hermit, my debut solo album are streaming during the pre-order period. The full album will be released June 28, 2024 on Bandcamp.

    http://joybird.bandcamp.comPick up Jess’s music, featuring her band Joybird, at Bandcamp also. 




  • Welles Park in Ballpoint Pen and Ink

    Welles Park in Ballpoint Pen and Ink

    Welles Park, 2022, Ballpoint Pen and Ink, 24″x18″

    This is the piece which I alluded to in previous blog post about practicing my greyscale skills. 

    It is now available for purchase in the gallery. 

    I worked, on and off, for a year to bring this piece to completion. The slideshow to the left shows a bit of that process.