Adventures of The Jumpers

New lineup, new gig!

2007-01-06T13:56:00.000-08:00

GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS BLUES LOVERS!!! Just a short note to say how stoked the band is to play this month. We are trying to be more flexible with the players to match our gigs, but the basic line up will be a 5 piece horn band. Besides me on bass there will be Ray Davis on guitar and Jim Buix on drums with the "Heart Attack Horns" consisting of Joe McCarthy on trumpet and keys with Allen Jackson on sax. Our first club date will be Jan. 12 & 13 at a new non-smoking blues club called OUT OF THE BLUES, at exit 290 on I-5 (Lake Oswego /Durham exit) near Bridgeport Village. It's a nice new non-smoking blues club with great food, so come out for dinner. In case of bad weather better call ahead (503-598-6682) to see if we made it--it might snow next weekend.

We've got lots of new tunes we are recording at E.Z. Acres with lots of guest singers and players, and we hope it will be mixed by then, so keep a eye open for it. We've got a few more possible gigs lined, so keep in touch with us by calling the Jumpers Hotline at 503-829-5833 for the latest.

We're be up dating the website soon, so it's better to call. Anyway we hope you all have a happy and safe new year. As always God Bless

E.Z.EDDY & THE JUMPERS

Jumpin' at the VRC...

2006-02-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

Our favorite gig...the Valley River Inn across from the Valley River Center Mall in Eugene. Sweetwater's is the name of the lounge, nested comfortably on the banks of the mighty Willamette. Rooms, food, beverages, beautiful people... Livin' the dream, man...

Uh, oh... anyway... Nico's mom, Ann, has been offended that we don't have any pics of Nico on the site, and, well, it's true. But there's a reason for it...or excuse...sorry, Mom... and here it is: All work on this site is done on a volunteer basis, and, granted, the way I've set it up, maintenance of it is a bit time-intensive (for the sake of design), SO, "when I get a round tuit," things WILL and DO get done. So, please have patience. We love Nico, and in no way is this a slap in the face, despite the way it may look.

That said, I had our band photog and chief Eugene swing-dancer, Greg Shaver, snap a few shots with my little Kodak EasyShare...(click for larger image, then BACK)

So there!

Ann also turned me on to a cool source of "street jumpers" video, to maintain the street cred of the band. Check out - http://www.ejbdotcom.net/content/1453.html

Thanks, Ann!

Who are the Jumpers...REALLY??

2006-02-10T00:49:00.000-08:00

Because there are so many possibilities with the name "Jumpers," we get people coming up to us all the time asking which one is it? Are we JUMPER cables? Are we gymnasts, or track & field guys? Are we paratroopers, or tiny pieces of hardware on a computer motherboard? Maybe we just like that Van Halen song from 1984, or maybe we're the ones David Lee Roth is singing about in the song? On the darker side, we could be suicidal, or... Nico sent me this... You decide!

Ya Ya in Yachats!

2006-02-03T16:26:00.000-08:00

It promised to be an interesting weekend, anyway, mainly because Gordon had a family wedding to attend, so Ray Davis replaced him, and then, for Saturday night Nathan had concert tickets he'd gotten for Christmas, so we had to replace him. So, for Sat. we had TWO SUBS. And, well, it turned out better than we could have hoped. Both Ray and Steve did outstanding jobs, and with Steve being from Louisiana, with his zydeco feel and raspy voice, it was just great entertainment.

The owner, Bruce, told me and Nico that we had "redeemed" The Landmark, on account of the apparently horrific music acts that had been in there the past few weeks. "Everything has reached harmony once again," sighed Bruce with a big transcendental smile.

It seems nearly every time we go down to the Landmark, we have a sub, so we're looking forward to St. Patty's Day when we can have the full crew. Not to say Ray and Steve weren't great--they were--it's just that it limits some of the "production" numbers we do.

The weather was horrific that weekend (Jan. 27-28), but it really didn't put much of a damper on attendance. Friday night was better than expected, but Saturday night was positively wild. The night started off with a group of about 15 50-somethings from Eugene who had attended some sort of Clam Festival. They were seriously looking to dance and drink, but pooped out early. But around midnight the professional partiers made the scene, and whooped it up non-stop until 1 AM. The wait staff was running around like headless chickens for a while there, while Bruce and his wife sat back and enjoyed the whole thing immensely.

Nico, Mrs. Bruce, and Steve's wife

Friday night between about 1:30 and 3 AM, 70 MPH winds kicked up replete with thunder and lightening and driving rain. Ray and I were upstairs in the apartment above the club, and that whole building was shaking. I literally thought we were having an earthquake! Then, as suddenly as it came on, around 3 AM it just stopped. I heard that Sunday night was even more intense, but we'd left by then.

Yachats is a funky, comfortable little town, quaint in its community-ness, and is really a great place to visit. So definitely make it a destination and come rock out with the band! We'll be down there again St. Patty's Day weekend--have a green beer on Eddy!

On the cover of The .... Positively Entertainment

2005-12-10T12:00:00.000-08:00

Yet another 15 minutes of fame has come and gone for The Jumpers, with a big hats off to my friend, Bonnie Carter, editor of Positively Entertainment. Bonnie has been THE greatest advocate for Portland musicians and the Portland music scene for over 25 years. She has featured The Jumpers on the cover of her monthly mag, with an article. Although the band members giggled some at the factual errors, the heart was in the right place, and that's what counts. I've emailed the webmaster at the Positively Entertainment website about correcting the errors there, so don't be alarmed if you read about Eddy being an "electrical engineer"--he's actually just a contractor--which, in the trade, is a big deal. We're checking into whether or not he can be jailed for misrepresenting himself...

There were actually a couple of people who came to the Tippy Canoe gig as a result of the article in PE, so once again, Bonnie, thanks.

Tonight we play at the First Avenue Pub in Newberg for the first time. It's a new venue in the hometown of George Fox College, so we're looking forward to getting a foot in the rotational door, hopefully. I'll take the camera and take some shots, and post them here.

And, where'd that name come from?

2005-10-11T13:01:00.000-07:00

Adding to the FAQ list for The Jumpers...about that name... Some of you who actually listen to lyrics (unlike me...it's all bass and drums, baby), and who were paying attention back in 1974 (huh?), The Jumpers are mentioned in Johnny Winter's recording of "Rock & Roll Hootchie Koo." I'm not sure Eddy even remembers that--"uh, just a band name," he'd say. And, come to think of it, I'm not really sure why I was listening to that song the other day, AND happened to be listening to the lyrics... oooo... spooky...

In honor of The Jumpers' appearance at Newport's Microbrew Fest this past weekend, Jon Nyberg of ColCo Entertainment Arts who booked the festival, came up with a great graphic/logo for the band. There are so many meanings for The Jumpers--everything from basketball to electricity... Hail, hail, Rick Derringer!!

A big transition....

2005-09-07T02:39:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the world of musical chairs... Jeannette (Kid), has decided to step down as the lead singer and namesake of the Kid Lopez Band. She's feeling a stronger calling for other adventures than hanging around with us old farts :-)... We wish her the best. She'll be helping us out through October '05, and then we'll be welcoming the wonderful, stunning and fabulous Nico Wind. Nico brings a lot of great material to the band, and we're excited to see where things go.

As far as the name change goes, we decided to re-instate The Jumpers--Eddy's band name from the 80's. Somewhere very, very deep in the collective unconscious that name will ring a bell someday for someone, and, hey, maybe we'll get a call from Jay Leno...

Anywho, the long AND the short of it is: The Kid Lopez Band is now The Jumpers. Check us out!

Life's a beach....

2005-06-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

Hey, yes, I know... all the thousands of people reading this blog and emailing me wondering what the hell the band is up to. Sorry folks... sometimes my "other life" gets in the way of being a rock star...

So, if anyone is actually reading this... Uh, I'm right now in Waldport, just up the road from Yachats, where the band is rockin' the house at the Landmark. I'm here because the cafe I'm sitting in has wireless internet (Waldport Seafood Co.), and it was a great excuse to try out my new wireless network card. What can I say...it works!!! Then I spied Eddy and Sherry strolling by, so I tapped on the window, they came in, had some coffee, talked some gig shop, and then headed down the street to the flea market, after we watched the Waldport Days Parade: kids, bicycles, fire trucks, national guard/mobile equipment, some horses with striking characters as riders, more kids, the mayor and his family in a truck, and the high school homecoming queen. It was so damn charming, I couldn't stop grinning.

The Landmark is a funky, rambling joint right down on the beach of the Yachats Bay. As I sat eating dinner, two gulls took up residence on the deck railing about two feet from my plate, eyeing it hungrily. They apparently are aware of the concept of GLASS, since they looked pretty damn brave, if not a tad smug peering in on my fare.

Googling "Landmark Yachats," I find out that the place has been named one of 23 "best fish dives" in the nation--the gulls seem to agree anyway. I just had the shrimp salad sandwich (it was yummy), so I can't vouche for the whole seafood dinner deal, but the service was certainly snappy.

Eddy arrived shortly after I finished dining with the gulls, we loaded in, and got set up. Beds were offered any band members who wanted them upstairs. Ray and I opted for those, part of a two-bedroom apartment-style space where the Landmark has its offices. Walls plastered with posters of past bands who have performed there, everything was in active disarray, with quite an array of collateral flotsam and jetsam inherent in keeping a restaurant and live music venue operational: broken neon lights, boxes of invoices, a couple of computers, a stash of toilet paper... The beds were interspersed among within the mess, but it looked like someone was at least trying to keep things relatively organized.

The gig was lightly attended, but the folks that were there were vocal about their appreciation for the band, so it was happening. We're hoping word will spread through the town, and perhaps into surrounding communities, and we'll have a bigger crowd tonight. Nathan's mom and dad showed up to proudly watch and listen to their prodigy. Nathan's dad even sat in. It was obvious what side of the DNA Nathan got his chops from. (In the pic, L to R: Nathan's dad, wife, mom, Nathan).

I was awakened by the owner's little brown terrier around 10 AM. He had wiggled his way into my dreams--something about chasing a runaway horse being chased by dogs--so it was a little disorienting to wake up to the frustrated barks of a couped-up dog. When he realized I was there, he looked at me suspiciously and then laid stomach down with jaw on floor, eyebrows shifting in that classic poor-me dog look. I figured I'd better not let him out, so once I'd left he resumed his lonely solo chorus.

Anywho, I'll attempt to be more forthcoming as we continue on the odyssey we call The Kid Lopez Band...

Oh, check out the stage we're on at the Landmark...something for every holiday:

Website headaches, but we're BAAACK...

2005-04-28T13:38:00.000-07:00

Ugh. All I wanted to do was move the dang website over to my own server I have staked out over at GoDaddy. Geez...it was like trying to pull a car out of a ditch with a puppy on a chain. The problem began when the domain name expired and the registrar failed to notify me (as they are supposed to do). When I discovered that the domain name had lapsed, I immediately went to the registrar's site (enom.com) to see about transferring the domain to my own registrar (bulkregister.com). Enom wanted $30 to renew, but I can get it renewed for $12 at BR, so I simply initiated a transfer request (normally takes a couple of days). TWO damn WEEKS later, we finally have a visible website on the Internet. Enom did not respond in a timely manner to the transfer requests (three of them), and then failed to UNLOCK the domain--all this is taking geologic time to get them to do. They just wanted to see me sweat because I was leaving them, I'm sure...

Anywho, we're back, and I sincerely apologize to all the club owners and especially the summer event people who tried to download pictures and sound files, or to just verify that the band actually existed!

So, this weekend we're at Finnegan's Mill in Newberg on Friday (I played there in a country band back in the mid-80's when it was called something else), and at the brand new Coach's in Cedar Hills on Saturday (check the Appearances page for maps). We so rarely get a chance to play the West Portland burbs, we hope that all of you who have been waiting for that will drop by! Eddy'll buy you a beer--just mention you heard about it on the Kid Lopez Blog...

L8R...

Did we pass the audition?

2005-03-23T00:57:00.000-08:00

Last Tuesday we trekked up to the beautiful Skamania Lodge to be a "featured band" for the Oregon Events Association. It was a 4-day convention for the association, and we were one of three bands featured. Granted, it was the last day of the convention, so most of the attendees had gone home, but we had a nice audience of about 50 people who were there from all over the U.S., and were well received. Our new keyboardist, Nathan Olsen, did a fine job with very little preparation. He seems to fit right in.

The food spread was nice, catered with a Mexican food theme. Although the coveted slot of "featured band" is usually a freebie, the food made up for it--gas money, anyway. They gave Eddy $100, which he applied toward "expenses." Eddy's really gone the extra mile pulling money out of his own pocket to set these kinds of opportunities up for the band, so we didn't question it...

Groovin' in Gresham

2005-03-01T11:52:00.000-08:00

We're in a regular rotation schedule at the venerable M&M Lounge in Gresham (Oregon). They seem to really like us there, mainly, I think, because we're not screamingly loud, and we play different stuff (you know, like ORIGINALS).

Friday night was slow in there, though, which we don't mind--gives us an opportunity to do some run-throughs of brand new material, or drag out some old chestnut from 30 years ago. Eddy's pretty good at that, and although his "singing" is marginal, it does drive people to the bar to start drinking heavily.

Saturday was a partay. Apparently, a married couple, who had their birthdays on the same day were celebrating heartily with several friends (about 20, from what I could see). They were loud, but we were louder, and after a few numbers, we had most of them dancing.

A few wild women remained by the last set. One in particular kept coming up to the stage demanding we "Play some BB King!!" This after we had just played TWO BB King songs--apparently not the ones she was looking for.

Eddy and Gordon got together with Nathan last night to survey what material he knows in preparation for Ray's departure. We're gonna miss Ray. His fabulous guitar artistry, and positively great songwriting really helped distinguish the band. But, when ya gotta move on, ya gotta move on... The Mud Paddy Party in Astoria St. Patrick's Day will be Ray's last gig with us. Waaaaa!! We are looking forward to having keyboards in the band. It'll considerable change the whole sound, but change is good!

Boyd - Drum Animal

Welcome to the Kid Lopez Band Blog

2005-02-16T00:00:00.000-08:00

This is the first entry in the Kid Lopez Band blog. You are welcome to comment on stuff we post here. It'll be mostly about gigs we've done, but there'll be some items about recordings (hopefully), and notable band logistics. You can comment on the posts using the buttons below. We do hope to hear from you, and if you were at one of our gigs, feel free to vent...

The latest news is that our talented guitarist and songwriter, Ray Davis, is taking a open-ended hiatus. He's been spread between two residences over the past several months--some of his adult children have been living in SE Portland, and his wife and mother have been living in Seaside (Oregon coast). Needless to say, his commuting and subsequent scheduling conflicts have brought him to a crossroads of sorts. He wants to spend most of his time in Seaside, which makes a band career impractical at the moment.

So...we've taken the liberty of recruiting a bright and talented young keyboardist into the ranks of the band. Nathan has done a few gigs with us, and we love his groove and the versatility with which he approaches our music. He's already a full-time musician, with students and a wide array of projects, but he has said he'll make the band a priority, so that was good enough for us. He'll be joining us officially March 12th at the Mud Paddy Party in Astoria, which is always a blast. Come check him out, and let us know what you think!

Our tireless gig sniffer/bass player/handyman, E.Z. Eddy Campy has been focussed on shoehorning us into the festival and county fairs scene. It's a lot of investment of time and money up front, but the dividends in terms of exposure and remuneration make it well worth the effort. However, it does take time... so keep looking for us in the clubs for the time being. We should have a few festival events to announce soon, and we're pretty sure we'll be getting a slot at the prestigious Waterfront Blues Festival this year (as last) during the 4th of July weekend.

In addition to contributing to our blog posts here, you can now sign up for our mailing list to receive goofy emails about upcoming gigs a couple of times a month, so do feel free to do so!

L 8 R,

Boyd
Drum Animal