Photo by Snap Jackson
CBA pal John Reischman & his fine band the Jaybirds are making a quick swing south from their British Columbia perch this week. John, a California legend has played the Father’s Day Festival countless times with the Jaybirds and others, is a regular mandolin instructor at the CBA Music camp that precedes the Fathers Day Festival. These shows are an excellent chance to see this unit in smaller venues. See the schedule and his thoughts on this mini-tour below.
Schedule
Wed April 10 – Little River Inn
7901 N. Highway One
Little River, CA 95456 – 707-937-5942
TICKETS
Thur April 11 – Fifth Street Farms
1517 Fifth Street Berkeley, CA 94710 – 510-525-9248
SOLD OUT
Friday April 12 – Otter Opry, Monterey United Methodist Church
1 Soledad Drive, Monterey, CA 93940 – arry@otteropry.org
TICKETS
Saturday April 13 – The Side Door
2900 4th Ave, Sacramento, CA 95818
TICKETS
Q&A
What’s new with you John?
It’s been a pretty busy year so far. Lots of touring for the band. In addition to the touring, I’ve been working on a book of transcriptions of the tunes on my CD New Time and Old Acoustic. It should be out in June.
What material with you be leaning on in this visit?
We’ve got a lot of new material that we are happy about sharing. Originals from Most of the band, and some cool covers and traditional Numbers.
Any new recordings on the horizon?
We have started recording some of this new material. Hopefully we will have a new recording by the end of this year, or early 2025. It’s way overdue!
What are your tour plans for the summer?
Most of our shows this summer will be in Canada this August, then an east coast swing in September.
What’s your favorite place to visit when you are back in California?
Well I love visiting Northern California where I grew up. Actually I’m looking forward to visiting all of these places on this upcoming tour. I grew up in Mendocino county, so happy to be returning to the Little River Inn. The Otter Opry is always fun, as is the Fifth Street Farms series. It will be the Jaybirds first time at the Side Door, but I’ve always had a great time playing there with the California Bluegrass Reunion.
What food do you look forward to that you can’t get up north?
Well living in Vancouver I’m pretty spoiled food wise. There are great Mexican places where I live, but I look forward to visiting some Bay Area Favourites like La Mexicana in Oakland. I also love Burmese food, so I hope to hit Burma Superstar!
How hard is it for Canadian artists to tour the states?
It’s not hard, but it can be a lot of work, and expensive. Luckily most of our band is either US, or dual US Canadian citizens. For our one Canadian member it means applying for a work permit way ahead of the tour, providing contracts and other documentation, and paying a significant fee. So unless things are booked way in advance, it’s challenging.
Any thing else?
We are looking forward to seeing our California friends and fans!
Thanks John
This is great, thanks Dave.
