Saturday November 18th at The Gold Vibe Kombuchary in Grass Valley!
Django Mack and Company returns to the Gold Vibe on Saturday November 18th! It’s a foot-stomping, horn-blowing, shuffle-tapping good time, with Django and the crew feeding you catchy melodies old and new, the boochtenders pouring your favorite elixirs, and hot goodies coming out of the food truck as quick as you can munch them down! You’ll dance all night, then tell Django he’s made your feet sore! It’s ok, he’ll take the blame… he’s dodged meaner hombres than you in his day and lived to tell about it! Show starts at 8pm and ends when they turn on the lights and chase us out..
Big thanks to Pete and his crew for making us feel right at home last weekend!
Saturday November 4th at Pistol Pete’s!
Saturday night in Auburn, CA! Come on out for some good food, good music, fine cocktails and great friends. This is what weekends are for.
Placer county peeps, come on out for some fun on Saturday, July 8th at The Dine N Dash!
It’s a great little spot along i80 in Colfax. Django and the crew will start things up around 7pm.
The folks at the Gold Vibe Kombuchary are putting out some fine-sipping concoctions for your enjoyment, and you can enjoy them with Django and the gang on May 19th! The menu includes both hard and soft kombuchas, and a couple of fine beers as well. The venue has a rotating selection of food vendors who bring high-quality eats to the party, so bring your appetite, and your friends! 7-10pm on Friday May 19th, $15 cover.
Our new CD, Midnight Mission, is out today, available on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify! Check out all the people we had the pleasure of collaborating with on this new release:
Produced by Brandon Butrick
Co-producer: Tim Vaughan
Orchestration: Brian Schindele
Recorded by Brandon Butrick and Tim Vaughan
Mixed by KC Harvey
Mastered at Gench by Thomas DiMuzio
Cover Design by Eddie Carden
Featuring:
Tim Vaughan – drums
Marc Levine – bass
Rich Flynn – guitars
Steve Leeds – saxophone
Matthew Ebisuzaki – trumpet
Brian Schindele – keyboards
Angela LaFlamme – voice
Laurie Amat – voice
Brandon Butrick – voice
Special Guests:
Alisa Rose – Fiddle on “Midnight Mission” and “Game for Gamblers”
Jeff Hobbs – Fiddle on “Game for Gamblers”
Derek James – Trombone on “Faces”, “Every Good Thing” and “Rogue Nation”
Jinx Jones – Guitar on “Leave My Woman Alone” and “Game For Gamblers”
Paul Robinson – Guitar on “When the Hunter” and “Faces”
Mio Flores – Percussion on “Faces,” “She’s Leaving Me,” “When the Hunter,” and “Every Good Thing”
Samantha Jackson – Voice on “Leave My Woman Alone,” and “Rogue Nation”
Anthony Rollins-Mullens – Voice on “Leave My Woman Alone,” and “Rogue Nation”
Nancie Lualhati – Voice on “Every Good Thing,” “Rogue Nation,” and “Leave My Woman Alone”
Eve Bekker – Voice on “Every Good Thing,” “Rogue Nation,” and “Leave My Woman Alone”
Eddie Carden – Voice on “Leave My Woman Alone”
Our new CD, Midnight Mission, is out today, available on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify!
I’d like to give you an admittedly biased overview of the Midnight Mission recording project, and say something about the people who contributed their valuable time and talents to seeing it realized.
First off, my thanks to Brandon Butrick and Tom Donald for inviting me to be a part of this band, and to Brandon for trusting me to serve as co-producer on this project.
In much of Americana and Roots Rock, there is a “less-is-more” tradition with regard to arrangements, which is there for a reason and usually works pretty well. So it may seem a spot of rule-breaking on our part that “we” (the producers) have gone in the opposite direction with our latest release Midnight Mission. After some experimentation, we decided to go beyond the usual duo, trio, or quartet setting. The songs, we felt, demanded it. Brandon and I hope that the resulting recording maintains the “two-fisted integrity” (Joshua Stryde, Indie Music Review) of Django Mack.
Though technically recorded pre-COVID, this is definitely a COVID-style recording in that, with one or two exceptions, no two people were ever in the same room together, or even in the same time-frame during the creation of the tracks. While there were some pre-existing arrangement ideas stemming from live performances, most of the arrangements gradually evolved and changed as successive tracks were laid down, creating a pandemic-style challenge for the players and vocalists involved. Everyone rose to the occasion.
The new album is, as always, focused on the deep-voiced vocal stylings of Brandon Butrick. No one is better suited to play the role of our not-so-easy-to-kill adventurer “Django Mack,” forever making his way down some dark road under a sliver of moon, with evil men and mysterious women dogging his trail, while up ahead the neon glow of a gambling den flickers through the trees.
To help set the mood we are once again lucky to have Laurie Amat (The Residents) delivering her haunting vocal magic on several songs, most notably the single “She’s Leaving Me,” also available as an animated video.
Burning Man attendees or people who are part of the Bay Area club scene will likely know the fabulous Angela LaFlamme (lead singer of the MegaFlame Big Band), who we were most fortunate to have join us for a number of pre-pandemic live performances. Her duet numbers with Brandon give us the point of view of a whole new character, one who possesses a whip-smart worldliness equivalent to Django’s (has he met his match?), and who adds an element of sly irony to the mix, especially on the cover of Smokey Robinson’s “When The Hunter.”
Veteran Django Mack saxophonist Steve Leeds (NewBlue) returns for this recording, providing not only a through-line from the previous recordings, but also a unique sound, born of a rich and long musical life. We are honored to feature him again on Midnight Mission.
Our wonderful, versatile guitarist, Rich Flynn (Finding Stella, Public Eye, the Primates), provides the lion’s share of the guitar work on the recording, delivering an exquisitely evocative and melodic solo on “Every Good Thing.” He also contributed valuable arrangement ideas including the rhumba-rock feel in “Faces,” and the stark guitar phrase that sets the singular tone for the final song “Rogue Nation.”
Marc Levine (Johnny Rivers, Barry Manilow, Bette Midler, Dianne Schuur), is invaluable on bass for all the songs, and the back-and-forth between the bass and piano on the outro of “Rogue Nations” is a delight.
Brian Schindele, a low-profile Bay Area piano luminary, arranger and bandleader, kindly agreed to come aboard for this recording, contributing his considerable expertise on many keyboard tracks, as well as vital arrangements and orchestrations that helped other musicians on the project to shine.
Alisa Rose, (Real Vocal String Quartet, Quartet San Francisco, San Francisco Conservatory of Music instructor), plays the lyrical and evocative fiddle on “Midnight Mission” and “Game for Gamblers.” She earned our admiration and it was a joy to work with her.
We were also lucky to have Jeff Hobbs (The Left Coast Improv Group) on fiddle for “Game for Gamblers.” He was responsible for the spidery, climbing trill that sets up the trumpet solo.
Jinx Jones (Chuck Berry, Roy Buchanan, and bandleader), dropped in one night, and added some of his unique rockabilly / swing guitar stylings to “Leave My Woman Alone,” as well as the spaghetti-western guitar on the intro of “Game For Gamblers.”
The Joe Cunningham-penned “Faces”makes a strong opener for the album. It’s given a rocking, if slightly rhumba-esque treatment with an El Topo-style village marching band, drifting in and out for color and atmosphere. The South American-tinged horns heard on “Faces” are provided by Matthew Ebisuzaki, trumpets (Santa Cruz Symphony Orchestra, Luminance) who took the lead on the horn arrangement, and Derek James, trombones (Pacific Mambo Orchestra). Percussionist Mio Flores (The Whispers) adds rhythmic fire to all four of the songs on which he appears.
Another local luminary, Paul Robinson (former musical director and lead guitarist for Dan Hicks and The Hot Licks, and current musical director of The Hot Licks), provides well-executed rhythm guitar on “When The Hunter” and adds searing “stun-guitar” on the bridge of “Faces.”
Our other guest songwriter is Scott Deal, whose song “Game For Gamblers” was written for Django Mack. The arrangement is notable for having at least five different, clearly identifiable influences operating in the first 12 bars! Matthew Ebisuzaki is featured on trumpet in this one, along with Angela LaFlamme and Brandon on vocals. The strong songwriting speaks for itself.
Voice-actors Samantha Jackson (ACT, The Shotgun Players, The New Conservatory Theatre Center) and Anthony Rollins-Mullens (ACT, San Francisco Playhouse, The New Conservatory Theatre Center), are absolutely hilarious in their various improvised roles on “Leave My Woman Alone.” They totally cracked us up during the session. (Not all of their contributions were used, as they were, as ever, in danger of stealing the show!)
Then there’s our crack team of backup vocalists led by Nancie Lualhati (Macerator) with Eve Bekker (also of Macerator), who did a superb job.
Last, but not least, we thank our indispensable and ever-patient mixer KC Harvey, the brilliant mastering pro Thomas DiMuzio (of Gench), our amazing animator Vince Remo, and our great cover designer Eddie Carden. We couldn’t have done it without you! And that goes for everyone involved in this project, and everyone who was so supportive of it, not all of whom I’ve mentioned by name. We’d also like to give a special shout-out to all of our former band members and guest players. On behalf of Brandon and myself, thank you all so much.
— Tim Vaughan, co-producer and drummer, Midnight Mission.
Put it on your calendar! I’m joining a couple of my favorite SF songwriters for an evening of swapping songs and peddling stories at one of my favorite local spots. Friday, July 27th at 8pm at The Lost Church.
Joe Cunningham is always a hoot, with his sharp observational wit and humble, down-to-earth demeanor.
Mick Shaffer’s got a hatful of tunes about crazy-ass stuff he’s gotten into over the years, and I think you’ll enjoy him too.
Get tickets at Ticketfly!
Looking forward to seeing you there!
Hey all,
We have a new Christmas single hitting the streets this week!
Pretty much guaranteed to get you dipping your nose into the holiday spirits.
Take a listen to ‘Round Christmas and let us know what you think. And don’t forget the bonus “b-side”, Big Black Dog!
Come on over the The Lost Church on Saturday, July 23rd!
We’ll have the amazing Angela LaFlamme and her Two Victrolas and a Microphone show opening up.
Tickets available here: http://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/1210679
Doors 7:30, show at 8pm
Listened to it over a couple cold ones this weekend; I really like this record!
We just got in some new goodies, thanks to the good folks at OoShirts! – ooshirts.com
You can pick yours up – long sleeve or short – at our show next week at The Lost Church!
Get your tickets here!
Or of course, we’re happy to ship the shirts directly to you for a modest fee.
The Lost Church is a little like your local house of worship, but that old-time-religion is music. Advance tickets are highly recommended – https://www.ticketfly.com/purchase/event/941569/
Look out San Jose! Django Mack is headed your way.
Come on down to the Caravan Lounge on Friday, August 28 at 10PM, to join Django and the gang for a little country-noir groove; rhythm and blues, jazz, country…. yeah? We’ll rock the house along with our friends & special guests, Zack Bateman and the CoalMinds! Bring your friends and let Django Mack roll you down the DM highway. Get a taste of the “Sweet Life”, Django’s latest CD, on iTunes or Amazon!
Heres the place: www.caravanloungesanjose.com
View our latest Youtube video!
Come on over to Hotel Utah on June 15th!
If you haven’t seen Django lately, you haven’t seen Django. At one of San Francisco’s finer drinking establishments.
Our good friends The Sugar Ponies are going to join us for a fine bit of music-making, starting around 8pm. You can check them out at www.sugarponies.com
Rumor has it that we may have copies of Sweet Life ready by showtime; stand by for more details!
Don’t miss the show tonight at Milk Bar! 1840 Haight St for those of you “just visiting” SF…
https://www.facebook.com/events/288194998014076/
Word is Mac Walker puts on great shows, and this lineup epitomizes that: Vaudeville Ettiquete is an awesome act, and Swamees and The Show Ponies are putting out some sweet sounds as well.
We’ll bring you some tunes from our new CD: word is we’ll have discs in hand in a couple weeks!
This past year has been a gas, with some amazing players coming through ol’ Django’s studio. We’ve had ourselves a fine time making this new CD for you, so the title says it all. We’ve been previewing some of these tunes on a few select internet radio outlets, and response has been great!
One of the big differences between this record and the last one is that we took these tunes out to some audiences while we were writing and creating them, so you all can take a little credit if you like. Joe Cunningham, Tom Donald and Terry Reed brought some great ideas to the table, and we feasted like kings on those as well as some sturdy, dependable fare, like Monk’s “Round Midnight”.
“Sweet Life” will be available soon at all the major i-retailers (you know how to search, don’t you?), but you can pre-order now by clicking here. And check back here again soon, ’cause we’ve got some other fine treats in the works for you.
DM
Don’t miss the big holiday show with MegaFlame Big Band!
Babes in Toyland!! December 13th at REBEL
Hey, Flash here on the job! I finally got the call back. It seems Django Mack is gonna start rollin’ out some shows again. But I suppose that deserves an explanation after such a long absence. Fortune has an odd way of manifesting itself. In my case, it felt odd that Django dropped everything in the middle of his tour, but good to his word, he set the crew up with gigs helping a few of his friends who were touring these last several months.
In Django’s case, he had a change of fortune, or so goes the story he told us at the first gathering we had when the entire crew and band reassembled,
Many months ago, Django took off unexpectedly for a few days. We heard after the fact that he was scouting locations for a video shoot for a new track, but apparently he found more than he bargained for. He was unusually quiet about all this, but after a fair amount of libation, we finally plied the entire story out of him.
He says he got lost at a crossroads in New Orleans and wandered into the shop of a Fortune Teller who told him about a lot of mistakes he already knew he had made in his life. He reiterated again and again, how “spot on” she was. She proceeded to tell him he needed to stop everything he was doing and record new music, music that spoke even more in his own voice, original songs from his own path of broken hearts and crooked trails. That was when he let us know he was cancelling his tour to go back into the studio. After that, he worked feverishly on new material. He said he even assembled a film crew to go shoot a video for one of the tracks; (And here’s the spooky part)…He said he went back to the crossroads where he met that fortune teller, but she was not there. The building she was in was now a weathered, untended, abandoned old Voodoo shop. The neighbors said no one had occupied that building for many years, not since that woman who ran it died.
Anyway, that’s the story Django swears by. Now, I’ve been out with Django a time or two, and it makes me wonder if he just couldn’t manage to find his way back to the right corner;)
But I’m betting he believes it, judging from all the new music he’s been workin’ on! All I know is I’m glad to be back and glad we’ll be doing a show September 12th at the MILK BAR on Haight St.
Hope ta see ya then!
Flash out.
It’s a long, hard road
Great news, Django Mack fans! We’ve spent the last 6 months working on a new record for you, taking a number of the new songs we wrote last year and bringing them to life in the studio. Big thanks to the crew who put countless hours into refining the parts and performances to make this record rock! Steve Mathews, Roy Felley, Joe Cunningham, Dave Weedon, Steve Leeds, Laurie Amat, Tom Donald, Tom Disher, John Herbst, Tommy Dunbar, Ed Carden, Rush Dance… every one contributing their absolute best work, to make this a truly memorable set of tunes.
Of course, the way this works, we can’t promise you a copy of the new goods quite yet. There’s still mixing to do, mastering, publishing contracts and all the other technical mumbo-jumbo that makes this stuff take forever… not to mention finishing up some music videos and getting the whole ball of wax ready to make a nice presentation. But…
The good news is that we can get out and do some shows again! The next dates involve a couple of private events, but keep your eyes peeled for some upcoming gig announcements as we work through some of the offers that are coming in, and we’ll look forward to seeing you real soon!
Hey Kids! Have Fun, but Don’t Drink & Drive!
Happy New Years all! Be Safe and we’ll see ya in 2013!
Happy Holidays from Django Mack & Friends
Wishing everyone a safe and Happy Holidays!
So much has been going on behind the scenes here that I’ve had a hard time keeping up.
Django Mack has shifted focus yet again, from continuing this tour, to crafting a new album! Yup (I know it seems like just yesterday, he released “The Alcohol of Fame” album”, but a strange turn in New Orleans put a bug in his craw to write a new album featuring all new original music by Django Mack! Apparently some “Voodoo Woman” down there told him he should!
But more on that and catching up on many other strange tales in 2013!
Wishing you all of the best this Christmas, and have a wonderful New Year!
In the meantime if you need something for your Holiday viewing pleasure, here’s the last two music videos shot for Django Mack in 2012!
http://djangomack.com/videos.html
