So, where do we start? With the over 100 fans, family, and friends who came out to see us? With the friendly staff and leaders at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall for hosting us? With the three other artists – Sarah VanValkenburg, Jonathan Earl, and Sam Dubois – who shared the stage with us? Carol Roth for releasing a Q&A with Justin in Adventures in Americana in the week leading up to the show? How about… all of the above!
It was a truly magical night October 2nd in downtown St. Paul, and we are deeply thankful to all of you who showed up and made it happen. We’re still coming down from the emotional high, but we’ve managed to book a few acoustic shows in the coming months that you can find out about over on the Events page.
Whoah, can that be right? Can you believe it? Our celebration for Unreliable Witness is finally here! (Well, almost. What’s one week? Nuttin’!)
That’s right, ONE WEEK from tonight, we’ll open the doors to the Amsterdam and get ready to rock for you. We’ve been waiting SO long to do this with you, and we’ve got one heck of a set list lined up. Plus we hear Sarah, Earl, and Sam are bringing their “A” games too for a night of amazing fun at the Amsterdam in St. Paul. Once again, as a reminder, we’re requiring proof of vaccination or negative test (within 72 hours) to get in the door. And speaking of doors, they’ll be open at 6, Sarah will start us off at 7, we’ll be on at 8, and then Earl and Sam will close out the night. And don’t forget comedian Brian McDaniel will be handling MC duties!
All that for JUST TEN BUCKS! Well, it’s only ten if you get a move on and purchase your tickets in advance, because they’re $15 day of the show. Save the five bucks and put it towards a drink purchase when you’re there, how’s that sound?
So we’ll see you there, right? That’s what I thought! –mike d, your friendly neighborhood bassist
The full LSB rocking fully at Circus Pinecus 2021. Photo by Stephen Sylvanie.
Happy September, LSB fans! It’s time for an announcement around our October 2nd CD release party for Unreliable Witness. Let’s start by reiterating how excited we are to play songs from this new album, and to celebrate with three* other bands who are releasing records that same night – exactly one month from tonight! (Hey – tickets are still just $10 in advance!)
As we prepare for the big night, the health and safety of the band, Amsterdam staff, and our fans is of the utmost importance to us. After discussions with Amsterdam leadership, we have decided to require proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test (within 72 hours) for attending this show. We will also encourage following industry, local or national guidance surrounding the wearing of masks. We are all vaccinated and will be taking additional steps toward keeping everyone healthy and safe, and we hope you will do the same. Toward that end, we want to stress that for any of our shows, if you feel even slightly ill, please stay home. As much as we’d miss you, the safety of you and your fellow fans is more important than any show. If you need a refund for this show for any reason, please reach out an we will find a way to make that happen.
We know this is a difficult time for everyone, and we did not reach this decision lightly. As a band, we strongly feel the best way to be prepared for all situations is to get vaccinated, and we wanted our celebration of Unreliable Witness to reflect that position. We hope to see you there!
*Correction: our original post mistakenly said “four other bands”. There are four bands total on the bill, including us. Mike has been flogged for the error.
These guys will be everywhere (in metro and southeastern Minnesota anyway) this month
Hey there and hello, fans of j.bell and the Lazy Susan Band, it’s bassist and website-slinger Mike D. here, delivering you the unfortunate news that yes, the “dog days of summer” are here. And we’ve been resting for most of July, so you can’t blame all the heat and smoke in the air this past week on any of Justin’s face-melting solos. However, you can be sure that we’ll be prepared to help you cool down this coming month with a boatload of chances to see us!
Well, most of us anyway – for Kent and me, this coming Friday’s full band show at Carbone’s in Minneapolis will be your last chance to see us on stage before our October CD release party for Unreliable Witness. (Tickets on sale now!) But after that, you’ll have no less than SIX chances to see the LSB Trio play – in Lake Elmo, Stillwater, Winona, La Crescent, Red Wing, and River Falls, Wisconsin – phew! If you’re having a hard time keeping track of all that, like I am, head on over to our Events page for the details, or if you’re so inclined, follow us on the Book of Faces where we also post our events.
So, really, while we can be pretty sure August will be hot here in the upper Midwest, there’s nothing stopping you from finding one of these watering holes for a cool drink and some refreshing song singin’ to get you through. And we promise to keep a fire extinguisher nearby in case smoke starts coming out of our instruments.
Well, if it isn’t…almost…mid-summer! And our May and June already seemed dreamlike (get it? Shakespeare? Anyone?). Anyway, we got busy racking up NINE gigs, including the return of the full band to a rockin’ show at the Driftwood. Now, to ease into a restful July, we’ve got two chances for you to catch us this weekend: on Thursday, a rare acoustic quartet show (with yours truly, Mike D., joining on acoustic bass) at Rush River Brewery in River Falls, WI, and a J.Bell solo show at Cafe Latte in St. Paul Saturday night. (Hence the beer, and cake references, respectively.)
Then, get ready, because things really start heating up the next few months! We’ve got six shows booked in August, including the full band’s return to Carbone’s on the 6th, and we JUST announced details for our Unreliable Witness CD release party, October 2nd at the Amsterdam! We’ll be talking more about this in the weeks and months to come, but for now you can head on over to the Events page for details on all these gigs.
We’re so looking forward to seeing you out “on the road”!
Quick reminder for those of you who might have felt your brains melting slightly over the past few weeks of insanely hot Minnesota weather: our first full band show of 2021 is tonight at the Driftwood Char Bar in Minneapolis. We start nice and early at 7 pm sharp, we’ll play for 90 minutes to help you chase the sun down with a cool beverage, and we’ll do our best to keep the face-melting solos from setting fire to the nearby boulevards. All this for a mere $5 cover at the door!
And, stay tuned here, as in the coming weeks we’ll announce more full band shows coming this summer, and maybe even an Unreliable Witness CD release party for this fall. While you’re waiting to hear more, check out the Events page to find out our future plans!
Well, who woulda thunk it 6 months ago, folks, but it looks like live music is back in Minnesota! That’s right, clubs are booking shows, the weather is getting warmer (making it easier to socially distance and ventilate), and your very own Lazy Susan band has multiple live performances scheduled in May, June, and July!
It all starts off May 1 at Cafe Latte in St. Paul, where J. Bell will be performing solo, much like his many live streams over the past year…but he won’t be bringing his “fake live audience clap track”, so you’ll just have to show up and cheer in between bites of your delicious desserts!
We follow that with two LSB Trio shows in River Falls and Minneapolis, and at least one public full band performance in June. Check out our events page for details, and stay tuned for hopefully more announcements this summer!
Happy spring, Lazy Susan fans! Boy, we miss you guys. But there’s good news on the horizon! Sure, this pandemic seems to be holding on like a stubborn Minnesota winter, but count us in the camp that says we can beat it! And while we’re waiting to get back out on stage for you, we have a small…technical update.
You see, until recently, our videos on the Tubes of You were scattered all about, making them a bit hard to find. Well, no more! All of them – including the one above for “Next Best Thing” – are now available on this YouTube channel. Check it out – there might be a few you haven’t seen before! And don’t forget, we still have tasty merchandise available for you, which you’ll want to show off when you hit the beach this summer. We’ll see you soon!
Oh, it’s been much, much too long since we had a reason to update this here site of the interwebs, folks! But just like many of you, we have been busy working from home … and getting the all-too-common “Zoom fatigue”. Unlike anyone we know of, we decided to make fun of ourselves and the phenomenon of asinine video meetings in our latest video! (We even decided to try posting a shorter version on TikTok…we have no idea what that means, but we did it. With help.)
Please know that while we’re having fun doing videos like this, nothing replaces the feeling of playing in front of fans, friends, and family. We sincerely hope we’ll be getting back to that this summer. Until then, get your vaccine when you’re eligible, mask up, stay home when you’re sick, and cross your fingers for us!
“Rusting in the Rain”, shot on location at Farmhouse Records
Welcome to the winter of our malcontent….uh…discontent…uhhh…what content were we we promoting? Oh yes, that’s right, our NEW content! Yes, you heard that right, brand-spanking NEW deliciousness for your eyeballs and eardrums is above!
Mike D. here for the Lazy Susan Band, and I’m pleased to bring you this video today on behalf of my fellow hombres. I gotta admit, this is one of my favorite songs on “Unreliable Witness“, and I’m super excited that we got to film this video at Farmhouse Records in River Falls, Wisconsin. It was the perfect setting for this song, and Jason Narverud from Cute Fox Studios nailed it again with his direction.
Like many of our musical compadres, we’re hunkered down in the woodshed at the moment. For many musicians, that’s a metaphor, but for me, I actually have a pile of wood in a shed out back that I need to take care of. For the rest of the guys, writing songs, appearing on our weekly Wednesday night live streams (on the BookFace doncha know), and getting ready to record our next record is occupying our pandemic winter.
Much as I like to engage in some levity here on the jbellmusic.com home page, all of us in the LSB sincerely hope you are staying safe this holiday season so one day we can see you again in person, with beats in the air, harmonies on the wind, and drinks in the bellies. In the meantime, enjoy our videos, recommend our tunes to a friend, and take excellent care of one another.
