j. bell & the Lazy Susan Band

Hey there, Lazy Susan Band faithful, it’s your (least?) favorite bass player Mike D. here! As I’m writing this post, it’s exactly one month until our big Aster Cafe show with Art Vandalay, and I’m super excited. But I’ve scheduled the post to be published later in the month, so as you’re reading it, the lovely month of April is within sight! And what better way to welcome spring than with some live rock ‘n’ roll?

If you agree there is NO better way, you’ll be glad to hear that the LSB is giving you four different chances to see us in the first two weeks of April – at No Neck Tony’s (Trio in Lake Elmo, j. bell solo in Stillwater), Carbone’s (Trio), and the Aster Cafe (Full Band).

Perhaps best of all, if you haven’t heard, is that j.bell worked with some pals over the winter to create a brand new solo EP titled simply “j. bell”, chock full of new arrangements of brand new songs, most of which we’ve never played in public. You can check out these songs over at reverbnation.com right now – they are the first five listed. And if that weren’t enough, as a release celebration, the LSB will be playing all five of those songs at our Aster Cafe show April 9th! (The guys from Art Vandalay are releasing their record that night, too!)

So, we hope you’ll join us at some or all of these shows – all the details you need are over on our Events page.

Just a quick note, if you haven’t heard, our full band show at the Aster Cafe, opening up for Art Vandalay, has been rescheduled to April 9th. Go see the sexy trio pictured here at No Neck Tony’s while you wait!

Happy 2022, LSB fans! We hope this message finds you all snug and cozy in the middle of our snowy January, staying safe and as healthy as possible. It’s a new year, we’ve got plans for some more recording, AND we’re pleased to remind you that we’ve got a bunch of shows listed over on the Events page, including lots of opportunities to see the Trio at No Neck Tony’s in Lake Elmo and j.bell solo at their Stillwater location.

In fact, just this month we’ve got two unique shows to highlight: the LSB Trio’s first visit to the Chankaska Creek Ranch & Winery in Kasota on the 14th, and our Full Band show the 22nd at the Aster Cafe, opening up for Art Vandalay. We hope we can see you at one or both of these!

Hey, remember when we said we were taking a break for the rest of 2021? Nah, neither do we. Anyway, quick update on a few things:

• J.Bell, $2 Bill, and BPZ will be doing one last Wednesday night “live stream” over on the Bookface to celebrate the end of the year. Join us virtually at 7 pm on 12/15!
• J.Bell and $2 Bill are ready to help you ring in (sing in?) the new year and say good bye to 2021 at No Neck Tony’s in Lake Elmo on New Year’s Eve, so that’ll officially be our last gig of 2021.
• We’ve added a bunch of gigs for 2022 over on the Events page! Hope to see you at one, some, or all of them!

Your friendly neighborhood bass player, Mike D here! And folks, as I sit here digesting an impossibly large Thanksgiving meal the morning after, I have to remind myself how lucky I am. I’m safe, healthy, and playing in an amazing band with four other guys who I consider friends – and I know they all feel the same way. Especially this year, we feel lucky to have played in front of you all as much as we did.

Giving thanks for our blessings seems especially important as we think about the events of the past month, where our friends in the Peacemakers had to cancel their Midwest tour due to unfortunate circumstances. While we were of course sad to miss out on our opportunity to open for them at the Turf Club, we fully support their decision. And we look forward to seeing what they do in 2022.

Speaking of 2022, we’ve got one date listed for January over on our Events page – a full band show at the Aster Cafe! We’re really excited for this and hope you join us. But we are going to take a break for the rest of 2021 and enjoy our friends and family for the holidays – we hope you do the same. So let’s send you off with a little musical holiday humor…

Well, if it isn’t the sound of the “good news train” rolling down the track once again! As our show history on the Events page reveals, it’s been quite the year for the LSB, and it’s not over yet!

That’s why we’re pleased to announce that we will be sharing the stage once again with Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, this time at the Turf Club. The last time we had this honor was at the 7th Street Entry, and you can see from the above photo that we had a blast. We plan to hold up that tradition in just a few weeks!

As Justin has mentioned several times, Roger is one of his “songwriting heroes”, and all of us have to admit: opening up for them simply never gets old. The fact that they are such a great band makes every show a tremendous experience, and that’s complemented by their terrific fans. We’re hoping you’re all as excited as we are – get your tickets now and join us at the Turf Club in St. Paul on November 20th!

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

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.