Jake's Steaks!

We'll be playing at Jakes Steaks on Laclede's Landing from 8-11 PM on Saturday, April 23. It's our first time there, so we're excited at the opportunity. At the moment we're laying some tracks for "Good Times Comin' 'Round." Bass player Tiffany Borrine put down the bass part over the weekend.... I put down an organ track & our guitarist Berrell Spade is laying his track. It's a gospel-tinged good timin' number so the organ seems like the right choice, with a little bit of piano in there as well. I'm old enough that I'll say we're "taping" but there really isn't any tape involved anymore.

Many of the songs we're recording/playing are from a musical I'm slowly working on called Kansas Cabana. It's set in a club, with a manipulative owner named Zeke who uses and abuses the folks that perform for him. The music will be ragtime, jazz, blues, even a bit of folk. Sort of an old-style feel. I wrote the songs to be challenging - but it's a cool sense of accomplishment when we learn them.

Anyway perhaps we'll see you at Jake's!

In the studio

We're excited, we've taking the direction to make some pro-sounding recordings of some original tunes! First on the docket are "Buck Street Blues" and "Good Times Comin' 'Round." We're going to keep this CD jazzy-bluesy-R&B.

Our "Release party" is scheduled for April 30, where the "Buck Street" single will be out. Look like we'll be playing two shows, at the Handle Bar on Manchester at about 5 PM and Blue Agave in Belleville at 9:30 or 10 pm.

We recently played a show at Urban Eats... you can find a live version of "Good Times" at

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HDDFUQKs_M

Also happy to announce we've booked a show in Duluth, Minnesota on August 12, and plan to build a tour around that.

A bit about us

Thought I'd just talk a bit about what we do... first we have three shows coming up, you can find out about that at reverbnation.com/theraggedbladeband.

We'll play at Urban Eats on March 20th, it's an art-brunch at 11 am. So we'll try to keep it kinda laid back.
Then at Queen of Sheba on March 26th, in U. City, then April 30 at The Blue Agave in Belleville. So maybe something will come up in between.

I guess right now what sets us apart: we do music that folks don't normally do. I write a lot of our material, so I'm pretty sure no one's doing that. It covers a lot of genre...country, blues, rock, jazz, ballads, showtunes, funk, etc. I listen to a variety of styles and try to funnel them in and out through my brain and add a personal touch to them.

Also we have started playing music from the rag era: we do a few standards like St. Louis Blues and Ballin' the Jack, and some lesser known songs of the day, plus rags such as Maple Leaf, St. Louis, and a few obscure rags like Fontella and Hurricane. Mostly the reaction has been pretty positive, people like hearing that stuff, and it's a rare opportunity to hear someone do it live.

So anyway I'll get to practicin' for the next show.

First post (an original title!)

Hey there and welcome!

I plan to use this blog for a couple things: first we'll keep you posted on what's up at Ragged Blade; our band, theater, and useful stuff about people involved.

Second, I used to have a music review column and I'll revive it & write about some artists that cross my path. It won't be my practice to trash anyone's music so much as introduce you to sounds that are worth checking out.

You can find us on facebook at "The Ragged Blade Band" as well as "Jerry Rabushka, Playwright."

I'm usually pretty informal, but I've got a backlog of music & stuff to write about, so I'll try to get started on it pretty soon.

Jerry Rabushka
Artistic-director, co-founder of Ragged Blade, St. Louis, MO
playwright, actor, director, composer/songwriter, arranger, pianist, trumpeter, singer, magazine editor.

Well that explains why I don't have a business card.