Wednesday, December 21, 2005

Happiest of Holidays...

Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, and Happy New Year from Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band...

Once again, it's been a month since we've posted anything new for you here; the time (and this past year) have really flown by. LOTS has happened in the past few months-- personnel changes, some great gigs, everyone having extremely busy schedules (I was involved in three major Christmas shows this year, Bruce was in two, and Joel hosted one as well-- Who has time for shopping?)... Plus, the Juke family is getting ready for another addition (and I'm not talking about a new den). We've been moving from one hectic event to another, and are looking forward to a little break.

We may have several items of _big_ news for 2006, but we'll let you know about those things as soon as we can confirm them. Right now, we'd appreciate your support at all of our live events (sign-up for our e-mail list at www.MightyNoStars.com for all of the latest gig info).

One news item for our No-Stars fans-- Joel Thomas, master of the electric bass, will be taking a short medical hiatus from the band (he's ok, but needs a little recuperation time). While we await his return, please welcome another multi-talented individual to the bandstand, vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist/songwriter/engineer/producer (are we out of breath yet?), old friend, and _bassist_ Glenn Bernardis (formerly of Mr. Funny and Kilbrannan; currently with Celtic hotshots Stone Row)... He will be subbing for Joel on most of our gigs until Joel is ready to return (we're currently looking at February).

Glenn adds his own special "thing"-- you'll have to come check us out to find out what it is!

Merry Christmas, God Bless, and Good Blues...

GJ

Monday, November 28, 2005

Opening a can of Blues Smackerel...

Your Mighty No-Star Blues Band will be opening up for Chicago's own Howard & The White Boys at the Lafayette Tap Room in Buffalo, NY, on their return trip to the Nickel City in February... Stay-tuned for more details as they become available.

GJ

Long Time No Post...

Sorry, we've been quite busy over the last several weeks.

Here are a few No-Stars News items and fancy-schmancy bullet points, to wit:

* Congratulations to the Mary Haitz Band from Rochester, New York, on winning the 2005 "Memphis Bound" competition held by the WNY Blues Society at the Lafayette Tap Room in Buffalo, NY. Mary and the band will travel down to Memphis to represent Western New York in the International Blues Challenge at the end of January. Go get 'em, boys and girls...

* Congratulations also go out to all of the nominees and winners in the "Blues" categories in the Buffalo/WNY Music Awards this year, including our own former sax-player, Hollywood Jack Prybylski (not "Prysbalski"... Don't you just love Buffalo journalism?)...

* On a sad note, our drummer of the past two years, Bill O'Shea, is stepping back into semi-retirement. You can still see him subbing occassionally with your Mighty No-Stars, but Bill wanted to spend more time with his family and his healthcare business, which we more than understand. Bill, you are a rock-solid, laser-focused rhythm machine, and a great human being
and we will miss you tremendously... Bill will be with the band full-time to the end of January. Be sure to stop out to our "Goodbye Bill" party at the Tap Room on the 27th of January.

* On a happy note, Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band will become one of the "house bands" at the famed Alternative Brews blues club (Sheridan Dr. in Amherst, NY). Your Mighty No-Stars will be appearing at Alt-Brews on the first Friday of every month from January to June 2006.

* New dates are coming in... Check the website or sign-up for our e-mail list at www.mightynostars.com, so you don't miss any of the happening No-Stars concert action!

GJ

Tuesday, October 04, 2005

Blues & The Abstract Truth

New Blog Alert!

Coming soon to an Internet web-address near you (specifically: www.VeritasBlues.blogspot.com)-- Watch for Blues & The Abstract Truth, a place for journalistic and not-so journalistic ramblings about the Blues, Jazz, R&B, and great music of all kinds (and whatever else I dad-gum please).

Initially, this will be a place to post re-prints of my column from the now-defunct Blues portal GotTheBlues.com, but I'm sure we'll eventually venture into all kinds of musical, and perhaps not-so-musical topics.

It seems like someone beat me to the URL of my choice, so I guess it pays to know one or two words in Latin (Et Tu, Brute?).

Check back soon; it's a work-in-progress...

More Media Blitz

As far as TV appearances and media mentions, your Mighty No-Stars were all about that over the past weekend.

Thanks to channels 2, 4, and 7 for mentioning the "Blues for the Delta" benefit on the news, thanks to Pete Anderson and the Crossroads crew on Adelphia 13 for making Joel and I look great on the program, and thanks to John Discullo at WKBW for helping us to get a mention on PM Buffalo. Also, Joel's appearance on WIVB's By The People ran twice over the past week!
We'd like to hire Gina as our permanent publicist/PR miracle worker, if ever we get a budget-line for such a necessary extravagance from the Mighty CFO...

We got home from our early gig on Friday night just in time to catch some of our appearance on the local broadcast of Off Beat Cinema. Thanks to John, Maxwell, Zelda, and the friendly folks at Spot Coffee for making this a great experience...

Watch the news, read the paper, listen to the radio, and check the web for more Mighty Cameo's by the band...

Thank You from the bottom of the Delta...

Friends of the Delta;

Thank You for all you did to support the “Blues for the Delta” concert event and benefit fundraiser at the Lafayette Tap Room on Sunday. All of your support, patronage, donations, volunteerism, and performances made the event a great success, and we are indebted to you for your efforts.

We will not have a final total, or be able to deliver the funds, until sometime early next week, but we raised quite a bit of money, and with a matching grant program that we can access through Verizon, we should reach a total of $5,000 that was raised for our two charities, the Salvation Army and the SPCA of Louisiana. It was great to hear Major Polarek of the SA talk about what they’ve been doing down south, and what your money and efforts will be going to support. Also, if you watched the news last night, you might have seen the story on some of the rescued animals from New Orleans that have been brought to this area by the SPCA.

We’re not sure what the situation will be like next year in Mississippi and Louisiana, but we’re sure that some well-deserving charity can always use some moral and financial support, so there is some talk of making this an annual event. We’ll keep you posted, and again, thank you for your generosity.

To all of the musicians and performers that dedicated your time and talents to the cause, Thank You. You did an extraordinary job, and we were blessed by your gifts and abilities, as well as your flexibility. Special mention goes out to Speedy Parker (aka Gary Sterlace), who not only played with his band, but filled-in on the fly for John Martz, who was unable to attend at the last minute.

I must take a moment to apologize to the artists who came out for the All-Star Jam set; the show was off-schedule and overtime for a variety of reasons which were out of our control, but I was personally responsible for scheduling, and I should have cut the Mighty-No-Stars’ set short, rather than have kept you waiting for us to finish up. My sincerest apologies, and please understand that this is the first show of this magnitude (as far as a multi-band event) that we have promoted—looking back on the punches we had to roll with over a 14-hour day, I thought things went pretty well, but I do apologize for the lateness of the start time for the final set. You should know that the Blues Society was not involved in the band scheduling process, so please don’t be upset with anybody from the society—the members are volunteers that work tirelessly to promote great music in WNY, and we appreciate them for it. Mea Culpa, we live and learn, and I hope you can forgive your humble stage-manager in-training.

Again, for all of our supporters, volunteers, and those that donated their time, product, or labor, thank you beyond our ability to express. In the words of musician and former radio-host John Werick, we are “eternally grateful.”

Gregg Juke
“Blues for the Delta”
Nocturnal Productions/Blue Buffalo Records
Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band

Friday, September 23, 2005

"Blues for the Delta" Update and Gig Info

Your Mighty No-Stars are looking forward to entertaining you again this week... Here's several ways to catch the band in action:

1) Check us out tonight (Friday, September 23) at Alternative Brews on Sheridan Dr. in Amherst (6-10)

2) Come down to Pearl Street in Buffalo next Friday (September 30th) after the Sabres game to see the band play two sets live (approximate start time 10:15)

3) Turn on your telly at 1am on Friday, September 30th to channel 7/WKBW TV for "Off Beat Cinema" (Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band appear as featured special guests)

Here's something to get excited about... Confirmed special guests for the "All-Star Jam" set at the Blues for the Delta concert include:

*Donna Rose & Jimmy Wozniak
*Mark Winsick
*J.J. Moscato
*Benny Provenzano of Flyin' Blind
*Tony Blasting of Bleeding Hearts
*LeeRon Zydeco
*Speedy Parker

**More To Come!!!!

This is going to be a really special night of music for a great cause. We're really hoping that you can be at the Tap Room on October 2nd!

GJ

Gregg Juke

Wednesday, September 21, 2005

Blues for the Delta

Here's an event happening on Sunday, October 2nd that you can't afford to miss...

The press release should say it all, but contact me if you need more info. We'd really like to see you there...


For Immediate Release:

On Sunday, October 2nd from 4pm-11pm, The Lafayette Tap Room, Nocturnal Productions, the Blues Society of WNY, the SPCA serving Erie County, and the Salvation Army will present "Blues for the Delta," a benefit concert event for victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and Mississippi.

The Lafayette Tap Room will host this star-studded Blues event, and 100% of proceeds will go towards relief activities related to the devastation wrought by Katrina. Proceeds designated for the SPCA will be sent directly to the SPCA in Louisiana, while proceeds dedicated for the Salvation Army will support current relief efforts in the flood-stricken areas.

Raffles and various additional fundraising will occur throughout the day.

Confirmed acts include the Speedy Parker Band, Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band, The Patti Parks Band, and soloist John Martz. The event will also feature an end-of-the-evening "All-Star" jam set, showcasing some of Western New York's well-known Blues, R&B, and Roots talent.

Sponsorship and support provided by Insty-Prints at the Airport Plaza and Sunset Fruits & Vegetables.

For more information, contact Gregg at Nocturnal Productions:

Gregg Juke
Nocturnal Productions/Blue Buffalo Records
Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band
(716) 696-6758
RhythmGJ@Hotmail.com
Gregg@MightyNoStars.com

=================Band Schedule=====================

4pm-5pm Acoustic Soloist John Martz

5:15pm-6:15pm Speedy Parker

6:15pm-6:45pm John Martz (backroom stage)

7pm-8pm The Patti Parks Band

8:15pm-9:15pm Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band

9:30pm-11:15pm???? All-Star Jam (The Mighty No-Star Blues Band as nucleus of house band w/very special guests)

Memphis Bound Competition

November 5th at the Lafayette Tap Room in Buffalo will see the finals for the "Memphis Bound" competition. The local winner will go on to represent Buffalo/Niagara Falls/Western New York at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis in January 2006. This is a major, worldwide event, and is akin to the "Olympics of the Blues."

Your Mighty No-Star Blues Band will be there, and we'd love to have your support. Come on out to the Tap Room and support all of the local talent.

GJ

Campbell... Not Glenn, but

Jarred. Jarred Campbell. A great young singer-songwriter that we met and sat in with while doing the Spot Coffee/Off Beat Cinema taping a few weeks ago. Jarred opened up for us, and we really dug his voice, his energy, and his audience rapport. He's based in Binghamton, but is up this way fairly frequently if audience size and reaction is any indicator. Check out his website (a fancy-schmancy flash-type number) and listen to some tunes at www.jarredcampbell.com. If you like edgy Alterna-Folk Pop (sort of a male Ani Difranco thang), you will like Jarred a lot.


GJ

Media Moguls: No-Stars In The News

Lots of action for your Mighty No-Stars in the media lately, folks.

A few weeks back, Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Stars (that's us, if you haven't figured it out) were featured as a second cover story on the summer issue of Blues Beat Magazine. Our thanks to Blues Beat Magazine, editor Rich Schneider, and Blues Beat scribe Karl Bauer for a real nice feature story. Pick up a free copy for yourself, they're still available throughout Western New York and at various Blues Society functions.

Word has it that talk show impressario Tom Bauerle has been using some of our tunes as featured "bumper" music. Thanks, Tom. The Mighty No-Stars are at your service.

We'll also be featured on an upcoming episode of the great, late-night, beatnik-hosted movie program "Off Beat Cinema," airing locally on Channel 7/WKBW. Thanks to those of you that came down to Spot Coffee for the live-taping. We'll be on here in Buffalo at 1 am on Friday, September 30th (the show also runs in Toronto, Ontario). The extremely cool thing about Off Beat Cinema is that it runs in national syndication, so sometime this year (although we don't know exactly when yet), we'll also be on TV in Austin, Texas, San Jose and San Francisco, California, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Tampa, Florida. Put on your black turtleneck, grow one day's worth of stubble, and snap your fingers if you think this is as cool as we do. (OR-- You could just watch the show. OR-- Tivo or old-school VHS tape it if you're coming down to the Pearl St. Grill to see us live on the 30th after the Sabres game... OR-- Talk the guys in the club into turning the show on while we play live, and have yourself a Mighty No-Stars double-whammy flip-out session).

More TV exposure: Bassist Joel Thomas recently represented the No-Stars on an upcoming episode of Channel 4/WIVB's "By The People." Joel was promoting the upcoming Hurricane Katrina relief benefit (more on this later)... Tune in at 6am on Sunday the 25th of September to check-out Jumpin' Joel.

And as if that weren't enough media saturation, No-Stars guitarist Bruce Rounds and I have another jingle (Hebeler's-- motorbikes and such) running on various Citadel Broadcasting stations (like 103, 97 Rock, and 104). The lead vocal features the legendary Paul Varga! (Get Well Soon, Paul). You can also hear some of the older stuff, including jingles for Bob Weaver Motorsports and Marine ("Weaver Fever," which sounds great on the website, too!), and Cupolo's Sports (should be back on the Bills Radio Network for this season).

Not on the radio yet, but hopefully soon-to-be, is the second, as yet un-released album from Boston-based roots rocker Mark Lenkei (a relocated former homeboy). Mark's album is in the final stages of production, and is being co-produced by multi-talented phenom Glenn Bernardis.
I got to play all of the drum tracks, quite a bit of percussion, and sing some vocals for Mark. Watch for it, it's got some great grooves, and has a really well produced and arranged (but not too slick) rootsy singer-songwriter vibe. You'll dig it.

Let us know if you see or hear No-Stars music anywhere else. We've been getting reports that people are jumping on the bandwagon (and well they should), but it helps to have hard data to connect with...


GJ

R U The Boy? (A Change Is Gonna Come...)

Saxaphonist Jack Prybylski is no longer with The Mighty No-Stars... He will be pursuing his solo career, leading his own band (JPG-- The Jack Prybylski Group), and finishing up his second smooth jazz album with producer Ken Navarro. We wish him success in his new musical endeavors.

Harry Fackleman and Eric Wozniak are currently rotating dates with Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band. Say "hi" to Harry or Eric at the next gig (they are both pretty friendly, for musicians, anyway). We'll keep you posted on the band roster, and our pursuit of a new permanent No-Star. We're planning an 8-week reality TV show based on our musician search... Any ideas for a series title?

GJ

Thursday, September 08, 2005

Wonders of the Modern World

This is the first test post at "Juke The Mighty," the official interactive web-log for Gregg Juke & The Mighty No-Star Blues Band, and other sundry Gregg Juke-related musical activities...

Come back often for news updates, or just to hang-out and wax philosophical...