THE MONKEES - October 2, 2021
The Tivoli Theater - Chattanooga, Tenn.

I had the pleasure of escorting my lovely daughter to The Monkees concert at The Tivoli Theater in Chattanooga, Tennessee on October 2, 2021. Even though Davy Jones and Peter Tork are no longer with us, Micky Dolenz and Michael Nesmith, accompanied by a very well-rehearsed band, gave a fantastic show that had everyone in the audience laughing singing, and crying all night long.

I fell in love with The Monkees when I was ten years old-way back in 1971 and have remained a life-long fan. When I was lucky enough to have a daughter, she too became an obsessed fan like myself very early on. We spent much of her childhood watching The Monkees TV show and listening to their music together. When she was six years old in 2001, we both attended our first Monkees show together. So being able to share another Monkees show with her 20 years later means more to me than I am able to put into words.
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Greeting my music-loving and music owning friends,
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In my two new blogs, which you can find under 'Ramblings From Jeff,' I share my thoughts and a YouTube video about the social, psychological, economic, and emotional importance of purchasing and owning the physical medium of the music you listen to. I hope you will take the time to read them and leave your thoughts, opinions, and experiences about the art and passion of collecting and listening to music. 

Happy Listening!
      Jeff

I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to Todd Alexander and Katy Waugh for reaching out to me and requesting that I write an article about my friendship with Greg 'Fingers' Taylor  for the July 2021 edition of 'Phlockers Magazine.'  Ironically, I have wanted to write an article on the friendship I shared with Greg 'Fingers' Taylor for quite some time now, so their kind invitation could not have come at a better time. Greg's Birthday is in June and mine in July. We are both celebrating significant birthdays this year, and I have been doing a tremendous amount of reflecting lately. My article ran a little bit too long, and they had to edit it a wee bit for their publication, so I am posting the unedited version here at JeffPike.com. You can read it HERE. Enjoy and please let me know what you think. 

Mullen's Miracles featured in The Atlanta Journal Constitution - Read full article HERE

​On the evening of Sept. 26, 2018, Kathy Mullen knew her son Eric was struggling but had no idea it would be the last time they would talk. The following afternoon, she received a phone call from some of his friends telling her they were trying to get Eric to the hospital. Despite efforts between his friends and law enforcement, it was too late.
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                                                            'RIGHT WHERE I AM' UPDATE - NOVEMBER 2020

​In 2017, Gino Vannelli and I began discussing production and material for my next album. I initially approached Gino about recording and producing only my vocals for my next record of original music, which I  planned to record in Atlanta and then fly out to Oregon for Gino to produce my vocals in his studio. He explained that he could do this but that it was not optimal, and he preferred to have full control over the production of all the music from start to finish. He explained further why this was necessary to get the best vocal performance possible. After analyzing our schedules and the other essential aspects of a recording project, I quickly realized that this would be a very long and expensive project. Taking this into consideration, I came up with a second option. I was eager to work with Gino on a recording project going further than what he and I had done together in the several masterclasses I had taken from him. To keep it simple, I asked if we could do a short EP or ten-song album of just vocal, guitar, piano, and percussion, and we could do everything in his studio. He thought about it for a minute, and then he made me an offer. 

He told me that he had been wanting to rearrange and re-record some of his old and classic songs for a very long time but could never find the time to do it. Gino said that he would get just as much creative satisfaction if we worked on this together, and he produced me singing the lead vocal and that he would record all the music. This proposition was beyond a dream within a dream come true for me, so I immediately said yes. 

In moving forward, there was financial backing to find and a host of other stars to line up for both of us to begin recording, which eventually would not occur until April of 2020. Initially, Gino had slated April and May of 2020 to record, mix and master the album. Looking back now, I do not believe that it would have been possible to get everything completed in two months. But in an odd turn of events, the cards fell in our favor. 

COVID-19 was just becoming a problem at that time, so we could not be in the studio together to record. On top of that, both of our performing schedules were canceled indefinitely due to COVID 19 and social distancing. We had already slated the time to record, so we bit the bullet and drove out to Oregon, where we would stay for a little over two months recording in separate locations. Gino would record the music in his studio while I would record the vocal parts in a small home studio we had set up at Brickhaven in Korbet, Oregon. After we returned home in June, I continued to work on my demo vocal parts in my home studio and send them to Gino via e-mail for his critique. All of this time away from performing and being heavily socially distanced allowed Gino to become more elaborate and involved in the project than he initially had time for. While this made the project go past our initial deadline, it was a Godsend for us and so far has made an album more beautiful than we both initially dreamed it could be. 

So it is now November 2020, and we are getting ready to head back out to Oregon to perfect upon the vocal demos I have already recorded. It has been a long year, and I feel a bit worn, as does Gino, but we will see if there is still some magic left in us. Stay tuned and wish us well. 

Check out my new single, "Rainbow Connection".

"Rainbow Connection has been very close to my heart since I first heard it many years ago, back in May of 1979. Oddly enough, I have only performed it a handful of times throughout my career.  In 2020 I decided to change that, for I felt the world was in dire need of a rainbow. I hope that you enjoy my heartfelt rendition of this timeless classic." - Jeff
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​NOW AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD IN THE OFFICIAL JEFF PIKE STORE!