Guitarist Jimmy Joe Long

Profile

Jimmy Joe Long has been playing in the Houston area for more than 30 years. Little is known about this Texas Guitarist" but for those who have seen him play have a much different story to tell.
Jimmy is the son of Texas guitar ledgend Joey Long[There will be a link to Jimmy's Dad's webpage on this page]. Jimmy began playing professional in 1974 with a band called Boothill Express which was made up mostly of high school friends""" David Johnson on guitar Donald Deal on the drums and Donnie Standridge on bass guitar. Although this band only lasted about a year it was a great experience for Jimmy to get out in front of an audience and see if he had what it would take to become a working musician"". He soon found out that music would be something that he could not live without. When this version of Boothill Express broke up Jimmy regrouped with David Johnson and they called on there old school friend and bass player Frank Joshua to step in"". It was about this time that Jimmy met drummer Richard Segura and so the second version of Boothill Express was rocking again. The band begin playing at a club that was known for being pretty wild and crazy back then called the "crystal club" located on Market Street. Even though it was kinda rough it was an experience that Jimmy still talks about to this day. The band played there for two years[off and on] and it was here in this little hole in the wall that Jimmy began to hone in his playing skills. At the tail end of this time period Jimmy met a bass player who he would later meet up with and who would play with him for many years' his name is Adrian Folk. After this gig had come to an end Jimmy found himself for the first time without a band"" The other members had went in other directions such as different bands and so on. It also was a time when music was changing and there were alot of new styles of music being played on the radio"" It was when bands like "Heart" and Fleetwood Mac "" Bands that were dominated by female front women. Another high school friend of Jimmy's a guy named Mike Atkinson had began to experiment with a "fantastic" female vocalist named Lisa Stringfellow and they had just lost there lead guitar player"" and Jimmy was asked to step in and play and the results were great. Jimmy played with this band off and on for about a year until it too and it's members went there seperate ways. But during this time Jimmy had become good friends with the drummer of this band and his name was John Budd. John was a great drummer and Jimmy and him got along like brothers"" But they needed a bass player to round out the band"" They found one named Mark Wenley and Jimmy got his first taste of what would be his favorite type of band""""""
a power trio. This band brought Jimmy full circle in the fact that he had to really be on the ball because of being the only guitarist and there were no room for mistakes. This was one of Jimmy's favorite bands"" and it too only lasted about a year because drummer and good friend John Budd had to move back to Colorado Jimmy was not only crushed but found himself once again without a band to play with. Jimmy was looking around for a band to play with when he happen to cross paths with old friend Donnie Standridge from Boothill Express and he ask Jimmy to join up with a band that he had been playing with called "D.W.O' They played hard rocking music of the 70's period. Everybody in this band had really long hair and dressed in creative clothing. They wore colorful tights and high heeled shoes and painted there faces kinda like the rock band Kiss. Sometimes they would arrive at gigs in a hearse and be carried on stage in coffins. This band had some "BIG" audiences and a very huge following. By the way, if anyone has any pictures of this band please contact Jimmy he would love to have some copies. The band members were Gary Jones on drums and his brother Randy Jones on guitar and Donnie Standridge on bass.
AS usual all good things must come to an end and this band ground to a halt only after nine months. It was around this time that Jimmy took a little time to reflect and plot his next move"" and when he did it surprised everybody by doing a total turn around. He decided to try his luck by doing a single act with a drum machine. The experience with a drum machine would later help him out when be began to produce his own music via computer recording. Then Jimmy called on his friend Lisa Stringfellow and they began playing a duo in alot of the local steak houses around Houston. This lasted for around four years untill the call of playing with a live band would lure him back. Jimmy looked up his old friend and bass player Adrian Folk and they hooked up with drummer Bryon Brasheirs and formed a band that would put Jimmy on the map in Houston named "TRIKSHOT". Trikshot played many gigs in the Houston area and was a club favorite. This version of Trikshot only stayed together for two years"" there would be another version later on. In the mid to late eighties Jimmy met a drummer that he would call the best drummer that he ever had the chance to play with and his name was John Jay Looper[J.J]. For the first time Jimmy put together a band called the Jimmy Joe Long Band with his long time friend Adrian Folk on bass and J.J Looper on the drums. This band lasted ten years and Jimmy always said that this was without a doubt his favorite and his best band of all time. But it too came to an end in the mid 90's but would not be the last time this band would play together. Jimmy decided to try his hand with a variety band and use the name "TRIKSHOT" again. Calling on another old school friend that Jimmy admired so much"" He enlisted the guitar and vocal services of Steve Higgenbotham and not long after that came bass player and vocalist Lynn Yates and his good friend and great drummer James Turner. This band not only played well but they also had some great harmony and played tons of gigs and were a very tight band. This band stayed together for about five years"" but there was alot of stress going on in Jimmy;s life and in the year 2000 Jimmy closed the book on this band. Jimmy semi retired in 2001 from live playing except for a gig or two here and there. He began spending more time in the comfort of his own personal studio, playing and recording his own original music. The hours spent producing his own music has resulted in several cd's worth of music. In the middle of the year 2003 Jimmy embarked on a short playing adventure. He's becoming aware of how much his father loved the blues and does not want people to forget his dad. He put together his first all "blues" band . It was great to see this Houston guitarist playing again under his own name "THE JIMMY JOE LONG BAND". Jimmy has always played blues in all of his bands but this band is "NUTHING BUT DA BLUES". He decided to play at a club where his father loved to perform at called
"THE GINMILL ON THE BAYOU". Many people at the Ginmill remember his father and enjoyed sharing there memories with Jimmy about Joey. They made him feel right at home and welcomed him with open arms''' This would also mark the last time that Jimmy would play with Adrian Folk and J.J Looper. But when one door closes another one opens''' and although Jimmy didn't play much in 2004 due to taking care of his mother [Gloria] he had begun to write arrangements for what would be his first "BLUES" CD'''' Jimmy had always been a big fan of the old blues artist like Robert Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson and blues players of that era'''' So he deicded to put in a call to his good friends Don Carroll [Sax and Keyboards] and Don Lacy [drummer] to see if they would be intrested in helping him with his blues project. The result was a fantastic CD called Jimmy Joe Long And The Little York Road Blues Band'''' And to more good news'' the CD was picked up by a French radio station and within a month it was being played in several countries in Europe and is still getting airplay today. This inspired Jimmy to think about getting out and mayby playing again'' but only if he could just play the blues. So he played a handful of gig's in Conroe Texas where he now lives but he seem restless because some of the people that he played with didn't love the blues the way he did'' and once again he retreated to his studio and kept recording music. In December 2005 Jimmy got the chance to record with one of Houston's legendary rock bands from the 1970's'' The band was Navasota. He was ask to step in and do the vocals for there new EP called "Live somewhere in Texas". The band now goes by the name Navasota Rio and have been out on the road opening forsome great bands from the 1970's such as Blackfoot and the newly reformed Bad Company. It was an honor for Jimmy to be a part of this EP and to play with Navasota and also play live with the band in Port Arthur Texas at the 2006 Janis Joplin Birthday Bash. In April 2006 Jimmy began talks with Don Carroll and Don Lacy about taking the little york road blues band from the studio to the stage and see if all the magic could happen "LIVE" And it did and the band has been going strong ever since. In July 2006 the band put the final touch on there band with the addition of bassist Charlie Knight who brought not only his truly gifted bass guitar skills but also brought in the missing piece that has taken Jimmy and the band to the next level of music. In September of 2006 the band recorded a live CD at one of Texas oldest Honky Tonks''' a nightclub located right outside of Willis Texas''' called Borski's Tavern
Here is a list of all the CD'S
1[Jimmy Joe Long And The Little York Road Blues Band [2005]
2]Jimmy Joe Long Blues once removed [2005]
3]Jimmy Joe Long Live at Ginmill On The Bayou [2004]
4]Jimmy Joe Long And The Little York Road Blues Band
Live At Borski's [2006]
5]Jimmy Joe Long And The Little York Road Blues Band
Satisfaction Guaranteed [2007] All original music
6]Jimmy Joe Long And The Little York Road Blues Band
Pieces of us 2008
Also Jimmy has two CD'S on his father [Joey Long]
1]Joey Long Live at the Cedar Lounge [1976]
2]Joey Long Stoned Age Man [1969]

At the age of 52 and now a grandfather'' Jimmy's life has settled. And for the first time in his life he his calm and he has peace and serenity and has laid to rest all the crazy times of the past in his long journey in the music business. To contact Jimmy you can email at
dsl@sawyerllc.com. Please sign our guestbook and check out our gallery of pictures''' Also the pictures of our vacation of the Blues Trail
Thanks for checking out the page
To listen to our music click on the little york road blues band link below.

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Joey Long

Little york road blues band

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