BedLetter is a gang of musicians from the Ledbetter family. Brothers Joe and Bill Ledbetter grew up in a tight-knit musical family with their Dad, Bud Ledbetter who plays anything with strings or keys and is an encyclopedia of American music. After years of ‘arm chair’ music theory and endless pickin’ sessions with Bud and other musician friends, the brothers started jamming in and around the Birmingham music scene in the mid 80s. All this time, they have been hosting weekly or biweekly jam sessions in various locations with an array of talented musicians. These musical celebrations, which are now tradition, have produced gig-worthy bands with a focus on originality. In 2009, Bill’s son Wil joined the fray and has been the house drummer since. Keep an eye out for BedLetter gigs coming soon with some very special guests.

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As 2011 winds down, I’m happy that the sky has not fallen or the Earth moved in my neck of the woods, even though we live in “extreme times.” Everything is so extreme in the 21st century. There is no such thing as mundane or normal in the world of 24/7, instantaneous information overload where everything is measured in extremes. Every time you turn around there is a new and improved level of extreme, or for those who like to take extreme liberty with language, Xtreme sporting event, TV show, consumer product, or political movement, not to mention all of the extremely ridiculous crimes that captivate headlines with every passing second. Add a few more extremely tasteless reality shows and internet myths and maintaining sanity or a fleeting semblance of anything normal is almost beyond reach for the average human brain, which unlike all of the smart machines we’ve created, is physically limited by how much information it can process at one time; at least mine is! I haven’t been able to trade my normal brain in for a new and improved Xtreme model. A Google search for the word Xtreme brings up 22,500,000 results in 0.12 seconds! No argument there on Xtreme computing. One result of this extremism that really gets me down, especially this time of year, is how extremely divided our country and our citizens have become and how we accept hating what each other stands for as much as we relish a good meal or book. It’s really an extremely hostile situation made worse by extreme politicians and media machines that thrive on drama, controversy, and greed to make fortunes off of our normal little backs. Is there any solution to fix this mess in the near future? Probably not without lots of Xtreme Love and a little less worry about how to satisfy our own extreme needs.

This Christmas, I’m focusing on simple and normal things we may take for granted as we get caught up in the everyday swirling pool of lightning-fast, cyber-fueled endless information delivery systems, like family, friends, and music! Let’s all put on some cool Christmas music and be peacefully normal for a few days and forget about all of that extreme behavior that spawns extreme products for extreme shoppers racing to please that extremely picky relative on Christmas day. Instead, sing a joyful song, turn up the radio, or bang on an instrument to bring out your best emotional response to the season. Hug someone you love (or Love someone you hug) and feel how incredibly normal and good it feels to get hugged back.

In keeping of a normal Christmas, I’m offering some simple Homemade Christmas Music. Tis the season to be normal! I hope you enjoy this little gift and while you’re here, subscribe to Harmonic Rambling by entering your email address under the Follow Harmonic Rambling heading on the sidebar. I promise to do my best to not bore you and I will never, ever SPAM you with Xtreme claims about Xtreme life-enhancing medication that make everything in your Xtreme world normal!

 <<<<<<<<<For More Homemade Christmas Music From Years Gone By>>>>>>>>>>>>

Garage Band is a Great Tool for Musicians

When I got my first iMac in 2005 and a couple of years before he started playing drums, Wil and I would collaborate on Garage Band projects and take turns adding sections, with the unstated goal of trying to out distance each other in our genre-bending electronic compositions. Sometimes I would add guitar tracks to the final project. We both really got into these sessions and continued creating some of our own solo compositions as well for a while.

Garage Band Expirement – Part 1
Bill & Wil Ledbetter – Garage Band Loops | Bill Ledbetter -  Guitars

Garage Band Expirement – Part 2
Bill & Wil Ledbetter – Garage Band Loops | Bill Ledbetter – Guitars

For more Garage Band Weirdness

This low tech noise was recorded in 1994 using a Sure SM58 mic and a Tascam Portastudio 246 four track cassette machine. One guitar was recorded on one track. The tape was flipped over and played backwards, and more guitar tracks were added on top of the reversed track.

Guitar-O-Noizo Pt I – Bill Ledbetter, 1994

Tascam-246-Portastudio

Low Tech Guitar Rig - 1994

The guitar rig was a Fender Stratocastor routed through DoD analogue delay and Wah/Volume Pedals and a Rat distortion pedal into a 70s era Fender silver-face Princeton amp.

The four track and guitar rig were all setup in a closet in the kitchen of a carriage house that I lived in behind Cliff Road in Forest Park.

In 2007 Mojo Brothers had the great honor of playing one of Birmingham’s best festivals, Do Dah Day! We’d been playing once or twice a month in my living room and Troy’s wife, Julie suggested we put our name in the hat to play. I put together a demo from some crude homemade recordings and handed it off for our audition. Much to our surprise they asked us to play! We started working out our set list once a week for a couple of months, and had almost as much fun getting ready for the gig as we did playing it. A couple of days before the gig my friend, Nancy Boutwell, who was on the Do Dah Board, called and gave me the bad news that Topper Price had passed away and asked if we would we do a tribute to him at our set and then do the tribute again a few hours later at another stage. Wow, what a privilege but also more than a bit humbling to honor a member of the Alabama Music Hall of Fame and one of Birmingham’s best and most beloved musicians. After throwing around a few songs that Topper did, we knew that we’d never do him justice so we decided to do a harmonica lead in of Amazing Grace followed by an ancient blues tune called, “Diggin’ My Potatoes.”

This was the 30th anniversary of Do Dah Day and our great friend and talented artist, Kim Graham designed the Logo and T-Shirts and it was one of the best. Never one to miss a chance for irony, Kim used the year 2007 creatively to officially christen the festival after the now immortal characters James Bone 007 and Kitty Galore.

Kevin & Emily Saab,Bill Ledbetter, James Bone & Kitty Galore, Troy Bland, & Joe Ledbetter

We were all very honored to have Kevin’s talented daughter, Emily take the stage and sing with us. I’m sure making her public singing debut in front of the Do Dah Day crowd is a day she’ll never forget. It was a memorable time for us all and a huge honor to play Birmingham’s best and longest-running festival.

More Pictures

June 26, 2011

Terraplane 1993 - John English, Chuck Knighton, Bill Ledbetter, Joe Ledbetter, & Spencer Lefell

My brother Joe and I first started playing music with John English in 1992, a couple of years before Wil was born. John provided a serious boost musically for us – his guitar playing took us to a new level and not long after we started playing together through a turn of events, Spence Lefell (Drums) and Chuck Knighton (Vocals) stepped into the picture, and a few weeks later we had our first gig as the Blues-Rock band, Terraplane. We played some memorable gigs around Birmingham for a few years and had a blast. Along the way, we had three different singers, including Charlotte Gill, who became Spencer’s wife and mother of their two beautiful children. We’ve been making music off and on in various informal jams since. On a hot Sunday afternoon last month, John brought his good friend, flute player, Michelle Reynolds over and we had a great jam. Michelle added a really cool vibe with her flute and we hope she will grace us with her talent again. Michelle is also a talented artist who designs and refinishes furniture (website)

Red House

Stormy Jam

Can’t Find My Way Jam

January 30, 2011

Not Gonna Cry Over You

Joe couldn’t make it for this jam, so John and I swapped up on bass and did the power trio with Wil. Some of the songs we recorded without bass and I overdubbed the four string later. This was a really cool day and everyone seemed to be locked into some good grooves. When we jam, in addition to trying to play an instrument, I’m usually holding down the jobs of soundman, recording engineer, and whatever else needs to get done. As you can imagine, none of these duties winds up getting full attention, which often results in botched or forgotten recordings. Most of what we did that day was only recorded in my mind, but some of it did including my  song, Not Gonna Cry Over You.

November & December, 2010

E-Space Jam – 1

Wil and I improvise on a thing I like to call E-Space Jam, which is normally a combination of two different chord progressions that I’ve been playing for many years that go in a number of different directions. We did these two versions in November and December and I overdubbed bass and more guitars in March.

E-Space Jam – 2

August, 2008

Lenny’s 3rd Stone Mountain Jam

Mojo Brothers 2007 - Troy Bland, Kevin Saab, Abby, Joe, & Bill Ledbetter

Joe and I first met Troy Bland through other music friends in 2001 when he filled in on guitar with the Living Room band after I moved to Huntsville. I started jamming with them again when I’d be in Birmingham on weekends, and we all became fast friends and musical collaborators. Like John, Troy’s singing and playing brings us all up a notch musically. In 2006, with my good friend, Kevin Saab on drums, we formed the band, Mojo Brothers and played some cool gigs, including Do Dah Day in 2007. Interestingly enough, I work at the same place as both John and Kevin, and I’d heard through the grapevine that Kevin played drums and I just walked into his office one day and asked him if he wanted to play a Halloween Party with us, and we became instant friends and played music together for several years. This was a great jam we had one hot August day in 2008 when the Sunday jam sessions officially moved to the wilds of Mc Calla.

Always Come Home (Someday)

Lay Down My Old Guitar/Been All Around This World Bud & Bill Ledbetter, January 2011

Since way back in the early 80s, I’ve been organizing and participating in musical Jam Sessions on a semi-regular basis with family and friends. These sessions run the gamut from a room full of loud electric instruments and drums, to a couple of acoustic guitars. Along the way I’ve tried to record these gatherings if possible and now have more homemade music than I could ever listen to, including leaf bags full of cassette tapes. In the early days, I’d use cheap cassette players and boom boxes and as my recording gear evolved,  I took to overdubbing and mixing these sessions with a level of reckless abandon that seethed with amateurish glee and displayed my consistent, “just enough to be dangerous” audio engineering skills. As you can imagine, there are some pretty rough mixes and more than a few bad arrangements, as well as lots of chatter, laughter, and more than one occasion where someone is captured on tape having way too much fun! More than anything else, these recordings represent an enormous vault of memories and priceless good times for me. Welcome to the first in the series of soon to be infamous, Random Jams!

Bud Ledbetter in the 1950s

This first Random Jam appropriately features my biggest musical influence and Dad, Bud Ledbetter and Me on a snowy afternoon last month. I recorded the basic tracks that day and then overdubbed bass, guitars, and additional vocals later. Bud is not only a talented multi-instrumentalist who can play most anything with strings or a keyboard on it, but he is also an encyclopedia of American Roots Music with an endless array of songs up his sleeve. All of us kids got a heavy dose of what I call, Arm Chair Music Theory from Bud and it’s served us well in our pursuit of the next Jam.

Bud introduced Lay Down My Old Guitar into the song canon a few months ago after hearing Tony Rice’s version. I discovered recently that this gem was originally written by Alabama’s own, Delmore Brothers. Been All Around The World is a traditional tune I picked up years ago from the Grateful Dead’s 1973 album, History of The Grateful Dead, Vol. 1 (Bear’s Choice). After giving Bud a copy of this song on The Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band’s 1988 album,  Almost Acoustic, he picked up much of Jerry’s superb flat-picking licks and many of these tunes found regular rotation in our jam sessions.

Both videos were shot on an iPhone 4 with no flash.

Hats off to all the dancers!

A year ago on September 14, 2009 at 5:36 PM I adopted Ry Cooder’s version of this old song as my new theme when I put down cigarettes for the last time. I decided that I would never again be a “Fool for a Cigarette.” No matter what else in life I did, smoking was not going to be part of the equation. Boy did I feel like a fool when the first few weeks turned into months of crawling out of my skin, jumping at shadows, and generally just hanging on every day to stay sane without that frequent nicotine buzz that accompanied me in every waking hour of my life for 35 years or more. Listening to this song I can relate when he says, Ahh mister I hope this ain’t no insult, but would you save me that old butt. When you finish choke it, cause I needs to smoke it. Mister I’m a fool ‘bout a cigarette.

One week prior to my 50th birthday in March, 2009 during my second unsuccessful quit using the nicotine gum, I conveniently left a full butt can in the garage so I could salvage a few puffs off of the nasty butts every morning to help alleviate the withdrawal symptoms the gum couldn’t quell. I was truly a fool for a cigarette! This mind trick lasted less than a week and I went back to buying a fresh pack everyday. Once again convincing myself that I was not quite ready to quit but preferred instead, clinging to the foolish notion that since I’d quit once before for a whopping 4 months, I could easily do it again. Just like a car needs gasoline, got to have my nicotine. Lord I’m a fool for a cigarette.

The problem with the first quit was that I never really quit! I was a few months shy of 49 and felt if I didn’t quit before 50, I’d just as well give up the foolish idea that I was somehow strong enough to whip the nicodemon. I had a half-hearted plan and it worked for a while. I took the medicine, had the dreams, got depressed and angry, went for weeks at a time without smoking, but continued to foolishly “dabble” with one smoke hear and there, which allowed me to never really kill the notion in the back of my mind that it was over! I got way over confident after a few months and just knew I had it under control. One night after sitting in a smoke-filled bar listening to a band, I figured there was no harm with one cigarette bummed from the bartender at the end of the night before going home. I even told myself that it would taste awful and reaffirm my dedication to quitting. WRONG! It turned out to be the best tasting smoke I ever had. It was so good, I bought a pack on the way home and smoked three more before I got there, all the while telling myself that I’d put them down as soon as the pack was gone. Believe it or not for close to two weeks, I only smoked one a day in the morning with my coffee, which somehow quickly turned into more daring behavior where I would sneak off under the deck trying to convince myself that no one but me needed to know that my journey to freedom had once again been stifled by the need to smoke “just one more!”  It’s the worst old habit I ever had. Well I sure want me a cigarette bad….Man I’m a fool ‘bout a cigarette.

Smoking is indeed a foolish habit. In textbook addict fashion, smokers never really consider the consequences when they light up, preferring instead to have the “it won’t happen to me” attitude. They say things like “look at Uncle George, 85 and still puffing away.” Smokers will do anything to convince themselves that smoking might be like sticking your hand into a bucket of rattle snakes for most folks, but for them it’s no riskier than driving a car or flying in a plane.

I spent most of my 20s and 30s with the typical, “it won’t happen to me attitude,” which gradually got replaced by this idea that I’d quit before 40. After I turned 35, I started having a daily conversation with myself about how I needed to quit, how I would do it “soon,” or that one day I’d just put them down and move one. Ahhh, what foolishness that kind of junky thinking was – all it did was prolong the notion that I’ll quit “tomorrow.” Next thing I knew, tomorrow had turned into a decade. What a joke! 40 came and went and I was still smoking like a chimney in winter. Mister I sure hate to bother you, but don’t forget when you are through. Don’t you step on it and bruise it, cause I want to use it. Yes sir I’m a fool for a cigarette.

By the time I celebrated my 45^th year, I’d lost two of my closest friends to heart attacks in less than three years. Both of them were heavy smokers but my nicotine-saturated brain continued to convince me that smoking didn’t really contribute to their weakened hearts, so why should I be too worried about it. I mean after all, I was going to quit “soon.” Well I puff and I puff and I puff and puff, but still I just can’t get enough……Mister I’m a fool ‘bout a cigarette.

Family and close friends would consistently remind me that I should think about quitting, that it was unbecoming, it stunk, it was nasty, expensive etc…and the more they warned, the more I smoked and continued to remind them that “one day” I’d be ready to quit. The problem is I never had a plan for quitting. It was always just a whimsical thought process that lasted a few days where I’d think about “cutting down.” I would cut down for a day or so, just long enough to realize how uncomfortable it was to go extended periods without my next fix. Sometimes I’d ponder the latest, greatest medication or method designed to miraculously set you free of the nicotine monkey just long enough to realize that I was scared to death of quitting and that nothing was going to stop this habit without a lot of diligent effort and self discipline. It was much easier to buy a pack and keep on smoking like a fool.

This time I had a plan to win the battle with nicotine. I got hypnotized twice in the first two weeks, which helped me get a grasp on the notion that I controlled the addiction not the nicotine. I came back to the About.com Smoking Cessation Forum and read and typed, and read and typed. I re-learned about the power of nicotine addiction, about what it takes to quit, what to expect during the initial days and weeks, and most importantly commiserated, testified, and listened to people from all over the world in the same boat as me – folks just like me who were struggling to be free.  I walked off the urges and cravings on my breaks, chewed gum, ate hard candy, drank lots of water, and read stories of sick people gasping for air but still smoking. I made myself believe that smoking put me in a lower class of “fools” who had to go outside in the cold at a party and come back in stinking and shivering. I convinced myself that if I ever took another puff off of a cigarette that I’d never be able to quit again. I know for certain that I never want to experience those first few days of physical withdrawal or the weeks and months of struggling with that foolish voice in my head preaching about how good that smoke would be. Mind when you throw your cigarette. Be sure that you don’t get it wet. Because when they’re wet and broken, it’s so hard to smoke ‘em. Yes sir I’m a fool ‘bout a cigarette.

A year and two weeks after my last cigarette, I still crave the nicotine, but I’m no longer a Fool for a cigarette. I still have to make my mind up everyday that I just can’t dabble or play around with this scary stuff that makes you throw all your money and caution to the wind for another puff. I still need frequent reminders that one drag for me would mean a sure and certain end to all of the hard work it’s taken to get here and I’d be right back on the nicotine train, going to a convenience store at 2 am to throw away my hard earned money on something that stinks and shortens my life. Lord I (was) a fool for a cigarette.

All of the good folks on the About.com Smoking Cessation Forum will tell you how hard it is to quit, how it’s a struggle, a fight, and just downright painful at times to give up this nasty habit.  They all have a common purpose and that’s freedom from nicotine addiction. They can tell you how important it is to take the Monday NOPE (Not One Puff Ever) pledge, or they can help reassure you that it eventually gets easier and the cravings ebb with time. Even though I don’t frequent the forum as much as I did, all it takes is a stressful situation to send me back there to read posts from people who are still struggling with the addiction or are no longer struggling but offering their time and wisdom to help others along in their quit journey. Some of these good folks have dedicated their lives to helping others overcome the addiction.

I’ve been overwhelmed and encouraged by all of the positive responses from people congratulating me on my year milestone – celebrating with me, slapping me on the back, and confirming just how liberating it is to finally be free. I know that I have to keep a constant eye on the nicodemon’s ugly presence, that I have to stay diligent and continue to resist the urges, and most importantly have to “believe” that I can succeed in my quest to never again be a  Fool for a Cigarette!

It started around New Years when most people start talking about all of their resolutions and I was secretly wondering when I would make some resolutions that I could realistically keep without dusting off the Round Tuit I bought back in 1975. As it turned out, I couldn’t find mine so I did what most folks do in the 21^st Century when they need information, turn on the computer and start surfing. I learned, for example, that the Free Masons sell Round Tuits! In fact, for only $4.95 you can get your official Free Mason Round Tuit complete with an ominous looking symbol as your Round Tuit’s background.

Who would have thought that trying to find a Round Tuit would have taken me on a new cyber journey and over flood my already saturated brain with more information than I’d ever need or certainly more than I’d ever get Round Tuit and use. I always thought it was one word, Roundtuit, but according to Wiktionary, it’s two words. Yep, that’s what I said, Wiktionary! I just Googled roundtuit and it came up as two words in my Wiktionary. So according to Miriam Webste,,,,,errr,,,wait a minute, ahhh,,,I mean Miriam Wiki, Round Tuits still thrive.

On the about Wiktionary page, you learn pretty quick that entries may be edited by anyone.  This assumes that if you have enough sense to use a web browser you can clearly define words and phrases, but wait, if you read a little further, the Wiktionary has a heading titled, Norms and Etiquette with a See Also subheading that looks like this, See Also:Help Interacting with Humans.  Is there another section where you learn to interact with buffalos or reptiles?  Clicking on the Interacting with Humans link takes you away from what you’re about to read about etiquette, and then you have to come back to learn about etiquette after you’ve discovered that the first rule of thumb when interacting with humans is to Never Assume Malevolence. I wonder if this is the same human race that I know? Maybe you don’t have to assume malevolence, but you’d damn sure better watch what you say and keep an eye on your back, because some Wikis can get pretty darn knowledge hungry, and have even resorted to Wiki slandering or downright Wiki violence. Maybe this is all legit and is indeed a community of scholars who give freely of their time to define how the world turns, but the cynic in me has to poke a few holes in this Wiki world we live in and laugh out loud at the Wiki-penned difficult editor flow chart and the boxes that ask you to take a Wiki Break and Shower them with Wiki Love! Ahhh, nothing works better than good old Wiki love when dealing with a difficult editor, an editor who achieved this prestigious title because they have an internet connection. Well maybe they knew someone at the Worldwide Wiki headquarters in Wikiville.

Maybe I should give the Wiki world a break, huh? After all, I did find the definition for Round Tuit, and discovered that it’s two words and not one. How was I supposed to know that this curious little token has Etymology and is a noun, and even has the plural form?  How was I to know that the proper Wiki definition is: (humorous) A circular object giving its owner the ability to get done everything that would have otherwise been put off to a later date. I always thought it was a clever marketing ploy (like the pet rock) designed to get people to fork over some money and get a good laugh at themselves for being lazy. How was I to know that they really worked? If you don’t believe it, just Google it and find out for your Wiki-self! Here’s one that promises you’ll accomplish all you wish, and then takes you to a really ugly website about weather! Here’s a nice wooden one for your whole team.

If you live in the 21^st century you’d better know how to use Wiki, or you’re going to be wondering how you ever got Round Tuit, learning anything that is. It is amusing that Wikipedia, Wiktionary, and Wikinsanity have replaced real books, and apparently real knowledge. OK, so Wikipidea is supposed to be the new authority, and I use it all the time, mostly to look up people, bands, movies, or any other thing that I wish to learn about in a few minutes, often from my iPhone so I don’t have to walk into the other room and Google it on a bigger screen. If I’m watching a movie and I want to find out where the leading man grew up, I can type his name into Google and usually the first one or two hits will be this actor’s entire life laid out in Wikipedia. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find all of the sources that are supposed to back up the facts about this person. If you want to know how long the Nile River is, don’t bother going to the library, Google it and lo and behold, the all-knowing Wiki authority will lay it out in a matter of seconds. You can probably even find out how many tributaries this mighty river has, how many species of fish swim there, and the average depth on the first day of the month following the last full moon. Well, you may have to Google a little deeper to get these details. You might even have to access an online library somewhere, or even better, you may have to go to your local library and spend a few hours looking through real books, which is what I plan to do the next time I want to learn something. When I get Round Tuit.