I’ve titled this column February 1999 but what I am running below actually ran in March. At that time, we’d run 7 monthly installments of Jambands.com (daily news had yet to debut…). Take a look and you’ll see why I’m offering it up today…

Howdy all,

By necessity I must be brief because my glorious newborn daughter is asleep in my lap and I have to put her to bed. Suffice it to say, Caroline Barrett Budnick was born February 27 at 2:20 AM, 6 pounds, 13 ounces. She’s doing swell as is my wife (who went into labor during the third quarter of the Celtics-Knicks game- not at the game but during it- a story for David Saslavsky, venue of the month editor). The first music my daughter heard “on the outside” was from Van Morrison’s Greatest Hits which we played during delivery. The first show she heard was The Slip at High Sierra Music Festival which I threw on next. Like any proud dad with a forum, I will have a photo of her up here very soon, so stop by again…

It’s been quite a run on all counts. Over the years Caroline has made very limited appearances with me at shows (I never wanted her to become a prop) but early on, she did make some cameos. So here she is backstage at the Jambands.com tour at the TLA in Philadelphia on 6/2/99 with Oteil Burbridge and my wife Leanne. That was the night all around, as Oteil and Butch Trucks sat in with The Slip.

Anyhow, there are a few more images around here somewhere. Maybe I’ll offer those up next month (along with some audio of Butch and Oteil with The Slip).

Later days and peace,
Dean