I'd been to Sun Studio's many times, but on August 17, 2005, I walked into the place as a player.

As I met with Sun producer and engineer James Lott, I was a little anxious thinking of all the historic music that had been recorded here but as the session players arrived and introduced themselves, they immediately began to put me at ease.

Bassist David Smith and drummer Pete Sully are two of the best and most seasoned session veterans around and carry resumes that read like a 'Who's, Who' list of pro players in the industry. They've worked with most everybody and it was an honor to play with them.

After conversations about time signatures and things related, Pete asked what tempos I wanted. I said I wanted the room and who we were as players on this night to show us the way. It seemed to resonate so I settled onto a high, black stool facing away from the control booth and toward the band - the spot a young Elvis sang 'That's All Right' - tuned the guitars, plugged in and we played. The nervousness vanished and in minutes I felt like I was home. I had the songs, the band and suddenly the ability to leap tall buildings.

Before I knew it three hours had flown by and we had two songs finished. We hung out another couple of hours talking music and then I floated to the hotel where I laid in bed wide eyed replaying the evening.

Much thanks to James Lott and Matt who ran the board and took care of me, Dave and Pete who played brilliantly and helped me play better than ever before and to my sister Heather who made the trip to see her big brother do something cool.

I will return.

Bit O' History

Sun, as you may know, in July 1954 recorded some of the first bars of rock and roll with 'That's All Right' performed by the young trio of Scotty Moore, Bill Black and front man Elvis Presley. It continued to produce ground shaking songs by Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis and U2 just to name a few. My ground shaking Sun session will join the Portland recordings to create my first solo discs scheduled to be released soon. And with the release of the record, be on the look out for Kevin Barber and the Happiness Boy's appearing in a venue near you.

For more about this amazing place visit Sun Studio website at:  www.sunstudio.com

This is where I would put the really cool pictures my sister took during the session but the digital camera deleted them some how. I'm still sick to my stomach.

Big Hit Rediscovered in Secret Vault

After nearly ten years of peaceful rest under reels of two inch tape, former C.C. and the Jackpot Prize founder, Nick Zeigler unearthed the bands monster LA and college radio smash, ‘Huggy Bear Vs Rooster’.

When asked about the rediscovery Nick said, “Well, it would have been nice to find it for the producers of the major motion picture Starsky and Hutch when they asked for it, but the Jackpot Prize always skated on the fringe – on quads – and it just wouldn’t have been right.”

Proudly, the Jackpot Prize wish to re-introduce you to one of the biggest hits of L.A.’s fabled Startime era, ‘Huggy Bear Vs. Rooster’ backed with ‘Funky Soda Cracker’.

And now, without further delay…

“Are you really ready for a super, dynamite show…then thank-you…because now, it’s Startime.”