"Jam Master" JD Seem Interview
Facebook.com/JDS.Guitar
Interview by Roger Zee (03/29/22)
Roger Zee: Who inspired you to sing and pick up the guitar and bass? Do you play any other instruments?
JD Seem: After buying “Kiss Alive” in 1977 at age twelve, the cover image of Ace Frehley immediately drew my attention. Hearing what he played on that record made me want to pick up the guitar. In fact, for my first good guitar, I bought a Gibson tobacco sunburst Les Paul, just like Ace's, on 48th street in 1983 for $400 -- a 1976 beast weighing in nearly 11 pounds! Pride of the Norlin era, LOL!
Back to influences, Duane Allman and Lowell George inspired me to play slide guitar years later in high school. Seeing another local musician, Tom Hanway, play acoustic Hot Tuna in early 90s’ inspired me to study fingerstyle with Woody Mann and the legendary Dave Van Ronk. These days, I listen regularly to Peter Green, Robben Ford, Matt Schofield, Kirk Fletcher, Sean Costello, and Little Charley Baty. My neighbor, friend, and local pro guitarist/singer Chris Vitarello also inspires me.
RZ: Tell me about some of the musicians and groups you've gigged and recorded with.
JD: I played and gigged with so many since my first live performance back in 1981. The standouts include, in no particular order, touring in Madrid and Barcelona, Spain twelve years ago with JC Carroll and The Members, UK Punk Rock legends. JC and I became friends at a jam in the UK. So cool to hear a couple hundred kids jammed into a tiny club singing every word of The Members songs like "Sound of the Suburbs" originally released forty years before!
I also perform on occasion with Blues pianist Mark Naftalin, a legendary talent, founding member of the Paul Butterfield Blues Band, and inductee of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. I love hearing the stories about his days with Mike Bloomfield, Elvin Bishop, and Paul Butterfield!
From time to time I also play with Andy Powell of Wishbone Ash. He just appeared at the Sugar Hollow Taproom Jam in early February. Powell's an undeniable talent and one of the most down to earth people I know. My wife and I hang with him and his wife a few times a year. All these musicians remain friends that I stay in touch with outside of making music.
RZ: I enjoyed gigging with you at your previous Jam at The Georgetown Saloon. Talk about your current Thursday Night Jam at Sugar Hollow Taphouse in Danbury, CT.
JD: The jam originally began ten years ago at the Bayou North in Ridgefield, CT. We started the format of house band with special guests back then. The jam later moved to the Georgetown Saloon after the they shuttered The Bayou North. We built a local tribe of regulars at the Saloon until they closed in 2016.
Since then, there’s really nothing in northern Fairfield county that serves local players in Ridgefield, Redding, Weston, Danbury, Bethel, etc. I approached Sugar Hollow Taproom a few weeks before they opened to let them know about a community of musicians itching for a jam venue. We kicked off in late November 2021 and run the second and fourth Thursday of each month.
Sign up starts at 7P. The house band plays a thirty minute set from 8:00 to 8:30P. Special guests perform a set from 8:30 to 9:00P and then we open up to the jammers. We provide full backline of two guitar amps, a bass amp, PA/Mics/Monitors, electric piano, drums, and percussion. Dan Vitarello, Chris’s son, works as the steady house band drummer, we rotate different folks on bass, and recently added Mike Ventamiglia on keys.
We feature great special guests such as harp-master Corin Huddleston, Hammond-master Roy Rodriques, Chris Vitarello, Jimmy Johnston, a whole horn section known as the Sugar Hollow Horns and some local bands like Tin Sandwich, the SHED and the Gallows Hill Three.
Recently, I started capturing the guest performances on audio and video. You can join the dedicated JDs Jam page here: Facebook page. Find select audio performances at
Soundcloud. I also just launched a YouTube channel for select video performances.
RZ: What instruments/string/amps do you currently use?
JD: I’m guilty of horse-trading stuff all the time. At the moment, I use a late 90s re-issue of a Dan Armstrong Lucite, tuned to open E for slide. Gives me great access all the way up the neck and the humbucker pickup sounds great. That’s my go-to slide guitar for ten years now.
I also play standard tuning slide on some of my other guitars depending on the situation. For single coil sounds I currently use a Fender Custom Shop ’56 Strat and MIM Fender Roadworn Telecaster. For humbuckers, for the last seven years I play a 2005 Gibson Customer Shop Larry Carlton signature ES-335. She’s a Les Paul killer! Just recently, I picked up a 2020 Gibson ES-345, cherry red a la Freddie King.
I own a bunch of other guitars that don’t get out that much -- an ES-175, some Strats, a ’61 re-issue SG, an upgraded Epiphone Korina V with pickups/tuners/volume/tone knobs, a one of a kind Blue Monkey double-cut Tele, 1959 Harmony Stratotone that I previously used as my number one slide guitar. I currently don't own a Les Paul.
I also play a bunch of acoustics including a 1931 National Style O that lives in open G, a rare 2005 NRP Western D resonator with a wood body and spider cone, a Martin 000-28EC, and a custom build Southern Jumbo Deluxe hand made by Phil Brunwin of Bethany Guitars.
For Amps and pedals wise, I keep it simple. At the moment, I use a re-issue ’68 Fender Princeton and generally perform with the volume around 6 or 7. I keep the reverb on about 4 or 5. For certain gigs I might mic the amp to optimize the front of house and monitor mix. I use an Analogman Prince of Tone that’s always on and rely on my guitar volume and tone controls to roll clean/dirty sounds.
For slide I use a cheap compressor for sustain and a glass slide from my pal Ian McWee of Diamond Bottlenecks in the UK. They're the best. https://www.diamondbottlenecks.com.
RZ: Talk about your home studio.
JD: Cheap USB mic, MacBook, and Garageband, LOL! My home recording tends toward the acoustic with resonator overdubs.
RZ: What and how do you practice.
JD: For the jam house band, I try to pick fresh material every week. Certain special guests may also ask me to sit in. Learning new tunes and polishing them up with the house band or the special guest a few days before seems the only practice I currently do. I wish I had the discipline or focus to sit and play scales with a metronome!
RZ: Do you teach music privately?
JD: In the past, I taught slide/fingerstyle students but none at the moment.
RZ: How has the Pandemic affected you? What's on the horizon?
JD: The good news -- my every other week business travel came to a screeching halt and hasn't really returned. That’s made it easier for me to manage and host the jam. I fear that if my business travel picks ups again, I'll find it harder to manage the jam and perform music in general. We’ll see.
RZ: Describe your most special and/or unusual gig.
JD: What an amazing experience opening for legendary Bluesman John Hammond, Jr at the Bayou North back in 2014. His contract came with very specific guidelines and Peter, the club owner, asked me to serve as the point guy.
John Hammond and his lovely wife Marla showed up about 1P for soundcheck which went smoothly. He then asked if I would join Marla and him for lunch! For the next three hours, he told some of the most amazing tales of his adventures with Duane Allman two nights before he died, and Eric Clapton and the Yardbirds when they backed him on his 1965 tour of the UK. Also, so many stories about his friendships with Ray Charles, Lowell George, Jimi Hendrix, Cab Calloway, Stevie Ray, The Rolling Stones and many others.
He came back to the venue early with a friend to catch my opening set and couldn't have acted more friendly, encouraging, and supportive. A very special memory for me.
RZ: How do you see the future of the music business?
JD: I don’t envy those 100% focused on making music. It’s harder than ever to make a living in the music business. It’s not enough to display talent. Talent's cheap. You have to effectively entertain and promote as well. I think we all know plenty of full time, super talented musicians that still play $100 gigs after years of trying to "make it." At the same time, musicians cannot act as if entitled to make a buck. You must make your own scene, draw your own crowd, and put on a good show.
Locally, I’d like to see more "music only" venues with cover charges, something common back in the 70's and 80's. Going to the Fore N Aft back in the day to see The Feds, we paid a cover to go there and see live music.
RZ: What advice do you give up-and-coming musicians?
JD: Perform in front of people as much as possible. Playing while managing the emotions of fear, joy, danger, and accomplishment will make you a more competent and confident player. To use a golf analogy, playing at home feels like never leaving the driving range. So, you hit a 450 yard drive on the range? Now try doing that on the course with two or three others watching you on the tee!
RZ: Do you live with any animals?
JD: My wife and I live with two English Springer Spaniels -- Maddy and Izzy!
RZ: Anything else you'd like to add?
JD: I want to personally invite your readers to come out to the THU Sugar Hollow Taphouse JAM to play or even just listen to our terrific talent. When you arrive, please make it a point to introduce yourself to me. If you come alone to jam, I will hook you up with a configuration of players so you can work out what tunes/parts to play. We welcome all genres of music and try to get everyone up. Come join the tribe!
YouTube - "All Your Love" - JD & The Blu-Tones Live in Madrid 03/15/2012
YouTube - "Can't Be Satisfied" - JD & The Blu-Tones Live in Madrid, 06/09/2012
©2022 Roger Zee
JD Seem, Andy Powell, Roger Zee