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If you recall from recent blogs, I had a couple of very cool shows in the summer of 2013. Now that summer is upon us again, let’s do a couple more! First, on June 27th, the St. Paul Jazz Festival kicks off in the lowertown neighborhood of St. Paul. There’s a main stage in Mears Park where all the national acts perform, and all of the other venues in the neighborhood participate as well, booking jazz music the entire weekend. The Zeb Cruikshank Band will be performing on Friday, June 27th at 11 p.m. at the Black Dog Cafe (which is right downstairs from one of the places I teach lessons, St. Paul Guitar Studio). It’s only an hour set, and toward the end of the night, but it’s still and honor to be included in the festival. I saw my name...

Happy 2014! Another year comes and goes…seems like each one passes faster than the one before, doesn’t it? That question is rhetorical, I’m not actually looking for a response there. If you read my last blog, then you know about the two most significant shows I played in 2013 – the Jess & Zeb 10 Year Anniversary, and the Brick House reunion at the Dover Brickhouse. Both shows went every bit as well as I could have imagined. Still working on getting videos up, so keep checking back for those. Without going into boring details, suffice to say there are technical difficulties with the footage from both performances. There was a great turnout for the J&Z show, and the second set with the full band was absolutely awesome. It’s...

Hi Everyone! This summer is as musically busy as ever – plenty of venue gigs, as well as outdoor and patio shows, wedding ceremonies and receptions, private lessons, and another group guitar class. Details on all public shows are available in the Calendar section, but there are a couple of particularly special shows coming up this summer that I would like to say a thing or two about. The first is the Jess & Zeb 10th Anniversary Show on July 27th. Here’s the write-up on our Facebook event invitation: __________________________________________________________________________________ Once upon a time, in the summer of 2003, a singer and a guitarist named Jess and Zeb began playing music together, and formed acoustic duo Jess & Zeb (best duo name...

Happy New Year! Here’s what’s happening in the magical land of Zeb. A couple interesting developments in the teaching department – first, I have begun teaching a beginning rock guitar group class at Brickhouse Music. I have about 16 years of teaching experience, but almost all of that has been one-on-one lessons, so it’s been a fun new challenge to work with a group. A total of 10 students signed up for this first session, which was a nice surprise, as I was expecting maybe 5 or 6, at most. The plan is to have a 6-week course, during which I will teach the fundamentals of guitar technique, effective practicing habits, some common chords, and some fun, recognizable classic rock riffs. This class ends mid-February, but there will be another one starting...

Hello all, Wow, summer came and went pretty quick, didn’t it? Time flies. For evidence of this phenomenon, please check the date of my last “monthly” blog. Well, “monthly” was the original plan, but I think “seasonal” is more realistic for the future. It’s been quite a busy summer. Plenty of gigs with The Brute Squad (some highlights – Memorial Day weekend at Bayside Grille in Excelsior, playing right next to the Mississippi river following the Minneapolis Marathon, and Kaposia Days in South St. Paul), Jess & Zeb (highlights – a couple times on the patio at Northern Vineyards in Stillwater, and a “tour” of several Axel’s Bonfire locations in the metro area), and also a couple jazz gigs, a wedding ceremony, and a couple wedding...

Happy Spring! It seems the warm weather arrived early this year, a welcome change after last winter. But enough weather-related small talk. Let’s talk about some music, shall we? I’ve been gigging quite often lately, with The Brute Squad, the Jess & Zeb duo, and even the occasional Zeb Cruikshank Band fusion gig mixed in. It’s always good when a working musician stays busy! Plenty of shows on the calendar for spring months, and I’m starting to book summer dates as well, so keep an eye out for that. I’ve also been maintaining a 5-days-a-week teaching schedule (total of about 35-40 students every week), and I’m always encouraging them to practice, but it’s sometimes hard for me to “lead by example” with all of the gigs, rehearsals, and...