No. It doesn't make that much difference to me. So long as I'm doing what I feel is right in my heart‚ I don't care what people call it. They're all right to an extent. The jam thing's a slang word and has gotten a bad rap along the way. A lot of bands that aren't even bands anymore really defined the genre as 20-minute E-jams with mediocre musicianship. That's the stigma‚ and it's only one way to look at it. I mean‚ goddamn‚ John Coltrane jammed with Elvin! Nels Cline jams with Tweedy! It should just be a slang term for getting down and improvising. Unfortunately‚ most people think more of the first definition. I don't care.

Totally. I love the sites‚ venues‚ publications. They've really helped me get where I am. The other day this guy came up to me after a show and gave me a photo of me and John Medeski playing at 10‚000 Lakes Festival a couple years ago. He'd just seen Medeski a couple nights before‚ had him sign the photo‚ and then gave it to me. It was really cool. I was like‚ Wow! That was really nice of him. There are a lot of really nice folks out there that unfortunately get judged way too quickly. It's sort of like profiling.

Well‚ there's no one to blame for any band falling through the cracks. It would be unfortunate for anyone to blame anyone else for their own lack of attention‚ as a band. It might be hard to be operating between the cracks‚ but that should not be the reason for a band or musician not being successful. I don't think there's ever been a band that failed simply because they were hard to define. It might be an obstacle to some ends‚ but not for making the music. People should be happy where they are‚ wherever that is‚ for the fact they're making the music that they're making.