Ween fans and “music lovers”, as well as the denizens of the town of New Hope, PA are in for a treat as Mickey Melchiondo aka Dean Ween will be taking part in a weekly jam session featuring prominent musicians. These local musicians – known as the John and Peter’s House Band – will take on a slew of covers and maybe even bust out some of their own songs in what promises to be one hell of a residency. In a statement about the residency – known as The Invitational – Dean Ween has provided a rundown of how everything will work and what we can expect every Wednesday:
“While people search for the next medium to replace online music services, many of which come and go in a blink of the eye, there is one fact that everyone can agree upon. Nothing beats touring and playing music live in front of a hungry audience of music lovers. For the person that doesn’t have other like-minded musicians to jam with, this can be a problem.
John and Peter’s on Main St. in New Hope boasts as being the oldest continuously operated live music venue in the USA, and who are we to argue. For over 40 years John and Peter’s have booked live bands playing mostly original music and being headquarters to George Thorogood and many other famous musicians from the area, as well as international touring acts and Rock and Roll Hall of Famers. New Hope’s favorite sons “Dean and Gene Ween” of the band “Ween” have called John and Peter’s home since their formative years. The faux-brothers Ween grew up in New Hope and have called it home ever since.
Every Wednesday night Mickey (Dean Ween) of Ween hosts “The Invitational Jam” at the club. The collection of players assembled on Wednesdays rivals and exceeds that of any other live jam in NYC, Los Angeles, New Orleans, or Chicago. The idea behind the Invitational is that there is a house band consisting of members of Parliament-Funkadelic, Ween (the entire band), Vincent Martell of Vanilla Fudge, and too many other notable musicians and current or later members of rock’s elite bands of the past 2 centuries. This presents an opportunity for musicians to play original or cover music backed by a band of master musicians, all of this couldn’t get any better right? Admission is free! There is a signup sheet where you can play your respective instrument and the music starts promptly at 9pm and will be finished by 1am with virtually no time between sets except for the changeover of the band musicians. All you need to do is bring your own guitar, bass, drumsticks, horn, or your voice and it is that simple.
It’s amazing how so many people are searching for an opportunity when the greatest backing band is quietly assembled every Wednesday right in our own backyards. For more information, pictures, and videos of Invitational’s past, go to https://www.facebook.com/groups/invitationalnewhopejam/ or call the bar at 215-862-5891. See you next Wednesday – to secure a seat please come early as attendance has been very high since Ween re-united earlier in 2016 and are currently on a world tour celebrating their reunion.”
