Quick ditty.

This is a technique I call the Japhy Francis Orbital Acoustic Orchestra. It goes round & round (orbital) it's on an acoustic guitar (acoustic) and it involves numerous layers of sound (orchestra). Ta-da!

Japhy plays this song from Beck's One Foot In The Grave album, which was released on K Records out of Olympia.

A culinary-themed ditty about a worn-out joke and coming out broke.

Japhy goes Dobro! Technically, Dobro is a brand name. "Resonator" is the generic term for the type of guitar I'm playing. "Shiny" is the technical term for its appearance. The thing on my finger is a little metal tube. Like Marla says: "Slide..."

Japhy plays this Scott Walker song you may have heard in The Life Aquatic, with a snippet of "Sunrise Surf", a Tenth Letter Trio tune, at the end. Short and super sweet. If you don't know of Scott Walker, and many don't (although at one point in the '60s his fan club was bigger than that of the Beatles), here's the trailer for a new documentary produced by David Bowie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBMJ79ly3B4

First performance of this song. Ever.

Next song of the night. With harmonica solo. Woohoo!

3rd song of the night, 1st time played live.

Shot by the multi-talented Angela Reese, this is the 2nd song of my set at the 4th Ave Tav in Olympia on July 9, 2009.

My first song in a set at the 4th Ave Tav in Olympia on July 9, 2009.

Knowing that the Devil would be hosting this week's show, I put together a special mish-mash medley.

Unbeknownst to me, this open mic extravaganza was being judged by random members of the crowd. In a playoff at the end of the night I pulled out the big guns. Western Night be damned. Here's the alt-country, Japhy-style, "Sabotage" by The Beastie Boys.

To round out the set, here's "Best Blues I Ever Had." It was a crowd pleaser in Ellensburg, WA, so I figured it might work in the big city.

This is the only country song I've written to-date. Using a Johnny-Cash-style, prototypical country chord progression, it tells the story of a fun-loving dude and his sleepy lady friend. I call it "Sleeping Angel". After the mouth harp solo it has a key change. Ooooooooh... Aaaaaaah...

Serendipity rocks. I passed this bar, Conor Byrne, in Seattle's Ballard neighborhood and saw an open mic sign. Turns out it was "Western Night" and I just happened to have my cowboy hat with me. I whipped up a batch of songs to match the hat. This is the 1st of 4, Willie Nelson's "Why Are You Pickin On Me?"

Japhy rocks Grant's Pizza again.

This is "Whiskey in the Jar". Since playing it on St. Patrick's Day a month earlier I fielded inumerable requests to play it again. So I did. Never underestimate the power of a singalong.

Having some fun with the video. This is "Pondering the Unponderable" in many of the venues in which it made itself known.

Getting comfy @ the pizza place. Songs: "Everyday Valentine," an original that includes a verse about a mega roadtrip to Florida for Phish's Y2K New Year's festival in the Everglades. I met a guy earlier in the day who was also at this event. He and his lady came to see me play, so I went with a Phishy theme. The 2nd song is Phish's "Character Zero".