UPDATE: The train keeps on rollin' for Lester Chambers

The "publicity train" for my musical friend Lester Chambers in his efforts to raise funds to record a new album with his band The Mud Stompers keeps moving along.

Lester Chambers and The Mud Stompers (left to right, Kenneth Roy Berry, Marcia Miget, Kenny Susan, Lester Chambers, Chick Peteresen, Baron Chase)

As of this writing, with less than three days to go before the end of the Kickstarter fundraising campaign (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lesterchambers/lesters-time-has-come-today) Lester has going with Reddit.com co-founder Alexis Ohanian, the drive has 2,128 backers and it's raised close to $60,000 -- nearly $21,000 over its minimum goal to cover expenses.

January 3 provided a prime example of how busy life has been lately for Lester and his friends.  It started in the morning with an appearance at a television studio in San Jose for a recording on Press:Here on NBC -- with Alexis and Lester each being interviewed, followed by one of the funkiest performances of "Let's Get Funky" that I've heard yet out of the band.

http://www.pressheretv.com/his-time-has-come/

From the television studio, the group packed up their gear and headed into downtown San Francisco, where they appeared with Alexis at WeWork Labs in front of an audience of close to 100 people for a Q&A and concert, designed to show how musicians can use the Internet to take greater control of their own artistic destinies.

It was an evening that was captured very well in an article by Drew Olanoff at TechCrunch.com.

http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/04/the-weekly-good-a-star-is-reborn-the-lester-chambers-story/

It was a night of questions, answers, fascinating stories capturing moments in rock music history, and more musicianship from Lester and The Mud Stompers.

Since then, the phone calls continue at "Mud Stompers Headquarters."  A new CD is now in the planning stages, and recording will begin soon.

Yeah, Lester Chambers' train just keeps on rollin' along.  It could roll on to a marvelous comeback for a man who believes strongly in miracles, hopefully helping along the way to set the tone for musicians like him who want to be able to do something with their music, on their own terms.

It's a joy to behold.