MITCH KASHMAR & THE PONTIAX "100 MILES TO GO" Liner Notes by Mitch Kashmar

What a TRIP...There were three different versions of the Pontiax, with Tom, Jack, and Bill present for most all of it, but this was the version that got it together, saved our pennies, recorded our songs and took it on the road!

First we played mostly in the tri-county area of Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura counties in Southern California. Then after I moved to Venice in 1983, we started playing and getting known around the L.A. area, also getting to know the great players and bands that were around here at the time, and doing our record at Pacifica Studios, where it seemed every Blues band in L.A. did their stuff. These were the days of hanging out with William Clarke, drinking beer and making tapes all day, sitting in with his great bands (including Alex Schultz), James Harman's band with Kid Ramos and Hollywood Fats, Rod Piazza's band with Junior Watson, Babe n Ricky's on Central Ave, Smokey Wilson's Pioneer Club, Larry Blake's, Eli's Mile High Club, the Santa Barbara Blues Society, hanging out with Kim Wilson and having him jam with our bands in Santa Barbara at holiday time, the Bay Area Battle of the Harmonicas, and some memorable Chicago Blues shows promoted by a fellow harp dog: a young man named Randy Chortkoff!

We were up in the San Francisco Bay area every two or three months, toured the Midwest and Great Lakes areas of the U.S. a few times, and a few surreal trips to Europe. We also got to back up all the old greats who lived on the West Coast...people like Lowell Fulson, Pee-Wee Crayton, Jimmy Witherspoon, Big Joe Turner, Cleanhead Vinson, Big Jay McNeely, and Roy Gaines. All of these people and places provided tremendous inspiration for me, and it's only gotten better over time.

I was in my 20s, in a really big hurry and, to use an 80s phrase, "consuming mass quantities"...I remember it all as a really exciting, rich, musically fertile, busy, challenging, inspiring, adventurous, mercurial, expansive, rewarding, exhausting, frustrating, beautiful time indeed. We were all really into it, everybody in the band put everything they had into it, we knew so many tunes we could go a week without repeating, and we sounded like more than the sum of our parts, as a band should. We meant it!

When Randy and Delta Groove decided to reissue this, they thought it'd be a good idea to include one or two bonus tracks; maybe some live tape or video from long ago. I couldn't really find much that I was eager for everyone to hear, so we decided to get everybody's older, wiser, more silvery selves in to the studio and cut two brand new tunes. Back to Pacifica Studios, back to Glenn Nishida, my favorite engineer. I only see everyone from time to time now, still get to work some with Tom and Jimmy (Live at LaBatt), so it was really nice to see them roll in to the studio that evening. We had a natural good time, it went really quickly, and I think we have a couple great new tunes fa ya...thanks for all your support, and we'll see you out on the road...

Peace, Mitch - 2010

"I've played with The Pontiax on several different occasions over the last few years and have seen them develop into one of the finest Blues bands on the West Coast. Among up and coming West Coast bands they are miles ahead of their closest competition. Out of all the younger generation of Blues harmonica players, Mitch Kashmar is my favorite. I really dig his harp playing, especially when he moves up into the high register of the Marine Band Harp. He's also a first-class vocalist and his singing really knocks me out. The Pontiax are one of the most enjoyable bands that you will find anywhere. So get hip to the tip and take it from me, The Pontiax are doin' it all and then some. Check out their record or dig their live show and you'll know exactly what I'm talkin' about."

- William Clarke (1989)

"I've watched The Pontiax grow from being just a few guys with a few gigs into a hard-working, cookin' band that I like very much. Whenever I've had some time off and I’m hanging around Southern California, I've always had a helluva time sitting in with them. This first record of theirs sounds great; eight original tunes, and everything happening. Adding William Clarke was a nice touch, too. So hey you guys, best of luck to you. You deserve it. We'll see you down at Antone's."

- Kim Wilson, The Fabulous Thunderbirds (1989)