One year ago today: March 17, 2016, he drove an Edsel.
Five years ago today: March 17, 2012, 99% are quite terrible.
Nine years ago today: March 17, 2008, it somehow changes things.
Random years ago today: March 17, 2005, eks-cape and egg-zit.
Who doesn’t know by now that travel or music makes for the best blogs around here? Today I rode over to Winter Haven to eyeball the performance of one of the guitar players who replied to my ad. The guy is musically more than capable, but musically, more can mean overkill. That’s why you get these one-of-a-kind pictures, it’s all part of the music adventure. I drove over to Winter Haven, and trusting my old motorcycle sense, found the club first try without directions. (I’d forgotten, again, the library closes early on weekends.
The guy is definitely a contender, but I have some of the usual reservations. One, he’s been doing the same act so long this becomes a spiritless presentation of uninspired material, and I say that right off. On his song list of 90 tunes, only 6 were on my list. (But then again, who can’t play “Stand By Me”?) That’s the second thing, he had a heads-down play-at-the-audience style, like the Hippie. Another similarity is when he talks to the crowd, it comes out somewhat affected. He doesn’t have that boisterous rub-elbows presentation that I value so much.
The place serves only craft beers. It is not for me, it kind of amounts to over-priced draught glasses of strange brews. If I want to drink blueberry juice, I’ll go to a juice bar. As usual, the staff always has a superior attitude. When I asked the guy for whatever they had that was closest to Budweiser, he pretended he’d never heard of it. Yeah, the King of Beers for 125 years and he’s giving me the “what’s that?” Anyway the glass he served me was nothing like a Bud, and it set me back, with tip, $7.00. Here’s a picture of the beer, but as for the impression it makes, next time I’ll take a picture of the $7.00.
Alas, Broadway hits are often played by guitarists who don’t understand such music is rarely a good choice for solo acts. Not that I’m finger-pointing because myself I have to fight the tendency to hear the whole production while I’m playing one part, while the audience only hears the one part. These guitarists also play full sets of “listening” music, where I have one set only, set aside for special occasions. It most definitely is not the list I would play in a saloon on a Friday. I often get resistance on this point, but you would not play church music is a bar and vice versa.
I’m not saying the Broadway music is wrong, hell, there will always be somebody in the crowd that likes a particular tune. But remember my point. It is not like you can play two songs and count how many people clap the most. The first tune might kill the mood for the second, yet every damn guitar player I know who plays an unsuitable piece will point out somebody applauded. Well, I'm not talking individual tunes, I'm talking the overall effect of the entire presentation.
I am saying such an approach (arguing that individual tunes have merit) does not maximize the use of available resources in what is, at heart, close to the most competitive business in town. The best choice is always the music that facilitates the crowd toward the mood they set out to find that night. And they went to a pub, not a playhouse. I glanced through his list and 2/3 of the material I’ve never heard of. “I’ve Just Seen A Face”. “Love Is The Opening Door.” “From the Beginning.” “I Shall Be Reknowned.” “Hickory Wind.” “Talk To Me Baby.”
Gough Island.
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I found my old video of the no-IC counter, it’s history, so I thought I’d show you this still. There are several schools of thought, but the significance of what I built here is software. The little “counter” display chip at the top is meant to be driven by an integrated circuit. What I’ve done is eliminate the chip by clever programming of the Arduino to the right. The red and green wires control the display directly from software.
My system is not a new concept, what is new is the possibility that instead of selling you a single chip for $7, I could sell you the software that accomplishes the same chore for a fraction of a cent. This remains just one of dozens of ideas I built into working models, which then went nowhere. I don’t know how to market such things. But too often, when I did try, I found it was already being done in some way I’d never heard of. Or there was some barrier to market entry for products that undercut existing high prices. America needs an Uber in the electronics supply industry.
Now back to music. As said, the more people you network with, the more restricted the song list, which is the opposite of what you’d expect. Have you ever tried to get five people to agree on anything? Anyway, the guitarist has that definite CAGED style, same as Ray-B. It would be a winning combination—except this new guy is plainly a multi-bander (playing in many groups simultaneously) and that gives me pause. I’ll remind you why. I could fake bass any time I want to, but instead, I sit down and custom learn every song I play with a bass line that captures the song “feeling”. I’ve gotten quite good at this, since there is always the off-chance I may have to play it as a solo. When you hear it, no great leap of imagination is required to spot how even a semi-accomplished rhythm player could really find his calling by simply integrating his strums toward the same effect.
I further tend to sense whenever a musician is set in his ways. When you play in combination with five other bands, you cannot specialize to the degree demanded by my style of duo. You can’t riff off or play lead solos, you can’t make random changes and drag the band along with them. So, I’ll hesitate on this guitarist, since either he would have to learn my songs, or I’d have to learn his. And I know what such guitar players are used to—I have yet to hear one learn a new song. Why should their learn even on of your songs until you’ve learned all of theirs, I mean, don’t you appreciate what they had to go through, and besides, you are just a lowly bassist. That also explains why so many guitarists are soloists.
So I headed south to take the Mulberry Road home. At times, I’ve passed a bar on the roadside that seems mostly empty all the time. This was an emergency. I had to get that horrid taste of craft beer out of my mouth so I hauled right up to the front door and bellied up to the bar. There were a couple old ladies at one end and some mill workers playing pool at the other. The barmaid took an instant shine to me, but that is not uncommon when you walk in with a guitar case on your back. Oddly, it must be on your back, the effect isn’t present if you carry it in like a suitcase.
She spoke with some authority, so I stayed to get the information. The bar had just bought a brand new Karaoke setup, I thought she was joking if I wanted to be the first to use it. Anyway, let’s get to the interesting part. She’d had Karaoke and guitarists before, but got fed up with them. What? You want an example? Okay, the entertainer that promises you he is, say, a country act. But when he gets on stage, he suddenly gets a ton of “requests” to play his stupid old blues numbers.
“This guy breaks out of prison and his wife says,
where have you been, you escaped eight hours ago?”
She is looking for someone who can run the Karaoke on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and host a jam session Wednesdays and Fridays. That person must be an experienced take-charge type who sticks to what the bar wants and doesn’t cause more commotion than they are worth. Golly, I wish her luck. I once knew an old bingo caller who could juggle that kind of requirements, but lordy know what it would take to get him out of retirement to do that again.
There is a smaller dresser with another mirror, that one is wall mounted. The corners are polished brass and there is a matching end table. Just one, in the old days nobody had two end tables. All with the matching brass and leather trim. Such furniture is only available to most people on a payment plan. I talked the Thrift down to $300. This is the furniture Agt. R will be moving here on Monday. Turns out he knows the laborer at the Thrift, who will help for free, as R has helped him before.
ADDENDUM
Here’s another photo of Gough Island.
Last Laugh
Meterologist on St. Pat’s Day.
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