One year ago today: April 19, 2017, Julia Roberts who?
Five years ago today: April 19, 2013, my natural state, back then.
Nine years ago today: April 19, 2009, yes, an honorary doctorate.
Random years ago today: April 19, 2014, finally, a gig.
Band practice. That’s what dominates the days, but not today because it is Friday. And I’m going to go work all four puzzles in the Tampa Times. The paper is a liberal rag that has never said a positive word about the President, but they have four crosswords. Used to be five, now it’s four. What’s the matter? Did they have to drop a puzzle because they couldn’t steal enough money to pay for it?
Look at today’s paper. Sports on the front page when we are at a time of national crisis. There is no “economic recovery”, nobody anywhere has any money any more. There are no jobs that pay enough for the average person to live here and buy a house any more. The liberals have allowed in so many unskilled illegals that there are no entry level jobs, even for college graduates. Because over the last forty years, American businesses have adjust to the supply of cheap labor and no longer require skilled workers.
The American people voted in Trump primarily to build that border wall to staunch the inflow of illegals. Yet the liberal Congress is blocking money for the construction. (Personally, I think Trump should just ask Americans to send him the cash directly and he’d have the wall paid for in a week. I’d send him a thousand dollars right now.) How did the liberals get so powerful? Actually they didn’t. What happened was they first took over the universities in the 1950s. Only liberal professors would get hired. Only students who espoused liberal views got high marks. And so on. So for the next forty years, the schools poured out this type of indoctrinated graduate onto the job market.
The result is what you’d expect. Because people with degrees take the highest paying jobs, by today most of the upper management is entrenched libtards. The control the press, the television, and are the DC types that brought in all the liberal policies that bankrupted the country. Millions of single mothers on welfare. Environment agencies that shut down entire factories or prevent new ones from being built. They took over the entire education system and made it one of the worst. That’s what the outside world sees in America. You get the version presented by the left-leaning media, not the true story. Most Americans don’t want foreign wars, or the U.N., or a huge military.
But the liberals in power do not serve the people. They only purport to. The average American is easy-going, generous, and minds his own business. Then they come along and tax him for welfare he does not believe in, brainwash his kids in public schools, and militarize the police. If he stands up for his rights, he is labeled redneck, racist, and every other dirty name the liberals come up with. So he no longer stands up. Make no mistake about it, he is still of the same opinions and when the time comes, you can be sure which side he’ll be on. He knows who his domestic enemies are.
[Author's note: it may seem odd to many that in a democracy, a minority could wield such power. After all, this is also a capitalist system some one might expect unpopular viewpoints to wither away. Nope, in fact these minorities often thrive for two reasons. One is that there is no law in a free society that you can't take over a university. Two, the average citizen is apathetic about what special interest groups do until it is too late.]
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Rehearsal. It went okay, but I had to lay down some harsh terms. We have got to be, musically speaking, the worst band in Polk County. Yes, we got a standing ovation, but I attribute that primarily to the novelty of the band. Novelty always wears off. Ask any married couple. I had to point these things out to my guitar player, because there is a flip side to my theory that being on stage motivates guitar players to learn their parts. It can also backfire by teaching them how to cover up their mistakes by dragging the whole band down to their level. It’s not the case here, but I know of many guitar players who consider this the way things are supposed to be. My band was in danger of going that way, so I called this meeting today.
The secondary element at work is that I know how to keep a crowd focused on the stage. I can keep them laughing while my guitarist spends too much time between each song flipping through pages in her binder. This imposes on my act and risks losing the audience between songs. I should be totally focused only on putting on the best show I possibly can. That doesn’t happen without a guitar player who doesn’t do their part. Just because I can make guitarists sound better than they are, that does not mean I like being in that type of group.
This left me two choices. Either change my bass playing to match her stage guitar work, or play it the way we agreed upon and rehearsed. That makes it obvious when she comps or gets off tempo. Which way is right? I don’t know, but I do know that comping means another hack band that goes nowhere. I know that I’ve wasted too much time in such bands already. I know that we agreed on day one not to go that route. I had to deliver the “Structure” lecture again. This is where I explain how important it is that each band member learn the structure of each song well enough to play it solo. You’ll find plenty of guitarists who don’t do this and they cannot strum even on song all the way through.
But they consider themselves accomplished musicians and a lot of them are in bands. However, in a duo, all the little hints and signals they rely on instead are not there. Unless they memorize the bass line, which I know they are never going to do. She goes along well enough when I’m singing, but the instant I stop, she’s lost. We’ve talked about this quite a number of times. It just seems to me, as a guitarist, she would go all out to make those moments her best.
I also brought in some new material, and that’s about to become another barrier. You see, the first batch of songs we learned were the easiest I could find because they often meant a new guitarist was on board. Nothing on my list is more than maybe a first or second grade guitar level. Most songs are repetitious three chord specials. Learn one verse, play it four times, and you’ve got the music. By default, this means any incoming material is going to be more difficult. And that is pretty much what is happening.
My intention is still to review matters after she has 100 hours stage time, but that is already tending to get off track as just described. She knows it and that is must be brought back on track. I’m afraid, however, that the band may be around as good as it is ever going to get. Things usually improve with mileage, but you know about the speed of a runaway horse.
What I did not bring up during the session is what people have been saying to me. But there isn’t a sold who knows me that doesn’t know I pay exceedingly close attention to what is said. As well, how, when, and how often it is said. Several people who have seen the show three times are telling me the same things. There are three items that are consistent.
1) they greatly admire the bass work.
2) they are aware I am fronting the band myself
3) they want me to turn up the volume of my singing.
Item 1 I expect and take in stride. Too kind, folks, too kind. Item 2 I am working very hard to correct this, as you just finished reading about. Item 3 is a stickler. I have never been a loud bass player and now I am not a loud singer. I consider both volumes to be correct already, it causes people to have to pay attention, however slightly, and that is an asset. The most I can do is think about it for now. There are also a few people who think there is no PA on stage. That’s due to using the Fishman. The association is that they think my guitarist doesn’t sing because there is no PA system. Not much I’m prepared to do about that.
ADDENDUM
Are my posts a little haphazard lately? There’s a reason. I have several libraries on my route but my favorite is the one that serves coffee. It’s also the furthest away, so the trip is like a small investment. The whole staff knows me, and I’d rather be well-known than popular. After two years, they see me pulling up and by the time I walk in the automatic doors, they have my coffee cup and computer guest pass ready. Except for Mr. Doofus.
This is the dork that wants to see your picture ID every time. He carefully reads your specs as if memorizing them. He’s the one who examines the back of the card as well, and slowly types in every field on his computer, then asks if you are still living at the address. And asks how to pronounce your name. I don’t like it. I didn’t say it was wrong, I said I didn’t like it.
Now it seems Doofus has learned my schedule and makes it a point to be on duty at the times I arrive. Normally, I’ll walk past him to the research section and wait him out, usually around five minutes. Today he stood over by the photocopy machine where he could watch me out of the corner of his eye for nearly an hour. Then I left due to band practice.
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