One year ago today: December 18, 2017, a great-looking model.
Five years ago today: December 18, 2013, a link to Ronnie Biggs.
Nine years ago today: December 18, 2009, talented, but uneven.
Random years ago today: December 18, 2008, representative view, my eye.
It’s not our red cardinals back. I’ve heard them, so they are around. Once they stake out a territory, I’ve heard they stay put. This was some kind of thrush or, actually, I’m not saying because I have no idea. They found the feeder within minutes. It’s the best telephoto I can take with my existing equipment. It was busy all day but nothing you’d be interested in. Then again, it has been a slow last quarter except for the Great Trek West of 2018, and you are still reading. So, I’ll record what happened. I spent half the afternoon trying to track down Agt. R.
I baked chicken this morning. Good, the rest of the day was kind of a follow on. You get a short post, I mean I have to sleep sometimes. Ray-B is back in Florida, kind of between cruise gigs. He’s doing a stand-in with some cute chick singer in Broward, but he’s beginning to see the reasons why dating is so difficult after 40. These women who squandered their charms want to make it up at your expense. I told him if he wants to brave the room with the space heater, he can crash here.
Says here time to mention food. So here’s what I had for lunch, biggest meal in a while. Let me check, yep, day 379 of the diet. So let it be said that I mention health food. I wonder, do vegans eat fish? Likely not, so make sure I remember that next Thanksgiving. Anyway, this shrimp tray was only $7 so I figured time to indulge a little. Why is it nobody believes me the ingredient in cocktail sauce is horseradish. I mean, they eventually had to find some use for that product. I used to take a nip to clear my sinuses. Beyond that, the flavor is borderline pain. And listen, it has been cold the last few mornings. For me that means coffee shop, and that is exactly where I’m heading.
Mustangs.
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It took past dark, but I burned all the back yard trash and leaves. Lot of dead grass as well. It took two hours before I saw the fire warden snooping around. They know people burn in their yards, but now they want a permit, which they will not issue to corporations or trusts. It has nothing to do with fire safety, their agenda is to get your personal information on file. But I have a system and can see them coming in plenty of time to douse it. It’s not like I’m leaving the fire unattended, I’m right there with a poker and ten gallons of water.
Which is precisely where the audition headed. We played through 42 songs which revealed the homework has been done. I got him to switch to an acoustic, which instantly improved the sound and he knows it. The guitar had strings for an electric on it and still sounded great. He’s not so much a flatpicker, but he can do some quality accompaniment. He was quite shy in the singing department. He avoided singing where possible. What he did sing was a bit high and reedy, but that is not a flaw in a duo, where the trick is to work with what you’ve got.
He’s played with a lot of the same people as I have with the same results. Instead of the twenty minutes he’d slated, we played two hours solid before his wife came in and reminded him he was late for supper. He has zero experience with the actual arranging yet I have no doubt if he commits, he’ll pick it up in record time. Either way, we already form the core of a country super-group. He knows it. I asked him to reserve on that until we polish things up. That he might find we both have good timing, so adding a drummer is not worth the hassle. He got a first class demo of how to fake other instruments to the extent you don’t need a click track. You only need suggest to the audience they are hearing the riff.
I reviewed his list and there are only seven songs he sings, four of which I’ve never heard. As a duo, we’ll likely stay away from instrumentals at first. We have a set ready to go, we could be on stage faking it within the week. He’s not averse to tips only. I’m not quite that easy, I usually check to see what the bar pays a duo or trio, and to break in, I’ll go for half that plus tips. This gives the bar a break, and we at least get something. The new guy, let’s call him (for now) The Bob. The Bob says the worst gig he’s ever played got him just $26. For me, I once got $3. I’m not so sure about duo arrangement of some of his list, like “Honky Tonk Woman”. It’s too soon to say, maybe he can chicken-pick them or something. I once played “Takin’ Care Of Business” in a duo, so keep open on this.
My conclusion is that this could be a go-ahead and in the next few weeks if we fly at it. He’s not to far from here, in Mulberry. I don’t know what he does for a living, but he’s got a beauty of a house with a pool. I’d place him ten or fifteen years younger than me with a lot of stage time. That all–important stage time. He may need time to get over the big band concept. He brought up the local demand for a good bar duo on his own, so that’s a positive. Now we wait.
If you are a) really nice, and b) over 50, I’ll try to get you the song list. You’ll know most of it, a trip down memory lane. Or more like memory secondary unpaved alley.
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