One year ago today: February 4, 2023, balloon hoax anniversary.
Five years ago today: February 4, 2019, the Goodwill Incident.
Nine years ago today: February 4, 2015, 58 miles by batbike.
Random years ago today: February 4, 2007, hanging out at Bayside.
It was drizzly the entire morning so I worked on the song lists. This photo is to document what I’m up against trying to grow a lawn in my front yard. This is the semi-desert that everything reverts to every winter. And similar when it doesn’t rain for two weeks. You can see the property line to the church in the background between the trees, yep that is where the invasion of kudzu begins. I hammer the jungle back, they don’t. Ha-ha, you might say the weeds stem from their property. Visible are a week or so of shootlings on my property, but I’ll get in there. Don’t let kudzu catch you napping. Now back to music.
After the disaster of letting somebody else call the shots for just one week, we are now back to my directed rehearsals with a greater appreciation of my keadershio philosophy, thank you. Oooh, I can hear Elliott’s blood pressure tripping the valve. He’d hate it even worse to hear the show because it brazenly does everything I often described. All fast music, arranged for duo, no over-played standards, country with an edge, lots of polished presentation, a trio sound from a duo, medium volume, chording through instrumental breaks, for a complete list, just go back in this blog and read about flunked guitar players who disagreed with me. Because you won’t find them on stage, bwaaaa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.
It was a big risk taking on the jam sessions in November, and it caused our first stage mutiny, but proved that even if I’m wrong, my methods work. We now have an invaluable 60 hours of stage time, an irreplacable entity. With 15 full gigs and a steady place to play, the sound has produced a situation I find impossible to create, it can only be experienced. Everybody knows what is expected, and that’s why I put three hours into the song list. There’s more to it but this morning I’ll delve into a wee more detail.
We’ve played over 66 songs, but not all make the grade. The final analysis is audience reaction meaning half our choices have failed. This is in defiance to the guitar-hive mind says play certain standards or mixes because that’s what other bands due or worse, because it is tradition. We still play backup on some of those tunes when some iteinerant guitarist plays them, but the negative audience effect is visible once you know what to look for. “Ah, so that’s why the audience does this or that, ah, never knew that before.”
Maybe I’ll post the list, it could be revealing how some react to it. True, it is “old music” but that is our demographic. It is also happy, fast, uplifting, fun, danceable, and sing-a-long grade. Missing are Clapton, Knopler, Simon, and Young. They no longer cut it, but again, only once you know what to watch out for and why, stage-wise, this music can be a mistake. You won’t fail, but you won’t get anywhere with it, which is fine for some types of head space, but not so much around here.
We further have another 10 or 12 tunes you’ve heard me refer to as floaters or a fifth set. That’s what we worked on today, adding two Willie Nelson tunes, which he sings. He knows my secret, which you do too if you’ve been around a whle, blogwise. That signing and playing a proper bass line are not compatible without a super abundance of talent. So he knows if he picks music with great bass lines, he’s going to get great accompaniment. One tune he chose was Willie’s “I Gotta Get Drunk”, so take a break and listen to that, paying attention to that bass line. That’s exactly what he gets, and remember, in a duo, a proper bass line is marginally louder and carries more of the momentum. Hope you like it.
Tour group in Gibraltar.
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We got a chill in the air at dark, so I took the evening off to write letters. On the return leg from rehearsal, I sometimes stop to check in on Randy, the old drummer. Bad news. He died December 23. He had cancer and never could quit smoking, but I don’t know that’s the situation. He was looking weak but talked of moving to, where was it, Jupiter, somewhere near Ft. Lauderdale to live with his brother. That was my last big band, a five-piece. Dominic, the rhythm guitar, died just after we started, the lead player is probably still in jail, Dave the keyboardist has not answered his phone for a year, and now Randy is gone.
Did I just wreck my $60 music stand? It got left out once in the rain and now now amound of shining it back up seems to get is collapsible again. My large agave cactus, obvious the male of the species, grew a small version off its base. Technically called a pup, I have it transplanted near the door. The only plant that seems to behave in my yardscape is cactus. There’s a message in there somewhere. Somebody is marketing a bottle opener with a handle shaped like testicles, saying it’s a must-have for Trump supporters. Called < a href=https://twitter.com/maganuttz>MAGAnuttz, “something no Democrat has".
I wrote a couple letters and time to sign off. My energy level has ebbed, so I bought $100 of extra groceries in case I decide I want to do nothing for a while. The small doggie, Sam, is back from the vet with no apparent injuries from falling down the stairs. But that is not a pass, the Reb reports ordinary things scare him and he gets to yelping for no reason. I think this is the month he turns 16. I have some idea what it is like to become unsteady for no good reason. One that bothers me greatly is I often step on a chair to reach something and sometimes have the devil getting back down from standing on one leg. So I guess my plan to run away with the circus as an acrobat is out. And considering what life was like after my situation twenty years ago, I should be glad when such things can happen.
ADDENDUM
Sunday rehearsals are back on track. Duly noted this is partially a result of the tactic of letting others do things their way as a demo of what does not work. That means, in this context, the whole practice session in Keith’s shed was a waste of gime. By contrast, my rehearsals are structured. Y’day the memo went out which three tunes we would be working on. This signals a far more competent management philosophy and tips the other guy what he should review before I arrive. He’s also much better at listening for interesting bass lines. That’s progress, considering most guitarists have never heard a real bass player before.
It’s not all my way, for instance, the Prez still recommends tunes that have large musical gaps or some with three part harmonies as the hook. In gig news, I have not received even a single reponse to the feelers put out, yet as far as I know we are the only country music duo in the county. This gives you an idea of how tight the market is, worse than Miami in the early zeros.
