WELCOME...

This blog is the outgrowth of a songwriting workshop I conducted at the 2006 "Moograss" Bluegrass Festival in Tillamook, Oregon. It presumes that after 30-odd years of writing and playing music, I might have something to contribute that others might take advantage of. If not, it may be at least a record of an entertaining journey, and a list of mistakes others may be able to avoid repeating. This blog is intended to be updated weekly. In addition to discussions about WRITING, it will discuss PROMOTION--perhaps the biggest challenge for a writer today--as well as provide UPDATES on continuing PROJECTS, dates and venues for CONCERTS as they happen, how and where to get THE LATEST CD, the LINKS to sites where LATEST SONGS are posted, and a way to E-MAIL ME if you've a mind to. Not all these features will show up right away. Like songwriting itself, this is a work in progress. What isn't here now will be here eventually. Thank you for your interest and your support.

Saturday, July 28, 2007

GOIN' TO NASHVILLE...

Here we go…

Tomorrow morning, the plane leaves from Medford “Unintentional” Airport for a Layover Tour of airports across the Western states. Destination (ultimately) Nashville, for the Pineyfest songwriters’ conference, a Just Plain folks “Roadtrip,” a performance at the famous Bluebird Café (probably of just one song—I’ve seen the agenda, and it’s long), and recording demos of six songs with a gaggle of Nashville studio musicians.

And play music for six days and nights, of course. My idea of a vacation (except for the Layover Tour part). 40 or so CDs are going with me, and I’ll see if I can sell a few while I’m there.

So this is the last gasp for Internet before the ‘puter gets packed away and not used for a week.

Got to play twice last night, once solo for the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce (just 3 songs, but I sold a CD while I was at it), and with Dan Doshier’s “Loose Strings” band at the park in Central Point. That last was a paying gig—my first since I moved here.

And last Wednesday, at the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. open mike in Medford, the guys and gals were finally playing with each other (first time, one of ‘em told me). They sounded a lot better that way—I was sure they would—and I told ‘em so. (They noticed it, too.) I hope this starts a trend. I had mentioned at their board meeting a couple of weeks ago that I’d never record solo something I intended to sell, it’d have to be with a band. Maybe it stuck. Weird, though, to think that somebody regards me as an Elder Statesman.

Of course, I have ulterior motives here. I have an album of songs I want to record, and I’m new in the area and want to put together a band (or “band”—they don’t have to play together a lot) that are familiar enough with my material to be able to walk into a studio and record it live in one or two takes. I have a couple candidates now, and we’ll see how it works out.

“See” y’all in a week or so.

Joe


Tuesday, July 24, 2007

GOING TO NAZSHVILLE...

Well, I’ve had Internet at the motel three times in two days (must be an Omen). I had better take the opportunity to update the Blog. I’ve had two entries I couldn’t post because I didn’t have Internet for two weeks running.

I am going to Nashville—first, for the Pineyfest songwriters’ conference, which I got invited to again, and second for a Just Plain Folks “Road Rally” that’ll be held either just before or just after (I forget which). I’ll get to record six demos with a group of Nashville studio musicians (five of the songs were co-wrote with other people, who are splitting the cost), perform a couple songs at the famous Bluebird Café (supposedly a Big Whoop because the Big Names hang out there), and otherwise play music non-stop for six days and nights. My idea of a vacation, definitely.

I leave Sunday 7/29 from tiny Medford “International” Airport, and return the following Sunday, 8/5. (Medford “International” is so small you can park in front of the terminal. I didn’t see a single jet on the runway—only prop planes. One must fly to Canada once a year or so to get the “international” moniker.)

So during the week aforehand, I’m concentrating on playing as much music as I can, as many places as I can, to prepare my calluses for the “vacation.” Thankfully, there are a lot of places to play around here. Last Saturday night was the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. (SOSA) showcase at Johnny B.’s tavern in Medford; Sunday night was an open mike at the Wild Goose tavern in Ashland; Tuesday (tonight) a country jam session at the community center in Rogue River (complete with a stage, dance floor, and dancing couples); Wednesday is another SOSA showcase at Johnny B.’s; and Friday evening I’m supposed to perform for the Phoenix Chamber Commerce’s open house. Enough? Maybe. (Did I mention I also got to perform at the Jackson County Fair last week?)

The country jam was fun. I hadn’t got to play with a band (much less play lead with a band) for a long time, and I did impress some people, so I’ll be able to go back; they do play almost exclusively old country standards, which is fine—but there’s only a couple of those I can sing, so I’ll have to work at introducing some of my songs to the mix. Yes, I want to go back. It’s really the only jam session I’ve found around these parts in the past 2 months, and it’s almost every week.

The Wild Goose was fun, too. My second time there, but I finally figured out (I think) how to play for drunks—start with something really slow and raunchy, with really obvious lyrics, to get their attention, then you can follow it up with something faster. (I would still keep it really obvious, though. The audience is operating on reduced brain cell capacity.) So they got “Eatin’ Cornflakes,” “The Termite Song,” and “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” It’s possible they may remember me next time around.

The SOSA crowd are as a species more attentive—they’re all writers and musicians, too, and they’re there to strut their stuff, too. They listen without being bludgeoned upside da haid. Still, I’d like to teach ‘em a couple of things. They still mostly don’t play together, but most of ‘em would sound a whole lot better if they weren’t solo. They also don’t record together, which shocked me (hopefully, some of my shock was communicated). Maybe I get to take an “elder statesman” attitude, after I come back from Nashville with some demos and maybe some music publishing information.

We’ll see. More later, if the Internet continues to work.

Joe

A COLLABORATION ALBUM?

After the Pineyfest Demo Derby, there just might be enough material for a collab album—provided it included not only songs written with others, but also songs written by me and played with others. The list looks like:

(1) DEAD THINGS IN THE SHOWER, co-wrote with Bobbie Gallup. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest.

(2) ABOUT LOVE—lyrics by Marge McKinnis, music by me. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest. I’ve described this one as Buddy Holly with a bluegrass band.

(3) DISTRACTION—lyrics by Diane Ewing, music by me. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest. Country music with a 1950s pop feel.

(4) SO FAR—lyrics by Marge McKinnis, music by me. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest. Slow, sexy blues. The original home recording of this had a lamb bleating at one point, that I’d like to replicate if I could.

(5) ALABAMA BLUES—lyrics by Diane Ewing, music by me. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest. Sad but bouncy country blues.

(6) TEST TUBE BABY, by me. Old Dodson Drifters hit, and my only rock ‘n’ roll song. Will get recorded by the Nashville Gang at Pineyfest.

(7) BORN AGAIN BARBIE, co-wrote and co-performed with Scott Rose, who also did the mixing. Came across as an Everly Brothers-style piece, a fusion of rock (Scott) and country (me).

(8) SHE AIN’T STARVIN’ HERSELF, also by me. Performed as a bluegrass blues by The Collaborators, in one of the best mixing and production jobs I’ve heard.

(9) OIL IN THE CORNFIELD, also by me. Performed with Vikki Flawith and Mississippi Spud (Spud also did the mixing). This is the recording I sent to the Woody Guthrie Song Contest (where it didn’t win).

(10) THE SIX-LEGGED POLKA, by me. Performed with (and mixed by) Gem Watson, whose “saxocordion” riffs (done on an electric guitar) give the song its international flavor.

(11) THE CAT WITH THE STRAT, by me. Performed as a talking blues by The Collaborators, with can’t-repeat-outside-the-studio sound effects and mixing by Vikki Flawith. Both guitars on the recording were Strats (of course)—and the rhythm instrument is (surprise!) a piano.

(12) GLOBAL WARMING SANDWICH—lyrics by Gem Watson, music by me. Performed with (and mixed by) Gem. Came out as 1940s-style Western music, with dual guitar leads by Gem and me.

So, is there a common theme that connects (or can connect) all these? We’ve got a wide range of styles here, from bluegrass through rock ‘n’ roll, and from Bob Wills to Jimmy Sturr (the polka), and from sad songs and serious love songs to things that aren’t serious at all. How do we make it not come across as a hodgepodge? Or is a hodgepodge okay?

Joe

BAD NEWS AND GOOD NEWS...

Bad news and good news… The bad news is I will not be performing at the “Moograss” Bluegrass Festival in Tillamook this year. Heard that after sending e-mails for over a month and getting no response; I finally reached one of the organizers by phone. The Official Reason is they’ve got too many people scheduled who are more famous’n me. Probably a valid reason. I did enjoy playing on the same bill as all them big names, though. They did ask if I’d do another songwriting workshop, and I said I would—while reminding ‘em it’d get more attention if I was also performing.

The good news is that I will be playing at the Jackson County Fair—that’ll be this Tuesday, 17 July; just a short set (3 songs), but I will have a backup band. I have, I think, two potential members of the band for the next CD—Dan Doshier, who owns a local music store (and can play about anything), and fellow city manager Phil Messina. Dan on mandolin, I think, and maybe fiddle, and Phil on lead guitar. Phil’s style is more blues and rock ‘n’ roll, which in my opinion would be perfect for a bluegrass album. Don’t y’think?

The lesson? (There are always lessons, remember.) Watch your back, I guess. Don’t count on anything. And never stop selling.

That means (1) keep up the blog, (2) make sure the rest of Concert Season is “on line,” and (3) don’t miss an opportunity to promote.

So I’ll ask the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. for advice what to talk about in the songwriting class, play “Meet Me at the Stairs” at the Fair so I’ll have an excuse to push CDs. (That’s #3.) And e-mail the organizers of the Grassroots Festival in Union and the Harvest Festival in Neskowin. (That’s #2.) I mentioned earlier I figured out a way to post the blog entries without having Internet at the motel, so I’ll use it. (#1.)

Task for this week, since I just got paid, is to book plane fare to Nashville for Pineyfest. There may not be a lot of money beyond that. If the opportunity happens, it’d be good to buy a bigger suitcase (Salvation Army model, of course); current one really won’t hold a week’s worth of clothes, plus the Tascam, camera, and piles of CDs. It’d be good to take some spare Tascam chips along (one chip really doesn’t hold more’n one song), but I don’t know if I’ll be able to afford it.

Oh, and if you’re reading this, Joe’s available for gigs. Enquire within, and all that. He does check e-mail.

Joe

I'M BA-ACK...

I’M BA-ACK….

And like the Grateful Dead said, what a long, strange trip it’s been. I’ve been at the new job (300-plus miles away) since the beginning of June, living out of a motel room for going on four weeks because there’s a housing shortage here, and contending with having wireless Internet, which has been hard on “Alice” the computer. She spent 12 days in the ‘puter hospital, in the course of which she got her hard drive wiped, and I lost a lot of software that was pretty old and hard to replace (in one case, the manufacturer had gone out of business, and in another, the company had been bought by Microsoft). “Alice” works again (mostly), but wireless Internet is still spotty, and we’ll sometimes go for days without being able to connect to the Internet. This is the first time since the end of May that I’ve been able to post a blog entry.

Southern Oregon is a culturally active area, with lots of music of all different styles happening, and I’m trying to plug myself into it as expeditiously as possible. There’s a local Songwriters’ Association, which I’ve joined, which puts on open mikes three times a month, and an Old Time Fiddlers group I haven’t connected with yet; there’s a college TV station that broadcasts (among other things) live music by local bands, and (by my count) at least five commercial recording studios in the area.

This is the “pool” I’ll be trying to tap to produce the Next CD. I want—and have not managed yet—to assemble another impromptu “band” to play backup on about 12 songs, and I want them tight enough and familiar enough with the material so we can do the Patsy Cline Thing (live and in one take) in the studio. And I want that by December. It will take some work.

The trip to Nashville for Pineyfest and the Demo Derby are proceeding apace; I’ve worked out arrangements for the 6 songs, and at the end of the month will be sending them CD, lyric sheets, and money. Looks like this year’s trip to Nashville will cost a cool $2,000, between plane fare, the hotel, rental car, food, and the demo. Hope it’s worth it.