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.

Friday, October 12, 2007

A NEW GIG...

Again, at Johnny B.’s in Medford—Thursday, 1 November. Show starts at 8 p.m., and I’m one of four acts, two of which are bluegrass bands. EIGHT dollar cover this time. I better get more CDs. He did advertise me before asking—but he knew I don’t refuse gigs. I volunteered to bring him some posters of me, and also to design one with all the bands on it..

Johnny is excited about being on the album, and immediately called a studio dude he knows; I’ll have to go see what the fellow’s setup looks like. For fiddle, Johnny suggested the legendary Don Maddox, the lone surviving member of The Maddox Brothers and Rose, who lives in the area and will be playing with one of the bands Nov. 1, the same night I’m on the agenda.

I’d still like to get some more instrumentation if I could. Johnny’s band, The Cheatin’ Hearts, has a lead guitarist (who is good) but no other lead players. Fiddle would be good. It’d be fun to throw in a couple of the Songwriters’ Assn. members (flute, congas, harmonica, and mandolin, say)—not on every song, but on some of ‘em. I emphasized to Johnny the need to make every song sound different, even when they’re being played with the same band. I managed to achieve that on the “Santa’s Fallen” CD, and would like to do it again.

“Alice” the ‘puter is home for the weekend, but goes back to the shop Monday afternoon to get [drum roll] Windows XP. Shop gave me a good price. I will have to re-install all my software, but I should be able to find WinXP versions of all the weird stuff a lot easier than I could find Windows 98 versions. And I’ll be able to have a working printer. The inability of Windows 98 to find the drivers even for a Windows 98 printer is, according to the shop, one of the casualties of Alice’s stay in the computer hospital last June—the hospital, they said, screwed her up. One worry in all this: it’s possible the computer hospital damaged Alice’s motherboard, and that could be hard to replace. Reportedly “Socket A” motherboards have gotten hard to find the last couple of years.

And Alice will get more RAM, too—FIVE TIMES as much as she had (which is more than needed to run Windows XP). And I can go as high as ELEVEN times as much if I feel like it.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

PUBLISHER AND 'PUTER...

Found a music publisher. It’s Bobbie Gallup, co-writer of “Dead Things in the Shower”; she and her late husband had Gallup ‘n’ Dawg Music in Nashville. We’ll do the “Dirty Deeds” album street legal here (for a change), and see if we can’t use the new-found legitimacy to get some radio play.

I should say a word or two about the computer. “Alice” is a big, fast machine built for me three years ago, that’s set up primarily for graphic design work. Because the graphic-design software I use is old (it was expensive), Alice has Windows 98. When her printer quit this weekend (after 3 years), I found it about impossible to find a replacement. Nobody makes anything that works with Windows 98 any more.

Local computer geek showed me a trick for making the Windows 98 software work on Windows XP, so that’s probably how I’ll go. I can quadruple Alice’s RAM (and she’s already fast), so I’ll do that first. Looks like that’s where this paycheck’s gonna go.

Current to-do’s: Talk to Johnny B. about recording the “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep” album with his band—and find out if I can rope other musicians (from the Songwriters’ Association, say) in for some of the tracks—I really want dual “whiny” and “non-whiny” leads where I can get ‘em. Talk to Dan Doshier about playing opportunities this and next weekend, when I’ll be in town. Now that I have dependable Internet again, re-establish contact with other writers’ sites that got lost in the cracks with Alice’s stay in the ‘puter hospital and the Dang Wireless that didn’t work half the time. And record “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep.” It’s time.

Joe

Thursday, October 4, 2007

MORE THOUGHTS...

Barbie House now has a little Barbie-sized TV with built-in VCR (I don’t have any tapes, though), and a couple spare pieces of furniture. I got offered a big entertainment center type thing, which I’ll take if they can get it here—I can look at it and be entertained, I guess. No Internet yet—the computer store sold me a router that won’t work with Windows 98 (maybe nothing does any more). So much for trusting your local geek.

Past couple of weeks, all the music I’ve done is play lead guitar at the Tuesday night country dance in Rogue River; the other musicians there are starting to expect me, though, and that’s nice. Next Sunday, maybe, I will be able to be back at the Wild Goose. No new songs, though.

An offer from one of my favorite sound-engineers-I’ve-never-met (he’s in New York City) to master existing *.mp3 files to record quality. To do the whole “Cat with the Strat” album would cost a little over $100, and that’s a good deal, I think. Another $45 each to do the copyright forms for the songs (over half of which are collaborations), and we’re looking at more than the cost of the last album already.

The “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep” album—all original material, done with the band, whoever they may be—will likely cost $750 to record and mix. That’s about 50% more than the “Santa’s Fallen” CD did, but prices are a lot higher here, all driven by the high cost of land. We’re into October now—time to line up the band so we can get practiced. Thursday night may be my best shot at stopping by Johnny B.’s tavern and talking to him.


Johnny on bass, Dan on mandolin, Russ on congas; I know a blues harp player, and a couple good lead guitarists (one of them REALLY good)—and a flute player. Has anyone ever used a flute on country music? It’d be fun to try. I could hear a flute lead on “Milepost 43,” “Roadkill Christmas,” and “Dead Things in the Shower."

COLLABS...

The selections (not in any order) are 5 of the 6 songs recorded in Nashville in the Pineyfest Demo Derby::

ABOUT LOVE (Marge McKinnis)
DISTRACTION (Diane Ewing)
ALABAMA BLUES (Diane Ewing)
SO FAR (Marge McKinnis)
DEAD THINGS IN THE SHOWER (with Bobbie Gallup)

Plus a set of “definitive recordings” consisting of 2 collabs:

BORN AGAIN BARBIE (with Scott Rose)
GLOBAL WARMING SANDWICH (with Gem Watson)

And a passel of songs of mine that were performed and recorded with other people:

CAT WITH THE STRAT (by The Collaborators)
SHE AIN’T STARVIN’ HERSELF (by The Collaborators)
THE SIX-LEGGED POLKA (by Gem Watson)
OIL IN THE CORNFIELD (by Vic Bonner and Vikki Flawith)

For the collabs, it will be necessary to (1) file copyrights jointly with the co-author, (2) create a publishing company, (3) assign publishing rights to my company. On the recording end, somebody like Substudio will need to tweak them so the levels all match, and convert the *.mp3 files to *.wav or something similar that’s suitable for CD. By the time we’re done, there will probably be more money invested in this effort than in the album of original material.
Title? How about “The Cat with the Strat and Other Collaborations”?

ALL MOVED IN...

And the new place is nice. Still needs furniture, which I’ll retrieve from home; mostly tables—one for the studio equipment (currently nestled in one corner), one by the bed, one in the kitchen, one for the printer. A filing cabinet wouldn’t hurt. Lamps, and chairs in case somebody else ever comes to visit. Thrift store TV, and maybe another desk—one can never have too many desks. Still waiting on the Internet.

Friday’s, Saturday’s and Sunday’s gigs were all good. Johnny B.’s in Medford had a cover charge with me on the agenda, and still drew a crowd. And I showed I could hold their attention for almost an hour and have not one person get bored. The Lions Club variety show in Grants Pass was a whole different audience in a whole different place—Lions Club members from all across two counties.

And Sunday night’s audience at the Wild Goose got treated to the first-ever live performance of “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep.” And yes, it was a hit. They also got “Hank’s Song,” which many of ‘em had heard before in other places—I’ve been playing it a lot this month, since Sept. 17 was Hank Williams’ birthday—and a bunch of folks sang along. Didn’t expect that (and I haven’t noticed it happening with other performers). I’m not sure why people here like that song, but they do.

Another lesson: Play everywhere you can. Everything is potential gig material. Johnny now knows I can draw a crowd, for instance, and he’ll tell others. I may even get to perform with his band, if they get the idea that I’m a good draw--but it would be okay if they decided that MY MATERIAL was a good draw, no matter who’s playing it. Remember the Goal—it’s to get attention as a WRITER. Performing is secondary. It’s just how one has to get exposure for the material. The more people performing it, the wider—and better—the exposure.

Tuesday—my birthday—I plan to go to Rogue River and play lead guitar for their
weekly country dance. Couldn’t think of a better birthday present. I can maybe round up another half-dozen CDs to take to the League of Oregon Cities conference later in the week for just-in-case sales or promos; one of these years, I or a band I’m in will be the entertainment.

MOVING...

Having my job extended to next June 30 meant I could go get a house of my own, so I did that; I move in this weekend. Get to buy furniture and all that fun household infrastructure I haven’t needed while I’ve been living out of a motel room. It’ll take a few days before Internet is hooked up at the new place, so this is a last-minute post to keep the commitment I made in January to post a new blog weekly.

Last night was my first real performance in this area—about an hour’s worth, at Johnny B.’s in Medford. Part of a three-band set, and there was actually a cover charge, and they actually advertised my name in the paper, and there was actually a crowd. And I think the crowd actually liked it. Only had one CD left (I’ll have to make more), I could have sold a lot more. Lesson: ALWAYS have lots of CDs. If you don’t have them, you can’t sell them.

The bass player for the band that followed me (Johnny B. himself) was awesome—played a percussive-type standup bass, where the bass is substituting for a drum set as well as providing the “bottom” to the music. “Slap bass” is what they used to call it, years ago, but nobody does it any more. Johnny does. He said he learned it from George Maddox (now deceased) of The Maddox Brothers and Rose, who were a big-name country band maybe 50-60 years ago (you can still get their records on CD). I want him—maybe the whole band—on the next album, and told him so.

The rest of the band? The lead guitarist is good; the rhythm guitarist didn’t do much (of course, he didn’t have to), but has a really good singing voice. What we’d be missing for the album is the “whiny lead” (fiddle, harmonica, flute, sax, or such). The lead guitarist could take care of the “non-whiny lead” with no problem. I know a couple of local blues harp players who could probably be roped in. Wonder if Don Maddox would be interested in playing fiddle? He’s the last surviving member of The Maddox Brothers and Rose, lives in the area, and still performs—sometimes with this band.

And the band—“The Cheatin’ Hearts”—are potentially interested in playing with me, and DEFINITELY interested in covering some of my songs. (And of course that’s okay. These guys opened for Big & Rich at a concert in Medford this week.) They’re interested in “Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues,” and (at my suggestion) “Bluebird on My Windshield,” and I was encouraging ‘em to tackle “Dirty Deeds Done to Sheep.” I’ll have to record that for ‘em so they can hear what it sounds like. And one of the audience folks who didn’t get to buy the CD was interested in “Rotten Candy.” I NEVER thought anybody would be.

Today (Saturday) is the Lions Club variety show in Grants Pass, maybe an hour or less drive from here, and I’m on the agenda for maybe a 15-minute set. And tomorrow night is the open mike at the Wild Goose—and the first night I get to spend in the new house. Tuesday night’s country dance is on my birthday; I think being able to play music on my birthday is a great present. Should be fun.

Joe