ONE WEEK until the Big Rockabilly Night Gig at Johnny B.’s. I’m not ready by any means—haven’t even worked out a setlist. I’ll have to ask at practice Wednesday night how much time I’m allotted.
Did meet the lady who does the booking for the Wild Goose in Ashland. Two nights a week, they have performers (as distinct from the long-running open mike on Sundays). She seemed excited I was interested. It’ll be sometime in March. I’ll need to fill three hours… Sounds daunting, but that’s really only 36 songs, and I have more than that that are performable. I’d like to have backup, though; like I told the lady, three hours of just me and solo guitar could be a little hard to take. Will be my first real paying gig in this area—and at a venue where my music has been fairly popular.
My job, of course, to generate the crowd—but that’s doable. Based on the reactions I’ve gotten from the open mikes and other gigs, I may have the makings of a fan base. As soon as I know the date, I’ll start promoting.
PINEYFEST is tentatively August 6-8, with another Demo Derby probably Aug. 5-6; an entire week in Nashville, in other words, just like last year. I can stay with Bill, who is moving to the Nashville area this winter, but I’ll probably need to be renting a car. It would be nice to line up some writers’ night performance slots—probably at venues less famous than the Bluebird. I wonder how hard that is to do from a couple thousand miles away.
UPDATES: Another “Showcase” poster for the Songwriters’ Association—and I think they’ve got a venue every weekend, now, so that means a poster a week, plus one for the “Quartet Series” every third Friday. (I’ll miss the next one—another speech tournament to judge.) Got sent some really good photos from the last two SOSA gigs. Bet I could do for SOSA what Robert Plant (was it Plant?) did for the Grateful Dead—each poster an instantly recognizable template, but nonetheless a distinct work of art. That’s how advertising is supposed to work.
Joe
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
WRITING...
Been worried about writing lately, because I haven’t written much in recent months. There’s only been:
“Hey, Little Chicken,” for Gene Burnett’s album of chicken songs;
“No Good Songs About the War,” the protest song;
“Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep,” written from a title somebody else supplied;
“Milepost 43,” the ode to Al David’s missing underwear (and that one dates from Pineyfest, beginning of last August)
Not exactly one a month—it’s more like 4 in 7 months. I have been busy—but “busy” doesn’t count as an excuse, when I work songs out in my head. Where does inspiration come from, anyway?
Well, “Deeds” was one of those songs written from the title, and somebody else—a rock guitarist in Cleveland—gave me the title. “No Good Songs” was written to show people how a protest song is supposed to be written—and the hook (and title) echoed the question I’d seen on line, “How come there’s no good songs about the war?” I wrote the chicken song because Gene Burnett asked me for one. And “Milepost 43” is one of those true stories that’s so unbelievable it belonged in a song. And I experienced the true story because I was at Pineyfest.
So all that inspiration essentially came from outside. Maybe the implication is that I should get out more. I haven’t done much besides work and play music. Designing the SOSA posters (did another one Sunday) is the first real innovative thing I’ve done in weeks—and it was exciting. I routinely give other writers advice to go out and collect new impressions, and I should take my own advice. I’m in the middle of Shakespeare country, and haven’t seen a play. There are bookstores I haven’t visited (and more I don’t even know about). And it’s been weeks since I saw a movie (longer if you don’t count DVDs). More importantly, I haven’t been to things with other people—and I need people.
Accordingly, that’s the prescription: (1) Don’t worry about it. (2) Get out more. (3) Do different things. (4) Surround myself with other people. And see what happens.
Did write something today, for an online contest wanting cookie songs. It’s a parody (parodies are always good to start with) of an old Arlo Guthrie tune—only mine is about snickerdoodles, and is fairly sleazy (if you have a dirty enough mind). No feedback yet on the lyrics. I’ll wait to record it until I see if anybody likes it.
THIS WEEK: Practice with Screamin’ Gulch on Wednesday. Tuesday night was in Ashland at Chris Parreira’s open mike; got to play lead on two of Darrin Wayne’s songs (cool) and he liked it (very cool). And that’ll be it. I have to visit our rental house this weekend, and judge a speech tournament my daughter’s in. Probably Thursday I should put new strings on the guitar—it’ll be my only chance.
Joe
“Hey, Little Chicken,” for Gene Burnett’s album of chicken songs;
“No Good Songs About the War,” the protest song;
“Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep,” written from a title somebody else supplied;
“Milepost 43,” the ode to Al David’s missing underwear (and that one dates from Pineyfest, beginning of last August)
Not exactly one a month—it’s more like 4 in 7 months. I have been busy—but “busy” doesn’t count as an excuse, when I work songs out in my head. Where does inspiration come from, anyway?
Well, “Deeds” was one of those songs written from the title, and somebody else—a rock guitarist in Cleveland—gave me the title. “No Good Songs” was written to show people how a protest song is supposed to be written—and the hook (and title) echoed the question I’d seen on line, “How come there’s no good songs about the war?” I wrote the chicken song because Gene Burnett asked me for one. And “Milepost 43” is one of those true stories that’s so unbelievable it belonged in a song. And I experienced the true story because I was at Pineyfest.
So all that inspiration essentially came from outside. Maybe the implication is that I should get out more. I haven’t done much besides work and play music. Designing the SOSA posters (did another one Sunday) is the first real innovative thing I’ve done in weeks—and it was exciting. I routinely give other writers advice to go out and collect new impressions, and I should take my own advice. I’m in the middle of Shakespeare country, and haven’t seen a play. There are bookstores I haven’t visited (and more I don’t even know about). And it’s been weeks since I saw a movie (longer if you don’t count DVDs). More importantly, I haven’t been to things with other people—and I need people.
Accordingly, that’s the prescription: (1) Don’t worry about it. (2) Get out more. (3) Do different things. (4) Surround myself with other people. And see what happens.
Did write something today, for an online contest wanting cookie songs. It’s a parody (parodies are always good to start with) of an old Arlo Guthrie tune—only mine is about snickerdoodles, and is fairly sleazy (if you have a dirty enough mind). No feedback yet on the lyrics. I’ll wait to record it until I see if anybody likes it.
THIS WEEK: Practice with Screamin’ Gulch on Wednesday. Tuesday night was in Ashland at Chris Parreira’s open mike; got to play lead on two of Darrin Wayne’s songs (cool) and he liked it (very cool). And that’ll be it. I have to visit our rental house this weekend, and judge a speech tournament my daughter’s in. Probably Thursday I should put new strings on the guitar—it’ll be my only chance.
Joe
Saturday, January 19, 2008
A BIG GIG...
Big Gig coming up February 6 & 7—two full nights of rockabilly music at Johnny B.’s, that will feature (among other artists) Screamin’ Gulch, the legendary fiddler Don Maddox (playing with Screamin’ Gulch), and early rock guitarist Deke Dickerson (also playing with Screamin’ Gulch, I’d expect—I don’t think he’s bringing a band with him). Don and Deke may even play on each other’s sets—I understand they’ve known each other for a long time.
Wayne the National Steel player won’t be there—he’s on a buying trip in the Far East (that’s his job) for the better part of a month. That leaves me to take up the slack as Screamin’ Gulch’s lead guitarist (at least, when Don Maddox and Deke Dickerson aren’t being the front men). We’ll practice all the Wednesdays between now and then, and try to squeeze in a practice on another night, too. I need all the help I can get.
I’m on the Big Gig agenda, too, separately—my set’s only about 20 minutes, which is time enough for 4 songs. (My songs work out to an average of 5 minutes each, including The Rap, which makes it easy to calculate time for a set.) I’d like to do those with a band, too—but we’ll see. I’d bet I open for the other guys—Johnny’s used me in the past to quiet audiences down and get ‘em to start listening.
Three performances in three days, this weekend—six songs at the “Quartet” thing Friday night, three at the SOSA “showcase” Saturday night, and two or three at the open mike at the Wild Goose Sunday night. And of course, I’d like everything to be different each night. A lot of the same people will be showing up at all three events.
Folks generally liked the “Quartet” poster, and have advised I’m now their “Poster Boy.” Easy to do, actually; the “Quartet” poster is a template now, and I can just change dates, names, and photos. I’ll do one for the next “showcase,” too, with a group shot of all the SOSA members I can round up at Saturday’s showcase. I keep harping on the need for publicity; this is one way to get it.
The “Quartet set” came off well—James is a dynamite guitarist, and his lead work really stole the show. We got an encore—which was (by request) “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep.” By that time, college kids were showing up for the next show, which was a punk-rock band, and they got to hear it. And were impressed, I think.
Is there potential for cross-pollination here? Could we put on a country-music show that would actually attract the young people? Maybe. It’d be fun to try.
Joe
Wayne the National Steel player won’t be there—he’s on a buying trip in the Far East (that’s his job) for the better part of a month. That leaves me to take up the slack as Screamin’ Gulch’s lead guitarist (at least, when Don Maddox and Deke Dickerson aren’t being the front men). We’ll practice all the Wednesdays between now and then, and try to squeeze in a practice on another night, too. I need all the help I can get.
I’m on the Big Gig agenda, too, separately—my set’s only about 20 minutes, which is time enough for 4 songs. (My songs work out to an average of 5 minutes each, including The Rap, which makes it easy to calculate time for a set.) I’d like to do those with a band, too—but we’ll see. I’d bet I open for the other guys—Johnny’s used me in the past to quiet audiences down and get ‘em to start listening.
Three performances in three days, this weekend—six songs at the “Quartet” thing Friday night, three at the SOSA “showcase” Saturday night, and two or three at the open mike at the Wild Goose Sunday night. And of course, I’d like everything to be different each night. A lot of the same people will be showing up at all three events.
Folks generally liked the “Quartet” poster, and have advised I’m now their “Poster Boy.” Easy to do, actually; the “Quartet” poster is a template now, and I can just change dates, names, and photos. I’ll do one for the next “showcase,” too, with a group shot of all the SOSA members I can round up at Saturday’s showcase. I keep harping on the need for publicity; this is one way to get it.
The “Quartet set” came off well—James is a dynamite guitarist, and his lead work really stole the show. We got an encore—which was (by request) “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep.” By that time, college kids were showing up for the next show, which was a punk-rock band, and they got to hear it. And were impressed, I think.
Is there potential for cross-pollination here? Could we put on a country-music show that would actually attract the young people? Maybe. It’d be fun to try.
Joe
Monday, January 14, 2008
UPDATES...
THE COMPUTER FILES: I found the “Music Joe Letterhead” on the computer—one less thing to re-create. Did re-create the business cards. Some lyrics are missing—all the ones that weren’t filed in Microsoft’s “My Documents” folder. The “Joe is Great!” brochure (a PageMaker file) is missing for the same reason—the installation of Windows XP erased all document folders that weren’t Microsoft document folders (dang them). And I had WordPerfect, Lotus, and WordStar on the ‘puter. (Microsoft apparently does not like competition.)
James, who’s playing lead guitar with me Friday night, asked if I could send lyric sheets for the songs we’re doing, and it looks like I’ll have to re-create four of them (that’s four out of SIX): “Dead Things in the Shower,” “Armadillo on the Interstate,” “The Frog Next Door,” and “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” I have set up new folders on the ‘puter so Microsoft will not do this to me again. I hate repeating myself.
QUARTET GIG: Coming up Friday night. It’ll be me and virtuoso guitarist James Maille doing half an hour of my stuff. Fourth Quartettie is Seth Richardson, whose music I’ve never heard that I know of. Got photos of everybody for the poster, but some of them aren’t very good. I will make sure to get good clear photos (by me) when the gig happens. Everybody should have good promotional photographs in their “toolbox,” and I’ll supply them if I can.
THIS WEEK: Practice with Screamin’ Gulch Wednesday night, the Quartet on Friday night, another SOSA “showcase” Saturday night, and the Wild Goose again Sunday night. Can’t do the country dance in Rogue River Tuesday night—I have an Urban Renewal Board meeting. Opportunity to practice with Darrin Wayne either this weekend or next weekend; I can play lead guitar for his simpler blues numbers, and I’d love to have him play harmonica on some of mine. One way to encourage these writers to play together is to do it myself.
PUBLISHING: I’m still on the Goodnight Kiss Music mailing list, and when they sent out a call last week for a song for Wynonna (nee Wynonna Judd), I responded. Wynonna’s music these days is pretty rock-oriented, but she goes for fairly dark lyrics, so I sent my favorite (and only) Valentine’s Day song, “Rotten Candy.” And we’ll see.
My recording is pretty country (everything I do comes out country), but I’ve learned from experience (other people covering my songs, in other words, and doing their own “take” on them) that a lot of the stuff I write converts well to almost any genre. (My favorite is the electronica version of my bluegrass tune “When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You” by zonemusicinc. It’s really good. And I never thought it was possible.) The question is whether Wynonna (or the publisher) can see past the recording and recognize its possibilities. There is, alas, not much imagination in the Music Biz these days.
CONTESTS: I try to enter a couple of contests a year, concentrating on ones I think I can win. (Didn’t do too badly last year. In the two I’d planned on entering (I actually entered four), I took first place in one and honorable mention in the other.) This year, I think it’ll be the Jackson County Fair Talent Show, which is local, and the Hank Williams Festival, which is not. (If I end up being a finalist in the Hank one, I have to get to North Carolina on my own nickel to perform on stage. Still, if I can afford it, it’d be fun.) In the former, “entering” consists of performing on stage; in the latter, the finalists get to perform on stage. I usually do good with live performances.
AND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO: I recorded a draft of “Naked Space Hamsters in Love” (just me and rhythm guitar) to give the “band” to play along with in their spare time. (Has worked for me when I’m doing leads to those Soundclick blues compilations.) I saw Delonde, George and Russ at the Wild Goose Sunday night. Got to perform the hamster song, plus “Hey, Little Chicken” and “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” with both Jack Fischer on lead guitar and George on harmonica. Starting to sound more and more like a band. And it was nice to have somebody say we were a hard act to follow.
Joe
James, who’s playing lead guitar with me Friday night, asked if I could send lyric sheets for the songs we’re doing, and it looks like I’ll have to re-create four of them (that’s four out of SIX): “Dead Things in the Shower,” “Armadillo on the Interstate,” “The Frog Next Door,” and “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” I have set up new folders on the ‘puter so Microsoft will not do this to me again. I hate repeating myself.
QUARTET GIG: Coming up Friday night. It’ll be me and virtuoso guitarist James Maille doing half an hour of my stuff. Fourth Quartettie is Seth Richardson, whose music I’ve never heard that I know of. Got photos of everybody for the poster, but some of them aren’t very good. I will make sure to get good clear photos (by me) when the gig happens. Everybody should have good promotional photographs in their “toolbox,” and I’ll supply them if I can.
THIS WEEK: Practice with Screamin’ Gulch Wednesday night, the Quartet on Friday night, another SOSA “showcase” Saturday night, and the Wild Goose again Sunday night. Can’t do the country dance in Rogue River Tuesday night—I have an Urban Renewal Board meeting. Opportunity to practice with Darrin Wayne either this weekend or next weekend; I can play lead guitar for his simpler blues numbers, and I’d love to have him play harmonica on some of mine. One way to encourage these writers to play together is to do it myself.
PUBLISHING: I’m still on the Goodnight Kiss Music mailing list, and when they sent out a call last week for a song for Wynonna (nee Wynonna Judd), I responded. Wynonna’s music these days is pretty rock-oriented, but she goes for fairly dark lyrics, so I sent my favorite (and only) Valentine’s Day song, “Rotten Candy.” And we’ll see.
My recording is pretty country (everything I do comes out country), but I’ve learned from experience (other people covering my songs, in other words, and doing their own “take” on them) that a lot of the stuff I write converts well to almost any genre. (My favorite is the electronica version of my bluegrass tune “When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You” by zonemusicinc. It’s really good. And I never thought it was possible.) The question is whether Wynonna (or the publisher) can see past the recording and recognize its possibilities. There is, alas, not much imagination in the Music Biz these days.
CONTESTS: I try to enter a couple of contests a year, concentrating on ones I think I can win. (Didn’t do too badly last year. In the two I’d planned on entering (I actually entered four), I took first place in one and honorable mention in the other.) This year, I think it’ll be the Jackson County Fair Talent Show, which is local, and the Hank Williams Festival, which is not. (If I end up being a finalist in the Hank one, I have to get to North Carolina on my own nickel to perform on stage. Still, if I can afford it, it’d be fun.) In the former, “entering” consists of performing on stage; in the latter, the finalists get to perform on stage. I usually do good with live performances.
AND SOMETHING ELSE TO DO: I recorded a draft of “Naked Space Hamsters in Love” (just me and rhythm guitar) to give the “band” to play along with in their spare time. (Has worked for me when I’m doing leads to those Soundclick blues compilations.) I saw Delonde, George and Russ at the Wild Goose Sunday night. Got to perform the hamster song, plus “Hey, Little Chicken” and “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” with both Jack Fischer on lead guitar and George on harmonica. Starting to sound more and more like a band. And it was nice to have somebody say we were a hard act to follow.
Joe
Friday, January 11, 2008
THE SAMPLER CD...
The Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. Is putting out another “sampler” CD, and is asking for submissions—one per member, no more than 4 minutes long. Hitch is it’s got to be “radio ready”—the fellow who’s putting it together can only master, not record. It’ll have to be recorded somewhere else.
And of course, I want to do mine with a band. I’ve harped repeatedly on how vocalist-with-solo-guitar cuts are not saleable (at least, if it’s me). Could I put together a band of entirely SOSA members to do it? I could. My idea of an All-Star Band of jaw-dropping musicians would be Delonde Bell on bass, Russ Rodriguez on congas, Larry West on lead guitar, and George Clark on blues harp. I saw Delonde, Russ, and George at Chris Parreira’s open mike in Ashland (went there instead of Rogue River because of the weather), and they’re all interested. Offered to play lead on George’s submission for the album; it’s a country song, and I think I can do a decent Jerry Reed-style bluegrass lead on it. Might try backing him up Sunday night at the Wild Goose and see how it goes.
My submission for the SOSA Sampler, I think, will be “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” I actually don’t have many songs that’ll come in under 4 minutes with lead breaks (and with the All-Stars, we’ll want lead breaks—these guys are talented). I think the “Hamsters” song will have room for two breaks, and still come in under 4 minutes. It moves pretty fast.
And just maybe, if these guys get comfortable doing this sort of thing (and it could happen), it might be possible to tap them to be the band for the next CD (or at least the slower songs on the next CD). They are probably as good session musicians as one could find outside of Nashville, each thoroughly expert on their instrument.
None of them plays country music, and I don’t think they’ve ever all played together before. So having ‘em all play together—and playing country songs—would be a real envelope-pushing exercise, and potentially a lot of fun.
It wouldn’t have to stop there; I know another guitarist (James Maille) who’s equally good, and another bassist (Jack Fischer), and another harmonica player (Darrin Wayne), and Dan Doshier plays fiddle, mandolin, standup bass, harmonica, and probably a bunch of other things. I think we have Resources, here.
Setlist for the SOSA “Quartet” gig at Johnny B.’s (with James Maille on lead guitar) presently looks like:
Dead Things in the Shower
Armadillo on the Interstate
Bluebird on My Windshield
The Frog Next Door
Duct Tape
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
All love songs (after a fashion). I like themes—and Valentine’s Day will be only 27 days away.
Designed a poster for the Quartet thing—I figured one of the ways we attract attention outside the Group is to promote. Right now, there’s only 3 names (and photos) on it—myself, Chris Parreira, and Scott Garriott; three fellows have been proposed for Number Four, but none of them is a SOSA member, and this “Quartet” thing is supposed to be one of the “perks” of membership.
UPDATES: Have names of two recording studios that have been recommended. Practice with Screamin’ Gulch was good—slightly bigger audience (the fans keep bringing friends), and very appreciative. Some of them fans are morphing into groupies. I ain’t had a groupie in years.
“Two Years in Prison” is still the only song I can do a really good lead on; for a lot of the others, I just do something simple and slide-y (envision Alvin Lee on dobro) and let Wayne do the fancy stuff on the National Steel. At this point, the band’s repertoire includes one of Wayne’s songs (a Cab Calloway-style blues called “Jerry the Junker”) and one of mine (“Naked Space Hamsters in Love”).
Joe
And of course, I want to do mine with a band. I’ve harped repeatedly on how vocalist-with-solo-guitar cuts are not saleable (at least, if it’s me). Could I put together a band of entirely SOSA members to do it? I could. My idea of an All-Star Band of jaw-dropping musicians would be Delonde Bell on bass, Russ Rodriguez on congas, Larry West on lead guitar, and George Clark on blues harp. I saw Delonde, Russ, and George at Chris Parreira’s open mike in Ashland (went there instead of Rogue River because of the weather), and they’re all interested. Offered to play lead on George’s submission for the album; it’s a country song, and I think I can do a decent Jerry Reed-style bluegrass lead on it. Might try backing him up Sunday night at the Wild Goose and see how it goes.
My submission for the SOSA Sampler, I think, will be “Naked Space Hamsters in Love.” I actually don’t have many songs that’ll come in under 4 minutes with lead breaks (and with the All-Stars, we’ll want lead breaks—these guys are talented). I think the “Hamsters” song will have room for two breaks, and still come in under 4 minutes. It moves pretty fast.
And just maybe, if these guys get comfortable doing this sort of thing (and it could happen), it might be possible to tap them to be the band for the next CD (or at least the slower songs on the next CD). They are probably as good session musicians as one could find outside of Nashville, each thoroughly expert on their instrument.
None of them plays country music, and I don’t think they’ve ever all played together before. So having ‘em all play together—and playing country songs—would be a real envelope-pushing exercise, and potentially a lot of fun.
It wouldn’t have to stop there; I know another guitarist (James Maille) who’s equally good, and another bassist (Jack Fischer), and another harmonica player (Darrin Wayne), and Dan Doshier plays fiddle, mandolin, standup bass, harmonica, and probably a bunch of other things. I think we have Resources, here.
Setlist for the SOSA “Quartet” gig at Johnny B.’s (with James Maille on lead guitar) presently looks like:
Dead Things in the Shower
Armadillo on the Interstate
Bluebird on My Windshield
The Frog Next Door
Duct Tape
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
All love songs (after a fashion). I like themes—and Valentine’s Day will be only 27 days away.
Designed a poster for the Quartet thing—I figured one of the ways we attract attention outside the Group is to promote. Right now, there’s only 3 names (and photos) on it—myself, Chris Parreira, and Scott Garriott; three fellows have been proposed for Number Four, but none of them is a SOSA member, and this “Quartet” thing is supposed to be one of the “perks” of membership.
UPDATES: Have names of two recording studios that have been recommended. Practice with Screamin’ Gulch was good—slightly bigger audience (the fans keep bringing friends), and very appreciative. Some of them fans are morphing into groupies. I ain’t had a groupie in years.
“Two Years in Prison” is still the only song I can do a really good lead on; for a lot of the others, I just do something simple and slide-y (envision Alvin Lee on dobro) and let Wayne do the fancy stuff on the National Steel. At this point, the band’s repertoire includes one of Wayne’s songs (a Cab Calloway-style blues called “Jerry the Junker”) and one of mine (“Naked Space Hamsters in Love”).
Joe
Friday, January 4, 2008
RECORDING...
Yes, Wayne’s recording of Screamin’ Gulch’s practice was good. The boy does have the gift.
Good input for the band, too—tells them (including me) how we sounded, and we got to trade tips on how to make us sound better. Wayne said my guitar was cutting in and out, but that’s not the case—I was simply avoiding notes I wasn’t sure of, so the ones I avoided didn’t record. Practice is the only thing that will cure that. The one song where I was sure what I was doing—a simple jailhouse country song that’s one of the few slow ones the band does—I do a half-decent lead.
The band has a ways to go before we’re doing record-quality work on my songs, but again, that just takes practice. (They can do harmony on “Naked “Space Hamsters in Love.” Scary.)
So there’s my outlet, maybe, for recording all of the uptempo material for the next album. We do it on stage with the band at Johnny B.’s, with a live audience of whoever shows up. That takes care (maybe, again) of:
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep
Rotten Candy
Test Tube Baby (which I still haven’t tried yet)
When I Jump Off the Cliff, I’ll Think of You
Hey, Little Chicken
The Frog Next Door
And leaves:
Christmas Roadkill
Armadillo on the Interstate
Twenty-Four Seven
Milepost 43
Dead Things in the Shower
Oil in the Cornfield (only serious song on the album)
Of course, the last two songs are pretty uptempo (and “Dead Things” is weird enough so it might get their attention). Maybe for those, it’d be possible to assemble a band—Southern Oregon Songwriters folks, maybe?—practice a bunch, and assemble them at Johnny B.’s for an evening. Or alternatively, do the recording in layers like the Real Studios do. The latter is more expensive because it consumes more recording time (and I still don’t know what Wayne would charge for doing this), and the former is more time-consuming because of the necessity of getting the musicians together to get practiced.
(On the other hand, it’d be good for the musicians to get together and get practiced. To the extent possible, I would like to sell ‘em all on the idea that they sound better together—and get more attention—than separately, and all of our talents can be used to help each other. An application of the old Chinese Electrician’s Rule: “Many hands make light work.”)
And I probably have time. At this point, an album would be coming out at earliest in time for Concert Season (mid-to-late summer), and at latest around Christmas.
UPCOMING: Southern Oregon Songwriters showcase Saturday night, the Wild Goose Sunday night, the country dance in Rogue River Tuesday night, and practice with Screamin’ Gulch Wednesday night. 4 nights out of 5 ain’t bad.
Joe
Good input for the band, too—tells them (including me) how we sounded, and we got to trade tips on how to make us sound better. Wayne said my guitar was cutting in and out, but that’s not the case—I was simply avoiding notes I wasn’t sure of, so the ones I avoided didn’t record. Practice is the only thing that will cure that. The one song where I was sure what I was doing—a simple jailhouse country song that’s one of the few slow ones the band does—I do a half-decent lead.
The band has a ways to go before we’re doing record-quality work on my songs, but again, that just takes practice. (They can do harmony on “Naked “Space Hamsters in Love.” Scary.)
So there’s my outlet, maybe, for recording all of the uptempo material for the next album. We do it on stage with the band at Johnny B.’s, with a live audience of whoever shows up. That takes care (maybe, again) of:
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep
Rotten Candy
Test Tube Baby (which I still haven’t tried yet)
When I Jump Off the Cliff, I’ll Think of You
Hey, Little Chicken
The Frog Next Door
And leaves:
Christmas Roadkill
Armadillo on the Interstate
Twenty-Four Seven
Milepost 43
Dead Things in the Shower
Oil in the Cornfield (only serious song on the album)
Of course, the last two songs are pretty uptempo (and “Dead Things” is weird enough so it might get their attention). Maybe for those, it’d be possible to assemble a band—Southern Oregon Songwriters folks, maybe?—practice a bunch, and assemble them at Johnny B.’s for an evening. Or alternatively, do the recording in layers like the Real Studios do. The latter is more expensive because it consumes more recording time (and I still don’t know what Wayne would charge for doing this), and the former is more time-consuming because of the necessity of getting the musicians together to get practiced.
(On the other hand, it’d be good for the musicians to get together and get practiced. To the extent possible, I would like to sell ‘em all on the idea that they sound better together—and get more attention—than separately, and all of our talents can be used to help each other. An application of the old Chinese Electrician’s Rule: “Many hands make light work.”)
And I probably have time. At this point, an album would be coming out at earliest in time for Concert Season (mid-to-late summer), and at latest around Christmas.
UPCOMING: Southern Oregon Songwriters showcase Saturday night, the Wild Goose Sunday night, the country dance in Rogue River Tuesday night, and practice with Screamin’ Gulch Wednesday night. 4 nights out of 5 ain’t bad.
Joe
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
NEW YEAR'S EVE AT JOHNNY B.'S...
It’s a fluke, really—the only reason I’ve been able to post more often than weekly lately is I’ve had an extra holiday with nothing to do. (Well, not exactly true. I’ve been avoiding work. And it’s cold outside, so I haven’t wanted to go there. No gigs today, either, and no songs I wanted to work on. But I wanted to keep my hand in writing.)
New Year’s Eve was good. I opened with about a half-hour solo set , and then got to sit in later and play electric rhythm guitar (I wouldn’t call it “lead”) with Johnny B.’s band, “The Cheatin’ Hearts.” The solo audience got:
Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues
The Termite Song
Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?
The Abomination Two-Step
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
--and for an encore, I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas.
Good setlist for the about-to-be-hopelessly-inebriated. Starts with something slow and sleazy, that needs no introduction (introductions may not be necessary much any more—half these people either knew me or had heard about me), then picks up the tempo (since most of what I’ve written are uptempo songs); mostly simple ideas, with a few punchlines and an increasing dose of sexual innuendo (since that’s the other thing an inebriated crowd is interested in besides dancing).
Two songs that were requested that I didn’t get to play were “Hey, Little Chicken” and “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep”; I’d hoped to do those later with the band, but it didn’t work out—we ended up doing all their songs. It does make one wonder where the requesters had heard them (I’m sure one of them I’d never met before). Has Johnny B. or his bartender been playing the CD I left them?
Are there some marketing lessons here? Maybe; if you “never stop selling,” you may end up selling things when you didn’t plan on it. So leaving the CD at the bar was a good move. (It was just a collection of fast songs I thought “Screamin’ Gulch” might be interested in playing.) The bar has a stereo system instead of a jukebox, and they play music constantly. Doing the solo set was good, too; I hadn’t planned on it, but I was prepared—these days, I carry little setlists around in my head, so if I’m asked to play 15 or 30 minutes’ worth at the drop of a hat, I can do it without thinking about it. (Come to think of it, I didn’t use to get asked to do that. Maybe that’s a plus, too.)
And the audience did listen, which I didn’t expect a crowd of determined partiers to do. (And I think Johnny noticed.) I am angling for a gig there, ideally with a band (I told Johnny with a band I could fill an hour and a half with music easily—that’s what we did for Cycle Oregon in 2006).
Now, what would be fun to try would be pulling this off in other places, too. The ideal spot to tackle first would be the Wild Goose in Ashland, where the crowd has gotten fairly used to me at the weekly open mikes (as have the bartenders—they don’t even ask what I want any more when I walk in). Depending on the night, I could probably draw a crowd—which is what venue owners want.
It could grow from there. I better get those press kits (“Joe is Great!” brochure, promotional poster, business card, and copy of the “Santa’s Fallen” CD) ready. Happy New Year, everybody.
Joe
New Year’s Eve was good. I opened with about a half-hour solo set , and then got to sit in later and play electric rhythm guitar (I wouldn’t call it “lead”) with Johnny B.’s band, “The Cheatin’ Hearts.” The solo audience got:
Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues
The Termite Song
Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?
The Abomination Two-Step
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
--and for an encore, I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas.
Good setlist for the about-to-be-hopelessly-inebriated. Starts with something slow and sleazy, that needs no introduction (introductions may not be necessary much any more—half these people either knew me or had heard about me), then picks up the tempo (since most of what I’ve written are uptempo songs); mostly simple ideas, with a few punchlines and an increasing dose of sexual innuendo (since that’s the other thing an inebriated crowd is interested in besides dancing).
Two songs that were requested that I didn’t get to play were “Hey, Little Chicken” and “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep”; I’d hoped to do those later with the band, but it didn’t work out—we ended up doing all their songs. It does make one wonder where the requesters had heard them (I’m sure one of them I’d never met before). Has Johnny B. or his bartender been playing the CD I left them?
Are there some marketing lessons here? Maybe; if you “never stop selling,” you may end up selling things when you didn’t plan on it. So leaving the CD at the bar was a good move. (It was just a collection of fast songs I thought “Screamin’ Gulch” might be interested in playing.) The bar has a stereo system instead of a jukebox, and they play music constantly. Doing the solo set was good, too; I hadn’t planned on it, but I was prepared—these days, I carry little setlists around in my head, so if I’m asked to play 15 or 30 minutes’ worth at the drop of a hat, I can do it without thinking about it. (Come to think of it, I didn’t use to get asked to do that. Maybe that’s a plus, too.)
And the audience did listen, which I didn’t expect a crowd of determined partiers to do. (And I think Johnny noticed.) I am angling for a gig there, ideally with a band (I told Johnny with a band I could fill an hour and a half with music easily—that’s what we did for Cycle Oregon in 2006).
Now, what would be fun to try would be pulling this off in other places, too. The ideal spot to tackle first would be the Wild Goose in Ashland, where the crowd has gotten fairly used to me at the weekly open mikes (as have the bartenders—they don’t even ask what I want any more when I walk in). Depending on the night, I could probably draw a crowd—which is what venue owners want.
It could grow from there. I better get those press kits (“Joe is Great!” brochure, promotional poster, business card, and copy of the “Santa’s Fallen” CD) ready. Happy New Year, everybody.
Joe
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