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.

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

REVIEW OF THE BIG GIG...

Had a cold, of course (people told me it was a flu, and others were getting it). Lots of Vitamin C, and time in bed. A radio station announcer turned me onto an old folk remedy she uses for those “show must go on” situations—apple cider vinegar and honey in hot water. Drank it like, well, coffee, and it did help. Peppermint tea and honey at the gig, too.

Band is one of the best you’ll hear on any stage for any price, and I was proud to have ‘em playing my music. James Maille is one of the best lead guitarists I have ever met, and he brought both his acoustic and Telecaster, and alternated them for variety. Jack Fischer on bass. Darrin Wayne for starters on harmonica, and when he had to leave to tend a sick kid, George Clark filled in. With all the “rehearsal” shows the previous two weeks, they were familiar with about half the songs; it would have been nice to have practiced the other half in advance, too, but these guys are all good, and they could follow.

Real small crowd—at the best of times, it probably wasn’t more than five times as many people as the band—but they were consistently appreciative, did leave tips in the bright yellow “Tipping Is Not A City in China” bucket, and I even sold a few CDs. As promised, we did rock the house, and I hope all the participants—band and audience—tell everyone they know what a great time they had. A lot of people who said they were going to come didn’t—and, well, they missed it.

We played 27 songs (out of a planned list of 35):

Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues (slow & sleazy)
The Termite Song (fast bluegrass)
Armadillo on the Interstate (slow & sleazy)
Bluebird on My Windshield (fast bluegrass)
Duct Tape (mod. fast country)
Free-Range Person (fast bluegrass)
Milepost 43 (mod. slow country)
Hey, Little Chicken (sleazy blues)
The World Enquirer (fast bluegrass)
No Good Songs About the War (slow country)
I May Write You from Jupiter (fast bluegrass)
Sam & Melinda (slow & sleazy)
She Ain’t Starvin’ Herself (standard 12-bar blues)
The Six-Legged Polka (fast bluegrass)
Born Again Barbie (mod. fast country)
Cuddle in the Darkness (slow & skleazy)
Naked Space Hamsters in Love (fast bluegrass)
Hank’s Song (mod. fast 2-step)
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (rock ‘n’ roll)
Dead Things in the Shower (mod. fast country)
Writer’s Block Blues (slow & sleazy)
Prehistoric Roadkill (fast bluegrass)
Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes? (slow & sleazy)
When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You (fast bluegrass)
Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus (mod. fast country)
Meet Me at the Stairs (fast bluegrass)
I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas (slow & sleazy)

I tried to alternate fasties and slowsies, but had to question with a long set whether that was enough variety. Suggestion from the band was to vary styles more—though I don’t have a lot of different styles at this point; it’s true, though, that the songs that were a significant departure from the “norm” (the standard 12-bar blueses, for instance, or “Dirty Deeds,” which is rock ‘n’ roll, Johnny Cash style), got a lot more attention—and so did the “traditional country” songs that followed them. Definitely something to work on.

I do have one “traditional” rock ‘n’ roll song in the Catalog—“Test Tube Baby”—that we didn’t do because we hadn’t practiced it (and I couldn’t do a good Elvis imitation without my voice), one more blues, and a couple of waltzes (fast ones, of course), and I suppose I should ensure those are in the mix for any long set.

All in all, it was good. Couldn’t have asked for a more professional band, and I think I did as much promotion as possible, covering as many bases as possible; if in the end, people don’t show up, well, it wasn’t because I didn’t reach ‘em. Best I can hope is they’ll regret not being there, and maybe come next time, if there’s a next time.

Joe

Sunday, April 27, 2008

ABOUT TIME...

Being a full-time musician is tiring. (Yes, I would still do it for a living.)

The appearances Friday (at the SOSA “Trio” event), Saturday and Monday (SOSA “showcases”), and Sunday (open mike at the Wild Goose) were essentially all rehearsals, making sure that Jack (bass) and Darrin (harmonica) knew a lot of the material, or at least knew what to expect. Tuesday (open mike at NW Pasta & Pizza) was the only one where I played solo.

Sunday morning and afternoon was practice with the impromptu Triple Tree band (we’re calling ourselves “Darrin Wayne and Friends”), and so was Wednesday night and Friday night. Wednesday and Thursday nights were also practice with Screamin’ Gulch—our big gig at Johnny B.’s was Friday night, and the band hadn’t played together in three weeks. (And Thursday night was also practice with Darrin, to make sure I could follow his songs at the Triple Tree gig.) It all makes for very sore fingers. A sore shoulder, too—I know now why so many professional musicians have wide, padded guitar straps. That old fake Gibson “jumbo” guitar is heavy—but you don’t notice until you’ve been standing up with it for hours on end, days on end.

The gigs did go off well. Screamin’ Gulch had three lead guitarists Friday night (one besides Wayne and me, in other words), so I didn’t have to do a lot of work. The band is tight, and organized, and we put on a good show. Compared to our high-energy performance, the name act—The Mighty Lonesomes, a bluegrass band out of Ashland—were a little tame, and I think the audience felt it, too. They should have opened for us, not vice versa. (But wait—they’re the professionals, not us. Is something going on here?)

The Triple Tree show on Saturday was good, too. Thanks to all the practice and organizing, the set came in at almost exactly three hours, and we virtually never had a moment without somebody playing on stage. We set the stage up so individuals could drift on and off stage without being obvious about it—but for about two-thirds of everybody’s material, nobody had to be off stage—it was stuff we’d practiced, and we were a Band, and a good one. Most of the audience was friends and family of the performers, but I doubt the venue cared—we brought in customers, and that’s what counts. Left the owner an autographed photo of “Darrin Wayne and Friends” (and also one of my CDs for the jukebox—she already has Darrin’s).

Wayne (Screamin’ Gulch’s steel player and impromptu recording engineer) said he isn’t done “tweaking” the songs of mine he recorded two weeks ago—he’s still got instruments to add—but he says they’re coming out nice. He sounded excited—which I think means we’re going to get a real good product. If so, I’d like to have him do the rest of the songs for the album, too.

And a fun job (using the term “job” loosely, of course—it’s unpaid). I’ve been tentatively tapped by the music publisher whose mailing list I’m on to write historical narratives for an album of old Gospel hymns. Sent those off Saturday. It was fun work—I learned a lot of trivia about Gospel songs I thought I knew, and some of it was fascinating. (Did you know “Jesus Loves Me” has been translated into Klingon?) She also wants to do interviews of some of the songwriters in her “catalog”—and knows (now) that I used to be a newspaper reporter, and have some experience doing just that.

Time to list some more assets. Got another dude with a recording studio who wants to record my stuff (gave him a copy of the “Santa’s Fallen” CD as a guide to what I want), a bluegrass band that wants to cover one of my songs (told them “sure”), and a radio station DJ who wants to play my stuff on the air (he got a CD, too).

Still to do: More CDs to burn, label and package. Still need to pick a studio and record the album. And practice for the Big Gig.

Joe

Monday, April 21, 2008

MENTOR?

Sometimes I feel like I’m being a mentor—and I’m not sure I should be. I can’t claim what I’m doing is right—I just invented it as I’ve gone along, and what you see is just the things that have worked. For me. Does not mean they work for anyone else. (On the other hand, what I do I have ruthlessly robbed from other people myself—it is not new. It looks “unique” only because I’ve twisted it to fit my own peculiar circumstances—rather like adapting Avril Lavigne’s rhyming schemes to a country music song, which I’ve also done.)

So what would I pass on to the Triple Tree Group? Be organized, I think, is first and foremost. Know what you’re going to play, and how much time it’s going to take. You probably don’t have to be as anal about it as I am; I’m highly organized about gigs because I’m scared of crowds and want to leave nothing to chance.

Two, consider The Rap. I realize very few other performers do it. My main reason for doing The Rap is to make a little space between songs so they don’t all sound too much alike (always a danger in country music). But it’s also an opportunity to give people a little background on the song—why it was written, for instance--that might get the song a little more attention. (One of Jackie’s songs was written for a friend whose kid died, for example. I found myself paying a lot more attention to the song after I knew that.)

Had a band for the SOSA “showcase” Saturday night—Jack Fischer on bass, and Darrin Wayne on harmonica. Having a band is starting to become a regular thing. We did “The Writer’s Block Blues,” “Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus” and “Rotten Candy.”

Wild Goose set Sunday was with a band, too—Jack on bass, and George Clark on harmonica. We did “Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues” (with the audience singing along with the chorus), “No Good Songs About the War” (ditto), “The Abomination Two-step” and (for an encore) “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?”

Still trying to market myself as a guitarist, too (hard to do, because there are so many good musicians around these parts). Hit up George Clark about backing up some of his simpler songs—old Gospel, old bluegrass, and early Dylan—and then got to strut my stuff, after a fashion, with George there, by backing up Scott Garriott on three of the four songs we’d practiced together. I’ve been practicing playing lead on some of Darrin Wayne’s and Jackie LaDel’s songs, too; Jackie’s are like a cross between folk and Enya, while Darrin’s are straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll.

Recorded two of Scott’s songs, too, this week, in the living room of the Barbie House, using the little Tascam. Four tracks is ideal for folk music, and Scott’s songs are classic folk in format (though with very psychedelic lyrics and amazingly compelling melodies). Scott’s rhythm guitar on one track, my lead on another, his vocal on the third, and “color” on the fourth (harmonica on “Mattress and the Snake Pit,” and shaker on “Clown in Paradise”). A few more to do. I figure we can at least spice up Scott’s MySpace page with some decent recordings and maybe get his stuff some attention. (“Mattress and the Snake Pit” would actually sound really good done as a country-music song. It’d need to be 4/4 time, though, rather than a fast waltz. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that to a song. I wonder how Scott would feel about it?)

Joe

Saturday, April 19, 2008

THE TRIO GIG...

“Trio” show at Johnny B.’s went well. We ended up with a full band—besides James on lead guitar, Jack played bass, George Clark harmonica, and Johnny himself sat in on drums. And everyone was excited about how good we sounded. Even had a crowd show up—mostly college kids; I thought they had come to hear the act after us, but most of ‘em drifted away after we stopped playing.

(Come to think of it, there was a “downtown artwalk”—a monthly thing, with street jugglers and such, that night; it probably ended about dark, which is when the kids showed up. I think the music drew ‘em in.)

Set was:

One: I Love You
When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You
Armadillo on the Interstate
Duct Tape
She Ain’t Starvin’ Herself
Hank’s Song
Free-Range Person
Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus
Bluebird on My Windshield
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep

I was told we were recordable (yes, I think we are), and that we could get gigs (yes, I believe we could). Proof, probably, will be the Big Gig in Ashland; if we can hold their attention for three hours, we have probably made a name for ourselves.

Three upcoming openmike-type performance opportunities over the next three days; Saturday and Monday are SOSA “showcases,” and Sunday is the Wild Goose. Best, I think, to play different songs each time, to get the musicians (not all of whom will be at each one) familiar with as much as possible of the material for the Big Gig.

Lessons? (There are always lessons.) First, the whole is greater than its parts. The performance underscored what I’ve maintained publicly for some time—even wrote an article for SOSA’s newsletter on it—that we sound better collectively than we do individually. And that’s true not just of me, but of everybody.

Second, have to make sure that the rising tide (if there is a tide, and if it is rising) lifts all boats, like Kennedy said. We have the Triple Tree gig coming up, with four different writers including me, and I’d like to see us all be each other’s band to the extent we can. It is each of us’ job, I think, to make the rest of us sound as good as possible. It’ll take some practice, but we’ve got a week.

Joe

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

MORE UPDATES...

MORE UPDATES…

THE GIGS: Posters are done for the three gigs—Johnny B.’s 4/25, Triple Tree 4/26, and the Wild Goose 4/29. Two mass-mailings to the joelist, plus bulletins on MySpace. (There’s a bit of overlap between the two, but no one’s complained yet.) Still working on the 3-hour setlist for the Wild Goose—the best 3 dozen of over 50 songs. I have the first hour’s tunes organized, but not further at this point.

AND A NEW GIG: Friday 4/18, at Johnny B.’s, 7 p.m. Real short notice, but I didn’t want to pass up the chance. One of the performers at the Southern Oregon Songwriters “Trio” event scheduled for that night couldn’t come, so they tapped me (yay!), and I tapped the incomparable James Maille to play lead (more yay!). Poster and setlist are done (it’s easy to script out a short gig).

THE STUDIOS: One of the studios is out—it’s really a home recording setup (though the guy’s done some good work with it), and probably wouldn’t be available until June (too late, I think). Another is out because his room is too small, I think; we couldn’t record the entire band live—we’d have to “layer” everybody, which roughly quadruples the cost. On the other hand, I know two people who have acquired very professional recording equipment just in the past week, and they’re potentially in. I am after the best quality possible, but price is definitely an object, too, because I’m unemployed.

PROJECTS: Another song to co-write, this one with Derek Hines of JPF. The studio (using the term loosely) is set up to record Scott Garriott’s folk songs. More CDs to burn, and labels to print.

THROWAWAY POEM/SONG: I was sitting next to T-Poe (easily this area’s best poet) at the open mike Tuesday night, and lines started coming to me (T-Poe is probably infectious like that), and I wrote ‘em down. Just a quick 6-verse thing about why one-celled animals can’t have any fun—ending with an appeal for a one-night stand (by a multi-celled human being of the female persuasion, thank you). I wanted to see if I could finish it before the open mike was over, and I did—plus listened to and complimented other performers, and performed three songs myself. All in two hours. Writing for deadlines is good practice. Hight (tentatively, of course) “The Virus and the One-Night Stand.”

And then it acquired music on the 10-mile drive home. Not my music, actually—the tune is from a ragtimey 1920s French two-step I ran across years ago about the dangers of premarital sex, which on reflection did seem appropriate to the situation. (Then again, maybe it is my music. I was guessing at what the French author was doing without really being able to read sheet music—there were no chords, of course--and I was trying to memorize the whole thing before I left the thrift store, because I had no intention of buying the sheet music.)

It probably could use a chorus (the French song didn’t have one, though, and it was fine). I doubt it’s a “keeper”—and considering the subject matter, it couldn’t be played in too many places—but I’ll play it privately for a few people and see what they think. It is mostly just nice to know that I can do it. Words have been hard to come by of late.

Joe

Thursday, April 10, 2008

THREE GIGS!

THREE GIGS! Here they are, in chronological order:

(1) FRIDAY, 25 APRIL at Johnny B.’s in Medford (downtown, at 35 S. Bartlett), starting at 9:30 p.m. I’ll be playing with Screamin’ Gulch, and we’ll be followed by the bluegrass band The Mighty Lonesomes.

(2) SATURDAY, 26 APRIL with Darrin Wayne at the Triple Tree Restaurant in Sams Valley (on Highway 234 at the blinking light), starting at 5 p.m. We’ll try to rope a bunch of other Southern Oregon Songwriters in, too.

(3) TUESDAY, 29 APRIL at the Wild Goose CafĂ© & Bar in Ashland (exit 14 off I-5), 8 to 11 p.m. The Band will be Jack Fischer (electric bass), Darrin Wayne (harmonica), and James Maille (lead guitar). This is the big one--3 hours of my stuff. Might throw in a couple of co-writes for seriousness—one can’t have levity all the time—but with over 50 songs, I’ve got more than 3 hours’ worth of music just with my material. With two good lead players, a lot of the songs can be expanded into real good dance numbers (not that the Goose has any room to dance in).

Time to notify the joelist.

Medford paper (which is a pretty big daily) did an article on the “Joe Got Fired song,” and it’s gotten some attention. (Many thanks to Buffy, the reporter; I hadn’t expected it, and she did a great job.) The article got circulated statewide a day later by the League of Oregon Cities. The publicity is probably okay. The song is getting requested now everywhere I show up to play. It probably needs to be the song Darrin and I do in Rogue Community College’s “Star of Stars” fundraising show in June. ($1,000 prize money if we win.)

Three of my songs got the “full band treatment” at the Southern Oregon Songwriters showcase at the Siskiyou Brew Pub in Ashland Monday 4/7—“No Good Songs About the War,” “Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus,” and “Free-Range Person.” Jack Fischer on electric bass, and George Clark on harmonica. Yes, we can rock the house. Used the opportunity to hit Patrick-the-owner up for a paying gig, but he says he’s booked till summer. I did not tell him (this time) that that might be too late.

A few to-dos, then: The article in the Medford paper is a potential spur to a gig at Roscoe’s in Phoenix; need to talk to him. He understands promotion, I think, and the operative question is whether he wants to take advantage of the free publicity afforded by the article (like Johnny did) to increase the size of his crowd.

Is there an opportunity for publicity in Ashland before the Wild Goose gig? Again, the newspaper article is a potential ticket through the door—if I can find out where the door is (and who’s manning it). I should get some extra copies of that issue of the paper.

OTHER STUFF: Recorded a Darrin Wayne song for him—there’s a radio station that wants to play it. Did it over about a 3-hour period last night. (The little Tascam is great for this stuff, because it’s so mobile—everything but the mike stand fits in a little Winnie-the-Pooh shoulder bag I can take anywhere.) Darrin’s on three tracks—rhythm guitar, vocal, and harmonica; I added lead guitar (me) and mixed it the following morning.

I can do more of this. One artist whose stuff I’d like to try to tackle is Scott Garriott, one of the few authentic folksingers in these parts; Scott’s material has very compelling melodies (and I can play lead to some of his material). I don’t think any of it has ever been recorded professionally, and none of it has been recorded well. I think I could help with that. Not studio-quality stuff, of course—the Tascam, even in competent hands, is incapable of that—but I think we could produce presentation-quality stuff, that could adequately show off the material and get the guy some needed attention.

Joe

Monday, April 7, 2008

WILD GOOSE GIG 4/29...

For a change, mostly good news. The music business is picking up.

THE WILD GOOSE GIG is going to be TUESDAY, 29 APRIL, 8 to 11 p.m. I’ve tapped Darrin Wayne to play harmonica, and want to tap James Maille for lead guitar, Jack Fischer for bass, and Dan Doshier for mandolin, if they’re willing. Soon as the band’s firmed up, I’ll do a poster. And notify the joelist.

Darrin and I also may be playing the Three Trees Lounge in Sams Valley this Saturday, 4/12. Just the two of us, but it could turn into a paying gig for a full band. We visited the place a week ago, and the clientele are definitely folks who like country music—and we can give it to ‘em.

At the Wild Goose open mike Sunday 4/6, I got to not only do my stuff, but also play lead guitar on one of Darrin’s songs (which we’d been practicing) and two of Scott Garriott’s (ditto). Might get a reputation as a guitarist yet. A lot of antiwar songs at the Goose—symptomatic, I think, of a growing unrest—and Darrin and I played ‘em my “No Good Songs About the War.”

Most of the other antiwar songs were frankly not very good; they were too long, mournful to the point of being boring, and/or named names and current events—none of which you should do in a good protest song. Protest songs need to be simple, and singable, and have a recognizable beat, and have a clear, timeless image you can beat people over the head with until you’ve got their attention. Closest one I heard to that ideal was Darrin Wayne’s “Who’ll Save Me?”

And I got approached by a recording studio owner who wants to record my stuff. He’s the third studio dude I’ve talked to (but the first who’s approached me). I have his Website and MySpace to check out; pretty quick, I’ll have to decide which way to jump. It looks like getting the new CD “in the can” before the end of April is a distinct possibility. Just have to decide where.

BEANERY GIG: Saturday 4/5, and it was okay. Small crowd (could have promoted better—and it’d probably have helped to not be competing with a Southern Oregon Songwriters’ showcase the same night). Scott and I split $9.60 in tips, and I got one more name for the joelist. The coffee was free (thanks, Beanery), and I think the staff liked us. Next 3 weekends are open, and it would be fun to do it again.

SPEECH TEAM DESSERT GALA: The big annual fundraiser for my daughter’s speech team was Friday 4/4, and they asked for two of my CDs to auction off. They ended up with three more besides mine—I donated my copies of Delonde Bell’s “Phoenix Door” album, Darrin Wayne’s “Touch Ya,” and Dottie Brown & Co.’s “Just Some More Good Old Stuff.”

TO DO: Nail down the gig at Roscoe’s in Phoenix. Burn more CDs (takes a while on the good-but-slow equipment I have at home). Find out from Wayne how the recording came out (if he’s gotten it done yet); I’m not that happy with my performance on it, but he may well be able to work magic with it.

No Screamin’ Gulch practice this week, but I still get to play Monday, Tuesday and the gig on Saturday. Not too bad.

Joe

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

THE RECORDING SESSION...

Didn’t have Screamin’ Gulch for practice Wednesday night, but did have Wayne, and his recording equipment, and for part of the evening, had Mike the standup bass player, too. So we recorded a pile of songs

The Termite Song
(When I Jump Off the Cliff) I’ll Think of You
Free-Range Person
Armadillo on the Interstate
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
No Good Songs About the War
Milepost 43
Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep

And now it’s in Wayne’s court. I encouraged him to not leave it me and acoustic guitar (emphasizing that me and solo guitar is not a marketable commodity), but to add bass, resonator, and whatever else he feels like. He might include an applause track, too, so it’ll feel like a live performance. (We did have an audience—a small one, but it kept growing.) Might have a product in a couple of weeks. (And Wayne is starting to think about doing this commercially. He should. He is good.)

UPCOMING: Both a Southern Oregon Songwriters’ “showcase” and the gig with Scott Garriott Saturday night (we’ll practice Thursday night). I’ve threatened to get a 30-gallon garbage can for Scott’s and my tips Saturday night, but it’ll have to be smaller—the Beanery isn’t that big. (I got a 2-gallon one and made a “Tipping Is Not a City in China” label for it.)

THE GIGS: Roscoe (Roscoe’s BBQ) still hasn’t listened to the CD yet; maybe it’s time to encourage some folks who eat there to tell him, “Y’know, you really ought to have Joe play here.” Patrick (Siskiyou Pub) said he’d thought I’d already left town; I told him ‘d still be around for a while, but he already has most of April booked. No word from Cassie (Wild Goose), and ‘ll have to call her. LESSON Always follow up, and frequently. There is always competition, and some of them are better at competing, and able to put more time into it.

AND THE FUTURE: I still don’t know what I want to do. It’d be great from a music standpoint to stick around this area—I’m beginning to get a lot of attention, and expect I can get more. The “buzz,” as they call it in the industry, is what’s important. If you’re going to make money as a writer, you have to show that people will come—pay money, even—to hear your material, even if (like Bob Dylan and John Prine) it’s you performing it. Then (in theory) other people will want to perform your material so they can draw crowds, too.

I think I’m maybe a year away from being able to support myself doing that. Thing is, I don’t have enough money saved up to carry me a year. I’ll have to have a job—and if it’s another city manager job, it’s guaranteed to be somewhere else, and I’ll have to move there. That, in a nutshell, is the dilemma. I have done it before—but I’ve gotten further here musically in a shorter period of time than I have anywhere else I’ve lived. And I hate having shallow roots. Like the song says (not one of mine, unfortunately), “I’d like to settle down, but they won’t let me.”

Joe