PUMPKINFEST POST-MORTEM (&C.)...

Well, the Lafayette Pumpkinfest gig is history. Since I didn’t have expectations, it wasn’t bad. I did have to play unplugged—where they had me, there just wasn’t any way to run electricity without creating a tripping hazard—but it’s not like a lot of people were paying attention anyway. There was a lot of stuff going on, and a lot of kids doing it, and a lot of parents trying with varying degrees of success to keep track of them. It is probably just as well I couldn’t be too much of a distraction.

About halfway through the set, I got invited to move into Martha’s Tacos (and did—my fingers were getting numb from the cold) and finished the set there (and thanked the owners profusely for letting me do that). Positive notes: I did manage to play the whole set pretty good without my fingers getting unbearably sore (I’d practiced with the band for 3-1/2 hours earlier in the afternoon). And the timing was perfect—it was exactly an hour.

A number of people did notice—and maybe appreciated—that I was there, even though I doubt any of them heard much of what I was playing. I did hear one of the organizers saying they’d get a PA system next year. (They could use one.)

Practice was pretty good—but I have work to do. I still haven’t got one of the cover songs, Nickelback’s “Far Away,” down at all; John gave me some pointers on the timing, which did help, but it doesn’t help that the song changes timing a couple of times between beginning and end. (I was told that’s what happens when people with no musical training write hit songs.) The others aren’t bad. Edwin McCain’s “I’ll Be” turns out to be (mostly) the standard “Teen Angel” rock progression, just done as a waltz; “Cinderella” is a really well-written song—I just need to control my voice from cracking when I sing it, because it is really emotional; and Dylan’s “Love Minus Zero” is a fairly set piece (it’s one of my favorite love songs).

We spent a lot of time on “I’m a Believer,” because it’s become such a classic people expect anyone who plays it to sound like the Monkees (turns out Neil Diamond actually wrote it, and he performs it regularly, too—and he doesn’t sound at all like the Monkees). John (bass) and Charlie (lead guitar) were doing a good job re-creating the sound of the Monkees’ cheesy organ without having an organ in the band.

Since I want to sing “Cinderella,” I can’t do the “daddy-daughter dance” with it (and it was intended to be the “daddy-daughter dance” song). Perhaps the best route to go, since I do want to dance with daughter, too (and the “Cinderella” song underscores why that’s important), would be to have the band break into a couple of rounds of the “Saturday Night Waltz,” which is an instrumental (and Doc can lead it—he does it perfectly).

I have absolutely no time the next two (or is it three?) weeks. The band will practice one more time, Friday night; Saturday’s the wedding rehearsal (and I’ve been asked to make my fish lasagna for the Rehearsal Dinner); and Sunday is the wedding (and band performance). The following weekend, I don’t even get to go home—we’re doing the city manager interviews here in Lafayette. Somewhere between now and then, I’ve got another Southern Oregon Songwriters newsletter to do, and need to get one of the City’s computers “Skype-ready” with my video camera (because one of the folks we’re interviewing is in Alaska). And there are rather a lot of jobs to apply for, too. I can’t forget this one runs out soon.

Joe