WHEELER SUMMERFEST POST-MORTEM...

The Wheeler Summerfest gigs went well—both of them. When Deathgrass played, it was still raining (performance and audience spaces were both under tents, though), but by the time 45 Degrees North were on stage, the sun was coming out. Neat event—it was especially nice that everything—the food, the crafts, the music, even the boat rides—was local, and determinedly so. And folks obviously had no problem hanging out in the rain.

I got the impression folks liked everything Deathgrass did; still, there are “bests.” Southern Pigfish’s “For Their Own Ends” is a consistent hit; so is “Tillamook Railroad Blues” and Stan Good’s “Un-Easy Street.” We probably played “She Ain’t Starvin’ Herself” best. A lot of the songs weren’t as uptempo as we’d practiced them on Friday, and that’s my fault—I’m the one who sets the rhythm, and I was tired after four hours of practice with two bands the day before. Mike Simpson handled the sound, so we sounded as good as we possibly could. Didn’t sell any CDs, but did get new names on the “joelist.” Charlie videotaped the performance, and I’ll see sometime this week how that came out.

I think the public (and it was mostly a different “public”) liked the songs of mine that 45 Degrees North did, too. The two that had people singing along were “Pole Dancing for Jesus” and (surprise!) “The Abomination Two-Step.” Of the rest, I noticed people really liked the Irish fiddle tunes once they had heard some background (and many of those tunes have real strange histories)—and they loved “Moon River” (not surprising—Candice and Kathryn’s rendition is, as I’ve noted before, impeccable). Wayne is a very good bass player and it’s good having him with us.

Kid Siegal’s 8-channel PA system was the “house PA” for the Summerfest, and it wasn’t bad. However, I noticed when Kid and his band, the Moneymakers, were playing (after Deathgrass, and before 45 Degrees North), they used separate amps—little ones—to amplify the guitar and bass, and I asked him why afterward. He said, “Oh, I’d never run a guitar through this PA.” Well, we did—twice. And it seemed to do okay.

I’ve heard from a number of musicians now who play in bands, and most of them say they’re really busy this summer—busier, some say, than they’ve ever been before. (I’d second that. I certainly am.) It’s the crying need for cheap, local entertainment that I’ve noted before as a symptom of the Failed Economy. It’s an opportunity for local musicians, and not enough are taking advantage of it.

Inherited both of daughter’s laptops when she moved; I’m not sure which I’d want to keep—they’re both afflicted with Windows Vista, and that’s the first thing I’d need to fix. (They both have other problems, too.) A laptop is my missing piece in remote recording; with a laptop available to upload songs to from the Tascam, it’s possible—finally—to do remote recording of more than one song at a time. But whichever laptop I use for that has got to have a better operating system. Windows Vista is not acceptable. It doesn’t have the drivers for my stuff.

I’ve sketched out the setlist for Deathgrass’ performance at Garibaldi Days; need to make CDs, work out the Rap, send out notices, and figure out a time to practice. It won’t be this week: this week, I’ve got meetings Monday and Tuesday nights, practice with 45 Degrees North Wednesday night, the Writers’ Guild Thursday night, and 45 Degrees North’s performance at the 2nd Street Market Friday night. Saturday, I’ve got two performances—the 15-minute solo one at the “Hoffapalooza” in Manzanita (1:30), and 45 Degrees North’s gig at the “Rapture Room” in Nehalem (4-6). Setlists and Raps for both the 45 Degrees North sets to work out, too. Busy, like I said. Might find out about one of the jobs Tuesday, too.

Joe