NETARTS CHRISTMAS SHOW SETLIST...

Finished the setlist for the Netarts Christmas show Dec. 20 (Netarts Community Club, 7 p.m.). They wanted all Christmas songs. They’re going to get:

Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer (Elmo & Patsy Shropshire)—fast pop
White Christmas (Irving Berlin)—slow two-step
Santa’s Fallen and He Can’t Get Up—fast bluegrass
Blue Christmas (Hayes & Johnson)—slow, bluesy two-step
Welcome to Hebo Waltz—fast waltz
Even Roadkill Gets the Blues—slow two-step
Another Crappy Christmas (Don Varnell)—fast pop
Santa, Baby (Javits & Springer)—sleazy jazz
I Want a Man for Christmas—rock ‘n’ roll
I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas—slow & sleazy
Chipmunks Roasting on an Open Fire—slow jazz (and short)

Five of mine, two co-writes (one with daughter), and four covers (only one of which could be characterized as “normal”). And only one new song I had to learn. The 11 songs should cover 45 minutes—five of them are short since everything will be done without lead breaks (and two of the songs are real short). Let’s say it’s a bit different Christmas show. Hope they like it. There will be at least a few people there that I know.

A few of the songs on the setlist need more practice—and about the only chance I have is at the various jam sessions. Last two I went to I played “I Want a Man for Christmas,” and I’ve done the Don Varnell song twice, too. I went to the Friday night jam in Garibaldi (they got “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” and it came out all right), and I’ll go to the Sunday night one at the Rapture Room.

I also have The Cold, the one everybody else has (so I can’t blame anybody specific for giving it to me), so I have to get my voice in order for Tuesday. At this point, I have a voice perfect for blues but not much else.

Rap is done; poster is done. I’ll take the Ugly Orange Bucket for tips, and CDs to sell. I’ll also make the pitch (in the Rap) for people to bid on the “win Joe for a concert” entry in the Arts Center’s fundraising auction. Like Gene Burnett said in one of his songs, “Gonna find out what you’re worth.” I’d like to find out I’m worth a lot, so I’m trying to stack the deck to help.

Other things to do: I have the basic footage for my “railroad” section of the documentary; need to combine pieces of that with my collection of historic and modern-day photos and a narration I still need to write. I have the soundtrack to write for the documentary. (I’ve heard rumors—unconfirmed—that I’m expected to script and iterate the narration for the documentary, too.) Articles to finish for the paper—one on the upcoming documentary. (Still have one more interview to do for that.) And practice the marimba, and practice my square dance caller routines so I have something to show off at class next Wednesday.

For the home-built PA system, I appear to have the requisite cable to connect the laptop to either the 2-channel amp or the 6-channel mixer. The mixer and amp are also connected, and the speakers appear to be plenty for what I need. I do not have a way to hook the speakers up to the amp—they have different terminals (bare wire clips on the amp, and RCA plugs on the speaker wires). I’ll modify the amp to work, since it’s mine and the speakers are borrowed—but I’m going to need some advice to make sure I do it right.

And one more December show—Wed. Dec. 28, at the Tonic Lounge in Portland. I’ll be part of Whitney Streed’s “Weekly Recurring Humor Night.”

Joe