BUNCH OF UPDATES...

I (or we) are on for Tuesday, March 27, at the Thirsty Lion. Time enough to promote, and encourage a good crowd (I no longer believe any crowd will come, however). Don’t know yet if I can do it with Denise; it’d be nice—polkas sound better with an accordion, and I (or we) should do “The Six-Legged Polka,” ‘cause St. Leif’s Day will be just two days away. I can recycle the promotional posters—just need to change the date.

Host Eric John Kaiser will not be there; he’ll be in New Orleans, for the release of his new album. I understand Skip Farmer from the Influence Music Hall will be hosting again. I’ll apply the same rule I do with Eric: I don’t want to play anything Skip has heard before (though that leaves me with a lot of stuff to choose from, since Skip has only hosted once before when I’ve been there, and in fact everything on the current draft setlist would qualify). I want to convey the impression that I am a constant fount of new stuff (which isn’t far from the truth).

The City of Central Point (near Medford) e-mailed, wanting to know if I was interested in doing a concert there, and if I could bring the band. Answer to the first question is “yes”; to the second, “not unless you’re paying a lot of money”—the band has to come from over 300 miles away, and get put up for the night. What I’d rather do (and told them I probably could do) is assemble an impromptu band from musicians down there that I know, who are very good and also familiar with the material. We’ll see. Nice that they’re interested.

Got the parts for the speaker stands; design changed again (I forget how many iterations it’s been through), but this time I let the design be dictated by the availability of materials at a price I was willing to pay—and within a distance I was willing to drive. The upright shafts will be 3-to-4-foot sections of a fiberglass flagpole, and the bases will be crossed 1x2s held together with a circular flange; bottom of each flagpole piece will have a piece of threaded water pipe to attach it to the base, and the top a threaded electrical fitting to attach the speaker. The arrangement will be able to be disassembled for easier transport and still be uber-stable when put together. Sixteen bucks total. I’ll paint it all black to disguise its provenance and make it look nice and professional.

I want to put that together today, so it can be used Saturday. (And next Wednesday. I’ve got my “practice square” of local dancers, if I can arrange a space for them to practice in.)

The new band’s scheduled to practice Saturday; I believe they’re intending to work on ten songs of mine, including “Cuddle in the Darkness” and Odd Vindstad’s “Simple Questions,” which I musicated. I’m glad to see those two being played; I’ve always liked them. “Cuddle” is one of those songs where I find virtually no fault with my writing—but I’ve played it very little because it’s serious and I mostly don’t “do” serious. Both it and “Simple Questions” fall into the “say something different” category; “Simple Questions” is a boy-meets-girl song where the boy never actually meets the girl, and “Cuddle in the Darkness” is a frank (and blunt) appeal for a one-night stand, from (and to) somebody who’s spent too many nights alone.

Is either one marketable? Maybe not; they’re both aspects of “love” that don’t get talked about. Instead, we see lots of lost love songs on the market—applying, perhaps, the Shakespearean dictum, “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” But the “never loved at all” (or “never loved enough”) people are out there; I notice their reactions when I play those songs.

Music Friday (City Hall), Saturday (practice), Sunday (the Rapture Room), and Thursday next (Tsunami); caller class Tuesday and maybe caller practice Wednesday. And I’ll be going to the Community Chorus concert Monday night. I have managed to get myself busy every single night this coming week—and I still haven’t managed to get a job.

Joe