THIRSTY LION (ONE MORE TIME)...

Post-getting-a-job cleanup: I told Eric John Kaiser, who runs the Songwriter Showcase at the Thirsty Lion on Tuesday nights, that I will cease having Tuesday nights off at the end of May, when my square dance caller class in Portland is over (I will end up having Monday nights off instead). So Eric’s asked me back to perform Tuesday, May 29, the day after Memorial Day (and the night of my last class). I’ll be doing this solo; it’d be nice to have backup, but I’m not going to ask (I did ask Denise but she can’t come)—I know everybody else is busy, too, and this ain’t a paying thing. What to play? How about: One Gas Station—mod. fast folk I May Write You from Jupiter—fast bluegrass Cuddle in the Darkness—slow two-step Doing Battle with the Lawn—fast bluegrass The Resurrection Blues (maybe)—deliberate (but short) blues When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You—fast bluegrass (also short) In the Shadows, I’ll Be Watching You—slow two-step I’m pretty sure I haven’t done any of these at the Thirsty Lion before (I like to do material host Eric hasn’t heard). All are easily performable solo, with the possible exception of “The Resurrection Blues,” which may be way too short without those lead breaks (I’ll have to try it). “Cuddle in the Darkness”: is serious—and I usually don’t do serious songs—but it went over surprisingly well at the 2nd Street Market. So, one folkish, three bluegrass, two two-steps, and a blues. That’d work. I also don’t know how appropriate for the audience some of these are. “One Gas Station” is talking about rural-life stuff, and this is a mostly urban audience, I think—and “In the Shadows” is admittedly creepy (a stalker’s love song?)—I’m including it mostly because I like it, not because anyone else does or would. And I need to make sure I start off with something slow, ‘cause this is a tavern. I’m dealing with people with artificially reduced brain capacity. I have all the songs down for the Dylan Night show at The Mercantile, I think. Been working on “When the Ship Comes In,” singing it at every spare moment, and I haven’t had to look at the lyrics for a while. Like a lot of Dylan’s material, it’s got a lot of words (four long verses with no chorus, just a tag line) and the imagery is a little disjointed. On the plus side, Dylan did do a lot of internal rhymes (good mnemonic tool, there), and the words (for a change) pretty much stick to the beat. I’d earlier learned “Absolutely Sweet Marie” (a forgotten gem, that one), knew “Love Minus Zero” by heart, and only had one new verse to master for “Leopard-Skin Pillbox Hat.” Band has (in Dropbox) music for the first three of these. Upcoming: June 15 (Friday) is supposedly another open mike at the 2nd Street Market; I’d like to go, mostly because I missed the last one (band practice). And Saturday, June 30, the Market is reportedly having an all day bluegrass jam—and again, I’d like to go. Need to fit more music into my schedule. Didn’t get the research assistant job with the League of Oregon Cities (thereby proving, I guess, that they’ll reject me for everything, not just city-manager jobs). Still waiting on two more city manager jobs (where I figure I have a chance because the League is not doing the recruiting). Not that I exactly need a job right now—I have one, thank you, and I like it—but these others were in the pipeline, and I’m going to let them run their course. Joe