THE WEEK THAT WAS...

It was a rather busy week... Got tapped twice to be a GUITARIST, of all things, recording a lead track to a blues collaboration and a progressive rock collaboration; apparently both parties are happy with the product. And got to write music to and record (guitar, vocal, and plinks) someone else's lyrics, too–"Global Warming Sandwich," by Gem Watson, who recorded bass, drums, and a pedal-steel sounding lead that gives the song a very 1940s country-swing sound. And it's getting a lot of attention, too.

The CONTEST ENTRIES are all done. "Oil in the Cornfield," which will go to the Woody Guthrie Song Contest, was finished this week, with piano and backup vocals by Vikki "Hummingbird" Flawith and bass, drums, Telecaster lead and mix by Vic "Mississippi Spud" Bonner. "Rotten Candy" has been sent to American Idol, which is supposed to announce their top 20 finalists May 2. "Prehistoric Roadkill" is done, vetted in the usual places, and recorded and posted; it will be "entered" by being performed live at the Wheeler County Bluegrass Festival July 4.

And "Turn Your Radio On," recorded with members of the Friday Night Group, had already been sent off to Goodnight Kiss Music. (I did hear back from them, and the song was rejected, but not for the reason expected–turns out the song is still under copyright, by the author's family. There's time to submit another–deadline's been extended to May 31.)

STILL TO DO: "Tugga Paw," the Swedish country-music song, got its first base recording of rhythm guitar, but I'll probably want to re-do it, tweaking the dead space between lines a bit. The chord progression, alas, is the same as both "Prehistoric Roadkill" and "The Six-Legged Polka," and I'll have to play with the melody to make sure it comes out different. "The Reincarnation Song" and "Lord, Let Her Feet Be Real, Real Small" are still looking for more words. And I got some lyrics in the e-mail that the author would like put to music.

The LESSON in all this? (There's always a lesson, remember.) VERSATILITY is one way to put it: I'm already typecast enough as somebody who writes very traditional-format country songs (and dead-animal songs to boot); I want to demonstrate that I can indeed do other things–sing, write music, play lead guitar, &c.–well enough so I get asked to do those things for other people. It's also NETWORKING–the mutual back-scratching that seems to be essential in the music business. I've got a small network now of people I can call on when I need help with something (like the "Oil in the Cornfield" recording mentioned above). That network exists because I've been able and willing to help them.