MENTOR?

Sometimes I feel like I’m being a mentor—and I’m not sure I should be. I can’t claim what I’m doing is right—I just invented it as I’ve gone along, and what you see is just the things that have worked. For me. Does not mean they work for anyone else. (On the other hand, what I do I have ruthlessly robbed from other people myself—it is not new. It looks “unique” only because I’ve twisted it to fit my own peculiar circumstances—rather like adapting Avril Lavigne’s rhyming schemes to a country music song, which I’ve also done.)

So what would I pass on to the Triple Tree Group? Be organized, I think, is first and foremost. Know what you’re going to play, and how much time it’s going to take. You probably don’t have to be as anal about it as I am; I’m highly organized about gigs because I’m scared of crowds and want to leave nothing to chance.

Two, consider The Rap. I realize very few other performers do it. My main reason for doing The Rap is to make a little space between songs so they don’t all sound too much alike (always a danger in country music). But it’s also an opportunity to give people a little background on the song—why it was written, for instance--that might get the song a little more attention. (One of Jackie’s songs was written for a friend whose kid died, for example. I found myself paying a lot more attention to the song after I knew that.)

Had a band for the SOSA “showcase” Saturday night—Jack Fischer on bass, and Darrin Wayne on harmonica. Having a band is starting to become a regular thing. We did “The Writer’s Block Blues,” “Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus” and “Rotten Candy.”

Wild Goose set Sunday was with a band, too—Jack on bass, and George Clark on harmonica. We did “Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues” (with the audience singing along with the chorus), “No Good Songs About the War” (ditto), “The Abomination Two-step” and (for an encore) “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?”

Still trying to market myself as a guitarist, too (hard to do, because there are so many good musicians around these parts). Hit up George Clark about backing up some of his simpler songs—old Gospel, old bluegrass, and early Dylan—and then got to strut my stuff, after a fashion, with George there, by backing up Scott Garriott on three of the four songs we’d practiced together. I’ve been practicing playing lead on some of Darrin Wayne’s and Jackie LaDel’s songs, too; Jackie’s are like a cross between folk and Enya, while Darrin’s are straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll.

Recorded two of Scott’s songs, too, this week, in the living room of the Barbie House, using the little Tascam. Four tracks is ideal for folk music, and Scott’s songs are classic folk in format (though with very psychedelic lyrics and amazingly compelling melodies). Scott’s rhythm guitar on one track, my lead on another, his vocal on the third, and “color” on the fourth (harmonica on “Mattress and the Snake Pit,” and shaker on “Clown in Paradise”). A few more to do. I figure we can at least spice up Scott’s MySpace page with some decent recordings and maybe get his stuff some attention. (“Mattress and the Snake Pit” would actually sound really good done as a country-music song. It’d need to be 4/4 time, though, rather than a fast waltz. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that to a song. I wonder how Scott would feel about it?)

Joe