AND THE CD HEADS FOR ENGLAND...

Other stuff, for a change… My regular column for the newspaper is starting to get some attention; I hear from people telling me they read it. Folks are starting to get used to my insistence on the Wednesday deadline, and I have subjects for about two columns ahead now.

No job yet, but getting lots of interviews does generate feelings that I’m doing something right. In addition to the Gold Hill city manager interview 8/31, I have one for a state planner job 9/10, and I got a letter saying I’m on the short list to be called for another state job—to be a Fish & Wildlife bureaucrat in southern Oregon, of all things. (On the minus side, I found out one city-manager job I applied for had 75 applicants, most from other states—all places where, presumably, the economy is worse even than in Oregon.)

Lead guitar tracks are done for “No Good Songs About the War,” and the CD’s off to England for the Dylan-wannabe contest. (I sent them the entry fee ahead of time—in British pounds. The prize is in British pounds, too.) We recorded the lead guitar three times—all on the Strat—and then John decided to use all of them. Since I am mostly hitting the same notes each time, at the same time—I tend to be a pretty precise lead player—when they’re all played together, it sounds like an odd variety of reverb. I think it’ll be all right. The recording has a very “live” sound, even though the harmonica and guitar leads were recorded later. (John re-recorded his bass track later, too.) I had a chance to see John’s software in action—he has Adobe Audition—and it is impressive.

I’m going down to southern Oregon a day before the job interview, so I can play music at the Wild Goose in Ashland Sunday night. It’ll be my best shot at seeing a lot of the people I know down there. I should get to play 3 songs (with maybe an encore since I’ve been away so long); what I don’t know is whether I’ll have a band. (“Band” in this case consists of a harmonica player and a bass player. Don’t need anything else, really.)

If I have backup musicians available, I’d like to do “Things Are Getting Better Now That Things Are Getting Worse,” the Gene Burnett song about the Depression that’s become a favorite of folks here on the Coast ever since they heard it in the Failed Economy Show. Gene’s never heard it performed by a band (he usually does all his stuff solo), and I think it’d be a treat not just for him, but for the crowd as well. They can also hear “Always Pet the Dogs” (the crowd at Burgerville liked it)—that one really needs to be played with a band, or it ends up feeling too short—and “Hank’s Song,” since it’s getting close to Hank Williams’ birthday (and that’s a song the crowd at the Goose likes to sing along with). “Love Trails of the Zombie Snails” if I get to do an encore.

If I’m solo, I can still do “Hank’s Song”—it’s long enough to be done easily solo—but I’ll need to do others that don’t need lead breaks, too. “50 Ways to Cure the Depression” would work—I don’t remember if I ever played that at the Goose—and so would “Love Trails of the Zombie Snails.” I ought to try to play that one anyway; it’s my newest song. I can mention the Burlesque Show up in Portland Sept. 26 (which no one from Ashland is likely to see) and the two half-hour shows on Ashland public television (which people in Ashland are likely to see—I just don’t know when).

And I finally did connect with the music teacher, about my proposal to have one of his middle-school rock bands “be” Southern Pigfish for the Southern Pigfish album (and video). He’s interested, and thinks some of the kids might be, too. He won’t have time to work on it until after the “Rocktoberfest” October 9-10 (at which he wants our band to play)—but I’m not in a hurry. Southern Pigfish doesn’t exist. They can wait a little longer.

Joe