ROCKTOBERFEST SETLIST (AND AN APOLOGY)...

An apology, first, to Alice, who did the sound for ContraBand; I hadn’t mentioned her when I was passing out thanks and credit to everybody, and I should have. I’m frankly not used to having a sound engineer. A sound engineer I knew in Medford (he hung out at the tavern where Screamin’ Gulch played) maintained the sound engineer should be considered an equal member of the band, since he or she is the reason the band sounds good in public, and I agree. Thanks, Alice. (And thanks, too, for reading this thing. I am always surprised to find out someone is actually reading it.)

I’ve got to re-write my column for the paper—they say they didn’t receive it. I don’t want to let a week go by without a column in the paper—people might think something had happened to me (or worse still, not even notice), and besides, there is Important News to disseminate. I should be able to re-do it from memory. I tend to remember what I write; in this case, that’s good—I’m 83 miles away from the data I used to write it.

Doc won’t be in town Sept. 4, so we will be doing the Bicentennial Concert with just four of us: John (bass), Chris (drums), Mike (lead guitar), and me. That’s how we did Garibaldi Days, too. Doc will be here for the Rocktoberfest concert Sunday, Sept. 19. I’d like to do two practices each for each of those concerts, but wonder whether that’ll be possible considering my own restricted movements. I thought ContraBand was scheduled to play dances two Saturdays in August (8/21 and 8/28), but I hear that’s not for sure (it’d be nice to know). I’ve got a performance myself with Dan Doshier at the SOSA Summer Concert in Central Point on Friday, Aug. 27, and could probably score another solo gig down South for the 28th—if I knew what I was supposed to be doing.

I’ve talked a little about wanting to include mostly “rockers” in the Rocktoberfest setlist, but I don’t think we have quite enough to make an entirely rock setlist. Better, perhaps, to just include a little of everything, and show off the band’s versatility. We have 50 minutes, which is ten songs. We could do—not in order (yet), of course:

For Their Own Ends (Southern Pigfish)—folk-rock
Test Tube Baby—Elvis-style rock ‘n’ roll
Love Trails of the Zombie Snails—folk-rock
Tillamook Railroad Blues—deliberate blues
She Ain’t Starvin’ Herself—fast blues
Dance a Little Longer (Woody Guthrie)—country rock
Our Own Little Stimulus Plan (Betty Holt)—Buddy Holly-style rockabilly
Rotten Candy—fast bluegrass, with Gospel beat
Dead Things in the Shower—mod. fast two-step
Un-Easy Street (Stan Good)—mod. fast two-step

“Dead Things” is our standard opening song, and “Un-Easy Street” the usual closer. Both are two-steps, and are the only ones on the list. Style-wise, the list includes about everything we do except ragtime (Coleman & Lazzerini’s “So 20th Century”). Includes everybody’s favorites that I know about, too: Doc really likes “the Pigfish song” (and wants me to include a second lead break), Mike likes “Un-Easy Street,” and John is partial to the zombie snails. Tempting to include the country death metal song, “Angel in Chains,” but I’m not sure the band or the audience is ready for that yet.

And the job? (People have asked.) It’s good. I did my first city council meeting (the regular one is in ten more days), and folks were generally nice. I don’t know for sure if I’m a calming influence, but it’d be nice to think so. Got more people—from all three political groups, I think—looking for a place for me to stay. Tonight, I had the evening off, and managed to get to the music store before it closed; tomorrow—new strings. Tonight, me and the store owner just traded jokes—about banjo players (me) and drummers (him). Gave him a CD, too. There is reportedly an open mike in downtown McMinnville on alternate Wednesdays, and if this Wednesday’s the right day, I’ll go.

Joe