I (or we) are on for Tuesday, March 27, at the Thirsty Lion. Time enough to promote, and encourage a good crowd (I no longer believe any crowd will come, however). Don’t know yet if I can do it with Denise; it’d be nice—polkas sound better with an accordion, and I (or we) should do “The Six-Legged Polka,” ‘cause St. Leif’s Day will be just two days away. I can recycle the promotional posters—just need to change the date.
Host Eric John Kaiser will not be there; he’ll be in New Orleans, for the release of his new album. I understand Skip Farmer from the Influence Music Hall will be hosting again. I’ll apply the same rule I do with Eric: I don’t want to play anything Skip has heard before (though that leaves me with a lot of stuff to choose from, since Skip has only hosted once before when I’ve been there, and in fact everything on the current draft setlist would qualify). I want to convey the impression that I am a constant fount of new stuff (which isn’t far from the truth).
The City of Central Point (near Medford) e-mailed, wanting to know if I was interested in doing a concert there, and if I could bring the band. Answer to the first question is “yes”; to the second, “not unless you’re paying a lot of money”—the band has to come from over 300 miles away, and get put up for the night. What I’d rather do (and told them I probably could do) is assemble an impromptu band from musicians down there that I know, who are very good and also familiar with the material. We’ll see. Nice that they’re interested.
Got the parts for the speaker stands; design changed again (I forget how many iterations it’s been through), but this time I let the design be dictated by the availability of materials at a price I was willing to pay—and within a distance I was willing to drive. The upright shafts will be 3-to-4-foot sections of a fiberglass flagpole, and the bases will be crossed 1x2s held together with a circular flange; bottom of each flagpole piece will have a piece of threaded water pipe to attach it to the base, and the top a threaded electrical fitting to attach the speaker. The arrangement will be able to be disassembled for easier transport and still be uber-stable when put together. Sixteen bucks total. I’ll paint it all black to disguise its provenance and make it look nice and professional.
I want to put that together today, so it can be used Saturday. (And next Wednesday. I’ve got my “practice square” of local dancers, if I can arrange a space for them to practice in.)
The new band’s scheduled to practice Saturday; I believe they’re intending to work on ten songs of mine, including “Cuddle in the Darkness” and Odd Vindstad’s “Simple Questions,” which I musicated. I’m glad to see those two being played; I’ve always liked them. “Cuddle” is one of those songs where I find virtually no fault with my writing—but I’ve played it very little because it’s serious and I mostly don’t “do” serious. Both it and “Simple Questions” fall into the “say something different” category; “Simple Questions” is a boy-meets-girl song where the boy never actually meets the girl, and “Cuddle in the Darkness” is a frank (and blunt) appeal for a one-night stand, from (and to) somebody who’s spent too many nights alone.
Is either one marketable? Maybe not; they’re both aspects of “love” that don’t get talked about. Instead, we see lots of lost love songs on the market—applying, perhaps, the Shakespearean dictum, “Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.” But the “never loved at all” (or “never loved enough”) people are out there; I notice their reactions when I play those songs.
Music Friday (City Hall), Saturday (practice), Sunday (the Rapture Room), and Thursday next (Tsunami); caller class Tuesday and maybe caller practice Wednesday. And I’ll be going to the Community Chorus concert Monday night. I have managed to get myself busy every single night this coming week—and I still haven’t managed to get a job.
Joe
Friday, March 9, 2012
Thursday, March 8, 2012
THIRSTY LION SETLIST THOUGHTS (AND BLOG 6)...
One of the things I like about local budget committees is they seem to regard me as a good financial manager—which I guess I am. Or was. I haven’t done it for a living for a while. Every now and then I manage to come up with a good idea. I wish there was still a demand for that stuff. (Got compliments on the articles I did for the paper, too. That was nice as well.)
I do not know—yet—if I’m invited to the Thirsty Lion on March 27, the closest to St. Leif’s Day (March 29) that they’ll be having one of their Songwriter Showcases. I’ve asked host Eric. If I (or we—I’d love to have accompaniment for this) am (or are) on, I (or we) will have to do “The Six-Legged Polka,” my St. Leif’s Day song. It is my only St.Leif’s Day song, however. I (or we) will have to do five (or four) other things along with it.
One plays to the venue—endeavoring to give the audience (or what I think will be the audience) what I think they’ll appreciate. What do we have here? The Thirsty Lion is a tavern; the crowd is over 21, so adult material is okay, and they’ve been drinking (especially if the Songwriter Showcase comes on the heels of a playoff game on the big-screen TVs), so one has to work a little harder to get their attention, and keep things fairly easy to understand, because a lot of ‘em won’t be operating with a full set of brain cells. I’ll start with something slow and sleazy—that usually will get their attention—and then alternate fast and slow numbers if I can.
Many of the folks in the audience will have come to hear one of the other “acts” perform, which means they’re inclined to be attentive, but not necessarily attentive to me. I try on principle not to do songs I’ve done there before, but that’s for host Eric John Kaiser’s benefit, not the audience’s; most of the audience have never heard me before anyway. Assuming I’ll have accompaniment, I’ll want to make the setlist conist of songs that work well with that accompaniment. And I don’t want to do anything serious. I’ll leave that up to the other “acts” (who will usually more than make up for my lack of seriousness).
Tall order? Maybe not; with over 80 songs, I can usually come up with something to fit almost any occasion. And I do have a complete list of my songs handy—it’s what I’ve been working off to assemble the lyrics for the New Joe Songbook. How about:
Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?—slow & sleazy
50 Ways to Cure the Depression—folk-rock
Invitation to St. Patrick—mod. tempo blues
The Six-Legged Polka—fast bluegrass
Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus—deliberate Gospel
The “Rapture” song is a good attention-getter; I haven’t performed that or “Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus” at the Lion for a long time. I’ve never played the St. Patrick song there—and our show date is reasonably close to St. Patrick’s Day. “50 Ways” would give ‘em a little tongue-in-cheek (and memorable) social commentary along with their beer.
It’s nice if a short setlist can at least fit the “describe what you do in one sentence” description I gave Songstuff when I first joined: “Happy, upbeat, uptempo songs about death, lost love, betrayal, religion, and dead animals.” (That way, I can mention it in the Rap.) The above setlist actually includes everything except dead animals, unless one considers the ants in “The Six-Legged Polka” as qualifying (they were going to die, but St. Leif saved them).
And if I have to do the show solo again, I’ll change the setlist. I’ll have six songs instead of five, and will pick ones that either don’t have or don’t need a lead break.
Joe
I do not know—yet—if I’m invited to the Thirsty Lion on March 27, the closest to St. Leif’s Day (March 29) that they’ll be having one of their Songwriter Showcases. I’ve asked host Eric. If I (or we—I’d love to have accompaniment for this) am (or are) on, I (or we) will have to do “The Six-Legged Polka,” my St. Leif’s Day song. It is my only St.Leif’s Day song, however. I (or we) will have to do five (or four) other things along with it.
One plays to the venue—endeavoring to give the audience (or what I think will be the audience) what I think they’ll appreciate. What do we have here? The Thirsty Lion is a tavern; the crowd is over 21, so adult material is okay, and they’ve been drinking (especially if the Songwriter Showcase comes on the heels of a playoff game on the big-screen TVs), so one has to work a little harder to get their attention, and keep things fairly easy to understand, because a lot of ‘em won’t be operating with a full set of brain cells. I’ll start with something slow and sleazy—that usually will get their attention—and then alternate fast and slow numbers if I can.
Many of the folks in the audience will have come to hear one of the other “acts” perform, which means they’re inclined to be attentive, but not necessarily attentive to me. I try on principle not to do songs I’ve done there before, but that’s for host Eric John Kaiser’s benefit, not the audience’s; most of the audience have never heard me before anyway. Assuming I’ll have accompaniment, I’ll want to make the setlist conist of songs that work well with that accompaniment. And I don’t want to do anything serious. I’ll leave that up to the other “acts” (who will usually more than make up for my lack of seriousness).
Tall order? Maybe not; with over 80 songs, I can usually come up with something to fit almost any occasion. And I do have a complete list of my songs handy—it’s what I’ve been working off to assemble the lyrics for the New Joe Songbook. How about:
Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?—slow & sleazy
50 Ways to Cure the Depression—folk-rock
Invitation to St. Patrick—mod. tempo blues
The Six-Legged Polka—fast bluegrass
Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus—deliberate Gospel
The “Rapture” song is a good attention-getter; I haven’t performed that or “Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus” at the Lion for a long time. I’ve never played the St. Patrick song there—and our show date is reasonably close to St. Patrick’s Day. “50 Ways” would give ‘em a little tongue-in-cheek (and memorable) social commentary along with their beer.
It’s nice if a short setlist can at least fit the “describe what you do in one sentence” description I gave Songstuff when I first joined: “Happy, upbeat, uptempo songs about death, lost love, betrayal, religion, and dead animals.” (That way, I can mention it in the Rap.) The above setlist actually includes everything except dead animals, unless one considers the ants in “The Six-Legged Polka” as qualifying (they were going to die, but St. Leif saved them).
And if I have to do the show solo again, I’ll change the setlist. I’ll have six songs instead of five, and will pick ones that either don’t have or don’t need a lead break.
Joe
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
THE "SONGS FOR KIDS" ALBUM (AND BLOG FIVE)...
The Songs for Kids CD arrived in the mail today. It’s got ten songs:
I’m a Squirrel—Gene Burnett
Great Day—Marion Rose
Love is Wonderful—Delonde Bell
I See a Cloud—Scott Perry
Dream Pony—Larry West
When They Die, I Put Them in the Cookies—me
Tangle of the Jungle—Diana Roarty
Stand Up/Sit Down—Gary Elkinton
Cinnamon Bear—Sheila Kaufman & Lee James McAboy
Abby’s Waltz—Bridget Wolf
And a photo of a cookie on the cover (yay!). Bunch of great writers there—and it turns out I know seven of them personally and an eighth by reputation. Proceeds from sale of the CD benefit the Maslow Project, which helps homeless kids. I understand the CD’s for sale for $10 (plus shipping) but am not sure—yet—where people can order it; I understand the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. board will be deciding this weekend whether they’ll sell it, and if so, it’ll be possible to get it through them.
This is the third time I’ve had a song on someone else’s compilation CD (that I know of, anyway). In 2009, my song “Santa’s Fallen and He Can’t Get Up” was on the album A Global Christmas, published and released in The Philippines. Mine was one of only three songs on the album that were in English. And last year, when the Coventry Songwriters group over in England put out a “Best of…” CD, one of mine was on that, too—“In the Shadows, I’ll Be Watching You.”
First encouragement—finally—at caller class. A couple of people (including instructor Daryl) think I’m improving. I need that. Got some insights, too, into how the whole “traffic pattern” in a square of dancers works, that I think are going to make it easier. Like Gene Burnett says in the “Ninja” song (my favorite song of his, I think), “I can do this thing, I know that I can.”
I am ready, I think, to have a square of live dancers to practice on. Bob (square dance club president) and I were going over whom I might enlist locally, and there just might be enough if everybody’s willing. I’d warn all of ‘em it might be frustrating for a while—I am a novice at this, and don’t have my timing down at all. On the other hand, the only way I’m going to get it down is practice. I don’t have the luxury of popping down the street to a friendly square dance club any night of the week like the Portland folks do; if I do that, it’s a 5-hour drive and $50-60 in gas in the old truck.
I’ve figured out how to make matching speaker stands for the PA system. I need some electrical parts; outdoor light boxes would work best, because they have threaded holes on all four sides and in the lid, but I don’t want to buy them new. I’d like the $10 speakers to remain the most expensive component. (Which they won’t be. I’ve already arranged to buy one of those fancy square dance caller’s mike holders that’s got the on/off switch and volume control in the handle. They sell for over $100 new. I’m getting mine for $25.) When I’m done, I‘m going to be spray-painting the whole arrangement black, to hide what it was made out of, anyway.
Music Thursday, Friday and Sunday this week; the new band will practice either Saturday or Wednesday next—they haven’t decided yet. Need to work up a St. Leif’s Day set for the Thirsty Lion March 27—I believe I’m being invited back. Can I get Denise and her accordion to come with?
Joe
I’m a Squirrel—Gene Burnett
Great Day—Marion Rose
Love is Wonderful—Delonde Bell
I See a Cloud—Scott Perry
Dream Pony—Larry West
When They Die, I Put Them in the Cookies—me
Tangle of the Jungle—Diana Roarty
Stand Up/Sit Down—Gary Elkinton
Cinnamon Bear—Sheila Kaufman & Lee James McAboy
Abby’s Waltz—Bridget Wolf
And a photo of a cookie on the cover (yay!). Bunch of great writers there—and it turns out I know seven of them personally and an eighth by reputation. Proceeds from sale of the CD benefit the Maslow Project, which helps homeless kids. I understand the CD’s for sale for $10 (plus shipping) but am not sure—yet—where people can order it; I understand the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. board will be deciding this weekend whether they’ll sell it, and if so, it’ll be possible to get it through them.
This is the third time I’ve had a song on someone else’s compilation CD (that I know of, anyway). In 2009, my song “Santa’s Fallen and He Can’t Get Up” was on the album A Global Christmas, published and released in The Philippines. Mine was one of only three songs on the album that were in English. And last year, when the Coventry Songwriters group over in England put out a “Best of…” CD, one of mine was on that, too—“In the Shadows, I’ll Be Watching You.”
First encouragement—finally—at caller class. A couple of people (including instructor Daryl) think I’m improving. I need that. Got some insights, too, into how the whole “traffic pattern” in a square of dancers works, that I think are going to make it easier. Like Gene Burnett says in the “Ninja” song (my favorite song of his, I think), “I can do this thing, I know that I can.”
I am ready, I think, to have a square of live dancers to practice on. Bob (square dance club president) and I were going over whom I might enlist locally, and there just might be enough if everybody’s willing. I’d warn all of ‘em it might be frustrating for a while—I am a novice at this, and don’t have my timing down at all. On the other hand, the only way I’m going to get it down is practice. I don’t have the luxury of popping down the street to a friendly square dance club any night of the week like the Portland folks do; if I do that, it’s a 5-hour drive and $50-60 in gas in the old truck.
I’ve figured out how to make matching speaker stands for the PA system. I need some electrical parts; outdoor light boxes would work best, because they have threaded holes on all four sides and in the lid, but I don’t want to buy them new. I’d like the $10 speakers to remain the most expensive component. (Which they won’t be. I’ve already arranged to buy one of those fancy square dance caller’s mike holders that’s got the on/off switch and volume control in the handle. They sell for over $100 new. I’m getting mine for $25.) When I’m done, I‘m going to be spray-painting the whole arrangement black, to hide what it was made out of, anyway.
Music Thursday, Friday and Sunday this week; the new band will practice either Saturday or Wednesday next—they haven’t decided yet. Need to work up a St. Leif’s Day set for the Thirsty Lion March 27—I believe I’m being invited back. Can I get Denise and her accordion to come with?
Joe
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
AN OPEN MIKE THAT'S NOT AN OPEN MIKE (BLOG 4)...
23 lyrics typeset—takes us through the letter E. (Yes, that’s only 20% of the alphabet. I said this was a big job.) I’m keeping the same format throughout, this time; the New Joe Songbook is going to be a thoroughly professional publication. (The previous edition had a few flaws. This one will not.) One item I can include with the photos is concert posters—I do have quite a few of them, some dating back to my Southern Oregon period (2007-08). Other photos? I’ll just have to keep taking photos, I guess.
I raised at the Arts Center’s Board meeting the idea of a by-invitation concert (a la The Mercantile) in lieu of our next open mike at the Arts Center, and I think the Arts Center’s Board would like me to try it. They’ve noticed, as have I, that attendance at the open mikes has been sparse of late. That will be in May (no open mike in April, because we’ll be having a John Stowell concert instead, with fiddle instructor Paul Patterson). May 5, in fact (and that is a holiday in some cultures). I need to make sure the Tillamook Community Chorus is our headliner—the event was scheduled a year ago for the specific purpose of showcasing them.
For the other performers, I’d call on people I know—songwriter Eric Sappington from Netarts, Roger from Nehalem, Michael and Sedona (Sedona Fire), Loren and Judy (the Crazed Weasels String Band), Irene and Lori from South County, the 5-1/2 Piece Band from Rockaway, “Chippewa Bob” and his musical saw, Ken Hardy, and me and Jane (and the band, if the band are ready for prime time by then). Maybe a few others. If everybody was agreeable, we could have quite a lineup of local talent. And I could publicize it heavily. I do know how to do that.
The other suggestion made was to go back to having food up in the auditorium, like the Arts Center did for open mikes years ago. Easy enough to do; I bake cookies anyway (and people do eat them, even after they’ve heard the “cookies” song), and one could simply tell all and sundry, “Hey, bring something if you can and we’ll make it a potluck.” A few “hot pots” for coffee and tea is about the only infrastructure we lack.
On the computer front, “Lazarus” the laptop is going to get a new addition—a remote DVD-rewritable drive. (Yes, Lazz came equipped with a DVD-rewritable drive, but it never did work; that was apparently a design defect in that model laptop that Dell never could—or would—fix, and it’s one reason that model laptop isn’t made any more.) I’d bought earlier an external case I was going to use for Alice’s old hard drive; that old hard drive is dead, alas, but the case will fit a CD drive, too. John at Backscratcherz having a DVD-rewritable drive on hand was a nice plus.
Since it’s an external case, I can mate it up to other computers, too—and one that could really use a CD-rewritable drive (not to mention a DVD-rewritable one) is old “StuartLittle,” my inherited semi-portable computer. (Everything but the monitor fits in a plastic storage container.) “Stuart” is a pretty good little computer despite being a little shy in the brains department—but he’s 11 years old, and back then computers didn’t come with CD-or-DVD-rewritable drives (and Stuart is such an odd design nothing normal will fit). So the computers can share. I may get away from the need to have four computers around yet.
I managed to get both a news story for the paper and my column done just before their deadlines on what for this week is a real busy schedule. I’d like to be earlier, but it’s nice that I could pull it off. And this month’s challenge from the Coventry songwriters is for songs about TIME (not the “parsley-sage-rosemary-and” variety). I wonder if I could manage to say something about that before their deadline?
Joe
I raised at the Arts Center’s Board meeting the idea of a by-invitation concert (a la The Mercantile) in lieu of our next open mike at the Arts Center, and I think the Arts Center’s Board would like me to try it. They’ve noticed, as have I, that attendance at the open mikes has been sparse of late. That will be in May (no open mike in April, because we’ll be having a John Stowell concert instead, with fiddle instructor Paul Patterson). May 5, in fact (and that is a holiday in some cultures). I need to make sure the Tillamook Community Chorus is our headliner—the event was scheduled a year ago for the specific purpose of showcasing them.
For the other performers, I’d call on people I know—songwriter Eric Sappington from Netarts, Roger from Nehalem, Michael and Sedona (Sedona Fire), Loren and Judy (the Crazed Weasels String Band), Irene and Lori from South County, the 5-1/2 Piece Band from Rockaway, “Chippewa Bob” and his musical saw, Ken Hardy, and me and Jane (and the band, if the band are ready for prime time by then). Maybe a few others. If everybody was agreeable, we could have quite a lineup of local talent. And I could publicize it heavily. I do know how to do that.
The other suggestion made was to go back to having food up in the auditorium, like the Arts Center did for open mikes years ago. Easy enough to do; I bake cookies anyway (and people do eat them, even after they’ve heard the “cookies” song), and one could simply tell all and sundry, “Hey, bring something if you can and we’ll make it a potluck.” A few “hot pots” for coffee and tea is about the only infrastructure we lack.
On the computer front, “Lazarus” the laptop is going to get a new addition—a remote DVD-rewritable drive. (Yes, Lazz came equipped with a DVD-rewritable drive, but it never did work; that was apparently a design defect in that model laptop that Dell never could—or would—fix, and it’s one reason that model laptop isn’t made any more.) I’d bought earlier an external case I was going to use for Alice’s old hard drive; that old hard drive is dead, alas, but the case will fit a CD drive, too. John at Backscratcherz having a DVD-rewritable drive on hand was a nice plus.
Since it’s an external case, I can mate it up to other computers, too—and one that could really use a CD-rewritable drive (not to mention a DVD-rewritable one) is old “StuartLittle,” my inherited semi-portable computer. (Everything but the monitor fits in a plastic storage container.) “Stuart” is a pretty good little computer despite being a little shy in the brains department—but he’s 11 years old, and back then computers didn’t come with CD-or-DVD-rewritable drives (and Stuart is such an odd design nothing normal will fit). So the computers can share. I may get away from the need to have four computers around yet.
I managed to get both a news story for the paper and my column done just before their deadlines on what for this week is a real busy schedule. I’d like to be earlier, but it’s nice that I could pull it off. And this month’s challenge from the Coventry songwriters is for songs about TIME (not the “parsley-sage-rosemary-and” variety). I wonder if I could manage to say something about that before their deadline?
Joe
Sunday, March 4, 2012
ARTS CENTER OPEN MIKE (&C.)...
Lyrics for 15 songs now done for the New Joe Songbook. Found two songs (thus far) where I had never posted lyrics, and I’ll have to write those from scratch. Found another that apparently was never recorded—“The Dead Porcupine Rag”—and I’ll have to fix that, too. Slowly, agonizingly slowly, the work gets done.
Small crowd—both performers and audience—at the Arts Center’s open mike Saturday night. From me, they got “When They Die, I Put Them in the Cookies” (there were kids in the audience), “One Gas Station,” and “Selling Off My Body Parts.” They liked the “Cookies” one best. (And despite it being a small crowd—and despite my singing the song—they still managed to eat most of eight dozen cookies.)
Some folks asked when the SOSA/Maslow Project CD (which has the “Cookies” song on it) was coming out—I think they’d like to buy copies. I got word when I got home that the CD has been released, and I’m being sent a copy. Price will be $10 plus shipping; don’t know where to order it yet. (The Maslow Project, by the way, is a charity for homeless kids. Everybody on the album and involved in its production is donating their services. All the money from sales will go to the kids.)
April’s “Artist of the Month” at the Arts Center will be the kids from Tillamook High School, and we will need some kind of musical performance Saturday, April 7, following the artist reception. I think we need to do something different to increase attendance. Perhaps a by-invitation show, a la The Mercantile? I know a number of musicians; question is whether I could get them to come. Could we do a theme? The Mercantile was able to exploit Valentine’s Day, with an “Oops, I Forgot Your Valentine” show (Feb. 18). What could one do at the beginning of April? It’s probably too early to talk about spring—last year, spring didn’t come until the end of July. There is April Fool’s Day, of course (April 1)—but there’s also Easter (which is actually the next day, April 8).
I am of course partial to St. Leif’s Day (March 29), partially because it’s so obscure—few people ever heard of the guy—but also because it’s a feast day for musicians. St. Leif is the patron saint of bagpipes (if any instrument ever needed a patron saint, it’s bagpipes) and it’s said one should celebrate St. Leif’s Day by playing music. Not necessarily on the bagpipes, of course—but it would be fun to get one or more bagpipers to come. It is kinda Their Day, after all. We would need blueberry popcorn (the traditional St. Leif’s Day snack).
I think the “One Gas Station” song is too long. It feels like it’s dragging even without a lead break (I played it without a lead break at the Arts Center). Can’t speed it up easily, because parts of it have a lot of words, and they come pretty fast—it’s one of those that requires strategic breathing. The only option is to excise a verse—and I’m not sure which one. Or not perform the song, of course. The goal is to have the song end just before the audience is ready for it to end. If I can’t do that, I shouldn’t be performing the song.
I’ve had to shorten songs a couple of times before (they’re not always “done” when I say they’re “done”). I had a Nashville music publisher tell me “Crosses by the Roadside” was too long, and at the time the criticism really bothered me—but I eventually decided the guy was right, took out a verse(and chorus), and the song was much better for it. We recorded the shorter version on the Deathgrass album. In the same vein, “Meet Me at the Stairs” got better once I took out one of the verses (it originally had five, and they’re long verses)—and it’s been so long, I no longer remember what was in the verse I eliminated.
Joe
Small crowd—both performers and audience—at the Arts Center’s open mike Saturday night. From me, they got “When They Die, I Put Them in the Cookies” (there were kids in the audience), “One Gas Station,” and “Selling Off My Body Parts.” They liked the “Cookies” one best. (And despite it being a small crowd—and despite my singing the song—they still managed to eat most of eight dozen cookies.)
Some folks asked when the SOSA/Maslow Project CD (which has the “Cookies” song on it) was coming out—I think they’d like to buy copies. I got word when I got home that the CD has been released, and I’m being sent a copy. Price will be $10 plus shipping; don’t know where to order it yet. (The Maslow Project, by the way, is a charity for homeless kids. Everybody on the album and involved in its production is donating their services. All the money from sales will go to the kids.)
April’s “Artist of the Month” at the Arts Center will be the kids from Tillamook High School, and we will need some kind of musical performance Saturday, April 7, following the artist reception. I think we need to do something different to increase attendance. Perhaps a by-invitation show, a la The Mercantile? I know a number of musicians; question is whether I could get them to come. Could we do a theme? The Mercantile was able to exploit Valentine’s Day, with an “Oops, I Forgot Your Valentine” show (Feb. 18). What could one do at the beginning of April? It’s probably too early to talk about spring—last year, spring didn’t come until the end of July. There is April Fool’s Day, of course (April 1)—but there’s also Easter (which is actually the next day, April 8).
I am of course partial to St. Leif’s Day (March 29), partially because it’s so obscure—few people ever heard of the guy—but also because it’s a feast day for musicians. St. Leif is the patron saint of bagpipes (if any instrument ever needed a patron saint, it’s bagpipes) and it’s said one should celebrate St. Leif’s Day by playing music. Not necessarily on the bagpipes, of course—but it would be fun to get one or more bagpipers to come. It is kinda Their Day, after all. We would need blueberry popcorn (the traditional St. Leif’s Day snack).
I think the “One Gas Station” song is too long. It feels like it’s dragging even without a lead break (I played it without a lead break at the Arts Center). Can’t speed it up easily, because parts of it have a lot of words, and they come pretty fast—it’s one of those that requires strategic breathing. The only option is to excise a verse—and I’m not sure which one. Or not perform the song, of course. The goal is to have the song end just before the audience is ready for it to end. If I can’t do that, I shouldn’t be performing the song.
I’ve had to shorten songs a couple of times before (they’re not always “done” when I say they’re “done”). I had a Nashville music publisher tell me “Crosses by the Roadside” was too long, and at the time the criticism really bothered me—but I eventually decided the guy was right, took out a verse(and chorus), and the song was much better for it. We recorded the shorter version on the Deathgrass album. In the same vein, “Meet Me at the Stairs” got better once I took out one of the verses (it originally had five, and they’re long verses)—and it’s been so long, I no longer remember what was in the verse I eliminated.
Joe
Saturday, March 3, 2012
"DROPBOXING" (AND BLOG-A-DAY TWO)...
66 of the songs mastered (to equalize the volume) and archived in the “Dropbox” program Jane turned me on to. When I copy a file there, it automatically sends it to the rest of the band (Clint, Jane and Ken). I’m basically doing everything I’ve weitten—I needed to re-master and archive the songs anyway, since most of them were on “Alice” the ‘puter’s now-deceased hard drive. Clint, Jane and Ken can decide which ones they’re interested in us performing. Ultimately, we should have three hours’ worth of performable stuff (if we’re going to do the Manzanita Farmer’s Market, which I think we should)—and it shouldn’t be all mine.
The band’s got standup bass (Clint), rhythm guitar (me), “whiny lead” (Jane on fiddle) and “non-whiny lead” (Ken on guitar). That’s sufficient for both performing and recording. I expect I’ll be the front man for this band too; it’s not a position I particularly relish, but I can do it the way I think it ought to be done (which is not the way most bands do it), and I don’t really mind doing it, and I think I can do it well. And to the extent the others don’t want to mess with it, it’ll still get done. If, down the road, they get more comfortable with it, we can divvy the job up.
The mastering-and-Dropboxing exercise was an opportunity to listen to some songs I hadn’t thought about in a long time. I’d completely forgotten “The Footballer’s Prayer”; it’s cute—and definitely appropriate for a “family” audience, since it’s got no tongue-in-cheek sexual or political references. It isn’t even religious, except for the “O Lord, let me come back as a football” line in the chorus. It was written for one of those “challenges” of the Coventry Songwriters group over in England, and I did remember I’d worked hard to make it appealable both to Brits and to Americans (the two cultures define “football” differently—outside the U.S., “football” is soccer). What I didn’t remember was that I’d managed to do it pretty well.
“Take Me Back to the ‘Sixties” isn’t bad, either—a nice, nostalgic lament (also written for the Coventry folks, when they wanted songs about drugs). I think that one only ever got performed once—at the coffee shop in McMinnville whose open mike I used to go to while I was being the interim city manager in Lafayette. There are, I guess, not that many people left who remember the ‘Sixties—and as we age, there are fewer all the time.
And my Tascam recording of “Selling Off My Body Parts” is better, I think, than the one from the Influence Music Hall. (And I wasn’t that impressed with my Tascam recording, either.) So I sent the Tascam one to the band. Hope I haven’t overwhelmed them with material.
There are three of my songs where the only good recording exists only as a soundtrack for a video: “Leavin’ It to Beaver,” “50 Ways to Cure the Depression” and “Me and Rufus, and Burning Down the House.” Task for next week, I guess, is to strip the audio track off of those. That’s supposed to be possible in Audacity. And there are a handful more songs that I need to re-record, because the only recordings in existence were on “Alice”—“Born Again Barbie,” “Paradise: the Columbia Gorge Song,” and “Ballad of the Dodson Drifters.”
Still have lyrics to typeset—I’ve got only eight songs done thus far. That task is more work than mastering the recordings. And I still have no idea what to use for photos this time around.
Joe
The band’s got standup bass (Clint), rhythm guitar (me), “whiny lead” (Jane on fiddle) and “non-whiny lead” (Ken on guitar). That’s sufficient for both performing and recording. I expect I’ll be the front man for this band too; it’s not a position I particularly relish, but I can do it the way I think it ought to be done (which is not the way most bands do it), and I don’t really mind doing it, and I think I can do it well. And to the extent the others don’t want to mess with it, it’ll still get done. If, down the road, they get more comfortable with it, we can divvy the job up.
The mastering-and-Dropboxing exercise was an opportunity to listen to some songs I hadn’t thought about in a long time. I’d completely forgotten “The Footballer’s Prayer”; it’s cute—and definitely appropriate for a “family” audience, since it’s got no tongue-in-cheek sexual or political references. It isn’t even religious, except for the “O Lord, let me come back as a football” line in the chorus. It was written for one of those “challenges” of the Coventry Songwriters group over in England, and I did remember I’d worked hard to make it appealable both to Brits and to Americans (the two cultures define “football” differently—outside the U.S., “football” is soccer). What I didn’t remember was that I’d managed to do it pretty well.
“Take Me Back to the ‘Sixties” isn’t bad, either—a nice, nostalgic lament (also written for the Coventry folks, when they wanted songs about drugs). I think that one only ever got performed once—at the coffee shop in McMinnville whose open mike I used to go to while I was being the interim city manager in Lafayette. There are, I guess, not that many people left who remember the ‘Sixties—and as we age, there are fewer all the time.
And my Tascam recording of “Selling Off My Body Parts” is better, I think, than the one from the Influence Music Hall. (And I wasn’t that impressed with my Tascam recording, either.) So I sent the Tascam one to the band. Hope I haven’t overwhelmed them with material.
There are three of my songs where the only good recording exists only as a soundtrack for a video: “Leavin’ It to Beaver,” “50 Ways to Cure the Depression” and “Me and Rufus, and Burning Down the House.” Task for next week, I guess, is to strip the audio track off of those. That’s supposed to be possible in Audacity. And there are a handful more songs that I need to re-record, because the only recordings in existence were on “Alice”—“Born Again Barbie,” “Paradise: the Columbia Gorge Song,” and “Ballad of the Dodson Drifters.”
Still have lyrics to typeset—I’ve got only eight songs done thus far. That task is more work than mastering the recordings. And I still have no idea what to use for photos this time around.
Joe
Thursday, March 1, 2012
PINE GROVE POST-MORTEM (AND BLOG-A-DAY ONE)...
Should mention the “upper” first. Got tapped at the last minute to be part of a band playing a benefit concert in Manzanita. The “band” ended up being Ken, Jane, and myself, and we probably played two hours. We ended up doing a lot of my stuff (with over 80 songs, I have a lot of material to work with). The crowd wanted uptempo material, so they got it:
Spend the End of the World with Me
The Abomination Two-Step
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus
Bluebird on My Windshield
Duct Tape
I May Write You from Jupiter
The World Enquirer
The Termite Song
The last three I don’t think Ken and Jane had ever played before. They can now. We also did three slower numbers: “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” (which somebody requested), “Pole Dancing for Jesus” (consistently popular), and “Armadillo on the Interstate” (as a closing number).
And we got paid. (Hadn’t expected that.) Plus I sold a CD. More than paid for the gas, it did. I think that makes the second paying gig I’ve had this year.
Tonight, music at the Tsunami in Wheeler, and Saturday night an open mike at the Arts Center; Friday night, I have my choice of music at City Hall in Garibaldi or a tavern in Tillamook (hosted by a fellow I know). I expect I’ll pick the closer option—I need to promote the open mike. With other events happening the same night (notably Michael and Sedona’s CD release party, which I’d be at if I weren’t hosting the open mike), I’m expecting a shortage of customers.
And a to-do list:
I’ve got a handful of songs I have to re-record because the only recordings were on old “Alice” the ‘puter’s hard drive—they were never posted on an OMD anywhere. For starters, I just want draft recordings on the Tascam; I’ll work on getting better ones later. There’s a handful of cover songs Deathgrass does, either public domain or used by permission, that also didn’t exist anywhere except on “Alice.” I need to recreate those, too. Unless I can retrieve one of the setlist CDs I made for the band (and I don’t think I kept any myself), I’ll have to re-record those.
I need photos, both for the New Joe Songbook and for some of the upcoming videos. I haven’t traveled anywhere exotic, or been stationed anywhere odd, for quite a while, and I can’t afford to just pack up and go somewhere, either. Lesson for the future: archive everything regularly, including photos.
I need speaker stands for the little PA system. I haven’t been able to find a second junk mike stand to adapt, and I don’t want to buy one (I am proud that this PA system cost all of ten bucks to build); I’ll have to make stands instead.
I have CDs to make for Clint the bass player. Basically, the entire catalog, except for the songs that are on the Deathgrass and Santa’s Fallen CDs. I need to download from the OMDs the songs I don’t have on “Lazarus” the laptop, and run them through Audacity to equalize the volume. He wants lyric sheets, too—which means finishing the New Joe Songbook.
Fellow name of Barry Post passed on a challenge from a Dave Wood: Can you write 500 to 700 words a day in a blog, every day for 90 days? Sure. I can even make them make sense. But can I make them interesting? We’ll see. (This one, by the way, is precisely 600 words.)
Joe
Spend the End of the World with Me
The Abomination Two-Step
Naked Space Hamsters in Love
Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus
Bluebird on My Windshield
Duct Tape
I May Write You from Jupiter
The World Enquirer
The Termite Song
The last three I don’t think Ken and Jane had ever played before. They can now. We also did three slower numbers: “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” (which somebody requested), “Pole Dancing for Jesus” (consistently popular), and “Armadillo on the Interstate” (as a closing number).
And we got paid. (Hadn’t expected that.) Plus I sold a CD. More than paid for the gas, it did. I think that makes the second paying gig I’ve had this year.
Tonight, music at the Tsunami in Wheeler, and Saturday night an open mike at the Arts Center; Friday night, I have my choice of music at City Hall in Garibaldi or a tavern in Tillamook (hosted by a fellow I know). I expect I’ll pick the closer option—I need to promote the open mike. With other events happening the same night (notably Michael and Sedona’s CD release party, which I’d be at if I weren’t hosting the open mike), I’m expecting a shortage of customers.
And a to-do list:
I’ve got a handful of songs I have to re-record because the only recordings were on old “Alice” the ‘puter’s hard drive—they were never posted on an OMD anywhere. For starters, I just want draft recordings on the Tascam; I’ll work on getting better ones later. There’s a handful of cover songs Deathgrass does, either public domain or used by permission, that also didn’t exist anywhere except on “Alice.” I need to recreate those, too. Unless I can retrieve one of the setlist CDs I made for the band (and I don’t think I kept any myself), I’ll have to re-record those.
I need photos, both for the New Joe Songbook and for some of the upcoming videos. I haven’t traveled anywhere exotic, or been stationed anywhere odd, for quite a while, and I can’t afford to just pack up and go somewhere, either. Lesson for the future: archive everything regularly, including photos.
I need speaker stands for the little PA system. I haven’t been able to find a second junk mike stand to adapt, and I don’t want to buy one (I am proud that this PA system cost all of ten bucks to build); I’ll have to make stands instead.
I have CDs to make for Clint the bass player. Basically, the entire catalog, except for the songs that are on the Deathgrass and Santa’s Fallen CDs. I need to download from the OMDs the songs I don’t have on “Lazarus” the laptop, and run them through Audacity to equalize the volume. He wants lyric sheets, too—which means finishing the New Joe Songbook.
Fellow name of Barry Post passed on a challenge from a Dave Wood: Can you write 500 to 700 words a day in a blog, every day for 90 days? Sure. I can even make them make sense. But can I make them interesting? We’ll see. (This one, by the way, is precisely 600 words.)
Joe
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