Just got home. What a looooooooooooooong strange trip it's been!
Good points -
#1 - Got to meet Joseph6. He is shorter than I thought he'd be...& less hairy. Great guy to talk to. Very personable. We talked about maybe doing a duo-ish kinda thing together, & it looks like it will be possible, since he has semi-local friends not too far from me that he can stay with. I'm gonna hafta follow up on this with him, real soon!
#2 - I found that I REALLY like the Purple Fiddle. It's set up specifically to be a music venue, with church pews lined up in front of the raised stage. Great staff, & the room wasn't bad at all, either.
#3 - Had a truly loverly time. Stopped by the Blackwater Falls. Took some pics, which I'll post later. The wife got some vids of the thing, too, & as soon as I figger out how to shorten them & post them, I will. (Prolly around 2027, considering my usual learning curve!)
The guy who hired me had also hired a drummer by the name of...Phil, believe it or not...who also had never met him before. It was a rough rush job learning the material & the rhythms, for both of us, in about 2 1/2 hours before we went on. Rusty had also written a lil instrumental piece kinda on the spot, as we rehearsed, so I guess we weren't the only ones learning new things.
My parts were constantly evolving, right up until I got in stage, & practically froze up in my head...there was so much of the stuff that sounded alike to me, that I had a devil of a time discerning which piece was which. The instrument Rusty plays has 12 strings, tuned to a simple pentatonic scale, which made things kinda limiting as to what I could really do. At one point, it became very obvious to me just how unprepared I really was, when I was putting on a capo, & seeing Rusty shake his head at me, cuz I was headed in the wrong key...
The drum parts were way out of Phil's usual, since he's basically a rock/blues drummer, & I felt kinda sorry for him having to work off of Rusty's beat-boxing to get the beats.
The girl singer on the band's website was not there. It was just the three of us, which kinda made for a bit of extra pressure. I think the other Phil felt it worse than I did.
So there we were, three pasty-faced guys working together to make some Africanish music.
My fave was at the end, cuz I got to use some nice, rich, full tones on that final piece that I kinda worked out on the spot...
He even got me to do some drumming, which I really don't recommend...I'm a TERRIBLE drummer! But somehow, we got through it without me throwing everyone off, & although I threatened my wife's life & limb if she videoed me on the drum, she, of course, did it anyway.
I'm gonna look that over VERY carefully before I post it anywhere, trust me. I wouldn't wanna ruin anyone's lofty opinions of me with anything less than perfect...LOL (Yeah...riiiiiiiiiiight!)
Of course, I was also the only person wearing anything even remotely Africanish...but at least no one seemed to object to the daishiki.
So, all in all, it was a very successful trip. Music got played. No one got hurt. I met Joseph. And most importantly - I GOT PAID!
Good points -
#1 - Got to meet Joseph6. He is shorter than I thought he'd be...& less hairy. Great guy to talk to. Very personable. We talked about maybe doing a duo-ish kinda thing together, & it looks like it will be possible, since he has semi-local friends not too far from me that he can stay with. I'm gonna hafta follow up on this with him, real soon!
#2 - I found that I REALLY like the Purple Fiddle. It's set up specifically to be a music venue, with church pews lined up in front of the raised stage. Great staff, & the room wasn't bad at all, either.
#3 - Had a truly loverly time. Stopped by the Blackwater Falls. Took some pics, which I'll post later. The wife got some vids of the thing, too, & as soon as I figger out how to shorten them & post them, I will. (Prolly around 2027, considering my usual learning curve!)
The guy who hired me had also hired a drummer by the name of...Phil, believe it or not...who also had never met him before. It was a rough rush job learning the material & the rhythms, for both of us, in about 2 1/2 hours before we went on. Rusty had also written a lil instrumental piece kinda on the spot, as we rehearsed, so I guess we weren't the only ones learning new things.
My parts were constantly evolving, right up until I got in stage, & practically froze up in my head...there was so much of the stuff that sounded alike to me, that I had a devil of a time discerning which piece was which. The instrument Rusty plays has 12 strings, tuned to a simple pentatonic scale, which made things kinda limiting as to what I could really do. At one point, it became very obvious to me just how unprepared I really was, when I was putting on a capo, & seeing Rusty shake his head at me, cuz I was headed in the wrong key...
The drum parts were way out of Phil's usual, since he's basically a rock/blues drummer, & I felt kinda sorry for him having to work off of Rusty's beat-boxing to get the beats.
The girl singer on the band's website was not there. It was just the three of us, which kinda made for a bit of extra pressure. I think the other Phil felt it worse than I did.
So there we were, three pasty-faced guys working together to make some Africanish music.
My fave was at the end, cuz I got to use some nice, rich, full tones on that final piece that I kinda worked out on the spot...
He even got me to do some drumming, which I really don't recommend...I'm a TERRIBLE drummer! But somehow, we got through it without me throwing everyone off, & although I threatened my wife's life & limb if she videoed me on the drum, she, of course, did it anyway.
I'm gonna look that over VERY carefully before I post it anywhere, trust me. I wouldn't wanna ruin anyone's lofty opinions of me with anything less than perfect...LOL (Yeah...riiiiiiiiiiight!)
Of course, I was also the only person wearing anything even remotely Africanish...but at least no one seemed to object to the daishiki.
So, all in all, it was a very successful trip. Music got played. No one got hurt. I met Joseph. And most importantly - I GOT PAID!
Last edited by philbymon on Mon Aug 09, 2010 1:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
SMILE - it's the safest way to spread your cheeks!
Classic and exactly what I would do to, having not asked.
