So, I've been working on a project for the past few weeks for a female songwriter. She's a nice looking blond haired, blue eyed lass who's dad is the prominent hometown lawyer that I pushed a car with in a previous post about helping others out. She follows in her father's footsteps and is an attorney with his firm, but also likes to write songs and can sing well enough to get the idea across, but as she doesn't play an instrument, has never had her songs recorded. A mutual friend told her about my studio and gave her my phone number and she got ahold of me about putting music to her songs. We only got to put in a couple of hours a week on it, and it was just a little demo for her to be able to maybe find a band that plays that style to do a full recording of (at my studio, perhaps). I had told her about a band, The Acoustic Refugees, that play every other Monday night at a little Irish Pub called Kelt's, in nearby Altus, Arkansas. Well, last night was the night they played and we had made plans on meeting there to listen. The Refugees are made up of Rosanne - vocals and guitar, Gus - vocals and guitar, Doc - lead guitar, Dale - harmonica, and Leah - vocals. They play all acoustic guitars (all Martins at that) and do a wide range of songs from the 20's to current stuff. They take the songs and do them their own way and make them their own, and are a big hit everywhere they play. I have been going out to hear them for 6 or more years now, and have shared the stage with them on a couple of occasions, so they know me as Mr. Rock n Roll, electric guitar kinda guy. A couple of years ago I got to ride with Dale (harmonica) and a couple of guitarists who had worked up a couple of songs for a jam night at a club in Fayetteville, AR and I got up and did a couple of numbers with the house band that was hosting it, and impressed Dale (he didn't know I played blues) and ever since, he gets up and jams with us when he gets a chance. So, anyway, last night they're jammin' away and Dena (my client) is really enjoying it and Rosanne breaks a string on her guitar, so I tell her I'll put a new string on while they're playing and they're down with that, so they keep playing and I put a new G string on her guitar. By the time they get done, with the song, I have it on, stretched and tuned, ready to go. And they take a break. So Dale asks me to get up there and play a couple with him and Doc says for me to go ahead. So, I'm trying to think of a song to do on acoustic guitar and I start playing one of Dena's new ones. Dale picks up on it on harmonica and I ask Dena if she wants to come sing it (figuring she wouldn't as she has never sang in public). She comes right over there and gets on the mic and does a really good job of it. It's kind of a Dave Mathews Band type song and afterwards, everyone was clapping and she was in Heaven. Then Gus grabs his guitar and he, Dale and I do Red House with everyone taking turns on leads. Then Rosanne comes over and does some backup vocals on "Ain't no Sunshine" with me doing lead vocals and Doc joins in, swapping off leads with me and Dale. Then we jam around on a few more and everyone is having a great time. At the end of it, Gus says that he has to be away at a lot of their gigs anymore and that I should think about filling in for him. The rest of them agree and we swap phone numbers, and they tell me that I fit in with them better than anyone they've had before (and there have been lots 'cause EVERYBODY wants to play with the Acoustic Refugees). So, with all the acoustic players around, sitting in with the Refugees over the years, dying to get a chance to play with this band, here I am showing up on a Monday night for a few Guiness' and to introduce Dena to a band who could maybe do her songs for her, and I get an invitation to be their fill in guitarist in future gigs. And Dena is like, SO impressed by it all, and so happy and grateful that I got her up there to sing her songs. Me, Mr. Rock n Roll, electric guitar type guy getting to fill the shoes that others have only dreamed of....Yep, there ain't no accounting for taste.
Damn, Jeff! Well done, man!
You got her stuff out there, you got her to perform, AND you got gigs for yourself out of it.
You get some good karma doing that sort of selfless stuff, Mr R&R!
