When I'm not playing music with my cover band, I'm writing and recording for my first completely solo album. Writing and recording while balancing a day AND night gig is difficult, at best. When inspiration hits it's crucial to record it someway, some how, before it leaves.
Most times my inspiration, and the results of it, are - if not controllable, at least predictable. Outside of a lightning bolt here and there, my inspiration is the result of working an idea over and over and over again - almost like stirring a bowl of frozen ice cream until it's more like a shake.
Which brings me to an interesting point about creating music: lately, my muse has arrived AFTER I've worked myself to death and just about given up on creating anything remotely interesting. But now that she's here, WILL NOT LEAVE.
Case in point: over the past week I've made more progress on four songs than I have in the month prior. Worked out arrangements, instrument structure, melodies and harmonies and reasonably strong first mixes. I don't really write and record like this - it's generally a lengthy process, taken one small step at a time.
Now, it's almost like something switched on in my head and WON'T shut off. My muse is like the girl who comes over for a visit (and you're happy to see her), but she just doesn't know when it's time to leave your house. The creative process and the possibilities of what the songs are, what they can be and what new songs are on the horizon is RELENTLESS. I simply cannot shut down the gears.
Now the process is picking up speed - I'm playing the stuff over and over in my brain during my DAY gig. Figuring out changes. Refining hooks. Changing chords. It's great, but maddening at the same time - kind of like hitting a geyser and watching the stuff explode 100 feet into the air with no way to control it, catch it or shut if off!
The good news? Suddenly, I can say - as unemotionally and business-like as possible - I can see the finish line for my record.
Believe me when I say I'm not complaining, but there are times I'd like/need to turn the muse off - even if only for a day. Sometimes, my brains needs a break. Processing information non-stop is fatiguing, and one thing I DON'T want is to get sick of my own work before it's finished.
But, as noted above, I normally don't work this way, so brothers and sisters, I'm riding this mother of a wave until it crashes on the rocks.
(End of April for the record? Looks like.)
Monday, January 21, 2008
Wednesday, January 2, 2008
Hungover w/o Drinking a Drop (Alternate Title: Your Shoes and Socks Don't Match)
My band and I finished up '07 with a New Year's gig in Newport. Both the drummer and I were sick as dogs - he had some kind of stomach bug, while I got clobbered with an upper respiratory infection that clogged my sinuses, throat, lungs and windpipe with gunk (GREAT news for a singer). Still, going into the gig I was pretty excited about the venue and performing on New Year's Eve. It's always a good gig.
'07? Hm. Not so much.
I'll start off by saying the venue itself, the owner and the support staff were top notch. Every person working there was very cool. And, although load in was kind of tough (upstairs with no elevator), the band pulled together and we got the gear in and out in a reasonable manner (again considering no elevator). The band members and the music were both in good spirits.
The kinda sorta issue was the crowd. I have to say, in all my years of performing, I had no answer for the crowd. The average age was early 50s through crypt-keeper, and though we threw every swing and older-ish song at them we knew, I still got criticized for "not playing enough cha-chas!"
Verbatim, by the way.
Now, I have absolutely nothing against cha chas, classic west coast swing, the Charleston or boogie woogie. In fact, we have a few of those in our musical bag of tricks. However, the set list I put together encompassed swing, faux jazz and then soul, R&B and pop from the 60s through the 90s. I mean, we were to open with "Slide" and crank out "Rock and Roll All Night" at midnight for God's sake! So, there I was, tearing through an old "complete" and "updated" song list (which wasn't either), trying to figure out what could work with this crowd.
Ultimately, we resigned ourselves to slow-burn music and accepted the multiple crickets that greeted us at the end of many songs with a sense of humor born from playing countless gigs like this through the years. Uncomfortable? Yes. Unexpected? Definitely. Unparalleled? No way. Unprofessional? Never - we pulled together and pulled it off like a solid cover band does.
Now, a few of the tables there were definitely very nice, friendly and high energy, and that allowed us to bust out some old-school disco and other kind of non-threatening dance music. Still, the room and the night didn't move the way I wanted it to, and that was a bit frustrating and, ultimately, had me shaking my head and thinking of mismatched socks.
Which means? Well, next time I prepare two completely different set lists and the band creates an even BIGGER bag of up tempo dinner music. This type of thing is a challenge, and - once the headache passed - I made up my mind to nail the next "huh? That's the crowd?" gig to the wall.
'07? Hm. Not so much.
I'll start off by saying the venue itself, the owner and the support staff were top notch. Every person working there was very cool. And, although load in was kind of tough (upstairs with no elevator), the band pulled together and we got the gear in and out in a reasonable manner (again considering no elevator). The band members and the music were both in good spirits.
The kinda sorta issue was the crowd. I have to say, in all my years of performing, I had no answer for the crowd. The average age was early 50s through crypt-keeper, and though we threw every swing and older-ish song at them we knew, I still got criticized for "not playing enough cha-chas!"
Verbatim, by the way.
Now, I have absolutely nothing against cha chas, classic west coast swing, the Charleston or boogie woogie. In fact, we have a few of those in our musical bag of tricks. However, the set list I put together encompassed swing, faux jazz and then soul, R&B and pop from the 60s through the 90s. I mean, we were to open with "Slide" and crank out "Rock and Roll All Night" at midnight for God's sake! So, there I was, tearing through an old "complete" and "updated" song list (which wasn't either), trying to figure out what could work with this crowd.
Ultimately, we resigned ourselves to slow-burn music and accepted the multiple crickets that greeted us at the end of many songs with a sense of humor born from playing countless gigs like this through the years. Uncomfortable? Yes. Unexpected? Definitely. Unparalleled? No way. Unprofessional? Never - we pulled together and pulled it off like a solid cover band does.
Now, a few of the tables there were definitely very nice, friendly and high energy, and that allowed us to bust out some old-school disco and other kind of non-threatening dance music. Still, the room and the night didn't move the way I wanted it to, and that was a bit frustrating and, ultimately, had me shaking my head and thinking of mismatched socks.
Which means? Well, next time I prepare two completely different set lists and the band creates an even BIGGER bag of up tempo dinner music. This type of thing is a challenge, and - once the headache passed - I made up my mind to nail the next "huh? That's the crowd?" gig to the wall.
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