Twas the night before Christmas......

Twas the night before christmas
and all through the house
the band was getting restless
there was no bass player about

and so in my leather jacket
and backwards beret
I put on my shoes
and went looking for Dave

then out from the street
there arose such a racket
that the cigarettes fell
out of my jacket

and looking through the window
of a rusty old van
who should I spy
but the long lost bass man

locked in the van
along with the keys
was davey the bass player
and 8 bottles of beer

when finally with a coat hanger
we did get him out
he jumped into the night air
and stumbled about

at the top of his lungs
full of good christmas cheer
"Happy Crishmash to all,
And Nappy Hew Near"

But from down the street
we did hear the yell
of punters, "play freebird"
oh bloddy hell.......

last gig of the year tonight

Cafe Drummonds, Aberdeen. Band on at 9:30

Great year, hard to believe that it's over already. Openers for Tam White, Blue Lisa, Ray Bonneville, Mem Shannon and gigs from Estonia to Alaska and all points in between. A new CD, and some great reviews and a live CD off to duplication. A youtube video that drew praise from some heavyweights in the steelguitar world. An awesome year. So how do you wrap it up? Gotta get to Drummonds tonight and find out....

Next year? A new live CD, a new band cd in the studio and a solo cd. And the life of a road dog, have lap steel will travel!

See you tonight, and happy, safe holidays to all. Thanks for your friendship and support.

and while we're at it.....

If you haven't read it yet, jump down t the previous post or this won't make a lick of sense.....

The real trick is going to be making this an integated whole, between the band and the solo gigs, no? It's going to be one thing to havethe solo gigs veer off in a new and interesting direction (not to mention a portable one too- can you imagine taking 5 guitars on a train?). But, to some extent this needs to fit well with the band too. Here's why-

First, the original songs need to be, to some extent, portable between both gigs. Otherwise, don't you run into a radical conflict, where a listener's expectations are far from being met- it seems like a big jump from raw, delta blues to lap-steel hendrix covers, no? Does it matter?

Second, the songwriter is happier if he's got a consistent target to write for, otherwise songs just stay in the books and never get a chance to tell their story on the stage.

And so, I'm open to feedback here- how important is it to have a performer present a consistent set of material from gig to gig? And by this I don't mean playing the same familiar songs the same way every night, but rather that everything seems to hang together. Or do you prefer to be surprised by what can creep into a set list on any given night?

I have my bias here. But I always like to hear from you guys. My email is at the top of the page here, so if you feel inclined, I'd welcome the feedback (as long as it's not a pitch to sell me Viagra or a Nigerian email scam), and I won't put you on a junk mail list.


OK, off to spend some time at the piano. Be well!

finding a new voice.....

Every once in a while a gig opens your eyes to new possibilities, and helps you find a new voice. It's as though the dynamics of the room, the acoustics and the personalties of the audience all lead you towards an answer or a change that you've been working towards. And SNAP, everything is in place.

Here's the dilemna- The National works fine in a sit-down cafe, but not in a pub. And, I've been feeling a little removed from the music, in the sense that these old songs have gone back to being someone elses's stories. So, last night at Satchmo's in Dundee I had a bar stool all to myself on the stage, and Leon Hunter was kind enough to let me experiment. And experiment I did, I took 5 guitars to the club and just played.

It turns out that the night just gelled with an old Jesse Mae Hemphill song, that set in motion a string of old Mississippi Hill Country style songs. Some RL Burnside and other stuff played with that vibe. And instantly the room went from one of ignoring the background music to dancing or shuffling in place, moving close to the stage and sitting there listening and throwing out song ideas. So, there was some James Taylor played on an electrified slide guitar at full volume. and other odd stuff, but somehow it all worked. And the original songs I've been wrestling with, lots of them just fit the bill.

I had a long drive home last night in the wee hours of the morning, and I was still zipping from the aftermath (it's 11 am the next day now) while I was prying my eyelids open with coffee this morning. I love it when the doors open like this, because most of the time it's not very subtle and is what one of those large bank vault doors opening must sound like.

Oh, about the 5 guitars? I only need two from here on out, and a very cheesy, very small amplifier to make it all work. Phew, I'm back to being portable again which is a comfort because moving FIVE guitars for a solo gig is a little over the top. But we did answer the question.

And for Dave and Mario who will want to know what happens to all the old delta stuff, it'll still be there guys, we're just going to transmogrify it a bit and make it a little more relevant to the life of a working-class guitar player with 4 kids living in the 21st century. Add volume and presto.....

what a great way to wrap up the year!

If you were at the Blue Lamp last night this won't be news.....

I'm so proud of they guys in the band. We had a double header with the Glebe Street Blues Band last night and they tee'd it up and hit it hard and straight. If you're wrapping up a great year, that was the gig. Dino and Angus were a cement floor, absolutely rock solid. And if you've been watching Dave lately you know he just keeps getting stronger and stronger. Damn, what a great band!

My favorites of the evening? "Don't go cutting off your hair", a dedication to the late Sammy Meyers was spontantous and right on the money, including a perfect Peter Green-tinged solo by Dave, and the "Voodoo Chile" rendition with the Sputnik imitation (a lap steel on legs played behind my head).

Wow, I'm exhausted, and off to catch some sleep. Thanks to all of you that bought CD's last night! Hope they make great stocking stuffers!

Last band gig of the year is at Cafe Drummonds on the 21st. It'll be a good one, so mark your diaries!

So where is that solo CD?

Great gig at Drummonds last night, sorry if you missed it...

Eric the Social worker, a couple of guys visiting from Calgary, Collin, Dave, Sherry Mike and Jane all asked about the solo cd- as in when is it going to be finished?

Soon.

Having enough material isn't the problem, it's what material goes together well enough for a cd so that it's an even consistent statement that reflects the 'artist's mindset' at a given point in time. This guy is a little over the road these days. Is it a country or delta blues record? Lots of lap steel? Some electric or ensemble playing? Talk about your basic pointless emotional and artistic crisis- here we are.

So, whadda we gonna do?

How about this as a plan- I've booked time in a local studio in december to take one and only one guitar in for a 4 hour block of recording. We'll record a couple of complete songs and keep the good stuff. Take a second block of time with another guitar and record another bunch of songs, and keep rotating untill we get a good, consistent package. The rest of the stuff I'll put out on my website for folks on my email list to download as a freebie.

GACK! Don't ask me about the live cd, it's all ready to go (artwork and all), but that's waiting on the label to get it out- hassle them at info@frontporchrecords.co.uk...

OK, that's me rant for the day. Off to write a few new songs!