Saturday, August 19, 2017

All The Things I Wished I Had Said

All the things I wish I had said (but was too kind hearted or too distracted at the time)
:

These end with “I hope somebody kicks your ass off the stage”
1.    
         1. The next time you go to the sound guy in the middle of a performance to ask to have your voice turned up over your band mates…

         2. The next time you stop a song in the middle because you don’t like the beats per minute…

         3. The next time you get up in the middle of a performance and say you have to be somewhere else…

         4. The next time you start meaningful conversations when there is gear to haul or cables to roll…

         5. The next time you say your bandmates may need to improve if they want you to continue…

         6. The next time you want to ‘correct’ someone else’s original song…

         7. The next time you’ve not practiced or rehearsed the material on your own…

         8. The next time you expect your bandmates to take care of your needs…

         9. The next time you play or sing without trying to do it with your bandmates…
1       
       10. The next time you take 30 minutes to get off the stage after your act…
1       
       11. The next time you go over your set time…
          
       12. The next time you disrupt someone’s start…
       13. The next time you redesign the sound set-up…
     
       14. The next time you act like an ass…


I’ll recall some more no doubt.

My New Little Friend

                So this is a drawing from a 1894 Montgomery Ward catalog. This is the squeeze box I brought home from Texas. It's not exactly the same, mine is labeled Sears & Roebuck, but it's close. So about 125 years old. The Accordion guy I took it to, says they can make it playable. More pictures next week, when it comes home from the Accordion Spa

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

The Come To Jesus Rehearsal



           Eight or nine years ago, I experienced a 'Come To Jesus' Rehearsal. The first band we were trying to form were a couple of guys I worked with, a parent I knew from the kids' school, a couple of people from a park jam in Long Beach, and a couple of ladies from an open night mic in Venice. We were trying to figure out songs, who was going to do what. My buddy from work decided that he didn't like any of the material chosen, felt that the musicians all needed serious work on their ability to perform and was going to fix it all. He threw songs at everyone all night, which were not particularly welcomed; proceeded to discuss everyone's imperfections. and pulled up videos to show people their imperfections. (Videos I had shot, by the way, but not for that reason.) And we all had such a wonderful time. He quit the band in a day or two. I was so happy he quit, I went to bed that night thinking 'Thank God!' (A real come to Jesus experience.) I was recently offered another opportunity to have another 'Come To Jesus' Rehearsal, for a bandmate to decide whether or not she would stay in the band. I said I would make that decision for her.