It’s May. I’m not entirely sure how we’ve gotten this far into 2017 so quickly, or maybe I’m just confused because it seems like we pretty much skipped Winter? Whatever the case, it’s good to be home after a quick jaunt through Georgia and South Carolina, and happily sipping some significantly stronger coffee than that mud water the La Quinta Inn of Savannah had on offer, while enjoying a little “Purple Rain” on the turntable that is entirely preferred over the standard blue variety downpour we experienced upon our Tennessee re-entry yesterday afternoon.
The shows were the usual combination of adventure/misadventure we generally encounter on maiden voyages to a territory. We managed to make at least one new fan in Bluffton, even if he was only 5 or 6 years old. That kid could air jam with the best of them, deep knee bends and foot up on the imaginary monitor moves not excluded.
To our harmonica accompanist on night 1, a word of advice: There is a reason the key of each harp is labeled on the instrument, and that reason is to assist you in determining which you might best apply to the song in question. There really isn’t a great one-size-fits-all solution to every scenario, so please, in the future, choose wisely. You DID however, rock the sh#t out of that wrong key, so for that we tip our collective hat to you.
Someday I’m gonna hit the road on a quest to organize all the old random-harmonica-in-pocket guys across the nation into one giant, discordant “harp choir”, just to figure out if it’s all a big conspiracy, the work of an alien civilization bent on undermining our gigs, or perhaps a bloodline unwittingly separated over the years by geography and inebriated wanderings.…..and I suspect the discovery will be made that there is a direct correlation to their female counterparts, the Gimme-that-tambourine-so-I can-drunkenly-shake-it-out-of-time girls, another sadly NOT-so rare breed frequently encountered on the road. While none have crossed our paths recently, rest assured they do exist in ample numbers, and those numbers include a subset we DID briefly spy on Friday, when a bogie appeared stage left and commandeered Patrick’s mic briefly, before being removed, and subsequently ushered from the venue. Such take-my-picture-while-I-fellate-your-microphone chicks are also quite common in the wild. Stay vigilant, fellow musicians.
Oh, and just to be clear, the rest of you folks were swell….hell, even harmonica guy told me he loved me once or twice, even if he called me “Kenny” each time. I wish we’d had time to hit the beach though.
In other happenings, we have actually started giving some of the new material we’ve been tracking its initial live airings, as we continue to dress these studio tracks up and familiarize ourselves with recreating those bells & whistles to the best of our 8-handed abilities. “Back To Boston”, “Trippin’ Over Me”, and “Sing Along” have all been performed, with varying degrees of proficiency, and we’ve got a few more on deck that should be appearing soon enough. As for when the actual finished masters will be a reality, that remains a mystery…but we’re on the case.
In other studio business, I’ve got about a dozen tracks that I’ve worked up here at Pastry Park for a second solo record that I’ll hopefully get the players together for over the next few months, as tunes are still materializing that I think might bump some of these initial contenders. I’ve got my mind set on making an unquestionably rocking effort this time around, with a little more electric guitar, a little less lament, and a few more big choruses. Yeah, I’ve got a couple of softer moments that I know I won’t be able to bring myself to leave out, but for the most part, this time around will not be as midtempo or morose….not that there’s anything wrong with the mopey stuff….I just wanna get a few of these other things out of my system while they’re on my mind, I really wanna play some lead guitar, and a lot of this stuff just doesn’t sound like The Great Affairs to me.
OK then, as for it being May, here’s what’s up for the rest of the month…or at least what MY calendar tells me is going on. It’s actually not much. We’re off Chicagoland to celebrate my birthday at Mickey Finn’s in Libertyville on Saturday, May 20th, with a tentative date in Delavan, IL the night before that is awaiting a final confirmation. If that one does come together, it will be a full-band acoustic show. Watch our calendar for announcement shortly…I hope.
Unless something else pops up in the interim, that’s looking like that might be it until June(KY, TN..yes, a Nashville date), so I imagine we’ll get back to work on the new material while we can, and see if we can’t tie that up before Summer’s end.
Right now, I’m gonna get back to work on a little piano idea that came to me last week. My neighbors probably think I’m playing this thing with boxing gloves on….I really should’ve stuck with those lessons when I was kid. You were right, Mom. Sorry.
Be good to each other,
D.