Uncle William’s Place
November 14th, 2008Where Music, Art & Good Country Friends All Get Together
Some insight into why musicians love music.
Django Reinhardt Video Quintette du Hot Club de France
October 20th, 2008Who Needs Practice Anyway
October 20th, 2008There are three distinct variations of our group:
Alliance: Bass, drums, two guitars: We haven’t been able to practice because Danny has to work for a living. But for October Fest 08 we put in about an hour running through stuff we knew or had known.
Just as Faye and I got into town I got a call from my brother saying they wanted us to go on early. We ran through everything we’d practiced and there was still a gap to fill, so we did stuff on the fly. Total stage time about an hour.
Actually it turned out awfully well. I guess practice is overrated.
Three Shades of Gray: With Danny working, we had something like withdrawal and decided we’d go a little more acoustic and start up another set of songs including especially Clay’s original stuff. Also, Randall wanted to work on bass. So, we have bass, acoustic 12-string and electric guitar. We’ve played three or four gigs and its taken a while, but the sets are polishing up nicely.
Four Shades of Gray: When Mike Mosier has the time he will sit in with the 3 shades and add his virtuosity. Also, he has excellent original instrumental pieces.
A Farmer-Guitarist needs a tractor
October 2nd, 2008As You Know, the Best Laid Plans
August 25th, 2008We arrived in plenty of time for a short gig for a business group. I therefore had plenty of time to tune up the Tele (even though she pretty much stays in tune). Having tuned precisely, I was caught off guard when the big E string clanged badly when I first hit it. There’s a lot of sound bouncing around on a stage so it’s hard to tell sometimes, but I knew immediately that it was wrong and it was me.
So, I just had to grab the tuner away from my brother and make a little lame comedy until I could get somewhere close. I was off my stride a bit thereafter, but, as troopers do, we finished it out. The crowd seemed pleased enough.
Later when we were taking down the equipment, I found the cause. Our guitar stand has some worn rubber which allows the Tele to slip an hit the tuner for #6. Wouldn’t have been so bad if it had gone all the way down to D. No, it was somewhere in between and didn’t hook up well with any note we were on.
Oh well, we got paid.
The Greatest Guitarist I Know
August 6th, 2008My friend Mike Mosier
The Life of a Song Writer
April 30th, 2008“I like the act so far.”
Life and friendship…you just never know how things will happen.
Songwriter Fagan arrested in partner Oteri’s slaying Tuesday Apr 29, 2008
COMPAÑERAS
April 2nd, 2008Man, Tuesday night television drives you pretty nutty. I’ve gotten to the point that I cannot wait for the scale to settle down on “Biggest Loser”. Maybe if there was a little less talking there would be a little more losing.
Anyway, I flipped around to PBS and watched a show about Ameriaca’s first all-female mariachi band. At first I thought “Not my kind of music, not my story, but it beats waiting on the scale”. Mariachi is still not my style and it doesn’t speak to my experience, but the opening and closing songs really gripped me with pure emotion and powerful delivery. These two pieces weren’t sub-titled, so I don’t even know what they were about. But I felt them. Pretty awesome.
The closing song was the best. One woman and guitar alone in what looked like a tunnel into an ampitheatre. It grabs you deep.
Another thing is that there isn’t much money in it for them. For the time and effort there are better ways to make a buck. But it pays in ways a job can’t. A proof of how real it is.
Music Everywhere
March 17th, 2008I watched a shuttle launch last week. The sound…music. I later slept with the waves in Daytona Beach. The sound….music. I rode my motrocycle to work this morning. The sound….music.
The universe seems to sing…
Fascinating.