A Mighty Wind Part Deux?

Now this is a cover band. Listen up!

Iron Horse

Recording (cont.) ... and Is That A New Guitar?

Yes, it continues.

Friday afternoon we're headed back into the studio for more sessions. Go ahead, be jealous. You know you want to be.

This time I'm at bat, and anticipating it. Been rehearsing how the melodies go and remembering all that's needed for tracking my guitar is to leave nothing. We can layer additional creamy chops later, if necessary.

And I nearly had this all timed out, because you see, I've been in the market for a new guitar. Something I don't have in the line up. There's my strat, my Les Paul, my PRS soapbar... and something amiss. There's a sound out there I want to own. And what better time is there to acquire a new friend than before a session? None.

And so, I found it. My new Gretsch G6129 Silver Sparkle Duo Jet . (That's right kids. Gretsch. Bona fide King of Rockabilly.) I was going to be the owner of a Gretsch G6129 Silver Sparkle remake. Unadulterated Gretsch Rockabilly coked out through the MESA. That's what I was missing.

Only...

You'll notice I said was.

It won't be happening.

Through a clerical error on my part (I've heard that's what they call it), I will not be such a Proud Papa. Unfortunate, I know! Rest assured, said "clerical error" (e.g. my own lameness) can be resolved in the near future, and we will be on to distribute cigars.

To quote a genius comic, "It will be mine. Oh yes. It will be mine."

Plus, I still have my current line for the sessions this weekend. The PRS will please. If you haven't heard her, you would marvel at how she purrs through that MESA.

I do.

And I'm the one doing it.

Unlimited Resources

Bored? Looking for something to read? Instead of wasting your time supporting Ethanol as an alternative fuel source to traditional gasoline (interestingly enough, making fuel-grade ethanol spends more energy per gallon than refining oil), feast your ideas on this:

The Air Car

Yeah. Thing runs on AIR. How cool is that?

By all accounts, it might not be such a disastrous alternative. Can't say whether I'd like to crash in said vehicle on the way to work or anything. Then again, with the cost savings generated from driving it, chances are the necessity of working for decades would decline. Plus you could afford the hospital bills. Probably even bizarre re-constructive surgery.

Might even get tax-payer kick backs for purchasing such an experimental ride. And who knows, you could single handedly save the world. Would even save you the time of painting all those plywood banners with John3:16.

This and That

Find yourself wondering if we rocked the Urbana Sweetcorn Festival? As it turns out we decided to pass.

This time.

Had we played though, it would have rocked. Steve couldn't make it down, and there just wasn't enough time for our stand-in bassist to saddle up. Spent most of the "down time" working on vocals. A plus any way you view that.

My voice is coming along well, actually. Quite encouraging. I'm finding my tone and what focal points work to create the proper sound. Still work, but improving. Also this week we started our four-song demo. Matt and Keith tracked drums for three while I hung out during the session helping out. Ended up being a long night, but we captured great raw sound. All worth it.

We're scheduled to track guitar later this month, then vocals, bass and "other". Think of it kind of like "nuget" in a Snickers bar. Part of the mystery.

The plan is to have a deliverable product by late October. November the latest. Then we can begin to unearth 2008 gigs, maybe even a few of those producers I mentioned.

Possibilities?

Oh hey, met another contact this past weekend. A random guy that introduced himself after we played. He said he enjoyed watching me play and really liked our song, "I thought you were covering someone else--that's a good tune."

Jim said his buddy schedules the music for the upcoming Urbana Sweetcorn Festival, and if we were interested, might be able to get us a spot Friday night.

This Friday.

As in three days from now.

I told him that was great, got his info, chatted awhile and haven't called him back yet. Simply because I'm unsure whether we can pull off thirty or so minutes with me singing under such little rehearsal time. Musically, we have a set ready. No problem. But vocally? Well . . . maybe. Keith and I need to decide tomorrow and get back to him.

Regardless, we made another contact and new fan. Also, Keith is attempting to schedule more sessions with our "engineer" Matt to finish a demo. So we'll see.

Keep you posted about Friday.

Four Minutes of Fame

Keith and I recently played another show (if you can call it that). A duo, just the pair of us. Last night in Mansfield.

At the Carnival.

Yeah, the carnival. We were there among the greatest of the scariest.

Sound crazy? Trust me it was. The carnival arrives in our town annually. Ferris wheel, slides, The Zipper, The Scrambler, cotton candy, carnies, all the fun you dare to imagine. If you're wondering how they operate all that stuff in the packed downtown streets, it's quite impressive. Keith and I though, we had the privilege to perform in the Big Tent on the street outside City Hall.

We played one song.

That's right. One song. Four minutes of Fame. We were the opening act in a one hour talent show, featuring everything from rockers to fire breathers... all right, not so much fire, but there were definitely nunchucks.

We played Snakebitten, an original about a woman and a snake that has a definite groove. I think I typed some early lyrics in here awhile back. No matter. Keith and I took the stage--a flatbed tractor trailer--set up and rocked the place. We appeared under the name "Uncle Otis". Sixty some listeners were in the tent, others passed by between rides. All grooved in that four minutes. You'll notice that Keith trimmed his set down for the show. Three pieces. And a cymbal. Even removed the front bass head.

It was cool. We played our best. Laura snapped photos. (She excels at that.)
























Being that it was a talent show, there were cash prizes. And they awarded us some for "being talented".


Admittedly, that's the most money either of us have ever made in under four minutes. Roughly 1.5 million a year.

2007 Fishing Vacation

Once again we returned to cabins and 700 acres of beautiful lake for our family fishing vacation. You'll notice in the slideshow, we caught some nice fish. The lake limit on "keeper" Bass is anything up to 12" or over 18".

Last year we caught several large 16-17" Bass (and buckets of Bluegill). But no "trophy" Bass. This year however, we caught four and had equally as many nearly 18. Definitely a good year.

I brought new bait to test, which is the case for me every year. Thus far, nothing has ever worked as good as the "black worms" Wayne gets. It's unmatched. Well this year I brought in some Creme lizards I saw on the shelf. (Had to buy them.) Was I ever surprised.

These things are amazing. My first fish of the trip was an 18.25", 2.75 lb Bass. I made about five casts in as many minutes and BAM! That fish hit my lure like it was starved! All to say, they're a staple in the tacklebox now.

It was good to get out and away from the grind. Not that work is bad, but to retreat from civilization and just fish was relaxing. I caught several nice fish too. Two of them were "Keepers", 18.2" and 19.25" respectively. My second one came Friday morning.

John had taken his family fishing that morning, so it was just Wayne and I until we'd pick up Brownie (Lisa's grandpa, who caught the fourth Big One) at nine. As it turns out, Wayne landed an 18.75" 3-lb monster in the initial hour we were out there. Then maybe an hour later I reeled in the second one.

That fish took some angling. Hooked him about seven feet from the boat, just off the bank and beneath a willow tree. I put a cast right on his nose and battled the lunker for two full minutes before Wayne netted him for me.

It was fun and rewarding to feel the pole bending under pressure and hear the line buzzing. When it finally boiled the water's surface and took another run, you knew... this was a big fish. I didn't really expect it to "keep", but it did handily. Will be good eating to go with the Bluegill we brought home (frozen of course).

Something struck me, looking back through the photos I took. I didn't take much of anything else, just fish and some storms. John and his kin are virtually MIA this year. They were definitely there, just kind of weird I didn't capture them on film as much. So the pics are kind of lopsided this year, many of my fam and Lisa's Dad. But not much of anything else. Other than the fish of course.

Well, hope you enjoy the shots anyway. The weather was spectacular this year.

Enjoy the memories folks . . .

"Elevenfold Rocked The House" Randy H., MCA

You know, there are days you think things couldn’t get better, and days you can’t wait to get behind you.

I could stop there, but won't. Some other time.

From daybreak to sunset, Saturday was simply amazing. The weather was spectacular. You couldn’t ask for anything better. A sunny 77 degrees with a slight breeze. It’s not every day you get to rock out in such perfect weather.

When we pulled up to begin unloading, a band was already onstage finishing their set. They weren’t half bad for teens, even broke out some choreography—simultaneously standing on amps and leaping off.

Nice.

Randy must have scheduled music from the onset, leading into the three headlining acts, Elevenfold (us), Greenwood, and FortyMinusOne.

We brought a fine set to the annual event this year—about forty-five minutes—and performed it well. I don’t remember much except ad-libbing my guitar solo and the ringing in my ears after our set... which best describes rocking out.

But that’s bound to happen when you're jamming in front of a MESA cab for an hour. Warns you right on the power cord: "Beware, this amp is LOUD."

Shyeah!

Afterward, we got lots of compliments, encouragement, and questions about our next show. We signed a few autographs, sold some Elevenfold t-shirts, and had a record good time. It was cool seeing how people kept drifting closer to us while we played, like campers to a warm fire.

Best of course was the free pork chop sandwiches!

Greenwood took the stage next and really performed. They were cool guys. Had the chance to chat some after their set. For as young as they are, they’ve got some serious talent. If you haven’t listened to them, check out their newest album. It’s pretty cool.

FortyMinusOne closed the show. They came up and nailed their set. No bones. I’m unsure how much money MCA raised that night, but one thing is certain... the event was a success. Everyone had a blast, and looked good doing it. Randy already asked us for next year. We’ll see.

Being in demand feels good, but first comes the “Lessons Learned” portion of the performance where we review media and tweak stuff for what's next. There’s vacations, new material, just lots to do. Plus this summer we’re trying to complete a demo EP, and we still have a couple producers to call. We’ll see where all this goes.

There were a couple notable moments in our set Saturday.

One was the stage itself. Apparently (for whatever reason) a family of birds decided to nest their young directly above the stage on one of the sound shelves.

So the entire time we’re performing, we’re also honing our “parry” skills as the parents darted around us. I couldn’t tell if they were simply that into our rock, or just trying to avoid the sine waves from the bass cab. (That thing put out some monstrous bass!)

Secondly, about thirty seconds in, trouble sparked. Amps suddenly sounded empty and I recall looking back at mine, wondering what happened to see rear stage lighting had winked out. Then we no longer heard vocals.

Anywhere.

Monitors then failed. And there we were, playing notes without vocals or monitors.

Yeah it was kind of funny. Turns out we blew a fuse. After things were reset we jumped back in.

And for me, my favorite part had to be my opening remark, and I quote, “Are you ready to rock!” There’s nothing more enjoyable than opening with pranks.

So anyone reading who was there and thought I went mad in that instant, fear not! The witticism was aimed at someone who later shook their finger at me and laughed.

Priceless.

Thanks MCA!

Rockin' (in) the Park

If you get a chance, tomorrow we're going to rock that place. Oh yeah.

6/9/07. Forest Preserve Park @ 5pm.

Show up. Be happy. Leave deaf. You'll love it.

Notice our name tops the Saturday line up? Due to our superior ability for delivering rock, naturally. (Okay click the image then you'll see.)