Back on the band front

[Griff]

You're in the unpit? That is different. Congrats on the clean show!

[Undertoad]

Yeah but show two went poorly. The drummer hasn't rehearsed enough and blew a bunch of stuff. It didn't wreck things but it was messy.

So tonight, everybody made up for it, and we did great.

Every time through, I play better, I play more little tidbits... I would like to have a perfect show by the end of the run, where I play everything exactly right.

The audiences are enjoying it. Every audience is different; I'm always fascinated. Yesterday's audience just roared at one of the love songs, which is just awesome because you know the whole thing will work. If the audience really believes the character and his motivation by the end of act one, then when he dies in act two, they will be crushed... it is teh drama...

Not only do I get that "pro riff" in this show, I get tons of tender moments and lovely beautiful bits, where my notes help create that dramatic connection.

I sure wish I could see it!

[xoxoxoBruce]

That's why the bassman is always the cool one, the smug fucker with shades, he knows it all revolves around him.
He ties it all together. In this case it's the Toad carrying the flag, and doing it well. You be cool.

[classicman]

very cool!

[Undertoad]

And so the run ended tonight. And the Music Director was like hey, great job out there, great to work with you, let's do it again.

Maybe if the next one isn't a frickin' opera. I hear the next musical has only 6 actors and they may want to put the band on stage.

But it did interrupt J & I for weeks on end... hard on a medium distance relationship, to push all these shows and rehearsals in...

I will have fond memories of all the notes I wrote on the score to remember what I had to do.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Another notch in your music stand, bragging rights, street creds, and satisfaction on a job well done. You can notch the bedpost later.

[Griff]

Note to self, "Don't fuck up."

[Undertoad]

Originally Posted by Undertoad

I don't know that I can continue my current fascination with the back catalogue of twee pop group Belle and Sebastian, and learn the songs from RENT, at the same time.

Ideally only one set of songs should be running through my head all day...

I realized, sitting here at work, that RENT songs are playing in my head.

That's not acceptable... they are fine songs, but I didn't choose them!

(Back to Belle & Sebastian, they have 9 studio albums and I've only gotten through 4 of em)

[Undertoad]

Meanwhile! Now the side project, "Shabbey Road", which I wondered would ever even be a thing, has become the "A" project.

When a couple of middle-age Americans with acoustic guitars get together, there's a bunch of songs they do. Songs that are required knowledge for any middle-age American with an acoustic guitar. Where, even if you don't know it by heart, if someone writes the chords down you can play it. "Amie", and "Take It Easy" and "Moonshadow" and "The Boxer" and "Truckin'".

Then if you can manage some vocal harmonies, it's interesting enough to keep doing just for fun.

This, to me, is not an act I would be a part of, partly in that I don't have an acoustic guitar and partly in that it's a little too "on the nose". You can play some songs that are obvious but not a whole set of them.

So when some of my musician friends were starting to do that, I thought well that's fun, but not something you would gig with. They invited me to play bass; and little did they know, the addition of bass to plain old three acoustics makes it sound twice as interesting. (Bass players understand this principle...)

So they really liked it when I came over, and I didn't mind playing these old songs. And then they started to add weird stuff in, like some Cure, and with my bass in, "Train in Vain", and a little more Dead, and a sprinkling of interesting new country...

And then they invited this singer Judy to practice one night and she pretty much nailed it. She could do Janis and she could do Fleetwood Mac. It was like wow. That works great. And then she started to add old blues songs in, and it was all sounding great.

So with Judy, this suddenly became a thing, and they booked a gig, and brought 25 people out; and it went okay; so now, they want to add a percussionist and make this more officially a thing.

And I guess that's the story of Shabbey Road. The true story, from my perspective. Right now we are all of varying amounts of various kinds of experience. By six months from now I think we will be pretty damn good.

[Undertoad]

2nd gig, July 2, Haggerty's Cafe, MacDade Boulevard, Morton.

I'm sure they had July 2 open because it's hard to get people out. But that's fine, if we play to a crowd only slightly bigger than the band itself, it will be a perfect 2nd learning experience. And those people will be entertained just fine

Gigging bands always wind up on MacDade. My local peeps know.

[xoxoxoBruce]

This, to me, is not an act I would be a part of...

You'll be sorry when they're on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Much of the music business is about making connections, and expanding your chops, as well as having fun. When the groupies through their panties at you, it's a good sign.

[Undertoad]

They need my gentle guidance. One of our guys put a Craigslist ad for a percussionist. But he put the ad in the "Talent Gigs" category and not "Musicians".

"Talent Gigs" is 75% people looking for fetish and nude models.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Well that might work out.

[Clodfobble]

Cool! I hope you have fun and also become rich and famous.

[Gravdigr]

Originally Posted by xoxoxoBruce

When the groupies through their panties at you, it's a good sign.

Depends.