Ready or Not

It's Sunday and a bit of a lazy day here. Today I found a new groove in an old tuning. I wrote a song a couple of weeks ago about Coal. Here in the east coal mining was a major industry that carries a long history of wealth, pain, and suffering. Whole towns grew up around and were named after the mines that fueled their existence. One such mine, Number 9 is the topic of my song. I used a basic tuning, open D in the first versions of the song. Today I found it is a lot more fun to play and sounds cooler in the tuning of DADDAD. I have written several other tunes in this sort of droney tuning. Using the slide and a combination of picking styles gives this song a whole new sound. The song is about a Coal Train Engineer hauling "Number 9 Coal" over the mountain. As he makes the journey he reflects on his life, love, the here after and Numer 9 Coal. I have several great songs now for the solo thing and my next step is to head for some open mic nights and see how they go over. Playing solo is so much different than playing with a band. It's just you and a guitar, but what a way to go... Here is a link to some information about Number 9.

Testing My Metal

Finished another stand-in sound gig last night. Two Metal bands. I learned a little about the Metal Bands last night. In my humble experience I see the Metal Bands as an evolution not unlike the evolution of Blues to Rock. The second band Motherload was a good band and the musicians were nice guys and had a lot of class. The music was covers from bands that I have never listened to. So for me it was like all new music. The frontman is a zany character that provides a certain element of theatre to the show. The experience for me was comparable to Led Zepplin meets The Talking Heads with a little sprinkle of David Bowie and then crank the whole thing up through about 25,000 watts. At times a bit ordinary and other times very tight and rythmic with suprising dynamics. The crowd loved the band. I know it was loud and I could feel the 85 hz rattle my chest cavity every time the drummer hit the kick pedal and I was 60 feet away. The crowd however was right up front at about 100 db of sound pressure. The energy of the crowd was light and fun loving with a certain "hell raising" feel. Much better than any rap shows that I have done sound for. I am probably not going to head out for any metal shows real soon, but the band and the crowd sure helped me get into it and to make the band sound great. So thanks Motherload for a Motherload of fun!

Still Got The Blues

Saturday was the Blues Challenge Competition. I played with the Big Fish On The Wall Band. The event was an IBC sanctioned affair. These things are held all over the country. The winner is then qualified to participate in the Big Show at Memphis Tennesee in 2006. There were 6 bands from Ohio, PA, and West Virginia. We didn't win but we held our own. Received lots of great comments and met alot of fine folks that are into the blues. I have spent many years with this form of music. I know that it is part of me and has influenced all my music. The blues comes from some place deep inside. It isn't always a sad thing, it is more experiential. Most of the blues is about real life. It is an awesome experience when you can get these experiences across to an audience. However, I think the blues has changed somewhat in the last few years. There are many bands that bill themselves as "blues" bands without ever really getting there. It is not that you have to have a beat up old guitar, and some kind of old delta groove, it is the emotion and the experience that alot of them are missing. So thanks to the North Central Ohio Blues Association and Mr. Gary "Showtime" Sanders for inviting us. Gary is part of the Black Cat Monroe Band and will be going to Memphis in 2006 after qualifying by winning the Marietta Blues Challenge. I had a really good time and "I Still Got The Blues"...