Memphis Earns, Writes Rave Review of Self, Friend
Awesome show with Justin at the Grand Ave Dunn Bros. Coffee. Really nice crowd, including several friends and family. Played some requests for originals which is always nice. Good people working there gave me a free sandwich and coffee. I feel so blessed to have so many good friends who are also great musicians. Who else would get to play such fun back to back shows with Kaptain Karl and J. Bell in the same week? Maybe BPZMAG I suppose. Thanks Justin for inviting me and thanks everyone who came and enjoyed it.
We revisited a lot of the Urban Rust material and it was really fun to look back and play that stuff again. I was playing bass like I did in that band and I really missed Ben hitting the kick drum beats with me. We played Hourglass last and it was really cool how much meaning that song took on.
We played some of the best of Justin's more recent stuff like "If I Had My Way", some of which I've never played on or have only played second guitar on. I was reminded of Art Garfunkel talking about the 1981 Central Park reunion show with Paul Simon. He said he was excited to sing stuff like "American Tune" and "Slip Slidin' Away" which Simon had written and released years after they originally broke up.
Possibly complete set list from tonight (as best as I remember it) is here. Other highlights were a long, long "Dream I Had Last Night" which incorporated and, by the final verse, completely fused with the Doc's Kids song "Alison's Quiche". We traded some lead vocals - I enjoyed singing "Melody Dances" and it was cool that Justin knew all the words to "Bittersweet Love Song" and seemed to have more fun singing it than I might have. It completely cracked me up when we were playing "Nothing At All" and I realized Justin's lyrics sheet had been printed out directly from the part of my website dedicated to Urban Rust, complete with web address at the top of the page and underlined purple links at the bottom.
At the beginning during my solo set I was somewhat nervous and I felt a little shaky, but I was proud to debut my solo guitar fingerpicking arrangement of Paul Simon's "The Obvious Child" and my own brand new song written this month "Big Day Tomorrow" (lyrics). I played "Echo Some Tune" (lyrics) for the second time in public and ended with the GUH favorite "Chimney", which sounded weird and lacked for Karl but my background verse about "my plan for loving Tam" was brought out somewhat. Not that that is necessary or even necessarily beneficial.
As if it wasn't enough to reunite with a great musician and play a great set of nostalgic, heartfelt music to appreciative friends and some new fans (I even got rid of 4 Urban Rust CDs, or 1 percent of the total supply in my basement), when I got out to my car I heard the last out of a rain delayed Twins victory over Kansas City, Joe Nathan making his third save in as many tries in a 2-1 victory.
And as if THAT weren't enough, when I got home and was loading my gear back in to my basement's resting-gear-keepin'-spot I noticed a water bottle I thought I'd lost at the GUH show in February. Turns out it was wedged in a dark place between my speakers and my power amp/mixer. A water bottle not such a huge deal, you say? This water bottle was a gift from my wife and was meant to show her support of me. It is purple and sporty and sentimental and I had been feeling very sad thinking that I lost it. What a sweet night.
In summary, I had a blast and sincerely wish to do it again. If you have not heard Justin you should check him out here and if you are reading this blog and do not have Urban Rust's 1999 "Leave This Place" CD, e-mail me at my website with your mailing address with the subject line "Leave This Place" and I will send you one at no cost to you. J. Bell you rule. Thanks man.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Saturday, April 22, 2006
Two Cool Websites
Another great GUH show last night at the Freight House Dunn Bros. in Minneapolis. Thanks to all who came. Show is documented here. But that's not necessarily what we're here to talk about.
Two websites recently came to my attention. The first is a must see for all nerds such as myself. It is Ten Ways To Destroy The Earth.
The second is The Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall of Shame. This site has nothing to do with trucking. Rather, it makes affectionate fun of musical artists who have nothing more to offer with a given song and so simply change keys at the end for no particularly good reason.
Personally, I like the gear change. I have consciously inserted it in at least two original songs, "Maybe" (from GUH's Synthesis tape) and "We'll Go On Forever". "Forever" is a joke love song that exists primarily to modulate up a whole step 6 times until finally the chorus is being screeched out an octave above its original home. A song which, with the benefit of hindsight, GUH should not have played at an actual wedding reception.
They have missed a famous one that occurred to me immediately - "The Letter" by the Box Tops. There is no foreshadowing of the rather sudden, if well executed, move to D flat from C. This is painfully obvious during the Great Uncle Helmer version of this song as the chords become barred instead of open and the sound changes with substantially less panache than on the 1967 hit single.
Also, "Free Again" by Alex Chilton has a pretty obvious heavy handed gear shift, although it's up a fourth, not a half step.
Another great GUH show last night at the Freight House Dunn Bros. in Minneapolis. Thanks to all who came. Show is documented here. But that's not necessarily what we're here to talk about.
Two websites recently came to my attention. The first is a must see for all nerds such as myself. It is Ten Ways To Destroy The Earth.
The second is The Truck Driver's Gear Change Hall of Shame. This site has nothing to do with trucking. Rather, it makes affectionate fun of musical artists who have nothing more to offer with a given song and so simply change keys at the end for no particularly good reason.
Personally, I like the gear change. I have consciously inserted it in at least two original songs, "Maybe" (from GUH's Synthesis tape) and "We'll Go On Forever". "Forever" is a joke love song that exists primarily to modulate up a whole step 6 times until finally the chorus is being screeched out an octave above its original home. A song which, with the benefit of hindsight, GUH should not have played at an actual wedding reception.
They have missed a famous one that occurred to me immediately - "The Letter" by the Box Tops. There is no foreshadowing of the rather sudden, if well executed, move to D flat from C. This is painfully obvious during the Great Uncle Helmer version of this song as the chords become barred instead of open and the sound changes with substantially less panache than on the 1967 hit single.
Also, "Free Again" by Alex Chilton has a pretty obvious heavy handed gear shift, although it's up a fourth, not a half step.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Great Uncle Helmer Seventh Album Progress Report
Today's GUH recording sessions went very well. We started with "Bass Guitar". I recorded acoustic guitar and a vocal, playing both at once. The first take was plenty good. Then we set up for live recording of both vocals with acoustic guitar and moved on to "The Longest Conversation". After the first take was disrupted by severe coughing the second take was not very good and stopped almost immediately. The third take, however, was good. We listened back to it and were cracking ourselves up.
We pressed on, trying and succeeding in remembering the words and structure to "Army Issue Eggplant Eyes", a high quality song it had always bugged me we hadn't recorded yet. With only a small vocal overdub at the bridge section, the live recording of guitar and two vocals is very enjoyable and will likely be "the take".
After this success, we considered the astonishingly old yet high quality and never recorded originals "Boots", "River Sticks", and "Michaelangelo" but ultimately went with the more recent Kaptain Karl composition "Car of Jonas", which we could easily remember all of without any time consuming research into the archives. I recorded acoustic guitar while Karl sang his lead vocal. The second complete take was good. We considered breaking for lunch, but decided against it, as things were going extremely well. We had done basic tracks for four songs in about two hours. We were quickly agreeing to each others' arrangement suggestions and tightening up certain things but leaving the overall vibe very spontaneous and loose.
I overdubbed my brief vocal to "Car of Jonas" then I put bass on "Car" and "Conversation". "Car"'s bass makes it sound somewhat like Evan Johnson's "Moments, Days, and Ages", on which I also played bass. I wasn't sure if bass would work on "Conversation", but I tried it and we both liked it, although it's just augmentation and reinforcement of the acoustic guitar, not flashy melodic stuff. I don't think bass is appropriate or necessary for "Army Issue", although some light percussion and possibly a shimmering, chorusy electric guitar may be added later. That song had some of the improvisational acoustic guitar/harmonica interplay I enjoyed creating on the old man will travel album.
Finally, we went back to "Bass Guitar" (for which Karl is going to create and record a bass part on his own) and finished the lead vocals and arranged some backing vocals. We sang backup on each others' verses. It was pretty sweet and we had a lot of fun and laughs.
Add to this the tracks I've started at my studio over the last few years - "Cricket", "Iceland (Reykjavik Revels)", and "The Sequel To Behind The Curtain (Now That I Know (What's Back There))" to name three, and we've got the beginnings of a pretty decent GUH CD of all original material. I am going to lobby for inclusion of "Introducing the Door" and "Stop, Drop, and Roll", but that may be a tough sell, as I think Karl thinks of those as Karl solo songs. Maybe, like "The Children", they could appear on GUH and KK CDs. Or maybe I can just play backup on the versions that go on his CDs. Yeah, that might be better.
At any rate, a super day and one of our most successful ever in a recording studio. I think the next disc will be a combination of the polish of Generic Mayhem and the spontanaeity and improvisational room that made old man will travel special.
notes:
A)Possible titles for the album include, but are not limited to:
Opossum
Corsica
Luck
B)Confused by the headline? I'll break it down for you:
1. Synthesis - originally released in 1993 on cassette only. Digital remixing and remastering awaiting retrieval by the band of original 1/2 inch reel to reel four track session tape of "Smilin' Joe" from Scot Ninnemann's mom's basement.
2. Anybody Seen My Wallet? - abandoned cassette four track recordings. Technical problems assure material not likely to be heard in this form. Most but not all of the tracks were rerecorded later and better on...
3. old man will travel - released on CD and cassette
4. Generic Mayhem - CD only
5. Generic Mayhem Live - signed, numbered limited edition promotional CD given away with the first 20 copies of #4.
6. Fall - currently held up by difficulty (and some laziness and cheapness) obtaining rights to release cover songs.
7. The new one documented above.
Today's GUH recording sessions went very well. We started with "Bass Guitar". I recorded acoustic guitar and a vocal, playing both at once. The first take was plenty good. Then we set up for live recording of both vocals with acoustic guitar and moved on to "The Longest Conversation". After the first take was disrupted by severe coughing the second take was not very good and stopped almost immediately. The third take, however, was good. We listened back to it and were cracking ourselves up.
We pressed on, trying and succeeding in remembering the words and structure to "Army Issue Eggplant Eyes", a high quality song it had always bugged me we hadn't recorded yet. With only a small vocal overdub at the bridge section, the live recording of guitar and two vocals is very enjoyable and will likely be "the take".
After this success, we considered the astonishingly old yet high quality and never recorded originals "Boots", "River Sticks", and "Michaelangelo" but ultimately went with the more recent Kaptain Karl composition "Car of Jonas", which we could easily remember all of without any time consuming research into the archives. I recorded acoustic guitar while Karl sang his lead vocal. The second complete take was good. We considered breaking for lunch, but decided against it, as things were going extremely well. We had done basic tracks for four songs in about two hours. We were quickly agreeing to each others' arrangement suggestions and tightening up certain things but leaving the overall vibe very spontaneous and loose.
I overdubbed my brief vocal to "Car of Jonas" then I put bass on "Car" and "Conversation". "Car"'s bass makes it sound somewhat like Evan Johnson's "Moments, Days, and Ages", on which I also played bass. I wasn't sure if bass would work on "Conversation", but I tried it and we both liked it, although it's just augmentation and reinforcement of the acoustic guitar, not flashy melodic stuff. I don't think bass is appropriate or necessary for "Army Issue", although some light percussion and possibly a shimmering, chorusy electric guitar may be added later. That song had some of the improvisational acoustic guitar/harmonica interplay I enjoyed creating on the old man will travel album.
Finally, we went back to "Bass Guitar" (for which Karl is going to create and record a bass part on his own) and finished the lead vocals and arranged some backing vocals. We sang backup on each others' verses. It was pretty sweet and we had a lot of fun and laughs.
Add to this the tracks I've started at my studio over the last few years - "Cricket", "Iceland (Reykjavik Revels)", and "The Sequel To Behind The Curtain (Now That I Know (What's Back There))" to name three, and we've got the beginnings of a pretty decent GUH CD of all original material. I am going to lobby for inclusion of "Introducing the Door" and "Stop, Drop, and Roll", but that may be a tough sell, as I think Karl thinks of those as Karl solo songs. Maybe, like "The Children", they could appear on GUH and KK CDs. Or maybe I can just play backup on the versions that go on his CDs. Yeah, that might be better.
At any rate, a super day and one of our most successful ever in a recording studio. I think the next disc will be a combination of the polish of Generic Mayhem and the spontanaeity and improvisational room that made old man will travel special.
notes:
A)Possible titles for the album include, but are not limited to:
Opossum
Corsica
Luck
B)Confused by the headline? I'll break it down for you:
1. Synthesis - originally released in 1993 on cassette only. Digital remixing and remastering awaiting retrieval by the band of original 1/2 inch reel to reel four track session tape of "Smilin' Joe" from Scot Ninnemann's mom's basement.
2. Anybody Seen My Wallet? - abandoned cassette four track recordings. Technical problems assure material not likely to be heard in this form. Most but not all of the tracks were rerecorded later and better on...
3. old man will travel - released on CD and cassette
4. Generic Mayhem - CD only
5. Generic Mayhem Live - signed, numbered limited edition promotional CD given away with the first 20 copies of #4.
6. Fall - currently held up by difficulty (and some laziness and cheapness) obtaining rights to release cover songs.
7. The new one documented above.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
On a trip recently, we passed a sign for a town in Iowa called "Swaledale". I told my friend they should start a brewery there. When she asked why I said so they could brew
Swaledale Pale Ale
Then I thought how awful it would be if that particular brew went bad. You would have
Stale Swaledale Pale Ale
And what if the reason the brew had gone bad was that the U.S. Postal Service had taken too long getting it to its destination? Then you would have
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale
But what if you had a great story about serving it one time only to find out it had gone bad? Then you would have a
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale
And what if a musician heard your story and was inspired to create a boisterous song? Then you would have a
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale Wail
It would be sad if the musician was playing a show and that song didn't go over well, because you would hate to see the
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale Wail Fail
Although it would all be worth it if the musician left music and started a business with trains and train tracks and made a ton of money running the company that would of course be named after the incident that caused him to switch careers, which is to say the company would be called the
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale Wail Fail Rail
Then years later the historic "golden spike" that was the last component of the main line of the main train would be in a museum labeled as the
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale Wail Fail Rail Nail
Feel free to continue this nonsense in the comments if you dare.
Swaledale Pale Ale
Then I thought how awful it would be if that particular brew went bad. You would have
Stale Swaledale Pale Ale
And what if the reason the brew had gone bad was that the U.S. Postal Service had taken too long getting it to its destination? Then you would have
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale
But what if you had a great story about serving it one time only to find out it had gone bad? Then you would have a
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale
And what if a musician heard your story and was inspired to create a boisterous song? Then you would have a
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale Wail
It would be sad if the musician was playing a show and that song didn't go over well, because you would hate to see the
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale Wail Fail
Although it would all be worth it if the musician left music and started a business with trains and train tracks and made a ton of money running the company that would of course be named after the incident that caused him to switch careers, which is to say the company would be called the
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale Wail Fail Rail
Then years later the historic "golden spike" that was the last component of the main line of the main train would be in a museum labeled as the
Snail Mail Stale Swaledale Pale Ale Tale Wail Fail Rail Nail
Feel free to continue this nonsense in the comments if you dare.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Inspiration
I was going to the library to return some books and get some new ones. I put on 89.3 the Current, which I almost always enjoy. Its only real competition is 88.5 Jazz 88. The Current was playing Neil Young's electric version of "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)". The electrics were spitting and snarling with the heaviest guitar sound ever recorded. I've always loved that song and I hadn't heard it in a long time. He sang
It's out of the blue and into the black
They give you this, but you pay for that
And once you're gone you can never come back
When you're out of the blue, and into the black
A long time ago on a beach in Ohio I was sitting with my sister looking at the lake. We had been silent for a while and she asked me what I was thinking. It was shortly after "Freedom" had come out and Neil Young was popular and in vogue again. I said I had been thinking that if I bought some Neil Young and listened to it I bet I would really like it. My sister thought that was very funny and indeed it was. With great affection and appreciation, she said, "That's really what goes on in your mind, isn't it? You were just sitting there, looking at the sand and the water and the sky and you were thinking, 'I bet I would really like Neil Young's music if I bought some of his albums.' That's great." We laughed because it's true.
As I drove on, Neil Young sang
"The King is gone, but he's not forgotten."
I thought about Elvis and how much his music has meant to me. I thought about all the songs I've played that are either about or inspired by Elvis. "Dream I Had Last Night", "California" and Karl's trilogy of songs. I thought about that time long ago on a beach. I thought about all the music I've made that I'm often tempted to just give up on. I sometimes see no reason to do anything but let it rot in the basement. Sometimes it just feels like a nuisiance to even be a musician. Nothing else makes me as happy as being a musician. I often wish I was happy being something that made money, helped my family, and made sense instead of something that requires money, takes time away from my family, and occupies my mind with senselessness.
I drove by a church. The church often has a funny saying on its lit up sign rising out of the ground by the road. I thought about Elvis. On the radio Neil Young again sang "The King is gone, but he's not forgotten" The sign on the church said
FINISH HIS WORK
I was going to the library to return some books and get some new ones. I put on 89.3 the Current, which I almost always enjoy. Its only real competition is 88.5 Jazz 88. The Current was playing Neil Young's electric version of "Hey Hey, My My (Into The Black)". The electrics were spitting and snarling with the heaviest guitar sound ever recorded. I've always loved that song and I hadn't heard it in a long time. He sang
It's out of the blue and into the black
They give you this, but you pay for that
And once you're gone you can never come back
When you're out of the blue, and into the black
A long time ago on a beach in Ohio I was sitting with my sister looking at the lake. We had been silent for a while and she asked me what I was thinking. It was shortly after "Freedom" had come out and Neil Young was popular and in vogue again. I said I had been thinking that if I bought some Neil Young and listened to it I bet I would really like it. My sister thought that was very funny and indeed it was. With great affection and appreciation, she said, "That's really what goes on in your mind, isn't it? You were just sitting there, looking at the sand and the water and the sky and you were thinking, 'I bet I would really like Neil Young's music if I bought some of his albums.' That's great." We laughed because it's true.
As I drove on, Neil Young sang
"The King is gone, but he's not forgotten."
I thought about Elvis and how much his music has meant to me. I thought about all the songs I've played that are either about or inspired by Elvis. "Dream I Had Last Night", "California" and Karl's trilogy of songs. I thought about that time long ago on a beach. I thought about all the music I've made that I'm often tempted to just give up on. I sometimes see no reason to do anything but let it rot in the basement. Sometimes it just feels like a nuisiance to even be a musician. Nothing else makes me as happy as being a musician. I often wish I was happy being something that made money, helped my family, and made sense instead of something that requires money, takes time away from my family, and occupies my mind with senselessness.
I drove by a church. The church often has a funny saying on its lit up sign rising out of the ground by the road. I thought about Elvis. On the radio Neil Young again sang "The King is gone, but he's not forgotten" The sign on the church said
FINISH HIS WORK
GUH Fall CD Progress Report
I am trying to find out how to obtain licenses to legitimately release the cover songs on our CD. I've looked at
1. ascap.com. I think four of the tunes are licensed from there and it had publisher contact information on four of the songs.
2. bmi.com. Representatives of Lou Reed, TMBG, R.E.M., Billy Bragg. Site was fairly useless, except for its link to...
3. harryfox.com. All but Sweet Child are represented by the harry fox agency and we can obtain mechanical licenses in 24 hours online. Here's the catch - they only do licenses for 500-2500 copies of CDs. We can get the right to print (up to) 500 CDs for $400, not including Sweet Child. We are likely only going to print 50 or so, as we are not technically a terribly "popular" music group.
I'm thinking that even though it will take longer I will try to get conact information for the songs' individual publishers and write, call, or e-mail them explaining the situation. I have addresses or phone #s for four of them already. I am hopeful that process will not take a terribly long time and may result in some or all of them saying, "just go ahead." or "just send us a check for 15 bucks." So that's where that's at.
I didn't go to Memphis South, our graphics preparation haven, because of the snow today, so no further artwork progress. I'm going to take a picture of the rock garden where the heads were, which is now 2 feet deep in snow. I will now call the photo series "Après L'Automne, L'Hiver". Assuming we go with a clear tray, there will be a very generous 6 (six) high quality artistic photos included with the disc at no extra charge. I will also be previewing these on the web at the earliest opportunity.
It's after midnight now and I'm too tired to continue. Inspired by Chazz Vader's blog, I was going to put up a bunch of stuff about setting goals, finishing this CD and thinking about other future CDs, promotion, promotion of songs, etc. But it's simply too late. This is an interesting quest, as production of a CD always seems to be. One of these years perhaps I will get the whole process down to a science and release like ten CDs all in the space of a few months. That would be sweet. The music is all there and mostly even good!
p.s. Recording on Great Uncle Helmer's next original music CD will continue at Mandimae in Deer Park on April 1 with the latest composition from the band, Bass Guitar, being the only currently targeted composition. Now I have actually fallen asleep and am only typing with general momentum. Zzzzzzz...
I am trying to find out how to obtain licenses to legitimately release the cover songs on our CD. I've looked at
1. ascap.com. I think four of the tunes are licensed from there and it had publisher contact information on four of the songs.
2. bmi.com. Representatives of Lou Reed, TMBG, R.E.M., Billy Bragg. Site was fairly useless, except for its link to...
3. harryfox.com. All but Sweet Child are represented by the harry fox agency and we can obtain mechanical licenses in 24 hours online. Here's the catch - they only do licenses for 500-2500 copies of CDs. We can get the right to print (up to) 500 CDs for $400, not including Sweet Child. We are likely only going to print 50 or so, as we are not technically a terribly "popular" music group.
I'm thinking that even though it will take longer I will try to get conact information for the songs' individual publishers and write, call, or e-mail them explaining the situation. I have addresses or phone #s for four of them already. I am hopeful that process will not take a terribly long time and may result in some or all of them saying, "just go ahead." or "just send us a check for 15 bucks." So that's where that's at.
I didn't go to Memphis South, our graphics preparation haven, because of the snow today, so no further artwork progress. I'm going to take a picture of the rock garden where the heads were, which is now 2 feet deep in snow. I will now call the photo series "Après L'Automne, L'Hiver". Assuming we go with a clear tray, there will be a very generous 6 (six) high quality artistic photos included with the disc at no extra charge. I will also be previewing these on the web at the earliest opportunity.
It's after midnight now and I'm too tired to continue. Inspired by Chazz Vader's blog, I was going to put up a bunch of stuff about setting goals, finishing this CD and thinking about other future CDs, promotion, promotion of songs, etc. But it's simply too late. This is an interesting quest, as production of a CD always seems to be. One of these years perhaps I will get the whole process down to a science and release like ten CDs all in the space of a few months. That would be sweet. The music is all there and mostly even good!
p.s. Recording on Great Uncle Helmer's next original music CD will continue at Mandimae in Deer Park on April 1 with the latest composition from the band, Bass Guitar, being the only currently targeted composition. Now I have actually fallen asleep and am only typing with general momentum. Zzzzzzz...
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Fall (GUH Covers CD) Update
Good news. I got a very professional looking "p in a circle" font from this British guy. It has 26 ps in a circle for matching several fonts. I sent him $5 for "drinking money" and lo and behold it was legit. If only a bar code series was so cheap.
One more visit to the Memphis Evans graphics wizard and we will have finished the artwork. The ceramic and paper maiche heads are dazed but unharmed after being
1. placed in a bed of leaves and given "headstones" (pun intended - back of booklet),
2. camouflaged in a rock garden (inner booklet spread) and
3. cuddling up to whisper secrets to one another in a fallen tree trunk (front (wide angle) and back (close up) covers).
I have put "call Brad Cassetto" (the guy who mastered Generic Mayhem) on the refrigerator whiteboard and in the "home love opportunities" binder, which means it will likely get done, possibly as early as today or tomorrow. I have located the necessary Karl Kreated Data CD dated 12/11/04 featuring the 24 bit stereo masters for the 8 songs. These represent our second and, I hope, final round of mixing.
Depending on Brad's schedule, the April 21 show has a small outside chance at being a CD release party. Assuming, of course that I get the finished master, listen to it at home, and fall immediately in love with it, which always happens. Ha, ha. Is all this activity happening because I happen to have had two caffeinated drinks every day for the last three days?
It makes perfect, perverse sense to me that the photos for a Great Uncle Helmer CD entitled "Fall" should be taken on a sunny morning in the middle of March using washed out leaves that have been through the freeze and thaw cycle several times. Thank goodness my wife had a tremendous pile of them covering her garden.
If you are confused and did not realize that Great Uncle Helmer had recorded a covers CD, you can get the back story for this episode of the Memphis blog right here. That currently extremely minimal site will be updated this week as much as baby naps allow. I would like for it to eventually include the following:
1. An essay and/or fake interviews about the CD by me and another by Karl, probably about what the songs mean to us, how we came to learn them, etc.
2. Complete information about the songs' original authors/performers
3. Information on obtaining the right to release someone else's songs on a CD similar to the information we provided in lieu of lyrics for I in the Sky from Generic Mayhem.
4. A link to purchasing information (once the CD is done).
Fascinating p.s.: When I spell checked this document using blogger's own spell checker, it did not recognize the word "blog".
Good news. I got a very professional looking "p in a circle" font from this British guy. It has 26 ps in a circle for matching several fonts. I sent him $5 for "drinking money" and lo and behold it was legit. If only a bar code series was so cheap.
One more visit to the Memphis Evans graphics wizard and we will have finished the artwork. The ceramic and paper maiche heads are dazed but unharmed after being
1. placed in a bed of leaves and given "headstones" (pun intended - back of booklet),
2. camouflaged in a rock garden (inner booklet spread) and
3. cuddling up to whisper secrets to one another in a fallen tree trunk (front (wide angle) and back (close up) covers).
I have put "call Brad Cassetto" (the guy who mastered Generic Mayhem) on the refrigerator whiteboard and in the "home love opportunities" binder, which means it will likely get done, possibly as early as today or tomorrow. I have located the necessary Karl Kreated Data CD dated 12/11/04 featuring the 24 bit stereo masters for the 8 songs. These represent our second and, I hope, final round of mixing.
Depending on Brad's schedule, the April 21 show has a small outside chance at being a CD release party. Assuming, of course that I get the finished master, listen to it at home, and fall immediately in love with it, which always happens. Ha, ha. Is all this activity happening because I happen to have had two caffeinated drinks every day for the last three days?
It makes perfect, perverse sense to me that the photos for a Great Uncle Helmer CD entitled "Fall" should be taken on a sunny morning in the middle of March using washed out leaves that have been through the freeze and thaw cycle several times. Thank goodness my wife had a tremendous pile of them covering her garden.
If you are confused and did not realize that Great Uncle Helmer had recorded a covers CD, you can get the back story for this episode of the Memphis blog right here. That currently extremely minimal site will be updated this week as much as baby naps allow. I would like for it to eventually include the following:
1. An essay and/or fake interviews about the CD by me and another by Karl, probably about what the songs mean to us, how we came to learn them, etc.
2. Complete information about the songs' original authors/performers
3. Information on obtaining the right to release someone else's songs on a CD similar to the information we provided in lieu of lyrics for I in the Sky from Generic Mayhem.
4. A link to purchasing information (once the CD is done).
Fascinating p.s.: When I spell checked this document using blogger's own spell checker, it did not recognize the word "blog".
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Post Oscar Haze
I really liked Syriana and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which were about the only two movies I saw in the theater last year. Obviously I went to them for vastly different reasons and had different expectations and both exceeded my expectations. I think the academy could definitely loosen up and reconnect with more popular, fun, humorous movies. Either that or they should just be up front and change the award name to "Best Dramatic Picture" or even "Best Dramatic Unpopular Picture".
Crash I saw kind of by accident on DVD and wasn't expecting much, but it was quite good. Best picutre? Maybe, but I didn't see enough of them to know. Didn't see "Brokeback" and was never interested. My wife asked me why not. I asked my wife if she would be interested if it were two women. She said no, probably not. I am glad a "gay themed" story got so much attention and I will be so much more proud of our country when gay people are allowed to marry each other. However, I don't like the lead actors that much and I don't really want to see them make out.
Movies are not nearly so important as they were a few years ago and my expectations for a theater experience are extremely low. I avioded seeing "Match Point" in the theater because I like Woody Allen and Scarlet Johanssen so much I would hate for the movie to be ruined by some losers. "Gosford Park" and "The Two Towers" both were completely ruined for me by idiotic discussion and laughter happening around me. But "Match Point" is already in my netflix queue.
The last truly great, magical, communal theater experiences I had were "About Schmidt" at the Uptown and "Vanilla Sky" at Grandview. What was that, five years ago? I've given up on it.
As far as "deserving" awards goes, John Stewart (who I thought was a great host) summarized the Oscars (and all the other "major" awards) when he said, "Martin Scorcese, zero oscars, 3-6 Mafia, one". The "deserving" are not rewarded. Take the grammys (please!) and Elvis. Elvis won two grammys - both for the song "How Great Thou Art". Elvis in the 1950s? Bob Dylan in the 1960s? Zero grammys. Indefinsible.
I really liked Syriana and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, which were about the only two movies I saw in the theater last year. Obviously I went to them for vastly different reasons and had different expectations and both exceeded my expectations. I think the academy could definitely loosen up and reconnect with more popular, fun, humorous movies. Either that or they should just be up front and change the award name to "Best Dramatic Picture" or even "Best Dramatic Unpopular Picture".
Crash I saw kind of by accident on DVD and wasn't expecting much, but it was quite good. Best picutre? Maybe, but I didn't see enough of them to know. Didn't see "Brokeback" and was never interested. My wife asked me why not. I asked my wife if she would be interested if it were two women. She said no, probably not. I am glad a "gay themed" story got so much attention and I will be so much more proud of our country when gay people are allowed to marry each other. However, I don't like the lead actors that much and I don't really want to see them make out.
Movies are not nearly so important as they were a few years ago and my expectations for a theater experience are extremely low. I avioded seeing "Match Point" in the theater because I like Woody Allen and Scarlet Johanssen so much I would hate for the movie to be ruined by some losers. "Gosford Park" and "The Two Towers" both were completely ruined for me by idiotic discussion and laughter happening around me. But "Match Point" is already in my netflix queue.
The last truly great, magical, communal theater experiences I had were "About Schmidt" at the Uptown and "Vanilla Sky" at Grandview. What was that, five years ago? I've given up on it.
As far as "deserving" awards goes, John Stewart (who I thought was a great host) summarized the Oscars (and all the other "major" awards) when he said, "Martin Scorcese, zero oscars, 3-6 Mafia, one". The "deserving" are not rewarded. Take the grammys (please!) and Elvis. Elvis won two grammys - both for the song "How Great Thou Art". Elvis in the 1950s? Bob Dylan in the 1960s? Zero grammys. Indefinsible.
Sunday, February 26, 2006
Meme Part II: Seven Other Gangs of Four
Warning: certain Meme sections resulted in bonus tracks of thought (btot) listed separately.
Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Garden State. I haven't tested this theory, but when I saw it in the theater I really enjoyed it and it just seemed so mellow and it struck me that it would be a movie one could watch over and over.
2. Star Wars. duh.
3. The Empire Strikes Back. see (2.)
4. The Usual Suspects. The complexity and twists of the plots and characters make this a movie I had to see at least twice.
btot: If you said "What about Return of the Jedi" I say to you "I hear you and accept you, but it's just not that good, especially the DVD version with the alterations that give new meaning to the word 'craptastic', which word had a pretty clear meaning to begin with."
If you said "What about 1999-2005 Star Wars trilogy?" I say to you "Jar Jar step in Poo Poo!"
I also want to mention Python's Holy Grail, Amadeus, and Lone Star – all movies I love, but am not sure I could watch over and over.
Four places I have lived
1. Mellby 324. St. Olaf College. 1993-94. I got a single room on a quiet floor my senior year. Then I turned it into a mini recording studio, much to the annoyance of my neighbors. I am sorry about that, but I had to do it. Please forgive me and contact me if you would like a free copy of the CD I made from those recordings.
2. Fairport, NY. August 1975-August 1986. A suburb of Rochester where we knew all our neighbors and there were a ton of other kids to play with. It was great.
3. Silver Spring, MD. August 1986-September 1990. See (2.) substitute D.C. for Rochester. Home of rock band Suburban Decay.
4. Northfield, MN. September 1990-May 2003. Home of acoustic duo Great Uncle Helmer. Three room, third floor, numerically aligned and satisfyingly large apartment housed fairly elaborate and well-equipped digital recording studio for final six or seven years. Saw successful recordings by Great Uncle Helmer, Jubilant Dogs, Doc's Kids, Evan Johnson, Siobhan Meehl, Eric Rohn, and others.
Four TV shows I love
1. Angel. Especially season five with Spike.
2. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Especially season two with Angel going evil.
3. Seinfeld. There can be no debate that this is the best sitcom ever. Only possible challenger Curb Your Enthusiasm.
4. The X-Files. Sorry, Moonlighting. Mulder and Scully stayed good longer.
Four places I’ve vacationed
1. Ibiza, Spain. May 2003. Sweeeeet. Honeymoon of a lifetime. The food, the myriad swimsuit optional beaches, the mini-golf on wildly unpredictable concrete. Plus - honeymoon. Sweeeeet.
2. Iasi/Codaesti, Romania. October/November 2000. Working in a clinic for children whose parents could not afford to care for them. Totally different but equally satisfying to (1.).
3. Virginia Beach. (A few times, including September 1997) Nice house on the beach. Bodysurfing, saltwater, family, seafood, seagulls, snapshots, tennis, journal writing, playing cards, mini-golf. Very relaxing. The vacation you think of when someone says "vacation". Excellent.
4. Excalibur Hotel, Las Vegas. July 2005. May it Viva forever. What an exciting town. Once you find a cheap source of gatorade, that is. We were also blessed with a terrific native friend to guide us to the best places to go.
btot: I feel I must break the rules and mention my favorite other vacations ever so briefly – Colorado Springs (3x), Hawaii, Madden's Resort in Brainerd, MN, California (3x). These "eight of four" were not necessarily listed in order of quality of vacation. Plus various road trips to Kansas City, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dells have been pretty great. And the many enjoyable vacations I took primarily to visit people are not listed at all.
Four of my favorite dishes
1. Pizza. duh.
2. Mock Duck Pad Thai.
3. Anything my wife makes for me
4. Anything my family makes for me
Four sites I visit daily
1. Yahoo! (news & e-mail)
2. Amazon (CDs)
3. Blog by Chazz Vader: http://chazzvader.blogspot.com/
4. Blog by Prosecutor/Mommy: http://prosecution.blogspot.com/
Four places I would rather be right now
1. In a recording studio where I have all the time and money in the world, several clones of myself, Kent, Andy, Dave, Stu, Karl, Justin, Ben, etc., and a sympathetic, knowledgeable producer (Scot?).
2. See also vacations listed above.
3. Visiting family.
4. Near interesting people – people I know but also maybe people I don't. Is "near Paul McCartney" a legit answer to this one? I think so.
btot: Where I am at any given time usually ranks from acceptable to excellent since leaving the banking world.
Warning: certain Meme sections resulted in bonus tracks of thought (btot) listed separately.
Four movies I can watch over and over
1. Garden State. I haven't tested this theory, but when I saw it in the theater I really enjoyed it and it just seemed so mellow and it struck me that it would be a movie one could watch over and over.
2. Star Wars. duh.
3. The Empire Strikes Back. see (2.)
4. The Usual Suspects. The complexity and twists of the plots and characters make this a movie I had to see at least twice.
btot: If you said "What about Return of the Jedi" I say to you "I hear you and accept you, but it's just not that good, especially the DVD version with the alterations that give new meaning to the word 'craptastic', which word had a pretty clear meaning to begin with."
If you said "What about 1999-2005 Star Wars trilogy?" I say to you "Jar Jar step in Poo Poo!"
I also want to mention Python's Holy Grail, Amadeus, and Lone Star – all movies I love, but am not sure I could watch over and over.
Four places I have lived
1. Mellby 324. St. Olaf College. 1993-94. I got a single room on a quiet floor my senior year. Then I turned it into a mini recording studio, much to the annoyance of my neighbors. I am sorry about that, but I had to do it. Please forgive me and contact me if you would like a free copy of the CD I made from those recordings.
2. Fairport, NY. August 1975-August 1986. A suburb of Rochester where we knew all our neighbors and there were a ton of other kids to play with. It was great.
3. Silver Spring, MD. August 1986-September 1990. See (2.) substitute D.C. for Rochester. Home of rock band Suburban Decay.
4. Northfield, MN. September 1990-May 2003. Home of acoustic duo Great Uncle Helmer. Three room, third floor, numerically aligned and satisfyingly large apartment housed fairly elaborate and well-equipped digital recording studio for final six or seven years. Saw successful recordings by Great Uncle Helmer, Jubilant Dogs, Doc's Kids, Evan Johnson, Siobhan Meehl, Eric Rohn, and others.
Four TV shows I love
1. Angel. Especially season five with Spike.
2. Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Especially season two with Angel going evil.
3. Seinfeld. There can be no debate that this is the best sitcom ever. Only possible challenger Curb Your Enthusiasm.
4. The X-Files. Sorry, Moonlighting. Mulder and Scully stayed good longer.
Four places I’ve vacationed
1. Ibiza, Spain. May 2003. Sweeeeet. Honeymoon of a lifetime. The food, the myriad swimsuit optional beaches, the mini-golf on wildly unpredictable concrete. Plus - honeymoon. Sweeeeet.
2. Iasi/Codaesti, Romania. October/November 2000. Working in a clinic for children whose parents could not afford to care for them. Totally different but equally satisfying to (1.).
3. Virginia Beach. (A few times, including September 1997) Nice house on the beach. Bodysurfing, saltwater, family, seafood, seagulls, snapshots, tennis, journal writing, playing cards, mini-golf. Very relaxing. The vacation you think of when someone says "vacation". Excellent.
4. Excalibur Hotel, Las Vegas. July 2005. May it Viva forever. What an exciting town. Once you find a cheap source of gatorade, that is. We were also blessed with a terrific native friend to guide us to the best places to go.
btot: I feel I must break the rules and mention my favorite other vacations ever so briefly – Colorado Springs (3x), Hawaii, Madden's Resort in Brainerd, MN, California (3x). These "eight of four" were not necessarily listed in order of quality of vacation. Plus various road trips to Kansas City, Milwaukee, Wisconsin Dells have been pretty great. And the many enjoyable vacations I took primarily to visit people are not listed at all.
Four of my favorite dishes
1. Pizza. duh.
2. Mock Duck Pad Thai.
3. Anything my wife makes for me
4. Anything my family makes for me
Four sites I visit daily
1. Yahoo! (news & e-mail)
2. Amazon (CDs)
3. Blog by Chazz Vader: http://chazzvader.blogspot.com/
4. Blog by Prosecutor/Mommy: http://prosecution.blogspot.com/
Four places I would rather be right now
1. In a recording studio where I have all the time and money in the world, several clones of myself, Kent, Andy, Dave, Stu, Karl, Justin, Ben, etc., and a sympathetic, knowledgeable producer (Scot?).
2. See also vacations listed above.
3. Visiting family.
4. Near interesting people – people I know but also maybe people I don't. Is "near Paul McCartney" a legit answer to this one? I think so.
btot: Where I am at any given time usually ranks from acceptable to excellent since leaving the banking world.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Meme Part I: Four Jobs
1. Full Time Dad. Best job ever. Highly motivated to succeed. Benefits too numerous to mention. Large challenges, but I enjoy meeting them and finding creative ways for Baby and I to rise above.
2. Bank Teller/Lead Teller. This job was almost completely not primarily about what I thought it would be about. I'd always liked sorting baseball cards and other such obsessive/compulsive activities. I thought I'd be great at it because I thought it would be a lot of keeping track of pieces of paper, numbers, and working on a computer. And I was great at that.
The thing I didn't know it would be about was SALES. I don't know why anyone would go to a bank teller these days when everything is available online or at the ATM. But people do, and when people do, they are supposed to be offered a new banking product or service EVERY TIME they do. That is the official policy of my bank and prior employer. And what surprised me was that I was also really great at that.
I studied the various products and services the bank offered – who knew there were so many and such variety? And most of the people who came to the bank could have saved time, made more money, and paid fewer fees with new or alternative bank products, so suggesting these things to them based on my extensive product knowledge was good for everybody. I made about 15-20% more money than my regular wage and won trips for two to Hawaii, Colorado Springs, and Madden's resort in Brainerd. And for every septuagenarian who was annoyed at being offered online banking or an ATM card for the 3,000th time (and, btw, I have no sympathy) there was at least one person who ended up saving hundreds of dollars in fees they didn't have to be paying.
Still, the whole time I felt like "Why the hell am I (just) a bank teller?" The job didn't pay that much, and while I was really, really good at it, it didn't really play to my skill set or use my education. In fact, one of my coworkers, when we were talking about our backgrounds and I mentioned my college degree and revealed my relatively advanced age said something like, "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you working here?"
I thought to myself, "A lifetime of truly colossal underachievement and breathtakingly poor decision making." I actually said something about being burnt out on guitar teaching and wanting to earn more money, which was also true. Still, the general public, at least that somewhat deficient cross section of the general public that still uses actual live bank tellers, often uses them as venting targets for deep seeded "my mommy never loved me" style oedipal rage. I now hate the general public. When I got the call at work that my wife was in labor and my daughter was being born, I walked out the door knowing I would not miss the industry in the slightest and I haven't.
3. Guitar teacher
This was intermittently an extremely rewarding job. There was about a three-year learning curve for me during which I learned to a) teach fast or slow according to a student's background and ability to learn and b) charge people when they skipped a lesson. After that I had my part down and it all depended on the skills, habits, ability and desire of the students. I had some great ones who went on to make their own music they shared with me and I feel very proud of them.
I also had some complete duds, but the fact that I was a complete dud as a teenage piano and voice student then went on to enjoy making music more than anything else in life is encouraging to me. The money was inconsistent, however, and I did get burnt out after nine years so was not too sad to leave. I enjoy music more when I'm not teaching it – especially teaching theory, which a person should learn thoroughly, teach for a while to fully internalize, then actively, consciously forget and just get on with it. Still, I may go back to this someday.
4. Camp counselor
This job was a lot of fun, as I loved the kids and I am basically just "the world's tallest nine year old" as my friend Evan once called me. The drag was the bosses. I can't remember exactly why or what precise stupid things they would say, do, and suggest. I did it for two summers and have a lot of good memories. This was the worst paying job of the three paying jobs I mention here. At the Christian Church camp I think I made about $15 a day – which was because I was working for the Lord. Uh-huh. Amen. The following year at the YMCA I made $5/hr. There are a ton of stories from these two years – more than I have time to go in to here.
I got the idea for this blog entry from a blog by a friend of mine. Check her out if you want. Maybe I will finish the rest another time. Hope that was interesting to someone. Meffis out.
1. Full Time Dad. Best job ever. Highly motivated to succeed. Benefits too numerous to mention. Large challenges, but I enjoy meeting them and finding creative ways for Baby and I to rise above.
2. Bank Teller/Lead Teller. This job was almost completely not primarily about what I thought it would be about. I'd always liked sorting baseball cards and other such obsessive/compulsive activities. I thought I'd be great at it because I thought it would be a lot of keeping track of pieces of paper, numbers, and working on a computer. And I was great at that.
The thing I didn't know it would be about was SALES. I don't know why anyone would go to a bank teller these days when everything is available online or at the ATM. But people do, and when people do, they are supposed to be offered a new banking product or service EVERY TIME they do. That is the official policy of my bank and prior employer. And what surprised me was that I was also really great at that.
I studied the various products and services the bank offered – who knew there were so many and such variety? And most of the people who came to the bank could have saved time, made more money, and paid fewer fees with new or alternative bank products, so suggesting these things to them based on my extensive product knowledge was good for everybody. I made about 15-20% more money than my regular wage and won trips for two to Hawaii, Colorado Springs, and Madden's resort in Brainerd. And for every septuagenarian who was annoyed at being offered online banking or an ATM card for the 3,000th time (and, btw, I have no sympathy) there was at least one person who ended up saving hundreds of dollars in fees they didn't have to be paying.
Still, the whole time I felt like "Why the hell am I (just) a bank teller?" The job didn't pay that much, and while I was really, really good at it, it didn't really play to my skill set or use my education. In fact, one of my coworkers, when we were talking about our backgrounds and I mentioned my college degree and revealed my relatively advanced age said something like, "Don't take this the wrong way, but why are you working here?"
I thought to myself, "A lifetime of truly colossal underachievement and breathtakingly poor decision making." I actually said something about being burnt out on guitar teaching and wanting to earn more money, which was also true. Still, the general public, at least that somewhat deficient cross section of the general public that still uses actual live bank tellers, often uses them as venting targets for deep seeded "my mommy never loved me" style oedipal rage. I now hate the general public. When I got the call at work that my wife was in labor and my daughter was being born, I walked out the door knowing I would not miss the industry in the slightest and I haven't.
3. Guitar teacher
This was intermittently an extremely rewarding job. There was about a three-year learning curve for me during which I learned to a) teach fast or slow according to a student's background and ability to learn and b) charge people when they skipped a lesson. After that I had my part down and it all depended on the skills, habits, ability and desire of the students. I had some great ones who went on to make their own music they shared with me and I feel very proud of them.
I also had some complete duds, but the fact that I was a complete dud as a teenage piano and voice student then went on to enjoy making music more than anything else in life is encouraging to me. The money was inconsistent, however, and I did get burnt out after nine years so was not too sad to leave. I enjoy music more when I'm not teaching it – especially teaching theory, which a person should learn thoroughly, teach for a while to fully internalize, then actively, consciously forget and just get on with it. Still, I may go back to this someday.
4. Camp counselor
This job was a lot of fun, as I loved the kids and I am basically just "the world's tallest nine year old" as my friend Evan once called me. The drag was the bosses. I can't remember exactly why or what precise stupid things they would say, do, and suggest. I did it for two summers and have a lot of good memories. This was the worst paying job of the three paying jobs I mention here. At the Christian Church camp I think I made about $15 a day – which was because I was working for the Lord. Uh-huh. Amen. The following year at the YMCA I made $5/hr. There are a ton of stories from these two years – more than I have time to go in to here.
I got the idea for this blog entry from a blog by a friend of mine. Check her out if you want. Maybe I will finish the rest another time. Hope that was interesting to someone. Meffis out.
Tuesday, October 11, 2005
I'm not sure when any of my songs will be on iTunes. That would be neat. I may have to look into that. For now, though, you can look at a brand new mini-site devoted to the "For You (Greatest Hits Vol. 2)" album here.
Thursday, September 08, 2005
I just shoved a microphone cable through a hole in the baseboard of my living room and ran the end of it down into my studio. There is a piano in my living room right next to the hole. The drill died before I could widen the hole enough to accomodate shoving another back end of a mic cable through with the one cable already in there. (Plus the cable for cable, the original purpose of the hole) It now seems possible or even probable that I will soon have stereo recording of a wonderfully bright, in-tune piano available to me. If this works it will allow me to record to their fullest potential the following songs (roughly in order of priority):
Electric Light
Eddie Gee
Million Dollar Idea
Brute Waltz
The Imaginary Cat (GUH)
I don't know why I didn't do this right after we moved in two plus years ago. Because I am a lazy underacheiver I guess. Now I will just wait for the drill to charge overnight then this weekend I can finish the job.
In related news, Electric Light and Eddie Gee are slated to be part of a greatest hits volume 2 (1997-2005) collection tentatively called "For You". Tentative song list is:
1. My Name Is Paul (w/real drums, new vocal, 2nd bridge) (Pop Machine)
2. Ron Cey (possibly w/real organ replacing keyboard/saxophone fills) (Pop Machine)
3. Play (Towering Columns of Sunshine)
4. Emerson Avenue (Pop Machine)
5. Here (Love Songs)
6. One House (Bubba)
7. Eddie Gee (Towering Columns of Sunshine)
8. Bittersweet Love Song (live version)
9. My Baby's Home (Love Songs)
10. Wave 61 (Nothing Personal)
11. One More Day (Pop Machine)
12. Swqeatshirt (live version)
13. Fresno (Bubba)
14. Electric Light (featuring Kimbatina) (Bubba)
15. Milestone Motel (edit) (Little Stranger)
16. End of the Skies (w/ 2 new verses) (Bubba)
17. Time In The Middle (Bubba)
The first greatest hits collection was called Bullet Collection and was distributed on cassette. A remastered version may yet appear with the following (slightly revised) tracklist:
1. Slush (new version)
2. Someday (They Ain't Tires)
3. Pelican Man (Ringin' Far And Wide)
4. Child's Hallucination (Mellby 324)
5. Ark of the Covenant (Joe Rain & The Deserts)
6. the blame (Joe Rain & The Deserts)
7. Grudge (Last of the Pink Lemonade)
8. But Not In May! (They Ain't Tires)
9. Winter Ghost (Mellby 324)
10. Joe Rain & The Deserts (new version)
11. (Today I Don't Mind Living in a) Small Town (new version featuring Pete Rivard)
12. Farmer's Song (Suburban Decay)
13. I Wish I Had Kissed You Tonight (Springbrook Young)
14. Rio Grande (They Ain't Tires)
15. Nothing I Can Do (Ringin' Far And Wide)
16. Bullet Collection (Joe Rain & The Deserts)
17. Dream I Had Last Night (Love Songs)
Electric Light
Eddie Gee
Million Dollar Idea
Brute Waltz
The Imaginary Cat (GUH)
I don't know why I didn't do this right after we moved in two plus years ago. Because I am a lazy underacheiver I guess. Now I will just wait for the drill to charge overnight then this weekend I can finish the job.
In related news, Electric Light and Eddie Gee are slated to be part of a greatest hits volume 2 (1997-2005) collection tentatively called "For You". Tentative song list is:
1. My Name Is Paul (w/real drums, new vocal, 2nd bridge) (Pop Machine)
2. Ron Cey (possibly w/real organ replacing keyboard/saxophone fills) (Pop Machine)
3. Play (Towering Columns of Sunshine)
4. Emerson Avenue (Pop Machine)
5. Here (Love Songs)
6. One House (Bubba)
7. Eddie Gee (Towering Columns of Sunshine)
8. Bittersweet Love Song (live version)
9. My Baby's Home (Love Songs)
10. Wave 61 (Nothing Personal)
11. One More Day (Pop Machine)
12. Swqeatshirt (live version)
13. Fresno (Bubba)
14. Electric Light (featuring Kimbatina) (Bubba)
15. Milestone Motel (edit) (Little Stranger)
16. End of the Skies (w/ 2 new verses) (Bubba)
17. Time In The Middle (Bubba)
The first greatest hits collection was called Bullet Collection and was distributed on cassette. A remastered version may yet appear with the following (slightly revised) tracklist:
1. Slush (new version)
2. Someday (They Ain't Tires)
3. Pelican Man (Ringin' Far And Wide)
4. Child's Hallucination (Mellby 324)
5. Ark of the Covenant (Joe Rain & The Deserts)
6. the blame (Joe Rain & The Deserts)
7. Grudge (Last of the Pink Lemonade)
8. But Not In May! (They Ain't Tires)
9. Winter Ghost (Mellby 324)
10. Joe Rain & The Deserts (new version)
11. (Today I Don't Mind Living in a) Small Town (new version featuring Pete Rivard)
12. Farmer's Song (Suburban Decay)
13. I Wish I Had Kissed You Tonight (Springbrook Young)
14. Rio Grande (They Ain't Tires)
15. Nothing I Can Do (Ringin' Far And Wide)
16. Bullet Collection (Joe Rain & The Deserts)
17. Dream I Had Last Night (Love Songs)
Friday, June 10, 2005
I had a great show with Kaptain Karl last Saturday night at the Eden Prairie Dunn Bros. We had a fun rehearsal a few days before and polished up some of our favorite songs from our first CD. "Inkwell", "Behind the Curtain", and "Oh, No" all received very enjoyable performances. Weird that all those songs are now about 10 years old. Also did some Simon & Garfunkel and I had forgotten arrangements of who sang what, but we did ok.
Show was so enjoyable I started recording "Cricket", our best co-written relatively young (last three years) song. Had all afternoon and evening yesterday and am working on it more this morning before going in to work at 11:45. So far has rhythm and lead electric guitars, bass, and my vocal. It's sort of a sequel to "The Children" from Art Is A Lie, Baby and Generic Mayhem. When it finally makes it to a CD, it will be Great Uncle Helmer's fifth album.
1. Synthesis (cassette only so far)
2. old man will travel
3. Generic Mayhem
4. Fall (mastering/artwork yet to be completed)
5. as-yet-untitled-featuring-"Cricket", "Iceland", "The Sequel to Behind The Curtain (Now That I Know What's Back There)"
Sixth if you count the truncated "Anybody Seen My Wallet" project, from which otherwise unrecorded material may someday be mixed, mastered, and released. So I felt excited about that and am going to go to play at the Freighthouse Dunn Bros. with Karl tonight from 8-10 p.m. Hooray.
Show was so enjoyable I started recording "Cricket", our best co-written relatively young (last three years) song. Had all afternoon and evening yesterday and am working on it more this morning before going in to work at 11:45. So far has rhythm and lead electric guitars, bass, and my vocal. It's sort of a sequel to "The Children" from Art Is A Lie, Baby and Generic Mayhem. When it finally makes it to a CD, it will be Great Uncle Helmer's fifth album.
1. Synthesis (cassette only so far)
2. old man will travel
3. Generic Mayhem
4. Fall (mastering/artwork yet to be completed)
5. as-yet-untitled-featuring-"Cricket", "Iceland", "The Sequel to Behind The Curtain (Now That I Know What's Back There)"
Sixth if you count the truncated "Anybody Seen My Wallet" project, from which otherwise unrecorded material may someday be mixed, mastered, and released. So I felt excited about that and am going to go to play at the Freighthouse Dunn Bros. with Karl tonight from 8-10 p.m. Hooray.
Sunday, April 04, 2004
I played a very enjoyable show with Karl last night at the Linden Hills Dunn Bros. Coffee in South Minneapolis. We rehearsed Wednesday night and were very "on", focusing on our favorite original songs. We also got together several hours early on Saturday and practiced a few other things. The version of "Cricket" from last night's show was the best ever, as were versions of several other songs. I was very happy with how together Karl and I were on both vocals and guitars (and mandolins, etc.)
The show also featured the performance debut of three excelent new songs. "Car of Jonas", written by Karl about a very sad man, is reminiscient in its poigniancy of KFC Hell. My best most accessible song in years, "Electric Light", received a perfect reading by newcomer Kimbatina with some nice Mandolin from Karl. Plus a song I introduced as "Slump Buster" since it is the first original piece of music from Andy Honigman in about 10 years. Unfortunately the performance of that was not as successful, but it will be both in future GUH shows and in Honigman shows, such as Art-A-Whirl on May 15. Thanks to all who showed up and had fun with us and thanks Karl for being awesome.
The show also featured the performance debut of three excelent new songs. "Car of Jonas", written by Karl about a very sad man, is reminiscient in its poigniancy of KFC Hell. My best most accessible song in years, "Electric Light", received a perfect reading by newcomer Kimbatina with some nice Mandolin from Karl. Plus a song I introduced as "Slump Buster" since it is the first original piece of music from Andy Honigman in about 10 years. Unfortunately the performance of that was not as successful, but it will be both in future GUH shows and in Honigman shows, such as Art-A-Whirl on May 15. Thanks to all who showed up and had fun with us and thanks Karl for being awesome.
Sunday, January 04, 2004
Last night, January 3rd, at the beautiful, historic Eden Prairie Dunn Bros., Kaptain Karl, Scot Ninnemann, and I played a very well received show to a packed room. It was very enjoyable and special and I'm very proud of the music we accomplished with months of e-mail planning and a couple hours of rehearsal Friday night and Saturday morning. Thanks to Scot and Karl for being outstanding musicians and collaborators. "Ice Storm", "Something To Lose", "Intoducing the Door", "My Fascist Girlfriend", "Blue Moon of Kentucky", "Eddie Gee", and "Dream I Had Last Night" all took on new life in the friendly and musical atmosphere. Thanks to everyone who came to the show and enjoyed it. We should soon have a CD of the show, as it was ably recorded by Mr. Ninnemann. Very exciting. I am a lucky man.
Saturday, August 23, 2003
Just donated blood through this new system called Alyx. That was interesting. Felt efficient to give two units. I love efficiency. Slightly light headed.
Last night's Great Uncle Helmer show at Anodyne was somewhat disappointing. Father, Wife, and official Best Friend Of GUH were sole constant audience. Others in and out, but did not show much interest. Karl felt show was one of our worst ever. I thought we played pretty well. He has had some success lately playing well received double bills with a guy named Kevin, who is really good. So more of a letdown for Karl coming from those shows than for me coming from job interviews and battling water demons, gas leaks, and dust at home.
Karl didn't like the Guyatone Wah Rocker, so lined up with J. Bell on that account. I can see why, though. Piece of crap speakers (2x5 inch speakers, no treble horn) were main problem to me. Wah sounds crappy if high and low frequencies are absent - that's the whole point of Wah! If we play there again, will go through trouble of bringing own system, or at least amp for guitar so Wah Rocker can fully Wah Rock. I did like that they had a slap back delay feature available for all the channels. Fun to hear that Elvis at Sun sound. And had fun playing music with Karl and visiting. What else am I going to do on a Friday night? See the crummy movies that are spoiling theaters everywhere?
Last night's Great Uncle Helmer show at Anodyne was somewhat disappointing. Father, Wife, and official Best Friend Of GUH were sole constant audience. Others in and out, but did not show much interest. Karl felt show was one of our worst ever. I thought we played pretty well. He has had some success lately playing well received double bills with a guy named Kevin, who is really good. So more of a letdown for Karl coming from those shows than for me coming from job interviews and battling water demons, gas leaks, and dust at home.
Karl didn't like the Guyatone Wah Rocker, so lined up with J. Bell on that account. I can see why, though. Piece of crap speakers (2x5 inch speakers, no treble horn) were main problem to me. Wah sounds crappy if high and low frequencies are absent - that's the whole point of Wah! If we play there again, will go through trouble of bringing own system, or at least amp for guitar so Wah Rocker can fully Wah Rock. I did like that they had a slap back delay feature available for all the channels. Fun to hear that Elvis at Sun sound. And had fun playing music with Karl and visiting. What else am I going to do on a Friday night? See the crummy movies that are spoiling theaters everywhere?
Monday, August 11, 2003
On this date I always think of August 11, 1995. I'm not sure why it sticks in my head but I'll lay out the facts. I got up around 3:30 a.m. to get ready to go into work at the Northfield News. A sweltering day, I drove in and took the comp'ny station wagon over to the printing plant. I picked up and sorted the papers and, driving a truck and then a van, delivered them to the vending machines and to the post offices and gas stations of the surrounding towns; New Prague, Webster, Randolph.
Back at the office around 8, I punched out and went for a loaf of bread and a 64 of 100% juicy juice. I sat by the river and ate. Perhaps that was the day I met a traveler who had just rode into town on the train. He told me Northfield people were great, they'd always give you some change or even buy you lunch, but that Northfield cops were some of the worst around for people like him. They drive you right to the train and put you back on it and make sure you get out of town. I appreciated his confiding these things in me. I felt like a cool underground outsider and I may have given him some money. I punched back in at 9 and worked, hanging around the office delivering stuff until around 2.
Perhaps that was the day I was about to leave at 11 or so, having nothing to do or deliver, and I thought I'd walk back into the office and make sure there were no more tasks. I was in the little room in back with the time clock and as soon as I went through the hall out to the office proper (the white collar part) a prescient alarm bell went off. I caught the general manager's eye and immediately wished I had just punched out a driven my actual personal car home.
I was sent to St. Olaf College; to the tiny area behind the 1,500 post office boxes for the students and faculty to put two advertising flyers in each. Working with one other guy, a photographer with a good attitude toward the extra work, it took about three hours. And the drag of it was that I knew exactly where they would all end up. I had attended St. Olaf the previous four years and when we got shit like that it went straight into the recycling bin conveniently placed at the side of the p.o. box room. And not every student was so conscientious. Many would simply drop junk mail on the floor. Nobody wanted to subscribe to the LOCAL PAPER! Who gives a shit? Yeah, perhaps it was that day.
After work I probably got taco bell or some junk like that. Karl and I had a show that night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. When he was off work too (landscaping) we got together and maybe rehearsed a little, then packed up the huge, heavy, crappy P.A. system we had back then (borrowed from St. Olaf) and drove two and a half hours to the show. We did the show and went to Heckel's truck stop restaurant to eat, hang out, talk about music and the show. That was probably what made the day worth it. It sure wasn't the $40 or so I'd earned for all my work. I got to bed more than 24 hours after getting up. I think that might be why the day sticks in my mind even 8 years later.
Back at the office around 8, I punched out and went for a loaf of bread and a 64 of 100% juicy juice. I sat by the river and ate. Perhaps that was the day I met a traveler who had just rode into town on the train. He told me Northfield people were great, they'd always give you some change or even buy you lunch, but that Northfield cops were some of the worst around for people like him. They drive you right to the train and put you back on it and make sure you get out of town. I appreciated his confiding these things in me. I felt like a cool underground outsider and I may have given him some money. I punched back in at 9 and worked, hanging around the office delivering stuff until around 2.
Perhaps that was the day I was about to leave at 11 or so, having nothing to do or deliver, and I thought I'd walk back into the office and make sure there were no more tasks. I was in the little room in back with the time clock and as soon as I went through the hall out to the office proper (the white collar part) a prescient alarm bell went off. I caught the general manager's eye and immediately wished I had just punched out a driven my actual personal car home.
I was sent to St. Olaf College; to the tiny area behind the 1,500 post office boxes for the students and faculty to put two advertising flyers in each. Working with one other guy, a photographer with a good attitude toward the extra work, it took about three hours. And the drag of it was that I knew exactly where they would all end up. I had attended St. Olaf the previous four years and when we got shit like that it went straight into the recycling bin conveniently placed at the side of the p.o. box room. And not every student was so conscientious. Many would simply drop junk mail on the floor. Nobody wanted to subscribe to the LOCAL PAPER! Who gives a shit? Yeah, perhaps it was that day.
After work I probably got taco bell or some junk like that. Karl and I had a show that night in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. When he was off work too (landscaping) we got together and maybe rehearsed a little, then packed up the huge, heavy, crappy P.A. system we had back then (borrowed from St. Olaf) and drove two and a half hours to the show. We did the show and went to Heckel's truck stop restaurant to eat, hang out, talk about music and the show. That was probably what made the day worth it. It sure wasn't the $40 or so I'd earned for all my work. I got to bed more than 24 hours after getting up. I think that might be why the day sticks in my mind even 8 years later.
Tuesday, July 29, 2003
I'm feeling good. Why?
I just got my teeth cleaned. The dentist suggested that I have just enough color to them that I should consider bleaching, for which she would of course receive $100-300 but which would make a noticeable difference. Maybe if I weren't already married.
Honigman's July 22 400 Bar show was the best yet, I felt. The soundman was skilled. I remembered almost all the words to Señor. (Only the final line of each verse continues to elude me as I struggle to make a mental connection between the last line and the overall content of each verse. And the gypsy often has a broken arm, a "rotten" ring, or just about anything but the "broken flag and flashing ring" she's supposed to have.) Kent and Stu add a new dimension to the band that allows me to quit strumming my guitar while I sing if I wish, just like Bruce. Rock heaven!
Work on the landscaping outside the future site of Memphis Studios begins July 31 (and is actually expected to be finished on the same day!). Soon the "tester" album with real drums, real piano, real organ, wacked out guitar sounds (courtesy of my new Godlyke PA-9 multi-pedal power adapter), and 10 or so all new, yet-to-be-composed instrumentals can commence.
Time for sleeping. Thanks for reading. Goodnight.
I just got my teeth cleaned. The dentist suggested that I have just enough color to them that I should consider bleaching, for which she would of course receive $100-300 but which would make a noticeable difference. Maybe if I weren't already married.
Honigman's July 22 400 Bar show was the best yet, I felt. The soundman was skilled. I remembered almost all the words to Señor. (Only the final line of each verse continues to elude me as I struggle to make a mental connection between the last line and the overall content of each verse. And the gypsy often has a broken arm, a "rotten" ring, or just about anything but the "broken flag and flashing ring" she's supposed to have.) Kent and Stu add a new dimension to the band that allows me to quit strumming my guitar while I sing if I wish, just like Bruce. Rock heaven!
Work on the landscaping outside the future site of Memphis Studios begins July 31 (and is actually expected to be finished on the same day!). Soon the "tester" album with real drums, real piano, real organ, wacked out guitar sounds (courtesy of my new Godlyke PA-9 multi-pedal power adapter), and 10 or so all new, yet-to-be-composed instrumentals can commence.
Time for sleeping. Thanks for reading. Goodnight.
Thursday, July 24, 2003
Just played some truly wonderful mini-golf at Centennial Lakes Park in Edina. My goodness. They really live up to their slogan. "It's not mini-golf, it's golf in miniature." It's like banzai. Made some pars and birdies, but ended up at 9 over (60) for 18 holes.
In music news, a piano has been added to the arsenal here at Memphis Studios. A bright Kimball upright, very well tuned but with a few slightly sticky keys that can be easily corrected I believe. Hooray and thanks to those who made it possible. A contract for grading of the land outside the future site of the studio has been awarded and work should begin before the end of August. Studio should be functioning by October. The corner has been turned.
In music news, a piano has been added to the arsenal here at Memphis Studios. A bright Kimball upright, very well tuned but with a few slightly sticky keys that can be easily corrected I believe. Hooray and thanks to those who made it possible. A contract for grading of the land outside the future site of the studio has been awarded and work should begin before the end of August. Studio should be functioning by October. The corner has been turned.
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