House, 11:29am


Waiting for Tessmer's van to pick me up so we can drive straight to Wisconsin. We're playing this weekend in Kansas City MO and we'll be having Thanksgiving with his family in his hometown. I still don't know which town that is, heh.

Antone's w/The Truckers was amazing. Had Dug Pinnick from King's X get up and sing some blues on "Love Me Like A Man", then did some vocal trade-offs with Teal. Holy shit, she held her own against the mighty Dug. Awesome. This after I jumped offstage and rocked him and Adrian from Ironclad for my bass solo. Finale note of "Save My Soul" I broke a damn straplock. And not like came apart which those Schallers like to do... I broke the strap button off. Thought my strap came undone, which it does. Go to hook it back on and there was nothing to hook onto, just the screw. Other piece still in place on the strap. Wow. Thank the Gods of Rock I brought my backup Mexi Fender P-Bass. Grabbed my screwdriver from my road box and borrowed a strap button from it. Meanwhile Josh and Teal and playing with the words "broke a straplock" and turning them dirty. When I was done got on the mic and "I didn't break a straplock, I was breaking in my strap-on." I'll be here all week, ladies and gentlemen. Tip your barstaff.

But yeah, my SVT sounds weird and the speakers in my Isovent cab sound tired. Sounded fine last night thru the Fender TB-600, but it was getting farty towards the end. Hopefully doing Mondays/Wednesdays/Thursdays w/Tessmer will help pay for replacements. Three days a week at least of steady work, but variable pay. But steady work is just that. And it is work. Anyone who thinks that music isn't a real job can get bent. This IS a real job, and I am busting my ass to not only pay the bills but also hone my craft at the same time. Which means I gotta practice when I ain't playing -- taking work home with me on my days off.

Speaking of which, I hadn't touched a bass since Antone's on Saturday before last night. No warm ups either. But hands felt great, playing felt a little sloppy in parts but it was what it was.