Spent a rare snowy day in Austin recording guitar tracks all day. About an inch accumulation in parts of the back yard, big fat flakes as big as quarters at times.
Laid down basic guitars for 6+ hours on the three drum tracks I did yesterday. Should finish them up tomorrow on guitar and hopefully bass as well. Then see how much time I need to fill for the RPM Challenge goal of 35 minutes of music. Will probably have to throw together one more song, and have an idea that wouldn't require drums.
ETB last night at Friends was fun but fucking dead, even for a Monday. We've been writing a setlist and sticking to it, blowing through the songs one after the other. I like that, keeps things moving and keeps it tight.
Long day tomorrow: AM dentist apt weather permitting, track as much as I can, 5pm Mother Truckers practice, 9pm ETB set at Maggie Mae's. Will def turn in early tonight.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Monday, February 22, 2010
Got hopefully usable drum tracks for 3 more songs today. Will be tracking rest of the week trying to finish the RPM Challenge album.
Mother Truckers practice went good last night, new tunes coming together very easily. New from them is that we've been invited to play a week in Denmark in Sept or Nov, and they will try to add dates. Also talk of a West Coast run with Shurman and/or Stonehoney. Bring it on! Added a March show at Threadgill's World HQ, those have been fun.
Supposed to be a snow day tomorrow, we'll see but planning on spending the day tracking anyway.
Bout to shower and get ready, ETB tonight @ Friends.
Mother Truckers practice went good last night, new tunes coming together very easily. New from them is that we've been invited to play a week in Denmark in Sept or Nov, and they will try to add dates. Also talk of a West Coast run with Shurman and/or Stonehoney. Bring it on! Added a March show at Threadgill's World HQ, those have been fun.
Supposed to be a snow day tomorrow, we'll see but planning on spending the day tracking anyway.
Bout to shower and get ready, ETB tonight @ Friends.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
And so begins a very busy week.
Today:
- Work on 3 new Mother Truckers songs
- Work on music for RPM Challenge album
- 5pm practice w/The Mother Truckers
- Maybe go to Friends Sunday blues jam, try to get some pickup work.
Monday:
- Track drums for RPM Challenge album (need 5 more done/mixed by Mar 1, no pressure)
- 10pm Eric Tessmer Band gig @ Friends
Tuesday
- Hopefully track guitar
Wednesday
- 9am dentist apt
- track guitar/bass, maybe mix
- 5pm Mother Truckers practice
- 8pm Eric Tessmer Band @ Maggie Mae's
Thursday
- Hopefully mix
- Start working on album artwork
Friday
- Mix/master
- Mother Truckers return gig @ Continental Club
Saturday
- 12pm Run camera for a UT baseball game
- Hopefully finish mixing/artwork
Sunday
- REST.
Tonight at practice Josh and Teal will be briefing us on a reported Mother Truckers EUROPE TOUR. *happy dance!* Oh hell fucking YES. Will def relay the details tonight or tomorrow. Awesome awesome awesome, not gonna get my hopes up just yet til I hear more. But I've been wanting to tour Europe forever.
Very good news indeed, was in a weird funk after the ETB show @ Friends on Friday. Had a good crowd, blew threw a really good set (kept things rolling rather than stop between every song), had a blast. Eric broke the strings off his guitar, and I broke the strings off my bass. Needed to change them anyway, crowd went nuts. But took to feeling dark and brooding after we were done. Been a heavy past couple of days with the plane crash and all. But seems like I always feel darkest right before something good happens.
Gotta get to work.
Today:
- Work on 3 new Mother Truckers songs
- Work on music for RPM Challenge album
- 5pm practice w/The Mother Truckers
- Maybe go to Friends Sunday blues jam, try to get some pickup work.
Monday:
- Track drums for RPM Challenge album (need 5 more done/mixed by Mar 1, no pressure)
- 10pm Eric Tessmer Band gig @ Friends
Tuesday
- Hopefully track guitar
Wednesday
- 9am dentist apt
- track guitar/bass, maybe mix
- 5pm Mother Truckers practice
- 8pm Eric Tessmer Band @ Maggie Mae's
Thursday
- Hopefully mix
- Start working on album artwork
Friday
- Mix/master
- Mother Truckers return gig @ Continental Club
Saturday
- 12pm Run camera for a UT baseball game
- Hopefully finish mixing/artwork
Sunday
- REST.
Tonight at practice Josh and Teal will be briefing us on a reported Mother Truckers EUROPE TOUR. *happy dance!* Oh hell fucking YES. Will def relay the details tonight or tomorrow. Awesome awesome awesome, not gonna get my hopes up just yet til I hear more. But I've been wanting to tour Europe forever.
Very good news indeed, was in a weird funk after the ETB show @ Friends on Friday. Had a good crowd, blew threw a really good set (kept things rolling rather than stop between every song), had a blast. Eric broke the strings off his guitar, and I broke the strings off my bass. Needed to change them anyway, crowd went nuts. But took to feeling dark and brooding after we were done. Been a heavy past couple of days with the plane crash and all. But seems like I always feel darkest right before something good happens.
Gotta get to work.
Friday, February 19, 2010
How's this for a text to wake up to in the morning:
"Plane crashed near our apt! We r ok..."
HOLY SHIT. So yeah, the IRS building that the guy flew the plane into yesterday was a half-mile or so from my friend Triniti's apartment. Crazy shit. And reading the CNN.com article there is a good friend quoted in it. Just hit a little closer to home...
Got my JCM800 back from Bill Webb, of the 10 6550's I left with him he couldn't even get a useable quad so had to throw in some used tubes for $10/each. Much more affordable than a new set (about $150), but still had to put another $82 on my credit card. But I have a working bass amp and now a working guitar amp, so all is good. But now some of the oddball pre-amp tubes in the SVT are starting to go. Damn.
Set up my PA in my room to re-mix the 5 songs I have towards my RPM Challenge album, more pleased yet a few more tweaks in order, check them out at http://www.myspace.com/oceanofstarstx.
Have 3 new Mother Truckers songs to learn by practice on Sunday. 2 pretty straight-forward, one a little tricky. All good shit. We will add them to the set for next Friday when we play the Continental Club. Should be a great show, our first since November.
Was supposed to practice with Eric Tessmer today but Richard wanted to push it back a bit timewise and Eric forgot to e-mail the new song he wanted to work on anyway. So to save gas and not waste any of our time we'll reschedule. Works for me, saved me a 30+ minute drive to Jonestown. No, that that Jonestown.
May have a tech gig coming up. Bobby Rock called me yesterday afternoon. Figured it was imprtant, but was unfortunately buck-ass naked save for a hospital gown waiting to get a physical. Left him a reply message and told him as much, heh. Band called Airborne, US tour end of April to end of May. Need more details (exact dates, pay, etc) and waiting to hear back from Tessmer on when our tentative Spring tour will be. That, and will I be back for my Mom's retirement on May 27th? Will probably miss the Clint Black/Mother Truckers show on Apr 30th... damn.
Keep y'all posted. ETB @ Friends tonight, early set 8-11pm. Afterwards might mingle on Red River, or go to Trophy's to see Amplified Heat, or go to 1st Down and Stassney to hang with Amber Lucille band after their set. Hmmm... will probably do the option involving the least money.
"Plane crashed near our apt! We r ok..."
HOLY SHIT. So yeah, the IRS building that the guy flew the plane into yesterday was a half-mile or so from my friend Triniti's apartment. Crazy shit. And reading the CNN.com article there is a good friend quoted in it. Just hit a little closer to home...
Got my JCM800 back from Bill Webb, of the 10 6550's I left with him he couldn't even get a useable quad so had to throw in some used tubes for $10/each. Much more affordable than a new set (about $150), but still had to put another $82 on my credit card. But I have a working bass amp and now a working guitar amp, so all is good. But now some of the oddball pre-amp tubes in the SVT are starting to go. Damn.
Set up my PA in my room to re-mix the 5 songs I have towards my RPM Challenge album, more pleased yet a few more tweaks in order, check them out at http://www.myspace.com/oceanofstarstx.
Have 3 new Mother Truckers songs to learn by practice on Sunday. 2 pretty straight-forward, one a little tricky. All good shit. We will add them to the set for next Friday when we play the Continental Club. Should be a great show, our first since November.
Was supposed to practice with Eric Tessmer today but Richard wanted to push it back a bit timewise and Eric forgot to e-mail the new song he wanted to work on anyway. So to save gas and not waste any of our time we'll reschedule. Works for me, saved me a 30+ minute drive to Jonestown. No, that that Jonestown.
May have a tech gig coming up. Bobby Rock called me yesterday afternoon. Figured it was imprtant, but was unfortunately buck-ass naked save for a hospital gown waiting to get a physical. Left him a reply message and told him as much, heh. Band called Airborne, US tour end of April to end of May. Need more details (exact dates, pay, etc) and waiting to hear back from Tessmer on when our tentative Spring tour will be. That, and will I be back for my Mom's retirement on May 27th? Will probably miss the Clint Black/Mother Truckers show on Apr 30th... damn.
Keep y'all posted. ETB @ Friends tonight, early set 8-11pm. Afterwards might mingle on Red River, or go to Trophy's to see Amplified Heat, or go to 1st Down and Stassney to hang with Amber Lucille band after their set. Hmmm... will probably do the option involving the least money.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Busy busy busy.
Have been sending out Ironclad show invite texts all morning, creating a Danny G fan page on Facebook (so I can use that instead of the one with my last name, who the hell knows who that is? heh!), working up a setlist for tonight and other online TCB.
Need to change strings on my '79 Iceman. Put .11-.52's on my Paul Stanley Iceman and they feel good tho I have never used that guage before. And it is either those or .09-.42's because they are all I have. Why buy the strings I use when I have plenty of sets that I don't just lying around?
SO Ironclad plays the Vixen Productions St.Valentine's Day Massacre show tonight at Headhunter's, with Velvet Brick, The Oklahomos and New Disaster on the bill among others. Deanna (Vixen Productions co-founder, singer for Velvet Brick, and my roommate) is also busy busy busy finalizing details over the phone and painting a Go-Go box for the Vixens to use. Hopefully weather will permit the swing over the band area in the outdoor patio to be used. Yeah, this is gonna be awesome \m/,
But in the meantime I will be refreshing the music all day as we again had ZERO time to practice. Not since our last show back in September, and that one was after not playing/practicing since SXSW in March. We pulled it off and it was awesome, so not too worried about tonight. We'll give it hell and have a great time (and try to remember the songs!). I will be giving it all I have tonight, really want to keep myself out there as a guitar player/songwriter.
Have rough mixes of 5 songs towards my RPM Challenge 'Ocean of Stars.' But mixes are very bass heavy and need lots of work. Set up my PA in my room to use instead mixing via headphones. Will use it today to play along to Ironclad music.
Gotta get to work.
Have been sending out Ironclad show invite texts all morning, creating a Danny G fan page on Facebook (so I can use that instead of the one with my last name, who the hell knows who that is? heh!), working up a setlist for tonight and other online TCB.
Need to change strings on my '79 Iceman. Put .11-.52's on my Paul Stanley Iceman and they feel good tho I have never used that guage before. And it is either those or .09-.42's because they are all I have. Why buy the strings I use when I have plenty of sets that I don't just lying around?
SO Ironclad plays the Vixen Productions St.Valentine's Day Massacre show tonight at Headhunter's, with Velvet Brick, The Oklahomos and New Disaster on the bill among others. Deanna (Vixen Productions co-founder, singer for Velvet Brick, and my roommate) is also busy busy busy finalizing details over the phone and painting a Go-Go box for the Vixens to use. Hopefully weather will permit the swing over the band area in the outdoor patio to be used. Yeah, this is gonna be awesome \m/,
But in the meantime I will be refreshing the music all day as we again had ZERO time to practice. Not since our last show back in September, and that one was after not playing/practicing since SXSW in March. We pulled it off and it was awesome, so not too worried about tonight. We'll give it hell and have a great time (and try to remember the songs!). I will be giving it all I have tonight, really want to keep myself out there as a guitar player/songwriter.
Have rough mixes of 5 songs towards my RPM Challenge 'Ocean of Stars.' But mixes are very bass heavy and need lots of work. Set up my PA in my room to use instead mixing via headphones. Will use it today to play along to Ironclad music.
Gotta get to work.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
So I had a bit of a meltdown onstage at BD Riley's Saturday towards the end of Eric Tessmer's set.
Feel bad for it but given the weekend I was having--dealing with heavy personal issues, continuing gear problems: JCM800 out, SVT-II questionable, TB-600 out, just got speaker cab back earlier that afternoon only to have it go out again near end of the night--it was understandable. Broke the jack on my wireless transmitter and may have finally mangled an iffy cable. But before the cab cut out it was a good night depsite my early and later sour mood.
Have finished tracking so far on 5 songs towards my RPM Challenge solo album 'Ocean of Stars'. Had to use the Epi Valve Standard chassis to track bass as well... ugh. But the results aren't too shabby, very gnarly bass tone reminiscent of the QOTSA self-titled. Nailed most bass tracks in one take w/little to no preparation/overdubs, that was cool.
In fact, gear problems and drum-retracking aside the whole thing has been coming together really well. The title track "Ocean of Stars" came out as trippy as I'd envisioned, had the title and wrote a song around it. On "Hammerfoot" added this weird gypsy thing that changed the tone of the whole song, not sure where that idea came from. "Dig That Hole Deep" is ominous and crushing, inspired by something I heard in a dream. "Untitled" features 2 guitar tracks that were originally both busts (using Phase 90 whole song, no way to punch-in parts) but used together have a really cool unintentional interplay. The solo on "Push" I almost re-tracked but it has a sense of urgency that makes it work.
Rough mixes up at http://www.myspace.com/oceanofstarstx
God it is SO good to be doing something creative, have not felt the fire in entirely too long. Nice to have an all-consuming musical distraction like this to keep my mind focused rather than focused on nothing.
ETB @ Maggie Mae's tonight. Don't know what I'm going to do for an amp. Speaker guy has not been at his shop all week, starting to get a little aggravated.
Ironclad is playing the Vixen Productions show Friday @ Headhunters, that will but fun but again we have no time to practice. Will be interesting to see if we can pull off another no-practice show... Will be refreshing the music up to show, want to play my best and keep myself on the map as a guitar player.
Feel bad for it but given the weekend I was having--dealing with heavy personal issues, continuing gear problems: JCM800 out, SVT-II questionable, TB-600 out, just got speaker cab back earlier that afternoon only to have it go out again near end of the night--it was understandable. Broke the jack on my wireless transmitter and may have finally mangled an iffy cable. But before the cab cut out it was a good night depsite my early and later sour mood.
Have finished tracking so far on 5 songs towards my RPM Challenge solo album 'Ocean of Stars'. Had to use the Epi Valve Standard chassis to track bass as well... ugh. But the results aren't too shabby, very gnarly bass tone reminiscent of the QOTSA self-titled. Nailed most bass tracks in one take w/little to no preparation/overdubs, that was cool.
In fact, gear problems and drum-retracking aside the whole thing has been coming together really well. The title track "Ocean of Stars" came out as trippy as I'd envisioned, had the title and wrote a song around it. On "Hammerfoot" added this weird gypsy thing that changed the tone of the whole song, not sure where that idea came from. "Dig That Hole Deep" is ominous and crushing, inspired by something I heard in a dream. "Untitled" features 2 guitar tracks that were originally both busts (using Phase 90 whole song, no way to punch-in parts) but used together have a really cool unintentional interplay. The solo on "Push" I almost re-tracked but it has a sense of urgency that makes it work.
Rough mixes up at http://www.myspace.com/oceanofstarstx
God it is SO good to be doing something creative, have not felt the fire in entirely too long. Nice to have an all-consuming musical distraction like this to keep my mind focused rather than focused on nothing.
ETB @ Maggie Mae's tonight. Don't know what I'm going to do for an amp. Speaker guy has not been at his shop all week, starting to get a little aggravated.
Ironclad is playing the Vixen Productions show Friday @ Headhunters, that will but fun but again we have no time to practice. Will be interesting to see if we can pull off another no-practice show... Will be refreshing the music up to show, want to play my best and keep myself on the map as a guitar player.
Friday, February 5, 2010
Post #85, woo hoo!
Will keep it brief, not in a very chipper writing mood.
Began tracking on my RPM Challenge solo album "Ocean of Stars" on Wednesday I guess. So far pleased w/drum sounds from garage. Blew out 5 songs in 3.5 hours. Tracking guitar yesterday realized tempos way too fast on 2 of them. That and my Marshall JCM800 finally decided it needs new power tubes. Great. So tracked with my Epi Valve Standard powering the Marshall 4x12. Sounds like ass. Jason from Velvet Brick will loan me his JCM800 for recording and Ironclad gig next week, thanks bro. Will re-track those two songs on drums today.
So my amp injury report:
Ampeg 70's SVT (fully functional)
Ampeg SVT-II (questionable, needs power tubes)
Fender TB-600 (fucked, at Ray Hennig's)
Acoustic B-200H (fucked, not worth fixing)
Ampeg Isovent cab (still in shop, ready by tomorrow)
Marshall JCM800 (needs power tubes)
Epiphone Valve Standard (not gig-worthy)
So I am down to one fully-functional amp, with no money (save credit card) to fix others. I'd have a pretty nice gear collection if the shit actually worked. All this shit I can't afford, plus my cat is getting sick again and I still owe on rent for this month. Livin the dream...
But I will trudge onwards and upwards with the RPM Challenge album. Am not feeling very up to task, but need to focus my mind on something positive and creative cause it has been very hard to focus on anything at all. Much less DO anything creative.
Tonight I am going out, Headhunters and Red 7. Tomorrow BD Riley's w/ETB. Hope we make a LOT of money, and that the guy who personally tipped me $100 once comes back...!
Later:
Picked up Jason's 800 and keeping with the theme it immediately blew 2 fuses. Nice. Spent rest of the day tracking with the Epiphone and getting decent results. New drum tracks much better. Still guitar ampless, and now afraid to borrow anything from anyone. But Jason gave me a spare quad of 6550's he wasn't using, so I at least have tubes to put into my Marshall *phew* That was very very generous of him, what a great guy.
Will keep it brief, not in a very chipper writing mood.
Began tracking on my RPM Challenge solo album "Ocean of Stars" on Wednesday I guess. So far pleased w/drum sounds from garage. Blew out 5 songs in 3.5 hours. Tracking guitar yesterday realized tempos way too fast on 2 of them. That and my Marshall JCM800 finally decided it needs new power tubes. Great. So tracked with my Epi Valve Standard powering the Marshall 4x12. Sounds like ass. Jason from Velvet Brick will loan me his JCM800 for recording and Ironclad gig next week, thanks bro. Will re-track those two songs on drums today.
So my amp injury report:
Ampeg 70's SVT (fully functional)
Ampeg SVT-II (questionable, needs power tubes)
Fender TB-600 (fucked, at Ray Hennig's)
Acoustic B-200H (fucked, not worth fixing)
Ampeg Isovent cab (still in shop, ready by tomorrow)
Marshall JCM800 (needs power tubes)
Epiphone Valve Standard (not gig-worthy)
So I am down to one fully-functional amp, with no money (save credit card) to fix others. I'd have a pretty nice gear collection if the shit actually worked. All this shit I can't afford, plus my cat is getting sick again and I still owe on rent for this month. Livin the dream...
But I will trudge onwards and upwards with the RPM Challenge album. Am not feeling very up to task, but need to focus my mind on something positive and creative cause it has been very hard to focus on anything at all. Much less DO anything creative.
Tonight I am going out, Headhunters and Red 7. Tomorrow BD Riley's w/ETB. Hope we make a LOT of money, and that the guy who personally tipped me $100 once comes back...!
Later:
Picked up Jason's 800 and keeping with the theme it immediately blew 2 fuses. Nice. Spent rest of the day tracking with the Epiphone and getting decent results. New drum tracks much better. Still guitar ampless, and now afraid to borrow anything from anyone. But Jason gave me a spare quad of 6550's he wasn't using, so I at least have tubes to put into my Marshall *phew* That was very very generous of him, what a great guy.
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