Library, 12:34pm
Will be in Mother Truckers mode all week for the show at Antone's on Saturday. Our first weekend headlining slot, it's gonna be awesome! Got an email about practice times and with a new song to learn. Will hit it hard when I get home and have it ready for practice on Wed/Thurs, whichever day we choose.
The weekend of shows with Tessmer went pretty well. Already wrote about the Antone's show. Friday at Friends went pretty well as well, did an earlier 8pm-11pm thing. Tessmer did the audience walk and went behind the bar to pour drinks, whole nine yards. Even got into the action myelf for the bass solo for that Meters song we do. Used a pick for 2 songs, "Goin Down" and "Killing Floor", and gave my R wrist a nice case of guitar rash. I always wear a sweat band on guitar to prevent that. Playing bass it's optional. Can get by fine w/o but for some reason using a pick did it. No big deal. Had a pretty good crowd and had the place really hopping for a brief period of time, that was cool.
Good to have an earlier night. Was able to stow all gear in a closet at the venue (playing BD Riley's next door next night), get paid, and still make it to the Dirty Dog and hang out for the rest of the night. I missed Velvet Brick and Butcherwhite's CD release set but still got to catch up with lots of old friends. I used to play bass for Velvet Brick from 05-06 and have kept in good contact with them, and have known the Butcherwhite guys from that same period and see them a lot too. All good people. Cool evening all in all.
Spent Saturday re-wiring 2 of my guitars, mainly for cosmetic reasons. When my Les Paul Studio broke the headstock again beyond repair (according to guy who first fixed it) I stripped it for parts and put the pickups (Gibson '57 Classic and Rio Grand BBQ) into my Paul Stanley Iceman. Lo and behold, those pickups brought the PS Iceman back to life! Been sitting unused in my closet for like 3 years. But then was able to get the LP Studio repaired. Threw some spare pickups into it (a Gibson 490R and vintage DiMarzio Super Distortion). But the problem is that as amazing as the new pups in the PS Iceman sounded, the neck pickup has a gold cover which really clashed with the silver hardware. And the LP Studio now has a silver-covered neck pup but gold hardware. So yeah, I swapped out the neck pups in both guitars cause it would look cooler if everything matched. *shrugs*
That night (Saturday) w/Tessmer at BD Rileys was also pretty good. Lotta people that stayed after watching the football game and never left, then a lot of people off the street as well. Not a super packed house, but plenty of people digging it. Felt like we played really well too. My pick hand/wrist started feeling the three shows after awhile. Should have warmed up. "Blues Bullets" still felt sloppy need to work on it. Michael McDaniel has been a really good addition, not only his over musical proficiency, but him and Richard are always interacting with each other and having so much fun. It distracted Richard a little a few times, heh, but that overall increase in our positive energy onstage is really translating well with the audience. Not always a conscious thing on their part, but if we are having a blast then they want to have a blast too and get into it. That and doing my bass solo walking through the crowd and climbing onto the sub helps as well, heh. Good show overall.
Was able to leave my gear in Tessmer's newly-fixed old Dodge 15-passenger van. Has several home-made gear security features, and the crew cab is all upholstered with vintage 70's green shag carpet. AWESOME. Can't wait to take a road trip in that fucking thing. Made tentative plans to pick everything up on Sunday, I don't live too far from him.
All day Sunday was at the Dell Diamond with Triniti Young, there was an ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease) Walk and we were the official photographers. Working for free, but we didn't mind one bit. Good cause. Met up at her place to drive together and save gas. Driving up I35 past Rundberg something on the R shoulder caught my eye. It was a lady pushing a big black leather EZ chair up the shoulder. And there was no vehicle that we saw anywhere up on the shoulder. She was just pushing a big chair. Wow. That was good for a laugh.
The event itself was pretty cool. Will post some pics when I can. Teams of walkers with matching shirts and signs, Triniti and I were the official team photographers. And we made a good team. Situated on 1st bass side under a kind of gazebo. Light was good and had teams line up against the bleachers with the field in the background. They set the balloon arch for the walk starting line near us, was so windy that we pushed it back behind us to get it out of the way rather than use it in the shots. That and children are fascinated by it and would be looking at it rather than the camera. Better to have it behind us, heh. Triniti did an amazing job as a people arranger/cat herder. And it was like herding cats in a lot of ways but she did great. Only problem was sometimes we'd shoot a big team, then instead of moving on they'd all walk about 5 feet then STOP. Ah well. Had to ask some people to move but were cool about it.
But then we had one team posed and were shooting, when suddenly a shadow gets into the frame. A lady from a team waiting for their shot was moving the goddamn balloon arch for their shot and it was ruining ours. T politely told her to put it back, you are ruining our shot. Lady started to argue a little so T came up to me for final decision. No balloons I said. That was that. We took their pic and the lady went and complained about us. HA! She just walked into our deal and started taking charge of a situation she had no business being in charge of, and not even asking us first if they could have the balloons in their damn shot! One of the directors later went up to T and asked if everything was alright. She replied that everything is great and we have it all under control. Director later gave a knowing smile and said good. Awesome.
We also shot the opening ceremonies on the field and the ribbon cutting back with all the ALS victims presents. The aforementioned balloon arch was now in place as the starting gate. Stayed nearby with T for several laps, getting the teams as they triumphantly began the next lap. Had a great idea then, since all the teams had their various signs, I grabbed our TEAM PHOTOGRAPHY sign and walked a lap with T as Team Photography! That was awesome. Hopefully they raised a lot of money, and being there was informative and inspiring. People getting together to help other people is always a good thing.
Was there from 12:30pm til about 5pm. And we were both exhausted. Dealing with people can be pretty exhausting, heh. Thought about hitting the Friends Sunday Blues Jam but gave myself the night off instead. Tonight I am going by Trent and Amber's for dinner and then take some Amber Lucille Band promo shots, the later going to Emo's for Shrinebuilder (Wino, Al Cisneros, Dale Crover, and the guy from Neurosis... yeah, DAMN). That will be awesome. Tomorrow night Velvet Brick opens an early show for the Bullet Boys, remember them?
Busy busy busy.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
Van, 11:16am
Library closed on Fridays, no biggie. Nice day out.
Yesterday spent some hours with Triniti Young at Book People looking at music photography books and art books, taking mental and written notes. Me taking down publisher information, page #, price, etc etc etc and she getting layout ideas. Checked out some really cool books, nice way to spend an afternoon. She bought an awesome Led Zeppelin book. I almost bought the new Cliff Burton bio, but at $20 I will shop for it online. Walking to get lunch at Waterloo Icehouse we were talking about how we need to do this NOW because the city and RR are changing so much so fast. Case in point, we get to Lamar and see that Waterloo Icehouse is no more, being turned into something else. Case in fucking point.
Took an afternoon nap to rest up for Antone's. In Johnny Cash's bio his main piece of advice for any musician: if you are playing that night, take a nap that day. Words to live by. Been hitting the new Tessmer tunes hard and was ready for them. Before leaving the house re-strung my old Mexican Fender 1995 pawn shop P-bass so I wouldn't have to tune down for "Taildragger." We tune to Eb but that song is in D Standard. Why, Eric... why?!?
Driving to the venue in passed Friends on 6th Street and saw Tessmer and Erin Jaimes onstage. Nice! Will have to swing by there after dropping off my gear. After stowing my gear the Gods of Parking were merciful and I found a spot at 6th and Lavaca a block from Antone's.
Walked down to Friends and stayed for an hour. Guess it was a one-off show with Los Armadillos. Wes Cargill on drums. Tessmer behind the bar pouring drinks while soloing. Talked to Mike from White Rhino outside, he came to watch Wes play (White Rhino drummer). Nice guy. Went inside just in time to get a shot of whiskey from Tessmer. Set it down and pulled out my camera as he climbed onto the bar. Got some great shots which I will post later. I sat in for Erin as she passed around the tip tub, playing "Little Wing" and "Red House." Damn Erin's rig feels weird. Flatwounds kill me. I don't like them and can't use them. Her amp also pops when driven too hard, she cam up between songs and said the popping was from the bottom speaker. Sounds to me like her head clipping out. But you gotta make do with what you have, Erin said it sounded good from the crowd. Cool!
Hoofed it back to Antone's to catch the opening band. Was Meaghan Tubb and Shady People. Cool. She is beautiful, sings like a bird and can play the fucking guitar, that's for sure. Her songs are good and her band are all good players. But there was a lack of passion that took away from everything. She plays some really tasty licks, but you don't really feel the notes that she's playing. Not trying to shit-talk in away way shape or form. Had I talked to her after the show I would have told her that, player-to-player. But would have had to fight my way thru all the guys trying to get her number, heh. (Joke. No crowd)
Turn out was kinda light, which sucked. I'd been preparing for this one all week, even rescheduled my weekly dinner meet-up with my estranged wife to not have to deal with the heaviness of that then go play a very respected and established venue, performing a bunch of songs I was still learning. If that sounds like an asshole move, then fuck you. This is how seriously I take what I do. I do NOT fuck around when it comes to Antone's shows. If you understand that, awesome. If not, get bent.
With our truncated set we only played like 3 of those 8 new songs. Well shit. And in my preparation for them I neglected to refresh the existing material. So that with a few drinks over my 2-drink regimen for starting a set, I was a little loose in the opener "Blues Bullets." But I rallied and hunkered down and kept everything else pretty tight. Hell, it fely REALY good last night. Despite the thin crowd I was able to not give a fuck about anything other than just PLAYING and losing myself in the music. Jumped offstage for my bass solo even, always a sign that I am feeling it that night (and have room to jump off/get back on, heh). The few new tunes we played definitely felt in the pocket and overall I give myself an A- for the night. The people that came up and talked were all really cool and very complimentary about the band and also my own performance. Had a good converstion with a coupla guys out front while smoking a cig during Richard's drum solo.
All in all it was a good night. Until we got paid at the end.
Made $25 for the evening. Shit shit shit. Hopefully the ones tonight and tomorrow are more profitable. They usually are. I am living gig to gig at this point. No updates from 2 bands looking to hire me for session work. No worthwhile projects on Craigslist. Have not heard back from Mark Monaco, tho his timetable isn't very narrow. But I need to eat, Goldie Hawn (van) needs an oil change and the brakes just added a new sound to their already cacophonous chorus of squeaks. Still feeling a slight gravitational pull towards LA to seek high profile projects. But also need to hunker down and get crackin on the Room 710 book. In the meantime I need paying projects that will put me back on the road cause I already miss traveling. Still waiting to hear about studio time with Ty Tabor for the RRDC material. I also miss playing on Red River and staying visible there. Suddenly there are many more directions in which to swim, and until I know which way the current is moving I will have to tread water and be patient.
Van, 3:28pm
Been scanning old b&w prints and contact sheets of 710. I have a cooler full of boxes of old b&w prints from Red River and countless bands through the year. Awesome looking back through all that stuff, so many great memories. Glad I brought my camera.
Will play some bass then take a nap, maybe go for a run. I think load in at Friends is 6:30 but not sure yet. Thought about using my rackmount Fender TB-600 instead of the SVT, but goddamn it sounded so good at Antone's last night. Such a great sounding amp, has such a great response. Felt like I had complete control over my volume with my pick fingers, even when playing very softly you could still hear every note.
Library closed on Fridays, no biggie. Nice day out.
Yesterday spent some hours with Triniti Young at Book People looking at music photography books and art books, taking mental and written notes. Me taking down publisher information, page #, price, etc etc etc and she getting layout ideas. Checked out some really cool books, nice way to spend an afternoon. She bought an awesome Led Zeppelin book. I almost bought the new Cliff Burton bio, but at $20 I will shop for it online. Walking to get lunch at Waterloo Icehouse we were talking about how we need to do this NOW because the city and RR are changing so much so fast. Case in point, we get to Lamar and see that Waterloo Icehouse is no more, being turned into something else. Case in fucking point.
Took an afternoon nap to rest up for Antone's. In Johnny Cash's bio his main piece of advice for any musician: if you are playing that night, take a nap that day. Words to live by. Been hitting the new Tessmer tunes hard and was ready for them. Before leaving the house re-strung my old Mexican Fender 1995 pawn shop P-bass so I wouldn't have to tune down for "Taildragger." We tune to Eb but that song is in D Standard. Why, Eric... why?!?
Driving to the venue in passed Friends on 6th Street and saw Tessmer and Erin Jaimes onstage. Nice! Will have to swing by there after dropping off my gear. After stowing my gear the Gods of Parking were merciful and I found a spot at 6th and Lavaca a block from Antone's.
Walked down to Friends and stayed for an hour. Guess it was a one-off show with Los Armadillos. Wes Cargill on drums. Tessmer behind the bar pouring drinks while soloing. Talked to Mike from White Rhino outside, he came to watch Wes play (White Rhino drummer). Nice guy. Went inside just in time to get a shot of whiskey from Tessmer. Set it down and pulled out my camera as he climbed onto the bar. Got some great shots which I will post later. I sat in for Erin as she passed around the tip tub, playing "Little Wing" and "Red House." Damn Erin's rig feels weird. Flatwounds kill me. I don't like them and can't use them. Her amp also pops when driven too hard, she cam up between songs and said the popping was from the bottom speaker. Sounds to me like her head clipping out. But you gotta make do with what you have, Erin said it sounded good from the crowd. Cool!
Hoofed it back to Antone's to catch the opening band. Was Meaghan Tubb and Shady People. Cool. She is beautiful, sings like a bird and can play the fucking guitar, that's for sure. Her songs are good and her band are all good players. But there was a lack of passion that took away from everything. She plays some really tasty licks, but you don't really feel the notes that she's playing. Not trying to shit-talk in away way shape or form. Had I talked to her after the show I would have told her that, player-to-player. But would have had to fight my way thru all the guys trying to get her number, heh. (Joke. No crowd)
Turn out was kinda light, which sucked. I'd been preparing for this one all week, even rescheduled my weekly dinner meet-up with my estranged wife to not have to deal with the heaviness of that then go play a very respected and established venue, performing a bunch of songs I was still learning. If that sounds like an asshole move, then fuck you. This is how seriously I take what I do. I do NOT fuck around when it comes to Antone's shows. If you understand that, awesome. If not, get bent.
With our truncated set we only played like 3 of those 8 new songs. Well shit. And in my preparation for them I neglected to refresh the existing material. So that with a few drinks over my 2-drink regimen for starting a set, I was a little loose in the opener "Blues Bullets." But I rallied and hunkered down and kept everything else pretty tight. Hell, it fely REALY good last night. Despite the thin crowd I was able to not give a fuck about anything other than just PLAYING and losing myself in the music. Jumped offstage for my bass solo even, always a sign that I am feeling it that night (and have room to jump off/get back on, heh). The few new tunes we played definitely felt in the pocket and overall I give myself an A- for the night. The people that came up and talked were all really cool and very complimentary about the band and also my own performance. Had a good converstion with a coupla guys out front while smoking a cig during Richard's drum solo.
All in all it was a good night. Until we got paid at the end.
Made $25 for the evening. Shit shit shit. Hopefully the ones tonight and tomorrow are more profitable. They usually are. I am living gig to gig at this point. No updates from 2 bands looking to hire me for session work. No worthwhile projects on Craigslist. Have not heard back from Mark Monaco, tho his timetable isn't very narrow. But I need to eat, Goldie Hawn (van) needs an oil change and the brakes just added a new sound to their already cacophonous chorus of squeaks. Still feeling a slight gravitational pull towards LA to seek high profile projects. But also need to hunker down and get crackin on the Room 710 book. In the meantime I need paying projects that will put me back on the road cause I already miss traveling. Still waiting to hear about studio time with Ty Tabor for the RRDC material. I also miss playing on Red River and staying visible there. Suddenly there are many more directions in which to swim, and until I know which way the current is moving I will have to tread water and be patient.
Van, 3:28pm
Been scanning old b&w prints and contact sheets of 710. I have a cooler full of boxes of old b&w prints from Red River and countless bands through the year. Awesome looking back through all that stuff, so many great memories. Glad I brought my camera.
Will play some bass then take a nap, maybe go for a run. I think load in at Friends is 6:30 but not sure yet. Thought about using my rackmount Fender TB-600 instead of the SVT, but goddamn it sounded so good at Antone's last night. Such a great sounding amp, has such a great response. Felt like I had complete control over my volume with my pick fingers, even when playing very softly you could still hear every note.
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