As I lie like a eastern pasha on my silken cushions in my library, fez askew, with the opium smoke wafting above me like the ectoplasmic ghost of Coleridge, I'm musing on my taking on the Front Man/Lead Guitarist role in the Mobsters band. My trusty but insanely unusual Custom Deacon Limited leans against a pillow, its pearlescent pickguard gleaming in the light of the oil lamps. Have I bitten off a bit more than I can chew here? Not, I think, for my bandmates, they seem to like my singing and playing well enough, but for me? I'm pretty picky (usually) about the guitarists I work for...and now I work for myself...I think I've got more shedding to do.
I know that I'm hard on myself about trying for excellence in music, but I can't fool myself in knowing where the bar has been placed in the areas that I want to be good at, and they're pretty darn high. I was feeling OK about my playing, and then the other night I went out with some friends to see George Bedard and Bill Kirtchen play...man! What amazing and tasteful musicians they are. Beautiful melodies and harmonies just flow out of those guys so naturally, it's a fantastic thing to see. Makes me realise where the heights are, and wonder about how high up the mountain I can climb. Thing is, I love to learn, I just wish I had a few more lifetimes to work on it all. In those strange hazy conversations I sometimes have with friends the question comes up, what if you had unlimited time to live? I always keep thinking, damn, I'd really have time to become a musician then. I think I could master that chord melody stuff in a couple centuries if I applied myself! And after a bit more of that for guitar I could concentrate on learning composition and orchestration. Then, a few more centuries for anthropology, science, literature...then some time for mysticism, and a millennia or so in meditation...
Thing is, my time is a lot shorter than that, and a lot of it is taken up with fairly mundane stuff. So I have to get a lot more focused on what I want to do with the little time I have to do it in! Believe me, I'm working at it. Tomorrow it looks like we'll be snowed in, and I'm planning on spending as much time as I can playing some music. And to anyone who thinks this is like hard work or something, think again! Really, it's as much fun as you can have with your clothes on. Although I've played lots of fine music in the nude as well...but perhaps the less said about that the better...
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Thursday, December 18, 2008
Monday, December 8, 2008
Alternative Transportation
December here in Michigan has hit us all hard with its icy fist...temperatures in the low teens at night and not much warmer in the day. Snow and ice make walking difficult and dangerous, and driving is an unpleasantly exciting adventure sometimes. That is if your car will even start! The cold tends to make any minor problem with an automotive system much worse, and several times in the last week my poor Ford Escort just wouldn't respond to my attempts to engage. Fortunately I had a spare vehicle...in the barn here the former resident had left an old army tank from the 50's, purchased no doubt at one of those government auctions. It wasn't running of course, but with a little help from my friend and neighbor Bill we've fixed it up and it's pretty reliable! The thing goes like a champ through the snow, on the road or off it. Bad gas mileage, but fortunately prices are low right now...and although its top speed is only about 60 MPH, people tend to keep out of my way on the highway. Heck, even Hummers give way to a TANK!! They better too...the gun turret is still operational.
OK, well maybe that was a fantasy, but if anyone wants to know what I'd like for Xmas, now you do. And really, it HAS been mighty cold, I'm not kidding about that. All the cats are spending their time on the heating registers or close to them, and I'm not that far away either! Everybody take care out there, driving or walking...and may you have a hot and refreshing beverage waiting when you get to your destination.
OK, well maybe that was a fantasy, but if anyone wants to know what I'd like for Xmas, now you do. And really, it HAS been mighty cold, I'm not kidding about that. All the cats are spending their time on the heating registers or close to them, and I'm not that far away either! Everybody take care out there, driving or walking...and may you have a hot and refreshing beverage waiting when you get to your destination.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Shot Out The Holiday Cannon
OK, OK, OK, I got the lights up here and at my folks house! And at my friend/client Tom's as well. Actually I got my folks lights up in October...they're a lot more work and more elaborate, I should just leave them up all year. Cyn and I will go and get a tree today from our good friend Duke, who drives his trees down from his farm up north and lives for a month in his Airstream trailer up on Washtenaw Avenue purveying them, making most of his cash for the year that way.
This holiday stuff is a little much sometimes, as I wind up having to shift things around with the cleaning biz (everybody's schedule changes at once), and lots of my friend's bands seem to have emergencies where I do sub gigs (I have two this weekend). Plus friends and family descending on us at unexpected times, social obligations popping up like mushrooms on a muggy day, Cyn's got the most crazy busy time of the year for her jewelry business, and there's a general frenzy in the stores. That said, I love this time of year...I love the lights on people's yards, the music, the sense of excitement that I feel everywhere, and maybe there's a little aura of spiritual energy that comes from having the central yearly celebration for at least three major religions happening at once. Plus, there's pie. It's cool.
Another cool thing going on is that I seem to be in another band! The Mobsters have made me an offer I couldn't refuse...looks like I'll be doing the Front Man/Lead Singer/Lead Guitarist duties for this Swing/Funk/Roots ensemble. Sounds like fun to me! They've assured me that I can have full control of the schedule, so I can keep doing my primary caregiver thing with my folks, and I'm hoping that works out well. They're a cool bunch, and I think I can help make it happen with them...I'll keep you posted!
Speaking of my caregiver functions, I'm back and forth this next two weeks (adding another layer into the holiday complexities) driving my Dad back and forth to the hospital for a battery of tests. His mental acuity seems to have taken a dive, and he's had some strange hallucinations. Talking to people who aren't in the room occasionally is kind of disturbing. He's also gotten confused later at night when he goes to bed...the other morning my Mom woke up and found the dishwasher sitting in the bedroom! Somehow he must of confused it with his walker. I asked him if he remembered doing it and he said "No, but I sort of remember thinking 'Man, this thing is hard to push around!'". So we've been off to the neurologists to see what there is to do, if anything, about that. So far the doc has ruled out Alzheimer's, thank God. He said it may be something as simple to address as a vitamin deficiency...so hence the tests. Hopefully he'll be right in that, and Dad won't have to lug that darn dishwasher around.
Anyhow, I'm looking forward to having everybody around this Xmastime...it was nice to see my bros on Thanksgiving, and everybody should be here for the December fiesta as well. I'm lucky that everybody can make it and be in reasonable health, we're a pretty close family, even though we're often pretty far away from each other(me on tour in Germany, Aaron out in Poland, Stu working in Chile, etc.). This should be a good time for all! And I hope, for you all as well.
This holiday stuff is a little much sometimes, as I wind up having to shift things around with the cleaning biz (everybody's schedule changes at once), and lots of my friend's bands seem to have emergencies where I do sub gigs (I have two this weekend). Plus friends and family descending on us at unexpected times, social obligations popping up like mushrooms on a muggy day, Cyn's got the most crazy busy time of the year for her jewelry business, and there's a general frenzy in the stores. That said, I love this time of year...I love the lights on people's yards, the music, the sense of excitement that I feel everywhere, and maybe there's a little aura of spiritual energy that comes from having the central yearly celebration for at least three major religions happening at once. Plus, there's pie. It's cool.
Another cool thing going on is that I seem to be in another band! The Mobsters have made me an offer I couldn't refuse...looks like I'll be doing the Front Man/Lead Singer/Lead Guitarist duties for this Swing/Funk/Roots ensemble. Sounds like fun to me! They've assured me that I can have full control of the schedule, so I can keep doing my primary caregiver thing with my folks, and I'm hoping that works out well. They're a cool bunch, and I think I can help make it happen with them...I'll keep you posted!
Speaking of my caregiver functions, I'm back and forth this next two weeks (adding another layer into the holiday complexities) driving my Dad back and forth to the hospital for a battery of tests. His mental acuity seems to have taken a dive, and he's had some strange hallucinations. Talking to people who aren't in the room occasionally is kind of disturbing. He's also gotten confused later at night when he goes to bed...the other morning my Mom woke up and found the dishwasher sitting in the bedroom! Somehow he must of confused it with his walker. I asked him if he remembered doing it and he said "No, but I sort of remember thinking 'Man, this thing is hard to push around!'". So we've been off to the neurologists to see what there is to do, if anything, about that. So far the doc has ruled out Alzheimer's, thank God. He said it may be something as simple to address as a vitamin deficiency...so hence the tests. Hopefully he'll be right in that, and Dad won't have to lug that darn dishwasher around.
Anyhow, I'm looking forward to having everybody around this Xmastime...it was nice to see my bros on Thanksgiving, and everybody should be here for the December fiesta as well. I'm lucky that everybody can make it and be in reasonable health, we're a pretty close family, even though we're often pretty far away from each other(me on tour in Germany, Aaron out in Poland, Stu working in Chile, etc.). This should be a good time for all! And I hope, for you all as well.
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