Battle of The Blues Bands 2011

Last February my band was invited to take part in a local Battle of the Blues Bands. Winners get to play the big stage at the downtown Blues Fest. My expectations were not high at all, I was just glad to get the opportunity to play at a great venue that we were trying to get into. The first gig on March 6th was us and another three bands. Two bands would go onto the semi-finals. I kind of expected us going one and done as we were pretty raw and assumed the other bands would be pretty tight but we had a 50/50 shot. So we took advantage of that night and hired a photographer to snap some photos and set up a video camera to capture our performance. We drew number four so we were going to go on last. It seemed like a really long wait and the other bands were really good.

When our turn finally came, it went awesome, we were well received by the audience and even got a standing ovation for our last tune. Wow! We were going onto the semi-finals! How sweet I thought, another chance to play this venue but we will probably be eliminated then. Competition will be tougher plus we only had one week to prepare.

March 13th, again we were pitted against two other good bands plus one of the bands we won with. This time we drew number 1 and would go on first. Yikes! even if we did well I didn't think the judges would remember us after hearing the other three bands. We didn't hold back and kicked it in high gear getting a great audience response. We watched the other three bands perform and the one group was a band of seasoned vets and did some pretty tasty stuff, the band that came with us played third and brought some new tunes and added a sax. The last band was a group of kids with a horn line and they really played well. Part of the scoring was based on audience response and participation and besides the band that won with us, I thought we had really lit the audience up. If it went on band quality, I thought the kids were probably the most prolific that night. Well anyway, two more winners were announced to go onto the finals and the first band called was the band that we won the previous week with. We made friends with these guys and were glad for them. Then we won! Yes! Yes! We were going to the Finals!!! This time we had 3 weeks to prepare.

April 10th - This time we drew number two. Number one was a kid phenom guitar player fresh out of high school who hired musicians to back him up. Vocals were not that great but guitar playing and dynamics were very good. The great thing about him on first is it fired up Al to light up his guitar leads so when we went on, he was on fire! We had a great set. The other two bands were good as well and our friends pulled in a new song for this gig. So the winners get called and we came in third place. The kid came in second and our new friends came in first. We were excited for them but thought their performance was a bit off and sound was harsh so we were surprised they won. I thought we had a good shot at winning and so did a number of unsolicited people who stopped me to give me their opinion so we were disappointed but I was still really happy we made it that far. After reflecting on it overnight I realized it was more about best potential for drawing people to the blues fest. The number one and two winners had a thousand followers on Facebook compared to our two hundred. The guys that came in fourth only had fifty. Anyway it was a really fun experience and special to see my friends come and support me. That was so cool and unexpected.

So move ahead to June and we get a call wondering if we available at this same venue to open for Savoy Brown. Well of course we were! This time was very different as we didn't have enough time to drum up followers to come see us and were going to perform in front of people waiting to see Savoy Brown. This could get ugly if they didn't like us. I am happy to say it actually went really well and the crowd gave us some great applause. No one danced, they were all listeners so to me that tells me we must have a pretty decent sound.

Now tomorrow night we are back again for a "Best of the Battle of the Blues Bands" along with our friends who won it all and another band. It should be a great time.

So there is a recap since January. I'll try to post up in a couple weeks after we go through a few more gigs. Right now I am keeping the venues and bands anonymous. If you recognize the picture, then you'll know the details.

Groove Hawks ~*~

Some years ago I signed up for Bandmix.com to keep options open of possibly jamming with someone or joining a band. Last year about this time I got an email from a bass player "TripleD" who does not live far away trying to get a blues band together for a summer gig. He had also got a hold of another guitar player "Face Melter" who lived south of the river and we got together at his house and jammed a bit. It was fun. Talked about music and explored some things. It went well but we needed a drummer so TripleD reached out to someone "Skull Cracker" who he knew that was a rock drummer but interested in trying something new and the next thing we knew we had the Groove Hawks!

We had a few gigs over the last several months and lots of possibilities now for 2011. Check us out. www.groovehawks.com Our mantra is we rock the blues.

I recommend one of these for everyone

This Talk Box thingy is a blast so if you're feeling blue, just plug in, stick the hose in your mouth and become one with your guitar.

I get to play with this this coming weekend on 2 different tunes and since I am only doing lead guitar, the way this system works, I won't need a guitar amp so I get to pack somewhat light.

The topic this weekend is "Myth - God Wants Me To Be Rich" so we are going to do a jam on the Pink Floyd - Money progression to open the service and then for the song before the message we are doing Weezer's Beverly Hills. Now I just need to figure out how to fit this into every tune I do. :-P

I did learn something about these. Apparently the old ones used to have a bypass on the guitar amp so the amp would switch between using it's speaker or blowing noise through the tube. Apparently this switching back and forth was kind of risky for the amp so this Rocktron Banshee model has its own built-in amp and speaker system. When you hit the switch it bypasses it completely and goes straight to your amp in the same way a Boss Tuner works.

By the way, if you want to play my Talk Box, bring your own hose. I'm not into swapping spit unless it's with my wife.

Guitar Talkbox

So we're doing a song at church that gave the excuse and I had a little extra cash from some things I've sold so I bought me a guitar toy that I've always wanted for fun since the 70's. Besides Frampton, Jeff Beck, Bon Jovi, and Stevie Wonder have made this famous and now you can hear it alot using keyboards with some hip hop tunes.

Introducing Presonus Inspire

A few weeks back while I was in Kansas City attending a family wedding, my son and I stopped into the Guitar Center there. I thought I would check out recording equipment and I ran into a sales guy who actually seemed to know his stuff pretty good. He was able to explain the pros and cons of the different systems that could do basically what I wanted which was turn my computer into a mini-recording studio. So for bang for the buck, he showed the Presonus Inspire GT. The GT was a labelling package that Guitar Center had put together just for them, otherwise this unit is known by Inspire 1394.

So the pros? It has the ability to record 2 channels at one time in either 1/4 inch or XLR connections. It came with a miriad of software which most of it I am not sure I will ever use. The system came with a CD (that I could read) with Cubase LE and tutorial videos to get quick started. It was fairly simple to set up although a bit involved but the biggest plus I got all this at a pretty decent price comparative to the other options and features.

And the cons? The "bonus" DVD with the software can't be read (could be damaged, not sure). I need to get myself over to Gtr Ctr here and see if they can do me some justice. My first recordings played back hiss and static which I couldn't figure out where or why it was doing that although I cured it with a firmware upgrade. Our sound man at church one Sunday happened to be using a 16 track mixer and his iBook with Cubase and I was able to pick his brain a bit and he was the one who told me to try the firmware upgrade. bingo! Thanks James.

So after fumbling a round off and on for a week or three, I finally am doing some simple recording. This is one of those things you can easily get lost in and 2 or 3 hours can fly by in an instant. The hard part now is finding the time and energy to devote a few hours to focus on this as the days continue to go by. I am hoping as time goes on, it will just get easier and become an easy tool to use.

1 Year Later

So I decided to dust off this idea again and try to figure out how I could easily record song ideas I have and think I have something new and somewhat inexpensive to try. The M-Audio Fast Track USB may be the ticket.

I've heard the 'lite' audio engineering software that comes with it will do exactly what I need which is basically let me record a vocal melody line and my guitar playing a chord progression good enough to make an mp3 I can share with my fellow bandmates.

I know there are even more 'suped' up versions of this but I'll worry about that once I take a baby step.

Easy Button

I have so many songs in my head and would probably write a lot more if I could record the scratch pad type stuff I come up with. I have tried recording systems in the past and most recently owned a BR1180 but the problem I have is ease of use and quality. After a couple years I sold the BR1180 and now have nothing except a couple of so so recorded tracks to show for it.

Ideally I would like to strap on my guitar, bass, or keyboard and just press the easy button to record and playback. Press the easy button to delete, EQ, or add effects. Press the easy button to add additional instruments or vocal tracks. Then press the easy button one more time to mix down to a CD studio quality recording.

I know the best way to do this is spend lots of money but I have heard some decent stuff pop out of a Mac and Garageband.

I think what I really need is for someone to show something that works slick that they have done all the figuring out on and then give me an afternoon training session.

Until then...

Sunday Morning Comin' Down

'Sunday morning comin' down', a tune by Kris Kristoferson and sung by a lot of his friends, Johnny Cash among others. It's kind of a sad song about guy who is wondering hopeless, smoking and drinking and numbing his mind to his worries but Sunday morning really seems to strike a nerve, where he really feels alone.

On the Sunday morning sidewalk,
Wishing, Lord, that I was stoned.
'Cos there's something in a Sunday,
Makes a body feel alone.
And there's nothin' short of dyin',
Half as lonesome as the sound,
On the sleepin' city sidewalks:
Sunday mornin' comin' down.

For many years I could relate to this. I think I would've known it if I would've been single and unattached. Most people relate Sunday morning to church but why wouldn't this guy want to go? For me way back then, it would've been about the music and the people. It was a place filled with hypocirsy and music that was not how I wanted to picture God to be. A lot of it was a drone or durge and depressing. Why would anyone want to go to that? And then see people waiting for the final 'amen' and dashing for the parking lot or the ones who stayed back that were usually in their 80s with their plastic smiles or total indifference to young people. I never felt welcome and it was torture to sit through.

Fast forward to 1991 and my wife and I heading out to take the kids to the Easter service and we both saying to each other we didn't want to go the Catholic church we belonged too. There on the counter was a flyer for another church that had 'sax' appeal so we thought let's check it out.
Sitting in a school auditorium with the lights down on the audience and there up on the stage, musicians! Real musicians, who looked like they were enjoying themsleves and playing music with feeling and something was grabbing me. It was kind of a jazz rock style of instrumental but very interesting and played well with passion. Afterward a pastor came and talked and I actually listened, he was talking about the bible and how it actually applied to today's living.

Well 15 years later and here I am, one of those musicians. Livng a life that is hopeful and vibrant because I understand who my savior is and how I fit into this world and His kingdom. This is what church is suppose to be about. Relevant, inviting, bringing a true connection between people and God. So my Sunday morning coming down tomorrow, I am excited about it. It will be a bit different as a large portion of the congregation is out camping but the people who come tomorrow morning may be someone like me 15 years ago wondering how God and church can be relevant. I will praise the Lord, I will sing with passion, and play to the best of my ability and hopefully by God's grace someone will come along with me and see how wonderful worship can be.

Synesthesia - Can you hear the color yellow?

Synesthesia is a condition in which one sense (for example, hearing) is simultaneously perceived as if by one or more additional senses such as sight. Another form of synesthesia joins objects such as letters, shapes, numbers or people's names with a sensory perception such as smell, color or flavor. The word synesthesia comes from two Greek words, syn (together) and aisthesis (perception). Therefore, synesthesia literally means "joined perception."

Like anything in this world, there are both good and bad effects of most anything we experience or come in contact with. Everything has it's place as long as it's in balance and harmony. As a musician with a creative identity, I truly believe this 'condition' of synesthesia is what gives me a supernatural ability to create and enjoy music. I think people can have this in different ways to varying degrees. Mine seems to be generated by sound and will paint subconscious pictures and images in mind. I have a built in stereo/mp3 player in my head and will wake up quite often to a dream where I am listening to a song and picturing myself playing or singing it or watching some event take place. As I get older it doesn't seem to be as intense and that could just be a result of my brain getting clouded with the everyday clutter of this world.

This blog will be place where I can share comments and reflections of music, worship, art, and anything else that pushes my creative buttons. Rock on!