Seattle to the Strand

Here's the news:

hey Grand Forks!


Wednesday:  Yacht Rock flew to Seattle for a gig for Brooks Running Company.  What a cool opportunity!  I'd never been that far west before.

We arrived early in the afternoon,  checked into our hotel (the W downtown),

and headed out to the Pike Place Market in search of food.

the place where they throw fish

Eventually, we landed at Steelhead Diner.  It was really good!  I'm not really a fish eater, so I was worried that I might end up with a meal of french fries and water.  The menu had a variety of things;  I ended up with some kind of pork sandwich.

We went back to our rooms after that.  I went and worked out, and then decided to wait in my room for the half hour until we were going to go out.

Thursday:  I woke up in my clothes with the lights and the TV on at 5:45 AM local time--I'd fallen asleep and missed going out.  Since I was pretty well rested, I went downstairs and got coffee, and then poked around on the internet while watching the sunrise.

When Seattle finally woke up, I made my way over to the Space Needle.  Pretty cool.  I went up in the first elevator of the day--me and some weird British indie band.

Next, I explored the Experience Music Project museum.  Lots of cool stuff about Jimi Hendrix and Nirvana.  Mostly a collection of broken guitars!  It was neat, though Nirvana never had much of an effect on me--for almost all of the nineties, I was on a pretty exclusive diet of John Coltrane and Sonny Rollins.

MJ glove

strat from Woodstock

a perfectly good Rhodes stuck on there!

Seattle's really hip.  I walked down along the waterfront on the way back to the hotel, and I couldn't help but notice how hip the architecture was and how well all the buildings fit together--nothing stuck out, and but none of the buildings was simply a nondescript box.  The people were quiet and polite--I didn't notice any obnoxious cell phone conversations on the street.  People waited patiently on street corners for the crosswalk signs to change, and when they stepped into traffic, the cars all waited.  I liked it--everybody followed the rules and it worked.  The entire city felt really well laid out.

I worked out again, showered, warmed up, and met up with everybody in the lobby for the gig.

The event was held at the Fremont Studios--kind of a big soundstage.  When we walked in, all of our rented gear was set up and in place--some minor adjustments and we were ready to go!  Usually when we do fly dates, we have to wait while everything gets set up (and we end up doing half the work ourselves). Very nice to have it all there.

For food, we had a pork chop, a hunk of salmon, and some weird sort of slaw-like thing.  I was so hungry, I even ate the fish.

The gig was pretty good.  The crowd was decent, though they ended up so far away from us that it was tough to get any energy from them.  We played well, though.  Towards the end (around 10:30 PM) I started to get really tired since I'd been up and active all day.  That last half hour, I was watching the clock.

We got back to the hotel around midnight.  Our lobby call was 4 AM.  Ouch.

Friday:  from the Atlanta airport, we drove straight to the Strand Theatre in Marietta for the first of a two night stand there.  Our equipment arrived around the same time we did.

This one was pretty smooth.  The place was packed (530 people-over sold out!), and they were really into it right from the start.  We did our usual stuff, and they loved it.

I like playing the Strand a lot, and not just because it's ten minutes from my house.  It's a cool little venue and the size of the stage feels right.  They don't really have enough of a PA for our show, but we made do.  We had good energy from the crowd, and I think everybody was pretty comfortable.  Hans came and ran sound for both nights;  having him there gave me peace of mind.

Saturday:  for our second night, we played Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Dark Side of the Moon, and our friends The REMakes played all of Document.  Good stuff!  I'd never played Fireplace before;  I wonder how I'd overlooked that in the past?





Sgt. Pepper's was good.  Paul Poovey played trumpet with us, and we had a good night--the tuning and phrasing were tight.

Dark Side went well.  I was hoping I'd have all my stuff memorized so I could walk out front and play, but I never could get it all in my head.  I bet I could have played three quarters of it without my charts, but one mistake would have screwed me up--I would have had to play my own stuff from there on.  Anyway, I used my charts--probably my best attempt at this stuff ever.

We played Dark Side synced up to The Wizard of Oz.  If you've never heard of it, there's a myth that all kinds of things line up.  The Strand had a big screen that they lowered.  It worked great.  Here's a picture of us making noises during On the Run.

I hope we include the Strand in our future plans.  It was a really good week for the band.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Trio at the Aquarium

I had the great pleasure of playing a trio gig at the Aquarium yesterday evening.  Easy gig…an hour and a half of music for V.I.P.s.  This gig was Tyrone Jackson on keyboard and Kevin Smith on bass.

Here's the audio.  Kevin was really playing his butt off:



I hope you'll check it out.  Good stuff.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Sunday

The gigs continue!

Sunday morning was my regular church gig.  Not much to report.  We had a special guest:  steel guitarist Tommy Dodd.  Really impressive.  I have no idea how that thing works…it's like ten strings, eight pedals, the knee bend thing…plus the nifty seat, the amp, the cart.  That thing's a commitment.  Sure sounds cool, though.

That being said, I have no idea why he was there.  There was no special feature, no big solo, no songs yearning to be caressed by a pedal steel.  How about bringing him in on a week when I'm out of town?  Odd.

Other than that, it was the usual stuff.  Fire drill of a rehearsal, no biggie for the service.  We're wearing all black now (before it was jeans and a shirt with a collar).  Again, I'm wondering why the change fifteen months into us playing this gig.  It seems pretty random.  And I hate the all black thing--it's like wearing a tux these days at a wedding gig.  It says "we have no style, so we're wearing all black to hide it."

It also says "lint brush?"

Sunday night, Yacht Rock played a benefit at the Capital City Club.  This time we were out in the tent on the back patio instead of inside that room.  It was pretty dead.  The sound guys were in a little over the heads, but we helped them out/took over, and everything worked out fine.

I'm not sure how many people were there, but there wasn't much dancing.  Lots of standing around staring at us.  It was easy, though, and over at 10!

We've got a couple of big gigs this weekend!  Yacht Rock is playing the Strand Theatre in Marietta on Friday night.  Saturday night, we are also there, but this time playing all of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Dark Side of the Moon.   It should be damn fine.  There's a link on our page if you want tickets.

We had the Dark Side rehearsal today (Monday).  Following the stoner myth, we are synched up to The Wizard of Oz.  I watched it while I wasn't playing.  It really looks like they filmed a play--it doesn't look like a movie.  Also, the scarecrow is awesome.  My favorite part is when he falls over the fence and Dorothy puts the stuffing back in him.  He's really good.

davidfreemanmusic.net

House Gig #2 (BACON!)

Yacht Rock played another gig at somebody's house;  two nights, two houses.  This one is the same party we've played the past couple of years (the one where my EWI froze!), in a tent in a guy's backyard in North Druid Hills.

Kip

This year's gig was the best yet.  For starters, they had a crew to carry all of our equipment from the driveway, through the garage, and up the steps.  Secondly, we had Kip Conner running sound, which meant better quality and less gear to move!  Lastly, the stage was significantly larger--no jigsaw puzzle set ups like we've done in the past.

This gig (for me) is also known for its bacon.  They order forty(!) pounds of sugary bacon--that's the dessert after everybody's eaten supper.  Every year I try (and fail) to eat none.  It's too good.

davidfreemanmusic.net

House Gig #1

Yacht Rock played a gig last night at a house--a surprise birthday party for a local golf pro.  The local golf pro's good friend is Stewart Cink (he of PGA fame), and the party was at Cink's house.

Unbelievable house!  With the exception of a house in Buckhead where I once did a solo sax gig, this was the most insanely extravagant house I've ever been inside.  Let's just say, does your basement have enough space for a stage?

Here are some pictures (keep in mind that this is all basement!)

Stewart Cink's office

The gig was one of our better performances.  Bencuya was back;  his solo on Hey Nineteen made my previous night's effort seem really really bad.  I was embarrassed just watching him play.

The rest of the band played well.  It was a low pressure gig, but nobody blew it off.  Good stuff all around.

PS.  Stewart Cink is 6 foot 4.  Really really tall.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Two Solos!

Yacht Rock played the 10 High last night without the one and only Mark Bencuya, who was on vacation.    Eric Frampton covered his role.  Much like my exciting outing with the Schooner at the Dixie Tavern, some of the keyboard parts were flipped--super cool because I got to play some different parts!  It was really fun, and I only sucked real bad occasionally.

I took TWO keyboard solos!  One on Hey Nineteen (that's me on rhodes),

 Hey Nineteen by David B Freeman

and one on The Biggest Part of Me (me on organ and then saxophone).

 The Biggest Part of Me by David B Freeman

Oh well.  It was fun anyway.  I mean, when else do I get a chance to go for it?

Just for fun, here's my organ part and sax solo on Takin' it to the Streets.  It kind of strays from the original:

 Takin' it to the Streets by David B Freeman

Fun!  Bencuya's back tonight, so we're back to normal.  The end of my vacation, too!

davidfreemanmusic.net

Duo Gig!

Tyrone Jackson and I played a duo gig last night at the Hyatt downtown.  Since it was just the two of us, I plopped a Real Book on the music stand in front of us and away we went.

I looked pretty good, but didn't play well.  Some of it was that I just didn't have it…I just couldn't get going.  I think the bigger issue was that I had a couple of uninspiring reeds.  I am listening to the recording as I type this and the sound is fine--sounds like me!--but it was hard work.  I had to put to much effort into playing the gig.  Sometimes it just flows.  Tonight--nope!

Anyway, I settled on a reed that was like a 2x4.  I made it through the night, but that reed wore me out.  Looks like a trip to the store tomorrow to buy another box.

Here's the audio:



A few thoughts:

1.  The first note of El Gaucho is an E, not a G like the book says.  I made this mistake the last time I played this tune out the book.

2.  Tyrone suggested Half Nelson, a tune I haven't given much thought to about fifteen years!  The chords came back to me;  the melody did not.

3.  I'd never played The Night has a Thousand Eyes.  It's hard not hear Coltrane on that one.

4.  I had set up my tenor and soprano, but had only played the former.  One of the techie dorks came over while were playing Voyage and said, "Are you going to play your soprano?  I'm a sax player too.  I play soprano, alto, and tenor."  Then I kicked him in the teeth.  Just kidding.  That's the reason I played soprano on Out of Nowhere, though.  The techie dork came around again later to see what were playing--I avoided eye contact.

Not bad for a Wednesday night!

davidfreemanmusic.net

Saturday/Sunday

Yacht Rock played a wedding at the Capital City Club in Brookhaven Saturday night.  Weddings can be fun--it can be another gig you play, and there might be half a dozen really cool moments.  On the other hand, a wedding reception can drag on forever--you're playing a gig (usually in a four hour block) in a room with poor acoustics in front of an audience who isn't there to see you.  It can become a drag really early.

This particular reception was the latter…we pushed on through it, but everybody was checking the clock.

When we started, I noticed that'd left the volume on my amplifier really low, so as a challenge, I backed it down--in fact, I played just about all of the second and third sets with the volume completely off (independent of my signal going to the PA, so it didn't effect what I sounded like in the room…presumably).  Even though the volume knob was at zero, I could still hear the sounds in my head--pretty cool.

It was kind of curious that nobody else in the band mentioned my lack of on stage sound.  Was it acoustics or indifference?

My two Sunday church gigs were pretty regular.  Looking back, I can't think of anything significant about either one.  Both sounded good.  Easy stuff.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Watts and Watts of Power

Yacht Rock played the 40 Watt in Athens last night.  Another terrific gig!

I think we've got our thing in Athens down.  We know how to navigate, where to eat, where the record store is.  The crowds are really good now--last night was not as packed as the Georgia Theatre gig, but it was solid--maybe three quarters full.  They loved us, we loved them;  we played two encores!

The first set went really well for me until the very end.  The last tune was Easy Lover, and when we started I noticed that my bell sound didn't have any delay on it.  Weird, I thought.  Then when I went to the main synth lick, it DID have delay on it.  Somehow I've managed to switch the effects routing.  I tried to do my best playing the marimba parts on the verse with my left hand while scrolling with my right.  Difficult!  What I eventually ended up doing was bringing up that synth sound in the patch category and flipping back and forth between the performance (with the keyboard split) and the patch to get through the set.

Shortly into the second set, the batteries on my EWI went down, and so I stole the four AA batteries from my sax transmitters to power it (it happened in Hey Nineteen, so I played my opening lick and then had two verses/choruses to get the thing back up and running before the solo!).  I spent the remainder of the gig trying to mentally plan if I needed batteries in a saxophone where they would come from.  This came true on Caribbean Queen--I play EWI on the intro, and then I had the first verse to steal batteries from my MIDI transmitter (also AA batteries), stick them in my tenor, and be ready to play at the chorus on the keyboard.  It's a lot to think about.

Hopefully my gear will settle down tonight.

We had a really good time!  The sound at the 40 Watt is really good.  I wish they were all like that.

davidfreemanmusic.net

Nothing too Unusual

Fully recovered from last week's excitement, Yacht Rock returned (most of us) to the 10 High for our usual Thursday night gig.  Nick is still on vacation and Dannells is still in California.

Nothing too unusual about this one.  We were a little worried because the wet weather had knocked out power in a few spots around town, but things were fine and the crowd was decent.

Mark Cobb was on fire.  I miss Dannells.

davidfreemanmusic.net

November 2 Quartet

I had the pleasure of playing a nice quartet gig at CNN Center Wednesday night.  The band this time was Louis Heriveaux on keyboard, Kevin Smith on bass, and Marlon Patton on drums.  Great playing!  It was a real pleasure to have these guys play with me--each one has a strong personality on his instrument.    There were lots of creative moments…and I tried to keep up!

Here's audio from the gig:



For the most part, we played to an empty room (it was more like a canyon).  The first set was supposed to be a cocktail hour, so the crowd was off to the side.  The second set was a buffet dinner, but even then it was only a couple of hundred people spread out.  It didn't feel like much.

They ignored us; we ignored them.  A lady who got on the elevator with me after the gig asked where I was playing, and her friend said "He was playing the whole night!"  The first lady replied, "I must have missed it."  Yep.

davidfreemanmusic.net