NYC, Bama, and Dalton Swayze

The guys in Yacht Rock Revue headed up to NYC last Wednesday for a private/corporate gig, and we managed to secure an opportunity to perform on SiriusXM that morning. The performance was at 9:20 AM, but it felt like 5 AM--our hotel was over by LaGuardia, and we had a 6:30 AM lobby call to ensure that we made it on time. Therefore, at 9:20, all the benefits of the the coffee I'd consumed had worn off, and I was falling apart.

Sirius has a cool set up with a nice sound-isolated performance room right in the lobby, and they mostly knew what instruments we were bringing, so things were mostly setup, and they had an engineer (and assistant) who knew what he was doing.

Anyway, we played three songs--What a Fool Believes, or original Step, and Last Christmas. Right off the bat, I crashed and burned in my attempt to cover the What a Fool synth part on flute--I had it together at home, but I just got a little off, completely fell apart, HAD TO FUCKING STOP PLAYING, and then recovered, and then I was mad at myself until basically yesterday, and that pretty much sucked any fun that I was going to have out of the experience. To top it off, I played glockenspiel on Step, and even though I was playing the correct notes, the bars bounced around and hit wrong notes, so I got sabotaged by this stupid thing, and so who knows what I played on the sax solo because my head was splitting open at that point, and so Last Christmas was probably fine, but I desperately wanted out of the building at that point.

I've searched the internet and not found any recordings of it, so just take my word for it. Hopefully the engineer has my microphone tucked into the mix enough that maybe it just sounds like I wandered off or something. Also, hopefully I never hear it.

(Update: I found it. It's here if you scroll down. The flute isn't really sticking out in the mix, so there's only a couple of spots where I can hear myself crash and burn, but it doesn't sound as godawful as I thought. I guess I got away with it, sort of. The end of Step has a bum saxophone note, though. I still hate myself.)

So, back to the hotel for a run (yep), a nap (nope), an aborted lunch delivery (for some reason, my phone tried to have my food delivered to Irving Plaza in Manhattan instead of out in Queens), a second lunch delivery that I cancelled ten minutes BEFORE the guy handed it to me, and then a ride back into Manhattan to set up for the corporate gig.

Tonight's adventure was in the basement of a Texas BBQ place in NYC. Right. Got it.

Excited isn't the right word for a corporate gig, but I was...keen on playing a regular gig in our regular format with the regular gear and the in-ear mix and all that, just to kind of wash the bad stuff out of my mind. There wasn't anything particularly great about this gig, but it felt normal, and that was a relief.

sittin' in the back of the bus with this dude all night

We flew home Thursday morning.

Friday, we played a show at Iron City in Birmingham, Alabama. The debut of our new lighting rig with the video board behind us. Nifty.

I was all set to walk in the rain to an Indian restaurant, but Iron City fed us, and the food was great! Roasted cauliflower, green beans, roasted potatoes, salad. Hell yeah. This really hit the spot.

They also got us a cake--"Congrats on 'sailing' out." Nicely done! This cake was really good, and probably really bad for me, but it was really good.

On to the gig, which went pretty well, even though we were a little rusty from not having played a regular ol' Yacht Rock gig in quite some time. I like the room, and I would rather play here than out in the Alabama heat during the summer...but I think we're back outside in the summer...

Saturday, we played a corporate holiday party in Dalton, Georgia. Not the most exciting gig we do, but they are very nice and very well funded, shall we say! Just like my gig last Saturday, the lights went out in the middle of a song, but the local crew guys got it back up and running pretty quickly.

The usual Roadhouse reference:

Sunday was my church gig, and my flute face was good--I got some time on the instrument Saturday before the gig, and also Sunday afternoon.

Also, I want to be sure and mention that I did get paid for last week's jazz gig--I didn't mean to imply that the guy wasn't trustworthy--I was trying to show how this random quintet came together, played a gig, and went our separate ways, and each of us just assumed that 1. we could pull it off without any kind of preparation; 2. we would be compensated for it down the line. No contracts, just good faith!


One more busy week of gigs this year (capped off with the Yacht Rock Holiday Show at The Roxy on Saturday).

Jazz Power

Sooooo...I'm a little late delivering the blog. Things have been busy! It's the two week crush at the beginning of December, and though I didn't gig a lot, there's been a lot going on at home (interior and exterior renovation stuff). Anyway, here we go...

I almost had ZERO gigs for the week, but over Thanksgiving, I got a phone call from a bass player in New Jersey who needed me for a jazz gig at some house north of Atlanta--someone else passed on the gig and gave him my name. Five hour gig, jazz quintet (quartet plus vocals) with people I don't know, some house in Milton, GA--I'm in! It turned out that I'd played at a jam session with the drummer Jonathan Mills a few years ago, and played with the pianist Mason Margut at a jam session a few months ago, so it wasn't a completely random grouping, but the bass player drove down for the gig, and I'd never met the vocalist even though she is local to the Atlanta area. Here we go!

please step away from my car

The setup was in a tent between the house and the garage, and because of the chilly temperatures, they were running heaters (in addition to the lights and the power for the band and the Christmas tree across from us, etc). Unfortunately, the heaters were a bit strong, and the power went out repeatedly, which was kind of funny,since it wasn't my problem.

Jonathan by iPhone light

But, they got it back on...

Jonathan in a tent so bright!

...and later on, it went out again. It kind of broke up the evening in a nice way. At one point, we were playing some tune (I can't remember which song), but we'd gotten off on a waaaaaay tooooooo faaaast tempo, and during the solo, the vocalist looked at me like, "I don't know how I'm going to sing the last part at this speed," and I said, "Maybe the power will go out again!" and it did, and we were saved. Christmas miracle. Boom.

Eventually, the power thing was resolved well enough that we could keep the amps on and keep playing, and that was it. Fun gig, though! I had a good time trying to hear my way through all of these vocal tunes that I didn't know. The band was swingin', and I felt like a jazz player again!

Side note: sweet puppy dog in his kennel in the break room. Come home with me!

And now, five days later...will I get paid? We'll see. The bass player went back to New Jersey, and I'm hoping to see some action in my PayPal account maybe Saturday, maybe Sunday, maybe Monday. I sent my PayPal address to him via email and got no response, so...hmmm. Let's stay optimistic! (update Dec 15: got paid! no problems)

Sunday was a church gig day, and my face performed about a thousand percent better than the previous week. I wonder why I fall apart so drastically if my daily practice sags? Dunno, but it's a good reminder that I haven't had the flute on my face very much this week, which could spell disaster on Sunday. Watch this space for self loathing next week.

We Interrupt This Thanksgiving to Bring You...

Wednesday: I came screaming back into town Wednesday afternoon, leaving myself just enough time to drop my suitcase, pick up my stage clothes, and head to Venkman's for our annual Turkey Eve gig.

Pretty damn good show, if I do say so myself. I quite enjoyed it.

My big fun for the four days leading up to this shindig was learning/relearning Don't Go Breakin' My Heart. We kind of used to play this song in the first year or two of Yacht Rock, but I had even less keyboard technique and less ability to zero in on the details of the string part--so basically, I started from scratch. It was fun to conquer it, though. Pete's wife Alyssa sang the Kiki Dee part and Nick sang the Elton John.

Friday, Yacht Rock played a short show at Criminal Records in Little Five Points with the intent of showcasing some more of our original songs. Unfortunately, it was a bust. We had a very small crowd (I'd bet that if you eliminated friends and family, it was around twenty people), and the stage was too small to accommodate all of us and our gear, and the PA didn't work, so Zach had to improvise some main speakers. One of those speakers ended up a foot behind my head, and I could sometimes barely hear what I was playing, and sometimes I heard nothing of myself, and it made me question why I was even on stage. It was awful! I played like shit, too. The whole thing was very discouraging.

Let Me Explain

What's been going on? Let me explain.

The day after Thanksgiving, Yacht Rock is playing a short set at Criminal Records in Atlanta--it's scheduled for thirty to forty-five minutes of music, and we're going to play several of our originals. Because there's a TON of keyboard stuff on our stuff, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday were marathons of programming and practicing to get ready for Wednesday's rehearsal (plus, there was a fair amount of apathy which drug the whole process out). Anyway, Wednesday, big rehearsal on little sleep. We survived--Bencuya and I were, I think, pretty pleased that we were somehow able to cover pretty much everything that needed to be there without any sonic holes.

Wednesday night, I totally switched gears and practiced music for my Thursday big band gig. I worked through everything enough that I felt pretty comfortable. Luckily, I was playing the same book (tenor 1) that I played last month, so a big chunk of the music was somewhat familiar. At the end of the night, I went over the Yacht Rock music one more time to make sure it was still organized in my head.

Thursday was another rehearsal, and everything was a little bit more comfortable than the day before. I didn't even need to reference the charts that I'd written for any of it. Thursday night, I played with the Atlanta Latin Jazz Orchestra at Venkman's.

Here's the gig. You'll probably want to skip to 39:45 unless you want to watch the high school band that opened for us.



So...Friday, Yacht Rock played at Venkman's.

I felt good, playing-wise. Played some pretty rippin' stuff.

Today was our first time using these new keyboard stand things. I think they achieve the desired look and they were plenty comfortable enough to use on the gig, but they are extremely frustrating for setup--figuring out how to route all the cables through it easily added fifteen minutes to building my keyboards. I'm sure it'll get easier once I figure out a system, but goddamnit. That didn't even include the time it takes to actually unfold and set the stand up. We're going to need a crew guy for this, or I might light mine on fire.

In other news, or first single has a remix by Jamie Lidell. Check it out.

Another Light Week

 Last week was light--just a Wednesday corporate gig in Atlanta at the Hyatt downtown.

I'll be honest...I know nothing about who hired us, what they do, what the event was for--nothing. We played ninety minutes, then packed up our gear and split. It was easy and mindless. The only musical moment that I can think of is that I quoted Wayne Shorter's Footprints in I Can't Go For That. I want to think that the audience really dug that.

Friday, I got called to play a gig, but Yacht Rock had a video/photo shoot thing, so I couldn't go.

Sunday, I had my church gig and played pretty comfortably. I didn't have much time to practice flute this week, so I was relieved that my face held up as well as it did on the gig.


This week has a couple of rehearsals, an Atlanta Latin Jazz Orchestra gig on Thursday night, and a Yacht Rock gig Friday night. Yee haw.

Not Much to Say About This

Friday: Yacht Rock played Bogart's in Cincinnati. Our third time, I think.

Duke on security!

All the usual stuff here. The gear came in, we set it up, soundcheck was quick and painless, and then I walked to an Indian place about a half mile away. The food is good (hadn't had Indian food in quite a while), but the styrofoam and plastic spoon hurt my soul.

We had plenty of downtime between soundcheck and the show (9 PM start), so I made use of it by warming up a bit more than usual. I felt pretty loose on the gig.

This room filled up quite nicely, and it was cool to see some familiar faces.

Saturday: Louisville. I like this room, too.

All the same things apply here--the gear came in, we set up and sound checked (this one also sounds good), went to eat (tonight at the Mediterranean place a few doors down), played a whole bunch of stuff on flute and saxophone in the name of warming up. We started at 9 PM.

Tonight was the first night where the response to us playing Africa was just kind of average. Has Africa's popularity crested? It's ok with me if it has.

Just like last night, the room was sixty or seventy percent full. Not packed, but no empty pockets on the floor. Another solid show, and some people made the trip from Cincy to see us two nights in a row.

Sunday: For the record, I redeemed myself on my church gig this weekend. My flute face was back to normal.

Privates

We successfully returned home from Charlotte on Monday at lunch time.

Tuesday morning, we were off again, this time to Miami for a corporate event. Matt Reed subbed on guitar for Mark Dannells (who was able to drag himself out of his South Carolina hotel room and make it back to Atlanta).

The gig was a major clunker. Very few attendees bothered to come back to the ballroom, so we played to maybe a dozen dudes (maybe one or two women, as well) who stood on the far side of the dance floor and watched us. This went on for two hours straight.

We flew home from Miami Wednesday morning.

Friday: Bonus church gig Friday for All Saints' Day, and my face was like James Friggin' Galway. Seriously, I wish my flute playing felt this easy every time--it makes it that much worse when I play like crap.

Saturday, we flew to Jacksonville to play a wedding for a couple of fans. An outdoor wedding in a tent on the beach...hmm...the weather worried me.

Nice gig, though! The weather was never an issue, the tent didn't sound bad, the crowd was great (the bride and groom are fans of the band and have seen us at multiple shows), and Georgia beat Florida (so Kip was happy).

Jason Nackers filled in on drums and Rob Henson played bass. I've been a fan of Rob's playing back to our college days twenty-five years ago, and he was awesome again tonight. Nackers was spot on with everything, and his new jacket looked very cool. Excellent sub work by both.

Sunday: Oh, hey shitty flute face. I was AWFUL at my church gig. My chops felt terrible and sounded bad until about halfway through the service, and it would've been cool if God had helped me in this time of need, but he didn't. Long tones in between the rehearsal and service did. A good nap would've helped even more.

Last Week's Roundup

Friday: Yacht Rock headed up to the northeastern corner of Georgia, hopped the state line, and continued into South Carolina until we reached Walhalla. Never heard of it? You're not alone.

I'm guessing this was some sort of local concert series. 

It looks like a old school auditorium, smells like an old auditorium. A charming little room. Sounded good, though.

I don't remember much about the gig, but it did enjoy the chance to sit on a bench outside for about an hour and practice. Actually, that's not true. The room was so dark, I never saw anyone in the audience. I remember that.

Saturday: We played at The Senate in Columbia, South Carolina for the first time today. Since we were early to load in and the weather was perfect, I had a chance to walk around the state capitol complex and some of the University of South Carolina campus.

By the time I made it back, set up was in progress. We played this gig with the drum riser pushed off-center and turned thirty degrees, and no one that I asked had any explanation why. It didn't change anything sound-wise, so...I don't know.

A couple of other things about this one:

1. Mark Dannells woke up feeling pretty sick, and by the time we started this gig, he was in hell--he kept a stool onstage next to his amp, and ended up playing a couple of songs sitting down.

2. Pete's guitar pedal had some sort of issue during the gig, so Zack came out to check on it. In the process of crawling between my keyboards and the drum riser, he must've stepped on the mic cable for my saxophone stuff such that it immediately started going in and out (which I fixed by kicking my effects pedal a few times).

3. The Indian restaurant that I selected was closed. I went instead to the Mediterranean place next door because they had "vegetable curry" on the menu posted in the window. "Vegetable curry" turned out to be steamed veggies dumped over rice, which was blah.

Other than that, it was a pretty good gig. I had a better Biggest Part of Me solo than the night before (when I kind of shot my wad too early and played a bunch of crap).

Sunday: We spent the night in Greenville, South Carolina. Monkeyboy was in such poor shape that we left him at the hotel--our sub guitar player, Matt Reed drove up from Atlanta to cover for him. When we called him, he'd just returned home from a gig...in Charlotte! Ouch!

Oh yeah--this is the gig where there's a drain directly in front of the stage, and when the wind blows at you the smell of raw sewage is quite powerful.

Having said that, the weather forecast earlier in the week said there'd be rain and cool/cold temperatures, but this day was pretty perfect for an outdoor event. Yay for that.

On to the gig--Matt Reed played great! It felt like his tenth gig in a row with us. No problems at all.

My gimpy sax mic cable gave out completely at the show, and so Zack opted to completely bypass my effects pedal, which made a lot of the stuff I played feel...underwhelming. I had a spare cable with me, but it was packed away because everything worked fine at soundcheck. Bummer.

Nothing else particularly memorable about this one.

Will Monkeyboy survive? How will he get back to Atlanta? Stay tuned for next week's blog!