Choppy Seas

Mustache Rock endured some choppy seas last night. Here's how it all went down.

Things were going pretty well, and the crowd was fairly thick, and despite it being super hot and super humid, there were no big problems. I'm still trying to get my coordination down between playing keyboard and then jumping up and playing sax. Evidence of this: I muted my wireless on Careless Whisper because I could hear the keyboard coming through the mic and I was worried about it creating a feedback loop. Unfortunately, when I popped up to play the sax line, I missed the mute button, so I played with no mic for a second. I grabbed the nearest mic and pulled it in front of my for the rest of it. Oops. I think I was getting a little to slick on the muting thing.

In the middle of Silly Love Songs, Nick's sister came on stage to inform Peter that his car was being towed. That messed us up pretty well...we cut the tune short so Pete could find his keys. I, being on the side of stage, missed the everything and couldn't figure out what the hell was going on. I just heard Pete yell something about "MY CAR!"

A couple of tunes later, we were playing I Keep Forgetting (me playing the rhodes part). We had talked about slipping into Regulate (a rap hit based on a sample of I Keep Forgettin', with me switching to another synth part and Bencuya taking over the rhodes), and half the band tried to go into that, and half didn't; when the spot came around again, we collectively flinched, but stayed in the tune. Then it was just a grind to the end of the song.

I think the song after that was probably Rosanna, and the EWI ran out of batteries in the middle of the solo! It hung up on one note most of the way through. What a mess!

So...anyway, we got through it. The rest of the night was kind of a grit-your-teeth-and-get-through-it. I can't think of any more disasters, but I think everyone just wanted to get out of there. All part of the fun, I must say. I really can't get pissed off about anything that happened--that's live music! Dealing with it on the spot is part of the magic.

We debuted Sailing last night. Musical Xanax, somebody said. It was fun. I put a lot of work this week into getting the string part happening, so I hope that one's a keeper.

Ooo...also, I switched up a part I was playing in Lido Shuffle from the EWI to the keyboard (the synth solo towards the end). I got it about eighty percent right last night. I'm pleased about that. Next time it'll be twice as good.

Peter Stroud and his wife made it out to the show last night. It's always cool when he comes by.

No gig tonight, but Saturday night is a Yacht Rock private party (I think) in Buckhead.

new photos added

It's raining today. You can't hear it over the computer, but my grass is applauding.

I found several pictures of last weekend's Y.O.U. CD release show on Mixtape Atlanta. The ones with me magically made their way to my website. You can view them here.

It's been a slow week for news. I've been practicing the Mucyznski Times Pieces for clarinet and the strings (keyboard) for Christopher Cross' Sailing.

Oooh, here's an update: last night I did a gig with a DJ and percussionist for some technology thing at the Hyatt downtown--one of those things with booths and florescent lighting. I got there an hour before the gig, and the DJ and percussionist we already set up, so I plugged into the PA and I was ready. Right when the gig was supposed to start, the client decided to move us across the room to another location (some big client was worried we'd be too loud for his customers). So...they moved us in a corner next to someone else, who immediately started complaining about the potential volume. So we played with the speakers almost backwards, and me playing nothing louder than acoustic flute. As thankful as I am for the gig, I hope whomever hired us realizes that was a dumb use of the band he'd hired. Seen but not heard!
I will say that I saw somebody with one of the 24 inch Mac cinema screens. Man, that was sweet!

Friday/Saturday

Friday night, we played Mara Davis' 40th birthday party at the W Midtown (Colony Square). That was a pretty good one. The load in was a little rough--into the tunnel under the hotel, up the elevator to the top floor, down a long hallway, and you're in there. Not the easiest, but I had my cart, so it was not bad. After we set up, we walked to the park to go eat, and I got lots of looks due to my current style--bald head, mustache, and I happened to be wearing a Mac shirt with a big rainbow across the front. The party itself was pretty lame, due mainly to loud house music and a poor attempt at a roast. Our part of the show came off really well. It was pretty easy. I think we played about an hour and a half and we were done.

Saturday night we played Smith's Olde Bar. Everyone from Yacht Rock was involved, but it was the release of Y.O.U.'s new EP (which is awesome, by the way). For this gig, we added my friend Eric Alexander on trombone for five songs. I like the sounds we got without having a trumpet present. Eric and I play well together, too, so this gig was a ton of fun. I did a few of the arrangements, and we adjusted a few of Nick's arrangements to make it work for the two horns, and everything worked well. I dug it.

Playing a gig like that always causes me to reevaluate my career. Sometimes I think there's so much pressure to make the money I need to support my family, I forget about the raw energy of getting up in front of a crowd who's there to see you and letting it rip. The story of my musical life, I guess...trying to play enough money gigs to keep myself afloat, but also trying to play in every creative musical situation that I can get to.

Double Duty

I did two gigs yesterday (Thursday).

First I went to the 10 High and set up my Yacht Rock equipment (EWI, keyboard, amp, sax stands). Then I went and played my first gig.
I did a gig with a DJ and a percussionist...live house music for a private party for Microsoft. We were at Rathbun's Steak House on Krog Street in Inman Park. We were fed well (see the picture--I ate everything pictured). It was a cool gig--very easy. It started late and ended early, and we made big bucks, so I like all of that.
After that, I jumped in the truck and boogied over to the 10 High to play Yacht Rock. That went well. I'm getting more comfortable with the different parts I'm covering. I've gotten past being overwhelmed by things like "people are going to be able to hear me playing keyboard!" Now it's all fun. I like doing it alot. The place was packed, as usual. I didn't screw up "Africa" like I have the past two times we've played it, so I was very pleased with myself there. I had to punish a bad tenor reed that went mushy on me. We played "Who Can it Be Now?", and the top note of the sax riff, and F#, was not working. My reed was too soft. Kind of embarrassing. Sooo, when the gig was over I pitched that reed. Same thing happened to me last night at a rehearsal, so I pitched that one too.

It's a tough thing with reeds. They've got to be strong enough to withstand me playing full blast--dare I say, overblowing!--on gigs like the 10 High, but I need them to be flexible enough to not sound like I have sock in the bell on quiet gigs. I am definitely guilty of sometimes whittling them down too much so that there's not backbone left in them. Anyway, I'm breaking in some more today.

Jack and I are off to the pool.

Tonight, Yacht Rock is playing Mara Davis' birthday party. Very cool!

Tomorrow is the release of the new Y.O.U. "Long-Playing E.P." at Smith's Olde Bar. It will be cool. You should get there.

Y.O.U.-The Long Playing EP

The Y.O.U. CD release concert is this Saturday at Smith's Olde Bar. I will be performing on multiple tunes. Please come check us out--support original music!

What day is it today?

I got off the couch this morning at 5 AM and tried to get in bed and go to sleep, but my mind started churning about the horn charts I needed to write for this weekend's Y.O.U. CD release party (Saturday, July 25 at Smith's Olde Bar). By the time Beth got up, I'd just about finished putting the first chart into the computer.

I taught two lessons today (one at the car wash and one at Music and Arts). I came home and went straight to bed for a nap. I got up and ate, and then Jack, Reggie and I played soccer in the front yard for a half hour.

I swung by Radio Shack today and purchased a battery checker/meter to see if I can better manage my batteries that I use for my EWI. In other words, hopefully the damn thing won't stop working when I least expect it.

My knees are going bad--specifically, my right knee. In college, the cold weather would make my right knee ache and I'd have to move it occasionally or I would writhe in agony. That's held true for how ever many years it's been since I was at IU. Lately it's been hurting the day after a gig--both knees are sore, but the right one sometimes doesn't come out of it. I think I'm getting old. I pity Jack's grandchildren--they probably won't be able to walk! My grandfather had bad knees from a lifetime of walking rice and soybeen fields. I have bad knees. Beth's father has bad knees from football. We're going down.

I watched the stuff on the moon landing on TV today. Cool as ever. Somebody mentioned that the flight computer in the Apollo capsule had as much computing power as a modern calculator. Even if that's not exact, wow! Does it say more about how good those guys were, or how awesome modern calculators are! Way to go Texas Instruments!

Yacht Rock Wedding

We (Yacht Rock) played a wedding reception at Chateau Elan last night. It was pretty cool. I get concerned when I think about whether or not we have enough material to make it through four hours of partying, but we had plenty of tunes we could have done that we did not touch. We probably could have cobbled together an entire set of material if we'd needed to continue.
Nothing really new to report on the music front. I am enjoying my moment as a keyboardist in the band. Now that I'm past the shock of playing the thing in public, it's fun, and not an insurmountable challenge. I do think it's kind of a silly situation. The argument for a second keyboardist is to cover more parts and fill out the sound, but when I am charged with filling that role, I am in no one's monitor, so nobody hears me (other than what's coming out of my own amp), so how do they know if I'm playing acceptably or not?
I rode home with Mark Dannells and Mark Bencuya, and they talked about bands and music that I'd never heard of. I feel like I know nothing about music compared to these guys.

Today, I'm taking Jack to the pool and playing my church gig tonight. Nice and easy!

I previewed a track from the upcoming Y.O.U. release. It sounds awesome. Their CD release party is this coming Saturday night at Smith's Olde Bar. You really need to come check it out. Their music is very cool. Wes Funderburk and I played on the track I'm listening to. I'd forgotten how many horns we'd stacked on this sucker. I think I played a couple of tenor tracks, a couple of alto tracks, and at least one bari track on it, and Wes played tenor trombone and a slide trumpet thing. It sounds great! Wes is as good as there is.

This week is a wild one. Y.O.U. has a rehearsal for the CD release Wednesday night. Thursday, I have a private gig in front of the usual Yacht Rock/10 High gig. Friday night Yacht Rock is playing Mara Davis' (Dave FM) birthday party. Saturday night is the CD release for Y.O.U. I'll do my best to keep you posted.

new pics, new promo

Check out some new photos by a Yacht Rock fan--added to the gallery page of my website. Pretty cool. They're from July 2, 2009.

Also, I added two promos for our upcoming special event, titled "Mustache Rock", coming up July 30 at the 10 High and August 7 at Andrews. You can view them (if you dare) on the live performance page of my website.

Other than that, I've been banging on the keyboard alot lately trying to get good for this weekend's Yacht Rock gigs.

My Broken Body Clock

So...

I woke up at 5:30 this morning, wide awake and thinking about the keyboard parts I need to practice for this week's Yacht Rock. It's now 8 AM, which means I've been hammering out string parts to Magic and Don't Go Breakin' my Heart for a couple of hours. I feel good about both songs, though. Those are usually the ones that kill me, and once I've really trashed them, I lose all confidence in what I'm doing. This time will be different. I noticed that most of my keyboard practice as of late had been the frantic "what chord is next?" kind of stuff, so instead I practiced everything slowly with the metronome and got it all down.

Waking up absurdly early happened to me last week, too. I'm guessing it's a combination of trying to keep up with Jack (going to the pool, mostly), trying to get all my stuff done, and also work. Sometimes I accidentally crash a little earlier than I should, and then I wake up in a panic over what I didn't practice the night before.

For some reason, this is a bad week for teaching. Everybody is out doing something else this week, and I think I have about three students a day. Not good for the wallet! Next week is local marching band hell week, so that should pretty rough too, but the middle schoolers will hopefully be back in the groove.

...and no, this picture is not of Reggie. It looks alot like him, though!

Busy

Not much to report these days. Yacht Rock is losing Brandon Still, one of our keyboardists to a touring southern rock band called Blackberry Smoke. It's a great move for him--he gets to experience the world! Blackberry Smoke is out a playing shows--very cool--and they've got a European tour lined up in December. That should be amazing. I've never played in a touring band, so I'm envious of his experiences. However, at this point in life (for me), I don't think I could do it unless it was something I had to take, like Paul Simon's band or something. I have too many things that I'd have to let go of (local gigs and teaching) to go ride around in a van and make $8 a night! Not to mention Jack and my family. Go Brandon go!
Anyway, I'm trying to cover his parts as best as I can, so I'm practicing alot of keyboards. I am, in fact, awake a 5 AM thinking about the chords to "You're So Vain." I need to get in the room and deal with that, I think.

Another cool flute site

Here's another cool flute site I recently came across: www.flutes.tk. They have information (and links) to lots of interesting flute stuff.

That's a nose flute, by the way.
davidfreemanmusic.net

...and we're baaaaaaaaaack!

Yeah...last night we played a free (to the public) show at the Park Tavern. We had an awesome night. Plus, all my equipment worked!
The sound was great, the women were hot, the food was good, the crowd was responsive. I think it was one of the best ones we've done.
There was no traffic, too, so everything was cool. I hope they're all like this from here on out.

Friday Yacht Rock

So...I turned up to Yacht Rock last night, and they'd closed the parking lot in front of Andrews in order to make a "beach" for a Fourth of July party. Hmmm. Where will our fans park?
The crowd rolled in late, but they all made it eventually. It turned out much better than we expected (numbers-wise). We had thoughts of everybody holding out for the party at Park Tavern today (we're there 8-11 PM tonight).

In the continuing saga of what can go wrong with my equipment...you may recall how my EWI has run out of battery at Andrews the past two months. This month, I put in new batteries before the gig. Predictably, my EWI died right in the middle of the first set. I don't know what happened. Maybe there was a bad battery in the group of four (they're rechargable batteries, so maybe one was old and had lost its juice). Anyway, that was not cool. I put in another four batteries and everything was fine for the rest of the night. What a pain, though...it messes with my head.

There were lots of weird things last night. I think we were all a little flat, and labored to get to the end of the gig. I didn't feel like I was there. Kind of like the gig was going on in the background, and I was paying attention sometimes, but sometimes...I don't know. I wanted to be awesome, but I couldn't get it going. Lots of "oops, I missed that" kind of stuff (in both corners of the room). It happens...we'd played really well the night before at the 10 High, but there wasn't much magic at Andrews. We tried, but it wouldn't come.

Fingers crossed...hopefully we can summon the spirits from Koko's Boat House. Hope to see you tonight at the Park Tavern.

Thursday!

I woke up today and both my arms were asleep. I was like a rag doll--I could barely roll myself over (one arm was in the way!). At least I hadn't metamorphised into a roach.
Between my arms not working and having no idea what time it was, I'm off to a weird start.

I am pleased to report that after several weeks of wondering, I have solved the problem I was having with my EWI. Namely, I was concerned about it not reacting to me in a predictable fashion. I got out my manual Wednesday night and tweaked my settings, and it's back to normal. I guess the thing gradually got off, and I'd never bothered to notice. I had to reset the pitch bend, because it turns out it was always on (probably half my problems!). The breath sensor I reset to feeling good, and then I padded it a little to compensate for the fact that I've been playing in hot and humid conditions (the 10 High and outside) lately, and if I don't take that into account, and starts to play on its own.

I am still interested in eventually getting a second EWI, due to the fact that I can't take it to just anyone and have it worked on, and at this point I'm using it on average two gigs per week. There's no running it to Bryan Lopes' house to have something fixed right before!

Last night at the 10 High went very well. We were at capacity before we got on stage, and there was a line snaked around the side of the building. Very cool. Playing for a packed room is an amazing feeling, and of course there's lots of love for the saxophone. Whenever I walk to the front of the stage, people (and by people I mean HOT women!) start cheering wildly. It's easier to really go for it when the audience is like that. It can feel a little silly playing something like Baker Street and trying to really milk it when the crowd couldn't care less. I become much more aware of my stage movements, and I feel stupid.

On the subject of equipment, I feel like both reeds I played (tenor and alto) are going a little dead, but it's a nice spot for what I'm doing--that is to say, I'm not playing in a quiet, acoustic setting, so the fact that they feel like cardboard at a softer volume isn't as important as their ability to take alot of air and not close up on me. The end is near for them, but I may be able to squeeze a few more notes out of them. Both have lasted about twice as long as usual. The reed gods are on my side these days.

Two Really Cool Flute Sites

I've been poking around the internet looking at flute stuff. Here's two interesting places worth checking out:

1. Larry Krantz has tons of neat articles about playing and teaching flute. There's something written on every conceivable topic--Larry obviously has a lifetime of experience as both a performer and teacher. All flute questions can be answered here!

2. There's lots of Irish flute stuff out there, but not much in the way of African flute playing. Fula Flute is a completely original (to me) way of utilizing the flute. It makes you realize how timeless the flute is...before the traditional silver flutes that everyone is familiar with, there were Irish flutes and Native American flutes and African flutes, plus Latin America was using flutes.