Yacht Rock played the Atlanta Steeplechase (which was located in Rome, GA!). I woke up super early (for me) and drove down I-75 into town to meet up with the rest of the band. We drove back up I-75 to Rome to play the gig.
The event was in a private tent at the Steeplechase event. Unfortunately, the weather was terrible--rain and lightning throughout the event. The band played well and the food was ok (BBQ sandwich with bottled BBQ sauce). We rumbled through, stopping for each of the races. Evidently horses don't like music.
First came the "release the hounds!", and then the race horses came through.
Afterwards, we loaded up (in the rain) and then spent an hour on a farm road inching our way back to the interstate. We rode down I-75 to the Piedmont Driving Club, where we loaded in and set up for an event that night. I had time, so when we finished setting up I drove back up I-75 to my house so I could get out of my wet shoes and socks. I rummaged through the fridge. I even had time to practice a little!
At 10 PM, I headed back down I-75, back to the Piedmont Driving Club for the gig. It was ok. We were obviously very tired at that point (we started around 11:30 PM), so we staggered through it. The gig ended at 1 AM. We loaded out and I headed back up I-75. 215 miles all together.
Good things are happening for me lately. I've been focusing on a few areas of my performance, and I think each is improving. First, I've been trying to get my time a little better on the keyboard stuff. I want everything to sit on the beat a little better. I am also guilty of rushing within the beat, so my goal there is to keep it all relaxed and smooth, right where Cobb's putting the time. Second, I've been thinking about my articulation on alto. That seems to have been corrected just by my being aware of it. My third goal has been to not tighten up on my tenor altissimo--chomping down on the mouthpiece has choked off some stuff, especially when I start overblowing, so I've been reminding myself to keep my mouth and throat open and let the air go through. Yesterday was the first time in a while where I didn't miss any high F#'s in Who Can it be Now?. My fourth area is in the chorus of Rosanna, where I've been only playing EWI on the horn part. I want to help the chorus to be bigger, so instead of only playing the horn part every few measures, I've kept the organ part going and then used the upper keyboard to supply the brass. I just started this week doing that, so it's still a little shaky. In another week or two I should be much more comfortable.
davidfreemanmusic.net
