The Captain is Drunk

Yacht Rock was weird last night. We added Hot Child in the City, which was cool--nice to add a new tune, and it went over well. We'd worked out the ending (the full length version, not the version that ends with just voices), but when we tried it on the gig, somebody tripped and it all went to hell for about five beats and then Mark Cobb counted us back in. Woah!

The on stage sound last night was kind of weird. It was like there was no bass and very little highs, so there was just this midrange-y thing. It's not that we were playing poorly (in the first set), but it just felt weird. I don't know what else to say. Some nights the sound is really full, but tonight it seemed kind of empty.

On the break, several band members shared a round of "car bombs"--liquor dropped in a beer (like a sake bomb). Let's say that the second set did not go particularly well. Lots of random (and bizarre) stuff going down. At one point (about three or for songs in), Ganesh called it over the mic--"ladies and gentlemen, we are drunk." And that was how it went from there on it.

It's hard to say how it sounded overall. I played pretty well, and Mark Dannells played some terrific guitar stuff, and past that I really don't know. It was hard to hear the bass. Mark Bencuya's keyboards are always fine--he's one of those guys who might mess up, but you never hear the mistakes. Mark Cobb was all over the place--some good and some out of control.

We're at Andrews tonight. I'm hoping for some magic! We (Yacht Rock) are always making excuses for the crowd--it was full because school's back, it's not full because all the summer people went back to school, it's full because nobody wants to come see us at Andrews, it's not full because everybody's waiting to see us at Andrews. Last night was a little thinner that usual, so that must mean it's going to packed tonight! I'll really be fine either way. I'm more interested in having some really good musical moments. There's some boredom seeping into our show.

Wednesday White Guy

I did a jazz gig tonight with Jace Honage down at Centennial Olympic Park. We were part of a series called "Wednesday Wind Down." It was cool; Tyrone Jackson brought me on board for this one. The drummer was Henry (I can't remember his last name), and the one and only Ramon Pooser on bass. My first real jazz gig in months. I was pretty amped up about it. Tyrone is one of my favorite people both musically and personally; I hadn't played a gig with Ramon in probably ten years; I'd never met Henry (or Jace).

I showed up at the park and I was the only white guy for miles around...so this is how it feels! Years ago I did a gig with a singer in Augusta in a nightclub where I was the only caucasian. Also quite an expericence! Alot of feeling like I have to prove myself.

On to the gig. We opened with two instrumentals, Yes and No and The Chicken. I played both like my life depended on it--maybe not such a good thing. I find that when I haven't done a jazz gig and then I jump up and have to play something like that, I tend to spray notes, and my mind races along. It's like trying to watch the bullets come out of a machine gun. I get excited and I try and push the musical energy around instead of playing ideas. It usually takes me about three or four tunes to settle down. By then, the instrumentals were over and we were into the gig. Everything went well. We had fun and the band sounded really good. Jace said she got a few gig offers based on this show, so with any luck there will be more.

And jeez...Tyrone was on fire! The best pianist in town, bar none. That guy can do ANYTHING.

Sunday into Monday

Sunday was sort of a weird day. I got home from my experience at The Earl, cooled off for an hour or so, and went to bed. I think I woke up late in the morning on Sunday. It was hard to tell because of the rain. Anyway, I unloaded my gear from the car, took it upstairs, and reset for my gig that night. I ate, showered, and it was about time to head out the door.

My gig Sunday night was me on saxes and flute, Wayne Viar on percussion (that's Wayne up there in the pic), and Jeff Burnisky on turntables (?)--he's a DJ. Basically the idea is that he supplies the groove and the vibe, and then Wayne and I play over the top of it. It works--people eat it up. The only problem is that the turntables never get tired (and never stop), so it's hard to figure out how to take a break, so I end up playing for three hours straight!

This gig featured parking validation, which is a beautiful thing. We were told to valet, so I did. I took my validation to the valet, and they said, "That'll be $15." I said, "How much without the validation?" She said, "$20." I said, "So it's almost worthless." She said, "Every little bit helps, I guess." I was not happy with that. I wasn't going to tip the guy who brought my truck around...I wasn't happy with the validation and I only had a $5 bill in my wallet, but I thought, not his fault. So, my truck came around and I gave the guy my $5 (my "validated parking" has now cost me $20!), and I get in and the seat has been pushed all the way back and the side mirror has been pushed out of position! I nearly jumped out and asked for my $5 back. That was a low blow.

Monday night was the usual stuff. The most expensive babysitter I know.

I'm getting ready for some sort of pseudo-jazz gig in Centennial Park this Wednesday night. I'm playing with a woman named Jace Harnage from 7 to 8. There are charts to write and charts to read, and it's been eating up my time. Some things are Natalie Cole and some things are Jill Scott. I now know that I am not a Jill Scott fan. The rest of the band is Tyrone Jackson, Ramon Poozer, and Melvin Jones (plus a drummer of whom I do not know). Good band! I've got to start getting comfortable with this stuff so I don't suck.

Double Dippin'

Last night I double dipped.

First off was the Platnumb gig. I'm already a bit foggy on the details. We played a wedding at the St. Regis Hotel, a room in which I'd never played before. It was pretty. The whole place looked and smelled like a Restoration Hardware Hotel. Lots of Bentleys, Ferraris, and a Lamborghini out front. As far as the band went, our bassist John bought a new pedal and it sounded awesome! Lots of crazy, funky noises coming from over there. I loved it.

At one point, the stage was flooded with people from the crowd, and some idiot lady came up between me and my music stand, squeezed through, took the neck of my tenor in her left hand and the music stand in her right, and pushed them apart so she could pass through. Not cool. Not cool at all. That was about the spot where I almost lost it.

Once I finished that one, I jumped in the car and raced down to East Atlanta to The Earl or the CD release of Attractive Eighties Women. I walked in, pulled out my horn, and went to work. It's funny (to me) that I began the night playing Chicago Song , trying to play really precisely, and then I ended the night playing random shrieks and squeals on a song I'd never heard before. After I finished with the AEW, I stayed to watch their final couple of songs. Lots of weird stuff went down. The lead singer poured a beer over himself. He took swallows of another beer and spit them straight up so it went everywhere. Some guy in the front had a watermelon, and he threw it on stage (and it broke). The band threw the watermelon pieces into the crowd. It was returned. The lead singer rubbed watermelon all over his face. The whole time, the rest of the band was playing twice as loud as anything else on the planet. It was nuts. Then encore included a bunch more people singing on stage, and that gradually morphed into the fast part of Free Bird. It was totally bizarre. Not my thing, but the place loved it. At one point, everyone was singing "She broke my heart/WALK THE PLANK/ARR ARR ARR!!!!"

I got home around 2:30 this morning.

I've got another gig tonight. Me and a DJ and a percussionist.

Good Luck Ganesh

Last night we had Ganesh Giri Jaya subbing on drums for Mark Cobb. Ganesh is our good luck charm--he has subbed with us on multiple occasions, and we always do better than usual on the money side. He never fails! Things were pretty smooth. I'm trying to thing of something interesting to say, but nothing really happened. No tragic gear failures, no weird crowd stuff, no nothing. The only distaster I can think of is that in Africa I missed the pedal and messed up the second half of the solo. So that was a bad four measures. That was about it. We did have a near disaster--on the second tune, I slid out into the center of the stage for a solo. At that same moment, Nick pointed in my direction by punching his fist to his right (with the microphone in his hand!). I narrowly avoided getting slugged in the temple! His hand grazed my hat. Woah! That was close.

Yachts are for Rich People

Yacht Rock played some guy's 40th birthday party last night at his neighborhood pool clubhouse. Very impressive. A significant upgrade over my neighborhood, my pool, and my pool's clubhouse! If I had the money to throw myself a birthday party like that, I would not spend the money on stuff like that. That's how rich these people must be.

The band purchased a pair of amplifiers for the main PA, and last night was their first test. Passed with flying colors! We were upstairs in a room with a wood floor, lots of windows, and a high ceiling. Loud would be an understatement. One of those nights when I could feel my hearing getting crushed...in twenty years when my ears are totally shot, I'll look back on a night like this when I raped my ears and my plugs were in a bag not six feet away. Nice going, Freeman.

Anyway, we were loud. It was fun, and the sound was actually pretty clear. It was a smooth sonic boom. Mark Bencuya (our keyboardist) said he could hear everything I was doing for a change. Usually I guess he hears me waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay off in the distance. For some reason (room acoustics or the PA), he was able to pick up on my stuff. I hope that hearing me helps reassure him that I've radically improved in covering the parts. I think he's probably more concerned about the second keyboard situation than anybody else in the band--maybe last night will help to let him know that it's working just fine.

I bet I played as much on the keyboard as I did on saxophone last night. How weird is that? I used the band's Nord Electro running through my rig. It is sweet. You hear people moan and groan about weighted keys on a keyboard...it definitely helps with touch. I guess a little resistance there is a good thing. I dug it. Unless something catastrophic happens in the next three or four months, I'd bet I'll be investing in a Nord, assuming things continue with the current band situation and playing this much keys. The Nord's sounds are really sweet (and accurate for things like a phased Rhodes). I feel like I graduated from trying to cover the parts to being the guy in the second keyboard position.
The other night I bought a slightly bigger mixer for running the sax, EWI, and two keyboards into my powered monitor. I have a little Mackie, but I'm one channel short, so I bought a Yamaha board that had a couple more channels. It's going back to the store today. I think that the preamps are kind of lame compared to the Mackie. I had the gain almost wide open, and the channel faders almost wide open. I grabbed the Yamaha over a similar Mackie because it was $50 cheaper, but I think I'm going to go back and get the Mackie. My head is telling me I'm not going to be satisfied with what I've got here.

I've got my church gig tonight and then a recording session for Will Robertson. Will is awesome! He writes the horn arrangements, then sends you pdfs of the charts and an audio mock-up. The horns are able to walk in there and knock it out because the charts work and we've heard the tune already. I wish everybody could be like Will. That's the way to do it. It works great on both ends--the players get the work done faster, and the arranger gets the right notes without having to hunt for the right harmony notes.

Ahh...Thursday

I've woken up really early today, and I'm alone in a dimly lit room watching a SportsCenter rerun...it's like being in a hotel room, except I'm at home.

I was really excited about Thursday's Yacht Rock because I was borrowing a Nord Electro for the tunes where I played organ, piano, or rhodes. Very cool. I usually mix my sax, EWI, and keyboard with a small Mackie mixer, and I thought I'd be able to add the Nord in there too. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to put both keyboards into the stereo channel like I thought I could. Bummer. Therefore, the Nord went to the house and was heard through a nearby (but mostly inaudible) monitor. It was a major disappointment...I only heard a handful of notes that I played. Mostly I just watched my hands. Even worse, when I jumped from the Nord to my Triton, the latter was super loud because it was jacked up in my personal amp.

One funny thing...during the fourth song of the night, some drunk guy in the front row, fell face first onto the stage. Just splat, right on his face. Then he laid there. In a couple of seconds, a bouncer came and picked him up and got him out of there. And the band played on! It was so funny, though, that I completely lost track of where we were in the song.

Yesterday (Friday) we went to the zoo. Jack ran us around there. I think he had a good time!

After that I headed down to Avatar to record the Yacht Rock Christmas song. I don't think I should give out any details, except to say that it sounds really good. I got there and hung around for about three hours before they got to my part. I "read" many many Playboys, Gun magazines, and Guitar magazines. Mostly Playboys.

On the way home I stopped by Sam Ash and bought a slightly bigger mixer (to avoid the Nord problem from Thursday). I bought a two tiered keyboard stand too, but I don't really like it. I'm going to take it back and get one from Guitar Center.

Yacht Rock is playing a party in Sandy Springs/Buckhead tonight. It's indoors, so I don't think we'll suffer like we did last weekend in the heat.

Wasting Time

When I got home from teaching last night, I ate and watched the football game. Good stuff! Too bad I passed out on the couch trying to get to the end of the third quarter! Not only did I miss the last play, and not only did I not get anything else done last night, but I woke up refreshed and ready to go at 2:30 AM! Ugh! I could not get back to sleep. I ended up watching St. Elmo's Fire for about the 188th time. It never gets old. I don't know why. It's a cliche, I know, but this movie takes me back, and the associations I used to make with the different characters still rings true. Ahh...I'm getting sentimental!

Since this a music blog, I will point out that the love theme (on saxophone) is great, and I think I played it on saxophone about a million times when I was in middle school. I would also point out that the weird luggage strap idea on Rob Lowe's saxophone is a total Clarence Clemmons rip-off, and probably not practical--I would think that the horn would hang too low, or go in your mouth at a weird angle. Also, the pretend sax playing is really bad. It also frightens me that he does not own a case. But I digress...

The bad news is that around 4 this morning (still wide awake), I decided to take a Benedryl to knock me out. It worked...but I didn't wake up until noon today, which means I am wasting even MORE time. In fact, I'm wasting time right now writing this. I've got to get it together.

The Who's on the Boat

Let me begin with the end of the gig...a big thank you to the two super hot lesbians who were dancing right in front of me through the encore. I enjoyed that.

The encore was Won't Get Fooled Again (The Who). It was very well played, but I wish we had done something where I actually had a part to play. This song choice was a flip of the bird to our audience...we're always seesawing back and forth between giving the people what they came for and trying to annoy everyone in the room. Even though it went over well, this was more of the latter--we will not give you more Yacht Rock! Anyway, it was cool to hear it, but not much fun for me because I swung a tambourine until it ended.

I had a great night playing. It was easily the best Yacht Rock gig I've played in the past five or six dates. That was a relief. If you were betting on what would go wrong with the EWI last night, I'm here to inform you that I think the USB cable might have been the thing. I had no issues with it at all. Thank God. I'd sure like to get past the constant fear that it will crap out on me at a crucial moment.
I played last night with charts (technically, I did double check where the string lick started Love is Alive, but I wasn't staring at a piece of paper). I was down to a handful of things that Brandon used to play, and I needed to play then correctly a few more times to get them in my head. It sure is nice when you can get off the page, particularly on gig like that where it's a show, and we're expected to interact with each other and the crowd. Another way to think of it is that I can't be dancing around and then try and look down to pick up where I am in the chart. It's tough to do. Add sunglasses, and you're in trouble.
Tim Smith (of Sheryl Crow's band) came and hung out last night (Peter Stroud might have been there, too, for a little while, but I didn't see him). When you think about it, it's pretty wild to be that close to an international act--the layers between our band and their band are so few, it's not inconceivable that someone from our circle could be tapped to join Sheryl Crow's band. I'm not saying I expect it; it is worth noting that it's not a big leap between here and there.

Post-gig I heard multiple comments from band members about the show (first set ok, second set was a mess). I'm not sure what to make of that. Was my playing not what I thought it was (not likely--I think at this point I know what I'm capable of doing, and if I feel like it's working, I have faith that it is), or is my part musically irrelevant enough that even if I'm having a good night (or a bad one), it has no effect on the overall show, or would it be explained away that even though I played well, overall we were pretty limp and that's what the comments were referring to? It's tough to say, but does get my wheels turning a bit... am I still just hanging out and playing sax solos (and the rest is just self-amusement)? Sometimes it feels like I'm just along for the ride.

Ahh, but the EWI may be fixed! Stay positive!

Hijacking the Hora

The cantor from last night's wedding evidently regards himself as the Jewish Pavoratti...he hijacked our Hora Medley last night. I love the way the guy refused to follow what we intended to do, and then looked at us like we were crazy because we couldn't read his mind. How do you say egomaniac in Yiddish?

I thought I had finally solved all my EWI woes with the changing of a MIDI cable, but yesterday at soundcheck I had the same sort of hiccup/loss of sound that I'd been experiencing at random moments for the past few weeks. I realized that the MIDI signal is getting to the box that converts the MIDI to USB, so my hope is that my USB cable has had enough; I've replaced it, and I hope that does the trick. I guess I'll know Thursday. If I have another hang up, my final step will be to try replacing the MIDI to USB box.

I wonder when I am toothless and arthritic--how many wedding receptions will I have played by then? In other words, how many more do I have to do?

Saturday Night in Athens

Platnumb played a wedding reception in Athens last night. If my memory is correct, I have subbed out six of the last seven Platnumb gigs due to other events that I had booked (lately it's been a lot of Yacht Rock). It was kind of fun. They're all fine friends and it was cool to play with them again.

Since I've spent the summer dealing with a long string of EWI issues, I should fill you in on my latest discovery. Part of the most complicated set up in the world is wireless MIDI, which has worked great for years...never had any kind of signal interruption. Thursday night my EWI had some sort of issue where the MIDI signal ceased to exist. After a reboot and lots of twitching different connections, it came back. Same sort of thing happened Friday night. Last night in Athens, it started happening in soundcheck. This time I happened to bump the MIDI cable connecting the wireless to the EWI, and it came back. Aha! A bad MIDI cable! I swapped it out, and there were no more problems for the night. Let's all hope that all my EWI issues have been resolved!

I'm trying to recall anything else interesting...nothing comes to mind. It was a totally painless gig. The chicken fingers were good.

Tonight's another Platnumb gig. Here's to validated parking!

Andrews Upstairs

We played Andrews Upstairs last night. It was PACKED! We did well.

In general things went better than the night before (when I sucked real bad). The only song that really bit me in the butt was I Just Wanna Stop. The song started before I got to the keyboard, and so I chased the chords for most of it. I think I played alot of A Maj 11. A big mush of tonality! The other thing that was kind of funny (to me): on Love Will Keep Us Together, I had the idea on the way over that I would play the clav part on the keyboard so I wouldn't have to dance between sounds quite so much--the idea being that I could play the EWI stuff one handed and the clav part one handed. First time I tried it, I had the wrong hand on the keyboard, so I couldn't play the right note on the EWI. Second time I tried it, when I played the note on the keyboard, I instictively blew air into the EWI! Ahh! Next time, I'll have it down. It did solve a problem I was having--I just have to get the kinks ironed out.

Oh yeah, one other thing...in Rosanna, I play the synth solo, and then as soon as that's over I jump to the organ part, and while I'm playing organ, I have to use my foot pedal to dial back to my horn section patch. Well, I missed the right number on the horns, and so I got no sound for about 8 measures while I tried to figure out what had gone wrong. Oops. It's such a schizophrenic gig for me (play keyboard for 8 measures, play the horn part, pick up the saxophone, go back to the keyboard), that sometimes I lose coordination and get stretched too thin.

I'm off the Athens to play a wedding in a little bit. Time to go!

Seasickness

Last night was a strange one, and not in a particularly good way.

From about Tuesday night on, I've been dealing with a cold, giving me some snot, some body ache, and sinus headaches for a few days. Because of that, I've been laying low, trying to sleep and let my body do it's thing in destroying whatever this is.
My problem with this (other than feeling run down), is that I did not devote the time to practicing for the gig--going over and over my parts so I get them right the first time. Therefore, I had lots of strange little mistakes all night. Nothing major, but I was permanently a couple of seconds behind where I needed to be, so I wasn't able to anticipate things well. I was groggy.
This is also why I will be building my setup in the garage in an hour and playing through everything.

Special thanks to the group of women who showered me with attention, even though I denied their repeated requests to take my shirt off.

At some point in the first set, whatever Nick ate for supper decided to try and kill him, and he causually came over at one point to let Dannells and me know that he might throw up on us. Wonderful. So we had that working against us, too. By the time he left, he looked really rough. Hopefully he was able to let go of whatever was bothering him.

One cool thing that happened: we whipped up a tribute for John Hughes, 80s movie maker--we played "Don't You Forget About Me". It was super cool. Awesome song, and an awesome moment. I hope we get to hit that one again tonight.

The show must go on! We're at Andrews Upstairs tonight, beginning around 10:30 PM. Tonight will be better.

My Arms Hurt

My arms are sore from lots of playing/practicing. The same sort of stuff I used to encounter in college from time to time--tender forearms and elbows. That's never a good feeling, and it's especially bad considering the amount of stuff I need to play before the end of the week.

Speaking of pains in my arms, my left arm has hurt right in the spot where you'd have a patch on your shoulder. It's been that way for a few days. My bet is because I was practicing me tennis serve. It feels like somebody drove a nail into the top of my bicep. It didn't get any better with me swimming back and forth the length of the pool today. Something in that over the top motion is not happy.

Late Night Yacht Rock

Last night was a late one...

We (Yacht Rock) played some sort of benefit last night--connected some way to the DJ named Bert on V-103...I don't know either.

So, we loaded onto an uncovered stage in the parking lot of the Northern Tool Rental around 5:30 PM. No cover means that if it rains, we're dead; if it's sunny the next three hours or so will fry our gear. There was no way to put a cover over the stage due to some electrical wiring directly overhead.

We ended up dragging it out and didn't leave until around 7:30 or so. Each set up (keyboards, drums, etc) got a tarp over it. We went to Mark Bencuya's to change and eat. We rolled back over to the gig around 9:45 PM.

As we began to do the final prep for our gig, somebody checked the weather and noticed a stripe of rain headed our way. So...we waited in a tent next to the stage (and we started drinking). After about an hour and a half of hanging out, it still hadn't rained, so we got up on stage and started firing up all of our equipment. In the middle of that, we started feeling a couple of drops, so we tarped everything (individual tarps, and then two enormous tarps that covered the entire stage). Just in time...it started raining pretty hard. We stayed in the tent and drank.

Around 1 AM, it was finally deemed safe enough for us to hit it. By that point, we were all fairly drunk. We got up there and knocked it out, though. Not a great gig, but we didn't have any problems. I guess we just didn't have any excitement by that point. We finished at 2:30 AM.

After tearing down our gear, we then had to carpool back to get our vehicles that we'd parked several blocks away. Then come back...load gear...and leave. I left around 3:30-3:40 AM. I guess I got home around 4:15 AM.

I slept on the couch (with Jack wandering around) for the morning. I finally got up around 1 PM today.

At my church gig tonight, one of the altar boys fainted. That was about it.

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.

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.