David Freeman Music

Yacht Rock played a private gig for software developers in Athens last night.  It was 80s themed, so we pulled all of our Reagan Rock stuff out for them. We were on a super tiny stage.  From my spot, my back was against the wall (literally!) and the microphone clipped on the bell of my horn kept hitting my keyboard.   Mark Cobb 's right side crash hung over the top of my other keyboard--I think that it was probably closer to me than him.  All of that being said, the volume wasn't too bad, though the bass was awfully loud. The gig was really fun.  I don't know if the crowd was into it, but I enjoyed playing some different tunes.  We also hit some stuff beyond the realm of Reagan Rock--just stuff that the Y.O.U. guys used to play as covers.  I got off a really good alto solo on Talking In Your Sleep --wish I'd recorded that, but I wasn't thinking I was going to play anything on it at all! davidfreemanmusic.net

Yacht Rock played a benefit for the Humane Society at Sweetwater Brewery last night.  I was worried--the weather was a little too chilly for me to have fun outside (and last time we were there we nearly froze to death ).  It turned out to be a non-issue.  I mean, my horns were flat as hell, but everything continued to function, so I could deal with it. By the end of the night, though, my hands were really not working well.  We played Lido Shuffle as an encore and my hands just couldn't do the triplet thing in the synth build up. Mark Cobb had some strange experiments with gaff tape throughout the night.  Every set had stripes across the head of a different drum, it seemed.  That and a strange pair bell cymbals (I guess)--about four inches in diameter, that rode atop his hi hat for a while.  He's looking for some Steve Jordan/Chris Dave mojo. So that was it.  No rain, and we were finished at 9 PM.  Not too bad. We're off to Athens ...

Not too much going on at the moment…I recorded (on my phone) a song we played at church gig number one a couple of days ago.  I went for a Lenny Pickett approach (on a crappy reed!).  Still, not bad for first thing in the morning.  I start playing about a minute and a half in.   Mt. Bethel UMC-March 27, 2011 by David B Freeman Church gig number two was pretty easy.  I played lots of low stuff on flute.  I'm dreaming of an alto flute.  Wish I could afford one! davidfreemanmusic.net

I played with the Yacht Rock Schooner last night at the Dixie Tavern last night.  Not bad for a bar gig!  The gig itself was good, but I nearly died waiting around--I was told to be there at 8.  Ready to go at 8:10, but the soundcheck began at 9:30 (which means they checked the sax line at about 10), and we didn't actually start the gig until 10:30.  Waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long to hang out.  Next time, I'm rolling in at 10. Anyway, once we started playing, everything was cool.  The band was solid, and there was something for me to do on every song of the first set. Someone from the crowd told the two singers that the difference between the Schooner and the Revue was that the Schooner's sax player is so much better.  Thanks? davidfreemanmusic.net

We (Yacht Rock) used the 10 High as a preliminary rehearsal for the big 80s prom coming up in a few weeks at the Variety Playhouse.  New oldies included Careless Whisper , Wake Me Up Before You Go Go , I Can Dream About You , and True .  All came off without a hitch (ok-I had a medium small disaster in I Can Dream , but nothing fatal).  We also added Hold the Line , which was alot of fun to play--I played power chords on the chorus and a synth part on the second and third verses.  Easy stuff for me, but I bet we won't do that one too much--the vocals are super high. The second set was fast.  Mark Cobb played everything like he needed to go pee.  We flew through every song.  All of the sudden, the gig was over! It was a pretty thin crowd.  I won't bother to speculate why. davidfreemanmusic.net

I played a really good trio gig with Louis Heriveaux (keyboard) and Kevin Smith (bass) at the Sheraton downtown.  It was some kind of private gig…a networking thing. Here are the audio files: davidfreemanmusic.net

Friday and Saturday, I was on the move with Yacht Rock. Friday's show was with the Yacht Rock Schooner in Chattanooga at Rhythm and Brews.  I just played saxes and flute, so it was a pretty easy night.  The band sounded good;  everything was solid, and it was nice to kind of have the night off on a gig.  I probably did more cell phone videos than actual playing! Saturday afternoon was a Yacht Rock Revue gig at Eagles Landing in Stockbridge.  What a disaster!  The van was late in arriving to grab our gear, and then it took us twice as long as was allocated to pack the trailer.  We then moved our cars over to the Pleaserock office so as to avoid returning to smashed car windows.  Once we got on the interstate, we decided to take 75 south instead of 675 south (which was what my phone kept telling me to do), and somewhere in there I recalculated directions to Stockbridge instead of Eagles Landing.  So…we got off the interstate at the wron...