David Freeman Music

So…no gigs this past weekend!  Weird.  I was kind of hoping that I would pick something up, but in the end it was nice to not have to think about running off to a gig for a couple of nights.  Instead, I practiced my stuff that I will need to know this coming week. I did, however, play both my church gigs.  The first gig was supposed to be rocking with V-Drums by now, but the pastor decided not to spend the money.  "Tell him [the drummer] to play softer."  I guess that works too. Church gig number two had a bad piano microphone that kept shorting out (and clipping) during the opening hymn.  I swapped the cable, but it still crackled.  I swapped channels, but it still crackled.  I unplugged it and put a handheld microphone directly on the soundboard--no crackles.  Hooray for me. Yacht Rock showed up at Piedmont Park to play the Peachtree Road Race finish line again this year.  Once again, the people controlling the event did not...

Yacht Rock played the 10 High last night.  How many weeks in a row now?  A whole lot. I added/adjusted some of my parts this week, so I was looking forward to trying it all out.  First up:   Steal Away .  I had been playing it like this: but I was talking Dustin Cottrell (one of the keyboardists in the Schooner ) about the piano part, and he thought it sounded more like this: After listening to it about a half dozen times, I started to hear what he was saying--there's so much stuff in the same register (strings, rhodes), I wasn't sure what I was hearing, but I think he's right.  Plus, when I reach up to add the synth on the chorus, I can reach up with my right hand (it's easier for me to play it right handed than left).  Brilliant!  So yay, another part closer to being right. Another thing I was working on was that sax thing in Reminiscing ( "Glenn Miller's band…" ).  I played it at soundcheck and it sounded the way I wanted it to...

Yacht Rock played at the Grady Rock and Ride Festival on Saturday in downtown Atlanta.  They closed Peachtree (first time EVER!) and set up a stage in between Westin Peachtree Plaza and the Ritz.  It was one of those semi trailers that unfolds into a concert stage. back of stage backstage The weather was good.  Actually, there was a nice breeze coming through that kept everything very comfortable, and we were in the shade because of the stage and the surrounding buildings.  If we've got to play outdoors in the summer in Atlanta, let it be like this! So…one hour set.  No big deal.  For this one, Dannells and I swapped spots, so instead of me being on the far outside, I was tucked in between him and Mark Cobb .  I thought I was going to hate it (crammed in between an 18 inch crash and a guitar amp), but in the end I think I liked it.  I felt more "in the band" and less like I was "playing alongside the band," and the volume wasn't nearly...

Yacht Rock played a good gig last night on the Square in Marietta.  The weather got a little wild--right after we loaded in, a bad thunderstorm came through and we had everything under tarps.  It cleared off enough for us to play, but eventually the rain returned (with lightning!) and we had to bail on the last half hour. the wind in his hair The place was packed!  Very cool, and a decent number of people from my neighborhood showed up.  If the weather had been better, it might have been even better.  We have a gig coming up at the Strand Theatre in November, and I bet that will be packed because of it. The sound on stage was super loud.  There were a limited number of monitor mixes, and I ended up with more vocals than I would ever want to hear bludgeoning my head.  Adding to the volume were main speakers right up next to us.  Ouch!  The sound out front was good (according to reports from the locals), and all of my stuff was in t...

Yacht Rock played the 10 High last night.  I wasn't in the mood AT ALL. davidfreemanmusic.net

Yacht Rock played on the local CBS morning show "Better Mornings Atlanta."  We had to be there at 3 AM.  That part was not too hard…I'm used to staying up late.  The fact that I had to stay awake until 7:30 AM or so…not so fun. We loaded into the TV studio at 3 AM.  Set up, soundchecked, changed.  We played a few bumpers (as the show was going to commercials) and a couple of camera shots. If you care, you can see the videos here: 5 AM segment 6 AM segment Web Extra Most of my stuff is inaudible.  You should be hearing piano on the first segment (on the chorus you can hear a little bit of the synth, so I know the line works).  The second segment is a little better--you can kind of hear me because the guitar and piano parts are kind of sparse.  The Web Extra segment is about like the first (I'm not there)--I love the part where there's the big synth solo and you can't hear anything. And you still can't.  And then Bencuya adds hi...

Wow!  Last night was a cool little trio gig.  Tonight was a terrific quartet gig.  Super fun!  We ( Tyrone Jackson , keyboard;  Kevin Smith, bass;  Marlon Patton, drums) were in the bottom of the Hub at the World of Coke.  I guess it was the acoustics of where were positioned, but we were able to play with all the energy that could be brought, and nobody was offended.  I was surprised--we were really pushing, and yet everybody was cool with it.  It made for a wonderful evening.  Wish I had more of these! The band was very generous in interpreting my tunes and putting up with my strange harmonic sense and bizarre phrasing.  I am EXTREMELY fortunate to get these guys.  Who could ask for anything more! Check out the audio (I promise it's worth it!): davidfreemanmusic.net