Thursday, April 22, 2010

Drums are too loud!

I got my new Alesis SR16 drum machine and I've programmed a great drum track for "Don't Let Me Down". I ran it through my PA and recorded it with microphones to get a more real/live drum kit sound. It works great but Nancy told me she could hear and "feel" the drums coming up from the basement. That means my neighbors may have been able to hear as well. That's good to know so I don't try this in the middle of the night sometime! I also laid down one rhythm guitar track. I plan on another rhythm track, a bass, and a lead guitar for the cool riffs at the beginning and end and to sprinkle some pizzazz throughout the choruses.

4th of July gig coming in Ashton, ID

I will be the performing two sets at the Ashton, ID July 4th celebration. It will be outdoors sometime during the day. I'll get specifics later. They are expecting covers so I will play mostly those, but I will sprinkle in some of my own material.

Pat's BBQ performance

Attended open mic at Pat's BBQ hosted by Rich Parkinson from NSA. Played these songs:

See You Tonight
Heaven is You
Roll Your Way
Forever and a Day
Looks Like Rain

Word on the street is I was "zippidy-doo-dah-man" and tore through the songs at breakneck speed! I'll have to slow it down to normal speed next time around. I met some great guys who call themselves Sons of Mother's. We're going to try to collaborate a little and see where it goes. I could use another set of ears on my tunes.

Friday, April 2, 2010

Jam at Spectrum Studios

Had a great time last Friday, March 26 jamming out with some friends at a gallery party at Spectrum Studios in Salt Lake City. Several artists have their studios there and the gallery exhibits a lot of their work, glass, fish glass, metal, digital artwork, and animation, multi-media. There's some really cool stuff.

John Linkletter at OSHA has a band Stucco Dog and they could not make the gig, so he assembled some friends and we played for 2 hours whatever popped off our heads. Some of it wasn't so good, but there were some great moments. Everyone at the gallery had a great time. It was really good to be able to play with a group, which I have not done in a very long time. It was even better to have my wife, Nancy, there to adjust the sound to get a good mix and balance.
We stuck ourselves off to the side in the loading area. We are going at it with John on one of his trusty harps. Man can he blow some tunes! He's great with a harmonica. Behind me is Ben on bass and Cindy on drums.
I got some good use out of the electric guitar!


Look out for this guy! Fantastic crazed look. I'm probably wondering what the next chord is!