Thoughts From The Townedger-October Edition

I had an amazing weekend for a change.  Saturday I got together with Rod Albaugh, our scanner technician repairman.  We talked about getting together to have a bit of fun and so I took him up on a offer to blast away the blues.  He lives in Clarence, about a forty minute drive from my place and its on the way to Davenport on highway 30.  Clarence is a small town, it has a Casey's, it has a pizza bar and it has the Union Pacific going through it.  Rod has played in other bands, most notably Fluid which they opened for Mean Street And The Hell Horns one New Year's Eve, and I have heard their CD, it's pretty good.  It didn't take much for convincing, he had his own drumset up there, so all I have to do was to bring some cymbals.  He's got a PDP set, an offshoot of DW and he had set up just right for my type of drum playing.  He has a room in the basement that has not only a practice spot but a place to record things, Shit I wish my room was that organized. He had guitars, amps, PA system, mixing board, practically a place for a band to play at.  His next door neighbor plays bass and he was part of Tan Yer Hide.  Rod can play guitar, bass and drums too.  In fact, he was playing them drums pretty wild when I took over vocals and guitar on Summertime Blues.  We all switched off instruments and ran a few songs of note and I got to play a couple of Townedger songs, Wolfie and Be With Me, but we mostly extended the songs into jams and impromptu things.  I don't think much will be made into this, but if it did I think it could be a nice jam band of sorts.  But they need a lead singer.

Sunday, there was a jam tribute to Kyle Oyole, a fine musician who quickly passed away on  Thursday, so most of Cedar Rapids' finest musicians spent five hours playing tunes in tribute to the fallen guitar ace.  While my previous blog post remains true, I do wish I would have known Kyle sooner than the three months of jamming on the weekends.  Bart Carlizzi did an excellent job giving everybody a chance to play, including the 10 drummers that did show up including myself.  Patrick bought some of those bongo drums to pound on, but give him a real drum set and he tears into it.  I wished I could have gotten to jam with Brook Hoover on Spirit In The Sky, that honor went to Herman Surdy, the drummer who works at Guitar Center and plays in Kick It.  My favorite local band Wooden Nickel Lottery played two originals that the crowd loved, and they're getting ready to open for Anthony Gomes in Davenport next month.  I got to jam with the insane Craig DeWitte on guitar and Dan Hartman on a wild Johnny B Goode and Evil Ways, (with the bass player from In the Attic in tow, don't know his name but he was a trooper).  I'm sure Craig had a few beers in him when we hit the stage, he's the most craziest person I ever share the stage with but his guitar playing is so good I have to shake my head on how he does it.  Tim Duffy came on bass to do the last two number which we finished with Merle Haggard's The Fugitive.  Here's Mr. Dewitte having fun with Terry McDowell on perhaps the last song of the night Can't You See.  Special props to Big Mac for providing the drums, to which I owe him a new pair of sticks after turning his into toothpicks.

I guess there's a method to my madness that has won the musicians over, that I have received so many compliments about my style of drumming and that they're surprised to find that I'm not playing in other bands other than The Townedgers. D.J. when he took the stage to drum on Dreams That I'll Never See (Molly Hatchet Version) he played damn near like the record.  He plays live a few more times I got to hang with him and Terry as well, talking drum stories.   Mike Lint, he's 22, up and coming and the future looks bright for him too, he had an interesting viewpoint,  he noticed that when I go up stage I get jittery and a bit tight and he suggested that I lighten up and not get too tight.  He does have a point, I always go on stage nervous as hell, part of it is butterflies, part of it is stage fright. And of course being too much of a perfectionist.  I should loosen up a lot more often.  I think a caffeine buzz and a bit jittery. but in all reality after I was leaning back against the wall after Johnny B Goode, it was actually kinda of an act.  I tend to rest my elbows on the hi hat cymbals, it may look like I'm bored but in reality it's an act.   I can be a character of sorts, but not as wild and wacky as say Craig or Ross is.   Mike's a good guy, you'll be hearing a lot more from him in the CR music scene. I promise you that.

The jam sessions and getting together with fellow musicians has put the Fitting Finales on the backburner, but the deadline to get the record out looms near and I'll be finishing up the drum tracks on that soon, but I think I said that last blog.   I come to conclude that the summer jams made me miss interacting with fellow musicians and that perhaps I can keep a beat with the best of them.  It feels good when people say that I'm a excellent drummer.  Most of the CR musicians have been very nice and have welcomed me into their circle too.  Will it lead me to join new bands around town, well I'm not giving up my nighttime job, that pays the bills better than a weekend gig at the Chrome Horse.  But if the situation is right, and I get the right kind of people anything is possible.   With the focusing on drumming, I haven't picked up the guitar since finishing the tracks for Fitting Finales, except for this weekend when I was howling into the microphone on Let's Work Together.  I am happy of my work with The Townedgers to the point that I can move on to the next big thing.  The Townedger won't be going away anytime soon mind you.  But as I get into working within a band mode and seeing what new goodies are out for drums, I will turn my focus into drumming once again. If the next band can tolerate me for more than two songs on jam sessions nights.

But in the great beyond, I'm sure Kyle was looking down with pride and amused that so many came out to give him one final send off, but regardless he'll always be one of us, and be with us in spirit.  RIP Jam Brother.  We will miss you.