It's a rainy afternoon and I'm finishing up laundry. And getting ready for the busy cycle at work. I'm at work with my body, sneezing, hacking and coughing and dealing with back spams once again. So I'm feeling like shit on a shit day.
While I begin to take a sabbatical from the local jam sessions this month, I managed to spend the night with Julie And The Mad Dogs at the local watering hole, and this time out they did a much better try at War Pigs and Fairies Wear Boots. Tiffany Z, popped in for a few and we said hi and chatted for a moment, she's playing in 50 Shades Of Rock in Moline tonight. I hope to see her and her band soon. I did chat with Mike the drummer for a while and we talked drums of course and his love of Paiste 2002 cymbals. He also plays in another band that will be up in my neck of the woods tonight. Looks like Monticello has two drummers that I know of, him and Rocky Smith. One of the Anamosa faithful, Steve popped up on guitar for a song and we chatted a while too.
Tiffany Z, while talking about what we are doing for band projects did compliment me on that funky workout with Ernest and that Jimbo Starks/Clyde Stubblefield funky groove that I managed to pull off without messing up. Awfully nice of her to say that. She does keep up on new things to do and she was schooling the old crabb to keep it up. She still has plenty of years left to continue to be one of the best drummers around. And only gets better everytime I hear her play too.
The musical blahs has set in again, as I got together with Geoff and Pat about the next album or where it leads. Fitting Finales is only a half year old and it's too soon to really demo new material. And questions about doing any more jamming on the weekends as well. I am feeling my age at this point. Jule mentioned that she started her gig with the Acousta Kitties from 6 to 8 before doing her gig with the Mad Dogs Great musicians around here do play in 2 or more bands and make the sacrifice to rock and roll. I tip my hat off to them and to Tiffany to playing drums and going after a Masters Degree.
But as I get older in life, I have gotten used to working on my own time to complete albums and do gigs under The Townedgers banner. Plus I don't move as fast as I once did and lugging drums from gigs to gigs does take a toll without roadies. When I think about The Wiley Kats, we had good personnel, but I spoke the truth when I said I may not have time for that and to plan accordingly. There's always another drummer waiting to take your place if you're not dedicated enough, or having a working job. But I do know that there will be a day that I'll walk away even from the jam sessions. Sometimes I would rather just lounge on the couch and watch a DVD and pass out for an hour or two. The advantages of getting older.
But Dan Johnson and Terry McDowell play on, because they are good at it and have multiple bands. Perhaps they have to. When you're a professional you can do that, name your place and time and play. The hobbyist only has so much time to partake in jam sessions and or make a one song appearance if a local band is in town and you're at that place. Julie is good at that too, between the Acoustakitties, The Mad Dogs and Blue Scratch she keeps busy. I might have taken myself out of playing Parlor City or even Rumors when I opted out of The Wiley Kats, but it all boils down to economics and paying bills, or having fun for that matter. And in the end, playing for fun at popcorn jams meant more than trying to split 150 dollars three ways for a three hour gig and not knowing if you're going to get paid equally or at all.
It might be an interesting live Townedgers album if we get time and a place to do it. Being around Wiley and Julie and the rest of the music gang has prompted me to take notes on how to approach a live gig. Or even try to be back on stage again with my best friend in the future. The rock spirit is always there but then again something in life will come up and we'll have to postpone everything once again. And the damn yard needs to be mowed again.
Saturday, 30 April 2016
Monday, 25 April 2016
Popcorn Jam-4/24/16 Twistin' With Ernest
Lineup:
Tim Duffy-Keyboards, guitar and vocals
Jason Christensen-Lead guitar and vocals
Dan Johnson-Bass guitar and arranger
The Townedger-Drums
Sippie Bynum-Vocals (When You Love A Woman Blues, The Twist)
Music Director: Dan Johnson
Last week turned out to be the final performance of The Wiley Kats, a month long band that featured Tim Wiley and myself and I wasn't too pleased with my effort. But with my regular work becoming busier and busier, I told Ben on Wednesday that I was out and then told Tim the next day. He was doing guitar lessons at that point and would call me back later. And still hasn't.
I spent the afternoon in Iowa City at my place of employment for about a couple hours, then went record and CD hunting and then returned up to Rumors during the break. Tiffany Z from 50 Shades Of Rock managed to surprise us by showing up for a rare time. She's moving to LaCrosse and was part of MOTORBOAT too. I met Tiffany during the Women Of Rock Popcorn Jam, which I had the honor of playing drums to Jess Toomsen on bass and Tommy Bruner on guitar and Bart Carfizzi on piano. I still consider her in the top 5 drummers in the area, she can play just about anything she knows and is a total sweetheart. I really haven't discuss drums at great length with her but I kinda caught a bit of her discussing some sort of cymbals she was talking about. I think she has a love of old Zildjian cymbals; in her drumset she does have Sabians mixed into the fold. She was asking about the age of some that she might have found or played. My guess, since they don't have the labels is that they're probably late 60s, early 70s Zildjian A's. As I left her to head out to finish up my shopping she was talking to Jon Wilson who damn near stole the show with his jazzy drums fills on his portion of the jam. Tiffany proved to hold her own on her set and even throwing some double bass petal drum action on Cocaine. I talked to Dan Johnson as I was saying goodbye and he was asking questions about her. I think he was blown away by her playing too.
While last week was Shuffle Sunday, this time out it was more straight ahead rock and roll, there was one shuffle, Jason Christensen did Further Up The Road. Mike Lint sang his Ain't No Sunshine song, Tim followed up with Heard It Through The Grapevine and then Further Up The Road. There might have been one more song we did but I don't recall it (yet). After that, we brought up Ernest to do his two songs of fame. One is Bring It On Home which became more of a blues. It became When You Got A Good Woman Blues, a pleading song to love your woman. And then his trademark song The Twist.
Now I been on Tim Duffy's butt about doing this song with Ernest. Last time Jon Wilson beat me to it, before that Seth Williams but this time it was my turn and I took off and running. Instead of following the shouts of Ernest, I had to lean heavily on Dan Johnson's bass. He was the one holding things together. Perhaps the most fun part of the song was when my drum solo came up, I used the Cold Sweat beat of Clyde Stubblefield and managed to pull it off. The icing on the cake and the perfect way to end my drumming for the day. I even had a few of customers giving me compliments for doing a great job on drums. That made me feel real good.
Afterwards, Tiffany sat in a few songs and then Jon Wilson concluded things. As I mentioned before Jon is a professional drummer, he usually brings the bare minimum for drums but give him a complete drumset and he can do wonders. Even professional drummers can lose focus or get a song they're not familiar with. In Jon's case it was Stop Draggin My Heart Around. Still he can run circles around me on the jazzy numbers or the triple time on the cymbals although him riding the Z power crash annoyed a few of the traditionalists out there. But then again I rode that cymbal too.
But for the first time in about a month, I didn't have Tim Wiley around. Which felt like a relief this time out. I been around him for a month and he's a good guitar player and getting better; his drawback remains that he's doesn't extend himself more often playing lead and extending the song out. I've grown up being in bands that improvise on the spot, from Paraphernalia Tyrus to The Townedgers and I/O, and Tim and I discussed that a few times when we were together. But if you're going to host a jam session, you have to play for an hour songs that you know without messing things up. Tim tends to rub the right people the wrong way, usually laying blame on somebody else. I do not know the specifics of what happened the previous times he was there trying to get on stage, he certainly didn't make friends with the host jammers. And heading down to rival jams after your done will put the host jammers off. I seldom talked to Wiley after our performances, he's out the door and gone away. He's very impulsive, very flying off the handle at each crisis that does come up. I do hope that I have calmed him down in our time together and hope that when he starts up The Wiley Kats once again, he'll find the right group of musicians that will compliment his playing.
On the other side of first avenue at Cooters, Tim Wiley did play there and Mike Williams complimented him on his great guitar playing. And at Rumors I did my best drumming in a while.
A win win for everybody.
Tim Duffy-Keyboards, guitar and vocals
Jason Christensen-Lead guitar and vocals
Dan Johnson-Bass guitar and arranger
The Townedger-Drums
Sippie Bynum-Vocals (When You Love A Woman Blues, The Twist)
Music Director: Dan Johnson
Last week turned out to be the final performance of The Wiley Kats, a month long band that featured Tim Wiley and myself and I wasn't too pleased with my effort. But with my regular work becoming busier and busier, I told Ben on Wednesday that I was out and then told Tim the next day. He was doing guitar lessons at that point and would call me back later. And still hasn't.
I spent the afternoon in Iowa City at my place of employment for about a couple hours, then went record and CD hunting and then returned up to Rumors during the break. Tiffany Z from 50 Shades Of Rock managed to surprise us by showing up for a rare time. She's moving to LaCrosse and was part of MOTORBOAT too. I met Tiffany during the Women Of Rock Popcorn Jam, which I had the honor of playing drums to Jess Toomsen on bass and Tommy Bruner on guitar and Bart Carfizzi on piano. I still consider her in the top 5 drummers in the area, she can play just about anything she knows and is a total sweetheart. I really haven't discuss drums at great length with her but I kinda caught a bit of her discussing some sort of cymbals she was talking about. I think she has a love of old Zildjian cymbals; in her drumset she does have Sabians mixed into the fold. She was asking about the age of some that she might have found or played. My guess, since they don't have the labels is that they're probably late 60s, early 70s Zildjian A's. As I left her to head out to finish up my shopping she was talking to Jon Wilson who damn near stole the show with his jazzy drums fills on his portion of the jam. Tiffany proved to hold her own on her set and even throwing some double bass petal drum action on Cocaine. I talked to Dan Johnson as I was saying goodbye and he was asking questions about her. I think he was blown away by her playing too.
While last week was Shuffle Sunday, this time out it was more straight ahead rock and roll, there was one shuffle, Jason Christensen did Further Up The Road. Mike Lint sang his Ain't No Sunshine song, Tim followed up with Heard It Through The Grapevine and then Further Up The Road. There might have been one more song we did but I don't recall it (yet). After that, we brought up Ernest to do his two songs of fame. One is Bring It On Home which became more of a blues. It became When You Got A Good Woman Blues, a pleading song to love your woman. And then his trademark song The Twist.
Now I been on Tim Duffy's butt about doing this song with Ernest. Last time Jon Wilson beat me to it, before that Seth Williams but this time it was my turn and I took off and running. Instead of following the shouts of Ernest, I had to lean heavily on Dan Johnson's bass. He was the one holding things together. Perhaps the most fun part of the song was when my drum solo came up, I used the Cold Sweat beat of Clyde Stubblefield and managed to pull it off. The icing on the cake and the perfect way to end my drumming for the day. I even had a few of customers giving me compliments for doing a great job on drums. That made me feel real good.
Afterwards, Tiffany sat in a few songs and then Jon Wilson concluded things. As I mentioned before Jon is a professional drummer, he usually brings the bare minimum for drums but give him a complete drumset and he can do wonders. Even professional drummers can lose focus or get a song they're not familiar with. In Jon's case it was Stop Draggin My Heart Around. Still he can run circles around me on the jazzy numbers or the triple time on the cymbals although him riding the Z power crash annoyed a few of the traditionalists out there. But then again I rode that cymbal too.
But for the first time in about a month, I didn't have Tim Wiley around. Which felt like a relief this time out. I been around him for a month and he's a good guitar player and getting better; his drawback remains that he's doesn't extend himself more often playing lead and extending the song out. I've grown up being in bands that improvise on the spot, from Paraphernalia Tyrus to The Townedgers and I/O, and Tim and I discussed that a few times when we were together. But if you're going to host a jam session, you have to play for an hour songs that you know without messing things up. Tim tends to rub the right people the wrong way, usually laying blame on somebody else. I do not know the specifics of what happened the previous times he was there trying to get on stage, he certainly didn't make friends with the host jammers. And heading down to rival jams after your done will put the host jammers off. I seldom talked to Wiley after our performances, he's out the door and gone away. He's very impulsive, very flying off the handle at each crisis that does come up. I do hope that I have calmed him down in our time together and hope that when he starts up The Wiley Kats once again, he'll find the right group of musicians that will compliment his playing.
On the other side of first avenue at Cooters, Tim Wiley did play there and Mike Williams complimented him on his great guitar playing. And at Rumors I did my best drumming in a while.
A win win for everybody.
Friday, 22 April 2016
Thoughts Of The Townedger-April Edition
I'm sitting here watching the moon slide across the sky through my window. So many things on my mind so little time
I live to see the nights of the full moon rising across the skies. It's kind of a nice ending to a hectic week. Of course you know by now that Prince passed away at age 57. I do admit I don't love his music and the only I do have is The Black Album and I found that for a dollar and finally got around playing it. The early years of Prince before Purple Rain and 1999 broke him big time, he proved to be a genuine talent, who can danced like James Brown and play like Jimi Hendrix. I admire him to be a visionary spirit, and a love of keeping music alive. He never strayed from his digs in Minnesota and remained there. I think he was a very shy person who either couldn't interact with everybody but when he got on stage he let the music do the talking. And he was a music collector too, even buying music up till the day he died. Not since the passing of Michael Jackson has the music world been buzzing with tributes and kudos. But we lost so many people already this year. And will continue to do so as we all gather up in age. Prince gave so much of himself to the point, that he simply wore out. But the guy never failed to amaze people when he played. That makes him a true rock star. And they broke the mold when they made Prince
Lonnie Mack had more of an influence on me rather than Prince. His version of Memphis Tennessee and Wham inspired a young boy named Stevie Ray Vaughn and Stevie Ray pay it forward and looked up Lonnie for a nice 1985 comeback album Strike Like Lightning. Memphis Tennessee still remains a classic jukebox record classic and should be played should you find a jukebox with real records.
I'm not sure the future of music will give us another Prince or Lonnie Mack. There hasn't been nobody that the major record label has given us so far that makes memorable music. Sure isn't Georgia Florida Line, it sure isn't Cole Swindell or Luke Bryan. Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus might be considered rockers with attitude but so far they haven't made any memorable sort of music. And I have no idea what's rock and roll anymore. There's some bands I like (Uncle Acid) but most of the best new music have come from local bands and musicians. Tommy Bruner, Wooden Nickel Lottery, and local discovery The Dawn but anything the major labels puts out is unremarkable or unmemorable. The days of breaking an artist on album is gone. And it's a shame really.
After 10 plus months of weekend jam sessions, I'm cutting back. Due to us getting busy at work and I simply had no time to give to The Wiley Kats. I've shared the stage with Tim for the past four/five weeks and he can play guitar quite well. If there's an knock on Tim, it's that he doesn't extend himself out of the comfort levels of the original recordings. We butted heads on the intro to Voodoo Chile and instead of a long 6 to 8 minute song, ours is basically 2 and a half minutes. But then again that was doing practice when we were hashing things out. There's sense of friction between him and the other jammers it seems, he tends to pack up and go after he's done jamming and hit the other Sunday Afternoon acoustic jam, but that's never unfazed me. Tim has upfront with me in the time we did the Wiley Kats project. As I can tell, when Tim Duffy replaced Ben Bernard for the Popcorn Jam, Duffy extended the song a bit more, which might have thrown Tim Wiley out of his comfort zone. All it is, remains a strictly jam for fun. Which alas, I didn't have much fun last Sunday and probably sit a few out in the coming months. I'll support them anyway I can but I exceeded my allowed shuffle songs for the whole year. And need to take a little break too.
I thought by this time, I would be able to host a popcorn jam or two but so far I haven't. And basically I don't think it's gonna happen at all. I'm too lazy to haul my drumset down to Rumors and I rather not have them bang on the DW set. I have been looking for a pickup drumset to haul to gigs but that's not going happen either. Bart kinda blew me off the time I inquired about hosting one and I never followed up. On the outside looking in, I guess and I have always been on the outside looking in and always will be. I have managed to make a few new friends on the music scene and have gotten to jam with some of the finest out there (Jess Toomsen, Kenny Webb, Barth Walter, Ben Bernard, Tommy Bruner, Jason Christensen, Dan Johnson, Terry McDowell, Julie Gordon, many others). But I must be honest, in order to play in a bar band, you have to play the old war horses of classic rock and I cannot bring myself to do Sweet Home Alabama or Margaritaville at all. And the bands that considered hiring me do play those old war horses and Hotel California too.
With The Townedgers, it's different. I play the lesser known cover songs and my originals and I got spoiled by my thinking on this. That question came up when Tim Wiley was throwing La Grange or Pride And Joy my way. Or well Bart throws out an Hall And Oates song. I think it's more fun to play originals and obscure stuff rather than the tried and tired. It's fun doing One Way Out, cuz nobody else does it. It's not fun when you're subject to four shuffle songs in a 7 song setting at a jam session. Which was the reason why I opted out of The Wiley Kats. And to be clear, it's one thing to quit your job when your 25 and have your life ahead of you. It's another when you're 55 and your job pays your bills and quitting that to split 250 dollars three ways playing songs you don't want to play doesn't sound like fun. Been there done that.
I came back to music scene to dip my toe in the water, to see if I can do this, play along better musicians and hang around chatting about music and drums. And I've done that. And I think I did very well considering the circumstances. If there's a lull at my job this summer, I'm sure I'll be back with a vengeance and this might help with the next Townedgers album.
Since Martin Daniels has gone into production, Pat Jones has replaced him. Pat has played with The Night Flowers and The Bums as well as local country bands Highway 41 and Runaway Trains. If and when time allows, Geoff Redding and I will get together with him and maybe something good will happen.
The door is always open for Rod Albaugh to join up. As well as Russ and Dwayne from the Open Highway years. Dennis Lancaster is invited but he makes way too much good money as a airlines pilot to quit to join a band competing with 250 dollars split four/five ways. You might get a good chesseburger and a half tank of gas for your car to get home.
I'm partial to anything Julie Gordon thinks up as doing, provided if my work don't get in the way. But knowing her if I do show up at a Julie and Mad Dogs gig, she'll find a way for me to play drums on a song or two.
I doubt if Tim Wiley will host a popcorn jam. He doesn't seem to be very popular with the hosts up there. He tends to rub people the wrong way, especially the ones that have pull to get you to host a jam. He says that he gets good rapport from Dennis McMurrin and Dan Johnson and even Bob Dorr when he played the blues jam two weeks ago. Could it be when he said he can get gigs he just dreaming? I donno. I only know (faintly) Checkers Tavern and Rumors but not enough to convince them about getting any gigs for the band. I have no problem with Wiley, he can jam with me anytime, but as for a full time band again, let's just say we tried it.
Geoff would like to do a live recording since The Townedgers haven't done a live recording since 2007 and not a official once since 2003. We talked of putting together a best of, but I think we have put that on the shelf for the time being.
Now I know how Russ felt when I had to do La Grange last week. Didn't want to do it but I did. And I didn't have fun either. But I would rather play La Grange rather play 18 holes of golf, I'm not good at it and don't care.
Doubt if Tommy Bruner and I will do a record project anytime soon. He's got Past Masters and his solo career and album. If he wants me to provide drums for any songs, I be over there right now.
I do think I'm one of the top drummers in Cedar Rapids area. Probably the best unknown hobbyist right now. Best drummer in town: Terry McDowell. Tiffany Z was but she's now moved to Wisconsin. Ones I like: Stan Hersom, Troy Harper, Mike Serbousek, DJ Havenstout, Pat Geasland. I know I'm missing others. Herm Sarday is pretty good, but he tends to grate on people's nerves. Rocky Smith, is a power drummer and a wildman, but sometimes he gets too wild. Those double cymbal boasts tend to be too show offish. I'll tell you this, I do play a fast driving beat that has gotten better since coming back on the scene. If I'm in the zone, I can't be topped.
Sometimes I wonder what this life would have been if I had my own son or daughter playing music. Almost 17 years ago I dated a good woman from afar and it looked like things would get serious. Oh once in a while, somebody will post a picture of her and her daughter, and in the back of my mind I think that could have been my daughter. The drawback was it was never meant to be. In this life it always been music, drums and records, and I would never get out of the record store to be a good boyfriend, always looking for more bargains and recording new music. Martin tells me, it was not in the cards, she took one look at your drums, your guitar, your music collection and she knew it wasn't going to work. It's better not to bring a life into this world if you're not able to surrender time and effort for the family. And I know that very well. You can't change into somebody that you're not, for after a while, you return to your old self and sometimes there are women that rather not be with musicians. And my fate was sealed many years ago, long before I met that good woman from afar. But in a moment of solitude, I can't help but think, what if. But I'll never know.
My favorite Prince album? Dirty Mind (the one that has When You Were Mine on it).
I live to see the nights of the full moon rising across the skies. It's kind of a nice ending to a hectic week. Of course you know by now that Prince passed away at age 57. I do admit I don't love his music and the only I do have is The Black Album and I found that for a dollar and finally got around playing it. The early years of Prince before Purple Rain and 1999 broke him big time, he proved to be a genuine talent, who can danced like James Brown and play like Jimi Hendrix. I admire him to be a visionary spirit, and a love of keeping music alive. He never strayed from his digs in Minnesota and remained there. I think he was a very shy person who either couldn't interact with everybody but when he got on stage he let the music do the talking. And he was a music collector too, even buying music up till the day he died. Not since the passing of Michael Jackson has the music world been buzzing with tributes and kudos. But we lost so many people already this year. And will continue to do so as we all gather up in age. Prince gave so much of himself to the point, that he simply wore out. But the guy never failed to amaze people when he played. That makes him a true rock star. And they broke the mold when they made Prince
Lonnie Mack had more of an influence on me rather than Prince. His version of Memphis Tennessee and Wham inspired a young boy named Stevie Ray Vaughn and Stevie Ray pay it forward and looked up Lonnie for a nice 1985 comeback album Strike Like Lightning. Memphis Tennessee still remains a classic jukebox record classic and should be played should you find a jukebox with real records.
I'm not sure the future of music will give us another Prince or Lonnie Mack. There hasn't been nobody that the major record label has given us so far that makes memorable music. Sure isn't Georgia Florida Line, it sure isn't Cole Swindell or Luke Bryan. Lady Gaga and Miley Cyrus might be considered rockers with attitude but so far they haven't made any memorable sort of music. And I have no idea what's rock and roll anymore. There's some bands I like (Uncle Acid) but most of the best new music have come from local bands and musicians. Tommy Bruner, Wooden Nickel Lottery, and local discovery The Dawn but anything the major labels puts out is unremarkable or unmemorable. The days of breaking an artist on album is gone. And it's a shame really.
After 10 plus months of weekend jam sessions, I'm cutting back. Due to us getting busy at work and I simply had no time to give to The Wiley Kats. I've shared the stage with Tim for the past four/five weeks and he can play guitar quite well. If there's an knock on Tim, it's that he doesn't extend himself out of the comfort levels of the original recordings. We butted heads on the intro to Voodoo Chile and instead of a long 6 to 8 minute song, ours is basically 2 and a half minutes. But then again that was doing practice when we were hashing things out. There's sense of friction between him and the other jammers it seems, he tends to pack up and go after he's done jamming and hit the other Sunday Afternoon acoustic jam, but that's never unfazed me. Tim has upfront with me in the time we did the Wiley Kats project. As I can tell, when Tim Duffy replaced Ben Bernard for the Popcorn Jam, Duffy extended the song a bit more, which might have thrown Tim Wiley out of his comfort zone. All it is, remains a strictly jam for fun. Which alas, I didn't have much fun last Sunday and probably sit a few out in the coming months. I'll support them anyway I can but I exceeded my allowed shuffle songs for the whole year. And need to take a little break too.
I thought by this time, I would be able to host a popcorn jam or two but so far I haven't. And basically I don't think it's gonna happen at all. I'm too lazy to haul my drumset down to Rumors and I rather not have them bang on the DW set. I have been looking for a pickup drumset to haul to gigs but that's not going happen either. Bart kinda blew me off the time I inquired about hosting one and I never followed up. On the outside looking in, I guess and I have always been on the outside looking in and always will be. I have managed to make a few new friends on the music scene and have gotten to jam with some of the finest out there (Jess Toomsen, Kenny Webb, Barth Walter, Ben Bernard, Tommy Bruner, Jason Christensen, Dan Johnson, Terry McDowell, Julie Gordon, many others). But I must be honest, in order to play in a bar band, you have to play the old war horses of classic rock and I cannot bring myself to do Sweet Home Alabama or Margaritaville at all. And the bands that considered hiring me do play those old war horses and Hotel California too.
With The Townedgers, it's different. I play the lesser known cover songs and my originals and I got spoiled by my thinking on this. That question came up when Tim Wiley was throwing La Grange or Pride And Joy my way. Or well Bart throws out an Hall And Oates song. I think it's more fun to play originals and obscure stuff rather than the tried and tired. It's fun doing One Way Out, cuz nobody else does it. It's not fun when you're subject to four shuffle songs in a 7 song setting at a jam session. Which was the reason why I opted out of The Wiley Kats. And to be clear, it's one thing to quit your job when your 25 and have your life ahead of you. It's another when you're 55 and your job pays your bills and quitting that to split 250 dollars three ways playing songs you don't want to play doesn't sound like fun. Been there done that.
I came back to music scene to dip my toe in the water, to see if I can do this, play along better musicians and hang around chatting about music and drums. And I've done that. And I think I did very well considering the circumstances. If there's a lull at my job this summer, I'm sure I'll be back with a vengeance and this might help with the next Townedgers album.
Since Martin Daniels has gone into production, Pat Jones has replaced him. Pat has played with The Night Flowers and The Bums as well as local country bands Highway 41 and Runaway Trains. If and when time allows, Geoff Redding and I will get together with him and maybe something good will happen.
The door is always open for Rod Albaugh to join up. As well as Russ and Dwayne from the Open Highway years. Dennis Lancaster is invited but he makes way too much good money as a airlines pilot to quit to join a band competing with 250 dollars split four/five ways. You might get a good chesseburger and a half tank of gas for your car to get home.
I'm partial to anything Julie Gordon thinks up as doing, provided if my work don't get in the way. But knowing her if I do show up at a Julie and Mad Dogs gig, she'll find a way for me to play drums on a song or two.
I doubt if Tim Wiley will host a popcorn jam. He doesn't seem to be very popular with the hosts up there. He tends to rub people the wrong way, especially the ones that have pull to get you to host a jam. He says that he gets good rapport from Dennis McMurrin and Dan Johnson and even Bob Dorr when he played the blues jam two weeks ago. Could it be when he said he can get gigs he just dreaming? I donno. I only know (faintly) Checkers Tavern and Rumors but not enough to convince them about getting any gigs for the band. I have no problem with Wiley, he can jam with me anytime, but as for a full time band again, let's just say we tried it.
Geoff would like to do a live recording since The Townedgers haven't done a live recording since 2007 and not a official once since 2003. We talked of putting together a best of, but I think we have put that on the shelf for the time being.
Now I know how Russ felt when I had to do La Grange last week. Didn't want to do it but I did. And I didn't have fun either. But I would rather play La Grange rather play 18 holes of golf, I'm not good at it and don't care.
Doubt if Tommy Bruner and I will do a record project anytime soon. He's got Past Masters and his solo career and album. If he wants me to provide drums for any songs, I be over there right now.
I do think I'm one of the top drummers in Cedar Rapids area. Probably the best unknown hobbyist right now. Best drummer in town: Terry McDowell. Tiffany Z was but she's now moved to Wisconsin. Ones I like: Stan Hersom, Troy Harper, Mike Serbousek, DJ Havenstout, Pat Geasland. I know I'm missing others. Herm Sarday is pretty good, but he tends to grate on people's nerves. Rocky Smith, is a power drummer and a wildman, but sometimes he gets too wild. Those double cymbal boasts tend to be too show offish. I'll tell you this, I do play a fast driving beat that has gotten better since coming back on the scene. If I'm in the zone, I can't be topped.
Sometimes I wonder what this life would have been if I had my own son or daughter playing music. Almost 17 years ago I dated a good woman from afar and it looked like things would get serious. Oh once in a while, somebody will post a picture of her and her daughter, and in the back of my mind I think that could have been my daughter. The drawback was it was never meant to be. In this life it always been music, drums and records, and I would never get out of the record store to be a good boyfriend, always looking for more bargains and recording new music. Martin tells me, it was not in the cards, she took one look at your drums, your guitar, your music collection and she knew it wasn't going to work. It's better not to bring a life into this world if you're not able to surrender time and effort for the family. And I know that very well. You can't change into somebody that you're not, for after a while, you return to your old self and sometimes there are women that rather not be with musicians. And my fate was sealed many years ago, long before I met that good woman from afar. But in a moment of solitude, I can't help but think, what if. But I'll never know.
My favorite Prince album? Dirty Mind (the one that has When You Were Mine on it).
Monday, 18 April 2016
The Wiley Kats-Rumors 4/16/16
There are some days that I think I can do this, there are others that I don't think I want to play anymore. Sunday falls into the latter.
I may have too much sunshine when I went out trail walking at the Nature Center. Playing phone tag with Ben and Tim about practicing at some point and finding that we can't seem to be on the same page together, and I blame myself most of the time due to indifference and working evenings and trying to balance this band, along with The Townedgers, Record World blog, and record collecting. And basically trying to soul search at the same time. There was a reason why I didn't venture into playing in other bands once Paraphernalia went by the wayside, with the only interest of playing a jam session from time to time. There was side projects along the way, The Routers in the early 90s, I/O with my best friend Russ in 2009 and subbing for drummers at forgotten venues along the way. But I did miss jamming with musicians and so I returned back last year. And then meeting with Tim Wiley off and on, not thinking of getting into something like a power trio such as The Wiley Kats.
Make no mistake Tim is a very crafty guitarist, he's good at what he does. When he's done with the Popcorn jam, he's off to Cooters to jam with Dan Hartman and Mike Williams. On Tuesday Night, he's hitting Parlor City with Dan Johnson and company and sometimes Wednesday Night frequents Checker's for the acoustic jam. I work nights and really haven't shown much interest to hit every jam session in town, Wrigleyville, when I could do it, Parlor City not much so. I hoped someday to perform Spoonful with Bob Dorr and Dan Johnson but I come to find that it gets bumped lower on the bucket list of things to do each week. The more I continue to do The Wiley Kats thing, the more I'm opted to just go back being with The Townedgers and just do my own thing. The Townedgers are a better fit for myself since I have hardly time to dedicate myself to the cause that is The Wiley Kats.
Ben Bernard is another great bass player that I have enjoyed the time of being with, and we discussed different songs to do to relieve Wiley of trying to sing every song that is thought of. And we made plans to do something to get together but something falls through, or plans already made fall on deaf ears. Tim is an very impulsive person, last week he ended up calling me three times after the Rumors jam after I told him I wasn't going home, had to do errands and grab a bite to eat. Half the time, I'm trying to calm him down about Ben's behavior and the other band he was in. The other half Tim mentions about getting kudos from the likes of Dennis McMurrin and Dan Johnson and a few other hardcore blues musicians in town. Or his role in the Kirkwood jazz band. To which I continue to remind him that I may not be able to continue down this blues road, that I am a hobbyist among the professionals out there and I'm not that keen on doing shuffle beat songs through the whole night. And that texas shuffle beat has always been my Achilles heel and I never did like playing La Grange all that much. I'm a straight ahead rock and roller, not a blues drummer along the likes of Jon Wilson or Rob Haskins, or Cody Collings. I still remind Tim to keep an open mind and keep on jamming with more folks out there, and other drummers. I'm there to provide a beat and encouragement, but I'm becoming a bit more discouraged as time goes on.
Nevertheless I wasn't in the best frame of mind going to the Popcorn Jam. Ben had plans already in place, so Tim Duffy was drafted into playing bass. Tim Duffy has been a mainstay on the CR music scene but he's finally making good on his promise to move to Georgia next month and we'll give him a nice sendoff. The Lab Rats was the main band, which meant Terry McDowell had his drum set up there and I could do a few things with his set rather than the electric drums of Kim Bean. We did seven songs that lasted about 25 minutes, mostly Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff and four of the songs were Texas Shuffle songs So Excited, La Grange, Pride And Joy and Cold Shot, the latter song, I played a much faster beat. Wiley did a fine job of Scuttlebuttin, and So Excited but then we went into shuffle song number 2 La Grange. A short version of Red House Blues and then I suggested Crossroads, something with a straight beat before concluding the whole thing with Cold Shot and Pride And Joy. Bart Carfizzi came up to play keyboards on Red House, Cold Shot and Pride And Joy. To with that, I relinquished the drum throne to Dana (Rocky) Smith (no relation to me), Wiley went off to Cooters, and that was it. Terry provided support, even though I didn't do that great of a job on drums, he kept my spirits up by saying I did pretty good and we both got a good chuckle out of Dana's drum boastings, the man can hit those cymbals very hard. Terry, the pro that he is, did add a few exclamation points double bass drum beats and we all concluded the jam with a version of Hush, to which I did share the stage with Tommy Bruner for a rare chance, although I was singing backing vocals. I know Bart wanted to do that song for a while now and I think we made him happy in the end.
But for myself, the jam really didn't feel like fun, it felt like work and not in a good way. The obvious reason why I retired from band playing. It starts out fun and then all of a sudden it goes into some sort of music that I'm not that interested in playing. There was a inner tension when we all on stage. Certainly there'd be something that rile Tim off, usually Duffy threw a different chord in the song or Bart rearranging the song differently. Perhaps me messing up a beat or going too fast on Cold Shot. I don't think Wiley made many friends when he went out the door after we finished up but I knew that Tim always did that, he never stuck around for the end of the Popcorn Jam and I can't blame him. But I'm more comfortable at Rumors and I never set foot in Cooters, that'd be a whole different atmosphere. And if I'm not at ease in any place, I usually not go, although I'm sure Dan Hartman and Mike Williams wouldn't mind me coming down there.
And so it goes. The only recourse is try to get more interested into something that I'm becoming bored with and not being a good fit. Ben has a couple weeks off and hopefully we can make arrangements to practice and keep the hours we agreed upon. But I'm beginning to wonder if Wiley is living more of a fantasy of us becoming music superstars in a dying market in his own mind (I heard it all before, quit your job, make big bucks playing live 250 dollars split three ways, recording contract, playing bars etc etc). The key remains Ben being a part of this band, we lose him, we lose practice space, an extra drum set to practice on. I think it's essential to keep him, plus he is a good bass player. Plus, I don't know the bar scene, nor anybody associated with the local bars to score gigs. I also come to conclude that I'm not gonna be hosting any popcorn jams in the near future. I don't think Wiley will be either.
So I'll spend the week pondering how to my enthusiasm back into this power trio blues band. Tim Wiley makes a great Wiley Kat, but not a Townedger.
In the end, this photo of Wiley pretty much sums up the month long tenure of being part of his band. Donno how Kevin managed to get this photo but damn he caught a moment of time.
Songs:
Scuttlebuttin
So Excited
La Grange
Crossroads
Redhouse Blues
Cold Shot
Pride And Joy
Lineup:
Tim Wiley-Guitar, vocals
Tim Duffy-Bass, vocals
R.S.-Drums
Bart Carfizzi-Keyboards (Redhouse Blues, Cold Shot, Pride And Joy)
I may have too much sunshine when I went out trail walking at the Nature Center. Playing phone tag with Ben and Tim about practicing at some point and finding that we can't seem to be on the same page together, and I blame myself most of the time due to indifference and working evenings and trying to balance this band, along with The Townedgers, Record World blog, and record collecting. And basically trying to soul search at the same time. There was a reason why I didn't venture into playing in other bands once Paraphernalia went by the wayside, with the only interest of playing a jam session from time to time. There was side projects along the way, The Routers in the early 90s, I/O with my best friend Russ in 2009 and subbing for drummers at forgotten venues along the way. But I did miss jamming with musicians and so I returned back last year. And then meeting with Tim Wiley off and on, not thinking of getting into something like a power trio such as The Wiley Kats.
Make no mistake Tim is a very crafty guitarist, he's good at what he does. When he's done with the Popcorn jam, he's off to Cooters to jam with Dan Hartman and Mike Williams. On Tuesday Night, he's hitting Parlor City with Dan Johnson and company and sometimes Wednesday Night frequents Checker's for the acoustic jam. I work nights and really haven't shown much interest to hit every jam session in town, Wrigleyville, when I could do it, Parlor City not much so. I hoped someday to perform Spoonful with Bob Dorr and Dan Johnson but I come to find that it gets bumped lower on the bucket list of things to do each week. The more I continue to do The Wiley Kats thing, the more I'm opted to just go back being with The Townedgers and just do my own thing. The Townedgers are a better fit for myself since I have hardly time to dedicate myself to the cause that is The Wiley Kats.
Ben Bernard is another great bass player that I have enjoyed the time of being with, and we discussed different songs to do to relieve Wiley of trying to sing every song that is thought of. And we made plans to do something to get together but something falls through, or plans already made fall on deaf ears. Tim is an very impulsive person, last week he ended up calling me three times after the Rumors jam after I told him I wasn't going home, had to do errands and grab a bite to eat. Half the time, I'm trying to calm him down about Ben's behavior and the other band he was in. The other half Tim mentions about getting kudos from the likes of Dennis McMurrin and Dan Johnson and a few other hardcore blues musicians in town. Or his role in the Kirkwood jazz band. To which I continue to remind him that I may not be able to continue down this blues road, that I am a hobbyist among the professionals out there and I'm not that keen on doing shuffle beat songs through the whole night. And that texas shuffle beat has always been my Achilles heel and I never did like playing La Grange all that much. I'm a straight ahead rock and roller, not a blues drummer along the likes of Jon Wilson or Rob Haskins, or Cody Collings. I still remind Tim to keep an open mind and keep on jamming with more folks out there, and other drummers. I'm there to provide a beat and encouragement, but I'm becoming a bit more discouraged as time goes on.
Nevertheless I wasn't in the best frame of mind going to the Popcorn Jam. Ben had plans already in place, so Tim Duffy was drafted into playing bass. Tim Duffy has been a mainstay on the CR music scene but he's finally making good on his promise to move to Georgia next month and we'll give him a nice sendoff. The Lab Rats was the main band, which meant Terry McDowell had his drum set up there and I could do a few things with his set rather than the electric drums of Kim Bean. We did seven songs that lasted about 25 minutes, mostly Stevie Ray Vaughn stuff and four of the songs were Texas Shuffle songs So Excited, La Grange, Pride And Joy and Cold Shot, the latter song, I played a much faster beat. Wiley did a fine job of Scuttlebuttin, and So Excited but then we went into shuffle song number 2 La Grange. A short version of Red House Blues and then I suggested Crossroads, something with a straight beat before concluding the whole thing with Cold Shot and Pride And Joy. Bart Carfizzi came up to play keyboards on Red House, Cold Shot and Pride And Joy. To with that, I relinquished the drum throne to Dana (Rocky) Smith (no relation to me), Wiley went off to Cooters, and that was it. Terry provided support, even though I didn't do that great of a job on drums, he kept my spirits up by saying I did pretty good and we both got a good chuckle out of Dana's drum boastings, the man can hit those cymbals very hard. Terry, the pro that he is, did add a few exclamation points double bass drum beats and we all concluded the jam with a version of Hush, to which I did share the stage with Tommy Bruner for a rare chance, although I was singing backing vocals. I know Bart wanted to do that song for a while now and I think we made him happy in the end.
But for myself, the jam really didn't feel like fun, it felt like work and not in a good way. The obvious reason why I retired from band playing. It starts out fun and then all of a sudden it goes into some sort of music that I'm not that interested in playing. There was a inner tension when we all on stage. Certainly there'd be something that rile Tim off, usually Duffy threw a different chord in the song or Bart rearranging the song differently. Perhaps me messing up a beat or going too fast on Cold Shot. I don't think Wiley made many friends when he went out the door after we finished up but I knew that Tim always did that, he never stuck around for the end of the Popcorn Jam and I can't blame him. But I'm more comfortable at Rumors and I never set foot in Cooters, that'd be a whole different atmosphere. And if I'm not at ease in any place, I usually not go, although I'm sure Dan Hartman and Mike Williams wouldn't mind me coming down there.
And so it goes. The only recourse is try to get more interested into something that I'm becoming bored with and not being a good fit. Ben has a couple weeks off and hopefully we can make arrangements to practice and keep the hours we agreed upon. But I'm beginning to wonder if Wiley is living more of a fantasy of us becoming music superstars in a dying market in his own mind (I heard it all before, quit your job, make big bucks playing live 250 dollars split three ways, recording contract, playing bars etc etc). The key remains Ben being a part of this band, we lose him, we lose practice space, an extra drum set to practice on. I think it's essential to keep him, plus he is a good bass player. Plus, I don't know the bar scene, nor anybody associated with the local bars to score gigs. I also come to conclude that I'm not gonna be hosting any popcorn jams in the near future. I don't think Wiley will be either.
So I'll spend the week pondering how to my enthusiasm back into this power trio blues band. Tim Wiley makes a great Wiley Kat, but not a Townedger.
In the end, this photo of Wiley pretty much sums up the month long tenure of being part of his band. Donno how Kevin managed to get this photo but damn he caught a moment of time.
Songs:
Scuttlebuttin
So Excited
La Grange
Crossroads
Redhouse Blues
Cold Shot
Pride And Joy
Lineup:
Tim Wiley-Guitar, vocals
Tim Duffy-Bass, vocals
R.S.-Drums
Bart Carfizzi-Keyboards (Redhouse Blues, Cold Shot, Pride And Joy)
Monday, 11 April 2016
A Wanted Hobbyist For Your Band?
We Are The Townedgers. We Rock. We Roll. Expect Us.
But there's something other called The Wiley Kats, this new venture that I have found myself in. With Tim Wiley and Ben Barnard, who has practice space AND a drum set already set up. Ben is 20 years younger than both Tim and myself but he's amazed me with a old record collection of rock and roll classics, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Pat Travers, Spooky Tooth, even Fat Mattress. I think Ben would fit better in a metal band, in fact he does have a metal side project. He's a good guy and has surprised me in his playing.
I have heard conflicting stories about Tim and some of other musicians around town. Which might explain why he hasn't been in any bands of late. I have a feeling that he's been upfront with me on this band and as long as he remains upfront with me, I don't forsee any problem. But I continue to tell Tim that my job comes first, I remain a hobbyist to this band (The Townedgers will always be my first creative output) but The Wiley Kats are more in line to make more money playing live gigs. As long there's not a conflict of interest, I'll help anyway I can to put the groove into the music.
I'm amazed of the compliments that I have been getting about my playing, especially the last weekend when I was dropping drumsticks and keeping the beat with one drumstick. Ernest, The Soul Guy actually thought about getting something together. I love the way he revisits the song The Twist and puts the soul into Bring It On Home. I'm more happier just to keep it to the Popcorn Jam but the guy has really made me revisit the old Al Jackson Jr groove. Nobody does soul music anymore, nor does soul drumming. But it's something I might willing to try, if the stars align just right.
The weekend Popcorn Jam, Jon Wilson (Left, Dan Johnson Middle, Ryan Plelan Right) brought out an marching bass drum to try on us unsuspecting jammers along with his cymbal, high hat, snare lineup. Jon is a professional drummer, who does play in the Parlor City blues jams on Tuesday and a few others and is a part of whatever Dan Johnson or Brook Hoover or Skeeter Davis does. Wilson's less is more drumset, I have to really keep things simple and to try to play in a stripped down style. It's not easy but I do adjust to what he brings, be it a 22 inch Sabian Hand Hammered Ride or 16 inch Artisan/Sabian High Hats. I quizzed him on how many drumsets does he have and he said something like 6 or 7 different sets. Somewhere in his house, he has a John Bonham type of Ludwigs. Wilson might be one of the tightest drummers out there in the CR music scene and he does so much with so little. I know he has a rapport with Dan Johnson and Brook Hoover when it comes to the Popcorn Jam. He tends to lose patience with drummers using his drumsticks or I ask one too many questions but usually it's time to pack up and go, he's wants to pack up and go home (or to some other gig) with little chit chat. But he was quite pleasant while talking to me on about his drum setup earlier on. But then again he can pick and choose of whom to jam with, professional folks can do that. And those Vault Hi Hats are not cheap. Musicians Friend has a 14 inch for 582 dollars! But I do thank Jon for letting me test drive them for about 45 minutes this Sunday. I still like my Quick Beats Hats better though.
For the past couple weeks, I have returned to using the Zildjian Impulse crashes and ride. Which might explain why I might be playing much louder than before. But in the previous jam with Kim Bean's electric drum set there's a more intense sort of playing. Even in the pictures the look of intensity has returned for the first time since the Tyrus years. Each day I continue to practice hard on the drums, I get some of that drive and spirit that I thought I lost a long time ago. It might pay off for the next Townedgers project or if and when The Wiley Kats do play. We have thought up about 20 songs to practice with and getting familiar with with The Kats. There has been talk about The Kats doing Rumors in June or July and perhaps Cooters. I know the stage of Rumors could fit the whole drums I have but Cooters it would be the one Bass drum, one snare, one cymbal thing. And they may not want me there. It might get loud.
Bring ear plugs.
But there's something other called The Wiley Kats, this new venture that I have found myself in. With Tim Wiley and Ben Barnard, who has practice space AND a drum set already set up. Ben is 20 years younger than both Tim and myself but he's amazed me with a old record collection of rock and roll classics, Robin Trower, Frank Marino, Pat Travers, Spooky Tooth, even Fat Mattress. I think Ben would fit better in a metal band, in fact he does have a metal side project. He's a good guy and has surprised me in his playing.
I have heard conflicting stories about Tim and some of other musicians around town. Which might explain why he hasn't been in any bands of late. I have a feeling that he's been upfront with me on this band and as long as he remains upfront with me, I don't forsee any problem. But I continue to tell Tim that my job comes first, I remain a hobbyist to this band (The Townedgers will always be my first creative output) but The Wiley Kats are more in line to make more money playing live gigs. As long there's not a conflict of interest, I'll help anyway I can to put the groove into the music.
I'm amazed of the compliments that I have been getting about my playing, especially the last weekend when I was dropping drumsticks and keeping the beat with one drumstick. Ernest, The Soul Guy actually thought about getting something together. I love the way he revisits the song The Twist and puts the soul into Bring It On Home. I'm more happier just to keep it to the Popcorn Jam but the guy has really made me revisit the old Al Jackson Jr groove. Nobody does soul music anymore, nor does soul drumming. But it's something I might willing to try, if the stars align just right.
The weekend Popcorn Jam, Jon Wilson (Left, Dan Johnson Middle, Ryan Plelan Right) brought out an marching bass drum to try on us unsuspecting jammers along with his cymbal, high hat, snare lineup. Jon is a professional drummer, who does play in the Parlor City blues jams on Tuesday and a few others and is a part of whatever Dan Johnson or Brook Hoover or Skeeter Davis does. Wilson's less is more drumset, I have to really keep things simple and to try to play in a stripped down style. It's not easy but I do adjust to what he brings, be it a 22 inch Sabian Hand Hammered Ride or 16 inch Artisan/Sabian High Hats. I quizzed him on how many drumsets does he have and he said something like 6 or 7 different sets. Somewhere in his house, he has a John Bonham type of Ludwigs. Wilson might be one of the tightest drummers out there in the CR music scene and he does so much with so little. I know he has a rapport with Dan Johnson and Brook Hoover when it comes to the Popcorn Jam. He tends to lose patience with drummers using his drumsticks or I ask one too many questions but usually it's time to pack up and go, he's wants to pack up and go home (or to some other gig) with little chit chat. But he was quite pleasant while talking to me on about his drum setup earlier on. But then again he can pick and choose of whom to jam with, professional folks can do that. And those Vault Hi Hats are not cheap. Musicians Friend has a 14 inch for 582 dollars! But I do thank Jon for letting me test drive them for about 45 minutes this Sunday. I still like my Quick Beats Hats better though.
For the past couple weeks, I have returned to using the Zildjian Impulse crashes and ride. Which might explain why I might be playing much louder than before. But in the previous jam with Kim Bean's electric drum set there's a more intense sort of playing. Even in the pictures the look of intensity has returned for the first time since the Tyrus years. Each day I continue to practice hard on the drums, I get some of that drive and spirit that I thought I lost a long time ago. It might pay off for the next Townedgers project or if and when The Wiley Kats do play. We have thought up about 20 songs to practice with and getting familiar with with The Kats. There has been talk about The Kats doing Rumors in June or July and perhaps Cooters. I know the stage of Rumors could fit the whole drums I have but Cooters it would be the one Bass drum, one snare, one cymbal thing. And they may not want me there. It might get loud.
Bring ear plugs.
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