Acousta Crabby Set at The Long Branch 8-25-17-The Last One For A While

Tony Nickles-host


Songs:

Cinnamon Girl*
I Always Wanted To Be With You
Light My Fire**
All Along The Watchtower**
Logic And Lies**
The Life We Lead
Jet Airliner**
Fever***

*Debut
** Tony Nickles-Percussion
*** Belinda James-Lead Vocals

Compared to Wednesday Night, the set list was a bit more shorter and more to the point.  I didn't want to get into the more depressing songs such as First Cut Is The Deepest and I kinda of spaced off on doing Everybody's Talking.  Tony's dad took the night off so I borrowed him for percussion on some of the songs and enlisted Belinda to help out on Fever.  We could have done Come Together I guess or perhaps Gold Dust Woman but I thought ending the night with Fever would be a high point.

I started the night off watching Ryan Phelan's band Dr. Z Experiment at New Bo and managed to hang the whole night and not go anywhere else.  I got to jam with Ryan Tuesday Night at Parlor City and he's a more jazzier and r and b driven guitar player.  I can hear elements of George Benson when he plays.  They did a cool version of Weather Report's Birdland.  Then off to The Long Branch.

Not a lot of people there but there was more than the Checker's Jam the other night.  Mark Randolph and Joe the bass player was there as well as couple other folks, Belinda was there.  I can count on her to help out on some songs that need a female vocal.  The first song we ever did together was Fever a couple years ago and I played drums, this was the second time I played guitar with her singing it.  For a new song I dusted off my first run through of Cinnamon Girl, the Neil Young song in the original Drop D chord, and it sounded a bit weird than usual but I think it's the way to go, moreso the ending note of that song.   For my final summer tour promoting the album Logic And Lies, I used more uptempo and uplifting songs rather than the depressing stuff I usually do.   We had a crowd about 20 people in a corner and they were listening and they did applaud at the end of most songs.  I was going to do Get It Over With but Tony suggested Logic And Lies so I went with that song.  Having Tony play percussion I did extend songs like Jet Airliner and All Along The Watchtower.  I could have done more songs, Tony would have let me done that.  But I think doing a whole set the other night burned me out a bit.  Still doing 8 songs is more than the average of four to five songs per acoustic jam night if you get a big turnout.  With less people you can do more songs but I thought the high point was Fever and Belinda singing it.   There was no need to continue on.

With that, my summer tour and being on vacation is done for now.  Next week, we will be busy at work and the only commitment I have is with Julie And The Mad Dogs next Friday to welcome back Julie on the music circuit after her knee replacement.  Both Cedar Rapids and The Quad Cities River Bandits have made the playoffs so that Wednesday I'll be either at Cedar Rapids or Davenport and will forgo any Wednesday Acoustic Jams.  Priority will go to the Friday Night Acoustic jam with Tony Nickles in September; if Ryan Matthew Paul is back in town, I'll support The Dreams Of Arcadia.  There are two events in September, one is the Whittier Jam and then the Vinton fundraiser. There's events featuring Four Day Creep, FLEX and Inch 75 to consider but the outdoor events are coming to an end.  There'll be practices with The Egads!, if anything else that comes up, call it speculating at best.  I seem to be doing a lot more with ghost acts than actual players when it comes to recording projects.  As for The Townedgers, the albums are done, they're in the can and I don't forsee any other projects forthcoming.   We talk of doing a new album but I've done four albums in 10 months and even I'm burned out of all this music we have done.  Last time I was this ambitious was 1983!  I only wished I was this good back then.

I would love to jump on a plane and go somewhere, Arizona is always nice, I love the Pacific Northwest but it's so damn far and time consuming to get there.  The East Coast would be nice before the snows, I'd love to see Brooksie out there.  I've known her for 15 years and haven't seen her since 2004.  She's been a good supporter of my music efforts and she is into sports too and we do keep in touch.  I'm not much into flying anymore.  But I can't think of anybody else that would be into sports and into music like Brooksie.  I do know she'd love to take in a ball game out here.

For now, I can put away the guitars for a spell and take a bit of vacation before the Whittier Jam or something sooner.  I don't know how Tommy Bruner, Brook Hoover or even Dan Johnson do this; play music day in and out and still managed to not get fatigued.   It seems I do four or five songs for a jam and then need a nap.  God forbid if I have to do a 9 to 1 bar gig playing drums full tilt, I probably would have a heart attack on stage.  And perhaps that is the idea way to leave this life, doing something more meaningful rather than a job that pays the bills but dealing with adverse people. Maybe I have been doing this the hard way, playing sets and then going home and blogging about it, keeping a diary of what was going on. Like 1984 when I was playing off and on, and today is that the groupies are still hiding and I have yet to find them.  But when you're 56 years old, it's a given that once the music is over, the only certainly is tearing your drums down and taking them and yourself home alone once again.   And I guess there's really nothing we can do about it.

So I have to live life the way I have been prior before unretiring, make friends, make music, strike up conversations with the people and continue to take notes and come and go in my own way.  I resigned to the fact that I won't be in the Iowa Rock n Roll Hall Of Fame or even known to anybody outside of the crazy drummer at Rumors playing a couple songs and putting wear and tear on Terry Mcdowell's drums or the intense acoustic guitarist at Checkers or Long Branch playing originals that nobody will hear and forgotten covers, but rest assured people will hit the dance floor once I start up the chords to Sweet Home Alabama.   It doesn't matter I forget the words, they'll dance to it.  And sing to it.

Nothing I can do but go with it.