Thoughts From The Townedger-Feb Edition

It wasn't much of a month.  First three weeks we were snowed in and got a arctic blast in the process.  February is the worst month for snowstorms and cold once again.  Thankfully this past week we stayed above freezing.  The way it looks we may finally see most of the snow melt by next weekend.  We hope.

Ron LaFleur, our lead Boy Scout Hippie announced that Billy Bourbon is part of the band.  I'm not sure if Tommy Bruner is still there or part of the band or Billy playing bass.  I really haven't kept much tabs on Ron since the July 2020 FB Company Gig as fill in Boy Scout Hippie.   He rarely hangs around the open mics if he's not playing and usually leaves when I come up to play.  Kinda like Kimberly Sphr.  In her case, it's probably due to Julie in the background.   Never show up your favorite singer with anybody else. And I should have known better, a half year later after the fact. 

The Rumors Jam has return on Sunday but only six other jammers showed up (including Kimberly).  I didn't.  I was still in recovery from playing the North Liberty Gig.   Terry McDowell does a good job acknowledging who was there,  Tino and Mike Lint were the drummers in attendance.  I'm not sure when I i'll be seen there again.  Most of the old gang have yet to return.  Certainly Al Hendricks hasn't been there since the COVID attacks, nor Bird Burghdorff.  I'm not afraid to go up there but Julie gets worried that I do.  Even with a mask and social distancing, she worries that I might contract COVID.  So for her sake, I decided to opt out for now.  But then again, I went up there tonight, didn't play.  My incognito look Terry didn't know it was me. LOL 

Russ came back to buy back the four track portastudio that I got from him years ago.  He intends to use that as a mixing monitor for Blues Rox's performances.  I think I took it out of the case twice, the first day that I bought it and the day that Russ came over to pick it up.  The model has been discontinued and replaced by new models but Russ actually gave me back for what I paid for it.  I hope it still works.

The guess that this year I won't be seen at many Rumors jams, going in favor of the Acoustic Adventures and whatever Blues Rox has in store.  My drum playing has diminished since November and I'm getting to have more carpel tunnel issues than I would like.  It hasn't been easy for the Blues Rox gigs either.   This band is in need of some practice sessions and knowing how the songs go.  I wasn't impressed with the blues shuffle of Keep Your Hands To Yourself or Whole Lotta Shaking Going On, neither song works with the shuffle but by our forth set at JA Tap, we had no dancers and nobody was listening to the music outside of Deb and Matt, who offered their thoughts on the songs.  And it wasn't good.  Russ complained that the guys were doing songs in different keys.  If we are going to be a part of the music scene, we must get on the same page and key.  The JA Tap owner might like us for now, but if we continue to spin our wheels and sound like shit, there won't be another time.  We are looking at a June date to return.  Cedar Ridge and the Glass Tap will have us once the COVID crisis subsides and we get vaccinated. 

I don't have a fear of playing live or at open mics or jams.  The problem with Rumors is that the last time I was there, not a lot of folk were masking up or social distancing and some woman came up to Tommy and myself and sneezed up a storm.  I haven't supported a lot of bands at this moment due to COVID and plus the fact that I am becoming an old hermit as well.  I do owe Terry McDowell a couple visits with his Noize Junkies and Last Call band (or Flex).  I actually gotten disconnected over the same songs played over and over tho.  I guess I am showing my age. For Boy Scout Hippies, I really don't owe them anything.

Jill, one of the FB regulars asked me if I was going to drum for BSH in the future.  I don't foresee that. I had plenty of fun with them in 2019 and Ron paid me pretty well as a sub drummer.  The memories are fine.

I was talking to Dan Johnson about the fate of the blues jams in town and he said that for all purposes the Parlor City Blues Jam is now history but O'Malley's will start up the Thursday Night blues gigs and perhaps even Checkers will get in on the action.   Sadly, we both agreed that if and when the gigs return it will not be the same sad to say.   Sure I'll support whatever jams come out there but I do admit that perhaps my time ain't long for playing either.  I've been dealing with high blood pressure and constant being ill most of the time.  I may have to give up greasy foods.  When I order up pizza, it kills me and the heartburn won't go away either.   I don't think I'm documenting my demise, I still think I have a few years left in me to continue to play, but the loadout for toting those cymbals when we did North Liberty took me two days to recover.  

So that sums up another month of hardly any playing.  March should rebound with a couple more Acoustic Adventures dates and a Rumors sighting.  If I can get my BP under 150, I shall return.

Blues Rox-JA Tap 2.29.21

 

For this episode, I tried out the new 14 dry hats and ended up taking the special EFX top half off and trading it for the  14 inch dark crash.  It had the same sound as the quick beats, which will be back in use. I may use the top half as a china crash in future gigs.  The 22 inch swish knocker was put to use. To which after the performance I put back in the box and back into the closet.  Perhaps never to be used again.

Having six cymbals on stage nowadays tends to be overkill.  It took me an extra trip and 10 minutes to unload everything out in the car and below zero temps don't help the cause.  Next time we are back to North Liberty, I might try the Z Power Crash but I may not be happy with that one either.  The other cymbals used were my frontline cymbals, The Armund Ride, The Session Crash, the 18 inch dark crash and the 16 S trash/crash. the 17 inch crashes were left at home.

The gig went better than our last time there.  I kept dropping my drum sticks and when the last song came up, I just said fuck it and played with one hand.  The GD sticks were out of reach and I had some on the fencing behind me but they were not there and I basically had to go into damage control.   The guys suggested getting a stick holder for the next time.  Maybe I'll take them up on it.

Kris was dealing with a sore throat, so Brian was forced to sing the majority of songs.  Which might have been the case of a blues version of Keep Your Hands To Yourself.  It sounded weird but it did work in its own way.  Russ slashed his index finger and had to get it bandaged up for the last two sets. We're still not on the same page when it comes to playing together,  I think he gets jittery at times and doesn't quite where to go.  In that case, I had to follow Kris, since his leads are improvised.

I don't think much of the 9 30 to 1 30 playing time, we get home late and I'm all fucked up the next two days. But the JA Tap owner likes us and I'm sure we'll return there back in June.  By then the snow should be all melted away.

And...happy birthday to Ron. 

Artisan: Scaring Away Folks With My Love Songs

The Highway Is For Dreamers 

Girl From The Other Side Of Town

Correspondence 

Logic And Lies

Be With Me

Been Down So Long

Phil Koening (Guitar) and Freddy Jones (Harmonica) on Been Down So Long

I was listening to More Rodney Smith And The Townedgers album on the way over and the first two songs came off that album.  Both made their debuts.

Ron LaFleur was there with Fran but he had to go to bed early so he left right before my performance.  Which he usually does.  Kimberly Sphr opted for Karaoke music and left during Logic And Lies.  I gather she doesn't like my love songs for Julie.  She was welcome to sing on Gold Dust Woman, but she opted not to speak to me.  I suppose it's the conservativeness of them and perhaps they didn't want to hear my tribute to Rush Limbaugh, with a vocal only Oh Death.  Somehow I didn't sang that one.

Dave Bonham was there and closed the show.

Brian Bries, from Blues Rox, played three songs with Freddy helping out on one.  I don't know why Brian gets nervous of playing solo.  Hell, I have done this and conquered my stage fright.  Maybe the next time I will get Brian to help out on a song that I play.  

We had enough jammers to not have a jam session but Phil Bo and Freddy helped out on a cover of the Doors' Been Down So Long, a song I haven't played in a while. Both can adapt to my oddball arrangements.

The Artisan is moving back to Cedar Rapids.  After four years of being there, the place was sold and I guess there'll be another realtor or office building replacing the Sanctuary in Marion.  I considered it home for the past four years and there have been special memories of playing there.  The Blues Jam of last year, Julie's Benefit last January, the Maury Baker Jam next door at the Famous Mockingbird (a distant memory).   The hope is to return one more time and share the stage and go out with a bang. The new place is across from Coe, which used to be an office furniture store. In fact I worked there in 1987 doing key entry for about a week.  I will miss the old place but look forward to be playing a newer and perhaps a more open stage.  We'll see what Jim will have in store. 

Idle Times

It has been a big month of suck here.  If it ain't 20 below, then we are dealing with 6 to 8 inches of new snow.  It's been that way since January.  On a bright spot, we are half way through winter but on the down side we got Artic Siberia weather.  Even  Anchorage Alaska   is warmer than here.  And it's snowing again.

I've been stuck at home for four straight days.  To which I have been going through the archives of the Townedgers/Route 66 albums for songs to do for the acoustic adventures showcase later in the year.  For this month Blues Rox has two gigs coming up this month and next Saturday another artic blast will make the Norway show not a lot of fun.  Oh we'll get paid but I wonder if the frostbite will be worth it.

Just like that, the Norway show is RSCD.  Too cold to play.

(Redwing lineup early 80s?  Binger, Case, Dewitte, Krause) 

Doug Case's passing ends Redwing, the CR Country rock band of the 1980s, no relation to the Redwing band that recorded for Fantasy Records in the 70s.  Ron DeWitte and Don Timmons passed in 2019.  Turk Krause is the only living person.  The other guy was G Barry Blaise Binger who played bass and got into fights with other people.  He died in police custody in 1992, suffering a aneurysm and heart attack.  The booze controlled him.  We saw them play Kitty's in 1984 to which Binger called the crowd assholes to the point that our guitar player was ready to jump the stage and kick his ass.  But it was just Barry being his lovable self.  We crossed paths a couple times but I don't remember much of them.  He might have worked at Carma Lou's House of Music but the memory is fizzled.  I know one night we were there and the guy accused us of stealing things to which I told him you have to have something to steal and what you have isn't worth pissing on.   That got me banned for a while there, but I don't think it was Barry that chatised us.  If I remember much of Binger, its from some of the tales that I heard from others.  Fellow EGADs member Tim Nemec said that he and Barry would make obnoxious phone calls late at night from playing.  Randy Hartwig, our sound guy wanted to punch Barry in the face after seeing them play.  But there was something about Binger that I had to be on my caution.  In 1992, he tried to break into a woman's trailer screaming that somebody was trying to kill him.   Turns out his inner demons killed him.  Redwing always had a great lineup of musicians but there was something magical with Doug Case and Ron Dewitte playing and Binger and Timmons a steady rhythm section. All are missed. 

 

Jim Jacobmeyer is moving the Artisan Sanctuary back into Cedar Rapids sometime in March.  It's bittersweet for me;  I really wanted to get back to play on the outdoor stage in uptown Marion just like we did back in September.  For the past four years, the Artisan stage was where I crafted my music and songs to a appreciated  folks and dedicated musicians.  On the down side, it was a small and cramped stage.  I do believe I will support Jim and the new location.

The past couple months, I reconnected with Olivia  Mallard, who I saw out in Portland in 1999-2000 and helped me celebrated the new year in style back then.  Then she found somebody closer and we drifted apart, only to reconnect in 2008, which became the theme for Pawnshops For Olivia and then said goodbye to her in 2013.  We have hello a couple times and have shared a few laughs along the way, but these are different times.   She lives out on the west coast with her teenaged daughter.  When she came out in 2000, she developed walking phenomena that lasted for about five months.  No way, she's moving out here, the weather would kill her.  , Julie and me have been together for just about four years, and like most people we have our share of ups n downs. There's always temptations but anybody that knows me is that I am very loyal  and faithful when I'm with somebody.  And that goes back as far as when I wasted my high school years waiting for Jeanette to return, which she never did. I have a strong love and Julie is my love. 

For being a hobbyist gigging, I've always put the music first.  I don't date even when I could: I enjoyed coming and going and hanging at record stores to find music.  I have dated a few times, got lucky even less but I stressed that anybody I share the bed with, I would have to be in love with them.  It's been a while and I have to admit I'm a bit shy about going the next step further with Julie.  I do want that to be a great experience for her if we do take it further.   Julie is quite attractive, time has treated her great.  More so than me. 

I have heard  rumors about Checkers starting up the acoustic jam but due to COVID epidemics going around, it won't happen for a while longer, till we get vaccinated.  I'm in favor of that, so is Julie.  There is expressed interest of seeing the Acousta Kitties reunite, I would love to see that happen.  I am not so certain that Cathy Hart will sign off on the deal but I know Lorie would be in and I'm sure Julie will say yes to that too.   But like everything I write, there's a wait and see and most of the time they don't pan out. Just like Tyrus/Paraphernalia, it's more talk than action but Russ and I have now back together on stage again with Blues Rox.  If it wasn't for the Acousta Kitties and their involvement, I would still be playing drums only.

Our idiot Governor  COVID Kim has lifted the mask mandate and limited public gatherings so that everybody can catch the COVID or flu when you go bar hopping.  For the most part most of the bars and restaurants still have their social distancing and wear a mask rules.  For myself I will continue to wear a mask, continue to social distance and continue to be careful in this time of crisis.  For the Boy Scout Hippies (Ron and Tommy) and other defiant folks, they'll continue to do their own thing and I'll respect their wishes. But at the same time, my commitment to staying safe while about and out will remain so.   I have promised Julie that I wouldn't be bar hopping till things get better.  Which means the Sanctuary will be my only place of playing at for now.  For Blues Rox, I have drums and that will social distance me from everybody.  Better safe than sick.

So, it's been a quiet 2021, no thanks to COVID and shit weather.  but I'll be keeping busy playing and writing up new music.  Plus I still got 11 more episodes of The Untouchables to watch if I get too bored.