Monday, March 14, 2005

 

Give Me a Grin

So I played music in front of people for the first time in two weeks last night. I hadn't gone that long in over a year, and I was frankly a little worried before TSA and I took the stage. We got together in the afternoon to practice a little. We worked on the two new tunes and "I Know All the Presidents" for a little while before things broke down and we ended up watching "Napolean Dynamite" and then going to get something to eat. Distractions aside, the practice was good, just having played together is always a big help.

Cheers was practically deserted when we arrived last night. The open mic has been moved up an hour to 7pm, but the place doesn't really get hopping until after 8 on a Sunday night. Shawn was sick, so GF1 was alone in his hosting duties though he did receive a big assist, as always, from Uncle Bill. Gary, Bill and Josh (on his new drum kit) kicked off the evening with a few tunes, gave away a few prizes and then vacated the stage for "Slappy is Jebus." I say vacated, though Bill and Josh hung around and played with us. Bill has joined us (and P957 before that) a number of times, bass adds so much to our sound. Josh on the drums was interesting not that I have anything against Josh, but that I've avoided drummers as much as possible in my musical forays. I'm getting more and more used to playing with drummers though and, gasp, would welcome a drummer to play with us again.

First up was Are You Drinkin' with Me Jesus, which we're always sure to introduce as a song of mistaken identity. I love this song, but crowd reaction is often mixed. Some people (not too many, but some) take it the wrong way, as blasphemy. Too bad for them, no blashemy is intended. Some people just don't pay attention. Then there's the folks at the bar. Damn, I could probably make a career of music if every place I played didn't have tables but only allowed people to sit at the bar. And this tune does particularly well with the folks sitting at the bar.

We followed that up with Two Condoms. For a song I kind of wrote accidentally and then shelved for a long time, I'm suprised at how well it's received. I only started playing it again because I was playing an open mic in Piedmont and needed some more originals. It got a good response there, got added into what Andy and I do and it's become a staple. Andy's adding really nice backups on the "fourteen items or less" line. It's a simple song (for Christ's sake, I wrote it.....) but it's little touches like that that really make it a gem.

Rollin' & Tumblin' was next. For once I had more verses in my head than I was going to use in the song and had to pick some and discard others on the fly. TSA and I have been playing this song together for a long time now, playing it with 957 when JB had to take bathroom breaks. We came to an understanding a long time ago that his wrist can only handle 6 verses of this song, I've never violated that. Last night I was tempted. Part of the reason I was tempted was that time really seemed to fly during the song. We flew through the song, of course, because Josh sort of took of on drums and sort of dared the rest of us to keep up. Not to get down on Josh, we were all having trouble hearing each other, so tempos were sort of all over the place. Other musicians complained about the same thing, even though everyone sounded great out front. TSA let me do my little harp intro and I was glad to see some of the real musicians in the crowd seem to be enjoying it.

We kept the Muddy Waters thing going with Got My Mojo Workin'. We assumed that this was going to be our last song, so I really let loose, starting the growl earlier than ususal. Uncle Bill was really working the bass, Josh laid down a nasty groove and TSA was, well, TSA - rock solid as ever. In the past when we've played with other folks, I've taken the lead, sort of leading the other musicians, adding instructions where necessary. Andy took over those duties last night which is the way it should be, it's sort of hard for me to give instructions while I'm singing or have a harp in my mouth. He broke everyone down for the Who Do You Love section, Josh's drumming particularly tasty during that part of the song.

We're already to pack it in when GF1 told us to do one more. My voice was pretty trashed after the last song, but short discussions began. Andy and I have been pretty good about deciding/knowing what we're going to play before we go on stage. This is a far cry from the 957 days when there was a long discussion before every song. We decided on the Mojo Nixon classic Vibrator Dependent, as far as I'm concerned, it's always good to start and end a set with a Mojo Nixon song. This is another one of those songs that if people aren't paying attention they won't really think anything of it, well, until the kazoo solo. I love watching women while we play this song, as the slowly realize what I'm singing about. Sometimes you get a scream, usually just a grin, which is good enough for me.

And it is. I'd rather make somebody smile or laugh than applaud. I'm never going to dazzle anyone with my instrumental prowess. I'm never going to offer profound insight, particualry in a bar. No, I'll take a smile anyday.


BOJ

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