Thursday, April 07, 2005
....And I'm Never Gonna Be Dylan.....
Just a short one before a day at work.
I don't know why I haven't blogged at all this week. I've been busy, but not that busy. Maybe I haven't been inspired. I usually just decide I want to write something then just sit down and start. Most of the time I don't have an idea when I start writing, I'm just filling space. Like right now......
Missed Joe's open mic on Tuesday. Here they were a little light. He assures me that it's not going anywhere which is good to hear. I was over at Mike's playing with him a little bit. We worked out some tunes as I'm playing with him in Hot Springs on Saturday night. Two bedroom suite comes with the gig, so it's an overnighter. Should be a lot of fun. When we started playing, the first thing we worked out was a Willy Grigg tune, "After All We've Done." Playing a Willy Grigg tune makes me feel so cool! Playing covers is one thing, playing covers by someone I know is even cooler.
Last night's open mic was fun. I showed up early to play a little with Mike. We did a few tunes, I'll show up anywhere to play a Bob Dylan tune with mic. Playing harp on a Dylan song is so cool, because, and this is no offense to Mr. Dylan, the bar isn't set to high. It's all about feeling, not technical skill. I love Bob Dylan, but to quote Willy Grigg "but I'm not Bob Dylan and I'm never going to be Dylan....". I enjoy playing Springsteen songs on harp for the same reason. Both are known for their harp playing, but it's not really their strength. There music just lends itself to a little harp line here and there. I play differently than both of them, they both tend to blow chords and play in a choppy style, I try to blow single notes and be a little smoother. When I play a Dylan tune, I try to end every solo with a big fat chord out of respect for the way he does things.
So we did Dylan's "I Shall Be Released," Toad the Wet Sprocket's "Walk on the Ocean," the Eagles' "Hotel California," more in a Gypsy Kings style and finished it up with creator of acrossroads.com Ken's all-time favorite, BNL's "Brian Wilson." It ended up being a really busy night. TSA didn't show, I had a phone message when I got home that he wasn't feeling well, but if he did there wasn't an actual guarantee that we'd play. Well, there probably was because of who we are, but not playing gave some other people a little more time.
I finished the nght playing with Angel. That was interesting because she's a relatively new guitar player and really plays to her own rhythm anyway. Sometimes hard to follow, but that's really good for me, as I sometimes assume too much when I play. Having to acutally listen is never bad for me.
Quite a few students from the school I sub at were in attendence. At least one girl said, "Hey, that's that guy who subbed for us in......." Not that I'll have to deal with that, but now kids will be asking me about it. Luckily, not too many students at the high school know about my appearance on Jeopardy!.....
BOJ
I don't know why I haven't blogged at all this week. I've been busy, but not that busy. Maybe I haven't been inspired. I usually just decide I want to write something then just sit down and start. Most of the time I don't have an idea when I start writing, I'm just filling space. Like right now......
Missed Joe's open mic on Tuesday. Here they were a little light. He assures me that it's not going anywhere which is good to hear. I was over at Mike's playing with him a little bit. We worked out some tunes as I'm playing with him in Hot Springs on Saturday night. Two bedroom suite comes with the gig, so it's an overnighter. Should be a lot of fun. When we started playing, the first thing we worked out was a Willy Grigg tune, "After All We've Done." Playing a Willy Grigg tune makes me feel so cool! Playing covers is one thing, playing covers by someone I know is even cooler.
Last night's open mic was fun. I showed up early to play a little with Mike. We did a few tunes, I'll show up anywhere to play a Bob Dylan tune with mic. Playing harp on a Dylan song is so cool, because, and this is no offense to Mr. Dylan, the bar isn't set to high. It's all about feeling, not technical skill. I love Bob Dylan, but to quote Willy Grigg "but I'm not Bob Dylan and I'm never going to be Dylan....". I enjoy playing Springsteen songs on harp for the same reason. Both are known for their harp playing, but it's not really their strength. There music just lends itself to a little harp line here and there. I play differently than both of them, they both tend to blow chords and play in a choppy style, I try to blow single notes and be a little smoother. When I play a Dylan tune, I try to end every solo with a big fat chord out of respect for the way he does things.
So we did Dylan's "I Shall Be Released," Toad the Wet Sprocket's "Walk on the Ocean," the Eagles' "Hotel California," more in a Gypsy Kings style and finished it up with creator of acrossroads.com Ken's all-time favorite, BNL's "Brian Wilson." It ended up being a really busy night. TSA didn't show, I had a phone message when I got home that he wasn't feeling well, but if he did there wasn't an actual guarantee that we'd play. Well, there probably was because of who we are, but not playing gave some other people a little more time.
I finished the nght playing with Angel. That was interesting because she's a relatively new guitar player and really plays to her own rhythm anyway. Sometimes hard to follow, but that's really good for me, as I sometimes assume too much when I play. Having to acutally listen is never bad for me.
Quite a few students from the school I sub at were in attendence. At least one girl said, "Hey, that's that guy who subbed for us in......." Not that I'll have to deal with that, but now kids will be asking me about it. Luckily, not too many students at the high school know about my appearance on Jeopardy!.....
BOJ
# posted by Blind Orange Julius @ 6:42 AM 
