It's Sunday and Lynn and I have sort of recovered from playing 4 hours at Dulono's last Friday. We were amazed but ultimately not surprised at the number of people who turned out. Lynn had sent out a 'mark-your-calendars' email in December, and a lot of people told us they had and were planning to come. We put posters up at church and in our neighborhood coffee shops and stores and 1/4 page 'flyers' at Cuppa Java. Tommy was home and distributed posters at places in uptown and in the end brought in over a dozen of his friends. At the end of the night, the manager of Dulono's said that if he had known, he would have upped the staff a bit. He said Al Jesperson usually warns him if a bigger than usual turn out is expected, but he also said that we put on a good show and he'll be glad to have us back (yippee!)
I had come down with a cold earlier in the week and although my voice was recovering by Thursday, I was a little worried that it would affect our performance. However, it stayed strong throughout the night just getting a little rough at the end of the last set. We had prepared 3 sets of 14 songs each and that pretty much filled out the evening. We started the last set at about 5 to 11 and augmented that set with 3 'repeats' from the first set, so did a total of 45 songs and tunes. Both of our sons were 'impressed' that we knew that much stuff and also with the new songs we added since they last heard us. Although there were a few word flubs, I was really pleased with our playing and singing.
Our sound system was adequate, but I did have the master volume cranked over 3/4 of the way toward max. Of course Dulono's is a restaurant and bar - there was lots of crowd noise and 'movement'. I saw a number of people trying to listen and we did turn up the sound after the first set. At the beginning we had Dave Leussler listening and had a pretty good balance, although there were feedback issues with my guitar (which I think got fixed by the 3rd set).
When we were done, we had some help packing up then had a pizza and a coke before loading up the car. We also got paid -- in cash. (This was one of our best paying gigs - the money is similar to a good night at Tapestry, but we get to keep it all; however, I'll still be keeping the day job.) We got home well after 1:00, then unpacked the Van and didn't really get to sleep until 2:00. Although we might have slept in a little more, we had to take Tommy to the airport at 9:00 so didn't get enough sleep and spent Saturday kind of trashed and 'napping'.
Lynn said she was going to make a list of everyone she remembered coming. I know a few people came and left before getting tables. It looks like we'll be doing this again, not sure we'll ever get as large a crowd again, but at least for the next one or two bob-i-lynn gigs Dulono's will be staffing up.
This marks another stage of our development as a 'band'. We now know we have the stamina and the repertoire to play a full night at a 'club'; and from feedback from both friends and 'strangers' know that we put on a pretty good show. I guess another lesson is that the music we play is somewhat 'obscure', but a lot of people like it, even if they aren't old-time or bluegrass music fans. We're also pretty sure that one night in the weekend is about all we can handle, we can do a Friday or Saturday Dulono's type gig, but not a whole weekend.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Set lists for Dulono's gig on Jan 4th, 2008
Lynn and I are starting the new year with our first full-time appearance at Dulono's Pizza, one of the longest-running Bluegrass/Old Time Venues in the US. We've played a number of 45 minutes sets at Dulono's for MBOTMA fund raisers, but this is the first time we've done the full evening (8pm to Midnight). We started with a list of over 50 songs and tunes that were 'performable', then whittled it down to 3 sets of 14 (42 total). From past experience, each set should last an hour or a bit more: with breaks, we should fill out the evening. If we need a 4th short set, we might repeat a few songs ;-).
After the duet contest just before Labor Day, I started learning new songs. Lynn and I have been working on these and we will be performing six new songs: East Virginia Blues, The Baltimore Fire, If I Lose - Let me Lose, Bear Creek Blue, The Story of the Mighty Mississippi, and You've Been That Friend to Me.
We'll also be doing more 'tunes' than usual (2 or 3 each set). These include:
Babbington's hornpipe: this is one of the first fiddle tune that I wrote - Danebodium has played it as schottische and it's performed by a few other folk bands. We're doing it with mandolin and guitar.
Swallowtail/HundredPipers: a jig medley that we play with folk bands - here with mando & fiddle. We're also planning to do a couple of other mando-fiddle tunes we've done before: Muddy Creek and Spotted Pony.
Other tunes include a couple of Swedish tunes with Lynn on fiddle and a couple of Guitar Flatpicking tunes (which we performed at the LCO Casino Lounge last summer).
This gig also gives a chance to perform some cover songs that we usually don't do at a MBOTMA set -- old-timey sounding songs by Gillian Welch and Norman Blake. Lynn is also bringing her 'A' tuned fiddle, so we're able to do Handsome Molly medleyed with Liza Jane and Poor Ellen Smith. Another rare treat (according to some): four songs with 12 string guitar.
Some notes on the brand new songs:
East Virginia Blues: I have at least a half dozen versions of this. We've pretty much settled on the Stanley Brothers version recorded in 1956 (released in a recent CD: An Evening Long Ago). This is a YAFSWTV (yet another folk song with transferable verses) and the Stanley brothers version is more distilled than most (i.e. fewer verses to learn). I'd been kicking this around for a while, trying to come up with a way to do it with mandolin; however, after hearing the Carter Family version, we're now going with two guitars with Carter Family style instrumental breaks. We're singing full duet on all the verses so it is a candidate for the duet contest. According to one source the roots of this song go back to 17th century England - the title was probably different: East Gloucestershire Blues?
Baltimore Fire: a Charlie Poole Song. Lyle Lofgren, who writes for MBOTMA's Inside Bluegrass & the Old Time Herald (& probably more), has a discussion of the song here: http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-BaltimoreFire.html .
This is a song in our 'falling/failing infrastructure series': I was transferring it from LP to MP3 shortly after the 35W bridge collapse - the following from the Wikepedia article added contemporary relevance:
One reason for the fire's duration was the lack of national standards in fire-fighting equipment. Although fire engines from nearby cities (such as Philadelphia and Washington, as well as units from New York City, Wilmington, and Atlantic City) responded, many were useless because their hose couplings failed to fit Baltimore hydrants. As a result, the fire burned over 30 hours, destroying 1,526 buildings spanning 70 city blocks.
If I Lose, Let me Lose: another song from Charlie Poole. After hearing Adam Kiesling of the Mill City Ramblers do 'Battleship of Maine', we realized that some of the verses are shared ('The boys was fighting the Spaniards while I was fighting gnats', etc). The fact that the two songs share the same 'root' source is confirmed in the notes to songs in a book I recently read: RAMBLING BLUES: THE LIFE & SONGS OF CHARLIE POOLEby Kinney Rorrer. We're singing this in the Key of D with two guitars (Bob=capo 2nd fret, Lynn=open).
You've Been That Friend To Me: this is a Carter family song that quite a few people do, although the only other recorded version I have is Pop Wagner's. Hearing the original Carter Family version got me thinking of doing it: we're following their version fairly closely, even to the point of keeping it in the same key, F ( Sara Carter's range is similar to mine on many of their songs). We use two guitars, I'm playing in C position on the 5th fret, Lynn is in D on the 3rd fret.
Bear Creek Blues: another Carter Family song for which I have several versions, but it was hearing the Carter Family do it that brought it into the 'Songs to Learn' category. I'm patterning our treatment after the original Carter version: of the other versions I have, Big Medicine take on it comes closest. We are keeping it in the key of E (same key used by Big Medicine), but I'm currently playing the lead part with the Capo on the 4th fret (C-position). Big Medicine plays it in open E; I'm guessing the Maybelle might be playing a low tuned guitar in G position, although she could be in open E.
The Mighty Mississippi: From a book on the Carter Family, I learned that this was a topical song written 'to order' on the 1927 Mississippi flood, sung (but not written) by Ernest Stoneman. The version I learned is from Mike Seeger with Autoharp. I play the 12 String (tuned in F) while Lynn is playing in D position with her guitar capoed to the 3rd fret. This is another song in our 'infrastructure series'.
After the duet contest just before Labor Day, I started learning new songs. Lynn and I have been working on these and we will be performing six new songs: East Virginia Blues, The Baltimore Fire, If I Lose - Let me Lose, Bear Creek Blue, The Story of the Mighty Mississippi, and You've Been That Friend to Me.
We'll also be doing more 'tunes' than usual (2 or 3 each set). These include:
Babbington's hornpipe: this is one of the first fiddle tune that I wrote - Danebodium has played it as schottische and it's performed by a few other folk bands. We're doing it with mandolin and guitar.
Swallowtail/HundredPipers: a jig medley that we play with folk bands - here with mando & fiddle. We're also planning to do a couple of other mando-fiddle tunes we've done before: Muddy Creek and Spotted Pony.
Other tunes include a couple of Swedish tunes with Lynn on fiddle and a couple of Guitar Flatpicking tunes (which we performed at the LCO Casino Lounge last summer).
This gig also gives a chance to perform some cover songs that we usually don't do at a MBOTMA set -- old-timey sounding songs by Gillian Welch and Norman Blake. Lynn is also bringing her 'A' tuned fiddle, so we're able to do Handsome Molly medleyed with Liza Jane and Poor Ellen Smith. Another rare treat (according to some): four songs with 12 string guitar.
Some notes on the brand new songs:
East Virginia Blues: I have at least a half dozen versions of this. We've pretty much settled on the Stanley Brothers version recorded in 1956 (released in a recent CD: An Evening Long Ago). This is a YAFSWTV (yet another folk song with transferable verses) and the Stanley brothers version is more distilled than most (i.e. fewer verses to learn). I'd been kicking this around for a while, trying to come up with a way to do it with mandolin; however, after hearing the Carter Family version, we're now going with two guitars with Carter Family style instrumental breaks. We're singing full duet on all the verses so it is a candidate for the duet contest. According to one source the roots of this song go back to 17th century England - the title was probably different: East Gloucestershire Blues?
Baltimore Fire: a Charlie Poole Song. Lyle Lofgren, who writes for MBOTMA's Inside Bluegrass & the Old Time Herald (& probably more), has a discussion of the song here: http://www.lizlyle.lofgrens.org/RmOlSngs/RTOS-BaltimoreFire.html .
This is a song in our 'falling/failing infrastructure series': I was transferring it from LP to MP3 shortly after the 35W bridge collapse - the following from the Wikepedia article added contemporary relevance:
One reason for the fire's duration was the lack of national standards in fire-fighting equipment. Although fire engines from nearby cities (such as Philadelphia and Washington, as well as units from New York City, Wilmington, and Atlantic City) responded, many were useless because their hose couplings failed to fit Baltimore hydrants. As a result, the fire burned over 30 hours, destroying 1,526 buildings spanning 70 city blocks.
If I Lose, Let me Lose: another song from Charlie Poole. After hearing Adam Kiesling of the Mill City Ramblers do 'Battleship of Maine', we realized that some of the verses are shared ('The boys was fighting the Spaniards while I was fighting gnats', etc). The fact that the two songs share the same 'root' source is confirmed in the notes to songs in a book I recently read: RAMBLING BLUES: THE LIFE & SONGS OF CHARLIE POOLE
You've Been That Friend To Me: this is a Carter family song that quite a few people do, although the only other recorded version I have is Pop Wagner's. Hearing the original Carter Family version got me thinking of doing it: we're following their version fairly closely, even to the point of keeping it in the same key, F ( Sara Carter's range is similar to mine on many of their songs). We use two guitars, I'm playing in C position on the 5th fret, Lynn is in D on the 3rd fret.
Bear Creek Blues: another Carter Family song for which I have several versions, but it was hearing the Carter Family do it that brought it into the 'Songs to Learn' category. I'm patterning our treatment after the original Carter version: of the other versions I have, Big Medicine take on it comes closest. We are keeping it in the key of E (same key used by Big Medicine), but I'm currently playing the lead part with the Capo on the 4th fret (C-position). Big Medicine plays it in open E; I'm guessing the Maybelle might be playing a low tuned guitar in G position, although she could be in open E.
The Mighty Mississippi: From a book on the Carter Family, I learned that this was a topical song written 'to order' on the 1927 Mississippi flood, sung (but not written) by Ernest Stoneman. The version I learned is from Mike Seeger with Autoharp. I play the 12 String (tuned in F) while Lynn is playing in D position with her guitar capoed to the 3rd fret. This is another song in our 'infrastructure series'.
Tuesday, December 4, 2007
Varities of Musical Experience (conclusions)
When I started this series of posts on the Varieties of Musical Experiences, I was hoping to provide a profound insight or two similar to what I imagine William James did in Varieties of Religious Experience (as you recall, I haven't actually read his work). However, the mere task of cataloging the different experiences I've had as a listener or performer has taken far more blog-space than I had initially thought; thus, the profound insights will just have to be inferred.
I was reminded that musical experiences vary when Lynn and I got our first chance to see the St. Olaf Christmas concert 'live'. (Our friend Steve is a St. Olaf grad and we were Steve and Sally's guest). At most old time and bluegrass performances, I'm very intrigued with 'performance practices' and how I might apply them; however, at St. Olaf, I was struck by the logistics of coordinating a full symphony orchestra and up to 500 voices and spend most of the time just enjoying th music. I was also thinking that every year, over 100 singers are 'released' into (mostly) Minnesota to populate church choirs and choral groups. This article in the paper the next day confirmed this: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/11945421.html.
In addition to searching for 'profound' insights, I also began this series with the hope of finding some common threads within my personal musical experiences. Here's a few:
I was reminded that musical experiences vary when Lynn and I got our first chance to see the St. Olaf Christmas concert 'live'. (Our friend Steve is a St. Olaf grad and we were Steve and Sally's guest). At most old time and bluegrass performances, I'm very intrigued with 'performance practices' and how I might apply them; however, at St. Olaf, I was struck by the logistics of coordinating a full symphony orchestra and up to 500 voices and spend most of the time just enjoying th music. I was also thinking that every year, over 100 singers are 'released' into (mostly) Minnesota to populate church choirs and choral groups. This article in the paper the next day confirmed this: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/music/11945421.html.
In addition to searching for 'profound' insights, I also began this series with the hope of finding some common threads within my personal musical experiences. Here's a few:
- I've been involved with music as a listener and performer for as long as I can remember, and it appears to be one of my basic 'needs'.
- Although I listen to music a lot, my best experiences have been with 'live' music, mostly acoustic. (Although, those Carleton Dances with the Night Crawlers are high on the list)
- I tend to gravitate toward 'folk' music although I appreciate and enjoy classical and some 'popular' forms
- For live music, give me a small venue like the Cedar or a coffee shop rather than XCel or the the Target centers.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Varities of Musical Experience (live performance, more cont'd)
So in 2001, the 'dot-com' company I worked started shedding workers as the investor money ran out - by August I was laid off. Fortunately, the non dot-com branch that was spun off a couple of years before needed someone to manage the product that I had been working on since 1991, so I was only out of work for a few weeks. From the mid '90s until the layoff, I spent a lot of my off hours learning new technologies and working on software projects; this paid off in the sense that my skills were 'current', but I was not doing much music playing or listening.
However, my work-life upheavals led to a new focus on music: my "career' became more and more a "day job". Initially, I just spent off hours practicing more, especially mandolin. However, when MBOTMA announced the first annual Guitar Flat Picking and Duet Contest in late 2002, I started working on guitar more. (I had been flat-picking a few tunes for a number of years; however, playing the mandolin helped me get up to speed). Lynn and I also dusted off a couple of duets we knew and we entered both contests. Although we had done one or two performances a year for church and family, the contest was one of our first "performances" outside of friends and family. Working up a couple of duets for the contest led to more purposeful learning and we did one set of 'opening' for the Brown Shoe Boys (consisting of church friends of ours) in a coffee house. (The Brown Shoe Boys have since morphed into the folk-rock group "Rhinestone Diplomats")
I also started going to more live performances - Norman Blake & Peter Ostroushko at the Fitzgerald Theater, many concerts at the Cedar Cultural Center and gigs our friends did at coffee shops. Some highlights include Foghorn String Band, Uncle Earl, Frigg, Bruce Molsky, Tannehill Weavers and the Battlefield Band.
Lynn and I performed at the MBOTMA Winter Bluegrass Weekend as well as MBOTMA fund raisers at Dulono's pizza. We've had fun performing at Bill Cagley's Roots Showcase at the Coffee Grounds and even hosted it one Thursday evening. We've gotten to know more and more local musicians and have gone to see folk like the Mill City Grinders, the Ditch Lilies, Ivory Bridge, Switched at Birth, the Recliners, and Blue Wolf.
Another aspect of live performance has been for dances at the Tapestry Folk Dance Center as members of Danebodium. (This is where I keep my mandolin chops up and Lynn gets to play rhythm piano). I'm not really much of a dancer, put its fun to play music folk dance to.
For the last year or so, Lynn and I have scheduled regular bob-i-lynn rehearsals (on Monday nights, if you must know). This has really sharpened our sound and helped make us much better prepared as performers. We are also performing at bigger or at least more 'prestigious' events. This past year we performed at our first MBOTMA festival: the home grown kickoff. We also performed at the Stone Arch Festival and our best paying gig so far at the LCO Casino. This coming January marks our first 'solo' appearance at Dulono's, which makes us feel like a 'real' MBOTMA band.
However, my work-life upheavals led to a new focus on music: my "career' became more and more a "day job". Initially, I just spent off hours practicing more, especially mandolin. However, when MBOTMA announced the first annual Guitar Flat Picking and Duet Contest in late 2002, I started working on guitar more. (I had been flat-picking a few tunes for a number of years; however, playing the mandolin helped me get up to speed). Lynn and I also dusted off a couple of duets we knew and we entered both contests. Although we had done one or two performances a year for church and family, the contest was one of our first "performances" outside of friends and family. Working up a couple of duets for the contest led to more purposeful learning and we did one set of 'opening' for the Brown Shoe Boys (consisting of church friends of ours) in a coffee house. (The Brown Shoe Boys have since morphed into the folk-rock group "Rhinestone Diplomats")
I also started going to more live performances - Norman Blake & Peter Ostroushko at the Fitzgerald Theater, many concerts at the Cedar Cultural Center and gigs our friends did at coffee shops. Some highlights include Foghorn String Band, Uncle Earl, Frigg, Bruce Molsky, Tannehill Weavers and the Battlefield Band.
Lynn and I performed at the MBOTMA Winter Bluegrass Weekend as well as MBOTMA fund raisers at Dulono's pizza. We've had fun performing at Bill Cagley's Roots Showcase at the Coffee Grounds and even hosted it one Thursday evening. We've gotten to know more and more local musicians and have gone to see folk like the Mill City Grinders, the Ditch Lilies, Ivory Bridge, Switched at Birth, the Recliners, and Blue Wolf.
Another aspect of live performance has been for dances at the Tapestry Folk Dance Center as members of Danebodium. (This is where I keep my mandolin chops up and Lynn gets to play rhythm piano). I'm not really much of a dancer, put its fun to play music folk dance to.
For the last year or so, Lynn and I have scheduled regular bob-i-lynn rehearsals (on Monday nights, if you must know). This has really sharpened our sound and helped make us much better prepared as performers. We are also performing at bigger or at least more 'prestigious' events. This past year we performed at our first MBOTMA festival: the home grown kickoff. We also performed at the Stone Arch Festival and our best paying gig so far at the LCO Casino. This coming January marks our first 'solo' appearance at Dulono's, which makes us feel like a 'real' MBOTMA band.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Varities of Musical Experience live performance, cont'd)
On the last post for 'musical experience', I got to the 'classical period' of listening to and performing 'live'. Although I never got to the point of giving 'recitals', I played for some art openings and I remember playing for a opening by Bruce Nygren at the the Stevens Gallery in the mid '70s. I was playing some suites by Villa Lobos and managed to hit them really well. I got positive comments then (especially from Bruce's mother), and I know when I ran into him years later he still talked about it. I remember seeing John Williams and Julian Bream in concert but missed Segovia when he was probably last in town. I went to faculty and student recitals and one of the best students now teaches in Wisconsin and has produced duet guitar recordings (sadly, I don't recall his name). My brother-in-law Marly was also taking guitar lessons and we worked on a few duets and may have played them at church. Another student at the U at the time was college classmate John Ellinger, who is on the Carleton Music Faculty and who was my son Alex's guitar teacher at Carleton.
In the late 70's I realized I wasn't going to gain a living from classical guitar and started working full time. Turned thirty, bought a house, had kids : I was still playing guitar but wasn't performing. With young children you don't get out much - I'm not sure of the timing but I do remember going to see Elton John at the St. Paul Civic Center (precursor to the Xcel Center) and also a concert by Claudia Schmidt with Greg Brown opening (before he gained fame as a singer-song writer).
In 1984 I started my computer studies at the U of M and in 1985 our second son Tommy was born. In 1986 or so, the church Lynn and the kids had started going to (Lynnhurst Congregational) started up a variety show called the Lynnhurst Home Companion. Lynn and I joined some other folk musicians to become the Lynnhurst Hot Dish String Band. This was basically a once-a-year band, but we were the house band for the show and often did 3 or 4 numbers. Lynn and I also started to do a duet song at most of these shows. This got me looking out for songs to perform and listening to bluegrass albums. In the early 90's Lynn and I joined the MN Bluegrass & Oldtime Association and we started going to some of the MBOTMA festivals. We made most of the August festivals (dragging the kids until they we're old enough to stay home) and heard lot's of local and national bands.
For a couple years we attended a bluegrass jam class put on by Brian Wicklund and Kevin Barnes who were in the Stoney Lonesome Band (at the time, the best know MN bluegrass band). The attendees were organized as 'bands' and at the conclusion of the class, the bands performed on stage at Dulono's pizza.
In 1987 I moved from the restaurant industry into software development and during the 90s I spent a lot of time doing 'career' development as well as scouting, soccer etc with the boys. I continued to perform at the church shows and the Hot Dish String Band performed at a few art shows and other events. I continued to hear live groups at bluegrass festivals and concerts. I remember seeing Alison Krauss at the Guthrie (before O' Brother made her too big for a 1500 seat venue) with Stoney Lonesome opening.
I don't remember all the bands we saw at the MBOTMA festivals: I remember hearing Nickel Creek when they were still teenagers and their Dad was the bass player. Jim and Jesse, Laurie Lewis, Loose Ties, Tim O'Brien were some of the other bluegrass groups we heard. Since MBOTMA also includes 'old time', Lynn and I started to hear and appreciate old time music from groups like Big Hoedown, the Renegades and the Konnarock Critters.
For Lynn and me, the 'high point' for performing in the '90s was in 1997 where we did enough shows with the Hot Dish String Band that one member of the group made a Tee Shirt for the 'Hot Dish Tour of 1997 with all the dates and places we performed'.
By the end of the 90's our computer careers were caught up in the dot-com boom with some increases in salary that help us finance Alex's college education. However, the dot-com crash affected our day-jobs and also help launched a focus on music as a more serious enterprise: topics for the next post.
In the late 70's I realized I wasn't going to gain a living from classical guitar and started working full time. Turned thirty, bought a house, had kids : I was still playing guitar but wasn't performing. With young children you don't get out much - I'm not sure of the timing but I do remember going to see Elton John at the St. Paul Civic Center (precursor to the Xcel Center) and also a concert by Claudia Schmidt with Greg Brown opening (before he gained fame as a singer-song writer).
In 1984 I started my computer studies at the U of M and in 1985 our second son Tommy was born. In 1986 or so, the church Lynn and the kids had started going to (Lynnhurst Congregational) started up a variety show called the Lynnhurst Home Companion. Lynn and I joined some other folk musicians to become the Lynnhurst Hot Dish String Band. This was basically a once-a-year band, but we were the house band for the show and often did 3 or 4 numbers. Lynn and I also started to do a duet song at most of these shows. This got me looking out for songs to perform and listening to bluegrass albums. In the early 90's Lynn and I joined the MN Bluegrass & Oldtime Association and we started going to some of the MBOTMA festivals. We made most of the August festivals (dragging the kids until they we're old enough to stay home) and heard lot's of local and national bands.
For a couple years we attended a bluegrass jam class put on by Brian Wicklund and Kevin Barnes who were in the Stoney Lonesome Band (at the time, the best know MN bluegrass band). The attendees were organized as 'bands' and at the conclusion of the class, the bands performed on stage at Dulono's pizza.
In 1987 I moved from the restaurant industry into software development and during the 90s I spent a lot of time doing 'career' development as well as scouting, soccer etc with the boys. I continued to perform at the church shows and the Hot Dish String Band performed at a few art shows and other events. I continued to hear live groups at bluegrass festivals and concerts. I remember seeing Alison Krauss at the Guthrie (before O' Brother made her too big for a 1500 seat venue) with Stoney Lonesome opening.
I don't remember all the bands we saw at the MBOTMA festivals: I remember hearing Nickel Creek when they were still teenagers and their Dad was the bass player. Jim and Jesse, Laurie Lewis, Loose Ties, Tim O'Brien were some of the other bluegrass groups we heard. Since MBOTMA also includes 'old time', Lynn and I started to hear and appreciate old time music from groups like Big Hoedown, the Renegades and the Konnarock Critters.
For Lynn and me, the 'high point' for performing in the '90s was in 1997 where we did enough shows with the Hot Dish String Band that one member of the group made a Tee Shirt for the 'Hot Dish Tour of 1997 with all the dates and places we performed'.
By the end of the 90's our computer careers were caught up in the dot-com boom with some increases in salary that help us finance Alex's college education. However, the dot-com crash affected our day-jobs and also help launched a focus on music as a more serious enterprise: topics for the next post.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
Geezer Guitar officially achieves geezerdom
Today marks the 60th anniversary of my birth on 11.14.1947 so as Lynn put it in an email, I have achieved official geezerdom. Not doing much today, regular work-day and then choir at night. Had cake yesterday for work (a coworker's birthday is the 12th so we split the difference). My son Tommy just called from San Francisco to wish me a 'happy', so got caught up with him. More cake tomorrow at Cappa Java and then we're having some folks over next Sunday for a more-or-less official celebration that was planned at a neighbor's 60th party a few weeks ago.
Lynn and I will do a music set or two and hopefully there's some jamming, but I imagine I'll be doing a bit of mixing as well. Last Saturday I cleared out the back room (my office and instrument storage place). Mostly, I cleared out junk Lynn had put there a few months back when she hosted book club. I also took down a folding table and arranged some chairs as a 'jamming' space so I now have an official pickin' parlor.
Lynn and I will do a music set or two and hopefully there's some jamming, but I imagine I'll be doing a bit of mixing as well. Last Saturday I cleared out the back room (my office and instrument storage place). Mostly, I cleared out junk Lynn had put there a few months back when she hosted book club. I also took down a folding table and arranged some chairs as a 'jamming' space so I now have an official pickin' parlor.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Varities of Musical Experience (more, cont'd)
I've been posting on my experiences as a singer, instrumentalist and listener (to recorded music). I haven't touch on attending and participating in 'live performances' which in many ways is the whole point of it all. Of course before the late 19th century, the only way to hear music was 'live', but most of us now have spent many more hours listening to recorded music than live.
Other than church or school productions, I don't recall going to many live events as a kid; although, I'm sure I heard my Dad play in a community orchestra once or twice. In high school, I started played in the band and sang in the boys glee club. I know I sang the lead for a choral arrangement of 'Goodbye Liza Jane', but I don't recall how close it is to the old timey version. By the time I was a junior I was performing with my friend Dan as a duo (The It'll Never Duo, a take-off on another folk group we know about: the Uppa-Trio). I remember learning and singing the Hills of Shiloh for our first 'performance' and that it was way-way too long. We added Rick Wolfe on bass and became the Hidden Valley Trio and then the Frontiersman. We did Kingston Trio/Peter,Paul&Mary type of material.
Around 1964 another friend who was into Bob Dylan took me to the 'Scholar' Coffee house in Dinkytown where Dylan got his start. I don't remember much about that at all now. Although we had dances in high school, I don't think that live bands ever played.
In 1965, I started college at Carleton in Northfield, MN (finished there 4 years later, too). This expanded my opportunities to hear live music tremendously. The college sponsored concerts - I remember seeing Doc Watson and other folk musicians as well as Koerner, Ray and Glover. (Their performances were legendary for the amount of alcohol consumed on stage). I also went to classical concerts, including Lynn's Junior and Senior piano recitals. Although I was taking piano lessons and playing guitar and singing and jamming; I didn't do much performing per se; however, I did have have a starring role in the Shakopee Community Theater's production of the Fantaskticks. This was put on the summer between my freshman and sophmore year and I played the Matt (the Boy) and my Dad played Hucklebee (the Boy's father). Among the songs I remember are Try to Remember and Soon It's Gonna Rain, but I'm sure they'll all come back. I had been in a couple of non-musical high school plays, but this was my last appearance on a theatrical stage.
In the summer of 1967 (summer of love, you know), I was working a factory job in Shakopee, but spent a most of my free time at the Scholar Coffee House. This was where Dylan got his start, but by 1967 it had moved from Dinkytown to the West Bank (it's now a parking lot next to Theater in the Round). I listened to performances by Dave Ray, Leo Kottke and Lazy Bill Lucas.
I would also bring my guitars (Sunday afternoons?) and I remember doing some sort of open stage. I was pretty self-conscious about my voice at the time and thought it sound 'adolescent' or some such. (I guess I wanted to sound like a world-weary blues singer at the time).
After college, Lynn and I taught high school for one year in Broadus, Montana. Lynn was the band director so our live music was limited to her concerts and probably other school events. I remember doing a folk song at a school event.
The next year we moved back to Minnesota and lived in Minneapolis in a house with former Carleton people. One of them was my junior year roomate. A lot of us were working at the Black Forest Inn (the house was a block away). Mike Frehling a Carleton classmate (and then a housemat) played guitar, and he and I learned enough common repertoire to play at a few nursing homes. There were also jams with folks who worked at or were customers at the Black Forest, but I didn't do much performing. As mentioned, in the mid 70's I started focusing on classical guitar: Lynn was playing in a Viol Consort (Viola da Gamba) at the time and she I worked out some pieces with Viola da Gamba and guitar. The event we got paid for was Aldo Moroni's Wedding in Long Lake.
Other than church or school productions, I don't recall going to many live events as a kid; although, I'm sure I heard my Dad play in a community orchestra once or twice. In high school, I started played in the band and sang in the boys glee club. I know I sang the lead for a choral arrangement of 'Goodbye Liza Jane', but I don't recall how close it is to the old timey version. By the time I was a junior I was performing with my friend Dan as a duo (The It'll Never Duo, a take-off on another folk group we know about: the Uppa-Trio). I remember learning and singing the Hills of Shiloh for our first 'performance' and that it was way-way too long. We added Rick Wolfe on bass and became the Hidden Valley Trio and then the Frontiersman. We did Kingston Trio/Peter,Paul&Mary type of material.
Around 1964 another friend who was into Bob Dylan took me to the 'Scholar' Coffee house in Dinkytown where Dylan got his start. I don't remember much about that at all now. Although we had dances in high school, I don't think that live bands ever played.
In 1965, I started college at Carleton in Northfield, MN (finished there 4 years later, too). This expanded my opportunities to hear live music tremendously. The college sponsored concerts - I remember seeing Doc Watson and other folk musicians as well as Koerner, Ray and Glover. (Their performances were legendary for the amount of alcohol consumed on stage). I also went to classical concerts, including Lynn's Junior and Senior piano recitals. Although I was taking piano lessons and playing guitar and singing and jamming; I didn't do much performing per se; however, I did have have a starring role in the Shakopee Community Theater's production of the Fantaskticks. This was put on the summer between my freshman and sophmore year and I played the Matt (the Boy) and my Dad played Hucklebee (the Boy's father). Among the songs I remember are Try to Remember and Soon It's Gonna Rain, but I'm sure they'll all come back. I had been in a couple of non-musical high school plays, but this was my last appearance on a theatrical stage.
In the summer of 1967 (summer of love, you know), I was working a factory job in Shakopee, but spent a most of my free time at the Scholar Coffee House. This was where Dylan got his start, but by 1967 it had moved from Dinkytown to the West Bank (it's now a parking lot next to Theater in the Round). I listened to performances by Dave Ray, Leo Kottke and Lazy Bill Lucas.
I would also bring my guitars (Sunday afternoons?) and I remember doing some sort of open stage. I was pretty self-conscious about my voice at the time and thought it sound 'adolescent' or some such. (I guess I wanted to sound like a world-weary blues singer at the time).
After college, Lynn and I taught high school for one year in Broadus, Montana. Lynn was the band director so our live music was limited to her concerts and probably other school events. I remember doing a folk song at a school event.
The next year we moved back to Minnesota and lived in Minneapolis in a house with former Carleton people. One of them was my junior year roomate. A lot of us were working at the Black Forest Inn (the house was a block away). Mike Frehling a Carleton classmate (and then a housemat) played guitar, and he and I learned enough common repertoire to play at a few nursing homes. There were also jams with folks who worked at or were customers at the Black Forest, but I didn't do much performing. As mentioned, in the mid 70's I started focusing on classical guitar: Lynn was playing in a Viol Consort (Viola da Gamba) at the time and she I worked out some pieces with Viola da Gamba and guitar. The event we got paid for was Aldo Moroni's Wedding in Long Lake.
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