Mad Bob's Music Blog!

Donikers! last night.

2009-07-21T08:29:00.000-07:00

Donikers opened a show last night at Lost on Main. It went well, I think we're tightening up as a band and getting our sound worked out. We got a lot of good feedback from the crowd and the staff at Lost was awesome.

After we played the Cheating Hearts took to the stage. They played a solid set but suffered a bit from lack of a lead guitar player. They lost some dynamics as a result, but still they played a good solid set of music.

Joe Buck Yourself! headlined the show and performed as a sort of one-man band. He played kick-drum and strummed a distorted hollow-bodied Gibson. His music is a rhythmic blend of punk, country and metal. He is a unique artist and I was glad we got to see him play - though man it was a late one for a Monday night show. We left early and still didn't get home until nearly 1 a.m.

After we left Joe was joined on stage by Captain Sean. I didn't catch any of that but there are some great pictures here compliments of Dain Sandoval.

Oh BTW check out the Donikers new myspace page by clicking here.

Cafe Coda last night...

2009-07-10T08:57:00.001-07:00

Played a fun show at the Cafe Coda last night. It was what you would call an "intimate" crowd - but it was a respectful and friendly audience. DJ X of KZFR's Chico Butter was taping the show - so it will be interesting to hear what might be on that tape.

Garrett Gray of the "Perpetual Drifters" opened the show - his tunes and his voice were really good.

"Dick and Jane" went on second. They are a fantastic local folk duo - Scott plays guitar and sings and Molly plucks a ukelele and sings harmonies. They both have great voices - Molly's is strinkingly beautiful. They were joined for a song by Karisha who also has an exceptional voice. Let me just say that Scott has got something figured out.

I played third - it was a little shakey at the start and I played a song too long, but overall I was pretty happy with the performance. I played "Forgotten Son" in front of people for the first time and forgot one of the verses for a second but managed to recall it after a longer than normal hold on the C chord. Live music... I forgot to play "Darkened Doorways" and "House on the Hill," two of my newer songs. I played all three covers I had on the list: Warren Zevon's "Desperadoes Under the Eaves," Townes Van Zandt's "Waiting Around to Die," and "Pills I Took" by Those Poor Bastards. They all went pretty well, particularly "Desperadoes." I was happy to be able to deliver that song live. I finished the set on a really bad version of Steve Earl's "Here I Am;" I need to re-arrange that one if I am going to play it solo - I may just scrap it though. It's a true rocker that really requires a full band to do it justice.

After I was done San Francisco based "Aerial Ruin" took over. They were pretty awesome - a two electric guitar band; Erik and Erik. They clearly had some heavy metal influence but the music was slower and more gothic. At one point the Erik playing lead guitar took what looked like a home-made bow and used it to generate some truly unique tones on his SG. The other Erik played a black-faced Les Paul. It was metal instrumentation and some very thoughtful, evocative music. The whole time they were playing I was thinking "man this music would be great for a movie soundtrack."

Aerial Ruin are on their way to Portland. I bought one of their CD's and just heard a couple cuts off of it this morning. It sounds great.

I have to apologize to "Mr. White." I cut out after Aerial Ruin was done with their set. It was getting upwards of 11:00 o'clock and it looked like they were going to be louder than my ears were prepared for. Loud bands get fiercely loud in Cafe Coda - the place is mostly cinder block and glass. So I left and headed for home.

I sold two shirts last night - one Mad Bob shirt and an old "I♥Sleazy Earl Ray" shirt - the last one I had left! So that was cool. I used $10 to buy the Aerial Ruin CD.

Thanks to everyone who came out.

Donikers Practice last night...

2009-07-02T08:42:00.001-07:00

We had a pretty fun practice last night - spirited you might say. Apparently though there are only two existing copies of our 4-song demo and one of those has been eaten by Steve's CD player. Fucking CD's man; they made this big to-do about how they would never skip and they would last forever. Bull fucking shit. CD's suck worse than tapes or records. All of our records play through even though occasionally they skip or repeat. Our 20 year old tapes still play. but we have fucking CD's that are less than 5 years old that won't play through. Bullshit. Pisses me off.

Anyway, we got the show at Gear Head Barbershop and Tattoo coming up - we're playing there on Tuesday July 7th along with the Murderous and Bob Wayne and the Outlaw Carnies.

It should be a blast.

No posts!

2009-06-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Sorry for anyone who has been following this blog - no posts in awhile!

I have a heap of shows coming up - both Donikers and Mad Bob solo stuff. Check out myspace for the dates:

www.myspace.com/madbobhoward

I went out to the Honky Tonk Night last night at the Maltese. Cheating Hearts did their thing with Loki sitting in on guitar. Apparently there was some drama in the band and Rob ended up moving back to Portland. Musicians. Anyway - they sounded just as good as ever and they just held their 26th Honky Tonk Night up here in Chico.

Also a band called Hellbound Glory played - they are down from Seattle I believe. They were pretty good - but I believe their band fell apart at some point during the 7 days on the road and so they had guys sitting in for their set.

It was fun - $1 cans of PBR and $2 shots of some whiskey, maybe Jim Beam. The fabulous Ms. Rebecca was bartending - she is always a delight and also the powerful vocal force that rides on the top of the musical onslaught that is "Trucker's Wife." They are rad.

Anyway - I'll try and get back into the groove here and keep you posted on the musical goings on here in this little town.

Cafe Coda last night...

2009-06-12T08:40:00.000-07:00

I love Cafe Coda. I played a solo acoustic show there last night. The crowd was sparse, but the audience was attentive and appreciative - except for one guy who sat right in front and never looked at me once. He spent the entire evening talking to his girlfriend and texting his friends. I ended up for the first time in my career actually having to vibe him and get him to move. He finally got the message when I said into the microphone: "I really don't understand why you would go to a show and watch your phone the whole time...." and blah blah blah and finally he got up and moved, I think he left. Good riddance. I mean, I don't mind if people talk in the back, but to sit right in front, I mean I could have reached out and patted the guy on the head - and just blab away and text the whole time - it's just rude.

But I'm sorry, the show was great, the people were woderful. I sold three t-shirts and I can't wait to play there again.

Donikers tonight!

Updates...

2009-06-08T07:41:00.000-07:00

Sorry for anyone who has been following this Blog - I haven't updated in awhile. So here goes:

I'm meant to be recording my vocals at Scott Barwick's studio tonight. We recorded the tracks a week ago, but I shot my voice out pretty bad singing "Dig the Holes Deep" and wasn't able to deliver them when it came time to. In addition to Dig the Holes I also will record the vocals to "When I'm Gone."

I have two shows coming up this week - a solo show on Thursday at Cafe Coda and a Donikers show on Friday at Lost on Main. They should both be pretty fun.

I wrote a new song last night - I ripped the title off from a song the Shankers do called "She Shakes It" but I think the song is radically different.

Here are the lyrics:

She shakes it, In back rooms,
In bed rooms, And bathrooms,
She shakes it, For money,
She shakes it, For free.

I don't know, where she goes,
When she goes.
No I don't know where she goes...

I've seen her, a time or two,
Spectator, in the human zoo,
She shakes it, for me,
I pay her, money.

I don't know, where she goes,
When she goes.
No I don't know where she goes...

He stands in, dark doorways,
Slips in between, secret alleyways,
He spies, on you,
He spies, on me too.

I don't know where he goes,
When he goes,
I don't know where he goes...

She shakes it, for me,
He watches, he sees,
I pay her, money,
He watches, for free.

I don't know where they go when they go,
I don't know where they go...

I don't know where we go when we go,
I don't know where we go.....

Anyway, that's ti for now.

Humbling session...

2009-06-01T13:49:00.001-07:00

We recorded (The Donikers) this Saturday with Scott Barwick. It was a good session, we got four basic songs down. But I completely floundered on the vocals. I'd shot my voice out completely during the live session and I just didn't have it when I went back to do the vocals. I'd had too many beers, sang too hard, and just generally sucked. It was humbling.

Cody on the other hand nailed his vocals - I think he did them in 1 take each and they sound great.

No big deal though - I am going to go in on Wednesday or later this week and get those vocals knocked out. Hopefully my voice will be in some sort of shape by then. It's Monday and it is still pretty screwed up.

Man do I suck!

Normal Street Bar last night...

2009-05-19T08:05:00.000-07:00

Well we played a Monday night show last night at Normal Street Bar. I try to keep this Blog positive but there isn't much positive to say about that place. Well, the bartenders were cute and the staff was nice enough - but for a music venue it's kind of lousy. The room isn't set up right for it, the PA is positioned really oddly, and its really impossible for a full band to sound decent in there. On top of that the gig doesn't pay and no one is there to see music, so even if you have merch, nobody's buying.

Still, a few friends of ours showed up and they gave us some drink tickets that we spent on tall cans of Busch beer. Nothing Left opened the show - though couldn't manage to bring along any of their own gear. No big deal for a bass player, but for a drummer that can kind of get dicey. Every drummer has their own set-up that they play with, so the idea that you can just hop on another drummer's kit is sort of flawed. Aside from that, bands should just be able to get their gear to a show. Otherwise I'm not confident you're really a band. Whatevs.

As for ourselves we didn't play our best, but we are getting our sound worked out. With Zeke the designated electric guitar player he has the opportunity to really work out his sound - as opposed to Cody and I switching off and playing with totally different settings. I'm liking the configuration. Also, Zeke is liking the vintage stripped down Fender sound and I think that keeps our volume a little more under control.

So it was fine, not a great gig by any stretch of the imagination, and not a gig I would likely take again. But we did it, and it's done.

Wedding on Saturday...

2009-05-18T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well the wedding on Saturday was a gorgeous, sweaty Chico affair! It was, naturally, the first triple digit heat of the year and I think I was probably the most over-dressed in my dark suit and tie. Shyla and Sean were wed in a short and sweet ceremony that featured a trumpteer playing the intro and a Celtic ritual of binding their hands together with a piece of linen.

Then the food and drink! Sabrina with help cooked a wonderful meal featuring three different types of pasta, there was salad, sourdough bread, and kegs of wonderful chilled beer.

For my part I had no idea I was actually going to be playing the song for the first dance! It was fun, though Sean was disappointed that his family didn't react with more horror to his choice for the opening dance. The song in question is a lovely little number called "No Children" by the Mountain Goats. It is a sweet little waltzy song with endearing lyrics like "I hope you die! I hope we both die!"

I was sweating like a whore in church by the time I'd finished the number, then shook it out on the dance floor to some of the DJ music that was oh so good!

I made it home around midnight, buzzed and happy. I managed to get my guitar and myself home in one piece. Luckily the whole gala was held in a warehouse only a handful of blocks from my own house.

Tonight the Donikers rock out at Normal Street Bar! In fact I just learned that I have been spelling "Donikers" wrong since the inception of the band. I have been including a second "n" in Doniker. Nope, Steve informs me that this is a carnie word, and hence simpler is better.

Donniker show Friday!

2009-05-11T09:14:00.000-07:00

We played a house party on Friday night - it was a dual bachelor/bachelorette party for Sean and Shyla. The party had a burlesque theme, which was fun because all the girls dressed up provocatively and some of the guys even put it out there a little bit. Cody K. was looking smashing in a pair of Trish's old stretchy red reptile skin pants and nothing else - very Sid-esque. I think my favorite outfits was Brannon - who looked smashing in a suit complete with an 8" dark purple dong hanging out of the fly.

The show itself was pretty good - in spite of having a root canal only hours earlier, Zeke played really well and for once we had our volume under control. It was a solid 10 song set and I was happy with it. We were followed briefly by Mikey Ramen - who plays his own style of frenetically strummed acoustic guitar. That guy never stops. But the show-stopper was the belly dancing troupe that followed Mikey. They were awesome! There were seven or eight of them and they would dance in formation, then soloists would break off and do their own dancing. The scimitar dance was unbelieveable! A woman unsheathed a curved shining sword and then balanced it on her head so that the arc of the sword stretched from her left side to her right; then with the sword poised thusly she proceeded to shimmy around the room. Then she balanced the sword on another woman's hip, and finally on a third dancer's out-stretched leg, hung on the curve of her instep and heel.

All of that dancing was performed to modern Middle-Eastern music - sort of a blend of hip-hop and droning instruments. It was just wonderful!

Our next show is a week from today at Normal Street Bar - we'll see how that goes!

House on the Hill...

2009-05-08T08:53:00.001-07:00

I'll try and record a little verson of that song this weekend... it has a real nice tune, sort of John Prine-ish.

Hippy Bus Came Back...

2009-05-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

This is depressing to me. I had this neighbor a couple of years ago who lived across the street from us. He moved into the house across from us with a family - a signficant other and 2 young boys. They were going through some hard times. They fought a lot and then the lady ended up taking the kids and leaving. But this guy hung around and then really started acting out - partying a lot, hanging out with druggies, banging on his drums at all hours of the night. He is not a mean guy, or a vicious guy, bus he is super-noisy and chaotic and he made our lives miserable for about a year. Eventually though he stopped paying rent - he didn't have a job - and he got himself evicted.

To his credit he is a pretty ingenuitive guy and he struck upon the idea to start manufacturing bio-diesel fuel. He got himself an old Greyhound bus and converted it to bio-diesel and eventually moved into a warehouse on the north side of town. Trish and I were genuinely happy when he left, and personally I was happy for him that he seemed to be moving forward on a potentially reasonable plan.

But a few months later the bus rolled back onto our street with chalked "X's" on the tires and since then it has become an issue. He stays in front of a neighbor's house and that neighbor told us "oh he's just going to be parked here for the weekend while he goes to a music festival." Well the bus was parked there for 2 weeks until the hippy dude ended up getting into a shoving match on the street and then calling the police on himself. We thought that would sort of show the neighbors who were enabling him what he was like to live near and that he wouldn't be invited back - but he came back a few months later. At this point my wife and I were in attack or defence mode - and we'd researched city codes and made a contact with a police officer who was onto this guy. So we drove him out pretty quick because some of his paperwork was out of order.

The last time he showed up my wife read the riot act to our enabling neighbors and after that he was gone quick and he stayed away for a long time. He would still visit the neighbors - but he wouldn't bring the bus.

Well that changed yesterday. I pulled onto our street and felt my stomach drop. There was the bus - the thing is impossible to miss. It is a genuine 70's Greyhound - a huge beast parked on our cute little street - all the emotional baggage and animosity hulking at me as I crept past to our house.

Anyway - while it doesn't sound much like a music post, it turns out that the return of the bus inspired quite a nice little song. The back-drop of this story is that for the past 2 years Trish and I have been dealing with her breast cancer. It has involved several surgeries and a whole lot of fear and uncertainty. The bus and all that only added to our anxiety - maybe it even gave us something to focus our rage on. But here are the song lyrics - I started it last night and finished it this morning. I may alter some of the lyrics slightly, but umtimately I am pretty delighted with it. Finally something good out of this awful, on-going ordeal:

A House on the Hill

In a house on the hill I’d never have to see that bus again,
And my hippy white-trash ex-neighbor who lives with a dog therein,
He used to bang his drums each night at half past ten,
He wouldn’t ever stop we’d always have to call the cops on him.

In a house on the hill I’d never have to bust my ass again,
I wouldn’t have to trade my time for a little pay,
I could watch the Late show and sleep in way past nine,
Spend my days in the grass drinking coffee and wine.

In a house on the hill cancer’s just another sign,
It’s an answer to an over-used barroom pick-up line,
You’ll hear it in the tavern where the spirits always flow,
And if the party’s still hopping they never ever have to close.

In a house on the hill I’d never have to see her pain again,
I wouldn’t have to hold her tight while we both cried,
We’d just sit together on the porch there side by side,
Singing our songs by the light of a midnight fire.

In a house on the hill we’d have no reason to cry,
No one would get sick and the dogs would never die,
They’d howl at the light and the brightness of the full moon,
And I would never have to feel so dang alone.

They’d howl at the light and the brightness of the full moon,
And I would never have to feel so dang alone.

Donnikers Ready to ROCK!

2009-05-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

We had a good practice last night and we're all geared up to play tomorrow night for Sean and Shyla's combination bachelor/bachelorette party! Now all I have to do is figure out what I'm going to wear!

Practice tonight!

2009-05-05T09:10:00.000-07:00

I'm stoked for practice tonight. We have a Donnikers show coming up on Friday. It will be the first show with our newest member Zeke and I am really looking forward to it. I think the band is finally starting to gel. We'll see - we could have a complete melt-down - but whatever; it's a house party and casual so I'm not even sweating it.

I think we have 8 or 9 songs we're going to play. It is for Sean and Shyla's bachelor/bachelorette party. Kind of strange really to have the bachelor/bachelorette party together - but their whole deal is unique. It isn't a legal marriage they are entering into - at least that's my understanding of it. Instead it is some sort of a commitment ceremony.

As an example of their unconventional union is the fact that they have asked me to play a song called "No Children" by a band called "The Mountain Goats." I had never heard of the band before but since they asked me to do this I looked them up and I love them! Their bio describes them as "hyper-prolific and militantly lo-fi." Their music is good.

Creepy Guy recorded...

2009-05-04T10:16:00.000-07:00

I recorded a rough version of "Creepy Guy" - a Sleazy Earl Ray song. I am pretty happy with the way it came out though in the re-mix I will add more chunky guitars in to offset the chorus from the verse and I will probably add wah to the guitar solo to make it sound creepier.

Check it out at: Mad Bob's Myspace.

Good Practice...

2009-04-29T07:47:00.001-07:00

We had a good solid Donnikers practice last night. Zeke is picking up the songs really quickly, but more than that the band as a whole is just finally starting to gel. It shows what we can become if we actually manage to get together more than one week in a row. Cody's songs are sounding really good - some of them have really turned driving. I play bass on his songs and it is super-fun. I love bass. Some people don't like playing bass, but I love it. It might be my favorite instrument. Guitar is cool - but bass keeps everything going.

Anyway - that was fun. Then I made the mistake of running my mouth about some of the local scenesters at the end of the night. That was dumb. I forget that everyone doesn't share my brain, and my suspiscious and sometimes cynical nature, when it comes to music promoters and show structure. I have very definite opinions about that stuff, but instead of just saying "to each their own" I have some sinister need to try and twist people to my will. It's just dumb and I need to get over that.

If kids want to play shows I think are exploitative - well that's up to the kids to decide.

I will say this though - I have a problem with promoters and venues that don't do their best to pay the performers something for their efforts. The whole "this is Chico" argument is nonsense. Every band came from somewhere, and bands need to get paid. I think we have de-valued our musicians in this town and that needs to stop. People should not expect bands to play for free and bands shouldn't be so willing to donate their talents so readily. We're supposed to be whores - not sluts.

There - I said it. Done.

Donniker Acoustic Practice...

2009-04-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Cody and Zeke came over yesterday afternoon and we sat around in my living room and strummed through some Donniker tunes so Zeke could take notes and get them figured out. He learns fast and I think he is 10x smarter than anyone else in the band. He is a computer programmer, a solid musician, and an all-around nice guy to hang out with. I'm glad he's in the band with us!

3 Fingers Whiskey on Friday...

2009-04-27T11:28:00.000-07:00

Friday night Steve and I rode bikes down to Duffy's Tavern to partake in 3 Fingers Whiskey's CD release party. "Pleasure the Drinker" is the name of the CD and the bar was hopping! There was a great and diverse crowd - with representatives from the Chico rocker community, the hippies, the casino crowd, a few shit-kickers, finger-lickers and banjo pickers. It was cool to see so many different people out for the music.

The band sounded fantastic! They have gotten super-tight over the last several years. They play a lot and it shows. Their sound is well-conceived and controlled. They kept their volume under control but that didn't detract from the energy of their music. Early on they had some problems with the PA but it seemed to sort itself out and by the end of the night they were flying along on cruise control.

I really enjoy 3 Fingers Whiskey - they are the one band I see that always gets me yearning to put the Asskickers back together. Country music is fun and it gets the crowd going!

Recorded Severance Package...

2009-04-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

Severance Package

I helped Severance Package record some demo songs this weekend. I didn't do much other than sit there with the headphones on and press play and record. Severance Package is Josh and Robin Indar with Steve Bragg playing drums. They play rocking music - ala AC/DC. Robin plays bass and Josh plays guitar and they both sings. Their songs are pure fun! I had a good time but my ears were fried by the end of the session and they still don't feel quite right. I don't know how professional engineers and producers do it. I could not spend 8+ hours a day with headphones on - I'd be deaf inside a week!

Anyway - Severance Package fucking rocks!

Donniker Practice last night...

2009-04-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

We actually had a really productive Donniker practice last night. We got through a bunch of material and Zeke is picking everything up really fast. He is a good, solid musician.

We also have some gigs coming up! We're going to play a house party on May 8th and a show at Normal Street on May 18th.

So now we're got something to look forward to.

New song I am working on...

2009-04-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

I am working on a song right now called "The Big Cat's Lament upon the Advent of the Great Flood." It is a song written from the perspective of a big cat, like a lion or a tiger, who is soaking, starving, dying, and watching as the rain pours down and Noah's Ark is filled with 2 of every animal, then sealed up, then drifts away leaving all the other animals left to drown or starve. The cat doesn't blame Noah - who seems like a deeply caring and a deeply injured man. The water keeps rising and rising as the ark fades from view and death is certain. Ultimately the cat can only wonder why before dying...

Beer Thirty...

2009-04-20T11:42:00.000-07:00

Well the temperature went up and the beers went down this weekend. Today my head feels like a lump of clay.

I think the next song I am going to record is a rocker called "Creepy Guy." It seems like it is about a child molestor but really it is about this creepy guy I used to work with.

I am thinking I want to record some electric guitar on this song - which means I have to come up with $60 to get it out of the shop. I'm hoping the weekly I write for has some cash waiting for me - but lately that hasn't been the case. I think they owe me about $100 at the moment.

Anyway - we'll see what gives.

Claudine Longet...

2009-04-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

I put a record on our turntable the other night called "Music Box" or something like that. It was a compilation of various artists including Herb Alpert, Wes Montgomery, and Claudine Longet. I had not really heard of Longet before. Her song was hysterical to me becuase she lisps her w's and r's severely. Then my wife told me about the incredible saga of Longet. She was a super-popular singer, actress, and dancer from Paris. She starred in movies and headlined revues in Las Vegas. Longet recorded a ton of songs in the 60's.

Then she ended up apparently shooting and killing her lover, Olympic skiier Spider Sabich. After a spectacular trial she was convicted of midameanor criminal negligence. Longet's defense attorney contended that Longet accidentally shot Sabich when Sabich was teaching her how to use a firearm. Evidence that would have refuted that contention was mis-handled or illegally obtained, and then excluded from the trial.

Longet went on to marry her defense attorney, Ron Austin, and has lived her life in seclusion until this day.

Man it is a whacky world we live in!

No Practice Last Night...

2009-04-15T09:09:00.000-07:00

Well I went to Steve's for Donniker practice last night but nobody else showed up. No big deal - Steve and I drank Pabst and watched "Arcade Fire" on Austin City Limits. They are an awesome percussive, string-driven Canadian band with maybe a dozen members or so switching instruments, banging away on drums, xylophones, violins, even a hurdy-gurdy!

Anyway - good fun and they seem like a band that would be absolutely mind-boggling to see live.

Learning... slowly...

2009-04-14T16:12:00.001-07:00

Well I have been having a terrible time recording my acoustic guitars - the tracks come out so bass-heavy that they completely blow out any speakers that actually have bass response. I've been correcting the tracks by using the equalization function in Audacity but it is an imperfect solution that leaves the guitar tracks sounding sort of thin and strange.

Lo and behold I punched my issue into google and quickly figured out exactly what I have been doing wrong. Apparently if you point the microphone right at the soundhole and also place it extremely close to the guitar you will pick up an inordinate amount of bass.

This makes perfect sense - I just never thought about it! I just figured: "sound comes out of the hole - put the mic there!" Wrong. Apparently by re-positioning the microphone I can overcome a lot of the bass problems I am having on my acoustic guitar tracks - particular the ones on which I finger-pick.

Anyway - I haven't tried it yet but it makes so much sense that I am expecting to get much better results the next time I record acoustic guitar tracks. I have a song in mind that is nothing but acoustic guitar - so maybe that will be the next one I work on.

I love learning stuff.

Honky Tonk Night!

2009-04-14T08:37:00.001-07:00

Last night I mosied down to the Maltese for the Monday night "Honky Tonk Nite" hosted by the Cheating Hearts and the illustrious Katie Perry. It was really a blast! There were a few different bands there who got up and exchanged short sets and then they would play sort of a country karaoke where anyone with the cajones could get up there and sing their favotie honky tonk tune.

I wasn't there to perform though - I was there to meet up with and interview "Three Fingers Whiskey" - Chico's most genuine country act before Felix showed up and got the Cheating Hearts off of the ground. TFW is just about to drop their latest CD "Pleasure the Drinker." The band is inspired and influenced by Waylon Jennings and the other outlaws - no pop country, no new country, just hot-rod kick-ass traditional country music with attitude.

The interview went super - I really like those guys and it was a pleasure to get to talk to them.

I can't wait to see the CD-release show on Friday April 24th at Duffy's - probably my favorite bar in the whole world. Well - I guess its a tie between Duffy's and Jumbo's Clown Room.

Recording of "Headless Affair..."

2009-04-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Well I finally managed to complete a rough version of "Headless Affair" and I have to say I am pretty happy with it. I used the violing sound on the keyboard to add some accents to the first half of the song and then the wave organ to set off the second half. For a totally wonky, one-mic, keyboard from the 1980's set-up I actually feel like I got a pretty good representation of the song with some dynamics and everything.

You can listen to it on my myspace page. I have a link to it here on the blog. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Here's the link anyhow: http://www.myspace.com/madbobhoward

Finally some recording!

2009-04-09T13:49:00.000-07:00

Ugh - after a week of trying to muster up the energy I finally planted myself down in front of the computer and mustered a handful of guitar tracks for "Headless Affair." I recorded 4 passable guitar tracks - 2 plucked and 2 strummed - and then I took a stab at the solo. I am trying to get 2 decent takes of the guitar solo - but I couldn't even get through 1! I must've tried a half a dozen times before I nearly smashed my guitar in frustration. Since it is my only passable acoustic guitar I decided I had better call it a night. I will work it out without the recorder on and give it another stab - maybe tonight, maybe later.

I think part of my frustration stems from an upcoming show I agreed to do. It is a benefit show and it is for a totally reasonable cause - a great cause really. A Concow-based musician's recording studio burned down! But the show is turning into one of the dozen-band extravaganza/nightmares where every artist gets up and plays for 15 minutes. I hate that shit. The audience will spend more time wathcing set changes and listening to tune-ups than they will hearing the actual music! I get why promoters pull this crap - it gets a lot of people in - but from both the audience and the artist perspective I feel like it is a bad deal. Why not just have 3 or 4 good acts and run it like a regular show? I don't know. It gets under my skin. I just want to be able to play a proper set of music - 8 or 9 songs - and get that rapport going with the people attending. You can't do that very well in 3-4 songs.

Does anyone ever think about the audience? That is the very first thing I have ever thought about when I am playing music. These people are paying money to see a show - give them the very best show!

Plus honestly it is a little bit of an ego-blow to get asked to do a show, and you're thinking "hey I must be something if this guy wants me to do his benefit!" and then you see the damn bill and you realize that he asked every band in town and the final line-up is just the suckers who agreed to do it. Aggravating. Whatever. Whatever whatever whatever! There are worse things in music - but I've probably been exposed to those too.

Mustering the energy...

2009-04-08T10:53:00.000-07:00

Sheesh - I've been trying to muster the energy to record for days now but it just isn't happening! I kind of ganked my back over the weekend - in fact I heard sort of a severe popping sound and felt things really go wobbly in their when I was moving a big potted olive tree for my wife. Surprisingly though it doesn't hurt as much as I would've expected. I can't imagine what happened in there - it was sincerely weird.

But like I said - it doesn't hurt that badly - just a nagging soreness and an unstable feeling. It gets me down a little bit though - enough so that I just can't seem to plant myself in front of the computer and get to recording.

I think maybe tonight though - I just need to buckle down and suck it up and get to work!

I listened to one of Trish's old Cure albums on the turntable yesterday - it was really good.

Tee shirt design...

2009-04-07T08:37:00.001-07:00

Here is the design I just sent off to my friend Steve, who just so happens to be a screen printer here in town. We are going to do 2 different styles - this full color design printed on a light tan shirt, and a single color design printed in beige on a forest green tee shirt.

I can't wait to see how they turn out!

Sargeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...

2009-04-07T08:28:00.000-07:00

I am absolutely embarassed to tell you this; particular as someone who has been listening to and playing music for over three decades. I have never listened to Sargeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band from start to finish. I was thumbing through our record collection last night and found a copy of it, listened to it, and understand better than ever why the Beatle's are so enduring. What a wonderful album!

It makes me more excited than ever to be working on albums and not specifically singles. I have two albums I am working on right now. They are:

The Sad and Strange Saga of Sleazy Earl Ray: This is a concept album built around the character of Sleazy Earl Ray. Sleazy is a pen name I have used for years and a character I developed while living and partying in Los Feliz, California. Basically I was living the life of a Hollywood dirt bag. Good times, lots of liquor and lubrication. All the slimiest and debaucherous activity has been exaggerated and amplified in the character of Sleazy Earl Ray. His story is ultimately a tragedy though - the songs are bi-polar - up one minute and down the next, and ultimately Sleazy's is a story of loneliness.

Songs of Isolation and Paranoia: The name of this one pretty much sums it up. These songs are slow and low, ornery and out of control.

Classic Punk!

2009-04-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

Last night after spending a few hours shooting the breeze with Steve, Trish and I came home and listened to the Ramones first album and "Never Mind the Bollocks" by the Sex Pistols. We have both of those collections on vinyl and it was awesome! I had sort of forgotten how great those albums are. I think these days no one really thinks about albums - its all about singles. But I will be working on albums - collections of songs that are meant to be listened to completely in a single sitting - maybe on head-phones - maybe on weed. Who knows?

Anyway - it was awesome to listen to some great albums last night.

Fun Show Last night...

2009-04-04T16:37:00.000-07:00

I went to a house party last night at a place down on Oleander and 1st Ave. called the "Cougar Den." It was a supremely nice house - a two or maybe even three story victorian with a big patio to boot. The party was fun - there were kegs of Pabst, lots of folks, and some dude walking around with a 6 foot long bong! It made me laugh because, well, first because it was a six foot long bong, but next because it had a sticker plastered right near the mouthpiece that read "I am a Success!"

Oh oops - before I even got the party I stopped off at Paradise Lost where I gulped down a few free gin and tonics at an art gallery opening for a Paradise based artist named Doug. Aesome journalist that I am I did not catch his last name! Doug works with metal and his pieces are awesome. They are large rockets and prehistoric looking fish with saw blades for teeth. The pieces are hung from the ceiling and full of holes and seems and Doug strings lanterns into them so that they glow and radiate with light! Cool stuff! Anyway - back to the house party!

There was a noble drug dealer who talked really fast about the shrooms and cocaine he could get, there were lots of intelligent and attractive women, and there were lots and lots of bands! I don't know for sure but I believe there were 5 bands total. I only caught a couple of sets - I saw some of Fight Music's set. They are a tight band and the singer tells me he draws a lot of inspiration from the column I write for the weekly paper - so that's always flattering. I told he owed me 10 cents everytime he played something inspired by me. I was joking, but he didn't laugh. Oh well.

Pinhead was the last band to play and they didn't go on until around midnight. This was much later than I had anticipated but worth the wait. They are a Ramones tribute band and they are good - tight and triumphant!

Towards the very end of the evening there was an unfortunate incident between a couple of guys who have been beefing back and forth since they were children. They still act like children. What are you gonna do? No punches were thrown but there were some bad words and a little bit of spit ended up on one of the participant's faces. Gross. I don't know. Dumb stuff. But the show was great fun. I got home laaatttee though. I called to let Trish know though so I wasn't in too much trouble. I don't feel very great today though. Not hung-over, I didn't drink that much. Just tired.

Pictured here is the band Pinhead! in action. I couldn't get much of a photo because I didn't want to use a flash and the band was real kinetic so hence the blur. Also I was a little bit tipsy when I took it!

Recording at last?

2009-04-03T10:24:00.000-07:00

Aye-chihuahua I have been barraged with obligations this week! Nothing terrible - in fact some very nice obligations. I met a new family member - a step-sister. It is odd to have new family members at the age of 38 but I guess that is the way to old ball bounces these days.

What I haven't been able to do much of this week has been to record music - and I am absolutely jonesing to sit down in front of the computer and work on a few songs.

Oh - that is exciting! For the first time in my life I dreamed song lyrics and was actually able to wake up and capture them! A love song... I can't remember them off the top of my head but they are in my journal at home and I recorded a sweet little melody into my voice recorder at 2:31 a.m. last night.

Right now I am listening to Steve Earle play a beautiful cover of the Warren Zevon tune "Reconsider Me." It makes me weepy.

Donniker Practice...

2009-04-01T13:06:00.000-07:00

The Donnikers practiced last night with a new member - the illustrious Zeke Rodgers of the Makai and a super-prominent figure in the local music scene. Zeke is an all-around good guy and a solid musician. He picked up the songs super-quick and his playing fit right in with what we are doing. Frankly though if you've heard the Makai and the Donnikers you would probably expect Zeke to be able to pick up our three-chord, two-change wonders pretty fast. You'd be right!

Anyway - it seemed like everyone enjoyed practice - I know I did. Cody K. bought some new material in and now we have a substantial amount of songs. Also now I feel like I need to get writing again! I bought in a new riff but no words. It is a riff I wrote for Trish so she should come up with the words. It is rocking though.

I got home from practice to find Trish had gotten into the vodka a little. I joined her for a late night cocktail and we listened to a Rolling Stones ablum, Goat's Head Soup, on our new turn-table. Those guys just fucking rock. There is no two-ways about it. Rocking.

New Turntable! Sweet!

2009-03-31T14:25:00.000-07:00

The year of music continues to get better. Trish got me a turbtable for my birthday - well, sort of for my birthday. She ordered it from Radio Shack with the hope that it would be here by my birthday. Of course it wasn't. It was ten days late and when it did finally arrive at Radio Shack no one knew it - and then when I got it home I found that it was broken and parts had been scalped from it. Frankly it doesn't suprise me - I had a similar experience with Radio Shack the last time I shopped there and vowed never to shop there again.

But no worries - the only thing that was broken was a hinge on the dust cover. I scalped one of those off of an old, non-functioning turn-table in the basement and we were in business! The other piece that was scalped was the 45 adapter - we'll have to keep our eyes open for one of those.

So this weekend - for the first time in I can't even remember how long - I spun records. I love it! I had forgotten how much fun records are. The packaging is big and beautiful - they have a warm sound, I even like the pops and wobbles. Records are even fun to just watch spin around.

Trish's vinyl collection is a lot bigger than mine and she has a lot of great stuff. I am particularly liking her "The Cure" records. I was a child of the 80's so my tape collection is really where its at - but I have a few records I've picked up here and there.

Anyway - its just fun and gives us another avenue of musical exploration. The year of music is definitely kicking ass!

Recording this weekend?

2009-03-27T09:35:00.000-07:00

Maybe... I hope so. I just have to find the time in between automotive repair and tax preparation. Ugh. I hate taxes.

I would like to work on "Headless Affair." I have the song's structure all plotted out and a rough take of everything recorded - now I just have to go back through and re-record all the parts for real so I get the separation and whatnot.

I got my SM-57 from Steve's and I'm going to try recording the acoustic guitars through that microphone and see how they sound. My options are limited to my three microphones: the SM-57, SM-58, and my cheap Nady Condensor mic - I don't know the make of it off the top of my head.

On Headless Affair I am going to record a heap of guitar tracks - probably two tracks plucked and two tracks strummed - plus two or more tracks for the guitar solo. The song has a nice feel and a lot of space - so I think there is great potential for building tension by bringing in strings or organ on selected parts of the track. But I haven't completely figured that out yet.

Anyway - time will tell!

Listening to the new U2 album...

2009-03-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

I got the latest U2 album from Sythesis for review and listened to it briefly last night sitting by our wood stove on our new, old stereo. It sounds great. At this point those guys have it pretty much figured out. They have achieved that rare ability to play soothing, atmospheric music that also rocks.

I never really cared much for U2's older stuff, Joshua Tree and the albums that sort of put them on the map - but since they put out Mysterious Ways I have found myself liking them more and more. It's almost as though as their involvement in politics outside of music has grown the music itself has become more playful and joyous. I guess that makes sense. I think its great.

Anyway - I wanted to record last night but I was too tired from the late night before so I just listened to most of that U2 album, ate fish sticks, and then fell asleep halfway through "Criminal Minds."

Donniker practice...

2009-03-25T08:56:00.000-07:00

We had a sort of practice last night. We spent more time bullshitting that we did playing music - but that's typical of the Donnikers. A story always follows a story and before you know it it's eleven o'clock on a Tuesday - we've all copped a mild buzz, and we've managed to get through four songs!

That being said those four songs sounds a lot better. The other guys are saying we are playing pretty good but I am dubious. I sort of think we stink. Oh well - it's just for laughs anyway.

I am going to take my amp into the Speaker Connection - one of the channels has gone dead. It is a beauty - a 1965 blackface Fender Super Reverb. The sounds is the best but it is so temperamental I have been reluctant to use it live. Aside from that the fact that the channel with all the EQ and effects on it is the dead one - so that is sort of a drag. Not for me so much - I really get off on the super-clean crunch of that un-tarnished Fender sound.

When I was a kid I used to love Marshalls - but nowadays I really like the more articulated sound a clean Fender provides. I play Telecasters through it and it just sings!

Rocking and recording...

2009-03-23T08:12:00.000-07:00

The Donnikers ended up playing late on Friday. We stunk it up pretty bad - played everything about three times too fast and totally lost our cool at points in the set. But no one seemed to mind. The good thing about the show was the two acts that went on before us. They were both from San Francisco and the bands shared a lot of the same musicians. The first band was a kick-ass power trio called "The Gibbs." They were just awesome - classic power with a really tough female lead singer and guitar player. The next band was a totally different animal considering the drummer and bass player from the Gibbs were both involved in it. As opposed to raw power "Top Critters" was an epic instrumental band - they played about 5 songs with the big rising and falling, the crescendoes that send shivers up the spine. Both bands were totally cool and headed up top Portland, Seattle, then Portland again, and back down to San Francisco.

As for recording I took Saturday off but Sunday evening I managed to get a complete take of "Headless Affair." I had to piece it together as for some reason whenever I try and sing and play it along with the metronome I lost the beat - but if I try to just play it on the guitar I lose track of where I am in the song! So I played a verse on the guitar, then sang over that to give myself the vocal queues, fit in the solo, etc. etc. etc. Boring to read about but I am excited to have a complete scratch take now that I can play the parts all over again over!

Also I re-mixed "How Many" and basically adjusted the acoustic guitar sound because I have been picking up way to much bass. I think I over-cut the bass and now it sounds thin and tinny, but at least it doesn't blow your speakers when you play it loud anymore! I posted this to the madbobsings myspace page. You can get to it from my links here.

Rocking tonite!

2009-03-20T16:09:00.000-07:00

It looks like the Donnikers are a go for tonight at Monstro's. Steve managed to work it out so he is opening one show and closing the other. Good coordination!

This is going to end up being a maximum rock and roll week for me - three shows in 4 days. I am going to sleep well tonight and drink beer tomorrow!

Cafe Coda Show Last night...

2009-03-20T08:11:00.000-07:00

Man the show last night was so much fun! That wsa the first time I've ever played Cafe Coda and it was an absolute pleasure. The sound system was really good, I could tell the audience was hearing every word. It was a sit-down crowd which was really ideal for the more subdued than usual set of tunes I played.

But before I get into my set - Filthy Luke out of Redding played before me. I had the treat of sharing a beer with him and, I'm assuming, his girlfriend Marty at Duffy's. They are super nice people and Luke delivered a really nice set of stripped down, heart-felt country flavored songs. He has a lot of the old school, Hank Sr. style country music in him and his songs are tales of alcoholic excess, alienation, and lost love. The intimate venue was a perfect place for his style of playing and singing.

I played after Luke and was followed by Kurt who is "Ashes to Empire." He plays what I suppose you could describe as "post-punk" songs. Some of them are songs he played with a Missouri based punk band he was in called "Otto's Revenge," but I understand he has been writing and recording recently with Scott Barwick here in town. His songs were well contructed and well delivered.

Finally North Cedar closed out the night. I was really looking forward to them during their set-up because the band features horns, mandolin, keyboard and percussion. But they couldn't manage to get their volume under control in what is a very small venue and as a result all I could hear was a big wash of noise. I left in fear of losing my hearing and had a cool-down beer at Duffy's; but then remembered that one of my tail-lights is out. So I poured out half a beer and beat it to home on the back roads. I wasn't even slightly drunk, but who wants to deal with the police at 11:00 o'clock at night?

My own set came off really well. Whereas on Tuesday I couldn't find a single set of eyes on me, last night everyone was really receptive. I even did an acapella version of business suits that went off just like it should've. I am really enjoying the solo acoustic playing more and more each time I do it. Some nights are rougher than others but last night was smooth and fun. The only drawback, if there was one, was that I wore a suit on what has been the warmest night of the year thus far. I was sweating like a pig by the end of the set!

Now I have got to rustle up something to sell. I'm sure I could've sold some merch last night if I weren't such a lame-dick.

Well we may have a show tonight - and we may not. I believe the Donnikers are booked at Monstro's - but I also think Steve might have double-booked himself. We'll see how that shakes out.

Poster for tomorrow's show...

2009-03-18T09:22:00.001-07:00

Here's the flier for tomorrow's show at Cafe Coda. Should be a good one!

Maltese Last Night...

2009-03-18T09:08:00.000-07:00

Good fun at the Maltese last night. Saint Patrick's Day in Chico is always interesting. Plus it happens to be my birthday!

I played sort of a forgettable set. A few of my songs clicked, but for the most part the audience was there to drink and socialize and so I had a tough time getting over. It was a far cry from my last show at the Maltese. I always like to watch the crowd and see whose connecting and there was a song last night where I looked around and could not find one single person paying any attention to me! That was unique. Afterwards though Johnny Shanker (from the Shankers) told me he really liked that particular song - so at least one person was listening!

But no big deal really - that's the beauty of St. Patrick's Day. It's a celebration for everyone; a really anarchistic and individualistic kind of a holiday.

The Shankers followed me - they are money. That tight little trio is just set up to rock your pants off and they do it routinely. Money. If you want to be guaranteed entertained see the Shankers. Trucker's Wife followed the Shankers and sounded the best I've heard them so far. They get tighter each time they play.

Three Fingers Whiskey finished off the evening. I joined them on-stage for a rough version of "Folsom Prison Blues." I don't know if they were happy about that or not. I love those guys. They are the closest thing to a real country band we have here in this little North State berg of ours.

Good fun - next show is Thursday at the Cafe Coda in lovely downtown Chico!

The Week of Music...

2009-03-16T09:35:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a very busy musical week for yours truly.

On March 17th, Tuesday, I will be playing a Saint Patrick's Day show at the Maltese. That is also my birthday. It is a great little bar, a close stumble to home, and the line-up is super. So that should be a blast.

Then on March 19th I'll be playing for the first time at Cafe Coda. I am looking forward to that as I have a bunch of quieter, more intimate music that doesn't go over so great in front of the boisterous bar audiences I generally find myself in front of.

Finally on Friday the 20th the Donnikers are slated to play at Monstro's. I'm not sure if that is really going to happen though as Steve (a.k.a. 2 Drink) may have double-booked himself! It will be interesting to see how that shakes out.

Either way it should be a fun week!

Recording (Relative) Success!

2009-03-16T09:28:00.000-07:00

Well on Saturday Trish had to work so I spent a portion fo the day going over a few recordings I have been working on. I laid down some new vocals on "Too Many Waves" and re-mixed that. I am really liking the way it is sounding.

In addition I worked on adjusting some of the bass out of my acoustic guitars and added some sound effects to "Pharamaceutical Luv." I am also thinking that one sounds pretty good.

There are two others that are getting there. "How Many?" is a lament I am enjoying. I got rid of the organ I had in there and boosted the acoustic guitar; but it still has the bass problems. I think I used the EQ feature on "Too Many Waves" and just cut all the bass frequencies off of the acoustic guitar in order to get that track sounding better.

I record my acoustic guitar with a Shure SM-58 and I think it just picks up loads of the bass strings and the natural reverberation of the guitar. I think the next time I record them I will press the "low pass" filter button on my pre-amp. I believe that is designed to cut out the real low frequencies. It may not be what I need, but its worth a try.

Finally I am just chipping away at a weird songs called "Take out the Trash." Right now it only has two acoustic guitar tracks and two vocal tracks. It sounds okay, not super. But that one is just in its infancy. It is a slow, mournful song. Eventually it will have some rising strings or something to add a little drama. Luckily it clocks in at well under three minutes.

Too Many Waves and Pharmaceutical Luv are both long - around 5 minutes. But Pharmaceutical Luv tells a saga and then fades out on screaming babies and gurgling sputter. Too Many Waves is really a very short song but then the music is repeated and then it fades into a sonic tapestry of simple syntheizer notes. I am liking the way the new mix sounds and I will post it to my myspace site as soon as I get home and on the computer.

No practice... so recording!

2009-03-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

Cody got called in for work so the Donnikers did not practice last night. That was fine by me as I was still really tired from the WOR event the night before. So instead of playing loud music until the wee hours of the morning I messed around with some recording. Right now I am working on recording acoustic guitar parts. I played around with an old song of mine that is part of a long-lost rock opera I was working on a decade ago. It is called "Take out the Trash." I like it - it is an ethereal song that I sing in my hackneyed version of a falsetto. It has a really funky cadence to it something like... 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2

If that makes any sense to you. Anyway - just to get that established I had to construct a beat on my free DT program. I just used a closed high hat and I think the tempo was set at 111 beats per minute. But it is fast because the beats are programmed 2 per measure - so maybe it is really clicking at 222 beats per minute... math.

I screwed up a bunch of takes but finally managed to get 2 reasonable guitar takes and 2 reasonable vocal takes. On the guitars I compressed one at a 5:1 setting and on the other 1 compressed it and tweaked the equilization so that everything under 300 HZ is quieted. I have been having issues with way too much flab on my acoustic guitar recordings.

If I sound like I know what I am doing that is an illusion. This is all very new to me. The who equilization thing just clicked in my brain a couple of days ago. For awhile I was just clicking it randomly and listening to how it came out: then I finally noticed the little HZ meter at the bottom of the chart. "Aha!"

Anyway it is sort of tricky because my monitoring situation is not good. I can either listen through my crappy computer speakers or my cool looking but probably crappy sounding 1970 era headphones that I picked up at ARC thrift store a few years ago. My main issue is that nothing I play back on has much bass response - so when I end up burning the songs to a disc and listening to them on even our crappy little boom box I get horrifying fuzz and speaker-blowing flab on the bass. I cannot hear that on my monitoring system!

But last night I think I was able to discern what would be causing that. The acoustic guitar recorded through my Shure SM-58 just delivers a tremendous amount of low-end. Maybe I have figured it out.

The other lovely thing about all of this is that I record on a computer with no CD burner! I just picked up a data stick the other day so I will be using that to transfer from the one computer to our other computer, then burning a disc and playing it back on our various CD players around the house to see what I've actually come up with. Round-about to be sure, but heck, its what I've got and its a lot better than nothing!

March 17th show...

2009-03-11T15:38:00.003-07:00

Here is the flyer for the St. Patrick's Day show. Pretty cool I'd say!

Songwriting Competition...

2009-03-11T07:42:00.000-07:00

Well I did not win the songwriting competition - I didn't place, I didn't show. Oh well. It was a strange affair. The Wild Oak Records club that ran the event had us all sign a 2-page contract that pretty much said they weren't going to pay us anything and that they didn't own our song. Though they had a nice, very professional looking contract, they had everyone signing them in pencil! Also, the PA system they provided only had one speaker! I made a joke about that and stated that we all knew stereo was just a fad anyway - but no one laughed. I don't even know if they understood the fact that it is strange to only have one speaker for a PA.

Anyway - I don't mean to get too negative on the whole deal. There were some talented people who performed. It was neat to see young people getting up in front of an audience; some of them for the very first time.

There were a lot of "music student" type people there and the conversations I fell into seemed to be tinged with that music school crowd's arrogance. Or maybe that was just my arrogance as someone who has actually been playing music for 20+ years rubbing off and being reflected back at me. I don't know. Either way - it was a weird scene and certainly not the one I am used to. I talked to one young woman with a really good voice. She sang acapello and I asked her if she had a band she worked with. She said no, that she couldn't communicate her songs with band members and so she was studying music theory. I was like, huh? She had just sung the song beautifully. Me thinks she is just showing her songs to the wrong people - people who don't really know how to play and feel music.

I don't know - I never learned to read music. Even when I took piano lessons I just faked it; watched the teacher's fingers and learned the piece by ear, then just pretended to read the music. So I don't think the same way as the people who need to see sheet music in front of them in order to play a piece. To each their own.

Anyway - suffice to say the judges last night have not yet warmed up to my particular version of sleaze-folk-punk type music. Their loss I says!

Coming up next I've got either practice, recording, or a Saint Patrick's Day gig that looks like it may have been moved up from a starting time of 8 to a starting time of 5 p.m.! It will be interesting to see how I am going to get from work to home to outfitted to the Maltese all in a half hour's time span!

Wish me luck!

Ugh...

2009-03-10T12:38:00.000-07:00

Turns out I missed the deadline for the songwriting competition so now I will have to go down to Woodstock's early and hope that I can get a "stand-by" slot. Typical. Oh well, I have never seen the set-up at Woodstock's so maybe it will be infomative whether or not I get to play. I hope I get to play though!

Recording fun last night, songwriting contest tonight!

2009-03-10T09:33:00.000-07:00

I've been doing a fair amount of home recording lately with my free Audacity software and a $100 USB compatible pre-amp made by ART. It works pretty well for making demos - I'm still limited by mt own abilities and somewhat be gear - but really I can record a clean signal and that's as much as I need for now.

I will go into more detail about my "studio" later.

Last night I was working on a waltz I wrote for the Donnikers called "Headless Affair." It's a slower song - but waltzes are fast! I set the tempo at 150 beats per minute on the built-in metronome. It felt a little fast; but when I set it at 130 the song clocked in at well over 5 minutes - too long! So I've sped the tempo up a little, it still spans more than 4 minutes. But I like it, the vocals don't feel too cramped.

For my first pass I've recorded a couple of guitar tracks - one finger-plucked track and another strummed acoustic guitar. I am really liking the feel of it so far; though I will have to re-do everything. I screwed up the solo and the ending of the song. That's the great thing about this home-based recording though - it is only an investment of time. And everytime I record I learn something.

I've been having a terrible time with the bass on my acoustic guitar tracks being overwhelming. I figured out how to solve that last night (I think - more about my monitoring issues later). I used a 5:1 compression setting on a duplicated guitar track and it seemed to balance out the signal levels. I won't know for sure until I play it through a set of speakers that actually has bass response.

On an entirely different note: tonight is the Wild Oak Records songwriting competition at Woodstock's Pizza. The winners could be featured on a CD and I think there is a show at some point - last year's was at the Sierra Nevada Big Room (best music venue in town). I blew it off last year and the year before, but I think this year I will give it a shot.

I don't know how I will be received - most of my music is either dark and depressing, or depraved and perverse. I guess it depends on whose judging!

Wish me luck!

Upcoming shows!

2009-03-09T07:47:00.001-07:00

I just got word of a show I will be playing on at the Cafe Coda here in Chico. In addition to that I have a Saint Patrick's Day show at the Maltese. They should both be loads of fun. I played the Maltese a few weeks back and just had a blast. As for Cafe Coda I have never played there - so this will be a first for me.

Anyway, here are the dates and line-ups of those shows:

Tues. March 17th - the Maltese featuring: The Shankers, Trucker's Wife, Mister Plow, The Cheatin Hearts, and yours truly. Show starts around 8:00 p.m.

Thurs. March 19th - Cafe Coda featuring North Cedar, Ashes to Empire, myself, and Filthy Luke. Show starts around 8:00 p.m.

Hope to see you at one or the other!

New Stereo!

2009-03-09T07:43:00.001-07:00

Not really - but we did piece together a decent sounding stereo from parts and components I had down in the basement. Before that, for some strange reason, we didn't have a decent sound system. Even though my wife and I are both musicians and music lovers, we were just listening to out CD's on a $30 boom box! Now, after several trips to the basement and one trip to ARC thrift store we have sonic definition! We have stereo separation! It is seriously like hearing music for the first time. Suddenly I'm hearing harmonies on songs I've heard a hundred times before. I'm hearing mandolin where I didn't know there was mandolin. I can hear the whisper tracks, the layered vocals, everything crystal clear!

I spend most of the weekend sitting in a comfortable chair and listening through our music collection. It was great.

No voice!

2009-03-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Shit - after that house party on Wednesday night I have now lost my voice! The weird part is my voice was fine yesterday. I woke up this morning and I could brely croak enough sound out to say good morning to my wife! I was planning on doing some recording this weekend but it looks like if I do I will not be doing any vocal tracks! Unless I want to do some real low gravelly stuff ala later Leonard Cohen! (As if I could write or sing like that!)

House Party last night...

2009-03-05T08:06:00.000-08:00

We debuted the new slimmed-down version of the Donikers last night. Steve, Cody and I played a Wednesday night house party on the corner of 8th and Pine, across from the Taco truck. We went to the wrong house first - they were also partying there, but not having live music. Once we finally did make it to the right house the party was a blast. Black Hole of Calcutta opened the show with their fast and tight blend of thrash-punk. Their songs are concise and blistering. Spider, the singer, stripped naked and then demanded that the audience pay him to put his clothes back on - $5 per item. He quickly accumulated $10 and put on his shirt and underwear, but his dick was still hanging out for the entire set. They were good though.

After them a punkish band whose name I never quite figured out played. It was their second show I believe. They were alright - I was outside for most of the set.

We played after that - our set was sort of a disaster from the outset; typical house party sound problems. Amps too quiet, too loud, Steve couldn't hear a thing on the drums. It was fun though - I really enjoyed the sheer physicality of playing too loud and too fast in front of an audience that didn't mind our blemishes. Some dude named Mongo seemed hell-bent on creating chaos during our set (as if we needed that). He sort of took over adjusting the guitar amp and I assumed he knew what he was doing - then he turned every knob up including the effects so that the thing was reverberating and echoing and who knows what else! That got Cody a little frustrated. Then when I was singing this guy kept re-adjusting my microphone so that it was pointed at my chest and I had to keep bending down to sing. Then I would adjust it to the right height and he would adjust it back until finally I had to push him away and tell him to stop fucking with the microphone! To top it off the fucker took my tall-boy and drank about two-thirds of it before I got it back from him. I'm not sure what his trip was - he didn't come off as malicious, but man, he was good at being annoying.

Anyway - we finished up the set and then were treated to a really beautiful performance from traveling troubador Paleo. His songs are folkish - lyrical and melodic in the Dylan/Donavan/Nick Drake vein. He would position the capo a solid 10 or 12 frets up on the neck of his guitar and then pluck out these lush and gorgeous chords. Over this he sang in a high-pitched, sweeping voice. The crowd was way into it and silenced completely to listen to his compositions.

Steve and I took off during his set so we didn't see the conclusion of Paleo nor the Shankers play their set. Sorry to those guys for bailing early but Steve has to work at 4 a.m. these days and Wednesday nights are just not the best for staying out let and getting loaded!

Great fun though. I love house parties.