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The Ghost Hole (again)...

Performed again at the Ghost Hole here in Garibaldi (two blocks from the house), and again, it was just two of us. I concentrated on uptempo numbers, since the other fellow doesn’t do any (he said he’s working on it, though—he did notice the crowd liked them), and he did lots of Neil Young and Bob Dylan. He’s got a couple of originals that are a real good fit with what he does, and I complimented him on them—they really are better than most of the Neil Young stuff. He should do more. And aga

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Practice With The Band...

OFirst practice with the band Saturday. Spent most of the day at it—bass player and drummer and Sharma on electric guitar in the morning, lead guitarist in the evening; we’re planning on having everybody together in one place next Saturday. It’s still pretty rough. That’s partly from Doug and Donny (drums and bass) not being familiar with the material, and part because they’re coming from a punk-rock background, where the instruments are just played differently. I’ve suggested to Sharma

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More Updates...

Might be about to get busy. This week, I will have made two trips to the Squirrel House (one to retrieve the pellet stove); in addition, I went to that advertised jam session at the local tavern, I have practice with the Portland musicians, and I have a job interview. (Local job.) I’ve got two more jobs to apply for, too—one local and one not. Picked up an application to drive school bus, too, after I got another city manager rejection letter in the mail. I have the tracks from Albert f

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Bay City...

BAY CITY went real well. I had Dick Ackerman there to play blues harp, so we did “Armadillo on the Interstate” (which he’s been practicing), “Tillamook Railroad Blues” (which he knows), and “Milepost 43” and “Vampire Roumanian Babies” (which he did real well on). And the audience did love every one. (Yes, Bay City audiences have historically been very appreciative—but this time, with the open mike taking place right after a fancy fund-raising dinner, there were relatively few people there who

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Working On The Website (&c.)...

And when we can’t think of anything else to do, we write, right? Dick Ackerman’s willing to do the harmonica lead on the “Armadillo” song; might be able to record that in the next couple of days. Following that, I want to record Beth Williams’ “Kidney Stone Blues,” and then do harmonica parts for “The Tillamook Railroad Blues” and “Milepost 43.” The railroad song especially should be a one-take thing—we’ve been playing it for years. The Tascam’s digital-camera chip “brain,” which allows

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The Philippine Christmas Album!

I received the PHILIPPINE CHRISTMAS ALBUM—took three weeks to get here from The Philippines by their version of registered mail. (Must’ve swum.) It is definitely a rush having somebody else’s record with my song (and name, and photo) on it. I’m not the only american on the album (there are two Stan Good songs, too); some of the songs are in English, and some not. Some of the music would be quite at home in an American bar or concert hall, even though the singing isn’t in English—I guess

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Just Updates...

Just updates… I can’t produce the songbook, even in black-and-white, for five bucks—not when my printer goes through a $20 ink cartridge in less than 200 pages. (Yes, I need a cheaper printer, as soon as I can afford one. And Lexmark needs a Very Nasty Letter about their equipment, which I am not going to buy any more.) I’ll have to print one master, and take it to a print shop that does work for college students, and see what that costs. There’s none of those around here, but I have a littl

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The Red Room--and An Open Mike...

Went to the Red Room to check the place out (I always try to do this before a gig) and to drop off a CD and posters. It’s a pretty big place, with a decent-sized stage, and good speakers (though the sound system is primitive compared to what the Friday Night Group has). I’ll definitely want my own singing mike. It’s on NORTHEAST 82nd, not Southeast as I originally reported (and if you go to the SE 82nd address—like I did—you will end up at a Chinese restaurant, which just happens to be pa

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A Paying Gig!

Well, I have a gig. FRIDAY, 13 FEBRUARY at THE RED ROOM in Portland (2530 SE 82nd), a bar that showcases a lot of new live music, and also a bunch of comedy acts (I have a feeling I’m one of the latter). I do not know at this point if it’s important to do this with a band; I’ve put out feelers in Portland to see if there are musicians interested in being “Joe’s band” for the occasion, but it’s too early at this writing to tell if I’ll snag anybody. A lot depends on what the other “acts” are li

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Being Interactive...

Over two million extra people voted in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election, most of them voting for the first time even though a lot of them had been eligible to vote for years. Nearly all of them were young, and nearly all of them voted for Barack Obama, and that’s one of the reasons he won. (Not the only reason, of course—but we’re not discussing politics here.) Those two million extra votes happened in large part because somebody on Obama’s staff ran a very interactive campaign. There

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Happy Almost New Year...

ZNO NEW YEAR’S EVE GIG: Really disappointing—my preference for celebrating New Year’s, since I don’t drink, is to be playing on stage with a band. I got to do that last year—but I was living in southern Oregon and knew a bar owner who was throwing a private party New Year’s Eve, and inviting only musicians he knew. I don’t have resources like that here on the Coast. (The lesson there is I should create them. Not playing on New Year’s Eve is something that should be added to the “I’ll never

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Co-writes On The Album?

I really don’t know how to approach the Five-Dollar Album. I don’t know if it ought to be all my stuff or include some of the co-writes. I have four songs by other people that I’ve musicated and recorded, plus the “Alphabet Without U” rap where the words were done by me and the “beat” by Jerry Miller (dba zonemusicinc), and the recordings are pretty good; any or all would be good inclusions on an album. The co-writes are: Alabama Blues, by Diane Ewing Tune the Strings of My Soul, by Re

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Pre-christmas Updates...

The Oregon Coast has had snow—one of those “never happens here” occurrences—and both the Friday Night Group sessions and the Saturday Thing at the Tillamook Library got cancelled. Well-stocked larder; power’s still on; most of the TV channels work; the regular telephone still makes local calls (no cell service, though); and in my spare time, I can shovel snow—if God doesn’t melt the stuff first. And we only lost the Internet for a day. THE SONGBOOK turned out to be a bigger project than I

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The Goals For 2009...

Last December, I said in 2008 I wanted to (1) record a new CD, (2) publish, (3) work with a performing band, (4) perform at Moograss, (5) perform at Wheeler and the Harvest Festival, (6) attend Pineyfest, (7) enter two more song contests, and ( have a CD release party. I didn’t do that well. 8 songs “in the can” for the CD (1), but I haven’t got back to southern Oregon to do the remaining five. The Harvest Festival was the only planned big gig I made (5), though I did have a few others

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A Joe Songbook?

The suggestion was made that I produce a songbook of my stuff. It’s not a bad idea. I made a list (for I am good at lists), and if I go back to the beginning, to the first good song I ever wrote, there are 62 of them—definitely a book’s worth. It’d actually be fairly easy to do. Lyrics for most of the songs are in “Alice” the computer’s brain, already in a standard format with chords and chord changes; I could add photographs—got plenty of appropriate ones—title page, index, and a few ti

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A Five Dollar Album?

I put together a Christmas album for a couple of friends, and it didn’t turn out bad. I’d concentrated on songs I knew they hadn’t heard yet (and I last saw them Labor Day weekend). The record’s got: Crosses by the Roadside The Strange Saga of Quoth, the Parrot Vampire Roumanian Babies I Broke My Girlfriend Doing Battle with the Lawn Simple Questions (by O.R. Vindstad) Alphabet Without U—A Rap (“beat” by Jerry Miller) Sometimes She Could Scream (by Donna Devine) For Their O

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More On The Five-year Plan...

While assembling the list of 2009 Goals, I noticed a lot of them looked the same as last year. Finish the album; do another one. Enter more contests I can win. Find or create a band. Spend a week in Nashville. Continue writing an average of at least one good song a month. There’s the operative word—CONTINUE. These are just incremental upgrades of what I’ve already been doing. The operative QUESTION is how those fit in with the Five-Year Plan, and whather I ought to be thinking them d

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A Five-year Plan?

I have another out-of-town job interview next week (first one in a while), so I get to fantasize (again) about what it’d be like living in a new place. Musically, I think they all follow a set pattern. If there’s somebody I know living in the area (and I would in this case—I know a lot of people), I get in touch with them. I want to find out if there are any open mikes, and any jam sessions; I’ll make sure to go. If there’s an organized group of songwriters, I’ll join; if there’s an orga

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9 Months Without Work (but I'm Published!)

On 17 December—eight days before Christmas—I will have been unemployed nine months. Can’t say as I’ve done a lot with the free time (though the Squirrel House does have a new kitchen, and new carpets, and electric heat). Let’s say I don’t feel I’ve done enough. Part of what’s been on hold is that career as a songwriter; as I prepare next year’s list of goals (for I am good at lists), most of the promotional stuff I’d intended to accomplish this past year hasn’t happened—a lot of it because of

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"crosses" And The Publisher...

“Crosses by the Roadside” is a good song, they say. “Best you ever wrote,” they say. (Didn’t even have to pay them to say that.) Best I’ll ever write? Probably not. The key is to keep writing. That way you know the best is always ahead. It is rather a compelling melody, difficult to get out of my head—and the only way to get it out is to go do something else. Unfortunately, I don’t have anything finishable right now (the couple of partial songs that are hanging fire still don’t have

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Thanksgiving...

Day before Thanksgiving… time to review what to be thankful for. This year, it’s a short list, thanks in large part to the economy; my wife says one of the things I should be thankful for is she still has a job, and I agree (and I said I’d mention it). To those who have been reading this thing, whoever and however many of you there are, I am thankful you’re there, too. I hope whatever information is being disseminated here is helpful. There are a few—a very few—copies of the “Santa’s Fal

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"crosses By The Roadside"...

NEW SONG: I haven’t been able to say that in a long time. The lyrics are presently undergoing peer review (I always submit the lyrics first), and we’ll see what the critics think; I think it’s pretty good, but I’ve learned not to trust my own judgment about these things. Hight (tentatively) “Crosses by the Roadside.” It’s a good tearjerker of a lost-love song—in this case, the love is lost apparently because somebody died—that poses the question whether it may be worse to be left alive.

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Ooo! A Project!

Two friends want to record an album as a Christmas present for their grandchildren. Can I do it? Yes. In fact, I can handle production from beginning to end, including burning the CDs and putting labels on them. Great opportunity for the Tone-Deaf Sound Engineer. I explained my limitations. The Tascam has just 4 tracks, and 2 inputs (guitar and mike) that have to be used separately. I have one singing mike, and one stand. If I’m going to record two of anything—two voices, or two guit

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The Pigfish Album List...

John (the bass player) wanted a CD of Southern Pigfish songs for practice. I think the way to approach it is to act as if the Southern Pigfish album were going to be produced right now, today, and all there was to pick from was my songs. What would go on the album would be: For Their Own Ends Bedpans for Brains Vampire Roumanian Babies Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep Test Tube Baby Born Again Barbie Naked Space Hamsters in Love When I Jump Off the Cliff, I’ll Think of You The

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Not Going To Be In A Movie...

I got offered an audition for a movie, but I’ve pretty much decided to shine it on. Instead, I’ll be judging speech tournaments for my daughter’s college, several weekends this winter, because that pays ($50 a day, plus hotel room and maybe meals), and the movie part doesn’t. The glory—if there was any—might have been nice, but sometimes y’gotta go where the money is. It’d have been just a bit part—an aging rock star reduced to performing in karaoke bars. I did have a problem with the pa

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