Setlist for the Bay City concert looks like this:

Dead Things in the Shower (mod. fast country)

Armadillo on the Interstate (slow & sleazy)

Bluebird on My Windshield (fast bluegrass)

The Frog Next Door (deliberate blues)

The Termite Song (fast bluegrass)

Tillamook Railroad Blues (deliberate blues)

Prehistoric Roadkill (fast bluegrass)

Welcome to Hebo Waltz (fast waltz)

Free-Range Person (fast bluegrass)

Milepost 43 (mod. fast country)

Dead Fishes (fast bluegrass)

Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus (mod. fast Gospel)

[bREAK]

Duct Tape(mod. fast country)

Crosses by the Roadside (mod. slow, bluesy country)

Doing Battle with the Lawn (fast bluegrass)

Hey, Little Chicken (deliberate blues)

The World Enquirer (fast bluegrass)

No Good Songs About the War (mod. slow country)

Born Again Barbie (mod. fast Gospel)

Vampire Roumanian Babies (fast bluegrass)

When They Die, I Put Them in the Cookies (mod. fast country)

Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues (slow & sleazy)

Rotten Candy (fast bluegrass)

I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas (slow & sleazy)

24 songs should be two hours’ worth, with Raps; break in the middle to allow the audience to stretch and get refreshments, and the band to rest (and me to sell CDs if I can). The two “halves” can be flipped, too; most of the new songs people haven’t heard are in Part 2, and it might be good to have ‘em up front.

The vast majority of the tunes are uptempo numbers; most of what I’ve written are uptempo numbers, I think. Even though I purposefully ignore the Powers That Be in Nashville, I did take to heart long ago their dictum that “Nashville wants uptempo songs.” Even when (maybe especially when) it’s about plague, famine, and weapons of mass destruction, it’s just got to sound happy.

We have time for two more practices before the Bay City gig. I’ve met with the Recreation District’s new manager, and suggested he might want to attend to see what we-the-band might be able to do for the District as a benefit; I still have the newspaper and radio station to visit.

The Portland band may be a go; I’ve been asked to try to get us another gig at the Red Room. David (lead guitarist) is interested if his other band can play the same night, and I’ll try to arrange that. The rest of them—Sharma (bass), Doug (drums), and Don (blues harp)—are in. And now that I’ve got a better idea of the group’s proclivities, I’ve got a few more songs for them to try. (And next time, I want to make sure to get us videotaped.)

UPDATES: I’ll be playing one of the Southern Oregon Songwriters summer concerts in Central Point, Sat. 22 August—once again, it’d be nice to have a band for that. And the paying gig at the Garibaldi Museum is Sat. 26 June. (I’ve been trying to schedule gigs for Saturdays because I don’t know what I’ll be doing. If by some wild stretch of the imagination I am working, odds are I won’t be working on Saturdays.) The big question is what I can arrange between now and June, both to bring in business and keep the band (or bands) busy—and playing.

Joe