Rudi

I dont use riffs, but once in a while a riff will somehow 'appear'. Using a riff up front in composition will determine where a song can or cant go. So it will both: 1/ Help focus the direction of the music. and 2/ restrict development options. I would suggest try applying a riff at the later stages of the writing.

Sailing - Sutherland Brothers & Quiver

30th Aug 2008 Gig at Romsey Comrades Club. Blown Out have played here several times. All 7 band members have known about the venue since spring of this year. On the night however, we were dealt a cruel blow. Our bassist Stan didn’t turn up. Both I and Pete (vocals) phoned his mobile but he had switched it off. Maybe he had an accident on the way to Romsey, maybe he was sick, maybe anything. However this had happened once before some 4 years ago. It was the first gig I ever took Jan to. Stan didn’t show & had turned his mobile off. So why couldn’t we just apologize to the Entertainment Manager, have a drink & go home? Well, this gig was on a contract. We were obliged to pay them if we bailed out. The same situation in fact as we had to face 4 years ago. We did then as we did now: we played the gig without the bass. This is not as straightforward as it sounds. The bass will actually play the intro to some songs, will feature & provide timing cues to the rest of us in many cases. It is not just a case of playing what we normally would without a bass. It affects what everyone else plays. I personally had to make my rhythm work much simpler that night. The keyboard player altered his sound setup to add a bit more ‘bottom’, the drummer was less connected to the band etc etc. Stan had left a gaping hole in the band. Even the sound seemed bizarre, as if we were playing in a medium other that air that night. Well we got through the evening as best we could. We didn’t do such a bad job of it. We got people up & dancing and several people thanked us. I tried to contact Stan the next day. His phone was still off. This wasn’t looking good. Pete Aubrey (singer) managed to get through to him a couple of days later. He didn’t have much to say for himself. Anyway, Pete was more concerned that he now show up for our next gig. Stan confirmed that he would. The day after this conversation, we all got a text message from Stan. It said this:- ‘Hi, I am leaving the band. Its been a great 9 years but its time to move on. Sorry for any incon. – Stan’ We had a charity gig on the next day. We were playing a fund raiser for mentally disabled children near Winchester. No contract, but we felt strongly that we could not let them down. We drafted in a replacement at short notice. The new bassist, Paul would have to just ‘wing it’ as best he could. He was given a tape the evening before the show together with the address of the venue. This following is an e-mail I sent to Blown Out’s sax player Mark Adams the next day. Mark, So Stans done it again, big style too. Quit a day prior to a gig by text with no notice or further contact. Words fail me. I didn’t have to cancel Comrades on 29th Nov either. I got a letter from them Wednesday; they have cancelled us! Tonight: We had better try to stick with simple tunes that our stand in (Paul?) will stand a chance with. That leaves out: THERE THERE MY DEAR, GENO, EMBARRASSMENT and maybe... RUDIS IN LOVE, MAMA TOLD ME, POISON IVY ...at the least I should think See you for another 'seat-of-yer-pants gig' tonight. –Rudi Paul made a damned good job as stand in. The evening was a great success, lots of money was raised. The food was excellent, everybody danced, the atmosphere was just great. I played much of the evening with my guitar turned towards Paul so he might ‘read’ the chords off me. It was a bumpy ride, but we all enjoyed it, even Paul too. We were doubly pleased that he agreed to join us as permanent bassist for the band. Due to holidays etc, we had to delay band rehearsals until now. With a couple of rehearsals, Paul would have some idea of where to start & stop, provide & take cues and learn the less straightforward material. A new band member changes the whole dynamic of a band. Stan was a solid riff player (& ex drummer) who rarely deviated from what was expected. Paul is a ‘busy’ bassist. He explores a song rather than fixing it down. A more accomplished player certainly. Not better necessarily, just different. The next gig we played with Paul, was much the same. He certainly influenced my playing that night, I took more risks during my solos & played more aggressively than usual. Drummer Simon upped the tempo of everything. The saxes were having to listen to the whole band rather that reply on the bass lines. We are a new incarnation of Blown Out. Stan. I still have had no personal contact with Stan since that August. He has been a friend of mine for many years. I forgive him & I hope that he’s ok.

The more you delve into tuning / temperament / intonation, the messier it gets. For example, theoretically, a piano cannot be tuned to play in every key. In practice, few people would ever notice any difference between a Cm to Bm transposition. It aint as emperical as it seems at 1st glance. Tuning tolerence is going to be different for everybody.

Hi Mike Lock Wireless. Welcome to SS

Cold Turkey - John Lennon Hey neo. I have a challenge. What does animal i have become - three days grace have to do with Convoy - Bill Fries ? ?

Hi Tracy. I cant offer any useful tech advice. I have never tried to do anything like this myself. However..... I think the vid is superb, as is the music production. (I cant normally see vid-links due to PC set-up: Glad I could see this one though) Beautiful. Well done indeed.

Truck Driving Man - New Riders of the Purple Sage

Rider in the Rain - Randy Newman (dont tell zarin ok?)

Greyhound Bus - Mick Abrahams Band

Forty Thousand Headsmen - Traffic

Cosmic Debris - Frank Zappa & Mothers

Acute Schizophrenia Paranoia Blues - The Kinks

Sliding Delta - Mississippi John Hurt

Somewhere Down the Crazy River - Robbie Robertson

An Elephant in the Room V1 Billie’s holds centre stage again this morning Her curtain rose just as the day was dawning It won’t fall again ‘til late into the evening I wonder who she thinks that she’s deceiving V2 You had best delay anything you want to say She’ll hold sway until the end of the day Billie will need all of your attention What don’t reflect her, won’t even earn a mention Chorus: She so studiously strives to be Inelegant Everybody else’s presence is Irrelevant For all intents & purposes assume That there’s an elephant at large within the room V3 The colours on her costume will sear into your eyes The company she keeps are chameleons in disguise She sweeps away all grace and poise before her Trumping them with outrage and disorder Repeat Chorus Rudi Z S 26-September 2008

Soul Disguise - Cesar Rosas

The Pusher - Steppenwolf

Under the spreading chestnut tree - trad (author not known)

Who's 'we'? With whom are 'we' arguing? Who's 'we'? With whom are 'we' arguing?

Thirteen Steps Lead Down - Elvis Costello - Brutal Youth

Needle of Death - Bert Jansch

Young Girl - Gary Puckett & the Union Gap

Cant recall when I saw them, but Lowel George was still there Lazy Lightning - Kingfish

I can & do scream, but only on purpose, & only as a BG singer. Trouble is, it burns my voice out PDQ. I am trying to tone it down a bit now.