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THE ALBUM: Skip’s in—he wants his song on the album. He wants me to handle the publishing, so I guess this is where Joe Becomes a Music Publisher. ASCAP, I think, since they’re a co-op and BMI isn’t; I’ll tell Skip he needs to join ASCAP as a writer (I do, too) so Joe Publisher doesn’t have to take out memberships in two PROs. I have a little “pocket” consulting firm, Outside Services Ltd. (the logo is an outhouse), that I’ll use as the “shell” for the publishing company—applying Occam’s Razor (“Do not multiply divinities without reason”). There will still be lots of forms and fees—just what I need while I’m unemployed. TRIP TO SOUTHERN OREGON this weekend; official reason is a briefing session Saturday for the “Star of Stars” fundraiser for Rogue Community College (both Darrin Wayne and I are finalists, and we’ll be backing each other up). I have a “pallet on the floor” place to stay, so I’ll do two nights. I can play at the Wild Goose Sunday night, but it’d be nice to find a place to play Saturday. It is a holiday weekend, and not much is happening. NEW SONG: A throwaway, really—but it was nice to be able to whip it out over a 6-hour drive in the car. One of those online contests where they assign a title and you’re supposed to write to it; in this case, the title was “Twenty Chickens for a Saddle.” And I tried, really I did—but it kept coming out “Twenty Saddles for a Chicken.” I decided in the end to screw the contest and write it anyway. “Twenty Saddles for My Chicken” is a surreal, bouncy little romp—very chicken-fetishy, I suppose--and if nothing else, may be an addition to Gene Burnett’s chicken songs album. (At least I wasn’t alone. Other entries after mine included “Twenty Chickens for a Sadist,” “Twenty Chickens on His Saddle,” “20 Chickens for Seattle,” “Saddled with 20 Chickens,” and “Twenty Chickens for a Salad (Ask a Hooker).”) WHITBY SHORES: Well, it’s a nice site—lot of musicians and writers, many of whom I know from other places on the Web. I’m slowly but surely copying my music over from Soundclick—I have a feeling Soundclick is probably not long for this world, between over-regulation by its “moderators,” its determined effort to be a MySpace clone, and its reliance on what appears to be an antique and poorly designed operating system that’s lately been prone to major shutdown failure. I told deejay/veejay Len Amsterdam, who founded and runs Whitby Shores, that I’d post the URL for Whitby Shores in the blog, in case anyone outside was reading; it’s http://whitbyshorespost.googlepages.com. And “The Writer’s Blog” is on Whitby Shores now, too (if you’re reading it there, you already know that). That makes the fourth “home” for the blog; it’s still on Google’s Blogspot, MySpace, and Songstuff, too. I really need to create a personal Website: just a one-page clearinghouse with links to all the other stuff—the songs, the blog, the “buy my CD on CDBaby” (when I get that set up). I will need it by the time the new CD comes out, which will be sometime between September and Christmas. (That’s why there had to be a Christmas song on the CD. Just in case…) And yes, maybe the time to do that is while I’m unemployed and have time to experiment. Joe

Does that mean there won't be any more boy bands for a while? That would be kinda nice... Joe

A NEW LINEUP? I would really like to put “Tune the Strings of My Soul,” Skip Johnson’s bluegrass hymn I did music for, on the new CD. As the final song, I think: it’s got a can’t-get-out-of-your-head melody that suggests Something Got Done Right. I’ve asked Skip if he’d be willing. If so, it’s going to necessitate a change in the setlist for the album. If there’s a hymn on it, things will have to be cleaner (as in less risque). No animal rapes and mutilations (that rules out “Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep”); no overt sex, either (there goes “Naked Space Hamsters in Love,” and “The Frog Next Door,” too). Of course, there are plenty of substitutions. The other stuff can go on an R-rated album released later (in a plain brown wrapper, maybe). Here—in order, I think—is what the lineup would look like if the hymn were on the album: 1. DEAD THINGS IN THE SHOWER (with Bobbie Gallup)—mod. fast country. Love song, Frank Sinatra style, for the cat which may or may not be dead. 2. HEY, LITTLE CHICKEN—sleazy-sounding blues. Answers the question “Why did the chicken cross the road?” The chicken does not die in the song, but its fate is pretty clear. 3. WHEN I JUMP OFF THE CLIFF I’LL THINK OF YOU—fast bluegrass. My attempt to go through all the stages of death (in 9 verses), from jumping off the cliff to getting buried, all with caustic commentary on the girl being left behind. ALREADY RECORDED. 4. ARMADILLO ON THE INTERSTATE—slow, bluesy, tragic love story about two star-crossed, butt-ugly rodents. Romeo and Juliet, with scales. ALREADY RECORDED. 5. FREE-RANGE PERSON—fast bluegrass. My Joe-got-fired song, about the advantages of being homeless. ALREADY RECORDED. 6. NO GOOD SONGS ABOUT THE WAR—mod. slow country. My attempt at writing a protest song, in response to the question “How come there’s no good songs about the war?” ALREADY RECORDED. 7. OIL IN THE CORNFIELD—mod. fast country. An old song (1975) the Dodson Drifters made famous, about the oil crisis. Or is it the farm crisis? 8. [tentatively] THE TERMITE SONG—fast bluegrass. Pokes fun at global warming. Several alternatives here—any fast bluegrass tune will work—but this one is ALREADY RECORDED. 9. MILEPOST 43—mod. fast (or maybe mod. slow) country. The song about Al David’s missing underwear, from Pineyfest 2007. ALREADY RECORDED. 10. ROTTEN CANDY—fast country. Uptempo lost-love song, Dottie West style. This is the song that was rejected by American Idol in 2007. 11. CHRISTMAS ROADKILL—slow and sleazy-sounding, with sleigh bells. Really the same lost-love theme as above, but Christmasy. 12. TUNE THE STRINGS OF MY SOUL (by Skip Johnson)—bluegrass hymn. I’d keep exactly the same format as on the draft. Two serious songs, three lost-love songs that sound serious but aren’t, lost underwear, lost job, dead armadillos, dead unspecifieds, a maybe-dead cat, an about-to-be-dead chicken, and nuclear bombs used on bugs. Yeah, good accompaniment for a hymn. We’ll see what Skip thinks. As far as production goes, I’d really like to record the rest of the songs (there are five: “Rotten Candy,” “Christmas Roadkill,” “Oil in the Cornfield,” “Hey, Little Chicken,” and “Dead Things”) with the Wild Goose Band—Jack Fischer (bass), James Maille (lead guitar), and Darrin Wayne (harmonica). I’d like to have Dan Doshier on mandolin on the hymn, and Sheral Graham on flute on “Oil in the Cornfield.” And Wayne do the recording. Wonder if we could pull that off? Joe

Yes, Jules, go down to the music store. The only way to buy a guitar (my opinion) is to play the heck out of a lot of them first. I was curious why you mentioned Fender. Is there a particular reason why it needed to be *that* kind of acoustic guitar? I mean, Fender does have a reputation for generally good quality control, and the brand name helps the re-sale value if you're into that sort of thing, but if you're after something to keep and play, the only operative considerations (my opinion, again) are what it feels like and what it sounds like. If you don't really care who made it, you could find yourself a real gem. Joe

Well, mostly house stuff, and not playing music—priorities, y’know. I’ll get to go back to southern Oregon a weekend from now, for a briefing session on the “Star of Stars” show, and I’ll see if I can’t stretch one overnight into most of two days. WEIRD STUFF: Internet deejay/veejay Len Amsterdam, the most tireless promoter of independent music I know, started his own OMD (Online Music Distributor) Website, hight Whitbey Shores--sort of a MySapce for musicians—and invited me to join. I did, and posted a few tunes there, and started to get a dribble of requests for “friends.” All Canadians, of course—Len lives in Canada, and a lot of the musicians he knows are Canadian. Two “friends” that showed up were really interesting: they were named “Gordon Lightfoot” and “Neil Young.” The Internet being the gigantic repository of misinformation that it is, I have no idea whether these guys are the Real Deal (or even guys, for that matter); “Gordon Lightfoot”’s information does sound right, though—and very understated, like the man himself—and both of them (the real ones, that is) are Canadian. I think this means I need to post more songs there. I think the basic rule is you expect no miracles, but do your best to create them. If these are the Real Deal, then I want them exposed to the best of my material; if they’re not, I have hurt nothing. I can play the Bulletin Game (if Len has bulletins enabled), and put “The Writer’s Blog” there, too (ditto). AN IDEA: A lot of musicians have been sharing (and asking about) how to get gigs. Generally, it seems, you give the venue owner a promotional photo, a “onesie” (basically a one-page version of the “Joe is Great!” brochure, that says what you do and why people lkke it), and a CD. Now, the CD is a good tool in a lot of places—I know Johnny B., down in Medford, books a lot of bands because of what they sound like, and he’s got CDs playing in his tavern all the time—but what if you can’t replicate live the sound that’s on the CD? I’ve got that problem—not because my CD has a lot of special effects, but because the band on my last CD is over in Eastern Oregon, and I’m not. If I’m playing a gig, it’s either solo or with a band of different, local musicians. What does that sound like? Not like the CD, for sure. What about a DVD? Of a live performance, say? If I could get my old Fisher 880 video camera working, I could do this. (I can get a battery pack for the thing. What I haven’t been able to locate—even from the manufacturer—is an owner’s manual.) If I understand it right, what one can do is tap the sound out of the “house” PA, and feed it into the camera at the same time the camera is recording video. Do two sets, of a couple songs apiece, one solo and the other with a band. You do it in a venue situation, so you can include crowd reaction—hooting and hollering, and applause (the audience can be coached to hoot, holler, and applaud a lot for the camera), because that’s what the venue owner wants to know—that you can attract and motivate a crowd. Then, all one needs is a DVD-rewritable drive on the computer, and you can make copies to give to venue owners along with the photo and “onesie” and CD. (One probably still needs all those.) The ideal place to make an experimental DVD would be one of the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. “showcases,” which are mostly attended by other writers and performers. And one could tell ‘em, “Folks, if this works, we’ll do it for everybody who wants it.” A lot of us are trying to get gigs. Could be one of the services the organization provides its members. Joe

You haven't given enough information for me to be able to help you. Like, what are you parodying? And why? Parodies aren't that easy, remember. You have to be faithful to the original--what you're parodying has got to be as obvious, in other words, as what you're doing to it. There should be a strong vein of humor in it, too--ideally, sick humor--as well (in my opinion) as an obvious *reason* why you did the parody. There should be a point, in other words. Only parody I've got on my Soundclick site (and it's not a very good one) is "The Cat with the Strat," which is a transparent re-telling of the Dr. Seuss poem--in my case, set to music. Joe

…as Monty Python used to say. I wrote music for a hymn. Maybe I had spent too much time researching the old public-domain hymns for the music publisher, but when I read Rev. Skip Johnson’s lyrics for “Lord, Tune the Strings of My Soul,” I could hear a choir singing it. So it got music—a simple (5 chords), uptempo, bluegrass Gospel sort of thing. It also got a chorus—something else I picked up from the 19th-century hymnmeisters—a simple 4-line thing, with one line repeated three times so it’d be easy for a congregation to sing. I recorded the guitar and vocal, and Dan Doshier, who runs a religious bookstore out of his music store, did dual leads for it (mandolin and harmonica), and I sent the product off to Skip—and he liked it. (Yay!) Not sure where it’ll be posted yet; I don’t know if Skip’s got an “OMD” site like Soundclick or MySpace, since he usually writes only lyrics. I’ve offered the use of my Soundclick page if he doesn’t. We did the thing within a couple of days after getting Skip’s okay. The music was able to be recorded so fast because it was stolen. (I stole it from myself. It’s okay.) Part of the music is from “Tugga Pa,” the Swedish song by Leif Alderman that I’ve been setting to country music (I still don’t have those Swedish pronunciations down yet), and part of it is from a love song I’ve been writing for my wife. The combination sounded okay—and because it’s different, it won’t prevent me from finishing both the other songs. I have robbed music from myself before. I try in those instances to make sure the two (or sometimes three) songs sound different enough from each other—because of tempo, arrangement, or whatnot—so they can’t be confused with each other. I still avoid performing them next to each other anyway, on principle. OTHER STUFF: Well, I’m ensconced in our rental house in Cascade Locks, 7 hours from southern Oregon and 3 from wife and child on the Oregon Coast. Lot of work to do on the house—the last renters really trashed the place. Haven’t played any music; I’ve been a carpenter, weedeater, and garbage hauler instead. Got computer and Internet back after a 4-day hiatus. I still have an interview to finish for the music publisher (a press release, too, maybe), and John Lennon-style guitar to record for a Vonee Rose song. I will keep busy. If there isn’t a song (or two) in the remodeling, there my be one in the loneliness. Joe

No, huh? Joe

It is nice. I'd second the suggestions you had above--put the Website in a contrasting color (black, I think) and put it lower down so it wasn't over the photo. I think I'd make the font smaller, too. I assume you're going to add album title and your name up top; you don't want the Website to distract people's attention. Thje lolpy strings aren't bad, in my opinion. They suggest the guy who owns the guitar might be human, or something. Always a good impression to give. Joe

Me with the Goat. Before a performance, I will run through what I'm going to sing--softly, so as not to bother the neighbors' dogs (if, of course, I'm feeling kindly toward the dogs--I don't always). I do it mostly to make sure I remdember all the words, but I'm also remembering the intonations, pauses, and facial expressions I'll use with each song. Since most of my songs push the one-octave limit of my voice range, it's vocal exercise of a sort, too. Joe

Well, if she's interested in something completely different, I have a bluegrass song that needs a cello part. I've been looking for an interested cello player (celloist? cellist?) for years. Hight "Welcome to Hebo Waltz," and a recording of just me and solo guitar is on my Soundclick page. URL is (if I can remember right how the protocol goes): http://www.soundclick.com/bands/page_songi...;songID=1397540 Should she hear something, and be interested, please let me know. Thanks. Joe

Easy for me to say, "Lessons are good"--I've never had any. I'll just pass on one piece of advice I got (not personally, of course) from the legendary Chet Atkins. When asked how much music theory you needed to know, his respnse was, "Enough to know what you're doing, and not enough to get in the way of your doing it." Lots of luck. Joe

Well, it’s time to move. I managed to postpone it for a whole couple of months, which was cool, and got to spend that time being a full-time musician, which was very cool. If I’m missed—or remembered—in this area, it’ll be as a writer, rather than anything else, and I like that. Lot of packing and sifting and throwing away and cleaning before I go, and it’s been hard, because I really don’t want to go. The best I’ve been able to tell everybody is “I’ll be back.” I really hope I can be. A few musical things to do before I go, too. I’ll get to say farewell at two more open mikes, Sunday and Tuesday, plus practice one more time with Screamin’ Gulch Wednesday (and I’ll find out then if I can add a few more tracks to the album in June), and a final Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. board meeting, too (also Sunday). I’ve been asked to do an over-the-Internet guitar track for a Vonee Rose song, have a writing assignment from a music publisher, and think I might get to write the music for a Rev. Skip Johnson hymn. (Skip is an Adventist minister in the Boston area, and a prolific writer. This one just shouts “Congregations are gonna sing this.”) Those things I can finish up after I move if I can get connected to Internet promptly—but it does mean there’s a couple of things (the Tascam and computer) I won’t be packing up until the last minute. This year’s song contest by Goodnight Kiss Music is looking for songs for a new recording artist, Cathy Kent. I know nothing about her music, but apparently GNK has a single out, with two songs, one uptempo, the other one of those ballads. (I have to buy iTunes in order to hear them.) All genres are reportedly okay (what she’ll get from me is country, anyway). Potentially, I’ve got two songs of my own and five co-writes that might be suitable, depending on the image Ms. Kent is trying to convey to the public: Rotten Candy (fast country—the song rejected by American Idol in 2007) The Writer’s Block Blues (slow country blues) Dead Things in the Shower (with Bobbie Gallup—fast country) Born Again Barbie (with Scott Rose—Everly Brothers country-rock) Distraction (with Diane Ewing—slow & sleazy) So Far (with Marge McKinnis—slow, jazzy blues) About Love (with Marge McKinnis—bluegrass, Buddy Holly style) Quite a range, there. That’s why I asked GNK—and will get to ask Cathy Kent herself, I think, since it looks like I’ll get to interview her—how she feels about singing about abandonment, betrayal, premarital sex, dead animals, and poking fun at religion. That could rule out the first five songs on the list—but not the last two. It would be great to get Marge a cut with a real artist—she’s such a good writer. Which prompts—don’t you love stream-of-consciousness writing?—the question of what I should be doing with my life (and whether I can do any of it in southern Oregon). I’d thought earlier about reviving my “pocket” consulting firm and making it a music-publishing company; I could still do that—I know what paperwork steps are necessary, I just haven’t done them. I know, too (I think) that the service is needed in this area; what I don’t know is whether there’s any money in it. Just being a full-time musician might pay better. Joe

Yes, I have my own singing mike. No, I don't worry 'bout them vocal-processor things. My singing mike is a Nady; it was appallingly cheap, and is surprisingly good. It's every bit the equal of the old Shure that it replaced (though I doubt it will last 25 years like the Shure did). I don't usually haul it around with me; if the venue I'm playing at has their own sound system (and most do), they'll have mikes--usually the Shures. Shures are what the Southern Oregon Songwriters Assn. use in our sound system (which members can rent). The past couple of weeks, though, I've had a cold, and I wouldn't sing through anybody else's mike because I didn't want to spread whatever I'd got. I brought my own mike wherever I went, and handed it to the Sound Dude, and told him "Use this--I have a cold." I've still got it in my guitar case. Joe

THE ALBUM: Wayne says it’s coming out fine. There are only 8 songs, though; unless I want do something like call it “The Short Album,” I need to add more. We didn’t record that night everything I wanted on the album anyway. I’ll see if I can tentatively arrange to do some more songs when I come down June 15 for the big “Star of Stars” performance. What’s “in the can” with Wayne right now are: The Termite Song (fast bluegrass) (When I Jump Off the Cliff) I’ll Think of You (fast bluegrass) Free-Range Person (fast bluegrass) Armadillo on the Interstate (slow & sleazy) Naked Space Hamsters in Love (fast bluegrass) No Good Songs About the War (slow country) Milepost 43 (mod. fast country) Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (rock ‘n’ roll, Johnny Cash style) Mostly fast songs, in other words—those were what I had planned on recording with Screamin’ Gulch (only the band wasn’t there that night). I would like to add at least: The Frog Next Door (very deliberate blues) Rotten Candy (fast country) Hey, Little Chicken (sleazy blues) Dead Things in the Shower (mod. fast country) That would provide more of a mix of styles—one almost-standard blues (and in a different key), one blues-sounding, and one that requires some decent singing. (“Dead Things” was my emulation of Frank Sinatra.) “Dead Things” is also a co-write, which would force me into doing the conventional “I’m a record company” paperwork for the whole album, instead of just releasing it. Bobbie Gallup, who co-wrote “Dead Things in the Shower,” has her own publishing company, and I had asked her at one point if she’d be willing to be publisher for the rest of the songs. Time to press that. I proved with the “Santa’s Fallen” CD that I can play with the Big Boys: assemble a band of local musicians who are the equal of the professionals, record it in a local studio that’s the equal of the professionals, do it a whole lot cheaper (I like that) and exercise one of my personal biases, too, by recording it “Patsy Cline” syle, live and in one take—something no one does any more—and have the thing sell, just at gigs and by word of mouth, and even get played on the radio. Next step, I think, is to play LIKE the Big Boys, instead of just with them. Compete on the same playing field, in other words. And it’d be really nice to record those additional songs with the Wild Goose Band (not a bad name for a band, that)—Jack on bass, James on lead guitar, Darrin on harmonica—and maybe Sheral on the Green Thing (it’s called a “melodicon,” and it’s really a child’s toy, but she can get some incredible sounds out of it). That band (with Sheral on flute) would be perfect for “Oil in the Cornfield,” too, if everybody were willing. And then, one goes to the “joelist,” to SOSA, and to MySpace, and asks the involve the fans” question, “What would you call an album that’s got those songs on it?” Maybe post *.mp3 files of a couple of the songs as “teasers” on the “Wrabek’s Works in Progress” page on Soundclick, so folks can get a taste of what they sound like. Release date by the end of summer? That would be fun… Joe

I believe the rule is that if you're performing "covers," it's the *venue*'s responsibility to pay the fees to the Performing Rights Organization (PRO) which distributes copyright royalties. It's not your responsibility. I believe the venues pay a "blanket" fee to the PRO which gives them the right to cover (or for you, as "their" band, to cover) anything in the PRO's catalog. I think only one of the PROs--ASCAP, which is a membership organization--worries about live performances. (The other, BMI, was founded by a bunch of radio stations, and may still be concerned only with radio airplay.) A surprising number of venues refuse to pay the PRO fee, claiming the couple hundred bucks a year is the difference between solvency and bankruptcy; as a writer, I don't have a lot of patience with those folks. Even the caller for our square dance club pays an ASCAP fee. Recording is different. If you record someone else's song, you have to pay copyright fees (the amount is determined by Federal law) for every copy of the song you *manufacture* (not sell). There's an outfit called the Harry Fox Agency that most people use to collect and distribute those fees. It is possible (but not likely) that the author's publishing company is not registered with the Harry Fox Agency, in which case you'd be contacting the publisher directly. But an awful lot of people use Harry Fox. And you do not have to ask anyone's permission (those are called "compulsory rights" for a reason). The author has the right to be paid the copyright fee--by you, if you're recording it, by the venue (to the PRO) if you're performing it. You only have to ask permission if you're going to do a parody of the song (and that can get touchy--but that's a different subject). Oh, and I should mention, since so many of y'all are British, that the above information is *American*. In Britain, Canada, &c., you may be dealing with a different PRO, but the rules should be pretty much the same. I believe the U.S. subscribed to international copyright law (finally) in 1976. Prior to that, the U.S. had different rules. This help? Joe

Just a thought (maybe). If you don't limit yourself to emulating the style of a particular person, "your style" will eventually become a mix of all your emulations, and will be unique to you. I've done that, myself. My "heroes" are all people who couldn't sing, and couldn't play guitar very well, but could write, and managed to make it in the music business purely on the strength of their words--Steve Goodman, John Prine, Bob Dylan, Buck Owens, and so on. I'm like them--I can't sing or play guitar worth c**p, either. So I tried to figure out what they were doing that was good, and adapt it to what I wrote. And it's mostly worked. I don't think these days I could be accused of sounding like any of them. Next step--"Phase Two" if you like--is to take people you haven't a prayer of sounding like, for one reason or another, and try to emulate *them*. I have taken, for instance, an internal rhyming scheme that Avril Lavigne used that I really liked, and adapted it to my stuff--but I write country music. (My daughter was shocked when I did that.) On one of my sleazier religious songs, I deliberately "channeled" Janis Joplin; no, I'll never sound like Janis Joplin (and I don't believe anybody has ever noticed any "echo" of Janis in that song)--but I had a lot of fun with the style. And now all that, too, is in the mix--Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, Janis Joplin, Bill Monroe, Elvis, and Avril Lavigne, and maybe a few others. Joe

Had a cold, of course (people told me it was a flu, and others were getting it). Lots of Vitamin C, and time in bed. A radio station announcer turned me onto an old folk remedy she uses for those “show must go on” situations—apple cider vinegar and honey in hot water. Drank it like, well, coffee, and it did help. Peppermint tea and honey at the gig, too. Band is one of the best you’ll hear on any stage for any price, and I was proud to have ‘em playing my music. James Maille is one of the best lead guitarists I have ever met, and he brought both his acoustic and Telecaster, and alternated them for variety. Jack Fischer on bass. Darrin Wayne for starters on harmonica, and when he had to leave to tend a sick kid, George Clark filled in. With all the “rehearsal” shows the previous two weeks, they were familiar with about half the songs; it would have been nice to have practiced the other half in advance, too, but these guys are all good, and they could follow. Real small crowd—at the best of times, it probably wasn’t more than five times as many people as the band—but they were consistently appreciative, did leave tips in the bright yellow “Tipping Is Not A City in China” bucket, and I even sold a few CDs. As promised, we did rock the house, and I hope all the participants—band and audience—tell everyone they know what a great time they had. A lot of people who said they were going to come didn’t—and, well, they missed it. We played 27 songs (out of a planned list of 35): Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues (slow & sleazy) The Termite Song (fast bluegrass) Armadillo on the Interstate (slow & sleazy) Bluebird on My Windshield (fast bluegrass) Duct Tape (mod. fast country) Free-Range Person (fast bluegrass) Milepost 43 (mod. slow country) Hey, Little Chicken (sleazy blues) The World Enquirer (fast bluegrass) No Good Songs About the War (slow country) I May Write You from Jupiter (fast bluegrass) Sam & Melinda (slow & sleazy) She Ain’t Starvin’ Herself (standard 12-bar blues) The Six-Legged Polka (fast bluegrass) Born Again Barbie (mod. fast country) Cuddle in the Darkness (slow & skleazy) Naked Space Hamsters in Love (fast bluegrass) Hank’s Song (mod. fast 2-step) Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep (rock ‘n’ roll) Dead Things in the Shower (mod. fast country) Writer’s Block Blues (slow & sleazy) Prehistoric Roadkill (fast bluegrass) Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes? (slow & sleazy) When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You (fast bluegrass) Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus (mod. fast country) Meet Me at the Stairs (fast bluegrass) I’m Giving Mom a Dead Dog for Christmas (slow & sleazy) I tried to alternate fasties and slowsies, but had to question with a long set whether that was enough variety. Suggestion from the band was to vary styles more—though I don’t have a lot of different styles at this point; it’s true, though, that the songs that were a significant departure from the “norm” (the standard 12-bar blueses, for instance, or “Dirty Deeds,” which is rock ‘n’ roll, Johnny Cash style), got a lot more attention—and so did the “traditional country” songs that followed them. Definitely something to work on. I do have one “traditional” rock ‘n’ roll song in the Catalog—“Test Tube Baby”—that we didn’t do because we hadn’t practiced it (and I couldn’t do a good Elvis imitation without my voice), one more blues, and a couple of waltzes (fast ones, of course), and I suppose I should ensure those are in the mix for any long set. All in all, it was good. Couldn’t have asked for a more professional band, and I think I did as much promotion as possible, covering as many bases as possible; if in the end, people don’t show up, well, it wasn’t because I didn’t reach ‘em. Best I can hope is they’ll regret not being there, and maybe come next time, if there’s a next time. Joe

Only to say I agree. This is something Madonna said, earlier this year. The way to make money in music in the future is going to be off live performance, not record sales. CDs are going to be like T-shirts and bumperstickers--"merch," that people are going to bjuy ancillary to attending a performance. Does put the record companies in the interesting position of being the exclusive monopolistic purveyors of something completely irrelevant. I do not know to what extent they have figured this out yet. Joe

Gibson J-200 clone (acoustic), little Yamaha 2-channel amp. Yes, I have both. The Yamaha amp came with the Strat I bought from my daughter. Years ago, when I was in a working band, I had a Peavey, which was as good as it was heavy. Eventually, the pain of lugging outweighed (literally) the joy of the sound, and I unloaded it. I always thought that if we got rich and famous enough, we could get roadies. Never worked out that way. We had groupies, but they weren't any good for hauling equipment--they maintained they were being "reserved" for other things. Joe

Being a full-time musician is tiring. (Yes, I would still do it for a living.) The appearances Friday (at the SOSA “Trio” event), Saturday and Monday (SOSA “showcases”), and Sunday (open mike at the Wild Goose) were essentially all rehearsals, making sure that Jack (bass) and Darrin (harmonica) knew a lot of the material, or at least knew what to expect. Tuesday (open mike at NW Pasta & Pizza) was the only one where I played solo. Sunday morning and afternoon was practice with the impromptu Triple Tree band (we’re calling ourselves “Darrin Wayne and Friends”), and so was Wednesday night and Friday night. Wednesday and Thursday nights were also practice with Screamin’ Gulch—our big gig at Johnny B.’s was Friday night, and the band hadn’t played together in three weeks. (And Thursday night was also practice with Darrin, to make sure I could follow his songs at the Triple Tree gig.) It all makes for very sore fingers. A sore shoulder, too—I know now why so many professional musicians have wide, padded guitar straps. That old fake Gibson “jumbo” guitar is heavy—but you don’t notice until you’ve been standing up with it for hours on end, days on end. The gigs did go off well. Screamin’ Gulch had three lead guitarists Friday night (one besides Wayne and me, in other words), so I didn’t have to do a lot of work. The band is tight, and organized, and we put on a good show. Compared to our high-energy performance, the name act—The Mighty Lonesomes, a bluegrass band out of Ashland—were a little tame, and I think the audience felt it, too. They should have opened for us, not vice versa. (But wait—they’re the professionals, not us. Is something going on here?) The Triple Tree show on Saturday was good, too. Thanks to all the practice and organizing, the set came in at almost exactly three hours, and we virtually never had a moment without somebody playing on stage. We set the stage up so individuals could drift on and off stage without being obvious about it—but for about two-thirds of everybody’s material, nobody had to be off stage—it was stuff we’d practiced, and we were a Band, and a good one. Most of the audience was friends and family of the performers, but I doubt the venue cared—we brought in customers, and that’s what counts. Left the owner an autographed photo of “Darrin Wayne and Friends” (and also one of my CDs for the jukebox—she already has Darrin’s). Wayne (Screamin’ Gulch’s steel player and impromptu recording engineer) said he isn’t done “tweaking” the songs of mine he recorded two weeks ago—he’s still got instruments to add—but he says they’re coming out nice. He sounded excited—which I think means we’re going to get a real good product. If so, I’d like to have him do the rest of the songs for the album, too. And a fun job (using the term “job” loosely, of course—it’s unpaid). I’ve been tentatively tapped by the music publisher whose mailing list I’m on to write historical narratives for an album of old Gospel hymns. Sent those off Saturday. It was fun work—I learned a lot of trivia about Gospel songs I thought I knew, and some of it was fascinating. (Did you know “Jesus Loves Me” has been translated into Klingon?) She also wants to do interviews of some of the songwriters in her “catalog”—and knows (now) that I used to be a newspaper reporter, and have some experience doing just that. Time to list some more assets. Got another dude with a recording studio who wants to record my stuff (gave him a copy of the “Santa’s Fallen” CD as a guide to what I want), a bluegrass band that wants to cover one of my songs (told them “sure”), and a radio station DJ who wants to play my stuff on the air (he got a CD, too). Still to do: More CDs to burn, label and package. Still need to pick a studio and record the album. And practice for the Big Gig. Joe

Sometimes I feel like I’m being a mentor—and I’m not sure I should be. I can’t claim what I’m doing is right—I just invented it as I’ve gone along, and what you see is just the things that have worked. For me. Does not mean they work for anyone else. (On the other hand, what I do I have ruthlessly robbed from other people myself—it is not new. It looks “unique” only because I’ve twisted it to fit my own peculiar circumstances—rather like adapting Avril Lavigne’s rhyming schemes to a country music song, which I’ve also done.) So what would I pass on to the Triple Tree Group? Be organized, I think, is first and foremost. Know what you’re going to play, and how much time it’s going to take. You probably don’t have to be as anal about it as I am; I’m highly organized about gigs because I’m scared of crowds and want to leave nothing to chance. Two, consider The Rap. I realize very few other performers do it. My main reason for doing The Rap is to make a little space between songs so they don’t all sound too much alike (always a danger in country music). But it’s also an opportunity to give people a little background on the song—why it was written, for instance--that might get the song a little more attention. (One of Jackie’s songs was written for a friend whose kid died, for example. I found myself paying a lot more attention to the song after I knew that.) Had a band for the SOSA “showcase” Saturday night—Jack Fischer on bass, and Darrin Wayne on harmonica. Having a band is starting to become a regular thing. We did “The Writer’s Block Blues,” “Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus” and “Rotten Candy.” Wild Goose set Sunday was with a band, too—Jack on bass, and George Clark on harmonica. We did “Eatin’ Cornflakes from a Hubcap Blues” (with the audience singing along with the chorus), “No Good Songs About the War” (ditto), “The Abomination Two-step” and (for an encore) “Can I Have Your Car When the Rapture Comes?” Still trying to market myself as a guitarist, too (hard to do, because there are so many good musicians around these parts). Hit up George Clark about backing up some of his simpler songs—old Gospel, old bluegrass, and early Dylan—and then got to strut my stuff, after a fashion, with George there, by backing up Scott Garriott on three of the four songs we’d practiced together. I’ve been practicing playing lead on some of Darrin Wayne’s and Jackie LaDel’s songs, too; Jackie’s are like a cross between folk and Enya, while Darrin’s are straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll. Recorded two of Scott’s songs, too, this week, in the living room of the Barbie House, using the little Tascam. Four tracks is ideal for folk music, and Scott’s songs are classic folk in format (though with very psychedelic lyrics and amazingly compelling melodies). Scott’s rhythm guitar on one track, my lead on another, his vocal on the third, and “color” on the fourth (harmonica on “Mattress and the Snake Pit,” and shaker on “Clown in Paradise”). A few more to do. I figure we can at least spice up Scott’s MySpace page with some decent recordings and maybe get his stuff some attention. (“Mattress and the Snake Pit” would actually sound really good done as a country-music song. It’d need to be 4/4 time, though, rather than a fast waltz. Wouldn’t be the first time I’ve done that to a song. I wonder how Scott would feel about it?) Joe

“Trio” show at Johnny B.’s went well. We ended up with a full band—besides James on lead guitar, Jack played bass, George Clark harmonica, and Johnny himself sat in on drums. And everyone was excited about how good we sounded. Even had a crowd show up—mostly college kids; I thought they had come to hear the act after us, but most of ‘em drifted away after we stopped playing. (Come to think of it, there was a “downtown artwalk”—a monthly thing, with street jugglers and such, that night; it probably ended about dark, which is when the kids showed up. I think the music drew ‘em in.) Set was: One: I Love You When I Jump Off the Cliff I’ll Think of You Armadillo on the Interstate Duct Tape She Ain’t Starvin’ Herself Hank’s Song Free-Range Person Bungee Jumpin’ Jesus Bluebird on My Windshield Dirty Deeds We Done to Sheep I was told we were recordable (yes, I think we are), and that we could get gigs (yes, I believe we could). Proof, probably, will be the Big Gig in Ashland; if we can hold their attention for three hours, we have probably made a name for ourselves. Three upcoming openmike-type performance opportunities over the next three days; Saturday and Monday are SOSA “showcases,” and Sunday is the Wild Goose. Best, I think, to play different songs each time, to get the musicians (not all of whom will be at each one) familiar with as much as possible of the material for the Big Gig. Lessons? (There are always lessons.) First, the whole is greater than its parts. The performance underscored what I’ve maintained publicly for some time—even wrote an article for SOSA’s newsletter on it—that we sound better collectively than we do individually. And that’s true not just of me, but of everybody. Second, have to make sure that the rising tide (if there is a tide, and if it is rising) lifts all boats, like Kennedy said. We have the Triple Tree gig coming up, with four different writers including me, and I’d like to see us all be each other’s band to the extent we can. It is each of us’ job, I think, to make the rest of us sound as good as possible. It’ll take some practice, but we’ve got a week. Joe

Okay. Shoe repair I can see. I had difficulty envisioning it as a construction material because the containers were so small. (They were almost "Marmettes.") Thanks for the links, guys. Like Huey Lewis once said, there are reasons to be proud one is an American. Sounds like Marmite is one of them. I'll keep it in mind for shoe repair, though. Joe

Non-Brit here. What *is* marmite? Sounds like a construction material. (And we have to know this stuff, if y'all are going to repossess the place and maske us use shillings, and stuff.) Joe