Monday, July 18, 2011

Om Guru Om


This image sent to me by Alan from the Whip-in (Austin, Texas) is so right for so many reasons...

Saturday Night Rehearsals





Forgot to mention Daryl impressed us Saturday night during "Landscape" run-through by whipping out a pair of T Lev "Funk Fingers"; wanted to snap a photo of that, but forgot. Here are a couple of pics from Daryl's phone




Sunday, July 17, 2011

Great rehearsal Saturday night. Totally nailed "Madonna" and got a good handle on "ATX". "Landslide" sadly eludes us, as does "96 Tears" (although Daryl can totally play the bass riff). Ran through "The Combine" and "Landscape" along with the rest of the set-list. Here's a jam we did for the "photo-shoot":

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Quiet morning, yet with much to be done I need to start my day. Trying to maintain posture. Trying to come back to the present. Trying to eat more as Melissa is concerned about my weight-loss. But these days some fasting is called for (here I speak in a spiritual sense)

Last night worked on the set-list and went over my cache of lyrics, pretty much nailing down "Madonna of the Wasps" (found the words to the song on a piece of paper in Will Willard's pen) and "Blue Eyes". Found the descending jazz chords I'd forgotten for the solo. Worked on Yoshi's song and locked in parts of it; other parts elude me (even with his lyrics and chords). Trying to re-learn my intro (which I'd forgotten to do last night). Landslide is really not working; perhaps Daryl can rescue it as I think he's played it. Figured out the basic gist of "Jesus" but not sure what key is working for my voice on that one...

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Talked to Scott and Daryl; next Johnny Love band meet-up is Saturday night. Itching to hit it again. Have totally re-connected to my inner singer/guitar player and have a new ease with my instrument I haven't had before. Running through the whole set on just one setting (14) on the Yamaha amp... a bit of compressed-crunched, but otherwise pretty clean. Not other effects or loops or patches. Just straight on...

 Able (finally) to get some random Arto-ish skronk when the mood strikes (e.g., the "solo" during "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain" and during "Heart of Tao"). Also adding "World" (I'd forgotten about it completely), "Everybody Wants to Be a Creep" (gotta learn the bridge since Dan wrote/played it...), "Landslide" (a Robyn Hitchcock-esque version ~ for Melissa) and a cover of Yoshi Hampl's "ATX" (http://iapetus-store.com/track/atx-free-download). Also came up with a cool guitar "intro" or hook for "Ocrean's Apart" that just kills me.

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

G+ etc

Really blown away by Google+, really worth the agonizing wait to finally get on-board; vast improvement in the realm of social networking... more interactive, intelligent and thought provoking. Also, totally digging the new blogger interface: http://draft.blogger.com/home

Ran through the set-list for the Johnny Love band Saturday night; only a partial run-through. But after just one evening of rehearsals, we're already up to 15 songs. Adding more tunes I wanna do daily. Need to check in with Daryl to see when we can practice again.

January: Pausing and Giving Thanks

Today I pause for a moment to remember to be grateful, and give thanks for my body, my being, my loved ones. Too often I seem to be so busy ...