Yes I did it, Captain Bubbles McKissesandcuddles. I had to chop my hair off. It's too fleepin' hot lately. I sweat all day at the job and all weekend at the gigs. When I stand next to Rick, people think we're the Fordham Baldies. Kris HATES it...but still loves me...I think. This past weekend, I had a few gigs. I played with Charlie Pickett at Churchill's on Saturday night and that's where I picked up the swell Ventures' record for a whopping 6 bucks! I haven't had the time to play it yet. Eddie wants to get another Eat show happening for September. We did a double on Sunday. We had a retirement party in Royal Palm Beach and Elwood's. Tomorrow, it's off to Jacksonville to see Tom Waits. I'll pull together some sort of photo journal for the next blog. In the meantime, here's a few photos from the O'Hara's thing. Can you spot me? Sorry this is not so detailed (i'm apologizing to myself), but i'm really tired and I have a long drive tomorrow. I'm sure I left a few things out.
Hiya Sports Fans! Boy, how 'bout this rain? For Father's Day, my mom got me a pair of CLEAR Chuck Taylors. Pretty cool, huh? I think they're gonna give me Athlete's Feet. Last weekend, O'Hara's had a photo shoot like the famous Great Day In Harlem picture where a bunch of musicians that have played the club got together and had a photo taken. I've searched the web and nobody has posted any photos from it yet. I was shooting the Victory V sign which is the British equivalent of the bird. It was fun hanging out with my fellow Funkabillies and hobnobbing with the elite SFLA musicians. It was more of a scenster-ass-kiss than anything else. I made fun of those silly people who take themselves too seriously when they weren't listening.
Tuesday, the 15th anniversary edition of Liz Phair's Exile In Guyville CD came out and it brought back some memories. I remember when it came out. It was summer 1993. I don't think i'd done the Chili Pepper audition yet. My girlfriend at the time had read a glowing review of it before we could find it (we might have ordered it). I honestly didn't expect much but I was hooked from the first listen. People went on and on about the lyrical content and rightfully so, but I was impressed by the organic nature of the production. And the chord structures. And the fact that she wasn't afraid to release an album with sharp and flat singing, which is very natural (you won't see that anymore now that music is more sterile and BUSINESSlike). I loved the drum sound. It sounded like the drums would in your bedroom. I played that record endlessly for a long while. It was part of the soundtrack to moving to Denver along with Buffalo Tom's Big Red Letter Day.
In Winter 1994 (?), Liz came to Denver for a promo of some sort and did a cable access TV show (I have part of it on a videotape somewhere) live from the Mercury Cafe. It was really cold and snowing that morning, but I was determined to meet her (and not get fired for being late by my psychomatic boss). My friend Pat and I waited for a while outside the Merc with a crowd of other people when a security dude popped out the door and said she wouldn't be coming out this door and we should go away. Surprisingly, mostly everyone left. I'd heard that shit before so I hung around a while longer and it paid off. Somebody must've told her some people were freezing to death waiting for her and she came out for a little bit. I was surprised at how little she was. She was really nice and signed my record. I think she might not have known it was released on vinyl. I made small talk about the kind of guitar she used and how I was probably gonna get fired for being late. As I said that, she was saying and writing FIRED? FIRED? In the picture, what looks like a defect on my chin was a snowflake. I didn't get fired but my boss was a cock when I finally got there. He's dead now. Serves him right for fucking with me. And he did. I'll post those stories some other time. I did end up seeing Liz in Denver on her first tour. She looked really nervous and did the show solo. She had furniture on stage with her and invited people up to sit on it. I think i'll be listening to Guyville endlessly for a while.
Yeah Yeah, I know it's been a while. If you must know, i've been sick. Two weeks ago or so on Saturday, I was playing O'Hara's and I was in the middle of a song and I got this chest pain. I figure it was something I ate. Later that night, I felt really fatigued but I thought nothing of it. The next day, I played Elwood's and felt REALLY rotten. It was a struggle to get through the night. I was hallucinating on the ride home and when I got there, I had a fever. The next day was Memorial Day and I spent it in bed. I had to take the next few days off 'cause I kept waking up with a fever. Come to find out I had a viral infection. Last Saturday at O'Hara's, a friend of the band celebrated his birthday at our show. As you can tell by the pictures, it was Middle Finger Night. I was only following tradition. Johanna graduated from Kindergarten this week. She's such a ham. All the kids were called up one by one to receive a certificate and when it was her turn, she waved from the stage. Tomorrow, i'm off to Marathon to play at The Hurricane. We were there last year at this time. In fact, i'm sure if you go back a year I probably blogged about it. I'm gonna try to catch up on some reading. There certainly isn't gonna be anything else to do. We tend to go over like a fart in a spacesuit there. When I was sick last week, I happened to catch the Pixies documentary on the Sundance channel and i've been listening to all the Boston bands since. Pixies, Lemonheads, Buffalo Tom, Breeders. You know, back when music was good.
I'm hating this weather. Generally, I really like rain. My grass outside has got to be LOVING it. The sound of rain falling is very calming. But it's fucking robbing me of valuable playing time and money. I must say for the record, it's rare that I play for the financial gain. I genuinely enjoy playing and the money is icing on the cake. I was supposed to play Thursday in a place that isn't even outdoor but the foot traffic was so low 'cause the rain and we got the boot. Tonight, I was supposed to play Elwood's but they called us off. Total loss: 200 bucks. That's a lot of money to me. My new job pays me less than the old one so i'm a bit more money conscious these days. But in a small way i'm glad i'm not playing. I feel like shit. The last few weeks, i've been around sick people and I haven't caught anything but I had a sneezing attack at Publix and I feel really worn down and sniffly. Probably allergies brought out by the rain.
Tonight, we watched Raiders Of The Lost Ark so Jojo could see it and she liked it. I hadn't seen it in a while and it reminded me of the quality of movies I was lucky enough to grow up with. Kris made pizza, I made salad and Jojo made a mess.
Speaking of...Jojo has been working on her first original song and I have to say it's pretty good. She's got a melody line and everything. This morning, we're walking down the stairs together and she says," Daddy, I need another verse for my song. Here's the chorus...." Wow! I didn't start trying to write songs 'til I was a teenager. I told her she could save time by repeating the first verse for the third. I don't know if she's ready for professional advice. Hell. she doesn't need me. She could always just ask her husband, Paul McCartney (who keeps drinking all my cream soda!).
I was supposed to play the Quillo Theater in WPB tonight but the weather isn't so hot and they decided to cancel us. Oh, well....back to the Stones. Big album: Get Yer Ya-Yas Out. This might have been my second Stones album. I remember getting it in some long-gone store near Commercial and Federal. I wore out my original copy (still have it though). I learned how to play guitar to it and I used to practice the drums to it. I used to open my window in my room and blast the neighborhood with me doing a Charlie Watts. There is so much great Mick Taylor on it but I was sad to learn some of it's overdubbed.
So anyway, Pete and I went to see Shine A Light and we were disappointed. First of all, the sound was real distorted and VERY guitar heavy. There were certain songs where you had to strain to hear the drums. And the mix was way compressed. The instruments were constantly fighting for sonic space. Second, the movie was mostly the Mick Jagger Show. Martin Scorsese would rather show the back of Mick's head for ten minutes than to feature the other members. Even though he's just a hired gun, Daryl Jones (their bass player) was only shown when he was standing near one of the other guys or when he was introduced. Not much Charlie. either. And whoever wrote the set favors Some Girls. I'm complaining but there were some bright spots. Keith did You Got The Silver and that was great. It was nice to see the Stones (or some of them) on the big screen. After the movie, Pete and I downed some fast food and had a good talk about our current state of musical affairs. Pete has always been a good friend and I was reminded of that. It reminded me of when he'd visit me in San Francisco and how he came to Denver to help me out on a gig.
