No longer a secret

So, the Facebook page of the "secret band" is out... please like it.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/MaineStream-Band/124850377600867

Our debut approaches-- and we aim to take the music that moves your body and present it live and raw.

If I had a 3rd arm, you know it would be on another keyboard. I am hoping MIDI helps me multitask easier.

I will keep everyone updated on where this project goes-- come see us and bring my hands some ice.

Thank you

Updates on gigs

Life has been busy with the baby, but I have kept up at my continuous search for playing opportunities. Summer is here and that means lessons are dropping, and with that a trustworthy paycheck. That means it is high time for more gigs.
These gigs will come in all forms-- private parties, weddings, musical pits, even benefits for something I have never heard about. I will wear a costume, support a new company, or help a ceremony so long as I can play. Money is good as well.. but marketing is just as good sometimes.

So far, the only gig I have within the next month is my own wedding. August is shaping up to be busy with the release of the "secret band"-- first at this event:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Redneck-olympicspig-roast-and-music-festival/111251762300128

And then at this event:
http://www.greatfallsballoonfestival.org/

There will be a fried dough or gyro with my name on it at one of these places.

Late August, my friend Adam Ames will be getting married. Then I have the opportunity to play a wedding at the Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay Harbor. My tuxedo is ready for both!

So I may have most of the next month off (gig-wise), but I will no doubt be rehearsing for a series of shows. Remember, the music is only half the battle. You must always give them something to look at!

Thanks, all!

My First Father's Day

I guess it was not really a big deal. I showed my brother the gym that I go to, I had a cookout with my family with a little swimming in between. I got a little sun and I will probably judge it better by tomorrow.

Overall though, I want to recognize fathers who are new to this holiday like myself. So, I guess there is another day we can get gifts. I have never been one for gifts ever (I don't like Christmas for this reason), but I am good at putting on the game face of being thankful. Everyone buys a gift for a reaction-- I know I do. I want nothing in return but a "you changed my day" face. That is worth the money.

I hope everyone had an alright day. I hope you gave a good reaction face to those that bought you something. I hope we can all pay it forward.

BTW-- yesterday I played the Hanson-Foss wedding at Lost Valley. I played a fiddle for a contra dance they wanted to have. The caller came with his own equipment, plenty of personality and charisma, and a good PA with some ingenuity. I was glad I could bring Scoot to play since I would have been in the company of strangers more or less. The band finished out with Michael Hanson on drums and his brother on guitar. We sounded good--- can we take it on the road?

I guess a contra dance or two can be in my future when the opportunity arises!

Every Other Sunday Reunion!

http://www.facebook.com/EveryOtherSunday

The wedding band that was formed a few years ago with the hopes to play several weddings per year (a broken dream), had a reunion today at our regular rehearsal space. We have cycled through drummers; lost one the day of a gig (bad situation), and played a wedding last August with a perfect fit- but without commitment. We did not get a chance to demo a new drummer today, but we have a lead.

What was different about today?

Our keyboard player quit so we had a new keyboard player through our bass player. The rehearsal space looks like a livingroom now and seems more inviting and comfortable. There is a dedicated drumset on site and it will be easier to slip in and out for a practice without breaking down and setting up over and over. Overall we are more confident and less confident-- we know what we can do and we also know that money is still not definite-- neither is membership (something most of my groups deal with).
We are trying out new markets and hopefully this summer will not be devoid of a gig for us. If anyone reads this...I hope...see if you know someone who needs a band that can play all styles, composed of classical, jazz, and theatrically trained musicians. We would love to help out!

How am I doing?

The week is almost done. The only pressing thing is a possible reunion of Every Other Sunday this Sunday. We haven't played in almost a year-- but I am sure we haven't missed a beat. A few gigs would be nice though.

Next week there is a meeting for AVCO.
http://www.avco-online.org/

It may be a meeting to close the doors of this organisation for good. We have no money, we owe money, and our membership has dwindled down to nothing. Almost 4 1st violins, a single 2nd violin, and other diminished numbers for strings and brass. The only thing we do have is a dedicated percussionist that is all most orchestras need. It will be sad-- Thursday nights will not be the same.

This is a good time to notice how institutional music; mainly classical and jazz, has never quite been popular or well paid-- yet it demands the most out of its players. Years are spent at conservatories, years are spent on the repertoire, instruments are the most expensive of any music (think Strads), and climbing the ladder for recognition is near impossible. Yet, as a society here in America we give these artists no more respect than the local rock band. Sure, I know that there may be some social respectability for playing such music, but the pay should also reflect that. Learning an hour of solo classical guitar music for a wedding is more demanding than 3 hours of guitar for a rock band where 1) the stage is shared, 2) there are few dynamics, 3) you can hide behind special effects. But what I keep reminding myself and others that have voiced this concern is that it is not about the music-- no song is going to win someone over. It is about the image and the point. I don't believe in musical styles and such, but we need to fit into a box to marketed and shown off. "We are a rock band!" "We are a string quartet" " We do country-western metal"--? If the consumer likes the gimmic, the gig is close to being done.
But please, don't stop practicing that Beethoven.
You owe it to yourself.

Norlands Weekend Day 2

This happened today-- Sunday-- and yes, I am tired!

I decided for today to show up a bit later and only play outside as a warmup before playing inside-- inside the giant church at the center of the Norlands grounds.

We were scheduled for a concert playing music and describing aspects of the Civil War-- how music played a part of the morale, and a side of the Civil War many didn't want to talk about.

This is where my friend Michel comes in. His background shows one side of his family tree being descended from slaves. I knew that he may have something to say about this as well as add his music, so I asked him to join.

I brought along Patty and baby Christian as well as Justin (Patty's son-- a history and military buff). We went on the grounds, met up with Megan and her mother, and setup shop in a familiar location:

After a 30 minute warmup, we played with Michel a bit and went over the setlist for inside. I had a very crude speech prepared and I was hoping for Michel to steal the show (he did). We were visited by the staff many times to make sure we were still doing the show, and had a town crier rally up people to go to it.
We went inside to prepare-- and low and behold, another student shows up to play...A little over a month from beginning and she wanted to play in front of everyone (makes me proud).

We played our fiddle tunes, my student gave a beautiful performance of "Britches full of Stitches", and Michel almost made me cry when he described spirituals, his family, and sang like a nightingale. Horses were making sounds outside so laughter made up for lack of speech direction. In the end we got to play, everyone's family or significant other were there, and what audience we had we made an impression on-- I hope.

Thanks for a great weekend Norlands!

Carnivore Party

What you ask? This was what made me lose sleep the night before-- a once a year party (my first) that I would be playing for in front of some old USM friends and a huge number of people I didn't know.

How did it go? The lead singer, Gerry Shannon called it a "train wreck". But we did pull off a great rendition of "Here I go again" by Whitesnake!

Basically, we had 2 sets planned with 10 songs each going from Ska with trumpets to punk rock and hardcore music (I hate labels). I knew a few of the songs but these were versions I didn't know. I was the only one working from a notebook that had improper keys and none of the dramatic "stops" listed.

Here I am with an 80's monster guitar (made of several parts). That got some attention. I couldn't get the sound write with my B-52 amp and the pickups currently in this guitar are less than caviar-- little sustain and tone.

So eventually, after some great natural food and seasoned meats, we got to play... I do want to mention that the crowd was of the college grad, intellectual, role-playing (you say Geek) variety-- perfect! Great food, great conversations, and the music could be considered an experiment!

Our mistakes were just not knowing tempos, who should come in first, and what chord went where. Reel Big Fish have some easy songs-- we only played one of those, then we played the songs that shift the chord structure. My jazz backing couldn't help since bass and piano looked at me for harmonies. Someone kept telling me to turn up, then turn my amp, then turn it back. I hated the tone and it became a mess. Well, in the end it is all documented-- but please don't look for it.

A student of mine did play a great rendition of "Careless Whisper" on sax-- just the theme over and over like 15 times.

The strap on my guitar ( as high as it can be) is still too long so I had to put my foot on a paint bucket for leverage. That must be fixed!

Norlands Weekend Day 1

Day 1 started out with cool, windy weather-- I had less than 6 hours sleep because of a rehearsal the night before. I had to work out the costume early and found that the mustache was going to fail. I groomed it until it was less Dixie and more Hitler-- and that drew the straw for me. I ripped it off as I pulled into Livermore.

The weather made our fingers cold and our instruments had to adapt to being outside. If anyone wants to know about playing outside-- it is a vacuum-- no acoustics-- your sound is lost the moment it is played. Once you get used to that sound everything is fine-- save for the fact that you can't hide behind any echo.

We played a total of 4 sets. We positioned ourselves in 3 places and one really paid off tip-wise ($23 I believe). My costume, while obviously fake, still got a few looks. Megan, my violin partner in this adventure, had a great period dress that could have her easily fit into both sides. I was a Union General-- which caused a ruckus when I visited the Confederate camp.

The people of Norlands were great and the vendors gave us tips and props for playing. We repeated many songs and found the ones we really liked and could play well as duets. I pushed it a few times but we got through everything and did the best numbers when we had listeners.

Here is our first and last place to play-- under a tree away from the sun and within sight of ice cream (that I only had on Day 2-- more on that later).

We were staff so we got a free meal and use of the staff facility. My stomach and sunburnt face were thankful!
It was a great time!

Norland's Civil War Reenactment Weekend

It is back--- my 3rd or 4th year being a part of it--- The Norlands Living History Museum Civil War Reenactment!
This year will be bigger than before-- 150 years ago the Gettysburg battle was fought-- so they aim to reenact that. I promise to not get shot while holding my fiddle!
I will update with pictures over the next few days and try to capture my weekend of playing.
You can always come by and see us--- Sunday will be a special concert in an old church-- come and support good music and historical acting!
http://www.norlands.org/events.html

My newborn son Christian

For those that do not know already, my son Christian D. James was born on May 19th at 10pm. Weighing 7lbs 8 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long. It was a long tough day with a great ending. I am still getting used to the sleep schedule, but good food, a daily multivitamin, and proper music are all helping. So this is what it is like? I guess my time has come. Thanks for supporting me everyone!

New Home on Website!

I have finally been able to add my blog to my website! It is from the amazing help of RadioactiveIon that this has happened!
Thank you!

Now I will be sure to update faster, drop in videos, photos, and incessently add tidbits along my journeys.
Now you can add comments, make suggestions, and add a looking glass to aspects of life I am missing...if you would be so kind.

I Thank all of you!