Really Big Show!

My band, Braddock Station Garrison, has it's first "gig" tonight. This is the first time all four of us have played for an audience, so we are pretty fired up.

All I want to say is I'm kind of feeling like this today:

Roger McGuinn - Innovator

Rolling through the iPod today, I was in a bit of a classic rock mood. SO it was Montrose, Van Halen, Boston and Deep Purple (the Glenn Hughes/David Coverdale version, which will one day get a blog entry of it's own stating why it is superior to the Ian Gillian version).  I finished the day with The Byrds' Fifth Dimension and reminded myself that any list of most influential guitar players is shit if it doesn't include the great Roger McGuinn.

Here are The Byrds doing probably their most famous song not called "Turn, Turn, Turn."

They are obviously not playing it live, but that's not really the point here. The point is that Roger McGuinn is doing batshit crazy awesome stuff through his Rickenbacker. I guess I'd do weird stuff too if I had with me Chris Hillman killing time before he met Gram Parsons, Michael Clarke TOTALLY baked and David Crosby looking like a walrus and wearing a badger on his head.

The clip is also kind of maddening because the director seems to love focusing on Crosby strumming while McGuinn is doing the hard work. Pan right, mofo!!

McGuinn doesn't get enough credit in guitar circles for being the innovator he was. Two things he did which are present here: one is the classic Byrds jangle sound done by working in his banjo playing background augmented by technology (I'll let someone more schooled in those things talk about that); the second is the Coltrane inspired jazz freak-out he is doing. Pretty much any band that came after saying they were psychedelic or space-rock or whatever can thank Mr. McGuinn.

And just for fun, there's this:

On The Return of James Mercer and Creative Collaboration

I have no qualms in saying I love The Shins. And I will admit that I didn't hear of them until Natalie Portman told us to listen to them because it will change our lives. Well, they didn't do anything so rash as changing my life, but they have made me a happier person. And they allowed my wife to make one of her better jokes. I am paraphrasing, but it went something like this:

<while listening to Oh, Inverted World in the car one afternoon>
Jodi: What is this?
Steve: It's The Shins. It's what I imagine Simon and Garfunkel would sound like if they were still making records today.
Jodi: Yeah. It's what I think Simon and Garfunkel would sound like if Simon and Garfunkel gave me a headache.
<topic closed>

Any-who, they have a new album that came out today and which, my wife's opinion notwithstanding, I am listening to while writing this blog and not making sure I remember the lyrics to "Jumpin Jack Flash" (that's for a later post, but as a tease it is one thing to sing along with the radio and another to sing it in front of 50 people).

I was always planning on getting the record when it came out, but I was actually kind of not looking forward to it.  James Mercer is pretty much The Shins. They are his baby. He is the songwriter, the singer, the guitar player. I don't have the actually CDs in front of me but I wouldn't be surprised if he produced those records. And for this record, he pretty much fired everybody who had been in the band with him and got a bunch of new people to help him out. That made me kind of sad for the other guys, who I regrettably don't know the names of and therefore legitimize their ultimate extraneousness. I felt a band is just that...a band. And when the acknowledged leader of that band jettisons everybody in the band and carries on under the banner, that strikes me as a bit ego-maniacal.

Back when I was a younger chap and I played with friends in what could nominally be called a band. We were just fooling around, but at the time I grew weary of it quickly. This was because I realized that at that particular point in my musical life I was a control freak and wanted to do music my way. Ten years later, which saw about 7 of those years with no musical output of any kind by yours truly, I have gotten over that and I am now reaping the rewards of that with my new band. Granted I am still the primary songwriter and I am not shy about giving ideas on arrangements but I am very receptive to what Tom and Patrick and Mike are bringing to these songs. Receptive isn't even the right word. I am eager to get their input and their suggestions and am really enjoying the collaborative effort. For example, we have a song called "Fall" (or if you ask Tom "The Fall"). The song is over 10 years old and I have been playing it to myself for just as long. It is a standard verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/solo/chorus/done kind of thing. But Patrick had a very clever and simple idea of cutting the last chorus short, leaving a sort of open-endedness and dissatisfaction, which really works well with the lyrics and vibe of the song. I didn't think of that and maybe 10 years ago I would have pooh-poohed the idea. Now, it's my favorite part of the song. Hooray growth!!!

I am not sure what that has to do with James Mercer, but I can say in my own small and meager way I appreciate his decision about his band. His is the auteur behind The Shins and he really has every right to do it anyway he wants. I on the other hand am whatever the opposite of auteur is (I believe the term you are looking for, Steve, is "hack") and consider myself very lucky to have three friends who are vastly better musicians that I am, are hip to my stupid songs, are happily part of the creative process, and have become my partners-in-the-crime I call making music that is actually kind of cool. Well, it makes me smile, at least.

In closing, I am happy to report that the new Shins record, Port Of Morrow, is damn good and worth your efforts in checking it out. Because it's my thing, here they are on SNL last week doing the lead single off that record, appropriately titled "Simple Song."

Youthful music

Those who know me are likely aware that my favorite band is Rush. I've seen them life about 8 or 9 or 10 times. I forget. I know this pegs me as a bit of a dork. Well there are many things that peg me as a dork. This is just another.

Most people will say their favorite Rush album is Moving Pictures or 2112 or Signals. Not many will say Caress of Steel (though I like it). My favorite is Presto, which is probably a weird one to pick. I perused some message boards of fans ranking their favorite Rush records and Presto shows up usually middle to bottom of the pack.

I don't really find this strange nor do I have any righteous indignation. To me the album represents a period of my life. It came out in 1989 and was the first NEW Rush album I ever bought, meaning I bought it the day it came out. It was on cassette and I listened to it non-stop.

I think the first half of the record is stronger than the second, especially the combo of "The Pass" and "War Paint." Here are those two songs, for the uninitiated.

For me this record is about being young and not sure what you are doing with your life and the usual youthful nonsense of alienation and being misunderstood and blah blah blah. I don't recall feeling alienated or misunderstood as a teenager growing up in Texas. I really didn't have too many friends my first three years of high school, but that was mainly because I was shy and had glasses and had a terrible haircut. My senior year I started to come out of my shell. Getting a job and contacts and a Mustang probably helped with that but the hair was still terrible. I made more friends, actually hung out with people, and learned how to be a sociable human being. My first girlfriend came along right before I left for college. We never went to a concert together, but we did see Terminator 2 and the atrocious Kevin Costner Robin Hood movie.

So this record was a big part of my life back then. I wouldn't say it "spoke to me" or any kind of cliched junk like that. I listen to it now and it transports me back to being 16 years old. There are a handful of records that do that for me. Metallica's Black album, Iron Maiden's Seventh Son Of A Seventh Son, Eric Johnson's Ah Via Musicom, Queensryche's Operation:Mindcrime, and Boston's Third Stage spring to mind. There are others. The old records which I gravitate back to are these, and it's because they are from the most impressionable time of a person's life.  I equate these songs with that kid. Of being young and figuring out who I was as a person, where I was going and what I was going to do. I think I am still pretty much that same person, just with more experience and better hair.

Yngwie (and me) on guitar playing

My old friend Philippe is a guitarist and a creator of outstanding effects pedals. I have all three of them and they are doing wonderful things for my tone. If you want to check them out, and I strongly suggest it if you are a guitar player or know a guitar player and want to sound cool. His company name is Caroline Guitar Company.

Anywho, Philippe had on his Facebook page a link to an 18 year old article from Guitar World on Yngwie Malmsteen doing a blindfold test on about 14 songs and critiquing the guitar playing.  If you don't know who Yngwie is, this is pretty much all you need to know.

Here is the link to the article. It is better to see the video first and then read the article because when you read it you can do so in Yngwie's funny fake-European accent. Good times!

So anyway, he takes predictable dumps on Pearl Jam and Dinosaur Jr and surprised dumps on guys like Joe Satriani and Jeff Beck. It makes for amusing reading, especially if you are a guitar dork.

It got me thinking about what I like in guitar playing. I will admit an appreciation of what guys like Yngwie and Satriani and Steve Vai can do. They are real virtuosos and are not afraid to show off. Personally though I find that style dull. To me it's not particularly emotive or interesting. A good guitar solo or riff makes a song. When they are REALLY good, they can be transcendent. May I present Exhibit A:

Ah...now that is much better! To my untrained and perhaps feeble ears what Dave pulls off here is better than anything Yngwie has ever dreamed of.

Guitar playing, just like singing, is made by the passion invested in it. A guitar is an incredibly powerful instrument. It can create a whole world of sound. It can get into the gutter or it can soar into the sky. Just because you can play fast and know every single scale and can do every little trick Eddie Van Halen can do does not necessarily make you a brilliant guitar player. You can have all the talent and skill and chops in the world, but as cheesy as it sounds, if you don't feel it, then you're really missing it. You have to invest a piece of yourself into your playing, otherwise it's just Arpeggio's From Hell.

Attention King's X fans! Jerry Gaskill needs your help!

Jerry Gaskill is the drummer for King's X and last month he had a heart attack. Professional musicians don't usually have great health care plans and it's not like King's X are the Rolling Stones, so Jerry is having financial troubles. If you want to help Jerry you can buy and download an mp3-only release the band is doing of a 1991 King's X show from Boston. It costs only $20 and all proceeds go to help Jerry with his medical bills. I got it yesterday morning and it rocks and if you're a King's X fan you should definitely get it.

Here's the link: http://molkenmusic.com/store/shop/details.php?id=50

And here's a clip of King's X doing their most well known song, "It's Love" from the great Faith Hope Love album.

I first saw King's X when they opened for AC/DC. That was a bit of a weird bill because King's X are a heavy yet harmony driven progressive band and AC/DC are, well they are AC/DC. Still it was a killer show. I saw it at old Reunion Arena in Dallas TX when I was 16 years old. This would have been 1990. I went with my (then) best friend John O'Rielly. When we got tickets we had to go to Sound Warehouse at 6am to get in line for the...I want to say TicketMaster but I am not sure if it was TicketMaster selling them back then...TicketMaster counter to open. Our seats were on the side directly overlooking the stage. I remember King's X singer/bassist Dug Pinnick had a giant mohawk. Good look!

They were one of the many bands I found through MTVs Headbangers Ball. I think it was on Saturday nights and I would sit and watch metal videos all night talking on the phone with friend John, whom I have no idea where he is anymore.

I saw King's X again my freshmen year at American U in Washington DC. My buddy Doug and I took the bus down to Georgetown to see them at The Bayou. My memory is convinced this was the first concert I ever saw in DC, but that would be 1991 and that can't be right because I am pretty sure they were touring behind Dogman which came out in 1994 and Doug had a Dogman t-shirt. Frak it, I don't remember.

I saw them a third time at Jaxx in Springfield VA. Ha! Jaxx! What a dump. I actually live 15 minutes away from that place. I am surprised it hasn't burned down yet. They were on a bill with 4 other bands. I think one of them might have been a band called Protein and I am pretty sure one was The Galactic Cowboys.  Doug was there again and our other buddy Clay was with us. That must have been around 1998 or 1999. Jeez!

I think those are the only times I have seen them. I don't remember if I saw them at someplace like the 930 Club. Maybe Clay or Doug remember. I did see Dug Pinnick and his side-band Tres Mts at the Black Cat last year. That was a very cool show, one of only 5 they did. Tres Mts features the drummer from The Fastbacks (whose name I am too lazy to look up) and two guys named Jeff Ament and Mike McCready from a little band I like to call Pearl Jam. The club was half empty. WTF!?!

Anyway, back to the point, help Jerry Gaskill out and get a rocking download to go with it.

Good Old War

One of the regular features, if you will, of this blog will be to take a look at records I have just downloaded.

(As an aside, I do the vast majority of my music buying from eMusic. They are a subscription service and offer great deals. If you know you are going to buy 5 or 6 or 10 records a month, like I do, you should really be doing it with eMusic. It is a much better deal than iTunes. If you decide to sign up with eMusic, PLEASE let me know so that I can send you a referral email through their website and I can get credits. Yeah, I'm thrifty that way!)

One of the records I downloaded last week was a three-piece band from Philadelphia named Good Old War. I forget exactly where I first heard them but I was caught by their name first an d their music second. The name is played off parts of each of the fellows' names: Goodwin, Arnold and Schwartz. I thought about doing that with my band but the best I could come up with is So Man Can Chill and that doesn't quite roll off the tongue.

So, what about the band? They are a folky band with emphasis on some great harmonies. Kind of an America or CSNY thing going on. I could not find anything on YouTube from their new record (which is their third), so here they are doing a track from their second record. It's called "My Own Sinking Ship."

The records have a guitar/bass/drum sound but this is nice to see this doing something different with just a guitar and accordion. The harmonies and the songwriting is the most interesting part of the group.  I wish I could sing this well. Jodi (my wife, for the those who don't know) says I should get voice lessons, not because I have a bad voice but because it would teach me how to really sing. I think I am a pretty good singer, and have been told that by others (thanks!!), but I have zero formal training. Sounds like a good anniversary present, right? (cough-cough)

Anyway, this makes for pleasant listening on a sunny morning, which I am enjoying presently! After I click "Publish" it is off to the gym, however, where I shall likely listen to Iron Maiden.

Symphonies of guitars

So my last post ended with a video of Explosions in the Sky. So what's the deal with them?

EitS are primarily 4 guys from Austin, Texas. 3 guitarists and 1 drummer. No vocalist. They have a hired gun bassist on tour. They do instrumentals. You might have heard them from the Friday Night Lights soundtrack. They are utterly amazing.

Well, that's a bold claim, right? To me they are amazing. Songs can be catchy with the usual verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus thing going. Hey it worked for the Beatles, right? (I am aware they often started WITH the chorus, so just go with me)

These songs are not so much songs in the classic sense, but soundscapes. Better yet, they are symphonies done with guitars. Each of the three guitarists are in essence doing their own thing, but it is all brought together to create a thing of beauty.

Here's another cut from their latest record. This is called "Be Comfortable Creature."

It takes some time to build. It's almost as if the song is waking up. At the 3-minutes-in point the melody of the song has been found and is being worked around. Each guitar creating it's piece of the song.

There are other bands that do this kind of thing. Mogwai and Take Acre spring right to mind. Both are excellent, but to me there is a beauty in these songs that is unlike anything I have ever heard. And they pull it off live, which is an amazing thing. Studio trickery can make anything happen, but to see it on stage is a sight. Here's a photo I snapped when I saw them in Baltimore last winter:

Yeah, I was kind of close. You'll notice here the guitarist is kneeling down right in front of me, not for conversation, but to work his effects pedals during the song. Each of them has a LOT of pedals. And they use them to great effect (pardon the pun). And their guitars are obviously important to them. You can't tell here but they are old and beat up and have their straps held on by layers of duct tape. Their instruments mean something to them, they aren't interchangeable, they are an integral part of the band.

Back to the main point. These fellows are pretty much what music is all about to me: creativity, passion, feeling, inspiration. One of my most favorite bands. Hope you like it.

And for future reference, I promise there will be songs with words!

Welcome to my nightmare!

Hello, friends! Either old or new! After many hesitations and false starts I have finally decided to cater to the ego-maniac within and start a blog. Everybody else is doing it so why not? The most apt thing to write about would be music, so witness the birth of Steve's Music Smorgasbord! Outstanding, huh?

I picked that name because my musical tastes run the gamut from regular old rock n roll to progressive rock to alt country to metal to indie rock to power pop to regular old pop and everything in between. I also dig jazz and classical but can't say I know anything about it.

Rock n roll I can claim to know a little bit about, so here I am! There is no purpose for this blog except as an avenue to write about music I like, am inspired by, or just want to share. To me, all music is good. Deep, right? But really, let's take someone like Toby Keith. Not my kind of music. Don't like it, won't listen to it, have been known to mock it in the past. But riddle me this: if someone can listen to Toby Keith and, after having a hard day of work or family troubles or whatever bullshit came up, that music can make them feel better or find some joy or just smile for a second, then that is a good thing, no matter whether I like it or not.

So, I am going to try to post as often as the spirit moves me. If you become a regular reader type then forgive me if these seem sort of shaky at the start. A new co-worker likes to say "battle rhythm" a lot, so let's go with that and say it might take a while to get into a battle rhythm. One of my writing teachers told me to be a writer you have to write every day about something. So let's give it a whirl.

In closing, here's something from my favorite album of 2011: Explosions In The Sky's Take Care Take Care Take Care. This is "Postcard from 1952."