Cruel Summer

I certainly have been very neglectful of my blogs recently, but work and life sometimes just have to override all else. It was just this time last year that I unveiled a project, which I called "About a Girl," which involved my recording 14 songs in 14 days, alone, all written (or co-written) by female songwriters. I had various reasons for doing this, and it was a huge challenge. Just selecting the material was tough, and then there was trying to work out interesting approaches to each song, and then finding a way to execute them, all under self-imposed time pressure. It was a real journey of discovery, and a year later, I'm still very pleased with the result, despite the fact that some of it sounds sloppy and ragged in places. I feel as though I've learned more about how to record effectively with my primitive set-up (GarageBand for iPad), and that the things I do today sound better.

Anyway, at the time, a close friend urged me to continue with the project, make it open-ended, and try to build a live performance around it. I didn't follow his advice (perhaps I should have), but went on to record other things, though I have played some songs from that project live. Now, a year later, and in the same late summer doldrums which inspired the first project, I have resumed the quest, albeit without the self-imposed deadline or any other constraints. I'm just trying to discover interesting material and find a unique way to present it, as and when. I have plenty of interesting stuff on my list of to-do's. Here's what I've done so far.

Swim and Sleep

I like this Ruban Nielson song a lot (well, I like all his stuff a lot), and one day I woke up thinking it might be interesting to try it in 6/8, with more of a sort of gospel feel to it, so that's what I did.

Cambodia 2013

I've ended up working on a project in Cambodia, which I've been fortunate enough to visit twice in the past month. It's an incredible place, and I've come away from my visits feeling pretty deeply affected by it. I find it hard to explain, but the feeling I've had upon returning home both times is one of appreciation for being alive, and for the life I have. Now, for some photos.

Borderline

I've been thinking for some time of covering a Madonna song, and narrowly avoided doing so on last summer's runaway smash success trans-gender project. There's so much in her work that is crying out for subversion/perversion/inversion, but "Borderline" has always really been my favourite. Until I settled on this song and began researching it, I had been completely unaware of the Reggie Lucas connection (which, sweetly, leads us to Mtume and Miles Davis - isn't life grand?). Anyway, one morning recently, I was lying in bed, less-than-half awake, and in my sleep-addled brain, somehow I formed a connection between this song and Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should've Come Over."

Mama Tried

Transformed Dub

I don't quite know quite why or how, but it hit me recently that my dear friend Linda Heck's song "Transformed" might make a nice candidate for a dub treatment (I also have a spoken-word "William Shatner" version in reserve). This was fun to make, and she seems to like it.

Stranger in Town

This is a cover of a song by my friend Mark Harrison, who is the founder (and, I believe, sole regular member) of Snakehips. It appeared on his first album, from 1993, called "Lit," and it's always been one of my favourites by him. I'd been thinking of covering it for some time, but I didn't just want it to be a recreation of his version, and one day it hit me that something along the lines of Little Feat might be an interesting context. So that's what I did.

Today

Fittingly, it was just today that I realized that Linda Heck yesterday posted this track to her SoundCloud. I think it may well be my favourite song of hers, and I love this recording of it (I've also done my own, in typically primitive fashion). It comes from the "Lost Album," most of which was recorded at Easley - McCain in Memphis in 1991, with a few songs and overdubs added in 1992, before being somewhat hastily mixed and then, more or less, abandoned. I still hold out hope that it may eventually be released in some form. There are 21 songs on it, in all, and I like all of them, but some clearly stand out from others. I think this one is the real highlight, and I stand by my description from a previous post:

"One of the very best Linda Heck songs, and one of the most exciting to play live in my opinion. Written for the late Craig Shindler to wish him well at a low point in life, it has a positive message characteristic of its vintage:

'Pain will go, before you know,
Let it fall away,
Happiness is within you,
And it can be today'

It's an unusual and intriguing structure, which is probably why I have always liked it, because it feels like it's always moving to a new level. Starting in C and reverting there for the bridge, switching to B for the verses, with the odd A to F-sharp interlude. Outstanding performance from Doug here, and I like the rising harmony vocals in the instrumental section. Linda is sublime throughout."

I do recall that Doug Garrison (drums), who was a newcomer to all these songs, wasn't completely happy with his performance here, but we managed to convince him it was a keeper. He is such a consummate drummer that, even finding his way through the unusual section changes in this song, he brings a real drive and immediacy to the whole thing. I'm pretty sure it doesn't get any better than this. 

A visit to Sam Phillips Recording

Back in late December, I was invited to participate in a recording session at the amazing Phillips studio at 639 Madison, Memphis, TN. Misty White, composer of the immortal classic, "I Need a Ride," was doing a session with the wonderful Roland Janes, a genuine living legend and a very nice and entertaining man. I had some time constraints, and as the session structure was somewhat, uh, fluid, I ended up not playing a note. I did manage to take some photos, however, and I stumbled upon a disused studio down the hall containing old instruments and vending machines from God knows when.

Unintended consequences, or, how I gained 15 minutes of fame for accidentally writing a gay anthem...

There are a few universal truths in life which are indisputable: you can't escape death and taxes; a watched pot never boils; corporate lawyers are spiritually and emotionally dead; there's nowt so queer as folk.

A little over a week ago, I awoke and logged on to the interwebs, to check email, Facebook, and a few other sites before getting on with my day. One of the more masochistic aspects of my morning web regime is checking my SoundCloud account, a typically thankless task which never fails to remind me that I make music for my own enjoyment rather than attention or adulation. I typically find a number of listens in the single digits over the preceding 24 hours, or, if I'm lucky, in the low teens. Last Sunday, however, I saw over 200 listens overnight, all to the same track - "Truckstop of Your Love," a cornball country parody of Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love."



The torrent of listens continued into Monday/Tuesday, and then gradually faded away over the rest of last week. As at this writing, the track has had over 970 listens, 90% of which have occurred during the past week. By contrast, the next-most-listened-to song in my site has 136 listens.

So, what could be behind the sudden viral popularity of this inane little track? A resourceful friend did some Googling and emailed me to inform me that a link to the song had been posted to a blog. I would post a link, but this is no ordinary blog, being devoted to, er, well, ahem, aficionados of mens' rooms in truck stops. If you're not into that sort of thing, I wouldn't want to inflict it on you, and if you are, then surely you can find it yourself.

There, among countless photos of well-endowed young gay men urinating in truck stops across the country, suddenly pops up my humble song. I confess that I am somewhat baffled, given that my lyrics are plainly about a waitress, but maybe there's some sort of crypto-transvestite vibe there of which I was not previously aware.

Anyway, I guess fans are fans, and I shouldn't complain. Keep on truckin', girls!

Meat Sounds

I woke up Sunday morning imagining what the Meat Puppets' classic "Lost" would sound like with a Pet Sounds/Phil Spector sort of treatment, so that's what I did. As usual, all sounds are by me, recorded in GarageBand for iPad.
 

Some recent GarageBand experiments

Growing old in public

I turned 50 at the end of October. In recent years, as I pondered the relentless approach of this event, I wondered if, come the day, I would feel depressed or freaked out. When it arrived, I had quiet celebrations on a very small scale, thought about all the interesting experiences and good fortune I've enjoyed in life, offered quiet thanks for all the wonderful people I've known and the loving family and group of friends who have always been there for me. And, fulfilling an aspiration I developed over the past year, I managed to play a good gig with a talented band behind me, just two days before I crossed the threshold. There's not much video from the event, but these are the ones. We have a number of working names, but none which has stuck yet. On bass, Matt Bowers, and on drums Charlie Hoskyns. The event was a charity fundraiser guerilla art show at a disused and unheated garage/vehicle inspection centre in my local 'hood, on a cold, rainy Sunday evening. And why not? Onward!

Let it Down

Rather hastily put together before heading out to the brilliant Twister/Semion gig in Camden last night.

Love is a Stranger

Only Guided by Voices fans (and my long-suffering children, who are inadvertently developing an encyclopaedic knowledge of the subject) will get the joke here, but I think this (from my summer labor of love) works pretty well in its own right, and it makes me laugh every time. For the uninitiated, the answer lies here.

True Love Will Find You in the End

Love in Mind

From a sunny evening last summer.
 

Gigging

From last night's blow out at Canvas & Cream.


Photo by Jacek Polewski



The very exciting Flamexicano, now with Gretsch White Falcon. I think Lucille (my guitar) developed a bit of a crush.

Gig alert

The management at the wonderful Canvas & Cream in Forest Hill have been kind enough to invite me back for the second in their series of music nights, this coming Thursday, October 4th. I'm pretty sure I'll be kicking the night off, probably about 7:30 (they start early and promptly - it's not a late-night venue, afterall), opening up a triple bill which also includes Paul Betts (talented singer/songwriter/producer who engineered the sessions I did for Linda Heck's "Transformed" album), as well as the always awesome Flamexicano. No cover, great food, quality booze, coffee, tea, cakes, art, all in an amazing venue staffed by friendly people with great taste in music.

Hell on Earth Halloween bash (1992?)

Photo by Patty Padgett. Part of the legendary Bob's Lead Hyena. L-R: Stoten Outlan (v), Jim Duckworth (g), Roy Berry (d), Brian ? (not in this band but a member of Voodoo Village People, among others), and me (I did play bass with them at one point as a replacement for Johnny Williams, but I can't remember if this was one of those occasions.) Not pictured - Mark Gooch (g), though that could be him I am looking at. This was such a wonderful band, but sadly short-lived.