Southern Nights – It’s a Season

Posted on May 8, 2018 by SusanG

Allen Toussaint wrote it and then Glen Campbell sang it. The song ‘Southern Nights’ for me has always held the feeling of Spring and Summer evenings enjoying the outdoors and relaxing. What better way to do that than to be hanging out listening to and playing good music. And so, the Charlotte Blues Jam moved outdoors.

Sunday night’s jam out at Halligan’s was a little different. The weather was nice so they decided we would be playing on the stage out back. This was a new adventure for me. I hadn’t really played outside with a band. And what a cool experience. Though to be
honest, I didn’t completely get that until the next day. I was at the day job, thinking about the kid I saw next door on the trampoline while we were playing, and the guy working on his motorcycle. I remember thinking at the time, about them, ‘what a cool way to spend an evening’. I totally missed the point. Because the way I was spending my evening was just as cool, maybe more so because I was getting to play, not just listen.

Playing outdoors turns out to be a little different than indoors. For one, there are the bugs. The flies and nats, that seemed to disappear once we got the music going. And the wasp that flew through. Personally, I don’t get along with those beasties very well so I’ll be having a chat with my Doc about some emergency first aid if we’re going to be doing this more regularly. Bugs aside, the sound was different. Inside, the sound bounces off the walls and ceiling some so you get a different effect. Outside, the sound has little to nothing to bounce off of so you’re just singing and playing off into the where-ever.

Because of being outside they brought a different sound system to use and with this one we had monitors for the vocals. This was helpful, and would have been more helpful if I had paid attention and used them. I wasn’t always standing in the sweet spot to hear myself, for one. And then when I was, I wasn’t registering that I was hearing what was coming through the microphone. It’s been a long time since I played where we had monitors and, at that time, I wasn’t singing. So, come to think of it, as much as just playing outside was a new experience, so was using monitors.

A quick aside for anyone reading this that isn’t familiar with what I’m talking about when I say monitors. Monitors are the speakers you usually see down at the front of the stage that are pointing at the band. A lot of the big name acts these days use what are called ‘in ear monitors’, think ear buds. For smaller bands, or pickup bands or something like a jam, the in ear monitors aren’t really practical. So, they go old school and use the stage monitors. They are there so the band can hear themselves and each other. Now back to the main topic.

In addition to the new stage and the monitors, oh, and the fabulous new guitar, I have a new camera. I got a new camera to use for getting video so I didn’t have to keep using my phone. And so I could, hopefully, get a little better sound. We ended up using it for pretty much the entire night so I’m going to have to do some slicing and splicing and editing before I have video ready to post. It may take me a day or two. Finding just the right start and stop point for each song, and how much in between stuff to keep and all that will take me a couple of tries. But I’ll try to get things posted as soon as I can. In the mean time, I’ve included a few pictures from the night.

The next Charlotte Blues Jam is in just a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to get to do it again. We’re supposed to be back at Moochies. Which means, I’ve got a couple of weeks to see what I can find to work on and learn next. That’s a process that is as much of an adventure as actually playing at the jams. I’ve also heard about, and been strongly encouraged to come out to, another jam event by a different group of people. It’s on a Thursday which is a kicking day (Taekwondo class) for me, and probably why I haven’t considered it before. As much encouragement as I was getting though, I may have to consider swapping a kicking day for an additional strumming day once a month. Oh my. Did I just…? Hmm…

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We Get to Do It Again!

Posted on May 1, 2018 by SusanG

Yes. It’s Jam weekend coming up. We’ll be back out at Halligan’s Ale House. That’s the place that I keep telling people is in the middle of nowhere. It’s actually in Midland, North Carolina but with just the Fire Station next door and a big field across the street it feels pretty middle of nowhere. Still, the people are pretty cool and they let us come play music. I’m excited for it.

I’ve been pretty busy these past couple of weeks, since the last blues jam. I’ve been getting ready for the next jam. I am always looking for new songs to learn. Particularly ones that I can sing. I generally try to add one for each week in between jams. So for this round, my goal was, or is, three new songs. Initially I had one song in mind and a good handful of suggestions as well as one request. As it happened, I had a conversation a couple of days after that last jam that sent me off on a quest to work on a particular style of blues rhythm. It lead me to a list of people who were, or are, known for that style or sound. On the list I found a guy named Jimmy Reed, a name I’ve heard in a Jimmy Buffett song. So that’s where I decided to start.

Along with learning a new style, and three new songs, I also set about working on my pentatonic scales. These are pretty key to being able to play a lead at a blues jam. And while I have been familiar with one or two of the patterns for years, I haven’t put
much effort into learning them well enough to make use of them. Or for that matter figuring out how they fit with the different keys. I know this probably seems odd to some. For as long as I have been playing guitar, I have gaps in my knowledge. In some cases those gaps feel like gaping chasms. Using pentatonic scales has been one of those chasms. Fortunately, there are some really awesome people that run the blues jam, and come to it. And when I can pluck up the courage to ask, they have all been most generous with their knowledge and encouragement. So, along with the song homework, I left the last jam with pentatonic homework. Which, I have been working at quite diligently. Thank you, Kevin.

I want to get better at taking that lead part and not passing because, well, I can’t figure out what to say or where to start. Working on scales, in all different keys and moving up and down the neck is part of the exercises that make that possible so that’s what I’ve been doing. And not just for 10 or 15 minutes. I put some serious time into it. And at home, I can fit in a bit of that lead work and start to go back and forth between lead and rhythm. I even set up my mini looper with a full 12 bars of rhythm for ‘Rock Me Baby’ so I could practice. That took forever, and is a whole different post. It was worth it because it let me practice with a rhythm that is a bit trickier to get into and practice moving from rhythm to lead and back. I even practiced the vocal with it so I could get a feel for the whole experience. It’s been helpful, and, I might be ready to give it a try. I just hope I don’t freeze when it comes my turn.

All this practice got a bit of energizing a couple of weeks ago when I added a new member to my guitar family. I made a trip to the, relatively local, Guitar Center for some supplies and to look into the solid body Ibanez guitars. I was looking for that electric guitar that becomes my ‘go to’ electric guitar. I have that with my classical. It’s a Cordoba. And I love it. When I go into a music store I don’t go looking for another classical guitar. I look at a lot of other things but not that. So an electric that I go to every time is what I want. I want one that I don’t even think about, oh, should I play this one today or that one. So that’s what I was looking for. The Ibanez were a wash. Nothing worked for me. So I started looking at whatever. Even stuff that I had planned on looking into later on down the road. I was trying out a hollow body electric, just because, when Kevin happened to walk in. After he told me to put the guitar back and some back and forth banter, he started suggesting some options. A few guitars later I found my hands around a lovely green Gretsch that felt really good, and sounded pretty sweet too. Tell me, do I look like I found my best friend?

Yes, that beauty came home with me that afternoon and I have loved every minute of playing it. It’s a Gretsch G2622T Streamliner Center Block with Bigsby in Torino Green. It’s a shorter scale neck (24.75″) with a nice ‘Thin “U”‘ shape. And it turns out, those two
things make a huge difference for my hand. It is the most comfortable electric guitar I  own. I can play for hours on it and not cramp up. In fact the cramping I had been dealing with has pretty much healed up. I was stunned when I realized the difference. I can’t even describe the difference it makes for me. The best I can do, is to tell you that I don’t even think twice about spending an hour practicing scales, in as many keys as I can, and then spending another hour or two practicing Chicago rhythms and B.B. King style songs and whatever else. And when it’s time to address my grumbling stomach, I hesitate to put it down and go eat.

I did ignite a little jealously in my friend Nick. He’d been looking at the hollow body D’Angelico’s and Gibson as well as the Gretsch. And after a bit of conversation with Bryan and some others at the Blues Jam, he’d pretty much got the idea that he might want to go with a Gretsch. He’d even found one he liked. But, he hadn’t bought it yet. So it was fun to tease him a little with my new Gretsch.

Lot’s of good stuff has happened since the last Blues Jam. And now, a new jam coming up where I get to try it all out. I’m pretty excited about it. And I’m looking forward to all the cool stuff to follow. More songs to learn. New styles and techniques to learn. Hopefully more people to get to play with, and new friends. And yes. More videos. Which is another new thing. I got a new camera for capturing video at the jams. I’ve got a couple of days to figure out how to use it but it will be debuting this Sunday along with the Gretsch.

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Unlearning. And New Learning.

Posted on April 24, 2018 by SusanG

Maybe it’s just me. I seem to have picked up some odd notions about things over the years. Particularly when it comes to music, and specifically even when it comes to playing guitar.

Metronomes!

I’ll start with the metronome. This wasn’t really a case of having an odd notion. This was more a case of pure lazy and bullheadedness. I would not practice with one. No matter what my father or instructor said, I just would not do it. Until, I decided I wanted to get better at playing.

I think Bryan suggested to play with the recordings and play with a metronome. He said it sort of off-handed. Sort of like he’s said it to a million people and none of them ever listen. So finally I gave it a go. And dang if I can’t tell where I get off beat and even start rushing things. It’s hard to play slow. And yes, I know I almost always end up with my vocal and guitar, mostly guitar, a beat off on ‘I’d Rather Go Blind’. I’m still working on it. And I play with a metronome every time I practice it.

Tuners! Even more important than metronomes.

So here’s one of my odd notions. Somewhere along the way I picked up the notion that you shouldn’t brace or rest your picking hand on another part of the guitar. That’s a challenge. It might be why I do a lot of strumming, and sometimes finger-style playing. They don’t lend themselves to wanting to rest your hand on the bridge. I hadn’t given this too much thought until I started trying to play this one picking pattern. It’s a down, down, up, up pattern and I can do it finger-style just fine. Except. It’s not right. It sound’s best with a pick and there’s an extra little twang on the last up stroke that’s like a little wrist flick. The first time I saw it played I was caught up in watching the picking pattern. But when I tried to play it, I could just get a few bars and then it would fall apart. So I got to see it again after having tried so hard to do it ‘the proper way’. And what I finally noticed was that the person playing was resting or bracing his hand at the bridge. So I tried it and it made a big difference. I’m not near having mastered the technique. But now I have hope.

And I have learned that sometimes you do have to rest the heel of your hand or brace with your little finger to make something happen. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t try not to rest or brace your hand. Absolutely, if I remember correctly, that’s considered “proper” technique and it’s supposed to allow for better picking mobility. However, sometimes, theory and proper technique, don’t jive with reality and practicality and you just do what gets the job done.

Capos

Which brings me to the capo. This poor little guy. I’ve treated him so bad. I’ve shunned him. I’ve thought bad of him. All because I was foolish. I was silly. I was ill-informed. I first encountered a capo as a kid. And I thought that the only reason you used a capo was because your hands weren’t strong enough to actually play bar chords. I know. I know.

I have small hands for my instrument of choice. It means there are somethings that are more than a stretch for my fingers. It means if I can reach it, I can’t always play it cleanly. I would have been well served to become a close friend of the capo years ago. What can I say? I tend to do things the hard way. However. Recently, in my search for tips and tricks for some different blues rhythms, I encountered someone demonstrating using a capo. This person had good size hands and hardly seemed like he would need one. But, he used it and it was fun and easy to watch what he was doing. Ok. I get it. Let me try that. Yep. Sure enough. There are reasons to use a capo. And they have nothing to do with your hand strength. Not only can they bring some things more in reach for me, they let me not have to over stretch so that I can get to other notes faster. Hey! That’s cool.

It does take a little practice to learn all these things, and to use them. I’m still getting used to using the capo. But it makes such a difference that you can bet I’ll be playing with it regularly pretty quick. I’ve got to learn how to handle scales and not to over shoot that fifth chord. So, practice, practice. As for the metronome. I will always need to use it more than I do. In fact. Like the capo. I should probably get another one. Just so I can leave one at a particular beat and have one to mess around with. The resting my hand thing comes a little more naturally when it’s needed. At least I’m not fighting it. And as I’ve worked on my alternate picking technique it’s come in pretty handy.

Yes. They are small things. But they are a few things that I have gotten tripped up by over the years. And, as I’ve really been trying to get better recently, I’ve come to see where my old notions, beliefs, prejudices, and what have you, have been holding me back. It’s not about not being good enough. It’s not about not being great. Or even how good or great you already are. It’s about can you be better? So I’m going to start there. Getting better.

More small tools and gear. Mostly picks.

There are a couple more weeks before the next Blues Jam. I’ve posted the first set I played in at the most recent jam. I’ll get the second set up sometime this week. I don’t think it’s my best work. But the rest of the band was pretty tight and it’s worth seeing.

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It Takes More Than You Think

Posted on April 17, 2018 by SusanG

If you’ve been following along then you know that this last weekend was another Blues Jam. This time at a different venue. A place called Moochie’s. Since we’d just had a jam the Sunday before, you might think that I could or would be able to sit back and coast. Hardly.

There was still plenty of practicing to do. I want to build up a catalog of songs that I can sing and play for these jams. Right now, I don’t have many songs and people are going to get tired of hearing them and playing them. So my mission, or homework, after every jam is to find at least one new song to learn. I try for a song a week, so if there is a full month in between jams, I’m trying to learn 4 new songs. Sometimes, I learn them and at the last minute realize that I really can’t sing one of them that well. So I’ve learned to play the song but I won’t plan on singing it.

With that in mind, you can imagine that this week in between the two Blues Jams was spent pretty much with my fingers wrapped around the neck of one guitar or another when I wasn’t working or kicking. I found two new songs and was able to learn one well enough that it was our kick off song on Sunday. Yep. I’m quite proud of the choice. It was a lot of fun and so far may be my favorite one we’ve done. We did ‘Never Make Your Move Too Soon.’ It’s a great song and I’ve listened to it for years. Though, not by who you’d expect. For the version I worked on I referenced a B.B. King recording. And then we did an all B.B. King set to kick off the Blues Jam. It was fun.

I think that’s something that people who don’t play music out live probably don’t think about. The effort that goes into putting on a good performance. Sure, you hear about ‘band practice’. But what about just learning your part. I often get to play with Nick, who is also a co-worker, and we discuss songs we want to learn or work on. And then, we go off and learn our parts. If we get a chance, we get to practice together before a jam. Often, we don’t. So, we have to have learned our bit well enough that we can fit in with each other if we get to play together. We also have to practice our skills in general so that we can fit in with whomever we get to play with. That way, when someone calls for a song in a particular key and rhythm then we can get in there and do our bit as part of the group.

In addition to that, there’s choosing the material. It’s not always as easy as you might think. Especially if you sing. Sure, everyone wants to hear this song or that song. And everyone would like to be able to sing and play those songs. But it doesn’t always work out that you can. An example, I can sing and play rhythm for ‘Further On Up the Road’. I can sing it and it’s ok. Nick, really likes the song, and worked on it, and he does a really great job on the vocals and lead guitar. I learned ‘Before You Accuse Me’. I learned to sing it and play the rhythm. And I have not sung it. Because, I realized that for whatever reason, I just can’t get that one down right now.

And then sometimes, you want to do a song really bad and you work at it and work at it and it just doesn’t seem to want to happen. That has happened lately. There’s this one song, I really like, it should work out and could be a lot of fun. We figured out the key, then Nick figured out the chord progression. And I set about trying to get the vocal down but it was just a bit pitchy. I finally thought to change the key. Since we’re really only playing the I, IV, and V chords for it changing the key isn’t too hard. So I dropped it and suddenly, I could sing it. We’ve been working on it for 2 or 3 weeks now and I still haven’t been ready to do it. And then, I figured out, we had the rhythm all wrong. We’ve been trying to fit it into this chunk-a chunk-a sound and it turns out to be a shuffle. It was hidden. It was buried in the other guitar parts, and more importantly, it was hidden in the vocal.

Watching someone or a group, get up on stage and play music looks, and sounds so easy. It takes more than most realize. And that’s just the practice. That’s just the getting down the skills to even be able to do it. That doesn’t include getting the guts to get up there. For some, that takes even more. And you know, even with all that in mind, it’s still the most fun when it all comes together. When the song goes off just right, whether there’s anyone else there to hear it or not. It’s so worth all that effort in practice, in choosing a song, it getting up there, in showing everyone how to play something on the fly, or learning how to play something on the fly. When you get to that last note and you know, you can feel how it went. Oh Yeah. It may have taken more than you expected to get there, it is so worth it when you do.

Enjoy some pictures from the first set of the Charlotte Blues Jam on Sunday. I’ll be getting video up this week as well so you can check out our B.B. King set.

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More Blues Jammin’

Posted on April 10, 2018 by SusanG

Things are heating up in the blues jam world. We just had a jam this past weekend at Halligan’s. This is the place I keep saying is in the middle of nowhere. It’s not. It just feels like it. And this weekend coming up we’ve got another jam happening. This time at a place called Moochies. It’s a little closer in for me. Which will be nice. I have been having a lot of fun at the jams these past few months so I’m happy to get to have one more to go to.

This last one was a lot of fun. We had a couple of new people which is always good. That’s how you keep live music going, by getting more people to participate. And we had one person who, apparently has attended before as a bass player and this time came out to play harp (harmonica). His enthusiasm was fun and a little contagious. I don’t think anyone of us was having more fun than he was.

Watching one of the new players reminded me of when I first started going to the jams a few years ago. I didn’t know the songs we were playing. I might have heard some of them or heard of them but most of them I didn’t know them to be able to play them. I learned a few but most of the time I was learning on the fly, right there on stage. I still go through this. Just a couple of months ago even. So it was interesting for me, the other night, to watch this new person learn to play ‘Crossroads’ right there on stage and then to realize, I’m pretty sure the first time I played that song, ever, it was at a jam.

As terrifying as it can be, it’s also the fun part. Just getting up there and seeing what comes of it. It takes some time to get comfortable with it. It takes time to get comfortable with not knowing and doing anyway. It doesn’t mean you don’t still have anxiety or doubts along the way. I can say I sure do.

Every time I try something new I’m wondering if it’s going to go ok. Will it work? I hope it doesn’t sound too bad. And then after, I’m usually hoping that it just didn’t suck. Really. That’s the best I’ve been willing to hope for. Though, I was having so much fun this time that I forgot to worry about that. I’m pretty sure, I didn’t ask anyone this time if it at least didn’t suck. Wow. That makes me feel good to realize that. I call that progress because I’m not sure what else to call it. Maybe confidence?

If it’s that, it’s because I’ve had a couple of encounters that have helped in that area. Not because I’ve suddenly decided I’m good at this. The first month I sang a full set was the encounter that may stick with me most. In my mind it only went ok. I messed up and forgot words on one song and we played too fast on another and I don’t remember what else. But I had done it and it was ok. It didn’t suck. Mind you, this was my mind set at the time. I just wanted to not suck. I got off stage and one of the musicians I had been sitting with during the other sets came over and quite enthusiastically told me to ‘keep doing what you’re doing.’ So I tried again.

The next time, I had someone tell me they were disappointed that they had gotten there too late to hear me sing. I was surprised. And a little embarrassed, I admit. Obviously, I didn’t have the expectation that mine would be a voice anyone would seek out. And yet, a similar thing happened again this weekend. A woman, whom I’ve seen before as a patron, sought me out to tell me how much she liked seeing me sing and play. She told me that I and one of the other musician singers are her favorites. Just her telling me that she liked what I did was flattering and encouraging, then to have her put me in the same sentence with the other person, who is really good at what he does, I think I’m still stunned.

It’s always great to get encouragement from your peers. They’ve been there and they know how hard it is to get up there and put yourself out there like that so when one of them says, yeah, that’s one of my favorite songs and you did good. It really counts for something. Then, when someone outside the your peer group offers encouragement, it’s a little different. It’s humbling. And, it makes me very grateful that someone took the time to share with me that what I was doing made them happy. That all by itself is an incredible gift. It also makes me think that even though, there are lots of times I’m not sure of what I’m doing, I must be doing something right. Or at least I’m on the right track. And it makes me want to practice more and learn more and try to do even better, every time I get up there.

And now I have just one week before I get to do it again. As you might guess, I’ll be doing lots of practicing. I don’t know if I’ll have another new song ready. I’m not expecting it. But I wasn’t expecting to pick up ‘Rock Me Baby’ for this one either. I do have new video. One is a new one, ‘Rock Me Baby’. The rest are songs I sang last time. I’m still going to upload them. There are a couple that I think show some improvement in either my singing or playing. I’m going to try to get those up on the YouTube channel in the next day or two so watch for them. Or subscribe to the channel. You’ll get updates when I post something new. For now, I’ve included some still shots from this most recent jam.

I’m off to practice. I can’t wait for the next one.

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