It's Been a Long Time...

Saturday night last marked both a beginning and a continuation. I have music for a long time; almost 40 years. I still have the first snare drum that my parents gave me when I was 10. But most of my musical career has been spent behind the drums. Lately I have been stepping up with my guitar and harmonicas to play my little folkish songs for people. But Saturday was different, for the first time I stepped up in front of a rock band and sang. Holy shit was that fun!

I had played drums with these guys for a long time, Steve, Jim, and I have a long history of being really loud. But my body has been rebelling against the constant pounding that I put it through when I play drums. I am arguably the loudest damn drummer you have ever heard. Of course now I have shoulder problems and nerve damage to the ball of my right foot which makes it pretty numb. So I decided to give up the drums (see earlier post).

But I still love to sing those old rock and roll songs.

So with harmonicas in tow, I mounted the floor (there was no stage) and sang my ass off for an hour with these guys. Yes, we are old. Yes, the songs are old. But we had a great time and the people around us seemed to be enjoying it as well.

So enter phase two of the musical life for me: singer/songwriter/front guy.

Wish me luck.

The Antique Sandwich Company

Last night I made the trip north to Tacoma to attend the open mic at the Antique Sandwich Company. I left a little early because I had never been there before and I didn’t know if I would have trouble finding the place. I didn’t mind the long drive (about an hour) because it was 90 degrees out yesterday and my car, of course, has air conditioning.

I found the place pretty easily. It is in the northern part of Tacoma just south of Point Defiance park. It is yet another hippie type shop here in the northwest and suited me just fine. I was early, so I ordered a sandwich (after all it is a sandwich shop and I figured I’d better) and sat to enjoy the ambience. The place had merchandise from Traditions Fair Trade in Olympia for sale and interesting international pieces of art strewn about. I felt quite at home.

My sandwich came, I ordered a mushroom and cheese and was pleasantly surprised. I expected, for some reason, a cold sandwich but it came to the table nice and warm with melty cheese, mushrooms, sprouts, tomatoes and a couple other tasty veggies. It reminded me that, yes, I could become a vegetarian again.

I finished my meal and watched as a gentleman began to set up the stage (he first had to remove all the toys that were there for kids that came in during the day). When he was somewhat settled in his preparation, I approached him and told him that I was a first-timer and asked him what the etiquette was. He informed me that he was the MC/announcer and that the show was broadcast live on a local PBS radio station (which I already knew), that tonight everyone would get two songs (about eight minutes) and directed me to the table where folks sign up.

Most open mic nights are a “first come, first serve” system. This one was not. I filled out the card that I was given and told that the order was set by the MC/announcer guy. After filling out my card, I sat and waited for a while until the MC/announcer guy finished making the order and placed his clip-board out on the table so that folks could find themselves in the order. I went over and checked the list; I was number 19. Hmmm... let me see... starts at seven... eight minutes each... nine times eight is seventy-two plus ten times eight, eighty... 152 minutes... divide by 60... two hours and thirty-two minutes... Shit. So much for an early evening.

I listened through some good performers and some not so good performers. One guy sang a song about D.B. Cooper which arguably has the worst lyrics ever written. I also made an observation about my musical history. When I was a young adult my angst came out in Rock & Roll, in my thirties it was the blues, now that I am middle aged it is folk music. I made this observation because the performers on the stage were showing this same tendancy. Interesting.

When it was my turn, I quickly got on stage and played my songs. First I played Even Memories are Gone and then Leaves. The linked songs are from a live show with Eric Miller accompanying me. The set went very well. When I was finished a couple of folks came up to me and said that next time I’ll probably get an earlier spot so that more people can hear me (the place had thinned out some in the two and a half hours I waited to go on). Overall it was a pleasant experience that I will probably repeat.

Letting Go

So it has been my intent of late to simplify my life. This means eliminating all of the things that I own that serve only to clutter my life. Those things that we all own that we own simply from habit of owning them.

Last night I was driving to rehearsal with this band that I have little hope for. I am playing drums in this band and playing drums is not something that I particularly want to do anymore. I made a living as a drummer for almost twenty years and now my body is tired of it. And my mind is tired of the same old music that this band is playing. In short, I do not want to play the same music I’ve been playing for the last 30 years and I do not want to put the effort into practicing the drums in order to play something new. I don’t really want to play drums anymore. I do it because other people want me to and it is habit.

Anyway, like I was saying, I was driving to rehearsal with drums in the car. I had drums already set up at the rehearsal site but I was going to switch some stuff around. I have the equivalent of two sets of drums. Depending on where I’m playing, I choose what to use. When I got to the practice place, the guitar players house, and began to unload, a woman approached me and said that she had seen me drive up with drums in my car and wanted to ask me a question. She wanted to ask me if I knew where she could find a used set of drums for her son. He was seventeen and had been playing the snare drum in band at school for some years and she decided maybe it was time for him to have a set.

I looked at the lady and thought for about 2 seconds and said “I have a set I’ll sell you and I’ll give you a real good price. No cymbals, no throne but it is a name brand set, a little old but in pretty darn good shape. You can have it for 400 bucks.” She was a little dumbfounded and a little skeptical so I pointed to the drums in the car and said, “That’s them right there. A six piece set of Pearls, I have some cymbal stands in the trunk he can have too.” She decided to take my number and talk to her son and husband.

About a half an hour into rehearsal there was a knock on the door and there was the woman with son in tow and carrying $400 in cash. We went out to the car, I opened the doors and told him to take ‘em away. I went to the trunk and scavenged a couple of cymbal stands, a high-hat stand that needed a little repair, and a bass drum pedal. When the boy came back for the last pieces, I said “You know these drums have some history. They’ve played with The Kingsmen, The Drifters, a couple of shows with The Coasters, a show with Strawberry Alarm-clock, one with Freddie Fender. Bob Seeger used to come to hear those drums occasionally. They’ve been from Main to California and everywhere in between. You treat them well.”

I think his mom was more impressed than he was but that was not the point. I was letting go of the person that I used to be to make room for who I wanted to become. It was hard to do but I know it was the right thing to do.