Blog

Weekend Gigs

Last weekend we hit Summer Camp and jammed a bit for the hippies and revelers out there in the middle. Super fun, but I'm still a bit off my game for flying dates with G. Love. It's a lot more complicated that it used to be (mainly because the airlines won't take my full size bass - but that's another story.)

Anyhow, you see, the Chapman Folding Bass is exactly 49 lbs and if it's 51, like when I put my coil pickup in the case with it, it's overweight. So the pickup rides in my suitcase where, about an hour before the festival set, I realized it was, alas, back at the hotel! Lucky for me, Frankie was on the gig, and already had the drums sussed, so he jumped in the van and headed back to get it. It was sitting right there on top of my suitcase, (so I wouldn't forget it!) but the hotel was about a half hour away.

The time was tight, but he made it all the way and back as I paced and sweated behind the stage. I slid it on and it worked out great with the giant Ampeg rig I've been working with on outdoor shows. Whew! Rock and Roll - it felt great when we finally hit the stage and got the dust flying.

I'm hoping tomorrow night will go smoother, although it's an infinitely more complex gig - it's a live broadcast from a steam tugboat! It's funny, my musician "week" is being on tour, and these are the "fun" gigs- different every time, a little vacation from the every-day tour gig, which are always different, but have their own monotony.

But yea, this is the inaugural broadcast of the Steam Radio Syndicate (KBOO Friday May 30th, 8pm.) My buddy Galen invited my trio to perform a couple pieces for it, and then I was recruited to play in the small orchestra that he has for these things. I actually have to finish up this post and get to work on reading out the charts - my sight-reading isn't what it should be for this type of gig, so I'll just memorize the parts that are too tricky to read. It'll work out great for the charts I have, but apparently there's two more pieces being written. It would be quite out of the ordinary if something like this wasn't raft with last-minute preparations including who's playing what and writing bits.

It's like an old-time radio show, with stories, poems, songs, sound effects, it's pretty cool. Galen also produces live performances for film, some of which have been pretty impressive. The theme is the Great American Myth and there's a rather nautical angle, with Fisher Poets and well, it'll be broadcast from a ship in the Willamette River! Be sure to listen if you're in the Portland area, it should probably be streaming and archived too, you know how they do.

Home, waiting for the sun to break

Comments