READIN

Thursday, June 10th, 2004

Here is a new (to me) lyrics/chords site that I think will prove very useful: P.J.'s Guitar Chords Tabs and Song Lyrics Site -- I think his chords for The Night They Tore Old Dixie Down are spot on and he has lots of other interesting stuff too. And speaking of such things: RUKind.com looks promising too.

posted afternoon of June 10th, 2004: 2 responses
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Friday, June 25th, 2004

🦋 Song idea

Here is a song I think Bob and I could play really well, with Janis on bass and backing vocals -- Take a Walk on the Wild Side. Update: I talked to Bob on the phone this evening and he was pretty enthusiastic about the idea too.

posted afternoon of June 25th, 2004: Respond

Monday, October 11th, 2004

We ate the rest of the pumpkin pie at the guitar jam yesterday, everyone liked it, especially Bob. I mentioned The Plot Against America to Janis, who grew up in Newark; turns out she grew up in the Weequahic section, and her mother was in high school with Philip Roth! (And to answer a question that I had while reading the book, it's pronounced "WEEK-wa'ək".)

posted morning of October 11th, 2004: Respond
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Wednesday, October 27th, 2004

🦋 Flowin' by

I started writing a song tonight (well technically last night I guess, the chord progression occurred to me last night and Ellen had an idea for some words tonight, which I fleshed out to a verse):

A           E7    F           A
What do you know, what do you care
A           E7    F           A
What do you know, what do you care
D           D7                  E                F
Last time I called you you were talkin bout your father
        E               F               D               D7
And you wouldn't answer straight when I asked about the water
        A
Flowin' by.

Needs more words and perhaps more sensible words but the rhythm of it is very nice.

Update: 2nd Verse

What do you know, what do you care
What do you know, what do you care
Last time I saw you you were thinkin bout tomorrow
And you wouldn't even listen when I asked about the sorrow
In your eye.

Update: Here is a bridge, and something like a 3rd Verse

Bridge:
D  D7  C  C9  F  E  A

What do you know, what do you care
What do you know, what do you care
I'm always askin you how come you can't forgive her 
But you won't tell me nothin, always starin at the river
Flowin by.

posted evening of October 27th, 2004: Respond
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Saturday, December 25th, 2004

🦋 Singing Along

Sylvia has gotten interested in singing along, it seems to me like all of a sudden though probably in reality, it is something that has happened gradually. Some stuff she is singing lately -- "I've been lighting all the candles" (scroll down), a Hanukkah ditty sung to the tune of "I've been working on the railroad" which she learned at school; "Little Birdie" and "Weary day", both learned from a folk music CD that we play in the car a lot; "Happy Birthday", she sings a lot regardless of whether there is a party currently in progress. While she was taking a bath this morning with Ellen, I heard her singing "Jackamo fee-no ai nané, Jackamo fee nané" -- the chorus of "Iko Iko", which I've been playing a lot on guitar since I got interested in it recently.

posted evening of December 25th, 2004: Respond
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Monday, June 13th, 2005

🦋 Wow, look at this!

I was googling around today and thought I would look for the sentence "I got a girl long and tall, sweet as she could be", which I believe is the first line of a Big Bill Broonzy song I was listening to last night and enjoying. No results... but!!! "long and tall" + "sweet as she could be" brings up only one result, and it is Michael Taft's Pre-War Blues Lyrics Concordance!!! This is huge! I haven't even begun looking at it yet but I'm completely psyched that such a thing should exist and be online.

Update: And here is a link to the front page of the concordance.

posted morning of June 13th, 2005: Respond
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Friday, November 23rd, 2007

🦋 Wow, my guitar still works!

After we watched The Red Balloon today, we all went over to Hannah's apartment for us to get acquainted and try playing a few songs together. It went really well, I must say -- I was a little surprised to find out she wanted me to play guitar rather than violin (or "as well as" violin, but primarily guitar), but when I picked up her guitar it felt very comfortable and famliar. The songs she was thinking about playing sound pretty easy to get hold of; we played The Cowboy Junkies' "Misguided Angel" and then I played fiddle along with a recording of her own song "Smile to Pretend" (I might be misremembering the title -- a lovely song it was.) Very satisfying -- when I got home I took out my guitar for what must be the first time in a year or so and though it needs new strings, I was getting some pretty decent sound out of it.

posted evening of November 23rd, 2007: Respond
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Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

🦋 Gigging

If you're around Maplewood next Friday, the 14th, and would like to hear me playing guitar and fiddle behind Hannah Reimann, come to the bar formerly known as Here's to the Arts at 97 Baker St. (That's still the name painted in the window, but they have taken their sign down and I think there is a name change in the works) at 8 pm. I'm so excited! An actual gig!

posted evening of December 4th, 2007: Respond

Friday, December 14th, 2007

🦋 Tonight

The gig is tonight! I'm pretty excited and nervous. Hannah has been wonderful and encouraging throughout our brief acquaintance -- I hope I don't let her down! This will be the first time I have played in a bar other than at an open mic or jam. Looks like I'll be playing guitar on "Misguided Angel" (Cowboy Junkies), "River" (Mitchell, seasonally appropriate), "Can't Tear Myself Away" (Reimann, featuring horribly unfamiliar chord shapes, and that change throughout the song), and possibly one other song; and fiddle on "Smile to Pretend" (Reimann).

posted afternoon of December 14th, 2007: Respond

Saturday, December 15th, 2007

🦋 Gig Report

I am a better violinist than I am a guitarist -- not really surprising considering I have been playing violin much more than guitar over the past few years. At the show tonight, I felt like I played a really respectable fiddle on "Smile to Pretend" -- like the performance was pleasurable in the same way that listening to really good music is, like I was tight and in the groove. My guitar parts felt more like flailing and nerve-wracking. So I think I am going to work on my violin and let my guitar serve as an aid to writing chord charts for songs, more than a performance instrument. (It can be hard to figure out what the chords are, to tell to other musicians, when you're only playing a melody.)

Something I really appreciate about the work I did with Hannah for this gig, is her helping me to work out a violin part to "Smile to Pretend" -- the chart she wrote for me helped me to listen to her CD in a way of actually hearing what the violinist was playing and how I could adapt that to my own voice. I'm not used to listening to music this way but it is something I ought to do more of. A feature of this fiddle part was long baritone notes during the lyric, moving into fills between the lines -- this sounds really good.

After the show, the second act was Felt, whom I haven't seen in a year or so. They asked me to sit in on "Angel from Montgomery" -- I was really happy to have the evening end up with more fiddling and not have to think as much about the flaily guitar playing.

posted morning of December 15th, 2007: Respond

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