Awhile back I posted some background info about the writing research I did for the tune "Maelcum's Soul". I finally got around to uploading my demo over the weekend. After uploading the tune, the strangest thing happened; a very rare picture of Maelcum Soul turned up on a historic photos website. I'm surprised nobody from the John Waters inner circle snatched this thing up .It was only $9 so I bought it, and am anxiously awaiting the shipment. Perhaps this is a gift from "a witch from another world" for writing this tune. I don't know, but it's a very cool photo. Since I will own the photo, I'm considering using it for sleeve artwork should I release "Maelcum's Soul" as a vinyl single. Stay tuned.
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I went to The Ottobar last night to see hardcore punk supergroup Off! . Keith Morris and company are truly keeping the spirit of punk alive in 2014. I bought their two most recent albums at last nights show. These records could have easily been made in 1980, but have a sound that is still fresh. Hung out with former Del Tigers bandmate Brandon Welch and former Red Die #9 vocalist Larry Hirsch; a great time was had by all.
Reply
So Wednesday night I scored an Epi LP Jr. off Craigslist for only $50.00 from some stoner, hippie kid Doors fan. The guitar still smells like incense !
It was pretty filthy too, and I had to glue the nut back on before stringing it. All in all a pretty good deal though. It's not the typical crappy Epiphone Junior in the starter packs that you normally see, with that ugly humbucker. It's a '57 reissue, but not the more recent Chinese one with the set neck, I believe it's late 90's, and I do know this one is Korean. It still has Gibson on the truss rod cover, and I know the more recent ones don't have that. Just need to pick up a case or gig bag for it. Will look around for a cheap one this weekend.
Reply
For at least the past ten years now, I've been exclusively recording at home. I love it, there is so much freedom. This past weekend I had an experience that intensified my love for home recording, and I can safely say, for any of my own, personal musical projects, I will never spend another dime in a commercial recording studio ; I will only upgrade my own home gear, and do it myself
I was invited to contribute bass and guitar tracks on a friends recording session, at a studio where I've done a lot of work in the past, and always loved it there. But it's been awhile, and from other friends in the music scene, I heard rumors that this place had "changed" since the last time I did anything there (2006). They stated they no longer will patronize this establishment for reasons I'll get to shortly.
For a very simple tune, that was well rehearsed, we were in the studio for an awful long, expensive (for my friend...not me) time. Two of the people on this session were new to recording in a pro environment, but to their credit, they did well. Regardless, I felt we did a ridiculous amount of takes, that were nitpicked by the engineer, just to prolong a session , and make more money in a sagging economy. It's really disheartening to see this happen in a place I long respected. I also felt stifled, like I was being asked to play (by the engineer) in a robotic manner that was unnecessary.
Now let's lay some tracks at home this weekend, shall we ? I own the equipment and the time is free.
Reply
Last night I saw Johnny Marr’s performance at The Rams Head Live in Baltimore. Excellent show, extremely tight band, however the PA volume was through the roof ! I’ve been to metal shows that were not this loud. It wasn’t just me thinking the volume was insane, I heard other people commenting the same at the end of the night. The first 4 or 5 songs were especially loud, then the volume got much more comfortable for the most part through the rest of the evening.
Johnny’s 90 minute set was of course heavily built around his latest solo album, The Messenger. He did quite a few Smiths numbers, including, “Panic”, “Bigmouth Strikes Again”, “How Soon Is Now”, and “ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” . He covered “I Fought The Law”, Clash style, as one of the encore numbers.
Equipment wise, Johnny stuck to playing Fender Jaguars (through Fender amps) all night, his axe of choice since his stint in Modest Mouse, while the second guitarist played Les Paul’s exclusively through a Marshall half stack. The bassist played a Fender Precision through one of the new 300 watt Super Bassman amps.
Opening the show was Boston female guitarist vocalist/singer-songwriter Meredith Sheldon, who was backed by Johnny’s son Nile on guitar, who looks like a taller, long haired version of Johnny . From a picture on Facebook, it appears Nile and Meredith are dating (she’s a little mod girl cutie). Nile also roadies for Johnny; he checked guitar and bass tunings throughout the night.
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So last week I got the inspiration to start writing a tune about Maelcum Soul, who was sort of an iconic figure in the mid 60’s underground art scene in downtown Baltimore , as well as an actress in two of John Waters’ early short films, The Roman Candles, and Eat Your Makeup
In this short documentary, it is said that she was known to refer to herself as “a witch from another world” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgg7EYiOPsw . I believe the witch part, being that I am one myself. The fact that she is from Czech/Bohemian ancestry also leads me to believe she may have practiced a form of hereditary witchcraft that I’m very familiar with as well. Possibly the appeal she had and what drew these people to her may have been a glamour spell perhaps ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamour_(spell)
I learned that she is buried in Bohemian National Cemetary, which is not far from my house, so I decided to visit the grave this past Saturday morning, hoping to channel some spirit energy to help me with this songwriting project. I pulled up to the cemetery, got out of the car, and as I walked further into the graveyard I got a really creepy vibe, way beyond what you would normally experience in the average cemetery. Although I read the location of the grave on the web, I saw no map, or key that would assist in locating it. I walked around a little, and felt like I was drawn to a certain location. I knew the stone was on the ground as opposed to a big head stone (though now there is a new looking, larger one with both her and the Mother’s name on it, with her as Maelcum (nickname) in addition to the small one that says Patricia Ann Soul on the ground, which I saw later). Many of the stones on the ground were covered by dried out mown grass. I got down and brushed the grass away from a couple stones in the area where I was and on the third try (magical number)……there it was.
I knelt there a few minutes with my hands on the stone, and asked for some inspiration in telling her story through a song. When I got up and started walking back towards the car I felt a tingling in my fingers where they touched the stone. Definitely this was a paranormal experience. Now to finish the song.
Reply
I rode my Yamaha scooter down to Sowebo on Sunday around 3:00. I got there early, considerring the only bands I really came for were on the Arlington Ave, Marble Bar Redux stage. My beer drinking was going to be limited because I was on a bike, but hey an easy parking space is a good tradeoff. There was a guy selling $2 Natty Bohs at Cockey's in their yard. Whenever somebody bought a beer there, the security dickhead in the street would hassle them if they attempted to leave the yard. A Budweiser truck parked in fron of this place was apparently the only official beer seller for Sowebo. So if you had something other than a Bud cup you got hassled. There used to be more freedom at this festival. When more bars were open in theneigborhood, you could go in any one, get a brew and walk out into the festival. The owner of Cockey's eventually got in a shouting watch with security, and police arrived. Apparently he didn'y pay off the appropriate people to be allowed to sell, other tahnon his own premises. This sucks; Sowebo was the last true "free festival" in townwhere you were leat likely to get hassled by the man for anything.
More on the festival later.
Reply
You can't tell me there isn't good new music out there. Recently I was turned onto two very exciting young artists via Towson University's WTMD radio. One morning on the way to work I heard a very authentic 60's garage track that I swore was on a Pebbles Volume, but no, it's a group from L.A. in their mid 20's called Allah-Las. I was immeditaely compelled to find out more about this group. It turns out that they all met while working in a record store, and are true disciples of 60's garage. Their brand of garage is a little different from what you mainly here in that genre, in that it's not of the fuzz tone variety, but mainly clean, reverby guitar, with both a folk and surf element;The Byrds, and Love on the Forever Changes LP both come to mind. The principal lead singer mostly plays acoustic guitar (from live shows I've watched on YouTube, he uses a red Strat on one number where he plays lead), while the other, lead guitarist plays a rare Murph Squire 12 string on probably 70% of the material, and switches to a Fender Jaguar the rest of the time. Only the final track on their debut album features an actual fuzz tone solo. While some naysayers point out that their tunes have a certain sameness about them, their overall vibe is still contagious.
I learned that Allah-Las were on a label started by a guy named Nick Waterhouse, another guy in his mid 20's with a penchant for the past. I picked up Nick's debut album as well. It's different from Allah-Las in the sense that the musical period and style he's embraced is late 50's to early 60's rock 'n roll, R&B, and soul. Waterhouse is primarily a guitarist/vocalist whose look is slightly reminiscent of a young Elvis Costello. He occasionally plays some keys as well, and his band features saxophone and female backing vocals prominently. Ray Charles instantly comes to mind when listening to his tunes.Waterhouse played organ on one track, as well as produced Allah-Las debut. This guy really knows how to make a new record that sounds 50 years old !
Both artists have multiple live videos on YouTube,some full length sets, and can be heard on Spotify. Be sure to check them both out.
Reply
So every practice I think to myself, damn I need a clean boost as part of my pedal setup. Well I finally did something about it. I went to Guitar Center last Friday and they had a used Electro Harmonix, Nano Series Linear Power Booster for only $19.99 !
This thing is awesome and I don't know why I didn't get one years ago. Although all it really does is boost your volume, when you think about, there are just so many situations where you need that little boost, and don't want to add additional color or distortion (well it will overdrive the signal some) to your sound.
When you are playing any solo, it's just what you need to boost your level in the mix. If you play a Tele, you know that if you use stock pickups, there WILL be a huge disparity between the volume if you want to use the neck pickup. Just kick this thing on, and problem solved.
Of course if you do crank the thing at 12:00 or more, it becomes an overdrive. I generally keep the level around 9:00 for my purposes. It's also very responsive to your playing, similar to a Tubescreamer. If you kick it on when your overdrive pedal is turned on, you get a big overdriven sound. Because of that, I was able to eleiminate a second distortion unit I was using for that purpose. I wound up swapping that for an analog delay, and made some cash in the deal as well.
Reply
Damn I love the offsets ! Fender offset waist style guitars that is. I just picked up one of the new Squier Vintage Modified Special Jazzmaster guitars in a gear trade a week ago, and it's great ! Some of the Jazzmaster purists don't like this axe, but I beg to differ. Seems like their beefs are 1) it's a hardtail 2) it's got a Strat style output jack 3) it has a maple neck 4) It has stacked volume and tone controls, like a '62 Jazz Bass 5) the bridge is a Danelectro like, 3 point bridge, but does have adjustable, individual saddles for intonation. I believe all of the above are improvements actually. I hate whammy bars, and never put the bar on my Strat. The bridge seems very stable, and the guitar stays in tune really well. The finish is beautiful (I have the butterscotch one). The maple neck plays like a dream. Maybe the only change I would make is; the tone controls have these "notches" rather than a free flowing turn. It's nothing that's bad or unworkable, just a little weird. But the bottom line is, this guitar has a great tone, very unique sound that you can't get from a Strat or Tele. It has elements of those sounds, but with a bottom end those guitars can't touch.
Reply
The Bagworms / Blog
Maelcum's Soul
Awhile back I posted some background info about the writing research I did for the tune "Maelcum's Soul". I finally got around to uploading my demo over the weekend. After uploading the tune, the strangest thing happened; a very rare picture of Maelcum Soul turned up on a historic photos website. I'm surprised nobody from the John Waters inner circle snatched this thing up .It was only $9 so I bought it, and am anxiously awaiting the shipment. Perhaps this is a gift from "a witch from another world" for writing this tune. I don't know, but it's a very cool photo. Since I will own the photo, I'm considering using it for sleeve artwork should I release "Maelcum's Soul" as a vinyl single. Stay tuned.
Reply
Off! Keeping Real Punk Rock Alive
I went to The Ottobar last night to see hardcore punk supergroup Off! . Keith Morris and company are truly keeping the spirit of punk alive in 2014. I bought their two most recent albums at last nights show. These records could have easily been made in 1980, but have a sound that is still fresh. Hung out with former Del Tigers bandmate Brandon Welch and former Red Die #9 vocalist Larry Hirsch; a great time was had by all.
Reply
Epiphone '57 Les Paul Jr . P-90 Reissue
So Wednesday night I scored an Epi LP Jr. off Craigslist for only $50.00 from some stoner, hippie kid Doors fan. The guitar still smells like incense ! It was pretty filthy too, and I had to glue the nut back on before stringing it. All in all a pretty good deal though. It's not the typical crappy Epiphone Junior in the starter packs that you normally see, with that ugly humbucker. It's a '57 reissue, but not the more recent Chinese one with the set neck, I believe it's late 90's, and I do know this one is Korean. It still has Gibson on the truss rod cover, and I know the more recent ones don't have that. Just need to pick up a case or gig bag for it. Will look around for a cheap one this weekend.
Reply
When Things Outlive Their Usefullness
For at least the past ten years now, I've been exclusively recording at home. I love it, there is so much freedom. This past weekend I had an experience that intensified my love for home recording, and I can safely say, for any of my own, personal musical projects, I will never spend another dime in a commercial recording studio ; I will only upgrade my own home gear, and do it myself
I was invited to contribute bass and guitar tracks on a friends recording session, at a studio where I've done a lot of work in the past, and always loved it there. But it's been awhile, and from other friends in the music scene, I heard rumors that this place had "changed" since the last time I did anything there (2006). They stated they no longer will patronize this establishment for reasons I'll get to shortly.
For a very simple tune, that was well rehearsed, we were in the studio for an awful long, expensive (for my friend...not me) time. Two of the people on this session were new to recording in a pro environment, but to their credit, they did well. Regardless, I felt we did a ridiculous amount of takes, that were nitpicked by the engineer, just to prolong a session , and make more money in a sagging economy. It's really disheartening to see this happen in a place I long respected. I also felt stifled, like I was being asked to play (by the engineer) in a robotic manner that was unnecessary.
Now let's lay some tracks at home this weekend, shall we ? I own the equipment and the time is free.
Reply
Johnny Marr 11/17 at Rams Head Live
Last night I saw Johnny Marr’s performance at The Rams Head Live in Baltimore. Excellent show, extremely tight band, however the PA volume was through the roof ! I’ve been to metal shows that were not this loud. It wasn’t just me thinking the volume was insane, I heard other people commenting the same at the end of the night. The first 4 or 5 songs were especially loud, then the volume got much more comfortable for the most part through the rest of the evening. Johnny’s 90 minute set was of course heavily built around his latest solo album, The Messenger. He did quite a few Smiths numbers, including, “Panic”, “Bigmouth Strikes Again”, “How Soon Is Now”, and “ There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” . He covered “I Fought The Law”, Clash style, as one of the encore numbers. Equipment wise, Johnny stuck to playing Fender Jaguars (through Fender amps) all night, his axe of choice since his stint in Modest Mouse, while the second guitarist played Les Paul’s exclusively through a Marshall half stack. The bassist played a Fender Precision through one of the new 300 watt Super Bassman amps. Opening the show was Boston female guitarist vocalist/singer-songwriter Meredith Sheldon, who was backed by Johnny’s son Nile on guitar, who looks like a taller, long haired version of Johnny . From a picture on Facebook, it appears Nile and Meredith are dating (she’s a little mod girl cutie). Nile also roadies for Johnny; he checked guitar and bass tunings throughout the night.
Reply
Paranormal Writing Research
So last week I got the inspiration to start writing a tune about Maelcum Soul, who was sort of an iconic figure in the mid 60’s underground art scene in downtown Baltimore , as well as an actress in two of John Waters’ early short films, The Roman Candles, and Eat Your Makeup
In this short documentary, it is said that she was known to refer to herself as “a witch from another world” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dgg7EYiOPsw . I believe the witch part, being that I am one myself. The fact that she is from Czech/Bohemian ancestry also leads me to believe she may have practiced a form of hereditary witchcraft that I’m very familiar with as well. Possibly the appeal she had and what drew these people to her may have been a glamour spell perhaps ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glamour_(spell)
I learned that she is buried in Bohemian National Cemetary, which is not far from my house, so I decided to visit the grave this past Saturday morning, hoping to channel some spirit energy to help me with this songwriting project. I pulled up to the cemetery, got out of the car, and as I walked further into the graveyard I got a really creepy vibe, way beyond what you would normally experience in the average cemetery. Although I read the location of the grave on the web, I saw no map, or key that would assist in locating it. I walked around a little, and felt like I was drawn to a certain location. I knew the stone was on the ground as opposed to a big head stone (though now there is a new looking, larger one with both her and the Mother’s name on it, with her as Maelcum (nickname) in addition to the small one that says Patricia Ann Soul on the ground, which I saw later). Many of the stones on the ground were covered by dried out mown grass. I got down and brushed the grass away from a couple stones in the area where I was and on the third try (magical number)……there it was.
I knelt there a few minutes with my hands on the stone, and asked for some inspiration in telling her story through a song. When I got up and started walking back towards the car I felt a tingling in my fingers where they touched the stone. Definitely this was a paranormal experience. Now to finish the song.
Reply
Reflections On This Year's Sowebo Festival
I rode my Yamaha scooter down to Sowebo on Sunday around 3:00. I got there early, considerring the only bands I really came for were on the Arlington Ave, Marble Bar Redux stage. My beer drinking was going to be limited because I was on a bike, but hey an easy parking space is a good tradeoff. There was a guy selling $2 Natty Bohs at Cockey's in their yard. Whenever somebody bought a beer there, the security dickhead in the street would hassle them if they attempted to leave the yard. A Budweiser truck parked in fron of this place was apparently the only official beer seller for Sowebo. So if you had something other than a Bud cup you got hassled. There used to be more freedom at this festival. When more bars were open in theneigborhood, you could go in any one, get a brew and walk out into the festival. The owner of Cockey's eventually got in a shouting watch with security, and police arrived. Apparently he didn'y pay off the appropriate people to be allowed to sell, other tahnon his own premises. This sucks; Sowebo was the last true "free festival" in townwhere you were leat likely to get hassled by the man for anything. More on the festival later.
Reply
Some Exciting Young Artists Out Of L.A.
You can't tell me there isn't good new music out there. Recently I was turned onto two very exciting young artists via Towson University's WTMD radio. One morning on the way to work I heard a very authentic 60's garage track that I swore was on a Pebbles Volume, but no, it's a group from L.A. in their mid 20's called Allah-Las. I was immeditaely compelled to find out more about this group. It turns out that they all met while working in a record store, and are true disciples of 60's garage. Their brand of garage is a little different from what you mainly here in that genre, in that it's not of the fuzz tone variety, but mainly clean, reverby guitar, with both a folk and surf element;The Byrds, and Love on the Forever Changes LP both come to mind. The principal lead singer mostly plays acoustic guitar (from live shows I've watched on YouTube, he uses a red Strat on one number where he plays lead), while the other, lead guitarist plays a rare Murph Squire 12 string on probably 70% of the material, and switches to a Fender Jaguar the rest of the time. Only the final track on their debut album features an actual fuzz tone solo. While some naysayers point out that their tunes have a certain sameness about them, their overall vibe is still contagious. I learned that Allah-Las were on a label started by a guy named Nick Waterhouse, another guy in his mid 20's with a penchant for the past. I picked up Nick's debut album as well. It's different from Allah-Las in the sense that the musical period and style he's embraced is late 50's to early 60's rock 'n roll, R&B, and soul. Waterhouse is primarily a guitarist/vocalist whose look is slightly reminiscent of a young Elvis Costello. He occasionally plays some keys as well, and his band features saxophone and female backing vocals prominently. Ray Charles instantly comes to mind when listening to his tunes.Waterhouse played organ on one track, as well as produced Allah-Las debut. This guy really knows how to make a new record that sounds 50 years old ! Both artists have multiple live videos on YouTube,some full length sets, and can be heard on Spotify. Be sure to check them both out.
Reply
Clean Boost
So every practice I think to myself, damn I need a clean boost as part of my pedal setup. Well I finally did something about it. I went to Guitar Center last Friday and they had a used Electro Harmonix, Nano Series Linear Power Booster for only $19.99 ! This thing is awesome and I don't know why I didn't get one years ago. Although all it really does is boost your volume, when you think about, there are just so many situations where you need that little boost, and don't want to add additional color or distortion (well it will overdrive the signal some) to your sound. When you are playing any solo, it's just what you need to boost your level in the mix. If you play a Tele, you know that if you use stock pickups, there WILL be a huge disparity between the volume if you want to use the neck pickup. Just kick this thing on, and problem solved. Of course if you do crank the thing at 12:00 or more, it becomes an overdrive. I generally keep the level around 9:00 for my purposes. It's also very responsive to your playing, similar to a Tubescreamer. If you kick it on when your overdrive pedal is turned on, you get a big overdriven sound. Because of that, I was able to eleiminate a second distortion unit I was using for that purpose. I wound up swapping that for an analog delay, and made some cash in the deal as well.
Reply
Offset Fever !
Damn I love the offsets ! Fender offset waist style guitars that is. I just picked up one of the new Squier Vintage Modified Special Jazzmaster guitars in a gear trade a week ago, and it's great ! Some of the Jazzmaster purists don't like this axe, but I beg to differ. Seems like their beefs are 1) it's a hardtail 2) it's got a Strat style output jack 3) it has a maple neck 4) It has stacked volume and tone controls, like a '62 Jazz Bass 5) the bridge is a Danelectro like, 3 point bridge, but does have adjustable, individual saddles for intonation. I believe all of the above are improvements actually. I hate whammy bars, and never put the bar on my Strat. The bridge seems very stable, and the guitar stays in tune really well. The finish is beautiful (I have the butterscotch one). The maple neck plays like a dream. Maybe the only change I would make is; the tone controls have these "notches" rather than a free flowing turn. It's nothing that's bad or unworkable, just a little weird. But the bottom line is, this guitar has a great tone, very unique sound that you can't get from a Strat or Tele. It has elements of those sounds, but with a bottom end those guitars can't touch.
Reply