Excited and terrified at the same time

Funny how things happen. After less than a month living in Florida, I was invited to play with a highly successful musical venture when it covers my favorite album by my favorite band.

My last live gigs were on Oct. 25, when I finished up my tenure with both the Usual Suspects and Trademark with two shows on the same day before I moved south 1,000 miles from the D.C. area.

And now, Classic Albums Live is having me on board in two weeks when they perform Led Zeppelin's LP Houses of the Holy, song-for-song, note-for-note, start to finish (plus some encores) over six nights in Hollywood, Florida!

How I stumbled across this is worthy of mention. I went to see Classic Albums Live tackle Zep's self-titled debut on Nov. 6, and I wrote my assessment of it over on my other site, www.LedZeppelinNews.com, where it was noticed a few days later by the singer. He commented on my blog:

"it is our sincere pleasure to reproduce those incredible songs as they were recorded. nobody in the band minds not improvising. it's not our place. we didn't write it. we will leave the improvising to Jimmy. There aren't a lot of people out there who can replicate the studio solos note for note. I am honored to perform with players who have the ability."

Then he contacted me privately and asked what instrument I play. He could surmise from some comments in my written review that I must be a musician with a good ear and some chops. After I told him I play keyboard, he asked if I would be comfortable sitting in with them when they play Houses of the Holy at the same place in Hollywood, Fla., on Dec. 11-13 and 18-20. And of course, I jumped at the opportunity and told him I would start studying the album right away. Nice assignment.

I'm both excited and terrified at the same time because of how difficult and intricate it is to play an album with meticulous attention to detail. I just saw them pull off the Beatles' White Album last night, and that eight-and-a-half-minute soundscape that's normally my least favorite cut on either disc was the best one performed live. So I don't know whether I should be encouraged by the way they pulled it off or intimidated.

The problem runs deep. Led Zeppelin liked to jam, and so do I. Led Zeppelin never played a song the same way twice, so why should anyone covering them? That's what makes Zep music so amazing, in my opinion, its malleability! And this rules my mindset. I've never been one to memorize any instrument's "part" exactly as is and play it back verbatim. But that's what the Classic Albums Live format dictates its onstage musicians will do.

I don't want to screw this up. So far, I'm sounding good in rehearsals on my own, and I have a great MIDI console lent to me to practice with and for use at the show. And I'm looking forward our first rehearsal, which is the soundcheck on the day of the first show. That's when I'll really know how well I'm playing. I'll find out if I measure up to my bandmates that day, and they'll find out too.

The current Beatles White Album series marks the Classic Albums Live debut of this one bassist. He did great when I saw him last night. Good for him! That'll be me pretty soon. If I can impress my peers and the audience over the two weeks of these Houses of the Holy shows, who knows where or what I'll be playing next! So I just have to pull this off.

Houses of the Holy should be a good starter for me: Now that I've seen how seamlessly "Revolution 9" can be duplicated live, "The Rain Song" and "No Quarter" seem like a cinch.

Update: Just minutes after posting this, I found an interview with Classic Albums Live founder Craig Martin that makes me feel more comfortable with this mission. The key paragraph for me is the one that says this:

I'll tell you one thing about the series that's really cool, and that's a lot of the players are in their 30s and 40s or even late 20s, some of these cats. And you know, the music business has changed so much, and a lot of them are coming face-to-face with the reality that their dream of making it, or even carving out a living, is getting tougher and the door is slamming – if not closed already. Classic Albums Live allows these guys a place to come and flourish and meet their full potential and keep on challenging themselves and teaching themselves. We keep a really tight crew of musicians that we get involved with here. We're not into egos or anything. It's a very selfless thing we do, and we take it very seriously. This music is sacred to people. When we boast note-for-note, cut-for-cut, we better be able to back that up, because you know this is like church for some people, and we're carrying the gospel. So these musicians come and they are able to have a career again. I'm able to offer them work, decent venues for decent pay, and it's really rewarding that way.

Yay.