This Tuesday, I leave on a road trip that will put me far from home for the next four months. I'll be doing some sightseeing, some soul-searching, and writing a book whose manuscript will be due at the end of April. So over the next three months, while I'll be plowing through the southern part of the Central Time Zone and stopping by every city that is famous for a music scene, I'll also be writing a book.
Specifically, I will be combing through many years' worth of research and interviews to piece together a new book on Led Zeppelin that presents a fresh and holistic perspective on the band. Some of the book will comprise interviews that are so new, they haven't even been transcribed from audiotape to print form. I have a guy in southern Virginia who's going to be doing some of these transcriptions, and he'll be starting that work for me next week. Depending on how quickly he works, he may also conclude that work next week.
As for the writing, I'll be taking that on the road with me as I travel. There will be no shortage of things to see and do along the way that will inspire me to think crucially about what kinds of information should go into the book I'm writing. What is it about music that is most interesting to readers? It will be on my mind the whole time I'll be doing this traveling, watching bands play live, and talking with various musicians and their fans. The input I get from that will help immensely to ensure this book is a compelling read.
1/22/11
Downtown Church
Patty Griffin and I share a trait in that we've both recorded downtown churches. Hers was in Nashville, and producer Buddy Miller used it for her solo album Downtown Church.
My experience recording in a downtown church happened a few cold afternoons ago in Lancaster, Pa. It was the same house of worship where I worked weekends part of my way through college. And "work" meant getting to play the pipe organ three times a weekend, in front of 300 or more people at a time. Yeah, it's a very audible position.
Just went back to visit on Wednesday and played a few songs for a retired priest I remember from boyhood.
Steve Sauer - The Bells of St. Mary's
On the organ, I presented my rendition of "The Bells of St. Mary's," the once-popular heartwarmer associated with an eponymous movie from the '40s or so. Longstanding tradition mandated it be played exactly five minutes before every weekend Mass. Therefore, over my tenure as house organist, I estimate I played it roughly 936 times and played it precisely the same way each time, from rote memory. Even eight years later, I can still play it from rote memory and muscle memory exactly as I played it then.
This is the same church when I, then a high schooler, played the organ for the wedding of a local writer to none other than Colin Greenwood of Radiohead.
Anybody know where I can upload MP3s and embed them into a blog?
My experience recording in a downtown church happened a few cold afternoons ago in Lancaster, Pa. It was the same house of worship where I worked weekends part of my way through college. And "work" meant getting to play the pipe organ three times a weekend, in front of 300 or more people at a time. Yeah, it's a very audible position.
Just went back to visit on Wednesday and played a few songs for a retired priest I remember from boyhood.
Steve Sauer - The Bells of St. Mary's
On the organ, I presented my rendition of "The Bells of St. Mary's," the once-popular heartwarmer associated with an eponymous movie from the '40s or so. Longstanding tradition mandated it be played exactly five minutes before every weekend Mass. Therefore, over my tenure as house organist, I estimate I played it roughly 936 times and played it precisely the same way each time, from rote memory. Even eight years later, I can still play it from rote memory and muscle memory exactly as I played it then.
This is the same church when I, then a high schooler, played the organ for the wedding of a local writer to none other than Colin Greenwood of Radiohead.
Anybody know where I can upload MP3s and embed them into a blog?
1/19/11
1/7/11
Bube's Brewery open mic night, 1/6/11
Decided to check out the scene for this open mic night. Second one I've played at in the area, and I saw one of the same players I jammed with before. He's Ric Emery, a guitarist and instructor who's been driving home the point that he runs his own open mic night downtown and I should come out.
So I'm sitting here by myself, got here shortly after 9 and the band has just started up for the night. They're guitar, bass and drums, and they're available for anyone who wants them to play along. Good news for me, because I don't really care for playing and singing alone on a stage. Especially not when players of their caliber could be playing with me.
They do some jazzy and funky stuff that makes me want to jump up there and play keys right along with them. They sounded like Booker T. & the MGs -- only Booker T. was absent. Next up, they played a couple of classic rock tunes. I could tell they were watching and listening to each other, so it reinforced for me how much I wanted to get to join them.
Some singer/guitarists went up there when called and changed the mood to solo acoustic Beatles covers, couple of relaxed blues tunes, some originals that were easy to follow along with, then jam band material. When my turn came, I wanted to return to the original mood. That's pretty much why I still wanted to go up there. I used the setup time to talk to the guys about some song ideas I had. I wanted to start off with some funky stuff.
Namely, "Watermelon Man." On it, I played about five different keyboard sounds: acoustic piano, electric piano, and maybe three different organs. The vibe was good. The band knew all the different riffs. I arranged it, let the guitarist know when he should take a solo, when it was my turn, when it was the bassist's. I took a couple different solos.
It was pretty much the same deal for my second tune, "Cissy Strut," but I stuck to one organ sound. We really rocked out that instrumental. The guitarist was leading me into some really dissonant jazzy territory, and I followed right along behind him, creating some nice interplay. Another dude came up to get a good look at the band, and at the end he applauded and told us he recognized it as a Meters tune.
At this point, the drummer asked if I'd like to do something with some swing. Not my forte, and I wanted to do some singing, so I countered with "L.A. Woman." So this would be my singing debut with this crowd. I have sort of an arrangement I like to do: during the keyboard solo, throw in some familiar melodies with similar chord progressions. In the past, it's worked only with rehearsal in advance. I could tell with these dudes, all I had to do was fill them in on the spot. So they were right along for that one. I think it was probably nine minutes of greatness, hahaha.
That would have been a great one to go out on, but I suggested one more. I wanted to do "Glad," a Traffic instrumental. As I was thinking of it, I thought it was only three chords and would therefore be really easy for any of them to catch on in case they didn't know it. Not so! As I played it through, I realized it jumped around a lot and I didn't think it was working. So I pulled the plug mid-song and announced over the mic, "Tell you what, we're gonna change it up a little. You guys know this one?" And I led them off on "Badge," the Cream song that George Harrison played on. They knew that one! I wasn't sure about the lyrics, but I made some up. I don't think I ever got to the swans in the park though. But at least it worked out and we got some applause at the end.
Now Ric Emery is leading the guys through a medley of Allman Brothers Band numbers with a common key of A. This is a good jam. Glad to be here!
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