"Muse" - ings on Rock & Life

So, I got about an hour and a little bit into the Tom Petty DVD and it started skipping.  Now I've got to wait for a replacement to come in, which bums me out because I could definitely have finished up watching that tomorrow on my day off. I spent a good chunk of time this morning sitting with a guitar, just playing.  It feels like forever since I've actually gotten time to just play for a while.  It was a nice reintroduction, if you will, to playing.  Getting that chance, and then having tomorrow off will be a good run for the music. Some of the things I had hoped to get to late last week, 1) "Red House" 2) Teaching stuff 3) Practicing and the binder I now hope to get to, at least somewhat, tomorrow.  I'm expecting a great day of music on the first day of the new month.  There's much listening to do tomorrow as well.  The one record I especially want to check out is Another Fine Day by Golden Smog, one of my Booksale finds from a week ago....

Picked up the selftitled record by The White Stripes today.  That means all I'm missing in the Jack White canon is the live record by them and the second Dead Weather record. I also snagged Runnin' Down A Dream , the 4 hour long Tom Petty documentary by Peter Bogdonavich.  I've been looking at that for more than a year now.  I started watching it tonight when I got home from work.  It's amazingly cool so far, and I've just barely gotten through the early parts with Mudcrutch.  If it's that cool now, I can only imagine how much more fun it'll be as it continues. I sat with the electric while I watched the Petty doc.  This was helpful when, during the course of the film, they showed the guitarists hands during both "American Girl" and "Breakdown." Tomorrow I need to get serious about getting back into picking out resources and the like for teaching.  It's looking more and more like I'm going to be getting back into doing that ...

So, as expected, I got to take home some in-store plays tonight.  My only downfall in the process was forgetting to take home the new record by Of Monsters & Men.  Oh well, there's always next time.  Here's what I did end up with: 1) Anoushka Shankar - Traveller 2) Dar Williams - In The Time Of Gods 3) Jason Mraz - Love Is A Four Letter Word 4) Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream 5) Carole King - Legendary Demos 6) Dry The River - Shallow Bed Not a bad haul, if you ask me.  I was going to snag the new Train record as well, but as it turned out, our in-store copy only has 8 songs on it, so why bother taking something that isn't the whole record.  I'm still pondering snagging the single, but "Drive By" didn't click with me the way that some of their other songs have.  In my opinion, they will never reclaim the excellence they had in 2001 with Drops Of Jupiter , but hell, who can really expect that? Played for a few minutes this afternoon before work, bu...

So, I made it through about half of the Jack White today.  It's really good.  Very stylistically diverse.  It feels, in that regard, at least somewhat like a White Stripes record.  Can't wait to see how the rest of the album shakes out. Pulled the electric off of the stand today, twice in fact, and got interrupted each time it happened.  It was an odd day in that regard.  I felt like I got a few things started today when it came to the goals I set for myself yesterday, but nothing ever really kicked fully into gear.  I go in late tomorrow and work 'til 10, though, so I'm sure I can find a bit of time tomorrow morning to get some playing and some studying done. Also of note, we got new in-store plays in today.  Lots and lots off really good stuff, and considering that I close tomorrow and open on Sunday, I should have a healthy list of cool stuff to listen to tomorrow... as if I haven't had enough of that lately. I've really gotta get some of...

Let's see, where to begin today? Picked up the new issue of Guitar World at work today, along with Jack White's solo debut, Blunderbuss .  Can't wait to hear how the record compares to The White Stripes/Raconteurs/Dead Weather stuff.  I don't go in until 3 on Friday afternoon, so I might stay up late and check that out.  Otherwise, tomorrow morning will be the time for that. Had dinner with a friend tonight, and stopped by Half Price Books on the way back.  The only find that was musical in nature was Real Gone by Tom Waits.  I almost didn't get it, because I was worried I had it already.  I needn't have worried.  Waits has so much stuff out there.  I need to sit down and figure out what all I have by Waits and what I don't.  Almost picked up Evanescence's live DVD, too, but passed on that because I thought I had it already.  Turns out, I didn't have that either, and could have picked it up. I had hoped to get a chance to play a b...

SL sent me home with music for my drive tonight.  One record I'd heard before, own, and love (Seven Mary Three's American Standard ), and one record I hadn't heard by a band I'm coming around to slower than others have (Kings Of Leon's Aha Shake Heartbreak ).  The K.O.L. record is a lot of fun, although different in sound to their later records.  It shows growth, which is good for what was their second record. I didn't make it to the guitar shop up in Cherokee today.  It turned out that they were only open from 3-6 this afternoon, and we had plans during that time.  I'm hoping to get back up there in the next week or two, so maybe there's a chance for me to get there soon. Also of note musically today, I had a really great conversation regarding church music with a friend and colleague of SL's.  It's fun to think that at some point, possibly soon, that I'll be in a position to help out with that kind of stuff. It's been a busy few d...

I brought along Gravity Kills, Beth Orton, and Juliana Hatfield for the road trip today.  Didn't get to the Gravity Kills, but I enjoyed the other two records. I did , however, remember to bring along a guitar this morning, in part because I sat and played for a few minutes before hitting the road.  In that few minutes, I managed to stumble across a cool two chord progression that seems to be the jumping off point for something bigger.  I really wonder if I'm gearing up for a run of writing.  It seems like every time I pick up the guitar lately, at least something interesting falls out of it.  If I can find a way to marry the ideas that keep showing up with some study of theory and enough practice, I should be able to turn in something pretty cool musically that also lets me grow as a musician. On the dockett for tomorrow is stopping in at the guitar shop in Cherokee.  I know they're in the process of closing, so hopefully the shop is still ...

So, I stopped at the final day of the Planned Parenthood Book Sale this morning.  Everything was 75% off.  What that means is that each CD I took home (originally priced at $4 per disc ended up costing me $1 each. I wound up making quite the haul.  I took home 14 books and 8 CDs for less than $20.  Here's what I ended up with music-wise from the book sale: 1) Badmotorfinger - Soundgarden 2) Daybreaker - Beth Orton 3) Another Fine Day - Golden Smog 4) Gravity Kills (Selftitled) 5) Fear - Toad The Wet Sprocket 6) Rarities, B-Sides, & Other Stuff - Sarah McLachlan 7) Becoming What You Are - The Juliana Hatfield Three 8) Mirrorball - Sarah McLachlan Not bad pickups for a total of $8.  I'm planning on taking some, if not all, of them along with me for the roadtrip up to see SL tomorrow.  I'm thinking I'll take a guitar with me.  Not that I'll get much of a chance to play while I'll be up there, but I haven't had much of a chance to play ...

Picked up The Complete Mermaid Sessions today.  Somehow, when they said "box set," I was expecting the classic long box with spaces for each disc and a bigger booklet, much like the 30th Anniversary Edition of Born To Run .  It's not like that, though.  Instead, it came in cardboard packaging with all 4 discs having their own little pocket.  More economical that way, I guess.  Listening to the first disc as I type tonight.  I go in late tomorrow, and some part of me is debating watching the documentary that comes with the set tonight before I go to bed.  We'll see if that actually happens or not. I snagged one other thing tonight.  There was a book in the atrium at work for $3.98 called Evening's Empire . It's by a guy named Bill Flanagan, who works/worked in the entertainment industry for years, and has written novels on the side over the years, including a great read called A&R that came out in 2000.  I remember buying that book becau...

So, the one thing I wasn't expecting at work today was the one thing that came in: My copy of the complete Mermaid Avenue sessions by Wilco & Billy Bragg.  I'm more excited about this than I maybe should be, especially considering that I've already got the two discs that had previously made up Mermaid .  Granted, both copies that I have are burned copies, so having the actual things will be nice.  What really has me pumped up is the presence of the previously unreleased 3rd disc of songs, and the DVD with what is purported to be a full length documentary on the sessions.  I didn't end up buying it today, but I'm definitely picking it up tomorrow, so that I can spend tomorrow night and Monday morning wading through it. Didn't have much time to play today, as my work schedule ended up completely bizarre.  This bummed me out, not only for that reason, but also because it meant that I wasn't able to hit up Zzz Records here in town to support Record Store D...

I got my Federal Tax Refund today!  On a payday, no less!  So what did I do?  I splurged just a little bit.  I bought 3 CDs at work today. 1) Consolers Of The Lonely - The Raconteurs 2) White Blood Cells - The White Stripes and then I picked up a best of by The Band.  I realized after posting last night that, somehow, the only thing I had in my collection that had the band on it was Dylan's Basement Tapes . I had the other Raconteurs record in the CD player in the car on the way to work today, and there were so many influences in just the few tracks I heard on the way to work.  Lots of Beatles and Zeppelin comparisons would be fair, I think.  Can't wait to sit and listen to the second record.  I thought about picking up the second Dead Weather record as opposed to the White Stripes disc, but the price difference was $4, and I thought I'd be at least somewhat careful financially. I played a little bit of guitar before work today, too, t...

First, Dick Clark, and now Levon Helm.  Quite the sad week for us music fans.  I didn't get the chance today, but I'm planning on watching The Last Waltz tomorrow, in homage to Levon.  Here's the link to the NPR article: http://www.npr.org/blogs/therecord/2012/04/19/150878648/levon-helm-drummer-and-singer-in-the-band-dies?ps=mh_frhdl1 I toned down my expectations of getting through all of the verses on "Red House" today, and instead just tried to get through the acknowledged rough spots in the intro and the verses up to the guitar solo.  That, as it turned out, was something I was successful at today.  The rest of my day was a bit of a jumpy disaster, but that's of no concern here. I did a smattering of listening today, but not the long sit down session I was hoping for yesterday. Just a strange, strange day.  I am feeling pretty good about "Red House," though.  The intro, which I'm close to nailing down, and the solo are admittedly the t...

Today is a sad day for Rock & Roll.  Dick Clark, the man who brought the music to the kids of the 50's and 60's, and sparked generations of musical growth and upheaval, passed away today at the age of 82.  The influence that American Bandstand had on the rise of rock & roll cannot be understated.  I'd say more, but I'm honestly not sure it can be said any better than the article that appeared on NPR.com today, so here's the link for that: http://www.npr.org/2012/04/18/106086926/dick-clark-bandstand-host-dead-at-82 Somehow, anything other than this news feels hollow today, but rest assured that I got in at least a little bit of time with "Red House" both before work and after work today. It's tomorrow that I'm really excited about, though.  I've got the day off.  My first Thursday off in months, and there's nothing too serious on the schedule.  This means that I can spend as much of the day as I want to in lock-step on the Hend...

My plan for tonight's post is to clear up a few of the loose ends that have been hanging out there for the last couple of days, and to address one issue in particular that has sprung from one of those things.  I'll start with the fun stuff first. There were 24 CDs in the box I was left in charge of from SL's brother.  I have now sorted them into two distinct piles: one that I'm planning on adding to the ever-expanding collection of music in my house, and one that may end up making a home at Half Price Books.  First, the list of stuff I'm planning to keep: Strange & Beautiful - Aqualung The Best Of Joe Cocker - Joe Cocker Duran Duran - Duran Duran Smell The Color 9 - Chris Rice The Future Embrace - Billy Corgan Final Straw - Snow Patrol Welcome To Winners - Lowgold The Best Of: - Blur Diamonds On The Inside - Ben Harper Fair Warning - Van Halen Early Days, Volume One - Led Zeppelin All solid choices, I think... and now for the second list Now...

The only downfall with setting up goals for a day and a half is that it sometimes pushes back the time in which said goals wind up getting accomplished.  That happened with me today.  Nonetheless, I did manage to pick up some new tunes thanks to a chat with my brother.  He mentioned this afternoon that a friend hooked him up with some new music the other day, and the list of artists he got included Carbon Leaf and The White Stripes.  Here's what I ended up with: 1) Get Behind Me Satan - The White Stripes 2) Icky Thump - The White Stripes 3) Indian Summer - Carbon Leaf 4) Love, Loss, Hope, Repeat - Carbon Leaf The two White Stripes records were fortuitous, because they were two of the ones that I didn't have.  This takes me up to 4 of the 6 studio records.  All I'm missing now is White Blood Cells and their selftitled debut record. As for the Carbon Leaf, I've always heard good things about them, but I've never gotten around to listening to them....

I dove back into "Red House" a little bit, as I had promised I would, and what I found really surprised me.  I discovered that I'm more comfortable with what I thought would be the toughest lick in the intro than I am with the ending lick of the intro.  With tomorrow being a day off for me, I'm certain that both licks will get a significant amount of play, with the final one getting the most individual focus. One other programming note: with SL in town last weekend, we ended up with a decent sized box of CDs that her brother and his wife were looking to purge.  Some of it looks pretty cool, and honestly, some of it is cheesy 90's boy band stuff... I really hope that the Backstreet Boys discs were in there courtesy of SL's sister-in-law, as opposed to her brother... haha. One of the other things in the box was a 2 DVD set of hard rock & heavy metal guitar lessons by Children Of Bodom's Alexi Laiho.  I've never listened to them at all, but I'...

I did more playing than anything else today, and while there wasn't as much playing as there would have been on a normal day off, I still picked up the guitar for at least half an hour on a day when SL was in town, and we had a bunch of awesome stuff to do. If I had to condense my work today into a top 3 list, it would look something like this: 1) Worked through a couple of bits of "Red House."  I tried to focus in on the sections I outlined the other day, but I admittedly didn't spend enough time with it today, as I was trying to pick up the guitar for a bit right before we headed out for the day. 2) I did, however, manage to make it all the way through "Goodnight Elizabeth" by Counting Crows.  I love that song.  The E-G bit of the chord progression that tune is based on is one of my favorite changes of all time.  It's a uniquely unexpected move, and I've always wanted to find a way to work it into a song of my own. and, finally 3) I also ...

I remembered something as I was getting ready for work today.  Not only do I have a Guitar World transcription of "Red House," and the version of it from the Signature Licks book, I also have the Guitar Recorded Versions tab book for Are You Experienced? which has "Red House" in it. And, as luck would have it, that version of the tab has fingerings and upstroke/downstroke marks written in from lessons I took with Chuck Worm in Kaukauana, Wisconsin almost ( gasp! ) ten years ago now.  The whole thing isn't laid out for me, mind you, but in glancing at it quickly before dashing off to work today, it seems that I've got everything up to the solo, so that's cool.  From there, I ought to be able to figure out the rest of it with a bit of study and debate.  The way I see it, between the three transcriptions, I ought to be able to figure something out that works. This whole thing feels like it's falling into place for me right now.  All of the resour...

So, this afternoon I actually took a small bit of time to focus intently on "Red House" after I got home from work.  I skipped past the track at full speed in my run-throughs today, preferring to start with just the straight half-speed track, and then work my way up (or down) in speed from there. After working on it for a little while, it's become obvious to me that there are two licks that I'm misfiring on.  The first one is the lick that sits right in the middle of the intro and ties the two halves of it together.  It looks like this: What throws me about it, I think, is that it starts off very much like the bit right before it, and then the descending part near the end of the measure differs, and it happens quick enough that it catches me off guard.  I can play both parts of it fine separately, but somewhere in the middle, my brain hasn't quite made the connection yet.  This is, by far, the portion of the intro that has given me the most trouble. The...

I have this feeling that anything I post today will pale in comparison to yesterday's post, but here I go anyway... I'll openly admit that I did more listening today than I did playing.  I got through at least 2/3 of the Alabama Shakes record.  It's bluesy country soul at its heart, and while not every track hits the mark all the way, it's a consistently good listen. The more I hear of the Counting Crows record, the more I love it, and the more I can see Adam's justification of recording a covers record.  He said in an interview somewhere recently that they had "recorded new Counting Crows songs that weren't written by Counting Crows" or something to that effect.  The more I hear his voice on this set of songs, the more I see his argument as valid.  Mind you, I'm one of the people who would rather have seen them come out with new, original material, but I'm not so picky that I won't recognize anything new they choose to put out as a wel...

There's so very much to write about today, but I'll pick this as a starting point: There's the setlist from Fun.'s portion of the concert last night.  Also, I'll say right off the top that Nate Ruess, Fun.'s lead singer (and former lead singer of The Format) has an AMAZING voice.  I knew going into the show, or thought I knew that Some Nights had traces of auto-tune on it, but after seeing them live last night, from what was literally a foot from where he was, I can honestly say that he needs no studio trickery whatsoever. The other somewhat odd thing that struck me last night: you could very much tell that the tour was booked well in advance of the runaway success of Some Nights , because I saw them in a venue that was roughly twice the size of my living room, and I have a feeling that the next time through, they'll be playing the Main Lounge on campus in Iowa City, if not the Ballroom.  They are very clearly on their way up the ladder of success, an...

Just got back from seeing Sleeper Agent & Fun. in Iowa City!  Amazing show!  I'd write more about it tonight, but I'm exhausted.  You shall get the full rundown (including photos of the setlist AND guitar pick I snagged) tomorrow. Also, between now and then I shall have time to test out the cables I bought at Guitar Center today and see if they work for what I need them to. So yes, full updates on everything tomorrow, but sleep now.

Tonight's post starts with a confession.  Aside from "Seven Nation Army," I've never really bothered with the White Stripes.  Don't get me wrong, I respect the hell out of Jack White, I'm aware of his influence and everything he's accomplished between The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, and The Dead Weather.  If I'm not mistaken, I've got one of the Dead Weather records knocking around my collection somewhere.  I'm also ridiculously pumped about his upcoming solo record.  So, somehow in the last few weeks, The White Stripes have been on my mind, maybe because R. has been listening to The Raconteurs of late.  I keep hoping she'll remember that she promised to burn their stuff for me, but then again, I owe her a few records right now, too, so there's that. Today was the day I decided to see what I was missing where the White Stripes are concerned.  I'm not as flush with cash right now as I wish I was, so I couldn't exactly buy th...

Spent some time with "Red House" today!  At first, I did it on my own, with nothing but the tablature that I have, and I took it intentionally slow.  I made a little progress that way, and it was admittedly nice to have a chance to try and get some of the licks under my fingers truly at my own speed. After a while, however, I just got to the point where I felt like I wasn't picking it up well enough to make any justifiable progress.  It was at that point that I decided to break out the guitar trainer.  And what did I discover?  That, while it was sitting at the end of the table with my studio setup on it, the guitar trainer wasn't even plugged in!  Lots of good it did me that way.  Also, you can tell how often it had been used in the last, what, year? Still, I got it plugged in and set up and dove back in.  Just the half-speed tracks that came with the Signature Licks book made things a lot easier.  I can only imagine how much easier thin...

I'm going to be smart about this "Red House" thing.  I'm going to attack it the way I attacked "Stairway" all those months ago.  One section at a time, that is.  The way the "Signature Licks" book breaks it down is like this: - Intro - First Verse - Second Verse - Guitar Solo - Third Verse The way I see it right now, if I pick a section a day, and just focus in on that particular bit of the song, I should be able to learn it and just keep building.  Whether or not I can do a section each day, I'm not honestly sure, but they seem short enough that I ought to be able to give it a good run, at least. Also, I'm going to try really hard not to get stuck and discouraged in the same place I got stuck with "Stairway," the solo. Sometimes I think that I have the tendency to get overwhelmed by all the progress I feel I need to make.  I really need to be better about breaking things down into manageable steps, and just going thro...

I know I had said yesterday that today after work was going to be focused in on "Red House."  I really believed it too, until I got to work and remembered what day it was.  April 5th, 2012.  And what was it that flashed across my mind?  This: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurt_Cobain Technically, his body wasn't discovered for another three days, but the date on his death certificate reads April 5, 1994. That changed my viewpoint on what the afternoon would hold musically.  I came home and watched Unplugged In New York .  It happens once a year, either today or on the 8th.  Dipped into Everett True's humongous Nirvana bio in a few select spots as well.  Not something I'm going to read straight through right now, but it was a good time reading small sections of it. I work the mid shift tomorrow, so if I can get up early enough I can get some work done on "Red House." Off Saturday, so the next couple of days are looking pretty decent for mu...

Shifted a couple of things around in the studio tonight, in an effort to make practicing easier from a logistical standpoint.  Not entirely sure I was successful, but I did manage to move the guitar trainer to a more frontward location in my setup, which was most of what I had wanted to accomplish. Started in on a bit of "Red House" today, too.  It was cool to have the intro feel perfectly at home underneath my fingers. The other cool thing I forgot to mention last night was the the Signature Licks book not only slows down the backing track, but it also breaks down the song into manageable sections for learning. My plan is that tomorrow afternoon (I get done at 3:30) will be an afternoon of focus on music. Not much else to report today.  More tomorrow, I promise.

First things first, SL sent me a link today to a free advance streaming of the new Counting Crows record through AlternativeAddiction.com.  The record drops on April 10th.  (Only 6 more days!!!)  Normally I don't listen to those sorts of things in advance, because it kills some of the suspense/excitement of buying a new album, but I was in a Crows sort of mood today, so I gave the first few tracks a listen.  I'll refrain from commenting on the record until I've listened to the whole thing, but suffice it to say that Adam's voice is one that has been missing from the pop landscape for far too long, and it's good to have it back. The other thing I did tonight was drag out the two definitive versions of the "Red House" tab that I have.  One was from the same issue of Guitar World that has the Vai 30 Hour Workout.  The other is in a book written by one of the guys closely associated with Guitar World , who has played on some of the Experience Hendrix tours i...

Spent a bit of time with the Clapton today, as I had hoped to.  Not as much as I would have liked to, but that feels like the norm lately.  It's frustrating, but it feels like the norm. I think I'm going to move on ahead to the Hendrix anyway, though, in the hopes that something new will give me the boost I need to start making serious progress.  In reality, what I need to do (and I've said it before here... hopefully this time it clicks with me) is make the Tascam Guitar Trainer that I have a more prominent part of my studio.  That thing is amazing, and I just don't use it enough.  It lets me slow things down and play along with the original recordings.  Seriously cool piece of equipment. In fact, I'd be willing to bet that, if I maximized (or at least improved on) usage out of everything music related that I own, my playing would skyrocket almost immediately to the levels I've wanted it to be at since I started the blog. The mantra of the year is:...

Played around with the Clapton tune a bit today.  Tomorrow before work (I go in at 2) I need to sit down and spend a good chunk of time with that song, as I've been getting the itch to move on to "Red House."  Knowing me, I'll stick it out with "I'm Tore Down" until I get it to a point where I can really have some serious fun with it. I really need to make friends with someone here who's a drummer.  I think it would be a lot more fun to trade licks back and forth with someone who actually plays drums as opposed to playing along to a metronome or a click track.  Don't get me wrong, I know that I've got a lot of work that can be done playing along with a metronome, but every once in a while, it'd be fun to jam with other living, breathing people.  Not having the space to really do that where I live now makes me miss the upstairs room at my Mom's old house.  It was a huge, open room, with windows all along one side, and it was the on...