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open mike report
South Bay Folks Open Mike, 2002-12-19
On the way down and on the way up: Brad Mehldau's latest album, "Largo". More on that later.
Before things got underway: Noodling on the piano. Whenever I'm near a real piano, I'm helplessly drawn to it. I love to play them, even when they're not in good shape. At home, I have a synthesizer, which can sound quite like a piano. But I'm never compelled to play it. Why is that?
During the open mike: I very rudely spent most of the evening ignoring the performers and writing a new song. I do this sometimes. Often it's because I'm in the mood to play something in a particular vein--something that rocks, or is happy, or is menacing--and I don't have any songs that fit the bill. Sometimes I hear something someone else plays that inspires an idea of my own. But sometimes I just write for the sake of writing. I like the pressure of having to finish something very quickly. I also like that the tight schedule gives me an excuse for the song's failings. When I start a song at home, I never declare it "done" because I get hung up on a trite rhyme here or a missing line there. When I'm at an open mike, I just need it "done enough", and I can make it better later.
The new song might be called "One and the Same". It's missing a line and has some trite rhymes. It didn't start out being about anything, but it grew that way.
At the last minute, I got J.B. to sing a backing vocal. One reason I love the Espresso Garden is the tradition of "dumpster rehearsals"--people will spontaneously get together behind the building, teach each other songs, and play them on stage that night. But tonight it was cold and wet, so we didn't even get that far--we had a 45-second rehearsal in the back hallway, and then we did it on stage. I love the backing vocals I've heard J.B. do, full of echoing lines and countermelodies, but for tonight I just asked him to learn three words and when to sing them. I heard him start to explore a fuller part, and I hope he'll sing it with me again when I've learned the song better and we have more time to develop the vocal.
After the new song, I sang "Snowblinded", because people seem to like it, because I had it memorized well enough to not worry about it, and because it seems like the right time of the year, if not the right part of the country.
Greg Newlon is my favorite audience, and here's why. Often, given a two-song set, I'll play a newborn song, fragile and precious and exciting and gasping for breath, and then balance it with a song that is safe, that I know people will respond to because they've responded to it before. Afterwards, when other people come to me and say "I really love [the song that's already on its feet]", Greg is the guy who says "[the new song that needs love] was really cool". I love that about him.
It was a relaxed atmosphere tonight with a smallish crowd, but there were still a number of new people, which is always good to see. A highlight of the night: The return (basically) of an a cappella group that I'd seen a few times months ago. I think they were named "Oswald" then; they've lost a couple of members, and gained a new one, and are just now resurfacing as "One of Each". Tonight they played two funny-ish, 50s-ish songs, which seems to be the a cappella way, but I've also heard them in moments that were just breathtakingly musical. I hope to hear that again.
On the way down and on the way up: Brad Mehldau's latest album, "Largo". More on that later.
Before things got underway: Noodling on the piano. Whenever I'm near a real piano, I'm helplessly drawn to it. I love to play them, even when they're not in good shape. At home, I have a synthesizer, which can sound quite like a piano. But I'm never compelled to play it. Why is that?
During the open mike: I very rudely spent most of the evening ignoring the performers and writing a new song. I do this sometimes. Often it's because I'm in the mood to play something in a particular vein--something that rocks, or is happy, or is menacing--and I don't have any songs that fit the bill. Sometimes I hear something someone else plays that inspires an idea of my own. But sometimes I just write for the sake of writing. I like the pressure of having to finish something very quickly. I also like that the tight schedule gives me an excuse for the song's failings. When I start a song at home, I never declare it "done" because I get hung up on a trite rhyme here or a missing line there. When I'm at an open mike, I just need it "done enough", and I can make it better later.
The new song might be called "One and the Same". It's missing a line and has some trite rhymes. It didn't start out being about anything, but it grew that way.
At the last minute, I got J.B. to sing a backing vocal. One reason I love the Espresso Garden is the tradition of "dumpster rehearsals"--people will spontaneously get together behind the building, teach each other songs, and play them on stage that night. But tonight it was cold and wet, so we didn't even get that far--we had a 45-second rehearsal in the back hallway, and then we did it on stage. I love the backing vocals I've heard J.B. do, full of echoing lines and countermelodies, but for tonight I just asked him to learn three words and when to sing them. I heard him start to explore a fuller part, and I hope he'll sing it with me again when I've learned the song better and we have more time to develop the vocal.
After the new song, I sang "Snowblinded", because people seem to like it, because I had it memorized well enough to not worry about it, and because it seems like the right time of the year, if not the right part of the country.
Greg Newlon is my favorite audience, and here's why. Often, given a two-song set, I'll play a newborn song, fragile and precious and exciting and gasping for breath, and then balance it with a song that is safe, that I know people will respond to because they've responded to it before. Afterwards, when other people come to me and say "I really love [the song that's already on its feet]", Greg is the guy who says "[the new song that needs love] was really cool". I love that about him.
It was a relaxed atmosphere tonight with a smallish crowd, but there were still a number of new people, which is always good to see. A highlight of the night: The return (basically) of an a cappella group that I'd seen a few times months ago. I think they were named "Oswald" then; they've lost a couple of members, and gained a new one, and are just now resurfacing as "One of Each". Tonight they played two funny-ish, 50s-ish songs, which seems to be the a cappella way, but I've also heard them in moments that were just breathtakingly musical. I hope to hear that again.