What are y' all working on?

[zombywoof]

Yeah, I am pretty much putting off things I should be doing.   But for grins is anybody trying to master something new in the way of music.   I have been going in two directions.  One is to get back to basics which means a steady alternating or dead thumb bass.  The other is assuming things will start opening up to continue to work on tunes which are more widely accessible than those I often choose to play.

As part of my get back to basics I have been going between Mance Lipscomb's "Sugar Babe" and Mississippi John Hurt's "I Shall Not Be Moved."    I terms of music which  will work  well with others  joining in on the fun I have been putzing with a fingerpicking take on the Dead's "New Speedway Boogie."

One of my other goals though admittedly is since retiring and losing about the only structure I had in my life, I have developed the attention span of a gnat.  So part of what is pushing me is to try and get back some of the self-discipline I once had.

[jedzep]

Keep at it Z! Muscle memory rules.

I'm not a fingerpicker, nor a big Dead guy, but 'Workingman's Dead' and Garcia's first solo are two of my favs. Think I got 'New Speedway Boogie' down flatpicked.

Trying to finesse Rodney Crowell's 'Shame on the Moon' and J Hiatt's 'All the Lilacs in Ohio'.

Trying for that 10,000 hours of alternate picking.

Edited May 26, 2021 by jedzep

[DanvillRob]

I decided over a year ago to video my entire repertoire.   I had about 200 songs in my chart book...but when I played, I seemed to play the same 20 or so songs....over and over.

I wanted my grandsons to hear the entire repertoire (when they get older), so I started at "A" and when through "Y" (I have no "Z" songs).

I finished that about 8-9 months ago.

Then, I found at OLD chart book....it had dozens of songs I quit doing, or never really put an arrangement together.   So, for the last 4-5 months, I've been recording every song in the old chart book.    I don't know how many there are in the book, (since many of them got carried over into my current chart book).     I'm working on "Fire On The Mountain" by Marshall Tucker Band.    When I get it done, (I'll probably record it today) I'll start on the next song, "Thirty-Nine And Holding" by The Killer...I don't look farther ahead in the book than the next song....I want to be surprised.

I have 370 videos up on YouTube right now....I'd guess I have at least 30 more songs to do.... not counting songs I hear and want to record.

It's a race against the arthritis in my hands.

[rct]

1 hour ago, zombywoof said:

...One of my other goals though admittedly is since retiring and losing about the only structure I had in my life, I have developed the attention span of a gnat.  So part of what is pushing me is to try and get back some of the self-discipline I once had.

Oh I feel your pain.  It's not the time I have in retirement, it's the time management that I suck at.

I don't acousticize as much as you folks in here do.  But I have worked on being better at it than I ever was, which was never that great.  I play them like they are strats and teles and that doesn't work, so I've been working on better fingerpicking while singing, and better dynamics overall.  I may take a Martin out next week and actually use it for a set.  That would be rich.

rct

[Paul14]

Trying to convince myself to patch the roof. As far as guitar is concerned, been teaching myself alternative tunings. Haven’t played in standard tuning for about a year & 1/2

[Twang Gang]

My playing and practicing is always geared toward performing.  There is a gig I could get locally now that things are opening back up, but it requires 2 hours of music.  I am trying to find and learn about another 30 - 45 minutes of more popular recognizable songs.  The crowd that attends this venue are baby-boomers and older so that helps as they identify with older material, but I don't want to bore them with too many songs they may not have heard before.  And I find my acoustic playing tends to lean more toward slower/ballad type songs so want to mix in more up-tempo stuff.

I don't know about the rest of you, but the search for the right material has been going on for me and bands I was in for 40 years or so.

Edited May 26, 2021 by Twang Gang

[rct]

21 minutes ago, Twang Gang said:

My playing and practicing is always geared toward performing.  There is a gig I could get locally now that things are opening back up, but it requires 2 hours of music.  I am trying to find and learn about another 30 - 45 minutes of more popular recognizable songs.  The crowd that attends this venue are baby-boomers and older so that helps as they identify with older material, but I don't want to bore them with too many songs they may not have heard before.  And I find my acoustic playing tends to lean more toward slower/ballad type songs so want to mix in more up-tempo stuff.

I don't know about the rest of you, but the search for the right material has been going on for me and bands I was in for 40 years or so.

 

I would like to move down there and we could start an acoustic duo and be all cork sniffin and such with our uber schweet hogs and rosies and all.

rct

[E-minor7]

Workin' on my night moves
Tryna lose the awkward teenage blues, , , , , was I just about to say. And there's something to it. Finally find it's time to get a grab on See The Sky About to Rain. A fine hippie-tune, which I adored since it came out, often touched, but never handled satisfyingly. It's either done on Fender Rhodes or Wurlitzer, but works fine on an acoustic Gibson. .   

[Twang Gang]

12 minutes ago, rct said:

 

I would like to move down there and we could start an acoustic duo and be all cork sniffin and such with our uber schweet hogs and rosies and all.

rct

A few years ago before you retired there was a lot of Florida talk going on.  Whatever happened to that plan?

[rct]

1 minute ago, Twang Gang said:

A few years ago before you retired there was a lot of Florida talk going on.  Whatever happened to that plan?

 

Still the plan, as of today.  New Jersey has implemented some serious tax changes for 62 and older, only one needed for a joint return.  That's next year for me.  So with FL still the plan, my ancient father and fairly ok now brother are reasons to stay, and the changes I project in our tax scene make it doable.  So there is that.  Mrs needs to get out, not sure when that will be but I do know for certain no later than 12/31/21.

rct

[Twang Gang]

11 minutes ago, rct said:

 

Still the plan, as of today.  New Jersey has implemented some serious tax changes for 62 and older, only one needed for a joint return.  That's next year for me.  So with FL still the plan, my ancient father and fairly ok now brother are reasons to stay, and the changes I project in our tax scene make it doable.  So there is that.  Mrs needs to get out, not sure when that will be but I do know for certain no later than 12/31/21.

rct

Understand that stuff.  I was ready to get out of Chicago about 2008, but my father needed looking after.  He passed Feb of 2013 and I moved down here 7/1/13.  Couldn't wait to get away from bad weather, high taxes etc.

[zombywoof]

3 hours ago, jedzep said:

Keep at it Z! Muscle memory rules.

I'm not a fingerpicker, nor a big Dead guy, but 'Workingman's Dead' and Garcia's first solo are two of my favs. Think I got 'New Speedway Boogie' down flatpicked.

Trying to finesse Rodney Crowell's 'Shame on the Moon' and J Hiatt's 'All the Lilacs in Ohio'.

Trying for that 10,000 hours of alternate picking.

Luckily muscle memory kicks in pretty quickly.

I also have never been the  biggest Dead fan particularly after Pigpen passed away.  But "Workingman's Dead "is an amazing LP.  Here is something I always pondered though.  Does the title mean the working man is dead or that he embraces the Dead.

The way I play the tune though is pretty simple.  I play the melody or what you would sing while adding an alternating muted bass.  

[zombywoof]

1 hour ago, Twang Gang said:

 I am trying to find and learn about another 30 - 45 minutes of more popular recognizable songs.  The crowd that attends this venue are baby-boomers and older so that helps as they identify with older material, but I don't want to bore them with too many songs they may not have heard before.  And I find my acoustic playing tends to lean more toward slower/ballad type songs so want to mix in more up-tempo stuff.

 

That is exactly what I am talking about.  Tunes like Rev. Gary Davis' "Cincinnati Flow Rag" or Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Mosquito Moan" are a lot of fun for me to play but they are a bit tricky making it tough to join in on while generally only hard core blues freaks will even have heard them.  Not the way to go especially if you want interaction which is something I am craving after our rather long hiatus.   So when I mean accessible I am talking about songs like  the  Stones "Factory Girl" or standards like "St. James Infirmary". 

Edited May 26, 2021 by zombywoof

[zombywoof]

2 hours ago, Paul14 said:

Trying to convince myself to patch the roof. As far as guitar is concerned, been teaching myself alternative tunings. Haven’t played in standard tuning for about a year & 1/2

I do not play in open tunings as much as I once did.  These days it is mostly just Drop D and Open G6  which is I use for songs like Mississippi John's "Spike Driver Blues" and the Stones "Honky Tonk Woman."

Have you ever listened to Mary McCaslin?  She is amazing when it comes to open tunings.  Here is one of my favorites - her cover of The Beatles "Things We Said Today" played in Open Gm. 

Mary McCaslin - Things We Said Today - Bing video

 

Edited May 26, 2021 by zombywoof

[generaldreedle]

These are songs I learned a bit ago but I like to keep working on them:. Windy and Warm and In Christ there is no East or West (John Fahey version)

[BoSoxBiker]

I've been working on two originals in my little studio. One is a simple sing-songwriter acoustic style that I wrote about a town of some people located about 20 minutes north of jedzep's area. The other song is a cross between Americana and, um, I'll call it an atmospheric/apocalyptic number with Americana touches. or visa-versa. 

You guys were talking about the basics, I've been relearning some of the covers I do using a metronome instead of winging it. It's helped a good deal with my overall flow. It does throw a monkey-wrench into the works sometimes, though. 

My last few new acoustic cover songs have been Doby Gray's "Drift Away", The Prince written "Nothing Compares 2U" in the style of Chris Cornell and "Jigsaw Puzzle" from Beggar's Banquet. Oh, and Bruce Springsteen's "Sherry Darling". I had to "Tangled Up in Blue" in honor of the cover by KT Tunstall. I know hers was plugged in and very good and mine is neither, but it still just feels and sounds so right on the Dove.   All apologies to whatever it was done on originally.

[Paul14]

3 hours ago, zombywoof said:

I do not play in open tunings as much as I once did.  These days it is mostly just Drop D and Open G6  which is I use for songs like Mississippi John's "Spike Driver Blues" and the Stones "Honky Tonk Woman."

Have you ever listened to Mary McCaslin?  She is amazing when it comes to open tunings.  Here is one of my favorites - her cover of The Beatles "Things We Said Today" played in Open Gm. 

Mary McCaslin - Things We Said Today - Bing video

 

Yes, I like her too. I have some of her stuff, but haven’t heard that one before. Very nice.

[zombywoof]

27 minutes ago, Paul14 said:

Yes, I like her too. I have some of her stuff, but haven’t heard that one before. Very nice.

Mary used to play at the Town Crier Cafe in the 1970s when it was my home way from home. She often took the stage with her ex-husband Jim Ringer.  I remember having to do some searching to find her first LP "Goodbye Everybody" which came out in the late-1960s and was already out print  by the time her first Philo LP was released. 

[jedzep]

Wow! Didn't know you were hanging in Beekman. I saw many awesome shows there, hardly missing a weekend, and lived just on the other side of the Taconic. Did you ever catch the great Central Park Sheiks?

[zombywoof]

32 minutes ago, jedzep said:

Wow! Didn't know you were hanging in Beekman. I saw many awesome shows there, hardly missing a weekend, and lived just on the other side of the Taconic. Did you ever catch the great Central Park Sheiks?

Cool.  We probably ran into one another.  Through most of the 1970s I was living in Putnam Valley, NY.   So right off the Taconic.  Jay Ungar and John Cohen were living there at the time whom the local music scene revolved around.  I saw the Shieks but do not recall if it was at the Town Crier or down in the Village.  But there were some amazing shows at the Town Crier - Roy Bookbinder when he had Fats Kaplan with him, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, Dave Bromberg, Martin, Bogen & Armstrong.   The list just goes on an on.  

Great memories.  I loved that old General Store the venue was first housed in.

Edited May 26, 2021 by zombywoof

[BluesKing777]

What am I working on?

New chairs, literally!

Where the Better Half works, a lot of the people were fired when the virus hit and she walked into a large boardroom the other week and it was full of work chairs. The guy in charge of office furniture said it all had to go, so... 2 chairs couriered to me - one for computer work which is a ergo type with arms and headrest and another with no arms for my music room. And the old ones are on the front verandah awaiting removal.

I was about to buy new chairs but mostly these days, they need assembly. And I have sat on a crooked chair I assembled last time!

 

BluesKing777.

 

[jedzep]

7 minutes ago, zombywoof said:

Cool.  We probably ran into one another.  Through most of the 1970s I was living in Putnam Valley, NY.   So right off the Taconic.  Jay Ungar and John Cohen were living there at the time whom the local music scene revolved around.  I saw the Shieks but do not recall if it was at the Town Crier or down in the Village.  But there were some amazing shows at the Town Crier - Roy Bookbinder when he had Fats Kaplan with him, Hazel Dickens & Alice Gerrard, Dave Bromberg, Martin, Bogen & Armstrong.   The list just goes on an on.  

Great memories.  I loved that old General Store the venue was first housed in.

Oh man!!! Thanks for the pic, and reminding me of who sang the line 'dreamin' of a reefer 5 feet long...' I loved the onstage bickering and pissiness. Seeing John Hammond and and Bromberg and others up so close was just dazzling. Do you, by chance, remember the Arm Bros and the late Dan DelSanto?

Edited May 26, 2021 by jedzep

[jedzep]

20 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said:

What am I working on?

New chairs, literally!

Where the Better Half works, a lot of the people were fired when the virus hit and she walked into a large boardroom the other week and it was full of work chairs. The guy in charge of office furniture said it all had to go, so... 2 chairs couriered to me - one for computer work which is a ergo type with arms and headrest and another with no arms for my music room. And the old ones are on the front verandah awaiting removal.

I was about to buy new chairs but mostly these days, they need assembly. And I have sat on a crooked chair I assembled last time!

Try finding outdoor armless chairs to play guitar in. Not easy.

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

[zombywoof]

21 minutes ago, jedzep said:

Oh man!!! Thanks for the pic, and reminding me of who sang the line 'dreamin' of a reefer 5 feet long...' I loved the onstage bickering and pissiness. Seeing John Hammond and and Bromberg and others up so close was just dazzling. Do you, by chance, remember the Arm Bros and the late Dan DelSanto?

No, I do not recall them. 

Here is another photo of the interior with the owner Phil.

Edited May 26, 2021 by zombywoof

[jedzep]

Haha! Nice Hat! So pensive for a cheesecake peddler.

I'll dig up some of my old links over the weekend.