Rankin' Rob recently described his blog as "thin gruel." I commented that if he thinks his gruel is thin, it's still at least twice as thick as mine. The setup of the new computer has distracted me for a month, and therefore the brain space I've dedicated to this blog and topics like Barack Obama Curious George shirts and the fate of the Hillary Clinton campaign has been limited.
So instead I'll tell you about the progress of my musical project.
A couple of posts ago I told you about two new singer guys I had encountered that I was enthused about. One of the two, the one who was in a hair metal band in Los Angeles in the `80's and once had a publishing contract with Virgin Records, got back to me within just a couple of days with completed lyrics and vocals, even multi-tracked. Unfortunately it wasn't what I had been picturing. Sounded too much between Headbanger's Ball and Alice in Chains. I'm trying to think of how to let this guy down gently.
The other guy, the folkie Springsteen/Vedder-ish one, is taking more time, but something about the extremely rough draft of one song he sent me seemed more up-my-alley. One of his own songs on his MySpace unleashed activity in my neurons and as soon as I get my computer back* I want to go to work on a new arrangement for his song that I think should raise a smile on his face.
While reviewing my usually-barren MySpace inbox I was also surprised to find that some guy who's setting up a show at the Red Light Cafe e-mailed to ask if I'd like to be on the bill. I might jump at the chance, except for the fact that if he read my page closer, he would see right now I'm just one guy with a POD and Cakewalk Home Studio. However...previously I had thought my enthusiasm for scheduling band practices, lugging amps and playing to disinterested audiences was over, not to mention driving to the gig with today's ultra-high gas prices, but...to be on a stage again?...hmm...
So as those situations simmer I've been listening to The Who again for the first time in awhile. On American Idol David Cook committed sacrilege on "Baba O'Riley" a few weeks ago and I had to dig out the soundtrack to The Kids Are Alright to wash it from my mind. The disc has now stayed in my car stereo for two weeks. Yes, I think Pete Townshend was guilty of doing more than "research," but unfortunately the other aspects of his character still inspire me. A YouTube video of Pete doing a couple of solo acoustic tunes in a dressing room inspired me that I should spend more time with the acoustic guitar, so I'm doing that, and ideas are coming up.
"In the old days I would've had to have eaten that with a spoon."
Will there ever be a day this isn't cool? "Sparks" at Woodstock, the full version.
* I've figured out that it was Hewlett-Packard's own BIOS update that killed my computer. I'm not the first to have this experience with them.
EDIT: I just found out today is Pete Townshend's birthday. He must be 64. The Who also accepted my MySpace invitation to be my "friend" today. Happy birthday, Pete.