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Calendar

I hope I'm not jinxing it

Note: I have replaced this calendar with the one you can find at my main site. This entry remains for historical reasons.

I've created a Google Calendar for all my upcoming performances. At the time of this posting, there's only one. But, in the future, you will be able to find performances of mine with Blue Funk as well as with other bands. Use the "Calendar" link on the top of every page in the site to get to this entry and see all upcoming dates below, or if you're a Google Calendar user, you can search for "Joe Stone" in the Public Calendars and subscribe to it. Tell your friends!

(Note that some performances may be private events. I will note that on the entry. Also, not every Blue Funk jam will be included. This is because sometimes we don't open them to the public when not all the band members are at the jam, or it's been so bloody long since the last jam we need some time to blow out the cobwebs.)

Fri, 2008 11 21 at 6:52 AM |Permalink for this entry

Don’t Go Chasin’

I'm harder on myself than anyone

Last week I contacted a band (Collective Hallucination) that my friend Marie told me was looking for a keyboard player. Even though they're a soul/R&B band (their MySpace page says "soul/jazz/funk" and I would agree with that), I thought I'd drop them a line. If you've been reading my blog, you know I've been very focused on blues with some blues rock thrown in, but you should also know that I like most styles of music. This would be a step out of my comfort zone. Most say that is a good thing.

I contacted Ant, the band leader, and he told me that they don't always use keyboard players at gigs, but he was looking for someone reliable for when they do. I thought, "cool, but I'll probably never hear from him, or maybe in six months or something." I've gotten very used to people asking about me doing web sites, then getting a "I'll let you know" and never hearing back.

Four days later on Friday, I get an email from Ant asking me if I'd like to play with them at a gig on December 20. I thought, "oh boy, I wasn't quite ready for that," checked my calendar, and saw I had nothing planned. Darn! No excuse there. I told him okay and he said I could pick up a set list for the show and CD at their rehearsal on Saturday, with our first rehearsal for the show the next Tuesday. At this stage, I'm a little concerned and nervous, but nothing I'd think about too much.

The next day, I dropped by their rehearsal to get the stuff and check them out. They were doing final rehearsals for the Prince tribute they were doing that night. I watched a couple of songs, and thought, "damn!" I knew they were going to kill them that night. (Word is, they did. Great job, guys!)

Shortly after I left, I started feeling… something. This band was really good, and I had 24 songs to learn in a month, only a few of which I had ever heard before, and all of which I had never played. They also were in a style I'm not familiar with. I have gotten very comfortable with our blues tunes, most of which have just a few chords, and not many if any tricky changes. Most of these songs, while not hard, are structurally more intricate than that. Uh oh. I could feel the muscles in my head tightening.

That night I started listening to the CD. Let me put my reaction this way. I can't tell you how happy I was when one song was clearly just three repeating chords from beginning to end!

It's really easy to psych yourself out with things like this. If I'm good at anything, it's doing the easy thing. So, I was overwhelmed and stressed. Over the next few days, I got myself into a tizzy, and a really bad one at that. I got the chord changes for some of the songs from Ant and worked on a few songs before Tuesday's rehearsal. I even found the chords for the three-chord song and got that one down. But, I would not say that I was comfortable with any of them yet, and I was still really nervous.

Tuesday night I went to rehearsal, and I wish I had recorded it. These guys are great. This kind of band needs a great rhythm section, and boy, do they have one. That will help me a lot. Despite my struggles, they seemed to think I did pretty well. Chris, the drummer who is also a keyboard player, said that what I played on one song was, "perfect." In fact, he came over and shook my hand to tell me so. I'm not bragging here, I'm actually amazed and sharing it.

Despite the apparent success of the rehearsal, after I got home, I was still feeling the stress, the nervousness, the tension. Jeez, will it ever go away?? What the heck is wrong with me? A lot of things, most people that know me will tell you. But in this case, I somehow, for some stupid reason, just freaked myself out. It's stupid really. I finally decided that the only way through this was to change my attitude. It has taken a while, but I think it's finally taken. It would not have happened without the support of Lori and a visit from Jeff yesterday. (I don't mean like a doctor's visit. We just hung out and talked about crap which helped get my mind off of it so I could remember what stress-free felt like. Sheesh.)

Am I still nervous? Yeah, I think so. Do I have a lot of work to do in the next month? Yep, no doubt about that. But, it doesn't seem overwhelming anymore. At least, not yet today. I'll let you know how it goes and update the blog as I go along.

[Disclaimer: I know Ant has read this blog and probably will read this entry too. I debated about posting it, but decided to because if I ain't posting the truth, then what's the point of having the blog? I'm the only one that might have thought he has anything to be concerned about regarding me. No one else I talked to agrees with that, so why should I worry. I expect he'll read this, and laugh. Hi Ant! :waves:]

Thu, 2008 11 20 at 5:51 AM |Permalink for this entry

13 November 2008

Cloudy days

It's kind of ironic that I'm making this post today as I didn't practice all day. I did some music related stuff on the computers like go through the band's songs and updated when we played them last, but nothing really significant.

On Wednesday, Jeff came over. We had lunch and then came back to my place to work on some of our new songs. His are good and will sound good whenever we get the band together. Unfortunately, I don't know when that will be. We were hoping to get another jam in before Thanksgiving, and then revive our Friday-after-Thanksgiving Thanksgigging, but we won't be able to do either. It's a bummer for me, because I like to have something to do on what's an otherwise lame-ass holiday weekend (Lori and I are going to see Arc Angels at House of Blues that Saturday, though).

I'm still working on the two-handed stuff as well as that jazz piece, but I've also added something else to the mix. I'm talking to a guy who has an R&B/Soul band about doing some gigs with them. They don't use keys on all their gigs, but he needs someone for the ones he does. So, I pulled out a book I have about different piano styles so I could learn some of that before I try to play with them. I don't know if it will help directly, but it's something else to learn.

Thu, 2008 11 13 at 4:23 PM |Permalink for this entry

9 November 2008

Still alive and well

The last few days have been much of the same sort of practicing as I described in my last post. I've been playing a few different pieces to work on the two-handed stuff. I think one of the issues is that I just have not been doing it. For that jazz piece, I've switched the melody part back to playing it straight instead of swing. This has allowed me to count the whole thing and do a better job with the tempo.

One question I have is, why am I self-conscious about practicing when Lori is home? That's pretty stupid. She has heard me play.

I've talked to a couple of people about gigs. One forwarded me info for a "soul" band that's looking for a keyboard player. I will need to see what they want and the level of commitment they are looking for. And, of course, whether they'd be interested in me. 😊

Sun, 2008 11 09 at 5:07 PM |Permalink for this entry

6 November 2008

Jeez, I'm bad at this.

One of the better days I've had practicing. I'm trying to get my chops up, because I really want to be able to play with both hands adeptly. The problem isn't my left hand by itself. In fact, I'd say I use my non-primary hand more than most people. I even mouse with it most of the time. As far as playing, it's probably no worse than my right hand. No, the trick is separating your brain so that both hands play the instrument independently.

The first step seems to get the left hand on autopilot, where it's just playing a repeated figure while the right hand plays other stuff. Really, that's not quite enough for me, though. Ideally, both hands can play independent, even improvisational lines at the same time. I don't know if I'll ever get there. First I have to simply get the left hand to not screw up and lose its place while the right hand plays. I'll need to spend a lot of time working on this, and I realized that I needed to go back to some pretty basic pieces to build upon.

I also went back to another piece I've been playing and found my notes on a comping section. This is where you pay the tune, then you play a simplified version to accompany or "comp" behind another performer, then perhaps you play a solo, and then you go back to the "head" or beginning of the tune and play the full version again. Comping and soloing can be repeated as many times as you wish in order to let everyone take solos. At least, that's how it's done in jazz. 😉 Finding how to comp on that tune did two things. First was to show me that I wasn't really paying attention to tempo, and second, it will help me do similar arrangements of other songs.

I've written a few songs lately, but only one is complete enough to bring to the band. For various reasons, we never got to it the last two jams. I hope we can try it for the next one. I still need to finish up the other songs I've been talking about.

Lastly, I've been considering trying to get gigs as a hired gun with other bands around town. I'm not really sure how to approach this. I probably need to get out more, go to some more blues jams, and see what happens. If I sit in with some people and they don't invite me back, there's my answer.

Thu, 2008 11 06 at 6:23 AM |Permalink for this entry

Gotta Get You Back Into My Life

After intending to post as close to daily as I could, I was pretty happy that it started to happen. Then, as my previous post mentioned, I went out of town. We went to Dallas for a few days, partially to see my friend Kevin Anker play with Seth Walker at House of Blues Dallas. Kevin is a killer player and a helluva cool guy to boot. In fact, so is Seth.

After the Dallas trip, Lori had some time off so I didn't do too much musically, though it's my fault for not updating the blog in the interim.

After that, I didn't update the blog, and then we got our asses kicked by a little windstorm named Ike. Category 2 my ass! That category scale is a joke and seriously needs to be replaced. Ike had one of the most destructive levels of energy on record. But this blog is about music, so I'll stop there. 😊

The day before Ike arrived, I was supposed to get my new RD-700GX from FedEx. What eventually happened is a blog post all its own. In short, FedEx beat the crap out of it before I finally got it. I'm still chasing after them to make a claim, and I've separately registered a complaint. I may also complain to the BBB.

As life here has gradually returned to normal (we were lucky that we sustained no damage to our home and only had power out for 8.5 days), I've slowly gotten back into practicing and songwriting. There are a couple of new tunes in the works from the Dallas trip and post-Ike. I also still owe my sister that song, and I need to finish the song for Beth Black, as I may see her near the end of the month. Meanwhile, I really want to get the band back together so we can blow out the cobwebs and do a few more jams at Dan Electro's. I don't think any of us want to do any more jams without feeling tighter like we used to. Since Jeff left the band a year ago, I don't think we have gotten together regularly since. I am leaving out the times we auditioned replacement guitar players before we found John.

Mon, 2008 10 06 at 6:47 AM |Permalink for this entry

A Quick One (While He’s Away)

Make music anyway!

I'm going out of town for a couple of days, so I may not post for that time. While I'm gone, here's a thought for you to digest. I read this post on another blog about learning music and ability, and thought it worth sharing. My dad always used to say, "there's nothing you can't do if you set your mind to it." I'm often disappointed when someone says they love music but can't play, or even worse, they say they've tried but they just don't have the ability. I really believe that a person who loves music can make it, too. Most people I know that play music say they are no good or they have no business doing what they do, but they don't (usually) let it get in the way of them making music anyway.

One of my pet peeves is when a sitcom makes a joke about someone learning how to play an instrument, and they're terrible and everyone else on the show cringes, plugs their ears, etc., especially when it is a kid. That is just wrong and just reinforces the perception that some people have that either you can do it or you can't. I bet most of the musicians you hear today started out at least lame if not terrible. Only a few were pretty talented right from the start, and I bet even those took years to develop the ability to take it beyond just copying others.

So if you want to make music, do it! But have some patience with yourself, and have fun! With the right attitude, you'll find that your baby steps are progress, and put them together, and you have gotten somewhere. I bet your family and friends will be more than encouraging if you give them a chance to hear you. People on TV shows are jerks. That's what makes comedy. Why do you think I act the way I do? 😉

Fri, 2008 08 29 at 4:18 AM |Permalink for this entry

A Writing Tip

Songwriting not different than other writing in many regards

I just read this post on Wil Wheaton’s blog, and point #4 stood out to me.

4. Don’t show your work to anyone until the first draft is done. Don’t even excerpt little bits and put them on your blog. I put about 30 words from House of Cards online, and I lost all of my momentum as a result. I’m not sure why this happens, but it really sucks when it does.

Jimmy Webb said much the same thing in his book. I’ve found it to be completely true. If I tell someone, “I’ve had an idea for a song about such-and-such,” it’s done, gone, goodbye.

Here is one commenter’s explanation, along with a point about why you can’t critique yourself while you write.

Re #4: this is actually explained in Dorothea Brande’s “Becoming a Writer.” She says the momentum comes from the desire to tell your story to someone. Once you’ve told someone—even just told them ABOUT your story—that desire is satisfied. Hence, no more motivation.

It’s a great book. Written long before we knew anything about right brain/left brain, the book explains exactly why you have to keep “generating new content” clearly separated from “editing/criticizing content.”

So if I don’t tell you what I’m working on, don’t take it personally. Heck, I don’t like being secretive, I’d much rather be open about everything, but if I did that, I’d not get any songs written or done. So enjoy them when I present them!

Thu, 2008 08 28 at 2:06 PM |Permalink for this entry

27 August 2008 - Lookin’ for love

A recurring case of GAS

[For those of you who don't know, GAS is Gear Acquisition Syndrome.]

Yesterday was mostly a bust. I had a dental appointment in the AM and then I took a trip to a big box musical instrument (MI) store, which will otherwise remain unnamed. There's this stage piano that I've been wanting, and I have an opportunity to get it at a really good price. Most of the times I've tried it out, I've really loved it. Not necessarily for the sounds, but for the action. It is very hard to duplicate the feel of a real grand piano, especially when you don't want to go overboard on weight nor cost. This keyboard may have hit the mark.

But, I've read some recent reports where some have complained about the action having a very hard feel when you hit bottom. I never felt this, until yesterday. I compared the keyboard's action to several other ones in the store, and it definitely felt harder. I don't know if because of playing with the band or something like that, my technique has gotten harder, or I've somehow gotten more sensitive to the bottoming. Sometimes after playing with the band, I have had some pain in the joints of my fingers on my right hand. I think this was due to pounding too hard to try to be louder. If this keyboard does have this issue, then playing on it could make the problem worse for me if I'm not careful.

I'm really looking for a keyboard that I love to play. What I have now I like a lot, but I've loved this action the times it felt right to me. Now, I'm thrown off by my experience from yesterday as well as the similar reports from others. So I'm trying to decide if I'm going to go try it again today and see if I feel any better about it.

Thu, 2008 08 28 at 10:07 AM |Permalink for this entry

26 August 2008

Coming up with titles will be the hard part. Maybe I'll skip that.

Tuesday was mostly a bust, due to some distractions that got me worked up and took some of my time. But, that led to a thought that was probably a clarification of something I had been thinking about. In order to help clear up my head, I put on some music (David Grissom's Loud Music, if you must know). I realized that I often find that music helps me when I'm in a mood. But what I also realized is that I need to learn how to make music when I'm in a mood. I tend to get frustrated and mentally "cluttered" when I feel that way, and what I'd like to do is to be able to tap into the mood instead. It seems like that's what other creative people do, so why not me?

Towards the end of the day, I started to read the part of the manual for Logic about how to use it for music notation. I played around with the feature that lets you drop notes into the score editor by hand. I wasn't terribly happy with the results. Predictably, it came out a little stiff. I'm not sure if the issue is dynamics (where some notes should be stronger than others) or rhythm. But, I did gain some knowledge about how to use the Score Editor and I'll play with it some more and see if I can come up with something a bit better.

Wed, 2008 08 27 at 2:58 AM |Permalink for this entry

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