Primetime - Music

Here's another guitar piece I wrote recently, played on my Collings OM-2H (short scale - i.e. 24.9"). I actually picked this little guy up on e-bay, in perfect condition, although smelled of cigarettes - it took me a few months (and a bottle of Fabreze) to get rid of the smell. Note to self: next time, ask first. Still, I'm happy with this guitar. It's very easy to play and has an even sound across the range.

Anyway, this song is in a dropped D tuning and recorded on a Zoom H4 that I borrowed from a friend to try out. It's incredibly easy to use and records better than the previous Mac + Mic + USB interface, which produced a nice hissing sound. I think the Collings sounds pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. :)

Primetime

Enjoy - 

Chris

Zach's Ceramics

Zachary is quite interested in ceramics - in fact, so interested that we are checking out art schools! Here are some pics of some of his work. He's done a whole series with hands in different poses. Some of them even have faces on their palms (not my fault he has these visions).

Here are a few pictures from a recent show at the high school. Not surprisingly, I could not get him to pose with the work. I also wish I'd taken a photo of what he wrote, since we'll probably never see it again - but it was a thoughtful reflection about what he was trying to accomplish with the art.






Chris

Derek Trucks Band at House of Blues Boston

Last night I went to see Derek Trucks Band at the Boston House of Blues (which opened recently). What a concert! The night started well - I found a metered space on Boylston St. :) Plus, no ballgame meant an easier time getting there.

The venue itself is in the shadow of Fenway Park on Lansdowne St. We arrived around 7:20 for the 8:00 pm start. The hall is a big open room on the first floor with bars around the perimeter. That's where the plebes stand during the concerts. We did, too. The second floor has standing room along the sides (not much either). Third floor is for the elite ticket holders (the ones who planned ahead and bought them) and has actual seats, but only at the back because the floor area is a big, open three story barn.

I hadn't listened to Derek Trucks before but I knew of him, if that counts. His wife is Susan Tedeschi, who sang backup on a few songs with the band, which was cool. The only song I recognized was "My Favorite Things" - but I bet I was the only one who equated it with Coltrane and not The Sound of Music. I did know that Trucks played a few Coltrane songs on some of his albums, like "Afro Blue" and I heard  a Wes Montgomery tune "Bock to Bock" that he played on one CD, so he has that jazz knowledge, anyway. I sorta knew "Sweet Inspirations", one of the encores, but I don't know if that's because I listened to it on youtube yesterday or what. Anyway, he played blues, some funky stuff (Hammond B3 and Hohner Clavinet - woohoo!), some rock - but always tasty. Another thing that I liked is that even though he has chops for days, he knew when to quiet it down and build momentum in his solos up to an ear-bleeding crescendo. And, there was an element of simply jamming befitting a live concert.

Derek played a red Gibson SG which you see in all the videos on youtube. I don't think he had any effects on it, but I couldn't see the stage floor. The amps looked like either a Fender twin or deluxe...loud enough either way. He played a lot with the slide. On one song he used what I think was an old Silvertone in an open tuning, as seen in this official photo. The band played until about 11:30, with 2 encores. By that time, I was surely a tired puppy.

Jaibo Jaszz Band opened and played 8-9. They were entertaining, but still a warm up act. I could have used a little more variety in the tempo, but I cannot fault them on musicianship, etc. Nice horn section and the guitarist was good (red Gibson SG, too).

All in all, a good night. 

Chris