Sorry to be late today—we had a great time playing music last night, but I’m moving a bit slow this morning. & we did indeed have a good time; as you can see in the final poster pictured to the right, the special mystry guest was none other than Eberle, holding forth on a veritable barrage of instruments: flute, kazoo, melodica, slide whistle & train whistle. If we continue to do these shows at any kind of regular intervals, I’d lobby for her adding in a bit of washboard & maybe some banjo uke; we’ll see how things develop as far as that goes. In the meantime, I plunked away on the resonator guitar & the old Windsor 5-string banjo, & added my “golden voice” to the mix. The entire set was 24 songs, in just under 2 hours, ranging from old Appalachian tunes like “The Cuckoo” to Delta blues like “Come On in My Kitchen” (yes, done on the banjo) to old country tunes like Roy Acuff’s “Freight Train Blues” It all went well in our first show together in nearly a year; I thought the particular highlights were Eberle’s flute songs (“St James Infirmary,” “The Cuckoo,” both with me on guitar, & “My Creole Belle,” with me on banjo), as well as Bessie Smith’s “Mean Old Bedbug Blues” with yours truly on guitar & Eberle on kazoo. The crowd was small but enthusiastic, & local sound folks Skip & Toni Burnette did a fine job for us.
Sorry to folks who requested pix; we didn’t get it together for that. Next time!
Our music clip today doesn’t have much to do with our current musical incarnation—no blues, no ragtime, etc. It’s a little song I composed quite extemporaneously on the baritone uke about a year ago. It was a case of thinking of a chord progression, picking up uke, putting on headphones, turning on the recording device. This, such as it is, is what came out. Hope you enjoy it.
Good Morning John,
ReplyDeleteEnjoyed your recap., "adding in a bit of washboard" - as a very (emphasize "very") young lass I used to play the washboard and dance - it is a particularly joyful memory - those times of fanciful abandon - still in heart.
The potpourri of still life paintings, ones in the style I am enamored with, along with your "Little Waltz," certainly a Sunday pleasure. Did you produce the You Tube slide show? It was so perfectly paired with your music. BRAVO!
Bravo indeed, John, a real sonnet of a tune, it must be an amazing experience to create music.That gig soundswonderfull too , boy, I'd like to go to one of them someday.Any plans to tour europe?
ReplyDeleteHi Rose Marie & TFE:
ReplyDeleteRose Marie: Thanks-- yes, the washboard really is a joyful noise indeed. I do produce all the slideshows of our original music, & enjoy it quite a bit. Glad you liked this one!
TFE: Glad you liked it. I'm deathly afraid of flying, but some of my favorite bloggers are in the British Isles-- who knows? I've learned to "never say never."
Lovely little tune. I don't think I've heard the baritone uke before now. It has a lovely sound.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you & Eberle had a fun evening & your show was a success!
Oh, and Gertie is a great little dog! The only problem she has is that she is terrified of children. Something must have happened in the year before I adopted her that made her fearful of children.
We enjoyed our little walk around town. Today's post will have the old residential part of Bastrop. Hope you'll come back for a visit.
Happy weekend!
Hi Lizzy:
ReplyDeleteThanks for all the kind comments. The baritone uke is a fun instrument--sort of out of the uke mode these days, but I still love 'em. I'll look forward to seeing more of Bastrop, TX later on!
I would have loved to have heard you and Eberle last night! Fun.
ReplyDeleteHi Willow:
ReplyDeleteThanks for the vote of confidence!
I just stumbled upon your blog. This is the kind of music I like the most. I always aspired to play old timey music and own banjo, dulcimer, recorder, ocarina, tin whistle, etc., but I am just not musically talented. I played with the instruments more than played them. It was therapeutic. Then I ran my hand through a table saw and couldn't afford to get it fixed. That ended the therapy. Viewing your video and browsing your other posts, I really, really like your choice of stills and old time pictures. Do you browse internet museums for them, or are they from your personal library. They are wonderful. I look forward to following you often.
ReplyDeleteHi Old Grey Egg:
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by-- I briefly took a look at your blog & found it interesting, too-- will be back when I have a bit more time to look around.
Glad you like the music, but sorry to hear about your accident. In answer to your question, most of the images in the music slide shows come from Wiki Commons, & are public domain images.
Please stop by again!
I rather like "small and enthusiastic" where audiences are concerned. Sounds like a good evening. St James Infirmary takes me back: used to play it most Tuesday nights -along with many others (All of Me, Basin St Blues, etc, etc) on the bass in a pub down the road.
ReplyDelete"Little Waltz" - what a wonderful way to start my day! Thanks, John.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the Music Very Much John.'Soothes Me This Morning (Ive just got back from the dentist.& I need some Snoothing!)
ReplyDeleteCheers!
Tony.
Hi Dominic, Karen & Tony
ReplyDeleteDominic: Yes, small & enthusiastic really is best, especially for this sort of music. Your pub gigs sound like they were fun.
Karen: Thanks-- glad you enjoyed it this morning!
Tony: One does need something after the dentist-- glad this helped! Thanks.
That was just lovely! I'm glad it was a success and thank you for sharing a tidbit.
ReplyDeleteKat
Hi Kat:
ReplyDeleteThank you! I'll be working on recording some of my current (& much different repetoire over the next month or two.