Vacations and Practice

I was happy that while taking The Big Family Vacation this year I managed to keep playing guitar. There was two days I either missed practice or played for only a few minutes. Those are the only two days this year I haven't played guitar for 45 minutes.

That's pretty rad. I'm hoping I can keep it up all year. I feel I'll be a decent guitar player when it's all said and done. I'm looking into some kind of music lessons for my son as well: piano or voice. He's got quite a bit of natural talent that I feel we don't tap into enough. He could use the outlet for his energy.

The band. . .I'm not sure what they did in my absence. Robb said he wasn't feeling well and Guy had scheduling conflicts. They were supposed to start recording our stuff. I'd like to get some recordings done, so that at the least we can see what it would sound like to get our stuff out there.

I've been learning new songs, but I'm not sure the guys will like them. I've been leaning toward learning some acoustic numbers and trying to hit some open mics. Maybe if the band can't get rolling I can get a gig on my own to get some extra cash.

-Merlin out

Catchup Post

I'm not sure that I blogged about music last week. It's been going pretty well for me at least. Robb and I have managed to play acoustic twice, which is great for working on vocal harmonies.

Practice itself wasn't great. I was pretty stressed out that day, and I was a half hour late, so not as much got done as I'd like. There are a lot of little things getting in the way of me being more efficient in musical productivity.

For instance, Robb finally got me some song sketches from Static Factory practices so I can work on lyrics and vocal melodies, but iTunes has ceased functioning on my laptop. It's been a pain reinstalling it.

Then I went to practice again, and it went fairly well. Static Factory went through our entire catalogue. The guys were wondering just how many songs we have. Let's see. . .

E-tuned guitars a half step flat:
The New Gods
(Promethean) Halo
Stutterstep

Drop-D a half step flat:
The Operative
My Companion
Payroll
Lazarus (Pit)
The Road's Home
MAD
Body Piercing Mandatory
The Truth is a Virus

Drop-B guitar (half step flat?)
Blow the Lid

We are also working on several other songs. Hopefully Haven No More and All Mighty Dolla' will be fleshed out next week. That's a decent catalogue.

I also want to write a song called Those Left Behind, but I haven't heard the music for it yet. I did just get some more stuff from Robb.

We'll see what comes of it.

The Ugly Americans are focusing on a handful of songs to do a series of videos in an attempt to do a gig. We've chosen a song from each decade from the 60s to around now.

Here Comes the Sun
American Band
Jessie's Girl
No Excuses
Then either Show Me How to Live or This Love

We also played some new stuff that I learned behind everyone's back. Robb was all pissy about that, but it's also his disposition to be vinegary, so whatever. One day we shall play a porcupine tree song. . .

-Merlin out