New Bass... No Toenail

So on Tuesday Carlos + I were moving a couch. And my entire big toenail was ripped off in a giant, painful, bloody mess. OUCH. It still hurts. And the generic vicodin-looking pain meds aren't really helping much. Although it's better than it was Tuesday. And I have some antibiotics to keep it from getting all infected. Currently my toe is just exposed muscle tissue. The x-ray tech couldn't even look at it because she was so disgusted. I'm hoping I can make the Sunday Nite Ladies Ride tomorrow without it bothering my toe too much. Especially since I don't have to work Monday and can enjoy a late night.

Now on to the really important stuff. My new bass arrived Thursday! It's a (very slightly used) G+L Tribute. It's louder than my Ibanez SR400. The reach is just a bit longer. It's a lot more "live" sounding, and maybe a bit brighter. I'm happy that they have 2 different sounds so I can justify keeping both of them. It's also a subtle sparkly red. I'm gonna go play him in a few minutes after I finish watching Obama's speech on YouTube.

Here's some pics. And I felt like my other instruments were getting a little jealous, so I took photos of everything except my tuba. I'll have to do that later this week.

The new G+L:



My guitar family: G+L Tribute bass, Nameless Acoustic guitar, Ibanez SR400 bass:



The bodhrans: an 18" cheapy + a small Vignoles + a handful of tippers (many also from Michael Vignoles):

Music in the Air

Musicians and the (lack-of-)pay issue:

I don't mind playing some stuff for free - charity, donations, etc. Because I do enjoy it and I don't mind giving back a little to groups that deserve it. (Heck, Brazen Brass played a free benefit last night). But organizations, even non-profits, have budgets. That (should) include entertainment. They pay for other services, food, space rental, etc.

Musicians are offering a (good) service. The more they choose to play for free, the more people expect it. And playing for free devalues music in general. (I've heard professional musicians argue that amateur groups playing for free also drive down their prices, making it harder for them to compete and make a living).

Musicians put work into creating our product, collectively and individually, to bring an experience to our audience. We should be compensated for our work, our time, our talent. This goes for any musician or artist.

Dixieland Music!

The dixieland band I play in finally posted a couple tunes on our MySpace profile!

Stop by and give us a listen, and if you're in central Ohio come out to some of our shows this summer! We're still booking for the 2008 season, to check back often for live concert updates!

Ain't Misbehavin's MySpace

Live Holiday Music!

I have a handful of gigs left this month - all featuring holiday music of course!
All events are FREE to the public, so come out and enjoy some great holiday cheer in the form of live music!

The Living Christmas Tree
Highland Baptist Church, Grove City OH
December 6 @ 7:30pm
December 7 @ 7:30pm
December 8 @ 7:30pm
December 9 @ 6:00pm

Brazen Brass
Easton Towne Center
December 15 @ 1:00pm

TUBACHRISTMAS
EJ Thomas Hall, Akron, OH
December 16 @ 4:00pm & 6:00pm

TUBACHRISTMAS
Mees Hall, Capital University, Columbus, OH
December 17 @ 5:30pm & 7:30pm

(www.tubachristmas.com for all your TUBACHRISTMAS details).

Brazen Brass
Easton Towne Center
December 21 @ 6:00pm

Music Ramblings

I was just reading an article on Iggy Pop in my Rolling Stone magazine (which I don't subscribe to and definately wouldn't pay for but for some reason receive every month) and thinking that a few of my friends and I should start a music blog/ezine thingy with good music news, and reviews of little-heard bands, and cover all of the vast styles of music we all love, and base it all on the goodness of the music, not the goodness of the marketing.

Between Carlos, Charlotte, and myself alone we would pretty much cover every possible genre except true country and death metal (and we'd probably still delve into those a little anyway). Utilizing friends in different parts of the country we would get a lot of local and regional coverage. I even know some people from different parts of the world who could share info on world music. You could be a guest writer. We could post conflicting opinions, promote the good stuff, turn people onto new music....

This crazy idea is also inspired by my new love - a 30gig ipod. I have a 1st generation shuffle, which has brought me much joy considering it is an inanimate object. I'm just beginning to tap into the full power of my shiny new ipod. (If you hate ipods, and prefer your digital audio player of choice - that's totally cool with me. The point is that little mp3 players = awesomeness.)

I just might coax some friends into this little project...

Carbon Leaf 2.21.07

I finally got to see Carbon Leaf again - it's been over a year since I drove all the way to Ann Arbor for one of their shows. The show was absolutely killer. Maybe because I hadn't seen them (or any great shows) in several months, or maybe because they really do put on a fabulous live show.

I took some decent photos, considering I wasn't using flash and had my little point & shoot that doesn't do too well in the dark, especially with bodies flailing across the stage as they rock out on their guitars or tin whistles or accordians.

This was my favorite photo after a smidge of color tweaking:



(click for big)

(click for all my show photos on flickr)

I also shot a few videos with the same camera. They are ultra-lo-fi but still get the Carbon Leaf vibe across. The entire playlist can be found here. Individual links to the YouTube videos follow, in recommended order:

American Tale - Carbon Leaf 2.21.07

The War Was In Color - Carbon Leaf 2.21.07

Learn to Fly (Acoustic) - Carbon Leaf 2.21.07

Life Less Ordinary - Carbon Leaf 2.21.07

The Boxer - Carbon Leaf