This may be a long one.
So I'll pick up from where I left off. Midway through April was the Easter break, which was good but also a massive hindrance at the same time. Before the Easter break I had a rehearsal for my slide guitar project, it went really well and I think I may have spoke about it in the previous blog. However this would prove to be the penultimate band rehearsal as the Easter break became a big dark void that sucked various band members to various locations around the world. This worried me slightly as I then realised that my show was the second day back from college and I only had time to do one last rehearsal. I chose to schedule a rehearsal in the second week of the holidays as the majority of my band had returned back to Scotland. This meant I had the first week free, so I went back to Alness for a few days. It was wild. Upon my return I had made a point of making sure I knew all my songs and parts for my rehearsal. This included me learning a new tuning that I did not know about for Storm Of Worry. The day of the rehearsal came quickly and I soon found myself (and my band) standing about in Clearwater setting up. The majority of the band were there and I asked them to learn all the songs, which they had done. During the rehearsal there was a small indecent with a Bee stinging a vocalist, but that was a short lived drama. The band rattled through the songs, going over certain bits that had some uncertainty. We also discussed stagecraft and uniforms. Overall I was very happy with what we achieved in the rehearsal as the band played through all of the songs with ease and I had a chance to practice properly with my equipment and a decent volume. I felt that the main vocalist could have learned his lyrics before the rehearsal and I would have liked to been able to hear my resonator with the band, but other than that the rehearsal was excellent. I decided to have one last rehearsal with my singers two days before the show to iron out any uncertainties that they had with harmonies. My singers were very competent and knew what they wanted to go over. The rehearsal was a little bit nerve-racking as it was close to the show but it seemed to give the singers more confidence with their parts. I would say that rehearsal was also quite successful.
On the day of the show I was surprisingly very laid back but also very excited to play the gig. I had a tough time getting all my gear to the college because of the sheer volume of stuff. Three electric guitars, a resonator, my amplifier (AC30 = heifer), my vast collection of pedals, my five-tier guitar stand and my back pack which was filled with cables, costumes and various other items. Carting all that about was a good laugh as I had various other rehearsals and classes throughout the day. I had set the time of the show to half past seven because I knew that I would have a long set and clearing up time. Luckily there were no bands on before me so I had an ample amount of time to set up and sound check. I asked my band to get to the venue for four o'clock and the singers for five. I planned to sound check at about half past five. The sound check took a bit longer than I had anticipated as my resonator posed a challenge for the engineers, but it sounded great. The sound check finished forty five minutes before the show and I told my band to go and get something to eat and get changed, but I had no time to chill out. I met several guests that attended the show, arranged lighting, arranged recording, got changed and found an announcer. It was very warm in the venue... I had specified to my band that they model their dress code on videos of Ry Cooder's band, they seemed to get the idea. I had also supplied them all with set lists and the engineer with a stage plan. The venue slowly filled up before the start of the show and my anticipation grew to a new level, I was incredibly excited. Me and the band walked on-stage to a full house, I was delighted. The songs in the show ran in this order:
- Get Rhythm - Ry Cooder
- Heartache Tonight - The Eagles
- Henry - Keb'mo'
- Ramblin' On My Mind - Robert Johnson
- Dixie Chicken - Little Feat
- Jealous Guy - Pahinui Brothers
- Feelin' Bad Blues - Ry Cooder
- It Hurts Me Too - Elmore James
- Storm Of Worry - Sonny Landreth
- Dark End Of The Street - Bobby King and Terry Evans
- Let's Work Together - Ry Cooder
Here is a video of Henry: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd_J-UR7qQA&feature=channel_video_title
I can't really say as much about the written part of the individual project as I haven't totally focused on it. I have started it though...
My dissertation is looking pretty healthy. Last week I handed in my first draft and there were only some minor changes that had to be made. I'll keep you posted on it's progress.
The DAPM project may have been overlooked recently, but that's all going to change now. At least I have handed in my contract.
I have finished all my work for film and TV class. Three videos with the accompanying scores. I have written music for scenes from Pride and Prejudice, A Fistful Of Dollars and Loony Tunes. I am a boss.
The Art class proved to be very useful after all. Helen was fantastic and finished my poster design before the holiday, so I had time to distribute posters all around the place to advertise my show. I think this was a useful tool as it reached more people. I also handed back contract for that class too.
I was involved in a few other shows too. I think they all went pretty well.
I'm going to stop now.
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