The Beach Boys Love You

I'm writing a lot about albums I'm listening to at the moment. Because at the moment, I'm making an album. Perhaps it's quite delusional of me to imagine that anyone would ever care, but everyone who makes albums is delusional- except the one's who end up being famous. Since we are trying to make that Breakthrough Record, I'm going to plan on that succeeding. Thus, at some point after we're worldwide superstars, someone might wonder just what records the drummer was enamored with during the recording process. It matters. This article is about the Beach Boys album Love You. If our record, upon completion, has some Moogs on it, now you'll know why.

If one fancies oneself a rock and roll completist, at some point one must become a Beach Boys completist. And a true Beach Boys completist will sooner or later go down the rabbit hole that is Smile. I’ve been down that rabbit hole, and I’m not sure I ever fully made it out. But this particular article is not about Smile.

Brian Wilson’s failure in 1966 to realize his “teenage symphony to God” sent him spinning into a total breakdown, which rendered him about as close to Syd Barrett as anyone’s ever been who lived to tell about it. During this time Brian was largely a recluse, sporadically poking his head out to appear in music videos and at Live Aid, playing a keyboard that probably wasn’t plugged in. It would be a full four decades before he would finally reemerge as a consistent recording and touring artist.

But way back in the 70s, amidst the “Brian’s Back” campaign which the band and record label had orchestrated to boost ticket sales for Beach Boys concerts, Brian Wilson actually wrote and recorded an entire album of all new and original songs for the Beach Boys.

Love You was quietly released in early 1977 to mixed reviews and disappointing sales. Mike Love quickly steered the group back toward his ideal vision of nostalgia act, relentlessly touring the corn dog circuit. And Brian crawled back into bed. But Love You is a real album that actually happened, and you can still get it and listen to it anytime time you like.

Some of the lyrics (okay most of the lyrics) are pretty juvenile but regardless, this is a collection of pop tunes crafted by a man who’s ability to craft pop tunes is widely regarded as second to none. Gone are the Wrecking Crew and live orchestra from Pet Sounds. Instead, Brian used an array of 70s synthesizers to round out the tunes. All of the great melodies and hooks, the lush harmonies, the calls and responses you’d expect from a top notch Brian Wilson production are present and accounted for.

“Ding Dang” is a minute of silliness if ever there was one. But have you ever met anyone who could arrange those vocals? Some of the tunes, “Mona” and “Solar System” for example, sound almost satirical. Brian Wilson’s version of Spinal Tap. Even the chords are funny. But there’s also a strange, child like innocence which suggests a complete earnestness.

Love You is dripping with complex textures and while many of the songs are just a bit too weird for the casual fan to digest, it’s certainly never boring. The Beach Boys successes set a new standard for what rock and roll is capable of. Unfortunately their mediocre works excite no one and worse, they’ve got stacks of unlistenable dreck that really undermines their legacy. This really isn’t fair, because if one is to ponder the true Beach Boys canon, certainly nothing after 1980 may be included. Brian was always the creative genius, and Love You is perhaps the last full album where he really tried.

The Beach Boys catalog is often a never ending sea of compilations and repackages built around one garbage single. But there are occasional bargain bin finds of real quality, and Love You is certainly one.

Look, we only have so much time on this earth. And we have very few complete works by possibly the greatest pop composer ever. If you stopped listening somewhere between “Good Vibrations” and “Heroes and Villains”, you’re missing out on some pretty neat stuff. It’s not as shiny as “California Girls” and certainly not as beautiful as “Caroline No”, but Love You is every bit as creative and undoubtably Brian Wilson’s most David Lynch-esque piece.

Songs Of Guilt

The new album is coming along, friends. We've logged two days in the studio already and have more scheduled. I'll delve more into that and post some pics soon. In the meantime, here's a little blib about a favorite subject of mine, U2...

Songs Of Guilt

Okay, the obvious pun was too tantalizing to pass up. At least I didn’t go all Grantland-y and make the headline read : **Semi-Clever Pun**  :  **Brief description of article**.

But seriously, at what point will my comedic chops evolve from “making my friends chuckle” to “making everybody laugh”?

U2 is an entity I am more familiar with than any other. And I know more about U2 than probably anyone else you know. Trust me. U2 made headlines recently (mission accomplished- sort of) by releasing their new album for free, un announced, and by placing it in everyone’s iCloud account at once. Many people didn’t even know what an iCloud was. Some folks, like me, had to learn how to access it in order to download the album. Others were outraged that new music they didn’t ask for was popping up in their jogging shuffle.

Sadly the pushback was so great that it has thus far overshadowed what is actually a pretty great album. Casual iTunes users felt violated in some way. Contemporaries of U2 were appalled that the biggest band in the world would do something so blatant to further erode the value of music in the eyes of consumers. But who really got hurt here?

To the outraged consumers I say: You have less than zero privacy, and that’s your own choice. You post everything on Facebook. You have a GPS transmitter in your pocket at all times that broadcasts your whereabouts, along with everything you like, dislike, covet, are mildly curious about, and who all of your friends are to advertisers who in turn tailor marketing campaigns to the archetype you’ve chosen to assimilate yourself to. Get ready to find more and more things popping up in your Cloud.

To the righteously indignant musician, I submit: The genie left the bottle long ago. For better or for worse, owning media is a ridiculous notion to most people under 30. It’s the Wild West once again, and someone will figure out how to monetize music but it won’t be record sales. Blame Napster or blame Metallica, either way it’s time to get into the t-shirt business.

I have defended U2 until this afternoon. Today is payday, and like most paydays, I went to the record store. I love the record store because I love vinyl. I love the tactile experience; seeing the large artwork, pulling out the sleeve and reading all of the liner notes as I listen. I love thumbing through the bins at the record store because I always stumble across something I was not consciously aware that I wanted until I saw it. And I love hanging out among other music lovers. While I was there, a gentleman came in and asked for the new U2. I’ve felt like such a knuckle dragger for liking them these last few weeks, I welcomed the opportunity for a quick chat with a fellow fan. He, like me (and like anyone who truly enjoys music and has at least a passing knowledge and appreciation of U2) thought the new songs were excellent and couldn’t wait to own the vinyl. 

Sidenote: The album cover is so awful I almost don’t want to own the vinyl for the aforementioned reasons.

Anyhow, I chatted up the record store clerk on the subject and he was a bit salty. And it hit me. This is the real victim. You can count on two hands the number of acts with the selling power of U2. These record stores are likely hanging on by a thread. U2 puts out 2 to 3 new releases per decade, and I’m sure every record store owner was counting on this one to keep the lights on for awhile. They’re hoping this vinyl revival keeps building, but they’re likely in desperate need of a banner release by the world’s biggest band to float the whole operation in the interim. By giving the record free to everyone with an iTunes account, U2 singlehandedly took what was probably the largest payday of the year for record stores and cut it by more than half.

I still love U2. I think the new album is great. I will buy it on vinyl, not for them but for the record store. And I can’t wait for the tour. But they blew it here. For every record store that goes out of business in the next six months, the blood (red sky) is on their hands.

The Changing Zeitgeist (Thank God!)

Here's a piece I drafted a few months ago. I didn't post it right away because I'm attempting to be more positive, so anytime I write something critical I tend to sit on it for a while. But it's short, it's true, and it's kinda funny. Though it may seem to have nothing to do with the new album, this essay is a glimpse into our current state of mind, and our state of mind will no doubt have a big influence on the album.

I was born in 1980. For my entire life, the baby boomers have controlled money, power, culture, politics, pretty much everything. Oddly the generation who claims rock and roll, civil rights, and enlightenment as their own couldn't wait to sell out. Big box stores. Corporate monopolies. SUVs. Tacky subdivisions. Ponzi Schemes. Reality TV...
.......bleccccchhhhhhhh..... 
I worked at a used boat dealership for one summer in my mid twenties. The owner was just as smarmy as you might expect, complete with the gold crusted watch and classic hot rod collection. His motto was "It's not what you say, but how you say it." I doubt Jim came up with this on his own, he probably read it in How To Win Conversations and Influence Buyers or The Seven Habits of People Who Attend Leadership Seminars. If you're around my age, chances are you've been employed by someone similar. Nearly every business has been run this way for at least the last 40 years. Watch any commercial, drive past any strip mall, read the ingredients on the juice flavored drink product for kids.
The boomers never met a slick slogan they didn't like. The bigger the company and the more robotic it's employees, the better. A snappy scripted telephone greeting is their idea of customer service. These empty suits have built empires on such bullshit virtues. They're successful. They're in charge. And they're not going to listen to you.
Now, we're in our late twenties / early thirties and we've become our own marketing demographic. We're buying our first homes, getting married, having kids, starting businesses, making records, getting involved. If a business wants to succeed in the next 40 years, they're going to have to appeal to us. And for some reason, the old shuck and jive doesn't work on us. Not even a little bit. We know when we're being lied to, we know when the person on the other end of the line or standing across from us is just following a script. And we don't like it.
So guess what? We get to watch the dinosaurs go extinct right before our eyes. If your boss insists that you "hone your schtick" just smile and nod, knowing that his or her days are numbered. I swear, we've been browbeaten our entire lives to accept things as true even though we know them to be false. And for a long time the liars were right- by virtue of winning and being in charge. But the truth always comes out. If someone tells you 2+2=5 don't believe them, even if they have a twinkle in their eye and a smirk on their face. It's not how you say it, it's what you say. 

New Record Time!

I've been writing lately about other bands and other things, because the Charlatans have been in pre-production for our new album. This Sunday, pre-production will simply become production. That's right, we're finally headed into the studio! I plan to write quite a bit in the ensuing weeks about the recording process. I've also got a few posts in the can about tangential subjects (The Beach Boys, The Peter Pan Syndrome, etc...) which I plan to weave in. And I hope to do some Q & A segments with the other band members, production folks, and guest musicians. But for starters, every record has a backstory. In fact, every record likely has many different backstories as each person involved comes in with their own baggage and their own hopes and dreams. For this record, here is the abridged backstory from the Drumist's perspective:

On October 5th, we go into the studio to begin tracking of our new album. This site was initially conceived as documenting our journey as a band from inception to notoriety and  profitability. Also, my personal journey of picking up the pieces after Scotland Barr, realizing what I really need to focus on (music), and starting over with an all new (sort of) band.

I say “sort of” because, in fact, Bradley Wik & The Charlatans has become Bradley Wik and Three Slow Drags. It didn’t start out that way! But shortly after recording our first EP as a three piece way back in 2009 it became clear that we needed a lead guitarist. That’s no slight on Bradley’s guitar playing. He is actually a fantastic guitarist. But this band needed a big sound, and the novelty of a power trio never held much sway when weighed against the versatility of a full four piece rock and roll band.

Enter Brian Bergstrom. Brian and I are, I suppose, musical soul mates. We’ve been making music together since I was 19 and we’ve each found our way into every band the other has been a part of. Our respective influences differ greatly, but also overlap at all the important parts. I can’t imagine making music without him. So of course, when we needed a lead guitarist, there was only one call to be made. And yes, Brian served a stint playing bass in The Slow Drags.

Our first full length album was recorded in 2011 and came out in 2012. The time between completion and release was a difficult one, as the band experienced some growing pains. It’s unfortunate but not uncommon that relationships ebbed and flowed amongst band members during those uncertain times. Sadly we had stagnated musically, and personality tensions hit their limit. A change had to be made. We needed a new bass player.

Mickey Nucci was the original bass player in Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags. He grew up with Scott, and he taught me all the songs when I joined that band. He was the steady hand and smiling face that carried me from a basement jammer who had no business anywhere near a professional rock outfit, to a confident and polished drummer with hundreds of gigs under his belt. We needed a new bass player in a hurry and Mickey agreed to fill in for the foreseeable future. About four gigs in it became apparent to all of us that he was the guy for the job, permanently.

We played out almost nonstop for a year and a half promoting that record. We took a huge step forward as a band in the process. But every album has it’s lifecycle and before long new tunes began to displace the album cuts in our setlists. We all lost and / or gained (or both) girlfriends during this time as well.

The “Burn What You Can, Bury The Rest” tour cycle ended on Halloween of 2013. The plan was to spend the winter demoing a new album to be recorded earlier this year. But after such a hectic playing schedule, we all had jobs and relationships to tend to. We worked on the new tunes sporadically through the new year and new songs kept coming. Finally in the spring we started plugging away in Brian’s home studio and again the band took a massive step forward. Free from the constrains of an impending show, we were able to chase the songs down their respective rabbit holes. All the live playing had galvanized us into a tight rock and roll band. And in Brian’s studio, each of us wearing headphones, we were able to finally hear each other. The newest songs were coming together more quickly and sounding better than ones we’d been playing for years.

So here we are. One away from entering the studio proper, where we’ll record live to tape a dozen or so tunes that we’ve spent the last year or so flushing out. This is a fully functioning rock and roll band, greater than the sum of it’s parts, with a clear vision. The way the last album came together was magical, as we really didn’t know what we were doing. Now we’re seasoned and tight. Before we hoped for the best and got it. Now the best is second nature and we hope for something greater. There aren’t three guys on the planet I’d rather be making a record with.

God only knows what the future holds. But all I’ve personally ever wanted out of life was to make something great. I’ve been a part of some great records, but this is the first time I’ve ever had the privilege of going in with the concept fully formed. The only thing left to chance is “how much better than great might it be?” And will anybody like it.

Successmanship

Six years ago I decided to give the whole playing music thing all I've got. Prior to that playing music was a priority, but never a viable career option. This is all well documented right here on this very blog, so no need to keyhole the cymbals now.

Anyhow, recently a friend asked me if Scotland Barr had ever 'made it'. I had to give it some thought. By his own standards, Scott never 'made it'. He wanted to be a star and he knew he had the goods. But ultimately I would submit that he did make it. He wrote, recorded, and published three full length albums (actually the last one is a double but Scott only was able to record vocals for half of the songs). I used to think making money was the hard part. But really, having the goods is the hard part.

What good does financial success in the arts actually do? I suppose it enables one to devote more time and resources to their craft, thus resulting in higher quality output. Except that any band's discography, viewed chronological, would seem to contradict this premise. Sure it would be nice to have lots of nice things, but again the history of mankind suggests a correlation between wealth and happiness which yields diminishing returns.

Scott used to tell me "You consider yourself a camera salesman who plays drums on the weekend. You should flip that paradigm and think of yourself as a musician first who does whatever is necessary to pay the bills." At the time I couldn't have disagreed more staunchly. Then I grew up and realized he was right.
In the last six years my average annual income has been enough to live comfortably on, provided you're definition of comfortably doesn't include home ownership or taking a vacation. Perhaps I'd have earned more had I gone into finance, but there's no way I could sleep at night.

The best part is I'm in a band that is trying to make it all the way. To wake up each day knowing you're part of a group with the highest of aspirations is a very cool feeling. If my band's loftiest goal was to get good enough playing ZZ Top covers to make $300 a night at Duffy's Hanger, I'd be out before the first practice was over. So we'll keep making records and trying to make the best records we can. And hopefully the people who hear them will like them. And hopefully more people will hear them as time goes on. But if I never make a penny playing music it's still a success.

Finally, there's a lot of bs and a lot of injustice in our society. I know that unfortunately most people silently endure the marketing lingo and tps reports just to stay on top of their townhouse mortgage and it must suck. But I can honestly say, the greatest benefit to being in a band and really giving it a go is something I'd never have guessed. It's the quiet confidence. I began to see the world more clearly, to remove monetary designations and look at things in terms of actual value. Money is important to a degree but one can always find a way to make it work. When you're a part of a community that is really striving to make something good, it's easier to ignore that crappy boss at that crappy job. You can walk away from a bad relationship with a bounce in your step and a smile on your face.

Plus when you're in a band every day is dress up day, so if I feel like rockin' a puffy shirt and plaid blazer I can.

Lifehouse is Facebook

Depending on your particular level of Rock & Roll Nerdiness, you may or may not be familiar with Lifehouse. For those of you who have better things to do than read the sleeve notes of classic album reissues, Lifehouse was Pete Townshend's intended followup to Tommy. If you're still lost, Pete Townshend is the lead guitarist and primary composer of The Who. Tommy was his rock opera which is no doubt best known for the hit "Pinball Wizard" (that deaf dumb and blind kid sure plays a mean pinball).

Lifehouse is simultaneously Townshend's greatest success and his biggest failure. After years of work, Pete was ultimately unable to put it all together. Time ran out and nobody from the label to his bandmates could fully comprehend what he was on about. The project was abandoned, and from it's ashes were culled the collection of songs that became Who's Next- widely regarded as one of the best albums of all time and certainly The Who's most successful release by far. "Baba O'Riley" "Won't Get Fooled Again" "Bargain" "Behind Blue Eyes" all were originally part of the Lifehouse story.

For some reason, Townshend was drawn to the idea of a deaf, dumb, and blind protagonist. But since he'd already mined that territory in Tommy, he decided to change it up a little bit for his next project. Tommy was literally unable to speak, hear, or see due to trauma suffered as a young child. In the Lifehouse narrative, young people are unable to truly experience life due to willful self-imprisonment in a metaphorical gilded cage. This dystopian setting bears a striking resemblance to modern society.

In 1970 Pete Townshend envisioned the internet at least 15 years before Al Gore invented it. The song "Relay", which ultimately didn't make the cut on Who's Next, is about just that. But in 1970 nobody else in The Who or their extended circle could really grasp the concept. He envisioned a society where everyone was connected to the same wire. In the story, this was initially embraced as a great step forward for the human race but ultimately it would ensnare mankind as the world became one monolith. Hence the Who's Next album cover, which shows the band taking a piss on an actual monolith they found among some rocks somewhere.

That brings us to Facebook, Twitter, Social Media, Whatever. From the stage I see faces illuminated by their mobile devices. Endlessly scrolling eyes, killing time by reading meaningless 'bumper stickers' (as I'm wont to call them) and "liking" things. The internet has made available endless information to the world. But the problem with endless information is you can't find anything when you're looking at everything. So we've filtered it. Now we only see what's in our news feed. And what's in our news feed is mostly fake. "Likes" can now be bought.

Let's say you open a new coffee shop, or write a book or play in a band. You can hire a company in the US who will in turn hire somebody in India to fabricate Yelp reviews, come up with hashtags, and create fake Facebook accounts by the thousands to "Like" your product and get it trending. Then it pops up on Google and Facebook and bam: you're now popular.

Meanwhile, the English language has been reduced to 140 characters or less. Art is viewed in digital form on a 2 inch screen. What's Good and What's Important is determined by whoever pays Kim Kardashian enough money to tweet about it. This could easily be a less funny draft of a Louis CK bit, I realize. "The Hot Pocket Guy?" No. The Everything Is Great And No One Is Happy Guy.

Next time you go to a show, or a ballgame, or just out to a bar, try this experiment: Leave your phone in your car. Once you don't have it, you'll realize how many times per hour you compulsively reach for it. Remembering you don't have it, you'll then realize that you really had no reason to reach for it in the first place. Pretty soon your eye level will rise and you'll start to experience what's actually happening in real life. The first thing you'll notice is all the other people and their compulsive need to check their phone. You'll see folks interrupt face to face conversations with a friend or loved one every few seconds to gaze and scroll. And you'll probably take pity on these poor souls, bound to their devices, missing out on life because they're obsessed with "staying connected" at all times. But then you'll remember that you've left your phone in the car and, having not checked your messages in an hour or so, you'll convince yourself that perhaps someone has flirted with you on OKCupid so it's probably time to go retrieve it.

Or perhaps you'll cease to care what's in that little 2 inch window because the possibilities every other inch has to offer are far more enticing. And I call that a bargain, the best I ever had.

Music is a Time Machine

I touched on this thesis a few posts back, but I've been thinking about it a lot lately and wanted to write more. We've all heard the studies which claim that music education in k-12 is paramount to learning in general. If you haven't, I'm too lazy to google a link right now but it's out there. The reason is that music has the very unique ability to stimulate both the right and left brain hemispheres since it is simultaneously very creative and mathematical. Children who spend twenty minutes learning piano at the top of the school day retain much more knowledge from every subject they study that day.
So engaging with music seems to heighten our awareness. Say you buy a really good album that you listen to intensely for a certain period of time. Because your brain is functioning at a higher level, everything else you experience during this period of time is recorded into your subconscious mind in acute detail. Inevitably you will tire of this album and it will go on the shelf. Years will pass and you will seldom even think of this album. Then, for some reason, you pull it out and play it again. Suddenly everything you were doing all those years ago is foremost in your thoughts. Things you had seemingly forgotten altogether are as if they happened yesterday. If you often ate lunch at the Thai place near your old job, now you can almost taste the Pad See Ew. You feel the potholes on the Sellwood Bridge that was once your daily commute. If you were going through a breakup at the time your heart might ache all over again, even though you've long since moved on.
This, I can only imagine, is similar to what people mean when they talk about acid flashbacks.

Music, Sports, Goosebumps

I am a sports fan, at least according to non-sports-fan standards.
This often makes me the odd man out among my musician friends, which I always find fascinating. Why must sport and music be mutually exclusive? Whether it's your favorite alt / country band or your hometown basketball team, you're still a) seeking entertainment and b) rooting for them to win. I follow Ryan Adams' chart position as closely as I follow the Blazers Western Conference standings, which is to say that on any given day I'm probably somewhat aware of them.
So a friend of mine posted U2's 2002 (post 9/11) Superbowl Halftime performance on Facebook today for some reason. And it took me back that time. I saw U2 at the Staples Center in November of 2001. It was pretty similar to the halftime show, except 2 hours long. At the beginning of "Streets" Bono asked "What can we give back to God, for the blessings he poured out on us?" a wash of blinding white light over took the crowd and as the song crashed in, someone near me thew Bono an American flag which he held up and ran around the heart-shaped runway. Later a screen arose behind the stage on which all the names of the people lost on 9/11 scrolled. As the band started in to "Walk On" Bono yelled out at the top of his lungs "U S A!" and for that moment 20,000 people simultaneously knew that everything was going to be okay. Just watching that clip 10 years later gives me goosebumbs.
I also get goosebumps watching highlights of Brandon Roy's amazing Game 4. Again, 20,000 people believing, if only for just a few moments, that anything was possible. Music is obviously more important to me than sports, but that's probably just because I actually am good at playing music. But I've realized that I approach them both in a very similar fashion. I read the liner notes of every album I buy because I want to know which musicians played on the record, who produced it, who mixed it, etc... I also check Blazersedge regularly because I like to know the general daily goings on. I follow a game like I follow a concert. But what I'm really looking for is that special moment that probably only happens a few times in ones life (unless you're a L*ker fan, in which case it happened a few times while you were in college). The moment when we dare to dream of the seemingly impossible, and it actually happens! I've had a few concert memories like that, and a few sporting events as well. It's pretty awesome.

The common shared experience.
It seems like our society is becoming increasingly fragmented. Facebook is life and conversation is limited to 160 characters or less. You can find out someone's religious and political beliefs, or anything else, and decide whether you want to be their friend before you've even met them. Everyone has their own club and the people in the other club suck.
Lately I feel like the clock is ticking anytime I meet someone new. I mean, to even get in the door you're stat sheet better check out. And if your stat sheet is perfect, well all you can do then is disappoint in person. But you better do it quick because everyone has way more Facebook friends than they do real life friends, and whether you're looking for a job or a date, you're just one of a constant stream of suitors. I wonder how many people I've written off because their stat sheet didn't seem up to snuff at the time. How many people have written me off for the same reason? Is it possible that I've applied for a job and they've looked at my Facebook and decided to pass without even interviewing me in person? I say it's highly likely. I know for a fact my old employer always looks at someone's Facebook before replying to an application.
I better jump off this tangent before it spirals to a dark place. The point is, music and sports are the only two things I can think of which are capable of producing that ultimate shared crowd experience. And just remembering them can make you feel euphoric all over again. We set aside all the chaos and collectively achieve the impossible. I wish that happened more often, because it's a great feeling.
At the end of the day, we're all rooting for the same team. That team is us, and we just might win.

Johnny Cash Cover Band Plays Local Bar (aka Why I Suck, Am Single, and Most People Are Annoyed By Me)

Tonight (like most nights) I strolled into my local dive, The Nest on Alberta. On this particular warm Friday night (unlike most nights) there was a band playing. Actually, there was a band not playing at the moment I walked in, they were on a break. But the evidence was abundant that indeed there was to be live entertainment at The Nest tonight. Specifically, a handwritten sign posted at the front door which read "$2 donation for band". I did not obey this sign. My first thought was "I'm a musician: I'm poor" followed by "Oh I guess they are too, how can I expect to earn a buck playing music if I won't pay to see it?" I decided that if I thought the band was good I would pay a couple bucks.

I promptly obtained a Pabst from the barkeep and made my way to the patio, where I typically run into people I barely know and talk about The Blazers or Music or something less important. At some point I noticed the band had resumed. I could hear the muffled sounds of train beat coming from inside. Once I had nursed my Ribbon dry I headed back in for another, and to check out the band. As I reentered I could barely make my way across the room. Suddenly the overfilled bike rack made sense (I actually had to wait for a parking space FOR MY BIKE when I arrived.) It was a Johnny Cash cover band playing "Folsom Prison Blues"

Of course that's the song they would be playing precisely the minute I walked in. And the place was packed with happy drunk girls, ranging from a soft-7 on down, dancing and singing along. Now here's the part that makes me suck: This drove me crazy. My first thought was I wonder how many of these people liked Johnny Cash before it was Cool To Like Johnny Cash (that is, before "Hurt" came out). I concluded none of them. Young people like Johnny Cash for the same reasons that people with no ties to Boston wear Red Sox hats.

I'm not a Johnny Cash fan. That's not to say that I don't like or respect his work, but I own none of his CDs and I never paid much attention to him. People I respect very much musically have named him as a key influence. I even recorded one of his songs for a tribute compilation that never came out. I recognize his greatness and his impact on the music world. But by virtue of the fact that I am not a fan I am totally unqualified to write the following paragraph.

Johnny would probably not be super stoked that a bunch of unintelligent bimbos were singing along to a handful of his more radio-friendly tunes while their Abercrombie and Affliction clad beaus were ordering another round of tequila shots and plotting the next epic Dave show at The Gorge. Or maybe he'd be thrilled by it, who knows. But my gut tells me no genius wants to see his life's work marginalized and distilled down to a handful of "Greatest Hits," played primarily for the purpose of hastening along the procreation of dumb people and thus the demise of our society (see Idiocracy- opening sequence). And the thing which I'm certain would drive Johnny crazy is that these are the very same people who didn't give a shit about him a few years ago. This is the sort of folk who, were Johnny a young up-and-comer today, would not invest even five seconds to ponder his music.

Yesterday I texted a girl, who I guess is a friend but probably won't be for much longer, that I had a few copies of the new Scotland Barr record. The only reason I did this is because I think she is a fan as she came to a lot of shows back in the day and has the other two albums. Plus I'm certain she would love it. Her response was, "I'll pass, but thank you anyway!" (I love the random use of exclamation points, by the way.) I was surprised by this, and fired back, "Wow really? You'd love it, it's a masterpiece. I thought you'd be excited..." Her devastating / enraging response was, "I don't purchase that much music anymore... Really trying to watch my spending, so unless it's close to free... Yah. Sucks being poor" This coming from a person who a) has a job with a Fortune 500 company, b) drives a new car, and c) probably spends between $15 and $50 every day on Starbucks / lunch / happy hour / $2 donations to Johnny Cash cover bands at dive bars.

And this is why our society sucks, or why our society is fine and I am the one who sucks. People say they are poor when clearly they aren't, and will piss through money on all sorts of things that will be consumed and forgotten in a matter of minutes. Yett somehow paying for a CD which cost thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars to produce is considered a frivolous luxury. Do we really want to live in a world of classic rock stations and repackaged greatest hits albums and crappy cover bands? Are we, as a society, done embracing new art?

So here I am. Up on my high horse, blogging and judging. Who am I? Just a drummer who can (kinda) sing and (attempts to) write songs. If I had approximately 30% fewer braincells and 100% more Tap Out shirts I could be bedding one of those gold digging fairweather Cash fans right now. But instead I'm laying on my couch alone, watching The Larry Sanders Show on Netflix. And publishing blogs which will make a handful of people chuckle and many more people (if they ever read it) say "Nick sucks, no wonder he doesn't have a girlfriend."

Ryan Adams, 9/11, Pop Culture, and Pneumonia

I, like most people who have seen High Fidelity several times, enjoy making top 5 lists. But these lists are not static, they are subject to change. If I were to attempt a definitive, for the ages top 5 Nick's Favorite Albums of All Time list I don't know where to start. Certainly, I'd have to establish a criteria and assign points based various benchmarks. One such benchmark is Number of Times I've Purchased Said Album.

Like great books or great movies, great albums are often purchased many times. I will typically buy a few copies of something I think is wonderful and give them as gifts. Also, I often lend these albums out and never get them back. Hopefully it's because the person enjoyed it so much they want to keep it. But often, I fear, I lend these records to people I hope will enjoy it but in fact they never even play it and it gets lost (see previous entry). Ultimately, after some time has passed, I will have an overwhelming need to hear this album again. So a definitive top 5 list will have several factors, and one of which is certainly number of times purchased.

September 11, 2001, couldn't have happened at a better time in my life. I was 21, working at a camera store, living on my own for the first time, and attempting to play in a band. When I was in my most formative age, America became one for an all too brief period. Suddenly everything meant more, which is to say everything meant what it rightfully should have but up to and including September 10th everything meant less. Nobody stopped to ponder the importance of a sunny day, or hearing a great song for the first time, or The National Anthem, or the beer garden at Oktoberfest.

September 11, 2001, came at a great time for Ryan Adams too. The former Whiskeytown front man had the good fortune of filming a video for his most feel-good radio-ready single to date on September 7th, right in front of the Twin Towers. The song was called New York, New York. It received heavy rotation on MTV (yeah they used to play videos) and Ryan subsequently performed it that winter on Saturday Night Live. Back then, people watched MTV and SNL. I saw that episode of SNL and Ryan and his band really struck a chord with me. The next day, on my lunch break from the camera shop, I was doing what I did on every lunch break- thumbing through every album in the record store. I saw the Ryan Adams album, it was on sale and it came with a 4 track bonus disc. I bought it.

I loved this album so much I lent it to Brian Bergstrom, whom I'd been friends and bandmates with for about a year at that point. Brian didn't love it at first, but he put it in his CD player in his bedroom and played it every night as he fell asleep. This was a whole new sound for both of us. Alt-country. Music by guys only a few years older than us. They had grown up listening to punk rock, but they had also grown up in the South and were thus surrounded by pedal steel guitars and banjos. These were songwriters who had all the angst and anger of someone growing up in the 80s, but also had the musical chops to craft songs with more than just three distorted chords, smashing drums, and bad vocals. Suddenly a genre of music we didn't even know existed a few months prior was changing our lives. Suddenly it made perfect sense to call the girl I knew who played viola and see if she'd like to come jam with us. But this particular blog post is not about that album.

This is about Whiskeytown's masterpiece / obituary, Pneumonia. I just bought this album today for what has to be the 8th time. I was sitting in a Starbucks and Sit and Listen to the Rain came on. Funny how Starbucks is one of the last remaining bastions of good music. Anyhow, since I had lent out my last copy a few years ago, it'd been a long time since I'd heard this song. Suddenly I needed to once again own Pneumonia. Thank God record stores still exist, because this album is far too beautiful to listen to in mp3 form. It was recorded to tape, without computers and patches and autotune. This album sounds like Pet Sounds, but with better lyrics. Horns, mandolins, mallet instruments, lush harmonies, it's got everything and everything fits perfectly. It took U2 five attempts to make The Joshua Tree, but Whiskeytown had done it in three.

In a parallel universe, Whiskeytown hands the finished record to the label, the label believes in it and puts a bunch of promotion behind it, and Whiskeytown fulfill their destiny by becoming the Next Great Band. But in this universe, they finish the album and before it can be released the label folds. The big money is in boy bands, this is 1998 and there's no profit to be made from great songs with real meaning played by musicians. The album rots in a vault somewhere, the band breaks up, and Ryan launches a solo career. Eventually, in 2001, Ryan's new label will release it. But with the band no longer in existence there is no promotion. What few copies it does sell are to pre-existing Whiskeytown fans (of which there weren't enough to keep the whole machine in business in the first place) and to new Ryan fans like me with a suddenly insatiable appetite for more Ryan.

The redeeming value of this universe is that record stores do still exist and that as recently as 10 years ago, record labels still believed in good music enough to pay people to make it and then to press enough copies that the music will always be available. It's not on the rack at Walmart, but if you look you can find it. As recently as 10 years ago, corporations still believed in art enough to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to put enough copies of it out into the world so that someday, someone making a mix tape for Starbucks could find it.

The best part about great albums is that you listen to them a lot when you first get them. You listen so much that they become the soundtrack for that particular time in your life. You will, no doubt, move on to other albums. And likewise, you will move on to other stations in life. But great albums never disappear forever. And when they suddenly pop back into your head and then into your CD player, you are transported back to that place in time.

Today I am remembering the time when new doors were opened, when lifelong friendships were forged. I was 21, living on my own for the first time, and trying to play in a band. Brian and I, for the first time, had an artist we were both passionate about. Melissa and her viola came along. She and Brian got married. I auditioned for a group that sounded like Whiskeytown (sort of) and I got the gig.

Getting Closer To The Elevator

I can't remember who made this statement, maybe Charles Barkley, but it goes something like "I'm just trying to get to the top so I can send the elevator back down." Sports is a lot like music in that if you are able to perform at the highest level, the benefits are great. You become rich. You become a celebrity. People you don't know read your blogs and follow you on twitter. Actually, this isn't exclusive to sports and music, I suppose no matter what you do, if you do it at a very high level there will be some degree of fame and fortune.

Do I want to be rich and famous? Of course I do. I'm not gonna lie. And by the way, I know plenty of musicians who have no desire to be famous, and even a few who don't want to be rich. But I've never been meager. As far as fame is concerned, to me it would be a validation that the things I have always felt important and worthwhile are recognized by a wide audience. When I was playing with Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags I knew that Scot's songs were so well crafted that it would be a great injustice to the world collective if they did not at some point achieve a wide audience. I may not be able to write great songs myself, but I think I know one when I hear it. If I were moderately famous for some reason, I could tweet or blog about music I thought people should hear and then people would hear it. Plus, it would make talking to girls that much easier. 31 and still lousy at talking to girls...

Level of fame desired: Moderate. If I could one day hope to be as widely known as Bun E Carlos then my life will have been a smashing success. I don't really care if a bunch of 14 year old girls know who I am. But to have accomplished enough in the music world to be known and respected by people in that world, would be a great honor.

Level of riches desired: Low to Moderate. I've lived on nothing for the past couple years. It's not so bad really. But I do feel like if I had just a little bit of financial success, I could set up some nice things for me and anyone else interested in making great music. I've always had great ideas, and ideas take money. The more money I have, the more elevators I can install to send back down.

Anyhow this whole getting closer to the elevator idea is something I've really been focusing on for the past couple of years. If someone were to send The Elevator back down to me, well I'd have to be in The Lobby to catch it. That's kind of what we have going on in Portland right now. The point is to be dialed in to the music scene, to have friends working toward the same goal. I don't really know how many "friends" I have. Facebook would say that number is somewhere in the upper 200s. But I can count on one hand the number of those "friends" who came to any of my shows in the last year.

An old friend of mine made a great point. He said friendships are basically a business relationship; both parties stand to benefit in some way and as soon as one of them no longer benefits the friendship ends. In a related story, I never see or hear from him anymore. This only bothers me a couple times a year, like when I hear about a birthday party or camping trip and wonder why I wasn't invited. But then again, I probably wouldn't have gone anyhow because I really have so little in common with those people now we'd have almost nothing to talk about.

It used to drive me crazy that my friends would never come to my shows. But I realized they're not bad people, they're just not that in to music. How in the world I ended up with a bunch of friends who care so little about something that means so much to me is still a mystery, but it happened. The thing is, I still identified with that crowd much more than with the music crowd for way too long. I grew up in Salem with a pretty conservative, business-minded upbringing. I never considered myself an artist. When I was playing with the aforementioned Drags, I rarely would hang out after the show. I almost went out of my way to avoid getting sucked into the art-music-culture community. This baffles me. I was a fool. Anyhow, too late now but moving forward I know what to do. Gone are the days where I would quickly pack up after a gig and high tail it to some party with a bunch of people who don't care about music.

I've never been a populist, I've always been more of a niche guy. In social gatherings I'm often found off to the side with a small click who gets Simpsons and Spinal Tap references without citation. And if someone said Dane Cook was funny, I would know that I didn't need to talk to that person ever again. But it's different with music. I used to bang my head against the wall trying to explain to people why John Mayer sucks and Ryan Adams is brilliant. Why do I care what they think?

A guy I used to drink beer with, who is actually my Dad's age, once told me why people do drugs. "90% of the time," he said, "it's not fun. But you're trying to recreate that one magical time when it was awesome." So that's why I often catch myself taking up the cause of great music. Because once upon a time there was this girl who basically liked whatever was on the radio, but I could tell that she was smart so I told her about some obscure bands. I even made a few mix tapes. And as near as I could tell it worked. She really liked these new bands. Unless of course she was just paying lip service, which I doubt since she shot down every advance I ever made. But ever since then I've thought that exposing people to The Jayhawks was a worthwhile endeavor. Even if it fails 90% of the time, when it succeeds it's High Fidelity. But a 10% rate of success does not a smart life-plan make. Better to surround myself with people who already like The Jayhawks.

So, being in The Lobby. Getting closer to The Elevator.
I feel like I'm just scratching the surface of this thing we have happening right now in Portland. But it's a great feeling. I know people who are Making It. When I first started writing this blog a couple years ago, it was because I took a long hard look in the mirror. I couldn't pay my rent, I was about to turn 29, and I had hoped to achieve some sort of financial security by the time I was 30. I evaluated all my strengths and weaknesses and was honest with myself, for the first time ever, with what I thought I could actually do long term occupation wise. The only option that made sense was Musician. It seemed the likeliest of all scenarios. But that notion was a hard sell to pretty much everyone else in my life at the time. Now that I am surrounded by folks who are making a go of it, and some who have already succeeded, it validates my notion. Call me crazy, but I'm starting to feel less like if and more like when.

And the best part is, I don't even care when when is. I'll always find a way to make the rent and the car payment and to eat, drink, and be merry. So long as I'm on the path, I'm headed in the right direction. Even if I never get there, the trip will be fun.

It's Been WAY Too Long

Good Lord, I have neglected this blog. Mainly because A) I'm certain nobody ever reads it and B) I've been really busy. But I realized that my email signature has a link to this site, so I figured I'd best put something semi-current up in case someone ever winds up here.
So when I started the goal was to keep a running diary of my progress as I try to find a way to make a living by playing music. I suppose if someone didn't know me and were following this blog (again, highly unlikely) they could take my lack of updates two different ways: Either I am too busy touring with Duran Duran to update, or I gave up and am working at Pizza Hut. Well neither is correct, although I am working (mercifully) at Pizza Hut.

****TANGENT**** Pizza Hut sucks ass and no one should ever work there or eat their food.

The truth is I've been playing my ass off. Still haven't made a dime, but the important lesson is that's okay. I already am a successful musician, because I play music well and sometimes people even watch / listen and enjoy. The most notable development has been my singing ability. I took some lessons and worked real hard and I'm proud to say that I am now a very capable harmony singer. Also I've done a bit of writing. I've always had things to say, and through Trampoline! I've finally found a way to say them.
So for those keeping score at home, I can be found playing in 3 bands:
Bradley Wik & The Charlatans, which just recorded an album which will come out hopefully in a few months
Trampoline!, which just recorded a demo that, while not totally finished, can be found on the intertubes
and Melville, which is a brand new band and we are playing out first show tomorrow night.

I guess that's all for now. I'll try to stay more on top of this thing.

Scotland's Memorial

Yesterday friends, family, and bandmates of Scotland Barr (AKA Scott Barr Moritz) gathered at Duff's Garage for a moving tribute. The afternoon began with Scott's wife Stacy tearfully remembering the man we all love. Then there was a slide show / video compiled by Slow Drags Bryan Daste and Andy Nelson. I had no idea the crazy hairstyles and outfits Scott had worn over the years. If there was a dry eye in the house at this point, the meal should have changed that. Wonderful salmon, wings, and tamales served with black beans and rice- all of which no doubt had more than a touch of Aardvark.
After people had settled in with their food, the main event began. Past and present Slow Drags took the stage, augmented by some of the most notable musicians from Portland, Seattle, and beyond. We played for well over an hour with all of the Slow Drags taking lead vocal duties on 1 tune each. Yes, even me, on "Washing Over Me".
Finally the service was closed with many friends sharing thoughts and memories of Scott. I had prepared a short statement, which since I didn't use notecards was slightly different at the service than it appears here but this version is probably better anyhow.

Scott and I had a lot of arguments. His main gripe with me was that I didn't take my playing serious enough. He said I was "a construction worker who played the drums" and it should have been the other way around. He was right. I always complained that I didn't have enough money and couldn't afford to keep touring more and more. He told me that it was simple, I needed to change my paradigm. I dug my heals in, citing logic and reason. How could I ever expect to survive? I didn't want to "suffer for the arts." I held on as long as I could, but in the end the band carried on without me. Scott used to ask me what I wanted to do. Did I really want to be a construction worker who played drums on the weekends? When you're riding around in a van with 5 other dudes not knowing where you're going to sleep or how you're going to make your car payment, that doesn't sound too bad. It was only when I was out of the band did I realize the truth. I HAVE to play music. Moreover, I have to play GREAT music.
Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags set the bar incredibly high. So I did change my paradigm.
Many of you are artists like Scott, so you already know what I'm talking about. There's the guy you work with who goes and plays an open mic every Tuesday. There's the guy who is always talking about his band, and how they have a big show coming up. Then there's the guy who used to work there but left one day. The guy who stopped working for the man all together and devoted all of his time to chasing a dream. That was Scott. The lesson I take, and we all should take, from Scott is this: Change your paradigm. What do you want to be? Not what your parents want or your girlfriend wants. Certainly not what your boss wants. What do you want? If you create, do it more. If you're blessed with NOT having the creative gift, but rather the ability to plug into the matrix and earn a good living, that's great. But make sure you support the arts. Next time your coworker has a show, get some people together and go see it.
Scott would never stand for mediocrity, and certainly not crap. One of the last conversations we had was lementing how many people listen to Kid Rock and think it's good music. Take a stand! Don't settle for garbage, expect more. There is great art out there waiting to be appreciated, you just have to dig a little deeper.

The whole service was video taped, so if some excerpts from it ever see the light of day I'll be sure and point you to them. Also, the band are very eager to finish the album but without the ability to play shows are a bit strapped financially. If you wish to make a donation to help complete Scott's masterpiece, visit www.scotlandbarr.com and follow the paypal link. And if you haven't done so already, download the four new tracks posted there for free and share them.

Took That Long Slow Walk Down Ocean Drive...

For two years I had the honor of drumming with Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags. Last fall Scott was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He battled it hard and never gave up. He continued to write, record, and perform. Scott is the greatest songwriter I have ever known and rightfully should one day be known by many more than the lucky few who got to share the stage with him or see him play. Scott was constantly creating. In addition to music, he was an incredible chef. If you've ever been to Salvador Molly's or enjoyed some Secret Aardvark sauce then you know what I'm talking about.
Scott gave much more to the world than he ever asked for in return. The ultimate goal of any artist is to have their work be enjoyed by as many as possible. What I ask for from all of you now is this: enjoy and share. If you own a copy of either "Legionnaires' Disease" or "All The Great Aviators Agree" take it out and give it a listen. Go to www.scotlandbarr.com and you can stream them both, as well as 4 brand new tracks (his best work in my professional opinion.) Play them for a friend. Buy a few cds and send them to music lovers you know. If you or someone you know is a foodie, pick up a few bottles of Secret Aardvark. The now famous hot sauce is available all over Portland along side the Drunken Garlic Black Bean and the just released Drunken Jerk.
Personally I'd just like to express my deepest thanks to those of you who took the time to attend our shows over the years. Scott didn't write songs for twelve year olds, you had to listen intently many times to really get inside them but it was always worth it! I know we're all busy with our social lives and it's not always top priority on anyone's weekend agenda to watch a band play songs that aren't "Jessie's Girl" or "Lady GaGa". Anyhow to my many friends who did make that effort, thank you. Not once did it go unnoticed by myself and the rest of the band. God Bless Scott, you will not be forgotten.

Thoughts on The Shins, etc...

1st of all, it's been way too long since I've updated this thing. To my loyal reader(s), sorry.

Mickey, former bass player for Scotland Barr, and I just got together recently for quite a long chat. He told me about the Jesse Sandoval interview in the Portland Mercury. Jesse Sandoval, along with Marty Crandall, was recently fired from The Shins. Jesse has long been one of my favorite drummers and thus one of my main influences. You should go over to PortlandMercury.com and read it for yourself. I didn't find anything in that interview that I hadn't already deduced for myself.
As a drummer, I have been fired from many bands, and it seems to be the same everytime: It's always a surprise. Sure, looking back I could see the writing on the wall. But it's never easy when it happens. The way Jesse and Marty were dismissed is very typical. The singer / songwriter of the group (in this case, James Mercer) is the tormented genius. It's a stock character, the troubled introvert who writes and sings amazingly and creates incredible works of art. Then there's the goof-ball class clown drummer. Not shy, not introverted, couldn't write a great song to save his life but loves being in a band.
This was a great source of conflict in the Drags because Mickey and I were always up on stage grinning like idiots even if the show wasn't going well. Others in the band took this to mean that we simply didn't give a shit. I think I had some degree of success in explaining that the reason I tried to always appear to be having a great time on stage is that I feel it is crucial that the band project an image of fun while playing. After all, we want the audience to enjoy the show, and why would they if we aren't enjoying it ourselves. Just because I have this happy-go-lucky demeanor doesn't mean mistakes don't bother me.
This was Jesse and Marty in The Shins. Probably not the most talanted musicians in the band, but certainly fan favorites. They were probably also the ones who could make the other guys laugh, albeit at their own expense, when things got heated. There is a certain dynamic that a band has, when it is made up of friends who started playing together before any of them were really very good, or at least accomplished. There's much more to the sound of a band and the music that band creates , either on stage or in the studio, than the sum of it's parts. Unfortunately craigslist is changing that. Band members are nearly always auditioned and hired based on their ability to learn the parts quickly. It seems like the organic method where 5 friends start jamming in the basement is fading fast. Replacing it is the very business-like weighing the pros and cons of a pool of applicants and selecting the best one on paper before actually really getting to know the person.
Jeff Tweedy famously fired Jay Bennett from Wilco and then took the band on to far greater levels of commercial success. Jay says in the documentary something like "I think Jeff simply wanted his band back." In that movie Jay comes off as a real asshole, but let the record reflect that as soon as "A Ghost Is Born" was released I pointed out and my friend Brian Bergstrom agreed that infact Jay had a much bigger positive impact on the sound of Wilco's records than most people knew. Anyhow, since this famous incident I believe it's become almost a right of passage for singer / songwriters. Re-assert your control of the band. Make the bold move. Fire the person who maybe you clash with the most. It really has a galvanizing effect initially on the remaing members. I've been on both sides of this. Once the naerdowell is gone, he is scapegoated with all of the past problems. Any insecurities on the part of the other players will disappear with the circling the wagons. Only after many months and shows and recordings do you really start to realize exactly what you've lost.
I also feel that a bandmember who on the surfface appears to be the least talanted might just be the key to success. Maybe they can push the songwriter's buttons like no one else. Maybe it's that constant conflict that drives the songwriter and makes the finished product better. Once you jettison everyone who disagrees with you, you have free reign- not necessarily a good thing.
Concerning The Shins, I'm sure James was encouraged by yes-men and business types in his inner circle to make the bold move. Now he is free to bring in the most talented musicians without the constraints of keeping the band togther. He will likely go on to world superstardom while Jesse runs his taco cart and Marty does whatever he's going to do. But it will never be the same. The 4 kids from New Mexico, high school chums out to take over the world, are gone. It's now a corporate machine, where the bandmates are paid employees who know their place and can be hired and fired on a moment's notice.
Anyhow, I'll write more about what it's like to be a drummer in a band of musicians later. And in the meantime, check out the Bradley Wik & The Charlatans show at Berbati's on 8/23. We've been practicing real hard and can't wait to rock P-Town again.

Saturday Night in Southeast

Played a very fun show with Bradley Wik & The Charlatans last night at Duke's Landing on SE Belmont. The cool thing is the place has an open garage door, so the rock and roll can spill out into the night. The other cool thing is all the people meandering around the sidewalk at night could hear us and drifted in to see the show. It's one thing to guilt your friends into coming to the gigs, but the real goal is to take your music to new people. So without further ado, here is the setlist:

Drive All Night
Dance With Me
To Hell With You
Polar Opposites (Modest Mouse cover)
Johnny And Mary
Back To Brooklyn
Friday Night
I Got You (Wilco cover)
Midwest Winters
Leavin' The City
I've Never Slept On The Avenue

EP coming soon to iTunes!

On Stage Sound

Just played a great gig with Bradley & The Charlatans. It's an exciting feeling when a band starts to hit it's stride on stage. All the rehearsal in the world doesn't make you great. Don't get me wrong, it is necessary, but what really has to happen is the cohesion and chemistry amongst the band members during a show. Maybe I'm just getting better, or maybe I'm playing with better people it's hard to say. But both the John O'Mara band and The Charlatans are really starting to go off.
With Bradley, we record all of the shows to video. I have beaten this drum in every band I've played with, so I'm glad to have finally found one that will listen. The acoustics on stage differ greatly from venue to venue. And no venue sounds like our practice space. Consequently, the feel and the dynamic can be tricky. Such was the case last week when we played at Kelly's Olympian. Kelly's is a very loud, very rock and roll sounding room. High ceilings, hardwood floors, loud PA, very live. The tendency for bands is to start basking in the loudness of their own sound and stop listening to each other. I think we all felt that to a certain degree after the show. Maybe we hadn't played as tight as we could've. Fortunately in this band, we follow the golden rule of not over analyzing every note right after the show. Instead, we talk about the good things, mingle with fans and sell CDs, and call it a night. Then, when we watch the tape, re realize that the gig was much better than it sounded on stage. So, even though we weren't necessarily listening to each other as well as we could have, all that rehearsal payed off and we played a great show anyhow.

Setlist:
Drive All Night
Dance With Me
To Hell With You - watch it here
Johnny And Mary
Back To Brooklyn
Friday Night - watch it here
I Got You (Wilco cover)
Midwest Winters - watch it here

The Ferris Project

So my collaboration with Ryan Ferris has been on the backburner for a long time. We're both in other bands that play quite a bit so it's just a side thing we do. It really has almost no direction, except that we are both trying to break some new ground as musicians. I am trying to take a more active role in the songwriting process, contributing lyrics and helping to shape the musical arrangement. Also, I've always wanted to develop my singing ability. I'm really looking to make music with lush vocal harmonies, and I figure a good place to start is with my own voice. I'm finding that my voice has improved drastically in the last few months, simply from harmonizing. Ryan has been good enough to teach me some vocal parts he had written for his song, and then practice with me until I got it. Most bands just haven't had the time or patience for this, either you can sing or you can't and that's the end of it.
Anyways all of this is fresh in my mind because we had a really great session this afternoon. Another thing I've noticed about music is that you can't judge the potential of a particular band configuration right away. At first, I was mainly in it for the enjoyment and the laughs. But then the songs start to cross the hump and really sound like good tunes. The band starts to take shape and take on a life of it's own. That is a great feeling.
The best piece of advice I can give to any other musicians at this point is to stick with it. Maybe you were in a band that was functioning at a very high level, and now you're in a new one that doesn't seem as good. Give it time, and effort. It will happen.

Random Tidbits

Here's the latest on all of my pending projects:

BW/C (Bradley Wik & The Charlatans) - we have two shows coming up here in Portland. We're booking more soon and will be expanding our circle beyond the Rose City (Seattle and Salem in the works). Also, the EP is selling quite nicely considering it's only in one store- Ranch Records in Salem.

The Winebirds - We have been rehearsing a lot lately, but not for shows. We have a very important studio session coming up at the end of this month. I'm very excited because it'll be my first time in the studio with them. They have the album about half completed already so we've got our work cut out for us. And they record analog! Right, remember that thing called tape? It's much more expensive, time consuming, and the musicians really have to get it right the first time because you can't just touch it up on a computer. Also, they track everything except vocals live with the whole band in the studio playing together at the same time. Sounds normal right? You'd be surprised how few bands actually do this anymore.

John O'Mara - We are doing a small tour in Southern California in mid June, as well as a couple shows in the Seattle area. The addition of the keyboards really adds a lot, and we are starting to play some incredible live shows. His new album is also available now.

Ryan Ferris and the Nick of Time - Ferris and I just played in his studio again today. We've got one song tracked and another about ready to be tracked. It's a really slow moving project- but not in a bad way. We meet about once a week, have a few beers, talk about music and other stuff, and play some songs. It's a great creative process which is never dull and sooner or later we'll get around to finishing some tunes.

Dallas - Haven't seen these guys since I was last in Seattle, which I guess was less than a month ago but feels like an eternity. I know we've got some shows coming up soon, just don't know when. Also, there is more studio time on the horizon, we are waiting for our producer to finish building his new studio.

I should also give a plug for my former band, Scotland Barr & The Slow Drags (not that they need it). They just played to a capacity crowd at the Doug Fir, and the show was filmed for PDXPosed, so watch for that. Scot is writing his best songs ever now, so head on over to www.scotlandbarr.com and catch a show. If you've seen them before, like say when a certain tall and handsome drummer was there, but haven't seen them lately, now would be a great time. The new tunes are great and the band sounds better than ever. Sheesh you'd think they were giving me free hot sauce or something!

BW/C 1st Show Setlist!

We played the Ash St Saloon Wednesday night. Unfortunately, when it's your first show you don't get first pick of time slots. Alas, we didn't take the stage until after midnight. Thanks to all of you who stuck it out. The band before us was, hmm how to put this delicately.... SHITTY! Normally it's never a good idea to badmouth other bands, but I have to break from the standard BS. My conscience is clear. It was a crappy blues band who had probably never rehearsed. Worse than anything I've ever seen, and believe me play enough open mics and you'll see a lot of crap. Word to the wise- don't cover songs like "Crossroads" and "Voodoo Chile". And for those of you with long memories, yes I've covered those and many other shameless over played tunes. But that was a long time ago, I suck for having done it, and I'm here to help the youth of America to not make the same mistakes I did.

OK the good part:

Drive All Night
Back To Brooklyn
Too Hell With You*
Johnny And Mary
Dance With Me Darlin'
Midwest Winters*
I've Never Slept On The Avenue
encore:
Morning Glory (Oasis cover)

The songs with the * are originals we have yet to record, the rest are on the EP- except the Oasis tune of course.

We sold a few EPs, make sure to pick up your copy. Currently only available at shows or from us, but coming soon to iTunes and a store near you!