Saturday, March 22, at the Hartford Coffee Company again. We were famouslydouble-booked and bumped from our last appearance there a few months ago, but they paid us anyway and, yeah, as if we weren't going to go back when given the chance.
We've been toying with a few more covers, although I don't know if any new ones will make it into the set. Abusing "Ring of Fire," "Time after Time" and U2's "One" should remain, though.
I like the idea of doing a few covers, because my coffee-shop music philosophy is: Enhance but don't disturb the customers' inner peace. Too many covers -- particularly of originals anyone holds dear -- and I imagine a distracting experience for the chap caught in law school hell who just wants to study over a cup of coffee and still feel like he's part of a human community. But a little cover here and there provides a nice bit of familiarity, particularly if the other songs' vibe doesn't sit with you.
On that note, stripping a song down to its coffeeshop-style, kick-drum-less version isn't too hard for me -- as long as I can keep the original out of my head. We messed with a Dixie Chicks song which I had understandably never heard before. But going back to see how the original is played, versus how my Lisa Kudrow/Friends-character sister plays it, just scrambled my brain and timing.
Speaking of which, using my floor tom as both bass and fill is still fun: It's getting me to think outside of my comfort zone and it keeps the volume down. But I do feel like I hit a wall sometimes because I don't have all four limbs available, so I can't do as much as I want.
Which, I suppose, is the point. Rein in the drummer. Just keep time, fool.
But that hasn't kept me from poking around Craig's List for a jazz bass drum.
As you may have noticed, the site has changed. Sampa, the free-site host, did a version 2 of some sort.
Despite an FAQ that made it sound like allowing one's site to go through v.2 surgery would be okay, there were several flexibilities that surprisingly disappeared with the click of a button. (e.g. I cannot believe sidebars like this one are even narrower than before.)
And I'm told -- miraculously! -- that the conversion cannot be undone. Truth be told, I'm actually quite pissed. But free is free. Sampa has otherwise been good to me.
So I need to sort through site "features" to see how I can make do. Except that I don't have the time at the moment, in the middle of graduate classes and Lighthousehockey.com. (btw, I've removed that Lighthouse RSS feed so that you're not clogged with random Islanders hockey gibberish).
But I promise to touch up the accessories when I get a chance, and return to irregularly scheduled blogging.
Subscribe to this Site
February, 2008