JW - 3/24/2012

I missed the session last week because of house issues, but received an e-mail telling me that the group had added "Substitute" and "We've Got to Get Out of This Place" officially, but also Bryan Adams' "Summer of '69" and "Cuts Like a Knife", Guess Who's "American Woman", and the Who's "Pinball Wizard". I was mildly annoyed that they'd added several songs without my having any say in the matter, but figured I'm still the new guy and had missed practice to boot, so couldn't say much. So I came prepared for all of the above, and naturally we didn't play "Place", "Knife", or "American Woman".

We did, however, play "Born Under a Bad Sign", "Jean Genie", and "Suffragette City", none of which had even been mentioned before. WTF? And the bandleader indicated we'll probably drop "Bring It On Home", the most vocal-heavy song we do because he thinks it's not really working, when to my mind, we've barely touched it. Very frustrating for me, since we'll put 30 minutes of practice time into working on some subtlety of getting everybody on the same page re: some guitar riff I barely notice is in the song, but we won't put any time into getting a vocal harmony right that an audience would certainly notice. That's just where the priorities of most of this group are, and I'm not going to be able to change that. I think singer Bill would do it, but the others won't. The problem is that having three voices requires some coordination, where with two, you can just have the lead singer do his thing and the backing singer just sings whatever other parts he can.

Again, there was some discussion of having gotten into contact with management at a place they used to play, but still nothing definite lined up.

"Substitute" is now part of a medley, preceded by "Pinball Wizard", which is fine, but they've cut the bass solo part out because it isn't in the Live at Leeds version. It's not as though I can't play it, and adding to the length of a song is generally considered a Good Thing in cover band circles. No reason given, even when I brought this up. Again, annoying, but not a huge deal.

On a more positive note, the bandleader at least noted that we need to play the easier songs we've been skipping more regularly, if only to tighten them up, which is something I've been saying for the last two sessions. This was prompted by our playing some of the easier songs we haven't touched for a while, and they just didn't sound that good.

I'd thought we were going to have a lot of songs on our list, since we're over 60 songs or so now, which would give us flexibility, but apparently the idea is that we'll drop a bunch of the ones that aren't working as well rather than try to improve them. Not really on board with that, either, since anything vocally oriented hasn't had much of a chance.

I'm very frustrated at the moment, but leaving the band so soon isn't something I'd want to do. Some of this is on me, because I knew from the outset that they weren't vocally oriented; I just saw that as an opportunity for me to step up and add to the band, as I did in my old band Mirage, when it appears it's something most of them don't really want. Still, I'm not going anywhere at this point unless they kick me out. We're still at a relatively early stage, and I want to see how the situation ultimately stabilizes. I may do better just to get my vocal "charge" from recording at home or having some sort of side project. I'd consider going back to Splunge on a once/month basis if I thought I had the time for it.

JW - 3/10/2012

Still struggling inexplicably with "Mississippi Queen", though I've got it at least functional now. It's crazy how tricky this has been for me, when I learned far more difficult songs much more quickly. Just one of those blind spots. It doesn't help that I just plain dislike the song.

Volume was a little lower this time, and we had a decent run through "Bring It On Home" with three part harmony. Still some rough edges, but improving. My vocal role with this band is becoming clearer. I'm singing the higher parts, because I can. Keith and I still instinctively go for the same parts, so I'm going to have to get used to the next part up. This isn't a bad thing; it's a new challenge for me, and largely successful.

Again, some discussion of playing out. Consensus seems to agree with my thought from last time, which is that we're really just about ready, and by the time we get any work scheduled, we will be ready.

Jammed our way through the Who's "Substitute" and "Won't Get Fooled Again". I think we'll be keeping at least the first.

We also played through "We've Got to Get Out of This Place" by the Animals after Bill heard me noodling around on bass and heard something that resembled the bass part for that song. The first time winging it sounded good enough that we rounded off some edges and tried it a second time, which was better, so that was a completely unplanned new song that we've added.

Finally successfully used the Ashbory bass (the one with the silicone rubber strings) on a song with this band. "Hash Pipe" by Weezer really suits the sound I found with a new amp setting. I'd like to find another song or two I can use before it's really worth bringing the Ashbory when we play out. I have a few other songs to try in upcoming sessions.

JW - 3/4/12

We had everybody on board this time out. Again, not much new to say. We got through about two full sets of material, and continue to tighten everything up. I really goofed up "Mississippi Queen" again, but for different reasons.

Still a problem getting vocals down because the band as a whole plays so damn loud. It's just not the focus of this band, so I'll just have to do the best I can.

Andy brought his camera and took photos, primarily of Bill and I (because we're the "new guys"), for use on the band web site. I really need to remember not to wear light colored t-shirts on stage, and perhaps not ever, since they clearly make me look heavier than I realized. I've got to give Andy credit for keeping up the tech end of things. He posted recordings within a day after the last time we played, and posted photos by tonight.

Some talk again about playing out, but nothing at all solid. I get the sense that the original band members don't feel things are truly tight enough yet. My own opinion is that we could play out right now, though there would be mistakes. I don't think we should wait to look for work, because it'll take us at least a couple of weeks before any would be available, and in that couple of weeks we'll tighten up those remaining problem areas. Still, it's not within my control, so I'm not going to worry about it. If we still don't have anything scheduled in a couple of months, maybe I'll start getting concerned.