Splunge - 12/16/2012

Jason, Sal, Nick, and I on board.  No, you aren't having a flashback.  Played with Splunge again this past weekend due to a week off from Jefferson Wheelchair.  Had the itch to play and thought it might be fun, and it was.

The other three guys have stayed together since I left the group, now nearly a year ago.  They haven't replaced me, in spite of my encouraging them to do so.  Instead, Nick has taken up bass in the last month or so, in addition to picking up all of the lead vocals, being the only singer left.  So while I played bass for most of the session, I also played guitar for a couple of songs and mandolin on two others (each played twice, since we had the time).

They've cut the song list down substantially.  I thought they might just get rid of a few songs that were more my choice than anyone else's, but it's a bigger change than that.  I'd say the list has been nearly halved, and only two new songs added (the Kinks' "Victoria" and CCR's "Fortunate Son"), which I picked up right away.  They've tightened things up a bit further, as might be expected, but the old characteristic rhythmic lapses still occur.

We played everything they still know, plus Rod Stewart's "Maggie May", with me on mandolin and Nick playing bass and singing lead.  Not bad for a first run through, and it gave me the chance to test out my new electric/acoustic mandolin (birthday gift from my wife), which I also used on "Losing My Religion".  Nick also played bass and sang Cracker's "Low" and CCR's "Fortunate Son", so I played guitar on both of those.

It was an odd experience for me to play another instrument and have someone else play bass.  I kept finding my ears drawn to the bass part and hearing guitar or mandolin as though someone else was playing it.  Weird.  I'm sure I'd get used to it, but it was disconcerting going through it for the first time.

I'll probably continue to guest with them here and there when JW isn't playing.  I'm obviously still welcome, and it'll give me a chance to experiment with playing other instruments from time to time if Nick keeps getting better on bass.  It'll also give me the chance to sing some lead here and there, which I don't get to do often anymore (part of what I enjoyed about Splunge).

JW is also off for the next two weeks due to holiday scheduling issues, but another Splunge session should be out due to holiday activities on everyone's part.  That's just how this time of year is.