I expect to be ready, but who's gonna be there?

 
         WEDNESDAY 1/30/19 6:34PM--practiced a teeny tiny bit...didn't accomplish anything else...I think I'll be ready by tomorrow evening...I'm concerned that we won't have much of a turn-out...
 9PM--reviewing the set list...I still think I'll be ready...like always, I worry about Brian speeding up the songs, especially RIDIN' IN MY CAR...oh well...
THURSDAY 1/31/19 12:15PM--I think the gizmo is all set for tonight's gig...and I'm just about as ready as I'm gonna get...I'm gonna go lie down for however long it will be; lately it's been at the most an hour...then I go do the 3PM load-in at the OTWC...
FRIDAY 2/1/19 7:42AM--as much as I DID work on RIDIN' IN MY CAR, it wasn't enough...and for the second gig in a row I left my proposed stage outfit hanging by the front door...very VERY VERY angry about that--still, which makes no sense...one of our guest singers was absent; I hope she's OK, it's not like her to miss a show...the gizmo did what I wanted it to, THAT was a surprise...In spite of having played it several times before, I (we) really fucked up PIECE OF MY HEART...Nancy, the singer, didn't /couldn't really help fix it...I came home with $50 dollars more than I left with...but emotionally it was very nearly a waste of time...

the butterflies are arriving

             FRIDAY 1/25/19 12:52 PM--a little bit nervous about tomorrow's gig...I've got to remember to take a Xanax at some point...I forgot to take one Wednesday evening; what a difference it woulda made had I remembered...I just don't wanna take it too soon...I hope one will get me through the entire trip...
        I plan on making a CD for the journey; about an hour's worth of Music...
          SATURDAY  1/26 10:45AM--picked up a set of strings for Butterscotch, but ,because I'm only taking eBay with me, I'll bring the set along, just in case...For $50, I'm only gonna bring the absolute necessities...I'm bringing the gizmo only because this will be an opportunity to practice with it...probably won't bring the amp stand...the guitar stand is already in the trunk, so I'll bring it...
SUNDAY 1/27/19 9:50AM--yesterday is/was one of those days I wouldn't wanna live through again...here's the list 1) I forgot my stage outfit
                               2) I had NO guitar cables--luckily, I was able to borrow the two I needed
                               3) I missed the exit that I wanted to take to get to the gig--the "alternate" route got me there ON TIME, miraculously...
                               4) Me and my gear were crammed into a corner...the amp was behind and to the left of the drums--I could barely hear myself...
                               5) I inadvertently took an alternate route to get home...
AND YET--after I warmed up and relaxed, I played pretty well and sang my background bits pretty well too...and the best part--I came home with $90 dollars...
MONDAY 1/28/19 10:39AM--I kinda wanted to go to GYY tonight, but I just can't decide what to play and (I thought) I might be coming down with a cold...so now the plan is to stay in...really oughta start getting ready for Thursday...

this is not the time to experiment

              WEDNESDAY 1/23/19 11AM--getting nervous about going to the o.m. tonight...I think I've finally picked three songs to play...If I need four there's always LMYR...so far the choices are LAWYERS,etc., WELL RESPECTED MAN, and I'LL GET YOU...I MIGHT take cheat sheets, because like I said before, I wanna be the best "me" I can be...
             I would absolutely HATE fucking up even a little, just because I didn't bring the cheat sheets...damn that whole "too proud" thing...I'm NOT too proud to have what I call "insurance"...it's better IMO than to look like an amateur...just because *I* don't know the host, doesn't mean that he hasn't heard of me...but at some point soon, I will hopefully learn how to use the tablet for lyrics--which is what I wanted it for in the first place...
3PM--yet again, I didn't get the nap I had hoped for...but I did practice using the tablet on my Music stand...IMO it went well considering it was the first time EVER that *I* used one...but I'm not gonna use it tonight...I just found out that Jeff Karn might not be there...that's fine by me..I have no idea how popular this open mic is with the MontCo Gang...it's possible that I won't know anyone there...I will try to be brave...
5:35PM--one of my FB friends was surprised that Lahinch has an open mic on Wednesday...I hope I haven't wasted all this anxiety for nothing...it's on the venue's calendar...it's not listed in openmics.org so who knows?.I guess I'll find out in about an hour or so...and IF there's no open mic there tonight, I won't cry too much...
10:48PM--other than almost getting lost on the way there, and being very nervous, I had a good time at the Lahinch open mic...turns out I DID know the host...I met him years ago in Poolesville...as for my performances, I'd give myself not quite 9.0; in spite of having the lyrics at my feet, I messed up WELL RESPECTED MAN a little...but that didn't slow me down...I did better as a lead guitarist supporting a couple of the other performers...I enjoyed THAT...
        Now I'm gonna focus on the gig with Oz, about which I know almost nothing...ignorance is not always "bliss"...I guess I'll have to contact Scot, to find out stuff...
THURSDAY 1/24/19 7:35AM--I suddenly realized that I'm a hypocrite--I often say that open mic performers should get their act together BEFORE taking the stage...*I* have not done that...having serious second thoughts about the solo career...
               I don't what the deal is with Oz and keeping in touch with him--it's nearly impossible, I dunno why...coincidently (I think) I don't yet feel like doing the Saturday gig, but (I guess) the band is getting paid...gonna be putting a lot of mileage on the car...it seems like a LOT of trouble for what is probably only $50...it will likely take all of Sunday and then some to recover...I don't intend to go to GYY on Monday...
8:07PM--I'm sure it has happened before, but at this point in time, I'm hoping the gig gets cancelled...
8:30PM--finally heard from Oz, actually about two and a half hours ago he sent me an e-mail...all this anxiety and all the driving I'll be doing for $50? That feels pathetic to me...*I* think I should bring home twice that amount...but at least I finally know what's happening and when...

maybe I'm feeling it again

        SUNDAY 1/20/19 8:20PM--thanx ultimately to Dr. Borelli, because she prescribed Vyvance, I'm fairly sure I'll be going out tomorrow evening to the GYY open mic...I don't think I'll take the tablet, unless I quickly get the hang of using it to read lyrics off of...otherwise, I'll likely repeat songs I've done in the past...dunno if my set will include any originals...
          I can't wait till Dianne goes back to work so I can have the freedom to practice. I'm worried about the extremely cold air having a bad effect on the acoustic...even with songs I don't usually sing, if I practice them enough beforehand, I'll be fine...
MONDAY 1/21/19 7:50AM--might not go to GYY, extreme cold is bad for acoustic guitars...I can't decide what songs to play...hopefully I can go to Lahinch on Wednesday...
10:35AM--probably NOT going out tonight...we're going to Montgomery Mall to see a Movie...probably won't feel like doing much of anything after that...
7:45PM--stayed home...looking forward to Wednesday...
8:43PM- been doing some practicing while watching TV in the office while Dianne is downstairs in the living room… Riding in My Car is getting better all the time,  as is Passionate Kisses and City of New Orleans... I fully expect to be ready by Thursday night…As of now, I'm bringing the gizmo, for the octave riffs in Passionate Kisses...
TUESDAY --I don't have anything going on today Musically...thought about going to Blinkie's karaoke, but it's so darn cold outside...
12:20PM--decided NOT to buy the finger exercizer from Pritchard...after I informed Joe of my decision, he confessed that in his opinion, it would do more harm than good...the roomie won't be around tomorrow morning 'round 11AM...that's when I hope to rehearse with the tablet...I think I'll try CITY OF NEW ORLEANS...
2:45PM--for whatever reason, the 4TH Thursday open mic will be on the FIFTH Thursday of January...which means, among other things, that I may be free to go out somewhere else THIS Thursday, IF Dianne goes out to play mah jongg...but where?

just not feeling it

   
    THURSDAY 1/17/19 9:20AM--and again, I was somewhat excited about going out tonight to the OTWC open mic...now? not so much...it's supposed to start snowing around 7PM--which is just about when I would leave...
       1PM--I already announced on FB that I wasn't going to the OTWC tonight...Betcha it doesn't snow until after Midnight, and I'll possibly wish I had gone...I may BE apart of the MontCo Music community, but I sure don't FEEL like part of the Community...that's another reason I don't feel like going...If the sun was shining and wasn't gonna set until 7PM or so, I MIGHT have gone...in fact, had I gone I would've taken only my guitar and a pair of "stompboxes"...assuming John V. (and his amp) would be there...
FRIDAY 1/18/19 12:41PM--I set out to write Music that goes along with The Wintertime Blues, but what I came up with doesn't really fit it...maybe it might possibly fit CLOWN NO MORE, but I might have to re-work the lyrics...or come up with a new song...
1:55PM--went over the proposed set list for 1/31--I'm pretty sure I'll be on top of things when Thursday night rolls around...for everyone's songs...
SATURDAY 1/19/19 1:10PM--I thought about maybe going out tonight, but I think the weather is gonna be quite bad...the only band I'm acquainted with that's playing nearby is Built 4 Comfort at Hershey's...so that's probably not gonna happen...there's an acoustic open mic on Wednesdays at a place called Lahinch...it's kinda nearby...as of now I really wanna go...

a slight mistake

                 THURSDAY 1/10/19 11:31PM--just got in from the OTWC...my only Musical activity of the evening was to jump onstage immediately before I left to help with harmonies...at which point Jeff Karn started jumping all over the place vocally, which makes it hard to which part isn't being sung...My guess is that he does that deliberately...either way, I shoulda just left when I first thought of it, a slight mistake on my part. 

FRIDAY 1/11/19 12:34PM--today, I need a nap...I didn't get as much sleep as I think I should have...I couldn't get my Brain to shut off, for a couple hours...no plans to go out tonight...as for Saturday, I have no idea what's happening...other than a possible trip to Unique Thrift Store...the whole weekend depends on the weather...Dianne is certain that it's gonna snow...we'll see...

          6:48PM--digging deeper into the catalog of a certain singer-songwriter I like...my Plan is to see her live on my Birthday...I've already bought two tickets...
          10:32PM--awhile back I tried to start a Page on FB focusing on my Musical adventures...I thought my request was rejected...apparently I was wrong about that...I got it up and running a few minutes ago...I think...
SATURDAY 1/12/19 1:09PM--I thought that at this point in time I'd be attending the SAW workshop in Rockville...I'm not--it's supposed to snow, possibly as much as 6" or so...In fact, it's supposed to be snowing by now but it's not...I'm really sleepy, and I haven't done all that much...
3:41PM--not a single flake yet, dunno whether or not to be angry...
4:09PM--NOW, it's starting to snow...
MONDAY 1/14/19--nothing Musical happened yesterday, but, as far as I know, the GYY open mic is still on and I plan to go...
9:58PM--I didn't know that when I got there I would NOT feel like playing...and yet, I ended up writing most of a song about SAD--in about ninety minutes...I wanna end it on an upbeat note...that hasn't happened  yet, but I'm somewhat optimistic
10:48PM--It's hard to see people I know doing Music stuff w/o me--I still think Kennedy could've/should've asked me if I was interested in joining Danger Bird...Is Allan that much better than me? or is he less "eccentric"? There was talk of the Fourth Thursday House Band actually becoming a Band, but I haven't heard anything lately...
TUESDAY 1/15/19 5:50PM--so I finished the song that I started last night...it's called The Wintertime Blues...the words are done, now I gotta come up with the Music for it...
8:32PM--it's only Tuesday, but (for now) I'm looking forward to going to the OTWC on Thursday...not at all sure if I wanna be a singer/songwriter or a guitar slinging rock and roller...leaning toward singer/songwriter, but it's only Tuesday...
10:08PM--I was asked by a guy to be in an ad hoc band that he will be leading...I said yes...so the singer/songwriter guy will be taking Thursday night off...a little bit of a bummer...
WEDNESDAY 1/16/19 5:37 PM--I have a little bit of homework to do before tomorrow night...I'll probably have a LOT of homework due NEXT Thursday...
:

more lessons learned

                           WEDNESDAY 1/9/19 8:47 AM--for the 2nd time, I've learned something from Steve Little...and that is, if I can't quite hear myself, that doesn't mean the audience can't hear me...at the John Donovan Tribute Concert, my amp was on the floor, which is somewhat unusual...it kinda feels like the sound is hitting the back of my legs...which means the sound is pretty much level with the audience's ears--or a video camera...Hindsight being 20/20, I was a bit too loud...

                  The way *I* remember it, my first attempt to play WISHES was a disaster...Apparently, I left that appearance off of my list of solo gigs...and with good reason...but I've been practising it in my head a lot...IF I go to the OTWC on Thursday, I MIGHT sing it there...

10:37AM--a few days ago I found out what the concept is for the next Butch Thayer open mic...it's Planes, Trains and Automobiles...had I acted fast enough, *I* would be singing PINK CADILLAC, not Stoney, who says he has to LEARN the song...I know the song pretty much like I know the back of my hand...I'm quite angry with myself...can't/shouldn't hold onto that anger...the kinda GOOD news? Butch wants to sing RIDIN' IN MY CAR...incredibly, I still have to SUPER SLOWED DOWN version from Audacity so I can learn the intro riff...In fact I don't even NEED Audacity to learn the riff--the super slow version is in my iTunes Library...the best thing to happen today, so far...
 11AM--I've been dropping hints about going out tomorrow night, but I don't yet know if I can...I was kinda hoping Angela would go, especially if I sing WISHES...I think she's going to Daryl Davis' Elvis Birthday Tribute Concert--ugh...
1:47PM--still haven't given much thought to what songs I would sing at tomorrow's open mic, if I can go...if Angela isn't there, it might be easier to play an original of mine...I don't think it would be a good idea to go out tonight...not that I planned to...
10:21PM--it's possible that I won't be going out tomorrow night because of bad weather...of course a lot can happen in 20 hours...
THURSDAY 1/10/19 11:36AM- it looks like I have permission to go to the open mic tonight… I just have to decide what it is I’m going to sing; I’m not 100% sure that I’m going to sing any originals tonight, and that’s OK…
4:05PM--I don't even know what covers I'm gonna do...I'm not driven to perform, at this point in time...but I'm gonna go...Angela is not...
5:36PM--still haven't figured out what, if anything, I'm gonna do tonight...I need to have that decided by 8PM...I hope to have that figured out by the time I get outta the shower, somewhere around 7PM...
6:40PM--outta the shower already...completely changed my Mind about playing tonight, but I'm still gonna go...maybe I'm nervous about my appointment with Dr. Snow...ok, so I'll look forward to Monday...
               

time to get on with it?

                MONDAY 1/7/19 2:50PM--I think I'm gonna look thru the cover songs notebook and pick out songs to put on the tablet...Apparently the only way *I* am gonna accomplish that is thru the cut and paste method...I'm not sure about that, but I wouldn't be surprised if that was my only choice...we'll see...I still have three or four songs under the heading of MY FAVORITES when I open Amazon's Silk browser...I suspect at some point I will run out of space to save those favorites, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it...
6:05PM--I decided to get the lyrics for a song I didn't really want to see how/if I could delete them...all I have to do is UN-bookmark them and they're gone...BTW, apparently all I have to do is search for the lyrics and I get 'em...The MY FAVORITES list shows which search engine (?) I got the lyrics from...I've gotten four sets of song lyrics from Google, one from Bing--and THEY got 'em from something called "LyricFind"...I got the most obscure song (so far) from Genius...Dunno how long this will last, but I'm really happy...
7:10PM--there might not be a user friendly site for chords...of course, I still trust my ears...
7:54PM--now that I CAN build a collection of lyrics on the tablet, I dunno what songs I wanna collect--that's typical, ain't it? Hopefully, I'll be able to sing songs that I don't quite know like the back of my hand...COME TOGETHER for instance...
TUESDAY 1/8/19 9:14AM--should start thinking about what songs I'm gonna play if I go to the OTWC on Thursday...I don't wanna take the tablet anywhere until I have the case--maybe another week...and I think I should get a mic stand holder of my own as well...so IF I go out on Thursday, it will be with protected sheets of paper...
10:52AM--going thru the cover song book to decide what songs to put on the tablet kinda feels like a Government Project...It doesn't have to be done today, or even this week, but I should get on with it, in my opinion...
1:06PM--I dunno HOW a band as bad as the Combustibles gets gigs, but we have some...In 2019, so far we have five...I get depressed just thinking about it...
5:24PM--need to start thinking about Thursday, even though I dunno for sure if I'll be able to go...I might not even ASK until Thursday...
7:41PM--gonna take the coversongbook upstairs when I watch STAR TREK...might put some more song lyrics into the tablet...
9:03PM--so now I've got about 25 sets of lyrics...all of them are fairly easy to get to (kinda) quickly...I DID have to cut and paste one or two of 'em...no big deal...and it took a bit less than an hour to get it done...I didn't load ALL the songs...that was never the Plan anyway...I feel like I'm leaving some obvious choices out, though...
9:27PM--I suppose I COULD bring the tablet with me to the OTWC on Thursday, but that seems risky...