2pm in Lyons, Oregon, one hour before another small town library performance. I'm feeling really good, in spite of the fact that I'm running on fumes, well not exactly fumes, more like sugar and caffeine, courtesy of an iced mocha that I grabbed while gassing up in Salem.
I got maybe three hours sleep last night, thanks to another great night at the weekly blues jam. I got to play the last set, and it was a unique one, with a few people whom I had never played with. This tall black thirty something dude was on keys, and I heard that he wanted to sing Billie Jean, by Michael Jackson, and did I know it? Of course I knew the tune, but had never played it, so I told him I was a quick study, and if he showed me the bass line, I'd lay it down. I got it in about 10-15 seconds, learned the bridge in the same amount of time, so we were ready to rock out.
It was a pretty cool scene due to the fact that that song has likely never been played at Quackers, and the dance floor filled up immediately as soon as we kicked it off. There were two young buck guitarists on the set as well as a female drummer who had never played there before, and we RAWKED! It was truly blazing. And then the keyboard guy wanted to sing that Stevie song 'Superstition', and it was the same deal.... he needed to show me the bass line real quick and then boom, we were off. What a freakin' blast to be on stage doing those songs with some great rhythm players to bounce off of. Usually the vibe is heavily oriented toward 12 bar old time blues, but on this night, it was more rocked out, and the place was humpin' and bumpin'. Hard to describe how pleasurable it is to lay down the funky bass, alter it as needed, and just groove like that. Ahhhhh beep beep.
The second half of the set was with a different drummer, some guy named Rick Cobian, beret wearing dude who Ray said was an awesome drummer. I could tell that he had a lot of Latin chops and the best thing was this boogaloo thing we did late at night on a minor blues progression, where I played salsa style bass, heavily syncopated, lots of accent on beat 8 of the phrase, which fit perfectly with his style of playing. I swear I could jam for hours on that groove. It's in the blood, and a real nice place to hang out and let the solists do their thing. The dance floor was really into it. Yes, another 'best night ever' at the blues jam.
I got home by 11 or so, had to watch the Daily Show and Colbert, eat some food, couldn't sleep and had an early wake-up call for a trip north, so there wasn't a whole lot of sleeping going on, but I don't care too much. As long as I make it through this second show, I'm good to go, then I have about and hour and a half drive back home. I have a feeling I'll get some decent sleep tonight.
Haven't written in a while, since the Country Fair a couple of weeks ago, and it's been a real good period of time for me. For starters, the fair was phenomenal, perfect weather, lots of friends, great times, a couple of great 'Kids Talent Shows' which is my gig, and then getting to hang with good friends, eat great food, see some amazing talent and just enjoy the fair, which to my mind is one of the wonders of the world. I've been going there for decades, usually with a camping pass, which makes all the difference in the world. We get treated really well and it's truly the party of the year, something of a bacchanal, and it takes a few days to recover, but it's well worth it. This year was likely the 'best fair ever', temperatures in the mid 70s, paradise in the woods.
I think I've been basically giving myself a break from self-criticism and self-loathing, and it's been a much needed respite. I've had plenty of work, which certainly helps, and I find that I'm really enjoying my friends a lot, spending some quality time with my son (Mr 'Sleep til noon'), but hey it's his life.
The thing that's up for me these days is the thought of buying a ticket back to SE Asia for the winter. I feel a little anxiety about it, but I don't worry about the worry. The thing is, if I follow through on my original plan to spend up to 4 months there this winter, it's a significant step as it's saying 'I really don't see my future here in the US'. So rather than do the things that 'normal people' do to prepare for the future, ie build a portfolio, think about retirement (haha), live a linear existence of step one, step two, step three etc, I seem to be casting my fate to the wind, as it were. I'm not quite ready to take that plunge yet, though I have checked fares and itineraries and will do so again in the near future. It feels inevitable, but I'm not quite there yet.... close though.... I'm just getting in touch with the feelings of stepping out of US mind frame and into something less provincial. Soon come....
Time to load in my stuff and get ready to play for the good folks of Lyons, OR. I had a great set this morning in Falls City, a little bit west of Salem, and now I'm the same distance east of the capital, which makes it a nice little circle around Oregon. It's a good day, a chance to make some good money and spread some positive energy around.... Gratitude now sleep later.
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