My pattern has been to spend some time with one song at a time, inhabit that groove for as long as it takes to bring it to fruitation, then move on to the next. In the current instance, I've been in this mid-tempo loping swing groove for about 4 days, since I snatched a melody out of the air and said, 'yeah, I like that, can I put some words on it?' And then every time I pick up the guitar during that period of time, I go to that place and it becomes more and more familiar. I work out whatever little quirks or mistakes I encounter, experiment with different bridges, arrangements, lyrics, and engage in a burnishing process basically. (I think I know what burnishing means). Then I come up with the 'finished' version, which of course can still undergo changes as the days go by, but I get to place it in the 'completed' folder of my brain, and then I'm able to open up to the next creation.
I remember talking to Steve Perry, of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, about twenty years ago when I was writing music columns for the Eugene Weekly, (it was called 'What's Happening' back in those days). In response to a question about different musical styles that he played with, he offered the analogy of going to different rooms in the house and hanging out there... one room is the swing room, here is the thrash room, here is the rock room etc. I find myself using the same analogy occasionally, it works. I've been in the Bobby Darin, cool white swingin' 60's room. So here's the 'completed' lyric for now.... And I guess it's another custom tune for specific people, that I hope will have universal appeal. The names are actual friends and colleagues of mine, and I definitely plan on playing this one with them at the Quackers Blues Jam in Eugene...
Rockin' the Swing (by Rich Glauber)
There's a girl that I know
I love her a lot and I tell her so
When we step out on the scene
Ain't no doubt about who's the Queen
(chorus)
And then the band begins to play
We get to dance all our troubles away
I wouldn't trade it for anything
When we get to rockin' the swing
(bridge one)
Joanie's got a personality
Bigger than a country mile
Fellas line up from far and wide
Just to see her smile
Chorus
(bridge two)
Mr Jones rocking piano
The 'Meter Man' is keeping time
Byron Case is bumping the bass
We're not old, we're in our prime
And when the band begins to play
We get to dance all our troubles away
I wouldn't trade it for anything
When we get to rockin' the swing
When we get to rockin' the swing
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I'm feeling slightly dis-satisfied with my narrow world lately, and that dissatisfaction will probably lead to some changes, maybe rent a scooter and get out into the countryside, maybe find some new haunts around town to explore. Nothing is perfect of course, although this period has been pretty darn close, mostly due to physical fitness, musical progress and a nice social scene. But now I've got some water stuck in my ear, which makes me want to avoid the daily swimming, and I'm a little tired of hanging exclusively at the CU and lusting after the waitress. (Old habits die hard perhaps?). Still there is absolutely nothing to complain about, and there is a part of me that wants to keep at the daily creativity, limit my options, in a type of 'chop wood, carry water' type of meditation. Now that song number 6 is complete, I'm excited to begin the process of finding song number 7. It's a mystery and it captivates...
Yesterday I went in search of that long haired guitar player who I had briefly jammed with a few days ago. I remembered that he was in room 119 of the Rendezvous Guest House, so what the heck, I grabbed my guitar and headed over there on the off chance that he was around at 7pm. There were shoes outside the door (a good sign) so I knocked and his wife Mikey (Mikaela) answered. She went to get Scott (that's his name, I found out) and they were both excited to see me, were hoping I'd come by. He and I sat on the balcony and played for about an hour, and holy crap, what a great fit. He's a perfect side man and a GREAT player, and I'm a good front man with great material. He loves my stuff, I love his playing and we were having an exceptional jam, running through my recent cataloge of tunes as well as some standards. We decided to go over to CU to see if there was a spot for us to play, and sure enough, we got to open up the evening's entertainment and it was excellent. Jeff was way into it, and is excited that Scott will be part of my set on Tuesday. Yeah, it's good to have an awesome lead player for my songs.
I had been short of sleep the last few days, so when 11 oclock rolled around, I was done for the night. I had figured to stick around and play bass for my buddy 'Apple's Saturday night set, but oh well, maybe next time. Got a decent amount of sleep for the first time in a while, and that's a relief. There's a party today that I've been invited to, in which there will be finger food and then a full meal. (a musician's dream, free food, I'm going, and will look forward to playing some and eating some and being with friends). In the meantime, I have a lesson to teach, and then I'll make the first foray to see if I can fish another song idea out of the ethers. No ideas yet, maybe I'll just start singing and see if something comes. Chop wood, carry water, another day.
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