Category: lizardfish

January Music Goals

Right then. It’s 2024. Enough of that crap that was 2023. Let’s get our shit together and make some music. In February I will dive head first back into the RPM Challenge, but until then what am I going to force upon myself to jump start creativity and make me feel like I can be a musician for a few weeks. 

In other words, what are my musical goals for January 2024? There are three.

First and foremost, we are hoping to start auditioning singers for the cover band. My playing is utter shite right now so I need to get into shape. I need to find out what songs we are going to use for the audition and practice the holy hell out of them. They all used to be second nature but that was almost four years ago. I have to make them second nature again.

Second and second most, my 1979 Gibson ES-335 Pro needs to go into the shop. The same shop my Les Paul Custom spent time in a few months ago. I think it needs new frets, and I think it might need a new wiring harness as well. I need to get things going this month so that the guitar will be available for me to use on February’s RPM Challenge album.

Third and third most, it is time to get back to The Great 2015 Re-Recording Project, where I take old songs from old writing projects and clean them up, edit them, rewrite where necessary, and then record a slightly higher quality version. This project is also known as Quarantine Tunes. There are six Quarantine Tunes albums on my alonetone page. I told myself that I was stopping at six but then about a year and a half ago I started work on volume seven and also sort of started thinking about volume eight. What can I say, I am a nerd about this stuff. Last night I added two more songs to the volume seven to-do list. I plan to spend January working on volume seven and hopefully finishing it. That should put my brain into a good recording and playing space in time for February. 

I am also slightly overwhelmed by a scary compulsion to go out and buy a new guitar. I need to fight that urge. I want a Les Paul Junior or a Firebird, but I don’t need them. Hopefully playing the shit out of the guitars I already own will calm me down on the online shopping front… hopefully… I think.

So there you go. Practice, get the 335 fixed up, and record. My three musical goals for January.

Bring ’em on.

New Blood?

Did the bass player in my band let us know that he has a line on a replacement for our departed singer?

Why yes, yes he did.

He’s working on setting up a get together for after the holidays. Consider my fingers duly crossed.

End of an Era

When was it, two days ago? The Daily Prompt asked about things you were hoping to do for the first time and I (slightly sarcastically) said I was hoping for the first post-pandemic band practice with all four band members present?

We had something on the books for tomorrow (Thursday) night but I was nervous because our facebook messenger chat had been silent. I sent out a message, are we still on? The drummer and the bass player responded. The three of us have been able to get together to play a few times since lock downs started easing up. It was our singer who was never able to join us.

Well, our singer responded to the chat today and told us that he’s sorry but he feels it’s time to leave the band. I don’t think any of us are surprised, but we’re all a little disappointed. He’s good people and playing music with him, and just hanging around with him was always good fun. I am going to miss it all.

Now we have to start looking for a new singer. I’m not looking forward to the search, but I am looking forward to the end result. Does that make sense?

Thanks for the good times, Greg. It’s been a pleasure.

Get the Band Back Together

We’re trying again. We’re trying to get the band back together for a rehearsal. We’re trying to make it a regular thing again and to set goals for gigs in the coming year. Will Thursday October 12th be the first time all four of us play together since pre-Covid? My fingers are emphatically crossed.

Close but Not Quite

10 minutes before I was supposed to leave for the first full band practice in 3.5 years our singer let us know he was going to be stuck at work and had to back out.

Damn it.

The rest of us still got together. It was loud and fun, the way it should be. I’m not sure when we will be able to try for all four of us again but hopefully it will be soon.

My playing was terrible but most of the songs we played came back to me… eventually. It was good to see Kevin and Mike, and it was fun to play music with other people.

Until next time….

Packed Up and Ready

I have an amp and a pedal board at Mike the Bass Player’s house already. Pretty sure there are a bunch of mic stands too. I packed the bare minimum. A mic and a cable. Two guitar cables and an over drive pedal. One electric guitar. One pack of emergency strings.

Assuming my amp works… I’m ready to play.

Now I just have to finish the work day and drive to Mike’s house. I’m ready, kids!

1,258 days

Last night I sent a message to the band’s Facebook messenger chat. I asked if we were still on for a practice tonight. Everyone said yes.

It’s been almost exactly a year since Mike, Kevin, and I got together without Greg. It has been a whopping 1,258 days since the last time all four of us were together.

I’m really looking forward to this. I should put new strings on my Les Paul, right?

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Not Feeling Great

I don’t feel so hot today. I got up at a decent hour, planning to stick to my daily exercise routine, but my wife wasn’t feeling so hot when we woke up and we went to see a doctor. No problems, all is well. She just has a bug.

When we got home I was feeling kinda run down. Tired and a little foggy headed. It wasn’t too bad so I got to work filling up the dumpster I posted a picture of yesterday. I broke for lunch and felt even more out of it an hour and a half later when I got back to work. Now I am calling it a day. I just don’t feel so good. It’s not bad, but it’s enough. I haven’t done any of my exercise yet today so I am calling that one too. I am going to miss it today. It’s okay, I won’t ruin my life by missing a day.

I am going to have a protein snack in a few minutes and then try to have a late dinner a couple of hours from now. After that? Maybe just go to bed early? Seems like a waste of a Saturday, but it’s okay. I am old. Early to bed is normal for old people.

The good news is that it’s looking like there will be a band practice after work on Thursday. We still need to nail down a few details, and I am going to need to re-learn a bunch of songs!

Oh Please, Let it Happen

There is a discussion underway. One I’ve been hoping would happen for literally years.

The four members of my band have not been in the same room together to play music (or for any other reason) since a few weeks before Covid-19 came to the US.

We are trying to set something up for next week.

Keep your fingers crossed, kids. There might be a band practice in the near future. Oh please, let it happen!

Insta

Okay, so I was bored and I also really want to start playing with the band again. Those two things combined to form a new Lizardfish instagram account.

Didn’t I already make a Lizardfish instagram account? I might have, but I honestly can’t remember.