Shark Sandwich

Shark Sandwich

I'm in a new band. Woo hoo!

He called right after I made my last post. I'm picking up the CDs of stuff to learn (and I know most of it already) tomorrow. We're getting together every Friday night, with the goal of playing out two or three times a month as soon as possible.

The nice thing about this band is that they've already done a lot of work together without a bassist, so it's not like completely starting fresh. I learn this shit quick (it's hardly brain surgery) and I bet we'll be ready to go within a month, maybe even less.

So last night and this morning I worked on my solo thing instead. :)

That is also ready to go, except that I'm being extremely anal about what I'll let pass on a recording to pass around for gigs. I'm willing to sound like the recordings I have now on an actual performance, I just don't want the REAL CD to be anything less than nailing the shit to the wall. I'm pretty fucking close, I'm just not quite there yet.

I've modified my list of songs several times since the one I posted months ago. I now have my 12-string back (I left it with Bill after the divorce and never bothered taking it back until last week) and that's opened some doors. I'm trying to do stuff that isn't yer average acoustic fare, without totally alienating the whole goddamn planet. Personally, I think my 12-string version of Bridge Of Sighs kicks fuckin' ass.

I'm at my favorite library. Why are they my favorite? Because you can get very nice surprises in the collection. I just grabbed both a really old Jazz Crusaders disc and Les Claypool's new album. Wheeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't drank in a few nights, save for a couple sips of killer scotch at Bill's two nights ago. I started cutting back on my drinking a few weeks ago, but that's probably not saying much considering how much I was putting down around the time the shit hit the fan with the band falling apart and me moving back here. I feel no guilt whatsoever about this - take a good hard look at your own fucking coping mechanisim - but after a while, you just need a break. My back has been hurting more the past couple months, and I'm not convinced it's my back. I think it's my damn kidneys. Funnily enough, the back pain has decreased already.

It's VERY nice to be in my own place again. I'm not entirely in love with the new place, but I am VERY much in love with it being MINE for the next year. I don't do well living with other people, and it's becoming obvious that it doens't matter who it actually is. I'm just not interested anymore.

I've grown the beard back. Came in twice as fast this time.

Well, time to go back home, clean shit up some more, and do some playing. One major downer of this new place is that I now need more furniture - the last apartment had a shelving unit built in and now my music and video collection is EVERYWHERE in stupid unitis made for people with much smaller collections than mine that take up too much space, or in the boxes I moved them in, or stacked up against the wall. I crave organization, I'm just not any GOOD at it. So a way of getting this shit in place, as well as my gear (I now have a total of ten guitars to work with, and I'm going to be using at least six of them on a regular basis) is going to make it easier to get shit done. The dining space (the old apartment had a bigger kitchen wher eyou could put a table, this one has a TINY kitchen and a dining area at the end of the main room) is probably going to end up being practice space. I just have to figure out where to put shit in a way that is easiest to get to. I lose my fucking mind when I have to look for shit in the middle of a good solid spurt of playing, and it's fucking hard enough to start one of those up to begin with.

Woke up insane, wanting to fuck. The fuck-drive has been in low geat for a few days. Not today. I'm looking at the printer next to this monitor thinking "Hmmmm, I wonder if that thing takes more than just paper..."

I'm praying to Gods I No Longer Believe In that the three guys in this new band are married to repulsive cow-like troll-women who hate life, are shitty company, and who never come to gigs. I DON'T need another Layla experience, dammit.

But I am thinking about asking them to let me sing that...

Somebody kill me.

Love,
Dougie
PS If you don't have them already, go buy every damn album Adrian Belew has ever done. I'm been ADDICTED to that shit for a couple days, just like I am every couple months or so.