Today I was teaching over on Burton Street. I ran into my student Allan's wife Elyse and their daughter Kira. Kira gave me a copy of the local paper that her and her friend Violet just finished putting together. This is their first issue. In it, there is this review of the May 30th It Came From The Garage! show (click on it to enlarge). Besides the review, there are editorials, movie reviews, sports, crafts and games. It's pretty cool. As well, Elyse told me that she is planning to start a band with Kira and her youngest daughter, Maya. Burton is a very musical street!
So the recording is finished! I had a blast working with those guys. I really like their sound. Today, Zander told me that his band had created a Myspace page and they have posted all the new songs. If you're interested in giving them a listen, you can find them here: http://www.myspace.com/soundwiches.
In the "About me" section, I've placed a link to a new blog I created which is about my musical past. There are photos and videos and a whole bunch of info. So, if you were wondering about what kind of musical stuff I've done, It's pretty much all there. If you've got some time to kill, check it out.
Last fall, Ali asked if I could teach her and her two friends together as a group. I thought it was a great idea. I decided to write some musical exercises to help them learn. Each song has three parts: a bass part, a rhythm part and a lead part. I wasn't sure how the girls would do with the exercises or if they would even like the music. I wrote four songs and the girls mastered three of them. In the spring, I suggested that we record the songs as a band. Today, we actually did it. For Song 1, Vanessa and Ali shared the lead and rhythm parts and Margaux played bass. I filled in on drums. It was their first time playing electric guitars and basses. They did an awesome job!
A few months ago, Zander told me that one of their friends had offered to record his band,The Soundwiches. They were really excited. I kept asking Zander about it because I wanted to hear it too. But things never came together. Since it didn't seem to be happening, I offered to do the recording myself. They took me up on it and today we recorded. It was a lot of fun. We actually managed to record four entire songs in five hours! I was expecting to track the drums and maybe the bass and guitar but we recorded everything, including the trumpet, trombone and all the vocals. The band really knew their material and they adapted to the studio experience flawlessly. Now I just need to edit and mix and it will be all done. I will post one of the songs as soon as it's ready.
Rob has been working on the solo from "Born Under a Bad Sign" by Cream for a little while now. Tonight we decided we were going to record it, no ands ifs or buts. Recording yourself is an excellent learning tool. It's also a bit stressful but the more you do it, the more at ease you become. When you listen back to yourself, you can immediately hear what sounds good and what needs to be improved. Great job Rob. Next up, "Black Magic Woman" by Santana.
I teach many students who practice hard each week, come to their lesson and jam with me but other than that, never have the opportunity to play with others in a band setting. I had this idea that I could bring my students together and teach them in the context of a band. I put together a course, found a great space to host the classes (a huge thank you to Daniel and Wendy for putting up with us and for all your help) and contacted the members of what is now WARPED VERDICT. Who would have thought we could pull it off?!! 8 weeks, 6 talented musicians, tons of dedicated parents and a rollercoaster of preparation and planning, all to bring you this IT CAME FROM THE GARAGE! world premier concert featuring WARPED VERDICT.
I want to thank everyone who came out and supported the bands. Because of you, the show was definitely a success. Here's how it went... The Soundwiches started the evening of with some energetic and fun filled Ska. You looked great guys! Then Warped Verdict took the stage and rocked the house. They played a solid four song set of three covers and one original. The highlight was they're version of Fall Out Boy's "Sugar, We're Going Down". Then, Papa So Mean came on and gave everyone a dose of blues and classic rock. They got people's heads moving with songs like "Gloria" and "Keep On Rocking in the Free World". The highlight of their set was Johnny Cash's "Fulsom Prison Blues". To end of the night, some crazy band called DSI came on and played a half hour of punk rock. Who were those guys? Wendy was our photographer for the evening(Thanks Wendy!). All her photos are here. Also, I'd like to thank Daniel for filming the event and for all his support. And last but certainly not least, I'd like to thank my wife Cara for all her help. I couldn't have done it without her.
As well, two Sundays ago, Warped Verdict recorded a three song demo. I engineered and produced the session, It was pretty hectic! William, the band's drummer called in sick so I had to find a replacement drummer at the last minute (my brother Doug ended up doing it -Thanks a million, Doug!) Then, there was crazy traffic in the city because of a demonstration so several people were late. To top it all off, Sophie, the band's singer came in and told me that she didn't know how long she could sing for because her voice was not in good shape! Despite all these obstacles, the band did an incredible job. Check out the song "Change", which they wrote.
