Marty

He's Horribly Oppressed By the Man

So a while back Troy, the leader of Buttskin Scallion grabs a guitar at Oskar's and asks me to play upright bass while he sings his newest toon. I listen in amazement as he denounces 'the man' for keeping the little guy down and how darn hardscrabble it is these days.

Oh, the irony; coming from a guy who makes 40k @ Sun Microsystems as a white collar phone bank monkey. He owns a few cars and rents a nice place in one of the most expensive communities in Boulder County.

"Lacking cred? Who? Me?"

New Look

Redesigned website.
Hope for minimalist look and feel; I'm so sick of the flashing, spinning, whirling, vomit-inducing crap on the websites I see today.

Just cuz you can do it doesn't mean you should do it, eh?

Update

Sounds like the Clumsy Lovers have found someone closer to Vancouver to fill their lead spot. Probably just as well. I really liked their stuff but traveling can be hard on the family.

I'm now visiting with the guys from WD-40 about playing with them.
Also might be doing something at the Greely Stampede.

Clumsy Lovers

I've been visiting via email with Chris of the band Clumsy Lovers regarding a position as multi-instrumentalist. Good music and busy schedule. We'll see what happens.

Weblogs Require EFFORT

I can't imagine anybody organized enough or single-minded enough to keep a blog up-to-date!

Anyway, nice holiday week; visit from the folks; no snow in Lyons :(
Nobody at the Outlaw last Wed. the nite before Thanksgiving (big surprise).

So forth and so on...

Playing Jazz in Lyons

Robyn and I are playing jazz standards every Fri. and Sat. evening at Andreas Homestead Cafe in Lyons. Fun job, good for the chops.

We've also been playing every Sat. afternoon at the Rock 'n River Wine Room from 1-4. Good thing I quit drinking...

I am the 2005 Rockygrass Dobro Champion

This is the Dobro I won at Rockygrass in Lyons.

I entered the banjo contest with the notion of winning.
When I saw just three entries in the Dobro contest I figured I had a small chance of placing. The first three places paid out $50, $100, a new Model 27 Deluxe Dobro.
What the heck; I could use $50, couldn't everybody?
SURPRISE!

Back to the Rat Killing

Unbelievable!
I neglect this thing for a few months and I FORGOT how to log in!

Sheesh.

Now I hope to be more posting more regularly.

I Just Didn't Know!

So I'm readin' a post on the SGF about the 'famous' folks you've played with and through a stream of consciousness, I end up googling Bobby Rambo with whom I played many gigs in Dallas in the '80s.
I didn't realize he had written songs on Jerry Jeff's recordings; all I knew was he was a HELL of a Tele picker!
I was looking at his Tele before a gig and noticed there was no model name. I had never heard of a 'no'caster before but I knew it sure looked well worn. He said it was insured for $10K and this was around '85! Imagine the price today...

Sad Story

Beautiful girl with and awful family life tells me about being shunted from one house to another; dad chose the new 29 yr old beeyotch over his daughter. Seems the wicked step-mother hit the girl and she got a restraining order (I told her she shoulda KICKED HER ASS). So she moves in w/her adoptive mother (dad's ex) and this husband attacks dad w/axe handle! 'Nother restraining order.
Bio-mother is exdancer (know what I mean?) who doesn't see her at all.Total of 13 siblings in this weird thing. Awesome fun personality and super smart and talented stuck in this crap.
She laughs and tells me, "Yeah, the adult kids all live together in a trailer park. But I visit cuz there's a swimming pool."
Makes me sad because this could easily have happened to my precious daughters.

Luci's Back!

After a weather delay and an interminable wait at customs, my daughter (the blonde) has returned from her trip to Europe.

Lots of stories, lots of jetlag, and lots of mysterious whisperings to her sisters?!?

Spring Break

Took the entire week off from giving lessons. There were just too many kids out to make the drive into Longmont worth it. I had hoped to use this time to organize my lesson schema and make recordings and other useful activities but alas, no such productivity was in evidence. Guess I'll continue to fly by the seat of my pants, eh?

BS

The Buckskin Stallion calendar is starting to look a little more beefy lately; good thing.

Last gig had Dave Shapiro on guitar and keys. Man, he smokes on that guitar; I'd love to be able to cop some of those cool licks.

Next week is the gig at RRS in The Springs. This is an unusual establishment in that it is laid out a lot like a 'gentleman's club' with the high stage and catwalk (but no poles). Last gig there I was using my Fender Vibrasonic for the first time and wasn't too happy w/the sound but that coulda been my fault. Now I'm back to my Peavey Session 500 and have all the balls I'll need. The aforementioned Dave will be joining us for this one.

Outlaw Saloon

Looks like we may make a go of the 'open mic' nite. It started out great musically but alas, no asses in the seats (except sig/others).

Last couple of weeks have picked up though so in spite of a pay cut (we were making too much at first anyway), the practice is good, the hours (8-11) can't be beat, and the management wants desperately to present an alternative to Oskar Blues' reputation and popularity.

There have been some good players/singers and a couple of duds but overall a pretty impressive lot, as I would expect in this area. We seem to have a large number of decent-to-outstanding players around Boulder County generally and Lyons specifically. There have even been a couple of pedal steel players come in for a listen and a visit!

Luci, Anni and Ali return

Luci's flight from Frankfurt arrives at DIA at 3:20 on the tomorrow. About 12" of snow is also forcast. Anni and Ali will be returning from Steamboat Springs tomorrow (I hope).

Luci has spent the last week touring France and Spain. Both of the phone calls I received from her were to ask for money to be transferred into her account. Anni, on the other hand, didn't bother to call at all.

Rori, Ali, Maggie, Mira, Robyn and I enjoyed the spring break but look forward to the return of the others.