Splayed out on a bathmat

The strange things I do at 3 am when I can't find anything to write. It's an Andrew Bird song that has invaded my brain. Nervous Tic Motion Of The Head To The Left.

It's one take, take it or leave it. I'm leaving it.

Happy holiday weekend, I'm gonna go hang out with some cows.

I need some breathing room

One more cover to get out of my system. (and to try out my pre-amp). It's a nice little Westerberg song that I like alot, and since it has a more 'country' feel, it suits my voice fairly well.

Things.

It needs steel guitar. I should call up Eddie Schmidt and see if he'll drive an hour down here to play a quick steel lead. Eddie plays with the longtime western Wisconsin country band, Trigger Happy. Check em out if you ever get the chance, and if you do, tell Bob that Wolf wants to hear Gentle On My Mind.

Do, or do not. There is no try.

Well, work and lack of ambition has killed the creative process for now. So on to more important things.

I went to see the new Star Wars movie on Saturday.

I grew up a big fan-boy of Star Wars. My nine-year old self thought that it was the greatest thing that had ever happened to him. And then 12 year-old Wolfdog thought that Empire Strikes Back was even better. At 15, Return Of The Jedi was a bit of a disapointment, Ewoks and shit, ya know.

Then ahead to the adult years and Lucas' prequels. I figured I was just too jaded to appreciate The Phantom Menace as much as the nine year-olds around me did. Attack Of Clones seemed more promising, but still didn't return my wonder and awe that I wanted to experience. But I held hope that the last would be the big finish, everything I ever wanted in a Star Wars movie.

uggg.

The action and special effects were what I expected, I suppose. Very visually pleasing and technically proficient. But then I noticed something. No one seems to have anything worthwhile to say. The characters spoke in the language of repeating plot points. Which wasn't exactly a bad idea, since most of the plot made no sense.

Ok, I won't dissect everything that annoyed me here, but let me get the central theme problem off my chest. Anakin is a good kid. Angry and rash, but basically good. Lucas has to really sell him turning to the 'dark side' in a way that makes sense. And he fails, miserably. Anakin goes from knowing once he reveals the true identity of the chancellor that he needs to kill him, to cutting the hand off the jedi master that is about to kill the evil sith. But what about Anakin killing Christopher Lee at the beginning, under the belief that is the only way to deal with that level of evil? Isn't what Sam Jackson was about to do? WTF?

And now, with the confusion of the confrontation that leaves Sam Jackson dead by the order of the Sith Lord, it is suddenly clear to the idiot that the best thing to do is go kill every little thing in the Jedi temple. Including the 'younglings'.

I'm sorry, but that is some dumb-ass storytelling. So many shortcuts for motivation that it just makes no sense. And making characters repeat the same plot points over and over again doesnt help. It just made me angry.

I'm sure it will break all kinds of box office records, and fill the Lucasfilm coffers to point of breakage. But I can't help to feel that some of that money would have been well spent on a team of competent writers and a director with a feel for something called 'story'.

Ok, it wasn't that miserable of an experience, and I realize at 37, I'm not the target market of the film. But I should be. All of us that were 9 when we first heard the orchestra hit and saw the crawl float into space and were transported to a galaxy far, far away deserve an attempt to end this story with a similar amount of awe and wonder.

Should have followed the example of Peter Jackson, who took a book that filled me with that feeling around the same time as Star Wars, and turned it into a film that was able to do the same 20 some odd years later.

World Class Fad

Paul Westerberg's new greatest hits CD is in stores today. Besterberg. Go buy it.

Now.

Your dim light shines from so far away

Writing something still vexes me.

vexes. I like that.

And I'm in a shitty mood from working too much and other misc. crap...so I recorded a Soul Asylum song called Promises Broken, written by the great Dan Murphy, that in a way expresses how I'm feeling.

what day is it?

I gotta trunk fulla amps...

Messing around this morning with a new song that was going nowhere...and decided to record a new lead vocal for Wild & Lethal.

Ok, that's it. No more. Except maybe remixing a little to get all the levels happy.

Now a few more minutes of cranking the Fender amp to use up this pot of coffee in my belly and I'm gonna sleep on it.

...and one more Guild Wars quest, and I swear I'm going to bed.

Pacing in my cage

I'm setting aside Wild & Lethal for a bit to try to work on new stuff. I get a few hours of time, plug in the strat, and hit the record.

I start coming up with a couple of chord changes. They fall in together nicely. I find a tempo and a drum track and lay it down. I listen. It's been done before. I grumble. I play Guild Wars.

I won't bother you with that one, it just pisses me off I didn't hear it right away. But I will post my original idea for the Westerberg cover project. It's a song from Folker called Gun Shy. It was sounding good, but I can't sing it the way I hear it in my head, so in the bin it goes. Besides, it's a fairly straight cover, I'm definitely not adding anything to the song.

But The Words Came Out Too Wrong

Yet another stab at mixing Wild & Lethal. I'm tempted to also re-re-re-record the vocal, but I'm wondering if there is any turd left after so much polishing.

I had some good feedback to the previous mix, and I tried to incorporate some suggestions into this one. The vocals are higher in the mix, I cut out some noise and aimless yelping, tweaked the stereo image on the guitar tracks, and cut down on the amount of reverb overall.

And I like it. For now.

Look Around You

bass
Originally uploaded by wolfdog.

Here's a look in the studio...the cheap P-Bass, the Crate PA,and the Tascam Portastudio. Click on it to see more.

The Needle Hits E

I think I'm done with my Wild & Lethal. I'm outta gas on this one. Added a new vocal track, made a couple little edits here and there, changed the mix a little....and that's it. I'm done with it.

Now, to move on to writing something....I've pulled out the songwriting notebook and am currently going over pages of lyrics. I've written some fairly crappy lines in here, might take awhile to sort out the decent ones. Maybe it's time to add some new ones. Let's check my mantras written on the cover:

'Let my inspiration flow, in token rhyme, suggesting rhythm' - Robert Hunter

'Soft hands slowly move across the blank white page, looking for words for my silent lips, and fingertips, to obey' - Paul Westerberg

Daunting. Better make another pot o' coffee.

Well so long to the so-so years....

I'm closing in on 40.

I'm not sure how it happened, but there it is. Right up ahead.

So I decided before that comes, I'm gonna be called a songwriter. I'm gonna be in a band. I'm gonna have some fun with this.

My goal is that by the end of summer (labor day or so) I am going to have at least one decent song written and to perform it in front of an audience either by myself or with a band. Not sure how this is going to come about, but for now I will just blindly believe it will happen.

And any time something happens to work towards that (or away), I'll post it here.

And if nothing is happening with that, I'll just post the random ramblings of a delusional mind.

Beware.

Hurry up, ain't ya had enough of that stuff

So the Replacements became a big deal to me. Not just that I listened to them alot, but also because now I felt compelled to make my own music. I played in bands on and off, nothing noteworthy, but all fun. I bought a Yamaha 4-track cassette recorder and started writing songs, again nothing noteworthy, nothing I even thought to keep a copy of.

And then a new obession took hold. Going to shows. I started off seeing a few bigtime arena shows, but mainly hanging out in local bars seeing local bands. Then it escalated into going to the biggest shows possible. I went to Monsters Of Rock with Metallica and Van Halen, went to The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Paul McCartney, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan....and multiple Grateful Dead shows.

During this time, I also managed to find time to get married, buy a house, and have 2 kids. Making music slipped to very low on the priority list. Sure, I still found time to play around the house, and the ocassional sit-in with a friends band, but not time to be really serious about it.

And that brings us up to date (phew)....and the reason I'm getting serious about it now.....

I've got a Gibson without a case....

Time for guitar-geek corner. Here's a little rundown of what I'm using to record Wild & Lethal

Tascam Portastudio 424 Mrk III running into the soundcard on my PC
PC running Cakewalk Guitar Tracks Pro 3 with ReValver VST Amp Simulator
Studio Projects tube preamp and a Studio Projects condenser mic
pair of Shure SM-57 mics
Drum track built from Smart Loops thunder kit
Electric rhythm guitar track is Peavey EXP through mic-ed Fender CyberDeluxe
Acoustic guitar track is Peavey EXP piezo output straight to board
Bass track is Squier P-Bass straight to board
Electric lead guitar is 79 Stratocaster straight to board

...and that's it so far. guitar-geek corner is closed. we return you to your regularly scheduled boring blog.

I'm playing this note 'cause it fits in well...

Time out from the boring background stuff, I spent a little time on my Wild & Lethal today. Recorded a new lead guitar line and changed the mix slightly. This time I played my 79 Strat instead of the Peavey I used for the other guitar tracks.

Take a listen over at the Audio page. Still needs tweaking, maybe a new vocal part.

Got My First Real Six String

Oh boy, I see I'm making this long winded. Ok, I'll speed it up a bit.

While I was beginning collecting and listening to recorded music, my own musicality was pretty low. I had quit piano lessons, I had quit tenor saxophone in junior high band, and I just wasn't very interested in any of that. Around the time I was getting into the classic rock/heavy metal stuff, I asked my dad to show me how to play his bass guitar.

This was different than piano lessons or saxophone. This was fun. I even got to the point I could kind of play along with songs on my boom-box. Then a friend of mine showed me his brand new Fender Stratocaster. I now wanted to play guitar.

My dad wasnt so keen on buying me a guitar, after being burnt on the piano lessons and the saxophone. So he made me a deal. I would learn on his brother's guitar for 6 months, and if I was still interested after that, he would buy me my own guitar. It was the incentive I needed. I played everyday and became a decent beginning player. And after 6 months, he took me down to the music store and bought me my own guitar. The Fender USA Bullet. Before too long, I was power-chording along with my AC/DC and Judas Priest tapes. Not exactly what he had in mind, but at least I was playing.

Then, on a basketball team bus to Elk Mound, WI, someone gave me a tape that changed my ideas about music. A little E.P, called The Replacements Stink.

aw crap...not even half done. hang in there.

When It Began Pt. 1

Ok, since I'm kinda starting fresh here, I'm gonna bore you all with a little personal background. And since I'm determined to keep this blog focused on music, I'll leave out all the bits that are not music related. Like basketball, the shampoo factory, and the 1970 Dodge Dart.

I came from a fairly musical family. My dad, with his brother and cousin, played in a local country band in the 70's. My mother gave piano lessons and played organ in the church. My earliest musical memories are tagging along with my dad to various gigs, mostly wedding dances, and playing pinball and drinking root beer while he played. A lot of those old country standards are still part of my blood, I know more of them than I care to admit.

Music at home came from two sources: One, Top 40 Radio, and the other, Dad's record collection. Top 40 at the time meant Billy Joel, Kenny Rogers, and the Village People. But of more interest to me was a few select albums my dad had. High Tide And Green Grass - The Best Of The Rolling Stones and The Animals Greatest Hits. These were raw, wild sounds in comarison to the multiple Elvis albums in the stack. I was instantly attracted to this more edgy sound.

Some where around age 12, I recieved a birthday present that would set me on a course of compulsion that follows me today. I got a Sears boom-box. I just needed something to play in it. At first, I recorded songs directly off the radio by holding the internal microphone on the front of the boom box up to the stereo speakers. But this was clumsy, poor sounding, and hit-or-miss weather I could actually catch the radio station playing a song I wanted.

So I found an easier method. The cassette section at K-Mart. The hit on the radio at the time was Centerfold by the J. Geils Band. I had to have this, so I pestered my mom about it until she let me buy the tape a K-Mart. My first album of my very own. Little was I to know that thousands would follow.

to be continued.....

Moving on up....

Well, ok. Wasn't a big fan of Tripod's blog, so with a little encouragement I've decided to move here.

It's nice.

If you wanna see the previous stuff, just head on over to the old place.

I've also added a link to my audio file page over on the sidebar-thingy over there.

There are still some links to songs and stuff over there, but I'll be posting new stuff here from now on.