Topic: Slackabilly's first gig

[Pan]

Congratulations Slack!

I think no one is going to believe that you haven't so far recorded so much as one song! Come on, confess and post an mp3 and put us out of our misery! 

A beautiful guitar by the way!

Cheers

Pan

[Richard]

Brilliant........ well done    I remembr my first gig at 17 on the back of lorry at a student rag week.. grim but fun!

Now promise if me if I make it again to the States and perchance get your way I can do a gig with the band !!

Be an honour  

Come over to weenie Guernsey and we'll see if we can put it together!

[dj]

A beautiful guitar by the way!

I'll second that.  I meant to ask:  Did you have to buy that guitar once you'd joined the band?  Because if that's the case, I may need to join a band, too!   

[uncle bud]

Yes, I didn't think I'd ever get e-GAS, but that electric thingamabob of Slack's is very comely...

[Slack]

I think no one is going to believe that you haven't so far recorded so much as one song! Come on, confess and post an mp3 and put us out of our misery! 

Pan, those would be our 'basement tapes' and we are not prepared to release those until... well, until fame and fortune is assured. 

Now promise if me if I make it again to the States and perchance get your way I can do a gig with the band !!

You bet Richard, the bass player even owns a set of drums - you won't even have to bring your own! 

Quote
A beautiful guitar by the way!

I'll second that.  I meant to ask:  Did you have to buy that guitar once you'd joined the band?  Because if that's the case, I may need to join a band, too!   

Yes, I didn't think I'd ever get e-GAS, but that electric thingamabob of Slack's is very comely..

DJ, I bought the first guitar after I joined the band (telecaster), and then the second guitar after we decided what genres we were going to play(gretsch). And now I'm just buying them for fun (danelectro).  So don't wait, we are approaching middle age after all.  Cheaper than comparable acoustics, the only downside is that they need this box-like thing called an "amp".

Here you go, just to fuel your gas, it can do the twang thang and it can do the smooth T-bone thang.




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[Bill Roggensack]

Way to go John - at least you guys had good equipment! And you remember the carpenter's saying -  it's a poor workman that blames his tools.
 
Sounds like you guys had a blast, and will probably be on the road in a converted school bus any day now.

[thumbstyle]

Well done, Slackjaw Johnny! Pulling together a band, taking on vocals, and being the sole guitar player is no mean feat. And it sounds like you had a heckuva good time doing it!

[Slack]

Thanks Dave and FP,

It was quite a bit to chew off -- but it's amazing what you can get away with if you pretend like you know what you are doing. 

Country Blues is a fundamental part of a lot roackabilly and so many of those guitar parts are pretty simple - vocals in most of the above are pretty simple too, I ain't no crooner.  You'll also notice a music stand in front of my mic -- I needed quite a few lyrics in bold face 20pt type. 

But what really helps is having that keyboard. If I could not sing over some boogie guitar part, Mark filled in the guitar line. He does bass lines, sax lines - whatever... he can cover the range.  I will try to get an mp3 of 'Choo Choo Ch' Boogie' sometime, he's doing sophisticated bass lines (ones the bass player cannot do) under his breaks - fabulous.  Mark's transcribes all his breaks (his comfort zone) - we turned him on to the software "Transcribe!" and he just goes to town with some great stuff.  On the other hand, he's never played in a band, so stuff you and I would take for granted in working on something together - was initially completely foreign to him.  We had to spend time learning to communicate, had to explain the nashville numbering system, 12 bar catch phrases like 'quick change', 'stay on the five' and even what a 'tunraround' was!  Had to point out that the songs are fluid and not rigid and keyed off the vocal. Needless to say there have been some funny and interesting communication break downs.  But he's hooked now, we are supposed to be taking a break and he sent an email yesterday wondering what he is supposed to be working on, which is just great.

[Slack]

I think no one is going to believe that you haven't so far recorded so much as one song! Come on, confess and post an mp3 and put us out of our misery! 

OK Pan, I know after well over a year you are not going to believe it - but we've just started to fool a bit with recording.  It is a recreational band after all.     Anyway, we plugged a laptop into the mixing board and recorded a practice.  A multitude of problems, the usual timing, pitch, flubs etc - not to mention live levels don't equate to recorded levels.  But here are 4 tunes that were 'decent' - posted for the select weenie crowd.

Choo Choo Chi Boogie
Gravy Train
Lonseome Tears In My Eyes
One Hand Loose

Some of my favorites we do are with saxophone, but the delay level which sounds very cool live, sounded pretty bad from the mixer. In any case, a pretty good representative of what we are having a blast doing.  We've got a wedding to do on the 30th - so maybe we'll snag a few additional tunes. 

Click "Tunes" on http://slackabilly.com  (the much better vocals are Ken, our drummer.)

Cheers,
slack

[Rivers]

Cool Slack! What happened to the guitar on the Choo choo mix? It needs punctuating with some pterodactyl screams and brontosaurus bends like the ones you're doing on the other tracks. The piano guys is, as you say, a gem.

Loved the other three tracks, esp. Gravy Train. The harmony vox work great where they appear, you should keep working them up. Likewise the callouts, "yeahs!" etc are a gas and sound completely natural.

Yeah I'm craving a 6120 too. Does that have the TV Jones p/u's? Sounds excellently scary on Gravy Train and Lonesome Tears, assuming that's the same guitar.

Your voice works well for the genre. Just keep pushing it out there and forget about being self critical. It sounds great to the rest of us. Keep it up dude!

[Slack]

Haha.. thanks!  It really is a ton of fun.

We do Choo Cho ala Louis Jordan so I only play rhythm on Choo Choo, which on our poor mix, gets drowned out by the piano - which is OK as the piano parts are pretty great.  So, no pterodactyl screams on Choo Choo (we have plenty of other songs to scream and yell on however). 

Ken sings good harmony and we do "Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby" entirely in vocal harmony.  We'll get a good mix of that one soon -- it is a sax piece and one of my favorites.  The bass player also joins in on some vocal backing - so we working on developing the vocals more.

I sold my 6120 w/ filterons and now play a Duo Jet with single coil dynasonics (which I'm holding on the front page glamor pic),  I like dynasonics a lot better.  Actually I'd love a 6120 DSW (western motif, dynasonics) - but domestic tranquility dictates that I pace the number of guitars I go through.    You might prefer filterons however, so if you get the 6120 itch, play both.

I'll get a picture of our setup on the 30th -- I think you'll find it interesting. -- using the latest in technology to produce that 50's sound.   

[Rivers]

Thanks for the heads up on the 6120 DSW, I wasn't aware of that guy. Kudos to Gretsch for reviving one of the great American guitars and making it even better. Man, I can't believe you sold that sucker though, Filteron or not!!!

[Slack]

Man, I can't believe you sold that sucker though, Filteron or not!!!

Yea, I do regret it on occasion. But they are still making them ... the Japanese are doing a fabulous job building them too - many think that they are the best Gretsch's ever. A year ago they had great deals on Gretschs as they were closing out many lines in preparation for the Chet Adkins endorsement - which they stuck on everything. I pickup up the duo jet new, for dirt cheap.... and I wish I had bought another couple of models as well!

[Temple]

Great tunes, Slack!!  You are right about your keyboard player.  I wish he would come to Pt T so I could look over his shoulder.  Glad you are having so much fun with the band!

ho ho ho

Temple

 

[Pan]

I'd say you're right on the track -Slack! 

Great pianist. You really have a great guitar sound for this kind of music. And I loved the vocal harmonies.

Have a great gig on the 30th! And post some pictures.

Cheers

Pan