Saturday I played for three and a half hours with Bob Arthur. He is a great fiddler and has a special touch for traditional Irish music. His touch and execution is so good that these people have hired us to play on St. Paddy’s Day in Marquette. We got together to practice for the event but we had so much fun that it would be hard to call what we did practice. Although he also plays other instruments, Bob played fiddle and I flailed away at bouzouki, guitar, and bohdran. It was a great time and we are looking forward to the gig. I became inspired enough to play the concertina (Anglo) for a couple of hours on Sunday. I have added another waltz and a half jig to my slim repertoire.
I have spent the last three days beating up on these babies. They are tasty. Lake Superior is finally frozen out far enough that we can ride machines out a few miles and get into Lake Trout water. We handline them through the ice. It takes patience and a special technique. You also need to be able to suffer a pretty cold ride out there in the early morning. Once there we set up tent cities complete with heaters and cookstoves. It’s really quite the annual event.
We now have three sinks, two toilets, a washer, and a dryer and it all works. I am celebrating by going fishing for a couple of days and playing the snot out of my newest concertina. Then I will return to rewiring; the task that never ends. After that I can start building walls.
I have been asked repeatedly when the new album is coming out. It will be quite some time since I have to finish the basement project first. I also have paying business in the studio which needs my attention this month. It will be great fun to work on the project of someone other than mine. I always enjoy bringing another person’s musical idea to fruition. In fact, it is more fun than working on my own stuff since I already know what I want to hear when I am recording. It is also nice to work in the studio with another set of ears. It keeps the project honest and true to its cause.
I was able to squeak out a couple of hours in ProTools yesterday. I was working on a set of lyrics written by a gal from Australia. It was part of the challenge at the Home Recording Forum. It was nice to be back into the recording process again and I hope to do more in the near future.
Today I am off to Houghton for just a couple of lessons. The remainder of the day, and night, will be spent working in the basement on the new toilet installation. If this doesn’t sound like a fulfilling day to most of you it is because you are probably right. C’mon, EVERY day can’t be fun and exciting. To quote Eddie Haskell….”Gee whiz Mrs. Cleaver.”
I spent over two hours today with a hammer drill going through cement block to vent to the outside. My hands are like hamburger tonight. The remainder of the day was spent running wire and driving back and forth from the hardware store to get parts. The base for the toilet is REBUILT and painted to match the floor; sparkles and all. Tomorrow I will put it back together and finish wiring in a GFCI to the service panel.
I was able to play the Anglo a bit before breakfast this morning. The Palomino Waltz needs to be added to my Anglo playlist now. It sounds very haunting on that particular instrument and I like that a lot.
I know I promised that I would stop using those stupid Smilies but I just couldn’t help myself. Next week I will consider checking in to a Smilie rehab facility. At least I am not a sex addict like Tiger.
The plumbing is done! Of course there is still vents, drains, and electrical to route and install so the workload is still very high. All things considered (My apologies to NPR.) it’s darn nice to have the plumbing finished. All joints are solid and there are no leaks anywhere. Currently I am on break from building a low platform for the toilet.
I did find time this morning while waiting for the plumbing supply to open to play my Anglo. I can now play “The Kiss” up to dance speed. (Remember the 6/8 fiddle theme from ‘Last of the Mohicans’ as he is running through the woods?) It’s a jolly good thing and a great minor key jig. When I finally am done tonight I will start on another tune.
So today was fun, fun, and more fun. I cooked two LARGE pots of soup for Lenten services and played my new Anglo concertina through most of the day. I did, however, take time out to drive up to Houghton and UPS the Gibson mandolin and the Italo accordion to their new owners. It was sad to see them go but I simply have to cut back on my instrument count. I hope the new owners enjoy them as much as I did. Next I will be selling a few violins. I just need to screw my courage up enough to let them leave the family. Please don’t laugh….This is VERY hard for me.
The Anglo is coming along nicely for only having owned it for two days. I can play two jigs, a schotische, and three different waltzes albeit not at the same time. Perhaps later in the week when I have a mic line hot I will lay down a clip to post for general consumption. It is different than anything else I own but my diatonic and Chemnitzer experience transfers well to this little gem. I just need to develop my fine muscle memory on this machine. I must admit that, like all new instruments, I am hopelessly addicted to this one.
Actually, with no disrespect to Bobby D., I wasn’t writing about Mack the Knife. Our son fixed my dead in the water favorite 24 track. The Mackie is back up and running. I have the PT rig which is nice and sounds great but when it comes to ease of operation and getting good tracks down FAST it is hard to beat my old MDR 24 track. Also on the plus side is the fact that I still have ALL my old track data intact, accessible, and usable. I owe my son BIGTIME for this little adventure.
The title of this post is shared by an old bluegrass tune of the same name. It really has little to do with what is going on today though. What made me think of it is that two of our children are coming to visit for the weekend and we are excited. I suppose I should stop calling them children since they are both over thirty years of age and hold down great jobs. Still once a child, always a child even if you happen to be an in-law.
Today I will be giving lessons at Good Times Music and attending an after hours jam for a bit while the kids are on their way here. Tomorrow the Mackie 24 track comes apart and we will try to get her back to functional. By tomorrow night we will know if it is a 24 track recorder or a boat anchor. May suspicions follow:
This morning was spent painting the floor. I had the easy part in that I just needed to stay the heck out of the way while Julie worked. To make use of the time I played fiddle jigs until my right arm fell off. Then I did some researching of anglo system concertinas. (Anglos) I am chomping at the bit to get mine but the tracking info from USPS seems to think that it won’t be here until early next week. (Picture me making a very sad face.) Tomorrow the floor will be dry enough to walk on so I will be back on plumbing detail. It will be very good to have a washer and dryer again.
