Category: Field Recordings of the Future

Nothing gets in the way of painting class so I didn’t even check the start time for the Empty Hearts gig at Sticky Lips. We just got in the car after class and headed out to the club/BarBQ joint. I expected the place to be packed for the free, warm-up gig for the bands’ upcoming tour in support of their debut album. The band had been rehearsing in Andy Babiuk’s practice space for the last week in Rochester.

More people were leaving than arriving when we showed up and the place was jammed but kinda quiet so we made a beeline for the bar. We ordered two Southern Tier 2XIPA’s and headed toward the stage just in time to grab this shot of the roadies packing up the gear. And this isn’t any ordinairy gear, this is all vintage gear or state of the art gear as would be the case with Andy’s pedigree. Guys were taking cell phone pictures of the the teardrop bass and Gibson SG that Elliot Easton apparently never touched. He played his Les Paul all night through the Marshall stack above. Someone pointed out that Andy’s bass amp, an Ampeg, was sporting a Vox grill cloth.

I stopped in the bathroom before leaving and ran into Wally Palmer, the lead singer. I had not seen him in person since New Math played a gig with the Romantics in 1978. Olga said the show was great and it took her back to the Scorgies days. In fact there were more Ramones shirts here than you could shake a stick at. Olga’s brother, Victor, the former Chesterfield Kings road manager, drove up from Philly. He told us Clem Burke has his own drum roadie. There was pretty good vibe in the room. I wish we had seen the show. When we talked to Andy we acted as though we had. I know it was a good one.

Here’s their video.

We’d seen heard Dave Liebman at the Jazz Fest in 2003 and 2008. He is always a musical delight. On Saturday at the Lovin’ Cup he had the same bass player as the other shows but this time he was playing with an additional horn player (alto sax player, clarinet and flute), Matt Vashlishan, a former Eastman student. He wrote some especially beautiful tunes for the band and the horns were great together. Dave continues to teach and he keeps his ears open. His piano player and drummer are young and gifted. Their two sets, finishing with Coltrane’s “India,” covered some rich terrain.

Liebman played with Miles on some of my favorite lps, “On The Corner” and “”Get Up With It,” so I would follow him anywhere.

One of my mother’s hobbies was arranging the furniture in our house. She has a great eye and good taste and the rearrangements were often startling in their inventiveness. Sometimes they only lasted a few days. Noel, the cafe manager at the Little Theater, sent us an email last night Informing us that Margaret Explosion would be playing at the other end of the room. Apparently they’ve moved the grand piano and the whole space has been reoriented. Tonight I plan to set my drums up close enough to the dishwasher’s room to be able to incorporate the the pots and pans in my kit.

In my parents’ day the circus use to pull into town on the train and stop right bend the Armory on East Main. Two nights ago, when we passed the place on the way to the Little they were padding old metal heads down on the front steps. Judas Priest was in the house. Last night it was the rapper, Nas and tonight my nephews will be there for Bassnectar.

Duane posted a 1978 photo today on fb that he took of my old drum set, a long exposure penlight portrait. I wish I still had that Slingerland set. I sold it to buy a louder set while I was in New Math. David Accorso, who was touring with Julio Iglesias at the time, came down to my basement and he picked up the rack mount tom and tapped it with his fingers. He smiled and said, “Ooo, these are some nice tubs,” and he handed me the cash. The small set was many ply and heavy. I bought a bigger, black Pearl set. The bass drum delaminated in no time. Maybe that was because I would stand on it during our set.

Someone named Mike booked Margaret Explosion for this years Naples Grape Fest. We were a litle worried about the lengendairy traffic jams that happen in that vineyard laden valley but he said he would give us a secret route and a prime parking space. We were to play a one hour and fifteen set but we had to be there an hour ahead of time. We’re used to waltzing in at the last minute with just enough time to set up and get started.

Four of us drove down in the same car, our car. We let Bob drive and Ken sat in the front seat. Margaret and I sat in the back with all the equipment. Of course Ken didn’t bring his double bass and I had to take my bass drum apart to put both my snare and my seat inside the drum to save space. We stayed out of the wine tasting tents and strolled the grounds before our set. Peggi bought some fresh squeezed lemonade and I found a coffee stand. One vendor was selling giant dog bones and another had flooring samples. We played between Amanda Lee Peers, fresh from her debut on “The Voice,” and a Zydeco band. We left as they were being introduced. We listened to a recording of the gig on the way home. Both it and the scenery were out-a-sight.

Was Matthew Shipp’s performance at the Bop Shop part of the Fringe Fest or did it just blow away any of the other performances that we didn’t see Friday night? Shipp is amazing. His duo, with Michael Bisio on bass, played for an hour and a half straight. That is, no breaks at all. Melodic pieces overlapped one another and morphed into something else before your eyes. I had mine closed for maximum effect.

We stopped in Record Archive over the weekend where they were celebrating their “Almost Fortieth Year Anniversary” with live performances by bands, food trucks of every stripe and 20 percent off everything in the store. We caught Anonymous Willpower and we came home with a few used singles. We were talking to Dick Storms in the far corner of their huge space and he pointed to some boxes of Archive Records 45s up on the top shelf. Hi-Techs‘ “Screamin’ You Head” was among them.

We were laughing about the old times and co-owner Alayna joined the conversation. They cooked up an idea to get the bands from those days back together in some form or another to celebrate the long defunct, in-house label. That would be a hoot. I found this old photo I took of Dick as we signed the contract for the second and last Hi-Techs single, “Screamin’ You Head.” Bob Martin is in the picture because we had already formed a new band, Personal Effects. Dwight Glodell produced this single.

When Peggi was teaching Spanish at Pittsford Sutherland High School she would use our Abba “Gracias Por La Musica” album in her class. Their enunciation was very clear. The Swedish group did many different vocal versions of their songs and had incredible diction in each language. Think of any of their English songs and you can hear their spot-on, percussive pronunciation. Mamma Mia. Funny that Anni-Frid Lyngstad’s daughter was a foreign exchange student, living here in Rochester and going to Sutherland High School at that time.

We are still big Abba fans and we just finished back to back Abba movies. The first, made as they toured Australia in the seventies is a bad movie with sensational concert footage. 1999’s “The Winner Takes It All” has many of the videos for the original songs, some footage from the “Mamma Mia” musical (which only makes you die for the original versions), and some great interviews with the band.

Benny got his first accordion at six. Their songs are rich with cabaret, classical and folk roots and they were influenced by Brian Wilson and Phil Spector. I can’t decide what my favorite song is. “Chiquitta,” “Fernando,” “Knowing Me, Knowing You?” All triumphs. Long live Abba!

The Barcus Berry pick-up that Peggi uses on her sax started acting up last night. It made a horrendous noise at the most inopportune time and pretty much forced Peggi to take care of it first thing today. She made an appointment to see Chuck in the back room (Rob Storms old nest) of Sound Source and he spent about an hour with her and only charged fifteen bucks. Peggi reports the space has been completely straightened up since he retired. No more Fudgsicles or non-sequitors. No more 3D viewings of Rob’s high school band.

When she got home I took off for House of Guitars to return the cymbal that Bruce let me take home to try. I had stopped in there on my bike and rode home with it under my arm. It almost fit with my kit but I felt like I could find a better match if I brought my existing cymbals up there. I tried every one in the place and finally settled on an old Zildjian that someone had traded in. Bruce had gone home to dinner by that time and the kid that was upstairs didn’t know how much to charge me so I said I’d stop back tomorrow.

It was very gracious of Bobbie Henrie and the Goners to host a Buddy Holly Birthday Bash at Abilene but as good the guests are in their own rite (the Bradleys are great)they can only diminish the lean, rock ‘n roll of this well-seasoned trio. The Goners are a treasure and in their minimal trio setting their rough edges are a feature. And they only have rough edges because the three great musicians are always reaching. Punk rock didn’t invent anything, it just brought these qualities back. The Goners never left.

We been sifting through Margaret Explosion songs this summer trying to cull a cd’s worth from a batch of starred live songs. There are a hundred songs in the folder, almost too many to listen to but we have been giving it a go.

Even though we’ve put songs online, for free, for years people still want to buy cds. Maybe it’s our demographic, maybe it’s just part of seeing a band, dropping some cash in the tip jar and taking something home. Peggi and I checked the dates on our products and we seem to be putting something out every five years or so, a modest pace. This one’s been on the site for a few months. Do you think anyone would buy it?

The next generation is secured.

An older man who lives about a block away was out near the road when we peddled by on our bikes. He had an armload of sticks that had fallen in the rain. (We had four inches according to Jared’s rainometer.) He asked if we needed any sticks, a question meant to be funny, but one we both considered. We collect our own sticks and keep them in barrels. We use them as kindling to get fires in our wood stove going in the winter months. He asked, “What are your names again?” as if we had been introduced but we have only waved to one another over the years.

He told us his name was John and some people call him “Johnny Harmonica” because he plays the instrument in a band. In fact they had a gig that afternoon at Saint Ann’s Home. He said he doesn’t do his own lawn anymore, hadn’t mowed it himself in five years, and the service he has charges him extra if they have to pick up sticks. Johnny said his lawn is mostly weed grass now and he doesn’t care. He’s ninety-four and says, “I used to fuss with it but it’s green and that’s all that matters now.” He said he is never sure whether he has even eaten breakfast so he checks the sink and if he finds dirty dishes in there he knows he has eaten.

We told him we played instruments too and his eyes lit up when Peggi told him she played the sax. He said he played in a big band, one with a sax and violin player, and he uses a pickup so he can be heard.