Difficult to practice

With Ru-Jun very annoyingly interrupting almost every song.  But got through the set.  Will be in the sun tomorrow, with sweaty hands.  Hard to move up and down the neck.  I'll try to have someone video it.  I have the equipment but I don't have anybody to run the camera yet...

Set is ready

Still a couple rough edges here and there but the set of songs I listed on 4-12 is pretty much ready. I'll give it another run through tomorrow night. I only have 30 min, so maybe I'll give people some options of what they want to hear.

Gig confirmed

11-11:30 Friday on the 2nd stage
Opening the show
Weather predicted to be 65 and sunny
As soon as I get the official schedule I'll start letting people know

gig?

Not sure if the Earthstock gig is going to happen.  I have not heard back from the organizers.  Would be disappointing.  But positive things are happening with developing songs and optimizing equipment setup.  I'll have to look for some other opportunities.

Also new

Wireless headset mic. Works well - tested it in the office on Saturday. It was difficult at the house party singing into a mic. With the headset, I'll be able to look down at the fretboard as much as I like.

Just added

Tralfaz as an author, using a new gmail account.  But Tralfaz=Slig in RL.  Old Grimy remains a separate person.  Now far away in Texas.  The days of his fronting Megachild are fondly remembered and missed.

Wow

Just played around with the new clip-on piezo pickup. Have turn up the gain a bit, but it works really well. If I had tried one of these a few months ago, I would not have bought the acoustic-electric (although I really like that instrument and it's good to have for the long term). This will be great for playing. It's almost completely unobtrusive for playing. Right now the acoustic is so much more comfortable to play. The sound is great out of my little Roland Micro Cube bass amp, which has flange, delay, and reverb on board.

After the Gold Rush - Neil Young

This was in a list of environmental songs that I found online. Great song. Slow, which is good for piano (what Neil plays it on). I'll work on it on the uke. Don't know if it will be ready for the gig.

Not many

Environmentally conscious rock songs. Godzilla by Blue Oyster Cult is one. Looking for others.

Possible set list

For an 8 song set

Roxanne
Smells Like Teen Spirit
Country Roads
The Gambler
Folson Prison Blues
Ring of Fire
Homeward Bound
Me & Julio

If another set is needed

Smoke on the Water
Unhappy Birthday
Last of the Famous A P
Alsatian Cousin
American Girl
The Zoo
I've Got Spurs that Jingle Jangle Jingle

Also picked up

Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash (written by his wife and first recorded and performed by her sister). Pretty easy song and very well known.

Looks like the gig is going to happen.

possible gig coming up

Earthstock at SBU on 20-April. Megachild has played this event a few times. Tonight I worked on two Paul Simon songs: Me & Julio and Homeward Bound. I'm also going to try Folsom Prison Blues by Johnny Cash. One of my Madison bands played this (I think it was Seed Pod 17, with me, Eric and Matt). So it's pretty familiar. These should be popular songs to do.

Postcards From Paradise - Flesh for Lulu

[click on post title for video link]
A lesser known band in the whole Ramones -> Psychedelic Furs-> Jesus and Mary Chain lineage of postpunk with some really great songs is Flesh For Lulu. This song has apparently been covered by quite a few artists since it came out in 1987, including Paul Westerburg. Which seems about right, the guitar chords sound like the chords in a lot of his songs.

Here Come Cowboys - Psychedelic Furs

[Click on post title for link.]
The Furs are a top 5 all time favorite and influence of mine. This is one of my favorites from their Mirror Moves album, when they were in their prime, in terms of both songwriting and producing their sound. Just learned the song too. Surprisingly simple and very easily transposed down into the comfortable area of the uke neck.

Here Comes the Rain Again - Eurythmics

[click on title for video link]
Eurythmics were among the coolest of the wave of early 80s artists that hit MTV in the early days. They have a lot of great song, but this one has always been my favorite. It has the minor - 5th (of the relative major) - 4th chord progression that always gets me as a hook (cf. just about every Steve Nicks song that is any good). Annie Lennox's vocals are second to none. Dave Stewart is just plain cool.

Peanuts - the Police

[click on title for link] One of the hoppier tunes off their 1978 debut album, Outlandos d'Amour. Live footage of the Police is always informative for players. They get a lot done for a trio.

Apples

I grew up eating an apple a day, probably from age 5 or so to age 15. My grandparents had a couple of small apple orchards and we ended up having apples all winter. The varieties I remember were: macs, romes, northern spies, 20 ounce (a really good tasting cooking variety), greenings (another cooking variety), yellow and red delicious. The varieties in the stores now don't resemble these very much and in many ways are superior. More flavor. Brown a lot slower. I'm particularly impressed by Braeburns and Galas, especially since these are among the least expensive varieties.
This time of year we were reduced to wrinkled up yellow delicious (which were still quite sweet) or maybe some spies (which have a very nice taste) or romes (my least favorite - hard on the outside, grainy and not much flavor in the flesh). The more recent varieties really store excellently.
BTW, the red and yellow delicious that we had back then are nothing like what goes by those names today. I think there is huge variety in that strain (or name appropriation).

New (re)learns

Worked on Substitute (the Who) and Magnet and Steel (Walter Egan) this evening. Both were songs I checked out in the very early uke days last fall, before I was yet doing much with the instrument.

Into The Groove - Madonna

My all time favorite Madonna song. IIRC it was featured in Desperately Seeking Susan, which I like a lot, but more because of Rosanna Arquette than Madonna.

Flesh For Fantasy - Billy Idol

This is one of several songs of his that I've always liked a lot. This live version gives an indication of how important the studio was in the production and impact of the album tracks. He sounds very vulnerable when it's just him and the guitar. The crowd for this MTV gig wasn't exclusively paying attention to the music. Must have been a party for something.