Soul Kingdom at the American Legion

Soul Kingdom played at the American Legion in Orleans on April 5, 2014, to a very receptive audience.  There was a ceremony first, sort of a birthday celebration for the building.  There were Legionnaires from throughout the county, and I spoke with George Frisbee from North Troy for quite a while before we started.  Three NCUHS teachers showed up late in the 2nd set, and seemed to enjoy it.

The audience was VERY receptive.  The dance floor was full most of the evening, and the people sitting at tables were into the music, too.  I personally played WAYYYY better than our first gig.  I felt more relaxed and confident, and I think that it really helped.  This is despite not being able to practice for several days, and being quite tired - April 5 was the last day of the Northeast Music Festival.  Ron was headed to Washington DC the next day, so his head wasn't in it, and he wasn't happy with his playing.  Someone still played Hard to Handle in the wrong key, but it was kinda my fault - I screwed around between songs and was playing a B - never again!  I've been Working went very well, although Jungle Boogie wasn't quite as strong as the first gig.  Lowrider went better, and Feelin Alright or I'm a Man (?) contained an awesome jam.  We did have a few ending issues, and I did miss the little runs I'm supposed to play before the bridges in Soul Man, but this was a great gig by a great band.  Looking forward to the next one!

Set 1:
1. Soulfinger (intro)
2. The Letter
3. In the Midnight Hour
4. Higher and Higher
5. Black is Black
6. She Caught the Katy
7. I Got You (I Feel Good)
8. Colour My World
9. Got to Get You Into My Life
10. Walking the Dog
11. Midnight Confessions
12. Hard to Handle
13. Sweet Home Chicago

Set 2:
1. The Chicken
2. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy
3. Knock on Wood
4. I Wish
5. Hold On! (I’m Coming)
6. Vehicle
7. Couldn’t Get It Right
8. I Can’t Quit Her
9. Sir Duke
10. Soul Man
11. Into the Mystic

Set 3:
1. I’ve Been Working
2. Lowrider
2. Jungle Boogie
3. Brick House
4. Feelin Alright
5. September
6. I’m a Man
7. Band Intro/Soulfinger (outro)

Extras: Uptight, Let’s Stay Together, I Got a Woman (w/o trumpet?)

Soul Kingdom's FIRST GIG!

Soul Kingdom's first gig was at Parker Pie Wings in Coventry. The place was packed. 

Apparently I was nervous or something when we started. I kept losing focus. On Soul Finger I missed the break completely - I was in the wrong zone. The Letter was fine, except I started in Bb instead of A. In The Midnight Hour I couldn't find the ending, and couldn't hear the guitars well enough to end. Higher and Higher I lost the groove, although I found it again without stopping. Finally, the next two songs were fine. By then I was paranoid about screwing up, so I played too softly on Colour My World. Kyle thought my amp had cut out. I'm really happy with Midnight Confessions - it was perfect. Hard to Handle was interesting; we started in B and Bb. I wasn't sure what to do, so I stayed in Bb. After the intro it was fine. 

I played the 2nd set fine, though we had a few issues. I think I lost focus on Couldn't Get it Right, missing a few chords and botching the ending. There were two different set lists out there, and we realized then when guitars/drums started playing I Can't Quit Her, but bass/horns started on Sir Duke!  Something weird may have happened in Into the Mystic, but I'm not sure what it was. Low Rider was great, but there was too much space between different sections.  She Caught the Katy, Walk the Dog, Sweet Home Chicago, and one other tune we played for the first time ever. On ...Katy there's a chord in there I didn't remember, but it was a fun tune. 

The audience seemed to appreciate it, and stayed for a long time. We had great comments, even from the owner. Relatives were there - Sharon, Steve, Janice, Pat, Sara, Ryan, and even David French.  Music teachers Pete Gage, Gary, Anna Kennedy, Anna shelow, mike o, Caroline madder were all there after the music festival (except Pete, who was the the whole time). 

For all the criticisms I wrote above, this really was a great gig. It's good to be playing again, and this band is really top notch. Looking forward to the next one!

Set 1:

1. Soulfinger

2. The Letter

3. In the Midnight Hour

4. Higher and Higher

5. Black is Black

6. I Got You (I Feel Good)

7. Colour My World

8. Got to Get You Into My Life

9. Midnight Confessions

10. Hard to Handle

11. Mercy, Mercy, Mercy

12. Knock on Wood

13. I Wish

Set 2:

1. The Chicken

2. Hold On! (I’m Coming)

3. Vehicle

4. Couldn’t Get It Right

5. Sir Duke

6. She Caught the Katy ---------Can we do this with or without horns???

7. Into the Mystic

8. Lowrider

9. Brick House

10. September

11.  I’m a Man

**Extras If Needed

Uptight

It’s Your Thing

Sweet Home Chicago

The Heaters at the Eagle's Club

I subbed for Chris at his wedding reception at the Eagle's Club in Burlington.  It was fun playing with the Heaters.  Interesting that they had total faith in me - no sound check, no talking through the songs ahead of time - just, "ready?"  They changed the key on the very first song, but I figured it out quickly enough.  "Ring of Fire" was a little different than the original, and I had to watch for the stops on "Born this Way," but otherwise I pretty much nailed it.  ...until the end.  After drinking and dancing, I played "Bitch" at the very end of the night. Totally botched the chorus, although I got better each time, and by the end I had it.  It was SO much fun to be able to play for the family!

The Heaters

867-5309
Bitch
Born this Way
Brick House
Hard to Handle
Hit Me With your Best Shot
I'm gonna be 500 mile
I'm Yours
I love R & R
Keep Your Hands to Yourself
Mary Jane's Last Dance
Ring of Fire
Santeria
Tush
You May Be Right
Sweet Child O Mine
Rolling in the Deep
Wonderful Tonoight
Marry You
Jackson

Guest Conductor with the GMMDV Middle School Jazz Band

So I was asked by San Gordon, a music teacher who used to teach at Charleston, to conduct the Middle School Jazz Band for the Green Mountain Music District Five Festival.  It took place at the College of St. Joseph's in Rutland.  I left Newport a bit later than I wanted to leave, around 6:05, got some McD and hopped on the Interstate.  It was just under a three-hour drive, so I should have arrived just before 9:00, but a wrong turn in Rutland delayed me by about 20 minutes.  Arrival into the rehearsal did not go as I expected - at 9:15 they were basically sitting there waiting!  The schedule said 9:30, and I thought everyone would be introduced in one big greeting, but that was not how it went.  So at 9:30 I started rehearsal.  Oddly enough, they didn't have stands.  When we began, they were looking at the floor, or the back of a chair, or propped it up in a case.  Some stands were brought later, much to my relief!  Some students didn't get the right music either.  Ugh.

They sounded good, right from the start.  They were a bit nervous, but they warmed up pretty quickly.  We were able to work on articulations and form early on.  The drummer was this tiny kid named Angus who played great.  Very solid.  Trumpets bells were too often down, but they played well, too.  The saxes were very strong, especially 1st alto & 1st tenor.  Only one trombone player, but when he belted it out he got it.  Sometimes he wasn't too confident, especially on the piece he was sight-reading!  I was surprised at how many of them volunteered to solo on the one piece I opened up!

The rehearsals went on all day, and it was probably too much.  When we got to mid-afternoon, fatigue was setting in and they made silly little mistakes.  So did I, actually.  The concert was tremendous.  Angus' drumset was up on two sets of risers, and the kids played so well.  The crowd was HUGE.

Angus - drums

Oziah - keyboard (piano & B3)

Ben - guitar

Henry - bass (cool, electric upright bass!)

Levin - trombone

Cameron tpt1

Meghan tpt2

Taylor tpt3

?? & Cameron (another one) - tpt4

?? & Zack - bari sax

Ethan - tenor 2

Katelyn - tenor 1

Katie - alto 2

Caleb - alto 1

PROGRAM:

Lester Leaps In, Moondance, Runaway Baby, Mambo #5, and the House of the Rising Sun

It was a very long day - I got home, after a long drive, at about 11:00.  The drive was easy because the performance was really uplifting.  I got paid well and had a fun day of music with some great kids.  Awesome.

Kyle & Bill at the Tavern

So Kyle Chadburn, guitar & vocals, was abandoned for a gig at the Tavern.  His singing and percussion-playing cohort Travis couldn't make it on a Saturday night.  In fact in looks like he can't make many Saturday nights at all, and I may fill in for him some more.  Kyle had a small PA set up and I played through that, using my pedalboard.  Not sure I really needed the pedal, but it gave me a little more control and a longer connection to the PA.We played a mix of ETA songs, Kingdom Dixie songs, and requests (I need to do these blog posts sooner, so I remember what we played, especially when there's no set list).  Kyle is SO good at figuring out songs on the spot.  All I had to do was follow along.  For such a low-pressure gig (the same day as Northeast Auditions!) it paid just fine.  I hope to do it again!

Kingdom Dixie at the GML

January 17, 2014
Kingdom Dixie played at the Goodrich Memorial Library.  It was the end of a verrrrry long week and I was so tired.  I swear I almost nodded off in the middle of a tune!  The room wasn't too big, but it was full.  Although this wasn't a paying gig, it's always fun to play with this group - Howie, Richard, Mike O, Pete, John, Chris, and Cindy.  I wish we'd taken a picture, though.  I used Gary's Acoustic amp for this gig - so nice to have that little beast.

Old School plays Falcapalooza 2014

Falcapalooza made me want to gig more.  It was exhausting, helping to organize the whole event, trying to keep kids' interest and getting them to actually show up.  I think everyone had a great time, but I don't think anyone could have had more fun than I did.  There were many other bands, including The Bad Weathermen, the Onomatopoeia Organization, AuSm, Matter of Fiction, The Five Band, and the Session Guys.

Slapping the end of Sweet Emotion

"Old School" in 2013 was me, John Wagner (guitar), and Elliott Gray (drums).  This year, Tom Arnold came in on drums, Emily Nyman on acoustic guitar and Ruth-Ann Fletcher on lead vocals.  We performed twice, once in the afternoon for much of the school and again that evening in the real show.  Both times we played Sweet Emotion and Rock & Roll.  I felt the nerves at the beginning of Sweet Emotion, for sure.  I find when I play that tune that I just have to ignore Tom on it - he's with me on the ride cymbal part of the time, and then not - I may not really be playing the right rhythms!  Once the beat kicks in, it's way more comfortable.  Rock & Roll is so easy, but the guitar solo has a weird blues form in the background (1x almost normal, 1x twice as long with a stop).  As long as I stayed focused I got it.  But I screwed up the ending, going to the wrong one.  Ruth-ann stayed on, though so we followed her.  The evening show was perfect.  John moved his amp over where I could hear him, and that made a big difference.  In the evening, we also played AC/DC's "Let There be Rock."  Awesome.  I was playing through Eli's Orange amp, and it had just the right growl for the music.

I don't think I've EVER moved around this much.  Having the big open stage was amazing.  How to top it next year....?