Tuesday, November 22, 2005

I've started a Meetup.com group




I've been watching the people at Meetup.com who were interested in a musician's group for the Atlanta area, but nobody was stepping up to the plate to lead the group. So, I finally signed up to do so. It's called, for lack of a better name, the North Atlanta Musician Meetup Group, and you can visit us by clicking here: http://musicians.meetup.com/266/

I hope that after you visit, and see that you can join the Meetup group for free, you'll join the family. And then, once you're confident in our group, you'll invite your musician friends, and so on.

Meetup.com suggested that the meetings be on the second Wednesday of the month at 8PM, I don't know why. Wednesdays are the nights I play at Tavern On The Bridge with Andrew Black & The Believers. While that is definitely a kickass show, it is not a jam which I think would be a lot more fun for musicians. Your call, I hope you join us at both.

Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Music Report for Nov. 15, 2005

Hi Friends,
What a long strange trip it's been! This past weekend was packed with crispy goodness.

First, the monthly weekend at Doc's with Larry Griffith Band was even more hootin' hollerin' fun than ever. Friday was Veteran's Day, and some of America's Finest were celebrating there, flags & all. My buddy Clint, a 23-year veteran, always calls Doc's to find out when we're there and make a 30 mile drive to come see us.

Semi-interesting note here: Veteran's Day used to be Armistice Day, to mark the anniversary of the ending of WW1 (the "war to end all wars"... too bad that isn't working out). During the tense cold war years, it was changed to Veteran's Day, points out Steven Colbert, because celebrating peace wasn't exactly a high priority at the time. The end of the war was chosen to be the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, for symbolic reasons. The very last casualty of the war, mere minutes before peace, was killed by a sniper bullet. His name was George Price. True fact, use Google to look it up.

Anyway, Saturday night got much hotter. To start with, it was Doc's 24th Anniversary party. Then the full court of Fried Flamingo Queens (a local chapter of the Sweet Potato Queens) appeared in wigs, tiaras, and feather boas with some serious party attitude. Many of you know Shakin' Sherri and her loyal follower Robert, who has played bass with us at many jams. All that was going well enough until we played "Leave Your Hat On". One of the queens (codename Lulu) started doing an appropriate dance that would normally cost good money to watch. The dance floor cleared off as people watched, amazed. This was great stuff, clearly Lulu has a brass pole in her basement to practice with. Then a spiky-haired young woman from elsewhere in the crowd jumped in and joined the dance, and the two of them moved with such talent and gusto it'd make your hairs stand up. At least. So of course, the party is now officially jumpstarted and went straight up from there, until...

About 1:30 AM, a concerned-looking police officer walks swiftly in the door and straight towards the bar. Moments later, we're all advised that there's a bomb threat and we all must peacefully but quickly move outside while they investigate. This isn't my first bomb scare so I take my jacket and car keys out with me, but didn't take time to unplug my instruments. The crowd mills about for a while, and sure enough after maybe 45 minutes we're told they won't be reopening tonight, if you have a tab please come back later in the week and settle it. We had our big International Blues Challenge competition the next day, and all our gear's inside. Oh well, we'll just have to make another trip. The next day, nothing had exploded - it was all a hoax of course, real bombers don't call. The threat had been phoned in from a payphone in Gwinett County someplace where there aren't cameras watching everyone.

So, on to the IBC. We (Larry Griffith Band) played our set, and it felt good, but since I heard great music before and after us my hopes weren't too high. Sometimes I'm glad to be mistaken. After a great set from The Breeze Kings, the results were announced and WE WON the People's Choice ballot! The judges reached a slightly different conclusion, and by a few tenths of a point we were narrowly defeated by Big Robert T and his band. Congrats to guitarist Rick Ware - by coincidence we both teach guitar at Do-Re-Mi in Norcross - have a good time at the international finals in Memphis.

So, on to the current week. Tuesday will be a great night for music, as usual, at The North End Pub. Wednesday, come out to Tavern On The Bridge for a rockin' good time with Andrew Black & The Believers. Thursday and Friday, I'm not playing for some reason. But Saturday, it's gonna be a party at Chip's in Winder with the fabulous Heaven Davis. C'mon out and enjoy the show, buy a CD, have a good ol' roadhouse experience.

Saturday, Nov. 19
Chip's Bar & Grill
w/ Heaven Davis & The Aggrivatin' Papas
655 Patrick Mill RD SW
Winder GA 30680 770-307-2840
web: http://www.chipsbarandgrill.com/main.php4
map: http://www.chipsbarandgrill.com/directions.php4

Tuesdays:
The North End Pub & Grill
5970 Atlanta Hwy (Hwy 9 at McFarland Rd.)
Alpharetta, GA 30004 678-867-6750
8:30-1:00 (but sometimes jams on until closing)
GOOD food, kitchen open until 2AM!
web: http://www.thenorthendga.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/555vg

Super Easy Directions: From the south, come up 400 to McFarland Rd (exit 12B). Loop left across 400 and go until the road Ts into Highway 9 (Atlanta Hwy). You're there. From Gwinnett, come in on Hwy 20, turn south on 400, and go two exits to McFarland and turn right. From other directions, adapt what I just said.

Wednesdays:
Tavern On The Bridge
9775 Medlock Bridge Rd., Suite A.
Duluth, 30097 770-232-1210
Nice room, big floor & stage, pro sound, good food.
Southeast corner of State Bridge Rd. and Medlock Bridge (Hwy 141)
One door south of Stony River.
web: http://www.tavernonthebridge.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/8lp8g

Friday, November 11, 2005

Music Report. for Nov. 11, 2005

Hello Friends,

This weekend I'll be playing with Larry Griffith at Doc's in Marietta on Friday and Saturday night, then Sunday at the International Blues Challenge (we're scheduled for 4PM). See links below. This will be my second pass at the IBC, I competed last year as a sideman in another act. I hope you'll all come out to root, hoot & holler; there will be many great acts there, so anytime you come is gonna be a good time just so long as you don't miss us. My compliments to the Atlanta Blues Society for organizing this event, it can't be easy for them. See links below.

The weekly jams at The North End just keep getting better. Carlos Capote of The Breeze Kings (5-time winner of Creative Loafing's annual polls, top-10 finalists at International Blues Challenge, and more) came out 2 weeks ago for the anniversary party, and this week he brought his guitarist Jim Ransone with him. Those guys ripped the roof off the joint! Looking around that night, I realized I had Carlos & Jim, as well as Jon Schwenke (another IBC winner with Delta Moon), a multi-platinum keyboard player (Gates Nichols of Confederate Railroad), another multi-platinum keyboard player (Keith Barnhart, who did Chaka Khan's "I Feel For You" and much more), and many others. People, ya just gotta BE there!

Also getting better is the Wednesday night show with Andrew Black & The Believers at Tavern On The Bridge. Our old friend Tweek has been coming out to perfect the sound, and he does make that big system sound amazing! Come see what four top-notch artists in a great-sounding room can do.

Last week I did my first show with vocalist Melanie Massell, at Dailey's (downtown Atlanta martini & cigar bar). She called 4 hours before the gig, when I was up to my arms in clorox and deck stain, but I made it through the !@#$! Friday traffic and we had what I consider to be a fine musical evening with Melanie, myself and her regular accompanist Arthur Turner on piano. I'll be doing more shows with her in duo and trio format. Melanie is an amazing singer, check her out at http://www.mmmusic.net/index.html (don't miss the sound samples). My first duo shows with her are at Grape (Phipps Plaza) in December, I'll keep you informed.

WARNING! Computer users who play CDs on their computers have been shocked to learn that Sony/BMG CDs install hidden software on their computers. The software is not only spyware that tells Sony what you play, but it uses a clumsy cloaking method that's just good enough to evade anti-virus tools, while allowing other virus writers a free ride into the system. If you're just good enough to find the hidden files and delete them, you'll cripple your system! And, the alterations to your Windows system that allow viruses and other scumware to stay hidden will still be in place. Furthermore, if you want the patch from Sony to remove the spyware, you must fill out forms and give them personal info, and when you get the patch it tends to crash Windows and by some accounts damages the Windows system making it even more unreliable in the future. Be warned! Japanese sneak attack! Major lawsuits are pending.
http://tinyurl.com/auyjl
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/11/01/sony_rootkit_drm/
http://www.aunty-spam.com/sony-cds-install-rootkit
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/sony.html
A quick Google on "Sony CD software" reveals LOTS of press on this.

And finally, I was surprised and honored to have my "How To Sound Better At Jams" article chosen by OurMedia.org for a front-page feature listing. You can see that and much more of my work at http://www.ourmedia.org/user/40460

That's all I have time to tell you at the moment. Stay tuned and I'll see you at the shows!

best wishes,
George

Sunday, November 06, 2005

Good times at the Decatur Wine Festival


The Saturday afternoon gig with Heaven Davis couldn't have been sweeter. The event, as I learned when I got there, was the Decatur Wine Festival. The only problem on an otherwise perfect day was that the event was sold out and my friends weren't allowed in (although they did all find ways in). Many thanks to my several groups of friends who came out and used their ingenuity to enjoy a beautiful autumn afternoon and a bit of good wine tasting. My friend Michael Davis (no relation to Heaven) took this photo (click the photo for a larger version), he says he has more and I'll add them here as I get them. The players were Marty Kearns, keys; Jerry Z, bass; Joey Dukes, drums; myself on guitar, and of course Heaven. The big pink thing is a handrail. It's gotta be tough getting a shot as wide-spread as we were, with columns everywhere. I can tell you that playing inside a gazebo is a lot like being inside a satellite dish, the curved roof focused the drums right down on top of us. Our amps and speakers sent sound directly out the sides, so were not affected by the roof. We're told the sound out front was crisp and well balanced, but inside the gazebo - fugeddaboudit! *shrug & grin*

Friday, November 04, 2005

Music Report for Nov. 4, 2005

Music Report for Nov. 4, 2005

Hi Friends, sorry I neglected to mention this show in my previous emails. I will be performing with Heaven Davis in the gazebo at the Decatur square, this Saturday afternoon Nov. 5th, from 3:00 to 4:30.

I think there is some festival going on, it should be a good time and the weather will be glorious. C'mon out!


The 1 Whole Year Anniversary Party at The North End was a fine success. Lots of good music & fun from lots of people (hats off to Special K), a very nice anniversary cake, and noteworthy performances from Chris Duarte, Carlos Capote and Barry Richman made it a wonderful evening.


I'm going to try and remember all the musicians who don't get mentioned much, my apologies if I (almost certainly) forget someone: Jeffery Baker, Brandon Carney (18-yr-old debut performance!), Bob Baske, Rich Tomanio, Dr. Z, Sean Collins, and Eric Singer also added to the performances Tuesday, as they often do. The jams are all about the semi-pros and hobbyists as well as the pros, and all these players and many more like them make it all work. I've confined my emails to mention of the notable names, in the interest of brevity and focus, but every player matters. I myself came back into the music business through the jam scene after a 17-year "retirement", and I can think of several players I personally know who moved up the ranks from jammer to pro. Theron Peterson and Joel Williams, to name just a couple. My thanks to all of you, whether you're doing it with serious intent or just for cathartic fun. I'm also always eager to help you advance if that's your wish, just ask.

Finally, a word of congratulations to Beau Hall, whose new CD should help bring him the recognition he's long deserved. Beau also writes newsletters at least as quirky as mine. He also provides this quote of the week: "Don't ever take me off your email list. You get around more than my ex-girlfriend." Thanks, Beau, and she says hi too.
http://www.blindslim.com


Upcoming shows:

Saturday, Nov. 5, 3:00 to 4:30
Heaven Davis
The Gazebo on Decatur Square

Friday & Saturday, Nov. 11 & 12
Larry Griffith Band
Doc's 10PM to 3AM (really!)
2750 Cobb Pkwy SE, Smyrna 30080 (770) 953-9354
web: http://www.docsatlanta.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/ey24n

Sunday, Nov. 13
Larry Griffith Band
International Blues Challenge
Music from 1PM to 9PM (not yet sure when we're scheduled)
Knights of Columbus Hall on Buford Hwy
2620 Buford Hwy N.E.
Atlanta 404.636.9237
1/4 mile North of the intersection of Buford Hwy and Lenox Road
(next to Greens Liquor Store)
http://atlantabluessociety.com/staticpage/blueschallenge.html

Tuesdays:
The George Price Band
The North End Pub & Grill
5970 Atlanta Hwy (Hwy 9 at McFarland Rd.)
Alpharetta, GA 30004 678-867-6750
8:30-1:00 (but sometimes jams on until closing)
GOOD food, kitchen open until 2AM!
web: http://www.thenorthendga.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/555vg


Wednesdays:
Andrew Black & The Believers
Tavern On The Bridge
9775 Medlock Bridge Rd., Suite A.
Duluth, 30097 770-232-1210
Nice room, big floor & stage, pro sound, good food.
Southeast corner of State Bridge Rd. and Medlock Bridge (Hwy 141)
One door south of Stony River.
web: http://www.tavernonthebridge.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/8lp8g

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Music Report for Nov. 1, 2005

Hi Friends, just to remind you we'll be celebrating my 1 Whole Year Anniversary as host of the Tuesday jams at The North End Pub. It's nothin' but a party, and "all my rowdy friends are comin' over tonight". Don't bother with supper, use that time to take a nap and then come have dinner with us; the food is good enough to make AJC's Top 10 list. Directions below.

Also, things just keep gettin' better with Andrew Black, Jon Schwenke and Jimmy Mouton as we do the Wednesday nights at Tavern On The Bridge. C'mon out and enjoy the nice pro-managed sound, the big dance floor, and the good food & drink.

By popular request, I've posted my "Tech Support Blues" on my media website. My voice is much stronger now, I'm going to re-record it someday soon. http://www.ourmedia.org/user/40460

Man, I had me a great weekend. The neighborhood Halloween party at Bradshaw Farm (hey y'all!) was a ripping success - not only was the band I called together an instant match (as they should be, they've played together in Kid Brother for years) but the crowd was on full throttle party mode. Great gig, great neighbors, hope to see you all again soon. Then Sunday, Rich T & Liz (who you always see at The North End jams) had Barbara and myself out to ride their horses. Rich's horse is named Mr. Big, and he is truly "the Hummer of horses"; nearly big enough for his own zip code, and if recent events are any indication, smart enough to run for public office (though far too honest). A lovely day for a ride through the countryside, leaves just starting to turn colors. After dinner, Rich and I went over to Mike LeVasseur's house to jam with him and his crew of buddies (pals since childhood) visiting from New York. Turns out they're fine players too, we did some fine tunes ranging from Deodato to Stones to Tower Of Power's "What Is Hip". Great cap to a great weekend.


Tuesdays: (ANNIVERSARY PARTY Nov. 1st)
The North End Pub & Grill
5970 Atlanta Hwy (Hwy 9 at McFarland Rd.)
Alpharetta, GA 30004 678-867-6750
8:30-1:00 (but sometimes jams on until closing)
GOOD food, kitchen open until 2AM!
web: http://www.thenorthendga.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/555vg


Wednesdays:
Tavern On The Bridge
9775 Medlock Bridge Rd., Suite A.
Duluth, 30097 770-232-1210
Nice room, big floor & stage, pro sound, good food.
Southeast corner of State Bridge Rd. and Medlock Bridge (Hwy 141)
One door south of Stony River.
web: http://www.tavernonthebridge.com
map: http://tinyurl.com/8lp8g

That's it for now. If you have any questions, please feel free to call or write me.

Oh, and if you noticed my dates were wrong in the previous message, there's a simple explaination - November Fools Day! (yeah, that's the ticket...)