Snug Harbor on 9-12-11
So I took Labor Day off from being at Snug. Previous engagement was... engaged. My ongoing D&D game happened that day and had previously been scheduled. Y'see, since the Snug DJing thing is a volunteer type thing, plus it having been Labor Day, I informed that I wasn't going to go.
Anyway, a week later I returned and realized there and then that it was addictive as hell. Breaks from DJing once you've started? How do you handle it? I've always been one that has needed to share music. It's beyond a little drive, it's something I just have to do. Started out when I began buying albums, moved quickly into and obsession in high school with the radio station, then continued through my stabs at higher education as I was involved in their stations. Finally, when that was over I had already begun making tapes and that really ran up until the last decade, by which I mean the first decade of this century, where I switched to making CDs. Then .mp3 CDs. Then broadcasting through the server Lance set up. Then it evolved into Musical Conversations, which then mutated (as opposed to evolved) into what I do for PMCR on Tuesday nights for the Friday (technically Saturday morning) rebroadcast.
I realize now that I've given up putting anything under a cut. Too much hassle now? Does it bother anyone? Sorry if it does.
Moving along now... so now that I'm also DJing at Snug Harbor, I'm finding that there is an audience that appreciates what I'm doing and is one that I hope to grow... so if you're in Charlotte and do happen to read this, please show up at Snug Harbor on Monday night. Even if it's just to stop in and say 'hello, I've read your LJ', I'd greatly appreciate it.
On the 12th of September, at the end of a terrible time with vehicles and awful other things happening, I spent the day thinking about what music to bring to Snug Harbor to enjoy and pursue. I've mentioned this before and it's what I do to prepare. I do it that way since I do bring records. I mean, I could just bring the laptop and the hard drive, it's that I'm enjoying the segue. It's what I really enjoy about some of my favorite DJs in town. Have I mentioned this already? If so, sorry and even still yes, I'm talking about DJ Spider. I should tag that as her... don't even remember the code to do that now. Seriously, my issue is that she does something like a monthly stint at The Breakfast Club and honestly I don't know if I could handle it. Anything '80's makes me cringe to the point of wishing the decade never happened (or that I could Alter Reality (yes, as in the D&D spell) to make it quite a bit different than it actually was), so I'm not likely to want to immerse myself into an environment that celebrates that era. Not to say I'm not strong enough to handle it and couldn't suck it up and just do it, it's that I... well... I haven't. Yet. I might. Eventually. Maybe? I guess I just haven't had the right... motivation. That's it. I need motivation to go there.
Hmm... anyway, moving along again... so I spend the day pulling records. Here I am thinking of what direction to go in and I come up with what I think is a brilliant plan of action. A melding of jazz and heavy metal. It's really easier than you'd think and one that should work well though it sounds horrible on paper (or on screen). Hours of pouring over the records, pulling some to just remember that I have the file version and not just on vinyl. I end up with about 30 records, which isn't bad considering that I'm only going on for a short while... as far as I know. Maybe a couple of hours, at most three or four? Yeah, that's good, a good selection and really, I can hear the transition from Return To Forever into Black Sabbath. More metal needs to be played anyway.
Then I see the message. Very simply, I'm going to play between sets and after a country band that is scheduled to play that night. A country band? Gee, um... great. Looking through anything I pulled, I realize that only about three picks would work. A Suzi Quatro (I'm thinking "Stumblin' In")... and two others that I honestly can't remember at this time. Black Sabbath's Paranoid might have been another and yep, I'm thinking "Planet Caravan" for that. Why not? It could work, yes? Much better than the Judas Priest I pulled (Screamin' For Vengeance).
A country band? A country band. Okay. I'm up for the challenge. Bag what I've got, start pulling again. Poco, Linda Ronstadt, Eagles, Quicksilver Messenger Service... um... QMS? Sure, it could be country... if you're as stoned as they were. "Oh, what about me" they wail... yeah. Okay. What else? Well... this is what I ended up playing...
First, the guy Ronnie Hymes from Fayetteville was the opening act. Both used the same band, a stand-up bass player and a guitarist that played a strat and a slide/steel guitar. Great stuff. Sounded great at Snug also, which is saying a lot. After he was done, I talked with him a bit and thanked him. Then later, after the "headliner" guy was done I talked with Ronnie again and told him about PMCR and Musical Conversations and asked him what he'd like to hear. He first said "Hank 3", of which I'm sure I have the absolute minimum if any at all, so I asked for something else and he said "Johnny Cash". Well, I've got Johnny Cash. Damn near everything, what by him and 'oh anything' won't work. He picked "Doin' My Time" from 1957. So, that's where I started. My leaping off point there.
Doing My Time - Johnny Cash - C
Crazy Love - Poco - V
Everybody's Been Burned - The Byrds - C
When Will I Be Loved - Linda Ronstadt - V
Seagull - Bad Company - C
Behind Blue Eyes - Pete Townshend - V
Days Go By (acoustic) - Dirty Vegas - C
Alison - Elvis Costello - V
Resist (acoustic live) - Rush - C
Hold on a moment. Under ten songs and I got from Johnny Cash to Rush? Damn, that's got to be a record breaking event or something. Anyway, it's still a country/folk kind of thing there so I kept going...
Romeo & Juliet - Dire Straits - V
Grand River Lullaby - Alex Bevan - C
Count On Me - Jefferson Starship - V
These Days - Jackson Browne - C - A Request!
Breakdown - Suzi Quatro - V
and not the song I thought I'd play, though this went over well and yes, the Tom Petty song
Crazy On You (live from the Road Home) - Heart - C - Another request
Flight of the Bumblebee - Leopold Stokowski conducting - V
Giant Step - the Monkees - C
At this point, or just before everyone seemed to need a smoke. Hmm... not Monkees fans? Meh... I kept going...
I've Got a Name - Jim Croce - V
Journey of the Sorcerer - The Eagles - C
A bit too quiet of a start, people came back in wondering if I was still going. I was.
Another World - Joe Jackson - V - another request
Arc of a Diver - Steve Winwood - C - yet another request
The Places You Find Love - Quincy Jones - V
And here I am, knowing how the song ends and I hear a beautiful segue in my mind. A great one, just awe inspiring and wonderful. However great it sounded in my head, in practice it wasn't. I mean, it was awful and I don't know if there's anything I could have done to or with it that would have made it better. Seriously, it sucked. The song ultimately was enjoyed, though... gee the segue made me cringe. I mean, in the end of the QJ song I was playing, there's an African chorus yelling something in... possibly Swahili or Afrikaans, I don't know. And then they cheer. Something like, "Mabooyeah" I think it is. And underneath that, I heard the next song I played. And it wasn't good.
In The Light - Led Zeppelin - C
So I've learned. Not good. Next segue was good though. This works. And I know, earlier I berated an entire decade and the next song is from that decade. Hmm.. so maybe I will go to The Breakfast Club after all at some point since there are redeeming qualities. And who knew that coming out of Led Zeppelin I could play Berlin?
No More Words - Berlin - V
I have the Touch - Peter Gabriel - C
Hangin' on the telephone - Blondie - V
Stone Cold Crazy - Queen - C
Cruise Control - The Dregs - V
Had Enough - The Who - c
And this next song is what told me that Snug Harbor's sound system is not in true stereo.
Hocus Pocus - Focus - V
Taboo - Santana - C - a request from earlier in the night.
At this point everyone was done inside and the sweeping and cleaning had begun. I really just gave up. I should have played Maggot Brain and Goodnight. Those are two regulars on Musical Conversations. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic and Goodnight is from the bootleg of Robert Plant.
All in all, a good night. So next time there's nothing I need to do as far as paying attention to genre. I look forward to it.
Anyway, a week later I returned and realized there and then that it was addictive as hell. Breaks from DJing once you've started? How do you handle it? I've always been one that has needed to share music. It's beyond a little drive, it's something I just have to do. Started out when I began buying albums, moved quickly into and obsession in high school with the radio station, then continued through my stabs at higher education as I was involved in their stations. Finally, when that was over I had already begun making tapes and that really ran up until the last decade, by which I mean the first decade of this century, where I switched to making CDs. Then .mp3 CDs. Then broadcasting through the server Lance set up. Then it evolved into Musical Conversations, which then mutated (as opposed to evolved) into what I do for PMCR on Tuesday nights for the Friday (technically Saturday morning) rebroadcast.
I realize now that I've given up putting anything under a cut. Too much hassle now? Does it bother anyone? Sorry if it does.
Moving along now... so now that I'm also DJing at Snug Harbor, I'm finding that there is an audience that appreciates what I'm doing and is one that I hope to grow... so if you're in Charlotte and do happen to read this, please show up at Snug Harbor on Monday night. Even if it's just to stop in and say 'hello, I've read your LJ', I'd greatly appreciate it.
On the 12th of September, at the end of a terrible time with vehicles and awful other things happening, I spent the day thinking about what music to bring to Snug Harbor to enjoy and pursue. I've mentioned this before and it's what I do to prepare. I do it that way since I do bring records. I mean, I could just bring the laptop and the hard drive, it's that I'm enjoying the segue. It's what I really enjoy about some of my favorite DJs in town. Have I mentioned this already? If so, sorry and even still yes, I'm talking about DJ Spider. I should tag that as her... don't even remember the code to do that now. Seriously, my issue is that she does something like a monthly stint at The Breakfast Club and honestly I don't know if I could handle it. Anything '80's makes me cringe to the point of wishing the decade never happened (or that I could Alter Reality (yes, as in the D&D spell) to make it quite a bit different than it actually was), so I'm not likely to want to immerse myself into an environment that celebrates that era. Not to say I'm not strong enough to handle it and couldn't suck it up and just do it, it's that I... well... I haven't. Yet. I might. Eventually. Maybe? I guess I just haven't had the right... motivation. That's it. I need motivation to go there.
Hmm... anyway, moving along again... so I spend the day pulling records. Here I am thinking of what direction to go in and I come up with what I think is a brilliant plan of action. A melding of jazz and heavy metal. It's really easier than you'd think and one that should work well though it sounds horrible on paper (or on screen). Hours of pouring over the records, pulling some to just remember that I have the file version and not just on vinyl. I end up with about 30 records, which isn't bad considering that I'm only going on for a short while... as far as I know. Maybe a couple of hours, at most three or four? Yeah, that's good, a good selection and really, I can hear the transition from Return To Forever into Black Sabbath. More metal needs to be played anyway.
Then I see the message. Very simply, I'm going to play between sets and after a country band that is scheduled to play that night. A country band? Gee, um... great. Looking through anything I pulled, I realize that only about three picks would work. A Suzi Quatro (I'm thinking "Stumblin' In")... and two others that I honestly can't remember at this time. Black Sabbath's Paranoid might have been another and yep, I'm thinking "Planet Caravan" for that. Why not? It could work, yes? Much better than the Judas Priest I pulled (Screamin' For Vengeance).
A country band? A country band. Okay. I'm up for the challenge. Bag what I've got, start pulling again. Poco, Linda Ronstadt, Eagles, Quicksilver Messenger Service... um... QMS? Sure, it could be country... if you're as stoned as they were. "Oh, what about me" they wail... yeah. Okay. What else? Well... this is what I ended up playing...
First, the guy Ronnie Hymes from Fayetteville was the opening act. Both used the same band, a stand-up bass player and a guitarist that played a strat and a slide/steel guitar. Great stuff. Sounded great at Snug also, which is saying a lot. After he was done, I talked with him a bit and thanked him. Then later, after the "headliner" guy was done I talked with Ronnie again and told him about PMCR and Musical Conversations and asked him what he'd like to hear. He first said "Hank 3", of which I'm sure I have the absolute minimum if any at all, so I asked for something else and he said "Johnny Cash". Well, I've got Johnny Cash. Damn near everything, what by him and 'oh anything' won't work. He picked "Doin' My Time" from 1957. So, that's where I started. My leaping off point there.
Doing My Time - Johnny Cash - C
Crazy Love - Poco - V
Everybody's Been Burned - The Byrds - C
When Will I Be Loved - Linda Ronstadt - V
Seagull - Bad Company - C
Behind Blue Eyes - Pete Townshend - V
Days Go By (acoustic) - Dirty Vegas - C
Alison - Elvis Costello - V
Resist (acoustic live) - Rush - C
Hold on a moment. Under ten songs and I got from Johnny Cash to Rush? Damn, that's got to be a record breaking event or something. Anyway, it's still a country/folk kind of thing there so I kept going...
Romeo & Juliet - Dire Straits - V
Grand River Lullaby - Alex Bevan - C
Count On Me - Jefferson Starship - V
These Days - Jackson Browne - C - A Request!
Breakdown - Suzi Quatro - V
and not the song I thought I'd play, though this went over well and yes, the Tom Petty song
Crazy On You (live from the Road Home) - Heart - C - Another request
Flight of the Bumblebee - Leopold Stokowski conducting - V
Giant Step - the Monkees - C
At this point, or just before everyone seemed to need a smoke. Hmm... not Monkees fans? Meh... I kept going...
I've Got a Name - Jim Croce - V
Journey of the Sorcerer - The Eagles - C
A bit too quiet of a start, people came back in wondering if I was still going. I was.
Another World - Joe Jackson - V - another request
Arc of a Diver - Steve Winwood - C - yet another request
The Places You Find Love - Quincy Jones - V
And here I am, knowing how the song ends and I hear a beautiful segue in my mind. A great one, just awe inspiring and wonderful. However great it sounded in my head, in practice it wasn't. I mean, it was awful and I don't know if there's anything I could have done to or with it that would have made it better. Seriously, it sucked. The song ultimately was enjoyed, though... gee the segue made me cringe. I mean, in the end of the QJ song I was playing, there's an African chorus yelling something in... possibly Swahili or Afrikaans, I don't know. And then they cheer. Something like, "Mabooyeah" I think it is. And underneath that, I heard the next song I played. And it wasn't good.
In The Light - Led Zeppelin - C
So I've learned. Not good. Next segue was good though. This works. And I know, earlier I berated an entire decade and the next song is from that decade. Hmm.. so maybe I will go to The Breakfast Club after all at some point since there are redeeming qualities. And who knew that coming out of Led Zeppelin I could play Berlin?
No More Words - Berlin - V
I have the Touch - Peter Gabriel - C
Hangin' on the telephone - Blondie - V
Stone Cold Crazy - Queen - C
Cruise Control - The Dregs - V
Had Enough - The Who - c
And this next song is what told me that Snug Harbor's sound system is not in true stereo.
Hocus Pocus - Focus - V
Taboo - Santana - C - a request from earlier in the night.
At this point everyone was done inside and the sweeping and cleaning had begun. I really just gave up. I should have played Maggot Brain and Goodnight. Those are two regulars on Musical Conversations. Maggot Brain by Funkadelic and Goodnight is from the bootleg of Robert Plant.
All in all, a good night. So next time there's nothing I need to do as far as paying attention to genre. I look forward to it.