Happy birthday, America! You don't look a day over 247.
Glad to see most everybody with their power and internet back on. For some, it's been an ordeal. Days on end. I was lucky enough to get my power restored after just over a day, but unlucky enough to incur some damage to my roof, plus a goodly amount of food that had to be pitched.
The roof damage is minor, and the contents of my fridge were easily replenished, so I really can't complain. Plus, I learned a new word. Derecho. It's what we just experienced: a series of Thunderstorms with straight winds(as opposed to rotary)- Derecho is actually Spanish for right.
Music news. I read a quote today, supposedly a famous one, from Joe Pass. I think his original name was Passalaqua. Anyway, he's one of the finest guitarists ever, in any style. He could play without a pick or without a rhythm section and never lose a beat.
He is quoted as saying that anyone who considers themselves a guitarist should be able to play for an hour without any accompaniment. The article goes on to challenge guitarists out there--hey, that's me!--to work up an hour's worth of stuff they can do all by themselves. Doing so will greatly improve your marketability, the article goes on to say. Gotta have that hook in there. Like telling you you'll get lots of girls if you just do this/buy this.
So I think I'm gonna take the Pepsi Challenge here and do it. Easy in that I already know a lot of tunes, difficult in that I've gotta get them perfected as far as playing them solo.
I'm not looking to do a lot of gigging, but I could stand to do more than I'm doing. What I'd most like to do are trio things, with me, bass and drums, but the solo thing would open up a few new opportunities. I've done them before, and used to have at least one every year with the Artist-on-the-Plaza series.
. This has been a year with more stuff in it, as in domestic and/or family problems. It's all good though. Trying to take care of stuff, and still keep up on being able to call myself a guitar player- re that article I just mentioned..
Okay then. Thanks as ever for stopping in and reading. Happy 4th! For the moment, I'm outa here. More later. 