September 16, 2009
In Praise of Cover Bands
I will get back to writing about our recent trip to California and Oregon, but I’m a bit weary this morning. The last few nights have been rather hectic.
On Monday night, September 14th, Sheryl and attended the Brevard Live Music Awards at the Henegar Center in Melbourne, FL. We went mainly to support our good friend Pam, who was nominated for “favorite vocalist” award, and her band, “Chain Reaction” was up for the biggest award, “Entertainer of the Year.”
Since this was an evening dedicated to entertainers who played mostly rock ‘n roll, it was, to say the least, LOUD. I most sincerely regretted not bringing my earplugs (and an extra pair for Sheryl). My ears have only recently stopped ringing.
It may have been thunderous, but the musicians could truly play, no doubt about that.
It takes a special brand of musicianship to play in a cover band. An excellent cover band will faithfully capture the sound and spirit of a popular song, and still manage to put their own spin on the material. After all, if they were going to copy every note from the CD, then the club owners might as well hire a DJ.
A musician in a first-rate cover band must truly master his or her instrument, since they will called upon to play in many different styles and keys.
Fortunately, there are several clubs and restaurants here in Brevard County that support live music, and I salute them all. Not to take anything from DJ’s (a first-class DJ is really an entertainer, and can always get a party moving) but there is something special about listening to (and dancing to) a high-quality, live band. The audience instinctively knows that a lot of hard work went into creating the show, and they often get a chance to meet the musicians, and there is something glamorous about knowing a working musician personally.
By the way, congratulations to “Chain Reaction” on winning the award for “ENTERTAINER OF THE YEAR!” When they won, I turned to Sheryl and said (actually SHOUTED, since the music was rather loud…) “Just think, they played at your benefit last year!”
Now we’ve got to start getting ready to go play a two-night stand at the Vero Beach Yacht Club this weekend. Yep, Sheryl and I will be a cover band! Now, let’s see, where are the lyrics to “Sweet Caroline?” (It ain’t really rock ‘n roll, but they love it at the VBYC!)
Chain Reaction (Pam is the glamorous dark-haired one!)
Posted by leonolguin at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)
September 14, 2009
The PSG is Back Again
Although I fancy myself a would-be “morning person”, I am finding it difficult to get up these past few days. Why? We are still on “west coast time.” I desire to rise at 7AM, but my body is screaming, “IT’S 4AM! What are you doing?”
I want to go to sleep at 10:30PM, but my body sternly states, “Sorry, you can’t sleep yet. Its only 7:30.”
My mind is still hard at work processing everything from our recent trip to California and Oregon.
Naturally, upon our return our friends have been asking, “Did you have a nice vacation?” I feel compelled to remind them that it was a “working vacation.” I am tempted to say, “Don’t you remember what I told you before we left, that we were going out there to work? We spent most of our time working, along with preparing for and leading a songwriters’ workshop in Oregon. We may have had a couple of days off, but we did not return home all refreshed and relaxed.” While this is what I am tempted to say, I realize that petulance is not attractive, so I simply say, “Did we have a nice vacation? Yes, it was very nice.”
So, am I complaining that our trip was not restful? Of course not! It was in fact, quite beneficial, and we actually did return home refreshed and rejuvenated mentally, if not physically.
In the coming days, I’ll relate some thoughts that came to me during our CA and OR expedition. As I write about our trip, it won’t be just a “we went here and we did that” recollection, (we can tell you that over lunch sometime…) but rather a collection of “life lessons” that were brought to mind during our various activities. No radically new or unheard of concepts here, just a little common wisdom that benefits the mind and the soul.
Posted by leonolguin at 11:29 AM | Comments (0)