Big Hand Dave

Just when I think that Big Hand Dave has hit a wall, we go and have a practice like we did last night. Yep, that’s right. We are bona-fide rock stars. I, for one, felt positively sassy. And as a bonus, we have three new songs that were recorded by our awesome sound engineer, Jeff. Hopefully, Pump (aka Rodney) will have them up on the website soon. Last night everybody seemed to sync. And even though Dave was suffering from a harsh cold, he remained a trooper throughout.

Yes, we had one of our better practices, but I want to keep it at least a little hush-hush so the guys don’t get big heads as well as big hands. There was much talk of purple cats at the beginning of the night, and presents on Dave’s acoustic drum set in “the other room” but we won’t go into all that.

We started the evening out with a practice warm up of our new original song. It has no lyrics, as yet, but that is my job and that will soon be fixed. The melody is really nice, so it shouldn’t be too hard. PJ has some lyrics from me, but he has to work up a melody for them. Ahem. The first cover we played of the evening was “Sex and Candy” which is a good song to start a practice with, but not a good song to start a set with.

Then we played “What’s Up” which I think the guys love just because it tortures me. I simply have too much testosterone to sing like a chick, so I have to knock it down an octave, which causes it’s own special set of problems. That’s right, I said too much testosterone. However, PJ, with his tricky mic stand guitar slide maneuver, makes it well worth it. And I must echo the feelings of all of us when I say that “Dammit, Dave was right about the tempo AND the timing” of that song.

Then we played one of my favorites, “I’m Gonna’ Be- 500 miles” where I introduced my ass kicking tambourine action. It went pretty well. Then we played it again, and thankfully, Dave was there to bring us home.

Ass kicking tambourine action. There’s a phrase you don’t hear every day.

It was at this point that we discovered that Dave’s sticks, much like some illegal MLB bats that you’ve seen flying apart in the infield, have internal rubber bushings for vibration control. Who knew? It was also at this time that I decided that I will be asking Santa for a new mic stand.

Then we played “Bittersweet” which we haven’t visited in quite some time. As it turns out, it is as sweet as it ever was. Great tune, fabulous guitars, Pump’s bass keeps me focused, and Dave really has a nice touch on this one. We liked it so much we played it again. It was even better. Next we played “Save Tonight” which is a song that benefits from all that testosterone. Oh yeah.

Then we worked on our original number again, which is called, for the moment, “The Wordless Wonder.” I watch these guys play this song, and work on it with a sense of seriousness and sincerity that is not entirely present when we are doing our cover songs. That is a phenomenon that develops and is quite wonderful when you’re doing your own stuff. I’ve seen this before in other bands I’ve been in and I like it. If we can focus that energy, look out! Not to mention that it is quite a beautiful melody and a very nice song.

Then we did “Good Lovin’” and made it trickier than it needs to be. But I still love that song. After avoiding a “Smokin’ in the Boys Room” disaster, we played “What’s Up” again, and I blame Rodney. Fortunately, Wes’ backup vocals make all the difference in that song. Following that we played a sneak attack version of “For What It’s Worth” by Buffalo Springfield, which turned into the obligatory jam. I’ll have to learn that song to avoid a future sneak attack.

Then we observed a rousing episode of ‘The Capo Hunt.’ It’s one of our favorite games. Following that we played “Brandy” and we must’ve enjoyed it, as we played it twice. It sounded pretty good for us not having played it for a while. We still need to get a chart on that one and work on the back up vocals. Then we played the vocal buster “Lump” which we always do well. Wes’ background vocals are perfect on that one. Then we had another sneak attack with “I Wish I Had A Girl That Walked Liked That.” There’s only one thing to say about it: we kicked its ass.

We wound up the evening, at Dave’s insistence, with “Keep Your Hands To Yourself.” I hate to say it, but he was right again. Three times in an evening when the drummer is right is almost too much to take. But he was right and that’s the perfect song to end on. Next time we play that, I’m going to hijack it and sing “Johnny B. Goode” at the end. I’ll do it, I’m not messin’ around! It’s perfect!

We really had a fabulous practice. I loved it. Rock ‘n Roll!

There were, as always, a LOT of good quotes. The slackers have given up on the secret word, however, in my opinion.

“Turn on that sprinkler!” ~PJ

“I don’t know what it is, but I like it!” ~JD

“If they had started when I pressed GO we would’ve been ok.” ~Rodney

“Oh no, that’s never a good thing!” ~Dave

“Do you think it’s that fast?” ~PJ

“No, I don’t think so.” ~Dave

“You actually remember that?” ~Rodney

“I wrote that in ink!” ~JD

“BUUUUUURRRRRRPPPP!” ~Dave

“After that, we’re out!” ~Rodney

“Rodney’s getting fancy over there.” ~PJ

“I’m a trooper! ~Dave

“But really, aren’t they all?” ~Rodney

“I’m louder than you!” ~Wes

“Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be drummers.” ~Rodney

“It must’ve been the dogs.” ~Wes

“Why did you move that stool all the way over there?” ~ Wes

“Because it smells like ass!” ~PJ

“The rim is fucked.” ~Dave

“I sound too loud.” ~Rodney

“You are neveh, eveh, eveh, evah, eveh, EVAH, too loud!” ~JD

“It sounded too tall.” ~PJ

“We actually sounded like a band on that one.” ~Wes

“God I love that song!” ~Dave

“Four chords! It’s all you need!” ~Wes

“The slide! I’m doing the slide!” ~Rodney

“That’s a bad ass song!” ~Wes

“Don’t work on it too much.” ~PJ

“I brought these last time and haven’t eaten them yet.” ~Rodney

“Isn’t that ‘La Bamba’?” ~ JD

“Can you come over here?” ~PJ

“I don’t know. I’m on a pretty short leash.” Rodney

“My cold medicine is fading fast.” ~Dave

“Dude, I’m standing on your stuff.” ~JD

“She turnt old. Make sure you get the spelling right on that one. Turnt!” ~Wes

“My shit is in key!” ~Dave

And the best quote of the night:

“There’s nothing worse than an uppity drummer.” ~PJ