Big Hand Dave

We had a pretty good practice last night, despite the fact that Dave neglected to deliver my corn juice soaked hymnal back to its proper owner and Rodney had to shift his Mustang into Jeep to avoid getting trapped in Dave’s driveway. Dave has had some trees removed at the lake and the heavy equipment and heavy rain made a quagmire of his driveway. We forget what a really impressive piece of property our little practice retreat is sometimes, but now it’s open, expansive view of the beautiful lake is really something to see. Dave’s got himself a really nice piece of land there.

It really doesn’t get much better.

Lake Wylie itself is a reservoir, which was created when the Catawba River was dammed for hydroelectric power. It straddles the state line of North and South Carolina and covers 13,400 acres and has 325 miles of shoreline. The average depth is just over 20 feet. It is full of catfish and largemouth bass and striped bass and carp and bream and crappie. My sons and I have taken several quite large catfish from its waters while fishing off Dave’s dock.

Something I hope I never catch from the lake is a Northern Snakehead. Three known individuals have been caught from the lake and it is not known if they are part of a breeding population. At this time, Wildlife Resources Commission biologists haven’t included them in routine surveys of fish in the lake. The Snakehead is an aggressive invasive fish that has the potential to decimate local species populations. Snakeheads are indigenous to Asia and Africa, are sold in pet stores and are sometimes sold live in fish markets. They have teeth, and can grow to a size of three feet. Perhaps their most interesting ability is that of being able to leave water and travel across land in search of better environs. They have been known to survive up to three days out of water.

Image is from the US Geological survey website (http://cars.er.usgs.gov/pics/snakehead/snakehead.html) and the artist is Susan Trammell.

On a warm sunny day you can see all manner of pleasure craft plying the waters of the lake. Dave took his jetski out the other day and it was the best mood I’ve seen him in for a while. He literally had a skip in his step. Some of the best times I’ve had have been floating around on Dave’s boat, smoking cigars, drinking beer, and swapping lies.

Lake Wylie is part of a series of lakes and reservoirs on the Catawba River. The river takes its name from the Native Americans that made up the dominant tribe of the region. Their name in their own language is Kawahcatawba, or “people of the river.” The pottery of the Catawba Indian Nation is considered some of the finest in the world and the tribe has been producing it for 4500 years. You can find out more about this wonderful art form at the Catawba Cultural Preservation Project: http://www.ccppcrafts.com/mp.html.

I cross the river every day going to work and coming home. In the evening, I always look for a Great Blue Heron that sits on a particular rock in the middle of the river. Bald Eagles also make their home along the river and it’s a particular treat to see one of their huge nests atop a tall tree. In the morning, if you’re lucky, you can sometimes see one of the majestic birds sitting high on a dead limb, its wings spread as it suns itself. Ospreys are another large bird of prey that inhabit the area and Dave and I saw an Osprey nest in a large power line tower on a recent outing. It was a surprising sight and seemingly an unusual location for a nest, but I guess it was working out for the Ospreys.

Detail of “Heron” a painting of mine. (http://www.jdmassie.com/heron.html)
I guess that’s enough rambling about the lake and the river, and I should probably get on with the business of the band newsletter, but hey, it’s my little forum and I have the prerogative to talk about what I want to!

PJ charted out our song list into a handy-dandy spreadsheet, cross-referencing the songs by decade and genre. This is particularly useful as it can show us where we are weak in certain areas or where we don’t have quite enough of a particular type of song, helping us to maximize our appeal to a greater audience. We need to work on some of the glaring holes. Surprisingly, Rap was terribly under-represented.

Rodney introduced a new toy at practice. It’s the new Zoom H2 Handy Recorder. It’s a significant piece of recording technology packed into an amazingly compact size. If you want more information on this little wonder, here is the web site: http://www.zoom.co.jp/english/products/h2/.

It allows us to get instant feedback on our practice session at a superior sound quality that allows us hear what’s going on. I can’t say enough about the quality of the recording. That thing rocks! It’s a handy little device. Beyond the obvious gratuitous pleasure of hearing a song that we just nailed, it also gives us the option of saying “Play that back, there’s something just not right at the bridge that we need to work on.”

Rodney had his new H2 all dressed up in a windscreen, which looked like a little afro perched atop its head. He affectionately refers to it as his “little ‘fro buddy.” He set it up on top of the speaker cabinet that I use for my notebook, my precious egg shaker, my tambourine and, most importantly, my beer. I told Rodney, “You know that bitch is in my space, don’t you?” There was nothing I could do, however, as my area - being centrally located - is the ideal location for a recording device. Sometimes being a diva is hard.

*sigh*

Dave, expressing an endearing level of innocent surprise upon hearing the playback, was heard to ask, “Am I always that loud?” PJ and Rodney simply looked at each other. The experience has been described by another musician, who is a friend of ours, as “The Wall of Dave.” That’s fairly accurate.

We warmed up by trying out a new song. “Alabama” by Cross Canadian Ragweed. It’s a fun little song, which may or not be added to our repertoire. Next we moved on to “House of the Rising Sun.” That can be a vocal buster and it had been a while since we played it but we absolutely nailed it. Next it was Dave’s turn to pick the song and he picked “Under Pressure.” Yikes. We will have to revisit that one again sometime.

We made up for it by doing a nice version of “Layla.” PJ’s guitar was smokin’ on the ending solo. We also did a very nice version of “Secret Agent Man.” Actually, it was awesome. It’s one of my favorites. PJ pulled out some way cool underwater-sounding guitar effects for the intro solo. I’m not sure how he did it, but I liked it!

Next we played our new original, “Staying Kind” and PJ doubled the intro, which I really like. We do that song really well. The guitar is smokin’ hot, the bass line is fabulous and Dave’s drums are nearly perfect. Then there’s the outstanding vocalist.

*cough*

We played “Staying Kind” again, as Wes had joined us. The rhythm guitar really adds a lot to that song. I’ll have to try to work out a backup vocal part for it as well. And thanks to Rodney’s new toy, I’ll have the opportunity! Then we played “Lump” and I was taken to task for mangling the lyrics. But I’m singing entirely from memory now, without a net, as it were, as it’s been 15 years since this old dog’s been on stage and I’m doing pretty damn good learning some new tricks. And some new songs. We went through it a second time and I managed not to trip over my tongue and it sounded pretty good. I still say that song cries out for a guitar solo.

Next came “Baker Street.” We do that one justice. The ending was very nice as well.

I don’t remember what we were listening to, but I sure had a hell of a lot of fun watching Dave play air drums. Then Dave saved us from the eternal, never ending, strange jam that spontaneously erupted, which was a bizarre cross between “Secret Agent Man” and the Talking Heads on a bender, and we played “Secret Agent Man” really well. That grinding guitar part is awesome.

“Radioactive” was next. It had been a while for that one, but we all like that song and it sounded pretty good. Next we played “Keep Your Hands To Yourself/Johnny B. Goode.” With all modesty, I have to say that was one of the best versions of “Johnny B. Goode” I’ve ever heard. If we can get the tempo up just a smidgen on that little medley it will be awesome.

We played “Good” next and it was a little fast the first time around. I blame Pump. But we got it right the next time around. “What I Like About You” was next, followed by “On The Dark Side.” I think we did both of those pretty well.

There were far too many witticisms to get them all listed, but that won’t stop me from trying.

“It put a skip in my step!” ~Dave

“I’m Old Greg!” ~JD

” I need juice.” ~Rodney

“That’s just rude!” ~PJ

“I touched it two times.” ~JD

“That’s my new thing.” ~Rodney

“I’ll get ‘em all hot and bothered, then I’ll leave ‘em hanging… just like in real life.” ~PJ

“I’m just making shit up.” ~JD

“Like anybody knows! They haven’t heard the song in 30 years!” ~PJ

“I didn’t know where we were, so I stayed on E.” ~Rodney

“It’s not who come first, it’s if you come together.” ~PJ (thanks, Dr. Ruth)

“I was doing a handroll.” ~Dave

“Oh really?” ~JD

“Ha! Try that on the drums!” ~PJ

“Some of those make great ringtones!” ~Rodney

“I think the ‘hand’ should be bigger than the ‘big’.” ~PJ

“Is that a Chia Pet?” ~Wes

“Or are you just happy to see me?” ~JD

“I extended the intro. And I extended the ending.” ~PJ

“Rock on!” ~Dave

“Don’t go back to that fuckin’ song!” ~Rodney

“Is it more like an ingrown hair?” ~Wes

“I’m the drummer, damn it!” ~Dave

“Are we recording? Holy crap!” ~PJ

“What’s wrong with me defending Dave?” ~Wes

“Hey, I found a stray drumstick!” ~JD

“When are you going to turn that thing on?” ~PJ

“The aliens are coming.” ~JD

“Oh damn, it’s alphabetical!” ~PJ

“I love that bass bomb!” ~JD

“Yeah, but we don’t do that part.” ~Rodney

“That would’ve been great if I had been paying attention.” ~PJ

“What did I just miss?” ~JD

“All of it!” ~Rodney

“That’s really original!” ~Wes

“That’s about all I got.” ~Rodney

“My favorite parts are between the songs.” ~PJ

“Scorpios, wasn’t it?” ~Rodney

“That was me.” ~Wes

“That was me, too.” ~Rodney

“Were you getting ready to charge?” ~Wes

“This needs a little bit of a beat.” ~PJ

“Did I fuck that up?” ~Dave

The best exchange of the night:

“Oh shit, that’s recording!” ~Rodney

“Well at least it’s not video!” ~Wes