Andy

November rain

Well, Axl said it best. Nothin' lasts fer-ever.

So I'm going to have to be headed back to Louisville
eventually. It's far-off now, a distant point on a dim
horizon, but there's no harm in planning for the future.

Here's the siutation: Pittsburgh makes me happy almost all
of the time, and rarely infuriates me (when it does, it
usually involves a certain dog and cat). Louisville makes
me happy sometimes, but also infuriates me much of the
time. The trick is to either a) separate the infuriating
elements and isolate them (not going to happen), or b)
emphasize the happiness-inducing elements (much more
likely).

What are the happiness-inducing elements? Why, playing in a
rock band. The one thing that has always paid off
consistently has been playing rock and roll. I'm not
talking about money, I'm talking about personal
fulfillment. I LOVE IT. So the moral? I'm going to need to be playing
in a band when I get back home.

Related ideas:

BASS GUITAR:
"Lead vocalist," for a person of my technical ability (ie, minimal),
is all well and good when it's with friends I've grown up
with. In a post-Blowup in Japanese environment, however,
some musical eptitude will need to be in order. So, this
week I plan to go out around town, and rent a nice bass,
ideally purchasing it in the future. Then, an instructional
book. And practice, practice, practice.

PERSONNEL:
Who will it be, playing with me? I already have some ideas.
- Andrew Turner, he of Kodan Armada fame, already said he'd
like to play with me after I told him I wanted to get what
I described as a "swamp rock" band together. I thought he
was shitting me at first, but he wasn't, as he emailed me
on the matter recently. Well! He's a fine guitar player. We
appear to have some overlapping musical tastes as well
(Smiths, Mooney Suzuki, etc.).
- Chris Guetig. One of the finest drummers I've ever seen.
Of course he's not playing with My Morning Jacket any
longer, so does that free him up? If it does, I want him in
my band. He's incredible, and I know he's serious about
music; he toured with MMJ afterall. We've
been friends for awhile, so I'll need to speak to him on
the matter. But if he would drum, good lord, that would be
remarkable. He's got credibility, oodles of talent,
experience and he's an incredibly nice guy to boot.
- Molly, of Half-Seas-Over. Born rock star, that girl. If
she would be interested in singing, that would put it over
the top. Between her and Chris, all me and Andrew would
have to do is fart in our microphones, and we'd still be
superstars in a week. The plus side is I heard that she
won't be joining HSO in their relocation to Portland. Does
that leave her available? I don't know her well, but we
definitely get along. I'll have to talk to her when I see
her, because incidentally, HSO is playing here Friday.
It'll be fun to see some Louisville homegirls.

So that's the plan of attack: me, Andrew, Chris and Molly.
I swear to Jesus in heaven and all His attending angels, if
that lineup flies, it'll be one of the finest assemblages
of talent and ambition the world has ever seen. No
hyperbole, either.