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Steve's Space of BassVisit the band at www.whitemusic.net
May 08 Two Sheds JacksonHave a new band - Two Sheds Jackson. Will post more later when there is time, but it's a fun band - great to listen to, great to dance to. We played a great first gig on May 3rd. Working on more bookings - will post info as it comes in.
Check out www.twoshedsjackson.net. It's up and running, but still under constuction.
Best to all! - steve March 28 Still here!Yes, I haven't written anything for a long time. Lot's of life to live.
White update - not much happening at the moment. Am working toward upgrading the studio - have lot's of JBL speakers for sale! Some power amplifiers, mixers, outboard gear...... let me know if you or someone you know is building a P.A. and needs some great stuff! :)
The other band I've been playing with has been officially named Two Sheds Jackson and it's looking like our first gig will be in early May. Will post more about that later.
Meanwhile, in my day-job life, have been busy - collage events, corportate events, concerts - just did a couple of days with kd lang. I've always admired her voice and she sounds as good or better than the record in person. A great bunch of folks with her. I'd worked with her monitor engineer before - Gordon. Very funny guy and nearly encyclopedic in his knowledge of audio and live sound.
Coming up - the Dalai Lama will be in Seattle for a number of days as part of an event called Seeds of Compassion. Info can be found at http://www.seedsofcompassion.org/ He will be appearing at a number of locations and events during the time he is here. My crew and I will be at the University of Washington at the Bank of America Arena for three days of events, including one with the Seattle Symphony and a choir of at least 200. That should be fun to mix!
And now I turn, look out the window, and on this 28th day of March, mixed rain and snow is falling from the skies. But, hey -it's Spring!
All the best to all - steve January 03 Happy New Year!Wow - two months since any writing in this space. Never got around to the Woodstick podcast, as you can see. Still like the idea, though. Will certainly experiment with it sometime in the near future....
Happy new year to all and may the best come your way!
Resolutions? We don't need no stinkin' resolutions! But I do have plans for several music projects this year. Over-ambitious? Probably. But what the hell, you gotta go for something! Have started work on a solo CD, with a blues and rock feel to it. One song is pretty much completed so far. More on their way..... White is still alive, although there will be some changes in the works. Perhaps even a name change? Hmmmm..... With Phil Davis in the band, and more time to write and think the whole thing through, it may be a different sounding project than the last record. Actually, I'm certain it will be a different sound. Time will tell..... And if those two things aren't enough to work on - besides my day job, family, etc - I'm also playing in a four piece blues band, yet to be named. 16 Eyes is one possible name (four guys who all wear glasses :). We plan to do some little gigs in the Seattle area this year. This one is pretty fun, as there is no pressure, no real expectations, just some good players who like to play for the fun of it. I'm singing a lot of the songs, so that's a dimension of the band that also draws me in.
So little time and so much to do..... November 01 Still Here!It's been a month since the last post - wow. Busy month - lot's of work, kids in school, music in the studio, some rehearsals with another group of musicians, and White playing Woodstick. My buddie Paul suggested I do a podcast, since so many people are doing blogs. Not a bad idea! Am not in the position to do a live one, but I took a mini-disc recorder and wandered around Woodstick, gathering some sounds that I'll use in my first podcast experiment. It may not be done until after this weekend, but will give it a shot.....
Woodstick was quite the scene - more drummers than I've ever seen in one place at one time. And the sound! Incredible. I haven't seen an official count yet, but there had to have been at least 300 drummers and drum kits there. Our portion was playing Imagine with all the drummers. Alan had his "Imagine drum set", the one he used on the recording, and everyone played along. There were 2 conductors, who really helped keep everyone together.
A few photos from the extravaganza:
The group photo, left to right: Michael Schrieve, your's truely, Kevin Currie, Carmine Appice, Alan White, Donn Bennett, and Scot Mercado.
The band on stage is the seminal NW rock band, The Wailers - THE first band to record Louie, Louie.
Check out http://www.woodstick2007.com/ for a recap, and I still intend to put a podcast together that will include some of the sounds of the event. September 27 Quite a monthEnd of summer, beginning of Autum. It's been a busy month. Will need to catch up over several posts - not enough time for it all right now.
Genele and I saw Mel Brook's Young Frankenstein, the Musical on it's official opening night here in Seattle. It was a warm up run before it goes to Broadway. Very good production - I highly recommend it! Funny. Especially if you are a fan of the movie. Genele was aquainted with Mel when she lived in LA, and we got a chance to say hi during the intermission. Very nice man. And he wrote 18 songs - all but one - for the show in his typical Mel Brooks style with with his signauture humor. I hadn't realized he was a songwriter, but he said that's where he started. Wow. So that was on a Thursday night, and Genele gets a call from Mel on Friday to say how great it was to see her again and to meet me and to stay in touch. Then Sunday morning at 8:30am, the phone rings - I say "who the hell is calling this early on Sunday morning?" It was Mel, saying he was leaving the next day and didn't want to leave town without saying goodbye. I think he likes Genele.. :)
Over the Labor Day holiday, we went to Park City, Utah for the wedding of some good friends of ours. One night in Park City and two nights at the Sundance Resort, owned by Robert Redford. Beautiful place, just beautiful. I ended up playing a couple of songs with the band in the Owl Bar the night before the wedding and again with the band who played the wedding. Everyone had a great time - I hope to write more about it later.....
Then a few days after coming home from Park City, we took a family vacation to one of our favorite spots on earth, San Juan Island. Nine days. Ahhhh. Great house on the water, with a dock, and one of our friends offered to loan us his new skiff for the week. So we were out on the water almost every day. Got to spend some time with some of our good friends up there. One of the highlights was the seafood feast we do most every time we go up to the islands. Fresh crab, clams, oysters, prawns, salmon and more. Man was that great! Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.....
Now, back into the fray. The band will be getting together again sometime next month to play a song or two at an event called Woodstick. Us and about 500 drummers - that should prove interesting! Some new music is starting to float around, and Paul Secord and I are getting together this evening to discuss and/or plan some changes to the band website. Time to freshen things up! August 21 HempfestI've done some funny gigs in my life, but this one was right up there. I'm still chuckling about it - about the entire scene. This is a festival that has been going on for, I was told, 31 years now, and is perhaps the largest festival - of it's kind - in the world. And I have to say, in many ways, it felt like we were transported back about 31 years. Quite a scene.
The park the festival was held in is on the waterfront in downtown Seattle - it's quite narrow, but very long, at least a mile or possible two. I came in from the north and was transported to the stage on an electric cart, driven by a guy named Levi. There was another festival worker on the cart as well, to help maneuver through the crowds along the pathway. We passed 4 other stages and many vendors selling wares along the way. Levi had a duck whistle - shaped like a duck's bill - that he blew the entire time, to part the crowds. His buddy was yelling, as well, to get the people's attention, so as not to run into anyone. It was hilarious! I told Levi I wished I would have had a little recorder to have captured the chaos along the way - duck sounds and shouting for a good ten minutes as we worked our way through. And as one would expect at and event named Hempfest, there were numerous aromas to smell along the way - even with the police presence throughout the festival.
Speaking of the police - there were a number of them cruising around on horses - Kevin told me last night that he was walking along a path, I think it was when he was leaving, pulling his suitcase along, and had the instinct to look down just before he would have taken a full step into a nice steaming pile of horse dung - mmmmm, nice!
So has anyone mentioned what incredibly terrible weather we've been having here this summer? Saturday night, before the show, it was litarally pissing rain all night. And the next morning. And into the afternoon. Phil and Karl had gone down for an early load in - you could get vehicles in only very early, before the event opened, and Phil told me there was no cover on the stage. I thought wow - just our luck. But as it did with our last gig, the weather gods smiled upon us and the skies lightened up - even a little blue sky peeking through. But did I mention the weather here this summer pretty much SUCKS?!?!?!
So I get to the backstage area and find its a bit of a circus - quite a scene. Lots of characters at every turn. However, everyone was very friendly and nice and very happy that we were there. The rest of the band was aleady there - I saw Alan first, across the way, and he just looked at me and laughed. He told me where the hospitality tent was, and added that I might not want to stay in there very long, as it was filled with a smoke of a certain kind.... :) And yes, I had far too much to remember to hang around in that tent very long.....
So I wander around the backstage compound, taking in the sights, chatting with friends and meeting new people. Listening to a number of speakers, talking between the bands, about how hemp should be legal, etc, etc. Truth is, I agree with them, but at an event like this, they're preaching to the choir. And truthfully, most of the crowd seemed to just want to come for the party. At one point, Karl and I peek over one of the fences to look at the scene on the beach. And what a scene it was. People everywhere, in smaller groups, and it seemed they were all smoking big fatties. A very funny scene! I came across some first aid workers in one of the tents, attending to someone, laying flat on his back, who apparently had too good of a time......
Went into the trailer where we stored our gear, and was - kind of - our dressing room, and ran into the band that was just about to go on to play the set before us. The Supersonic Soul Pimps. http://supersonicsoulpimps.com. I had heard their name before, but had never seen them. So here we are, four of them and me, crowded into a very small space and they all seem to have shaved heads and are wearing bright yellow, shiny tights. They were all in good moods, joking around, telling me I must be a brave man to come into the dressing room with a bunch of guys dressed like that. I had to get into a bag of mine and tried to band my knees, rather than bend over, but they all started whooping it up saying, " Hey he's bending over - very dangerous around here!" Yeah, yeah - heard that one before - but it was all in good fun. They went on to play a very lively, energetic set. An entertaining band.
So it became our time to get on stage and ready to play. Once again there were a number of speakers while we got ourselves set. No sound check, just quick little check, checks into the mikes and some verbal direction to the monitor engineer. So then they do the big "It's 420" thing, most everyone in the crowd lights up, and the people on stage unveil "Toking Man", a take of of a famous downtown Seattle art piece - Hammering Man - right above Alan's head. A giant guy with an even more giant joint in his hand. Alan and I looked at each other and once again, just laughed. The crowd, of course, went wild. (We'll be posting at least a few photos from the show, if not some video, and Toking Man will be very easy to spot!)
So they give us a very nice intro and off we went. Turns out Alan couldn't really hear much of any of us - he was on a riser, but waaaaay back behind the rest of us. So the first couple of songs were done by brail. But you just go for it - and we did. There were a few funny moments throughout the set, due to some of us not hearing each other, or ourselves, but all in all I think we did ok and didn't embarrass ourselves...... Everyone really seemed to love the set. It was a blast to play Tempis Fugit onstage again. Everyone was pretty "on" on that one, in particular. We had to drop one song from the set due to time constraints, so we ended the set with Tempis Fugit and Changes. Fun to see lots of people in the crowd singing along to Changes.
And then in an instant, we were finished. Then the chaos begain all over again - getting offstage what gear we brought - a good part of the backline equipment was provided. And Phil - the keyboard master - had his entourage whip his sizeable keyboard rig on and off stage in record time. It was like a small army in action!
So then, a bit of chatting, going out front to find family and friends, we talked to a few folks who loved the set, then started the wheels in motion to get someone to find someone who can find someone else who can find the keys to a golf cart who can drive me and my gang and gear for the ten minutes or so, back through the throngs of Hempfesters, back to my car to make the great escape from Hempfest.
All in all, a very strange trip, indeed...... August 17 The world keeps turning Alright - I've finally done it - created a MySpace page - www.myspace.com/steveboyceplace
Stop by and become a friend! I have one already..... :)
We're very up for the show in a couple of days. May be the largest crowd we've play to yet. Phil is rockin on the keys!
I hear there will be a two camera video shoot, so perhaps we'll be able to get some video onto whitemusic.net.
Was sorry to hear about John Wetton's health problems and the cancellation of Asia's Canada and Western US dates. But it's great the Docs caught it before it caught him! I hear the surgery was a sucess and all is well. Speedy recovery, John!
Our live sound company, Morgan Sound, has been nominated for the Northwestern US Hometown Hero award by the readers of FOH magazine. We were nominated and won in 2004. It would be great to do it again and YOU CAN HELP - if you happen to be a subcriber to Front Of House magazine!!
If you are, go to www.fohonline.com/hometown and vote for Morgan Sound! If you are in the audio business, you can get a free subscription by going to www.fohonline.com and signing up - it's very painless and is a pretty damn fine magazine for us Audio Heads. August 03 Thoughts of the daySummer is raging - Love this time of year! It's the big Seattle Seafair weekend here - you either totaly embrace it, get into it, go to the events, or hideout and lay low.... The Blue Angels are flying all over the sky - how can you not get a rush from watching their show? The hydroplanes are revving up, making plenty of noise, and thrilling all those who are close enough to watch. And Sunday the big races will be televised. A Seattle tradition. As a kid, we made wooden hydros, attached a string to them, and pulled them behind our bicycles all day during the summer.
Band practice again tomorrow - getting ready for the HempFest on August 19th. Mr. Zulu asked me if we were really going on at 4:20pm. I said yes, that's what I was told, and was told it was Prime Time for the HempFest. It took us all a while to realize the code 420. Once we finally realized the connection, all we could really say was "Duh....".
Phil Davis is just killing us on keyboards. The guy has such incredible talent and energy. Last rehearsal he brought in a keyboard, new to us, that does incredible vocal sounds. It's a Roland V-Synth with some sort of vocal card. He sings or speaks into the mic while holding down notes and the most amazing sounds come out! It's factoring in, big time, to Tempis Fugit vocals as well as Changes. No samples, no faked vocals. Real time cool vocal stuff....
In my life as an audio guy, we almost ended up doing a couple of Asia shows in Canada. It's not going to happen this time around - would have loved to see Goeff again - it's been a while. But with the timing of them coming through this part of the world, if their Vancouver show were to cancel for some reason, perhaps we could get him down for a guest appearance at the HempFest.... you never know.....
So Alan has a MySpace page now - something we should have done with the band a long time ago - but he has a couple of our songs on his page, and we've been getting great response from all over the world on the songs. Meeting a lot of new friends. Much appreciated!
So - anyone in the vicinity - -come to the show at at HempFest, in Seattle, August 19th - it's free! Gotta love that - and since we're playing at 4:20 - primetime - be prepared for sweet aromas in the air..... there will be a lot of people there, so get there early - lot's of other bands playing as well. Should be quite the time...... Phil pointed out to me that they've listed us at the top of the performer list: http://hempfest.org/drupal/?q=node/14
Hope everyone is having a great summer!
Back to you soon - June 30 August date confirmedAugust 19th, 4:20pm. HempFest on the Seattle waterfront. A large crowd expected.
This is a festival that has happened each summer for many years. I've never attended, but I know many who have and have had a most excellent time.
Phil is going to play keys with us again. We're talking about what songs to play in the set - will probably have a little pleasant surprise for the Yes fans in the crowd.......
Happy birthday to Hamilton, who turns 21 today!
And rather than going out to the bars to tear up the town, he's playing an intimate set with his band, Song Sparrow Research, at a fairly private gathering.
I have so much love and repect for him - not only going to the University of Washington for the last 3 years studying Biology and Math, he's recorded an album a year, three years in a row and is currently working on a new one. Even if he wasn't my son, I'd be in awe......
Has everyone recovered from iPhone mania? Wow - if we could only be clever enough to market the band like that - June 25 More on the showSo the weather was certainly a factor - kind of a schitzoid kind of a day - it went from fairly warm and slightly breezy to windy as hell and pretty damn cold. As I was walking from the trailer, which was our dressing room, toward the stage to go on, I saw a flash in the sky and thought - whoa- I hope that was fireworks (the Tulalip Amphitheater is on an Indian Reservation). But no, it was the real deal. My buddy Reek told me after the set he saw lightining all around the area - but fortunately, none happened close to us during the show.
But man, it got cold! Any time I had an extended period where I didn't have to play, my left hand went right into my pants pocket. No - not for that reason! Anything to keep some warmth going. I heard Todd say, about four songs into their set - "I can't feel my frickin' fingers!"
But all of us in the band had a great time. And although the audience was rather small compared to when we played there with Peter Frampton, they, also, seemed to be having a great time. We got a great reponse from them. Went over to the merch table after our set and met a lot of new folks, as well as seeing numerous friends and familiar faces. Our thanks to all who braved the potentially funky weather. Paul and Jen, Reek and Lydia, Gib and Joan, Mr. Zulu and Mikey, Larry, Mary, Gina, Denny, and so many more...... And also, Eric and Andre from the local sound company for taking good care of us, and thanks to my buddy Redford, who is mixing the New Cars tour, for being so generous with the console and letting Tim have at it.....
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