Back to the 60's!

2012

1972

Last night, my band, Red Paint, played a birthday party for a guy turning 50. The theme was the 60's so I went out and got a few props to make myself look like a 60's musician. Yep--found a tie-dye t-shirt (not pictured) and, most importantly--a huge head of hair. It was the "Howard Stern" model (labeled: DJ Wannabee). I also put temporary die (sold as "mustache wax") on my goatee to match, and brought out my wire-framed sunglasses. What do you think?

Of course, the folks at the party "dug it," but it also felt good to be looking like I did many years ago. It was a personal time travel experience--only with even MORE hair. I got to experience the hair-in-the-face annoyance and the hair-in-the-mouth-while-eating phenomenon that my wife has described. She wears her hair up almost all the time for that very reason. It felt good to rock-and-roll and shake that mop of hair. Wearing the sunglasses made me feel a little insular and "safe" in some way, too.

You can live your dreams--playing bass in my band is a big one for me--but looking "cool" too is another. I've never been much for costumes, but I'll bet this will be a big hit at some party this coming October 31st.

Red Paint CD Release Party Tonight - a Culmination

Tonight, Red Paint, an Alameda, California-based four-piece rock band, takes the stage at its first ever CD Release Party. It's the culmination of everything the group has worked for since it started up in lead guitarist Shaun Reid's livingroom in October of 2006. It also features Colin Close as lead singer and rhythm guitarist, Tony Herrin on drums and me on bass. Colin writes most of our original material.

For me, it began long before 2006. Sure, I got my Fender Precision Bass Special on my birthday in 2003, but my actual first bass goes back to when I was just 18, living alone in semi-poverty in San Francisco. I had dreamed of bass playing for years, perhaps from listening to Paul McCartney's brilliant work with the Beatles and other 1960's pop music. In any case, I was strumming my guitar and trying to start a modest career as a soloist in the image of, say, Bob Dylan. It was going slowly, with open mike nights at the Coffee Gallery in San Francisco's North Beach and a few little parties and events.

In any case, I decided to take my sole item of value--my coin collection--to a pawn shop in the Tenderloin and acquire a bass. I must have read about Jazz musicians doing this, I don't know. In any case, there was a green Fender-style solid-body electric bass. I made the swap, and saw all those remarkably unworn 19th-century Indian pennies, along with my $2-1/2 gold piece, slip away forever.

I took my new possession home and plunked away on it for a while, but, without an amplifier, I wasn't much good to anyone. Sadly, not too much later, someone broke into my ground-floor apartment and stole my bass. I figured it was a message. I devoted my energies thenceforth to my college education and tried to forget about bass playing, although I did still strum and sing with my guitar over the years and spent one fun year playing bluegrass mandolin.

A 50th birthday is a milestone. I decided, in lieu of a Ferrari or an affair, to acquire the bass I always wanted. I advanced this idea to my supportive wife and she said, "Go get it!"

After some shopping around I settled on the electric bass I still play most of the time. Although I acquired two other bass guitars over the years, and have made a whole second project with the upright bass, I stand today ready to play our band's 11-song CD (all original songs) live in front of as many friends and relatives as are willing to answer an EVITE and actually show up. You can hear some of it on our Facebook page.

We recorded this music a while ago, in two different studios, but it took a while to plan the event and get the date. We are excited to offer a second set of new original songs and a few covers in our second set. For our fans, it's a chance to hear something new from the band. You really have no good excuse for not being there, unless, of course, you're reading this in Anchorage, Alaska or Peru or Poland.

I always wanted to be in a band, was drawn to bass playing since Nixon was president, and love music. What could be better than this?

Red Paint plays at High Street Station in Alameda, California on Saturday, January 21, 2012 from 7 - 10 p.m.

Stairway to Heaven - Best Rock Song Ever?

I just got another chance to enjoy the magnificence of Stairway to Heaven, Led Zeppelin's finest song and one of the greatest rock recordings of all time. I've always admired the way it starts pretty and folksy and gradually builds, adding a piece at a time, until it expands to an outright wail, only to fade softly away at the end.

First, the acoustic guitar becomes an electric guitar. Then the bass becomes more prominent. Then the drums enter. After that, a ringing guitar anthem, followed by Jimmy Page's iconic solo. On top of that, suddenly the tempo gets more syncopated as Robert Plant screams out his part as only he can.

The latest numbers for Stairway to Heaven on YouTube are 44,712,551 plays for the recorded version with a changing still photo gallery of the band. Whew, look at all that hair! And Jimmy Page's double-necked guitar! It's 8 minutes and two seconds of magic. It's also 40 years old this November, and sounding as fresh as ever.

Alpha Rev Bursts out of Texas

I remember hearing the Beatles when they first appeared on American AM radio, so I've got decades of music inside my brain. The is nobody quite like the Fab Four, but sometimes, I hear a band that has energy, excitement and something that draws me in. I remember the Police doing that in the 1980's, for example.

Alpha Rev is one of the bands doing it for me today. The group was started in 2005 and went through some recording dead ends before starting on their international debut album.

That album, New Morning, was ranked #3 in 2010 and their video made into the top 10 rotation on VH1. Not bad.

I like the tight harmonies and strong guitars in Heaven and the beauty of the title cut. I haven't heard the whole album through, but they surely need more focused attention--sitting in the chair with the headphones--more than just an occasional visit with the iPod on the road.

I thank to my wife, who discovered these guys somewhere and shared them with me.