11.30.17

Up 8, got out before 10. Tried/a little hungover from last night (only 2 drinks), lasted all day. Started looking at the intro again over coffee, in the hr. before therapy. Lunch, then resumed, worked about 2-4. Actually very close now – have marked 2 grafs I want to polish, and footnotes are needed. Called dad while walking down B’way. Home about 6, tried to rest until 7:30, got up and did a few things to prepare for tomorrow’s trip. Went out to work on Kristin’s b-day song 9 to 11. Lights out not long after I got back.

[Dylan/Band “All You Have to Do Is Dream” to The Shepherd Sister’s “Alone (Why Must I Be Alone”)]

11.29.17

Up 7, worked at E77 8:30 to nearly 1. Lunch. An elderly woman who apologized for her English tried to discuss her banking issues with me. Voicemail from Laura asking if I could talk about the “folk process” around a song in the show. Came home and tried to get into some tasks.

-       Partially cleaned tub.

-       Took a bunch of things that were too heavy for Bree downstairs to our storage space.

-       Worked on the rest of the songs for tonight, inc. another Guy Clark

-       Figured out something to say about “Handsome Molly” and “Dublin Blues”

-       Cleaned an partly assembled a found CD cabinet.

-       Talked to someone from Bree’s insurance provider.

Walked over to Laura’s, took a train to Sid’s together, played year’s last States of Country (of 5 or 6 I’ve been on, I think) about 7:30-9: 

Starry Skies

Lee Harvey Was A Friend of Mine

Dallas (Flatlanders)

Lone Star State of Mind (Nanci Griffith)

Ain't Living Long Like This (Waylon Jennings)

White Freightliner (Townes Van Zandt; Mark Spencer feature, w/ blazing gtr.)

Long Long Time (Linda Ronstadt, w+m Gary White; w/ Mary Lee)

Dublin Blues (Guy Clark)

She Ain't Going Nowhere (ditto; w/ Eric Ambel)

Die Fun (Kacey Musgraves, w/ the Tall Pines)

How Do You Feel About Fooling Around? (Kristofferson/Jennings, w/ the Tall Pines)

It’s Alright (Buddy Holly, w/ Jay Sherman-Godfrey – he showed us the song in the bathroom)

One Way Crash Course (Doug Sahm – great song)

No Place to Fall (TVZ; w/ Mary Lee)

Pancho + Lefty (TVZ)

Hung out for an hr +, talked about sexual harassement w/ Laura, Jay, Rachel Gilkey. Inconclusive. Rode back to JH w/ Laura per usual – cabbie lived a few blocks away, as sometimes happens. Home/lights out about 12:30.

11.28.17

Up about 7, worked on intro at E77, 8-ish to noon. Lunch, zonked out for a couple hrs. at home, finished the Clifford Simak novel, which was not worth the time, around 4. Bree came home a little upset b/c there was a scheduling mistake w/r/t her doctor’s appt. Spent a while working through about ½ of the Laura set – picked out the horn line to Doug Sahm’s “One-Way Crash Course Love Affair,” but otherwise less playing than checking that the charts made sense. Probably a few other mundane tasks in there, but I can’t recall them. Went back to E77 around 7 and worked until closing at 10. Dithered quite a while before going to bed – 1, 1:30? Listened to part of a podcast interview w/ Tomas Fujiwara.

11.26.17

Up 7:30. Went to Café Benne and worked on song parody of “London Calling” for Kristin Thompson’s birthday next weekend. Tried to work on intro for 90 min., felt extremely blocked and self-critical. Went home and waited for Nada Gordon to show up for informal “musical theory.” She was running late and asked us to meet her for Vietnamese food near 74th St. station. So we did. Came back around 3, spent about 2 hrs. talking about scales, chords, and functional harmony, and showing her guitar fingerings. We jumped around a bit, but an “apt pupil.” Left at 6 for Joe’s Pub, to see Pete Galub play in a reconstruction of VU’s Loaded, with a live sketch artist projecting drawings throughout the set. Not sure why, exactly, but it was enjoyable and musically on point. Impressed w/ the bass player, Annie Nero, who also stepped out front for an encore of “After Hours.” Pete sounded great, of course, and sang “Lonesome Cowboy Bill.” Over by 8, so walked up to the Strand, picked up a dollar copy of one of S. Burt’s critical books, Nile Rodgers as-told-to, and a hybrid essay-poem called You, Me, and the Violence that I’d noticed new at Unnameable. Headed home, read Simak on train. Got the daybook in there somewhere. Lights out around 11.

11.25.17

Up in the middle of the night for a while, listened to an Open Culture podcast on AI/Big Data (not really the same thing, as I’ve understood the former…) and some of A-Z playlist before dozing off again. Got up at 7:30, went to Café Benne, read Simak. Daybook. Walked to Langston Hughes Library – following my recent pattern of walking along a bus route but not catching a bus. Worked from just after 10 to 2:30 – pretty good pass at 1,100-word chunk of intro, some writing some revision/editing. Listened to some of Mitch’s rough mixes from last week – I don’t want to get tied to them, and definitely have some non-technical ideas about how the final mixes should go (bring out Pete’s gtr in some places, edit out some overdubs on some sections, etc.), but there’s potential. Walked home w/ headphones: Mistook a Grizzly Bear song for Van Dyke Parks – might have to turn in my card. Came home, rested, read more Simak, listened to a couple of podcasts, made myself unpack/organize/regroup from the weekend. Rented a car for next weekend. Went out again to E77 at 8, had 1 beer, read a few poems in Lauterbach, tried to work on “Viable” lyric while listening to an OK country duo. Back around 10, went to bed shortly after.

[Aretha Franklin, “All The Kings Horses” to Billy Bragg & Wilco “All You Fascists”]