Un-glam rock

It's the morning after our big CD release party at Station 4. I have a hangover that is probably less from the whiskey and beers I consumed on stage, and more about all the head-banging I do while I play.

I got home last night around 2:30 a.m. with most of my gear in the back of the Focus. I'll take it back to the rehearsal space when I'm good and ready.

I ran into more technical difficulties last night at the show. I started hearing a loud buzzing sound coming from my rig and then for some reason my sound cut out during the next to last song.

eh - it could have been worse.

We started our set late so we cut a song out. I think we played well for the most part, although I couldn't help notice people start to trickle out of the bar during the set. Maybe we were just too loud - or maybe they didn't dig the music.

I'd like to thank everyone who stuck around to see us, in fact I can probably name each of them: Eric and Kim, Collin and Katie, Mecca, Jeff, Frank and Tim from ET, Liz and Kathy, and Leah. There are probably a few more that I didn't mention because I didn't meet them. but there you have it - about a dozen folks.

Did I mention we made $90?

I ain't complaining. There are so many people who would gladly change places with me -- frustrated guitar players and band-fans who just never took the time to learn how to play and organize a band. And some bands don't even get a chance to play gigs at all.

I'll end it there. I could go on, but I've got to try and nurse this hangover by watching the Vikings play some lackluster football against the Cardinals in about a half an hour.

14 hours to show time...

Later on this evening the band will be on stage at Station 4 in downtown St. Paul officially launching our new CD Venus. If all goes according to plan, we'll play for 30 or 40 people, sell maybe 10 CDs and put on the best show we can. Then at the end of the night, I'll be buzzed, sweaty and exhausted and will have to load my gear back in the car and head home.

"riding down the highway/going to a show..."

These are lyrics that have been burned into my head ever since I was 12 and picked up a guitar for the first time.

"stopping on the byways/playing rock and roll..."

Yes, Bon, it is a long way to the top if you want to rock and roll. And i guess, like every kid who started trying to master "Smoke on the Water," "Stairway to Heaven" and "Eruption," on the gee-tar, I really wanted to be a rock star.

But not so much for the reasons that I think a lot of young folks today want to be stars. I cringe every time I watch "Cribs" and see these wealthy young punks flaunting a garage full of expensive cars that they don't really drive and show off professionally decorated rooms in their McMansions that they never spend time in.

I've always just wanted to be a really good guitar player and make a living at it.
And it also wouldn't be a bad thing to get a little famous along the way. But not stopping-me-in-a-public-bathroom-for-an-autograph-famous.

Who knows? Maybe someone with some real connections will hear Venus and fall in love with it and hook us up. And by hooked up I mean someone who can help finance a small tour, pay for another CD and get us in front of large groups of people.

My dad always told me, that if you do what you love, the money will follow.

OK $$$, I'm waiting....

Thankful for the day after Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. I love the fact that its sole purpose is to give people the excuse to gather with friends and family and consume large amounts of food and drink. I also love that the emphasis is placed on slow food - meals that take several hours to prepare and often require the participation of guests.

But perhaps what I love most about Thanksgiving is the day after. I don't have to work. I have plenty of food leftover from last night (we had a brilliant shindig with a small group of good friends and family), and aside from a sinkful of dirty dishes, there's nothing that I absolutely have to do. Although I will have to go to liquor store - we had seven or eight full bottles of wine last night, along with an 18 pack of beer + some home brew brought by my buddy Eric -- this morning the death toll stands at seven or eight empty bottles of wine and an empty growler of home brew. There are maybe two cans of beer left in the fridge.

I plan on lounging, lounging, lounging and then I'll take a nap. There's plenty of "Austin Powers" movies on TBS and I'm a happy camper.

N.O. Day Five: Missing New Orleans already

(Mecca, looking forlorn on the steps of the St Charles Guesthouse while waiting for the airport shuttle)

It's really hard to enjoy yourself on the last day of travelling. Although I like being home, I often find myself pretty down when it's time to leave. We had several hours to hang out before we had to catch the shuttle to the airport and so we had one last trip to the Quarter for food. We stopped at Napoleon House for one last taste of the city. I had a bowl of seafood gumbo and Mecca had jambalaya. Both were spectacular, but not a cure for the last-day-in-New-Orleans-blues.

The whole time Mecca and I said very few words to each other. She may have just been tired of hanging around me for the last several days. But I suspect she was just feeling the same melancholy I was.

I will miss the food, the music, the nightlife and all that. But I really miss how each day and night offered opportunities for all new adventures.

New Orleans is still obviously on the mend. And so many of the residents we talked to thanked us for coming. How many times do you hear that when you travel? It almost brought tears to our eyes. The folks at the Guesthouse told us they are already getting close to all booked up for New Years Eve and Mardi Gras. So make your reservations now.

N.O. Day Four: Cold and Hot times

(picture of Bonerama)

Saturday brings a chill and neither of us are prepared for it. After experiencing 80 degree + weather on Friday, we awaken to temps in the mid 50s. The sky is gray and there's a wind that bitch slaps your exposed skin - as if to scold you for not bringing a sweater.

However, it's a perfect day to walk through the first cemetary built in New Orleans. As we huddle and shudder against the chill, the tour guide points some noteworthy tombs, the Clairbornes, Morials, etc. including the family tomb of Homer Plessy. We also were introduced to the tomb of voodoo priestess, Marie LeVeau, which was marked with dozens of Xs.

After the tour we escaped for a very tasty lunch - we split a muffeleta and order of jambalaya at Masperos.



The sandwich was spectacular.

That night we headed out to the Maple Leaf Bar - a legendary music venue - to see Bonerama. They tore down the place. With four and five trombones up front - one guy playing his 'bone through a wah-wah pedal -- keys, drums and guitar, they had such a big sound it threatened to loosen the joists in that old building.

They play originals and a couple of very well-arranged cover songs, like the Allman Bros, "Whipping Post," and Hendrix's "Crosstown Traffic." I heard that they will be a house band for the Comic Relief benefit for New Orleans, next saturday night 11/18 on HBO. check it out.

The band rocked until 2:30 or so and we wound up returning -- again -- to the guesthouse in the very wee hours of the morning.

N.O. Day 3: Isn't that John Goodman?

(here's just one of the jaw-droppingly beautiful homes in the Garden District. It's not John Goodman's house, though).

Speaking from experience, let me tell you a walking tour is the best way to get to know a town. We've taken them in Berlin and London and they were excellent.

I'll be brief today because we're trying to take another one here that starts in about an hour and a half. We walked through the Garden DIstrict, just me and Mec and our guide, a man named Roberts. The man had so much info in his head about the homes, the foilage and the people who live in the homes -- we were both extremely impressed.

During the tour Roberts is telling us how Ann Rice has had such an impact on the area; how she's bought and sold several houses there and the fact that actor Nicolas Cage now owns one of her homes. He told us that on a past tour, no sooner did he point out this fact, than the famous actor himself walks out of the house. His tour-ees were very impressed.

So during our tour, we're standing in front of a gorgeous mansion that used to belong to Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails. Roberts is telling us that Reznor sold the house a little while ago and sold it to actor John Goodman. No sooner does he tell us this - guess who should walk out to the porch smoking a big old stogie?

Roberts has a gift y'all.

more later.

N.O. day 2: Mec falls for Bob the drooling cat

Day two in N.O. -- we strolled around French Quarter for the first time by light of day. And it is extremely gorgeous. The temperature was in the upper 70s to low 80s, without a cloud in sky - so the deep blue sky made for a wonderful backdrop. Crusty buildings adorned with wrought-iron gates, peeling paint and balconies often stuffed with large hanging plants - it was all what you'd expect to see in an old, old town.

Of all the attractions we experienced like Cafe Du Monde -- which was fabulous -- I can safely say the things we'll remember most are some of the city's colorful citizens. Like the big dude in Jackson Squaure, squatting on a bench belting out Foreigner songs, accompanied by the bands music blaring through a small boom box next to him. And he had a GREAT voice. Remember the Ripper Jones story? The kid who sang like Rob Halford from Judas Priest and then replaced him in the band? Well, if Lou Gramm ever wants to retire singing his old band's songs -- the big fat guy from Jackson Sq. could be the new 'Ripper.'

Bet.

OK, so more characters. We stopped by a little cookbook store called Kitchen Witch. The proprietor was a bubbly southern woman, with a store full of cookbooks, vinyl records and animals -- including Bob the drooling cat.

The woman says Bob reminds her of a toothless, homeless guy that roams the quarter. And that's probably the best way to describe this cat. He's got one tooth that juts from his lower jaw, out of his mouth. At times his tongue hangs out and a constant, thin line of drool drips down his little chin.

Black with a little white spot on his chest, Bob also has no tail -- a manx -- thus the name Bob.

more later...

New Orleans day one: Uncle Lionel makes a cameo

We got into New Orleans with out much trouble at all -- the airlines didn't lose our luggage and didn't have problem getting to the hotel. The St. Charles Guesthouse is absolutely charming. And by charming I mean it's falling apart.

After a nap and some freshening up, we hit the French Quarter for some eats, drinks and sounds. Mission accomplished. My wife the food writer and cook has us on a schedule of places to go, so I just eat where she tells me to. I can do that. I dined on crawfish etouffe, gumbo and crawfish cakes.

Drinks are portable, which makes drinking very convenient.

We saw some great little jazz and blues combos. I can't remember the names of the bands or the clubs they played in, but they were all freakin' brilliant. My favorite was a little band at the Spotted Cat (remembered that one). They were a group of young white hipsters playing gypsy jazz a la Django Reinhardt.

But perhaps the highlight of the evening was Uncle Lionel. He showed up to sing a tune with a little blues band down the street from the Cat. Uncle L looked he was in his 80s at least and dressed like a pimp on his way to church. It looked like he was less interested in singing than he was flirting with the ladies.

I want to be like Uncle L. if I make it to 80 something...

mon. 11.6. I shouldn't have weighed myself...

Here's what you don't want to see two days before you go on an eating tour of New Orleans:

195

Yeek -- that's the most I've ever weighed in my life. My doctor says I should be at 175-177 lbs. Now I know why my lower back starts to ache after standing for more than 10 minutes...

How's a guy supposed to gorge himself on sea critters and sausage for four days w/o thinking about that?

dude...

Full Stack at the Rock 11-01-06

brandt and billy
Originally uploaded by Brandt Williams.

Here's a pic from the show. Billy's the one with the bald head and tats.


The band played it's first gig since finishing the new disc, Venus. More details on the band's webpage.
www.fullstackrock.com

Here's a pic from the show. I'm actually just testing the link between the blog and my Flickr acct. It sounds like a cool idea, but we'll see. If you click on the photo you'll go directly to my Flickr page - which has a few more band pics - including some shots from our CD release party. More on that later.

The show went well, overall. I didn't do so hot. I was having technical difficulties which distracted me the whole night. Billy was just getting over an ear or sinus infection and nearly fell out on stage.

"it's a long way to the top, if you want to Rock and Roll..."

I didn't stay for the headliner that night, Stephen Pearcy, former lead singer of Ratt. I was pretty much wiped out, and it doesn't help that you have to load your own gear and unload it once you get home.

I can't wait to get some roadies up in this mother@!#$...

countdown to New Orleans

Just looked at the weather forecast and it looks like weather will be sunny with temps in the 70s and 80s in The Big Easy.

more later...