I had a little jam with my brother-in-law this weekend. Short weekend trip filled with highlights. Some of you know my plight over the past year or so, so this is all great progress. First, I made a trip out of town without my head exploding. Had to stop a couple times each way, but made it. First trip anywhere in 16 months. Secondly, I actually played a round of golf. My focus wasn't there probably due to 2 muscle relaxers and some heavy hitting pain meds, but I still managed a 96. Not too bad considering it's been since April of '07.
On to the little jam session. It lasted probably an hour as the ladies and kids were prodding us to take them to dinner. He has a Fender HRD with a Gretsch single cut of some sort (LP design) along with 5 pedals. I brought my Fender Super Champ 15w tube/digital job. (easy to carry....I can see ripping apart the head apart carrying the Blues Deluxe) He's a gigging musician and has been playing for about 35 years, but only went electric probably a few years ago. (He owns a couple of SWEET Taylor acoustics)
We did this outside in front of his work shop away from the house, which was kind of nice. Easier on the ears. First thing I noticed was that my little amp really got lost in the open space using the clean setting. I so love a 12-inch speaker vs a 10 inch for some reason.
The last time we played together was 2 years ago. I could play very little, but we did OK. This time was better and I was sort of out of it. We kind of picked up where we left off. I did rhythm and he did lead and fill. We did some easy things, like Knocking On Heaven's Door, Wish You Were Here, Can't You See, Thank You, Love In Vain, Nobody Loves You (When You're Down And Out), No Woman No Cry and Where Do You Think You're going. Probably a couple of other things too. Like I said, I was out of it. I know he taught me a tune, but I can't remember it now. I did think he was rather surprised that I knew the first song that he started playing and was able to jump right in.
A couple of highlights was that I actually strayed a little bit from the standard strum with some accent strokes a few times. I also led the ending on most of the songs well enough that he knew what I was doing.
At the end, I went down to the house to whiz and he picked up my guitar and started fiddling with the amp settings and voicings. He got a lot more output from it than I thought it had, but I thought it still lacked the raw chunk that the HRD or Blues Deluxe can deliver without effort. Like I said though, it was outside and he was filling up a lot of air with it. Can't complain too badly. It did it's job as a travel amp rather admirably.
So, a weekend in the right direction. Gotta love it.
Roy
"I wonder if a composer ever intentionally composed a piece that was physically impossible to play and stuck it away to be found years later after his death, knowing it would forever drive perfectionist musicians crazy." - George Carlin
Sounds like you had a good time Roy! Wish I could join you guys!
"Work hard, rock hard, eat hard, sleep hard,
grow big, wear glasses if you need 'em."
-- The Webb Wilder Credo --
Awesome, Roy. That should help with your healing! 8)
Bish
"I play live as playing dead is harder than it sounds!"
brain on meds
brain on guitar
good job putting yourself out there.
one of my biggest enjoyments is jamming with an old friend. we take turns doing leads and rhythm playing ancient songs.
I am glad you are having a similar experience.
Sounds like a lot of fun, Roy. It has to feel good to be able to get out and do some things.
I was just thinking about your migraines. I know you have other issues as well so maybe this isn't feasible but the first thing my husband's neurologist/migraine specialist did was take him off of all his pain medicine. Pain killers cause rebound headaches, which make you take more painkillers, so basically you have a continuous headache. It was hell for a few days coming off of the meds but since then he is having fewer migraines. He has a couple of specific migraine medicines to take, when he gets one, that aren't traditional pain killers and he can take ibuprofen. You may already know all this or not be able to do it but I thought I would throw it out there anyway. Hope you don't mind.
All my life I wanted to be somebody. Now I see I should have been more specific.
Dude! That's so cool! Glad to hear you had a good time and were able to jam out for a bit. Always good for the soul!
Teamwork- A few harmless flakes working together can unleash an avalanche of destruction.
Roy, that sounds very cool! I'd wish to participate in one of those jams!
Sounds like a good time. Glad to hear you were able to make the trip.
Sounds like a good time Roy, and the best part is you surprised your brother-in-law with how much you've improved in just one year. And that's how guitar is, it's like seeing kids you haven't seen in awhile. To someone who sees them every day they look the same, but someone who hasn't seen them for awhile can really see how they've grown. :D
Hope your health improves soon, and keep on Rockin'
Wes
If you know something better than Rock and Roll, I'd like to hear it - Jerry Lee Lewis
