Meeting Phil Ehart (from the band Kansas)

Here's an interesting story from this past weekend:

I am playing bass in the backing band for some friends who call themselves "J3" (www.j3girls.com). The group is comprised of three ladies who have names that start with the letter "J". Their style is mostly country.

Anyway, this past weekend we had the pleasure of being one of the opening acts for national country artist Heidi Newfield. The show was at a Grand Rapids venue known as "The Intersection". We were scheduled to go on at 8pm, and was surprised to find we were given 40 minutes to play. Just after sound check, we were told that an extra artist was added to the evening and would perform an "acoustic" set just before J3. The artist was a guy named Nathan Lee Jackson, and he had two backing musicians. He was scheduled to go on at 7:30pm, and was going to get around 30 minutes. No big deal, and we were happy to see the show get started early anyway.

While hanging out backstage before the show, I got into a conversation with one of Nathan's guitar players. The guy was named Keith, and we were talking about various music topics. At one point, Keith mentions that Nathan's manager had shown up and was standing off to the side talking with the other guitar player. Keith casually mentions the manager is also the drummer for the band Kansas. After the initial shock of this comment, I ask "which Kansas are you talking about?". Keith says "you know, the one from 'Carry on my Wayward son'". I say "Phil Ehart?", and Keith says "Yup, that's Phil". After trying to not offend Keith with my excitement over seeing Phil, I ask Keith if he could introduce me. Keith has no problem with this, and takes me over to meet Phil.

Now, I need to mention that Kansas is one of my all time favorite bands. I have been a fan since the late 70s, and got to see them in concert a few times (first back in 1979). Original member Kerry Livgren has continued to be one of my inspirations, but I do know Phil Ehart is a major factor in the band's existence.

Meeting Phil was a true pleasure for me, and was a surprise I did not expect for the day. I told Phil how I didn't want to come off as "gushy", but that I had been a fan for decades. He was kind and polite, and even let me get a photo with him. I had my wife Michelle take the photo, and then Phil said why not get a photo with him and my wife. Note that my wife is familiar with the band, but isn't a big fan of progressive rock. She didn't mind the fun, but certainly wasn't as familiar with Phil and his involvement with the band.

To continue the show story, Nathan Lee Jackson's set was great and he was also a super nice guy. I was VERY impressed with him, and would recommend his music. The J3 performance went off fine (no major problems), and the crowd seemed to enjoy the girls and their music. They had a decent crowd hanging out back at their merchandise table, after our set. A Detroit based band named "Redhill" performed after J3, and they had a solid set of original country rock. Heidi Newfield was very professional, but seemed a bit "generic".

Here's the two photos with Phil Ehart.












Thanks to Phil for being so accomodating and making a memorable night just a bit more special for me.

J3 Video from about a month ago

Last night I spent some time putting final touches on a "compilation" video from one of the groups I'm performing with. The group is called J3, and they performed numerous times at an "Arena Racing" pre-race party at Grand Rapids "Deltaplex". This particular video is from a February 28, 2009 performance. I took some clips from a few songs, as well as a clip of the girls singing the national anthem before the race. Enjoy.



I will be performing next with the band when they have an opening slot for national artist Heidi Newfield. This show is Saturday April 18 at The Intersection, in Grand Rapids.

Over this coming weekend, I hope to also get a similar video compilation completed for the cover band I'm currently playing with. This band has some dates booked, and I need to get the MySpace page filled with some music and video.

Have a great Easter weekend,

Tim

EZ Drummer loaded and other updates

Hey all,

Well, last night I got EZ Drummer loaded (by the way, the manufacturer is named Toontrack). The product started up in Pro Tools LE just fine, and does resemble "Strike" quite a bit (the Digidesign virtual drummer software). At this point, it looks like EZ Drummer has a bunch more presets/loops, but documentation reads like "custom" patterns are limited in the basic version. This may explain the larger amount of samples, versus "Strike" being more "customize" friendly. In any case, I hope to make some more progress with this program, and see if we can get some music written/played.

Also, I found the 2 CDs I had been looking for. Got the new Les Claypool solo release ("Of Fungi and Foe"), and the latest disc from British metal band Saxon. Last night I dumped them both into my iPod, for enjoying during the next day (today). Trouble is, I manually handle transfers (for numerous reasons), and apparently I didn't transfer the Saxon release to the iPod. Guess I get to do that tonight. The Les Claypool disc is a bit more odd than usual, but similiar to the previous release ("Of Whales and Woe"). If you've enjoy Les, you'll like the new one. On a side note, the new Queensryche CD is growing on me, and I'm not really warming up to the new U2 yet (this will probably be one that I'll understand in a few years).

Finally, for those Bjork fans, I have seen that she is independently releasing versions of live recordings from her most recent tour. The CD she was touring was called "Volta", and I got to see a performance in Detroit. The show was amazing, especially if you like Bjork (but interesting even if you didn't like her). There is just a DVD version, then a 2-CD and 2-DVD version, then another "Deluxe Vinyl" version. I've ordered the 2-CD and 2-DVD version. Since it's coming from overseas, I don't expect to have this for at least a month or so.

That's about it for now - too many little projects to get done. I'll update more on those, once I have some more solid information.

Later,

Tim

Gotta love computers!!

So, last night I intended on loading up my new copy of the EZ Drummer and seeing what sort of fun that would provide. I went to my audio computer, and first turned on my Digi 003 hardware interface. Then I powered on the computer, and was met with the dreaded "blue screen of death". The error read something about a system file being either missing or corrupted. This didn't sound good.

I got onto my other computer, and began researching the error code on the audio computer. From what I was reading, either I had a dead hard drive or corrupted reigstry. I did some diagnostic tests on the hardware, and was confident all hard drives were functioning. So, it must be the registry. I found some Microsoft tips about restoring a corrupt registry, and began going down that road.

The first problem I had was that I had the wrong "Windows restore" CD. We have 3 separate Dell desktop computers, and I was apparently using the CD from one of the other systems. The caused an error three separate times before I found out my mistake.

So, now that I've convinced myself that I would be probably reinstalling Windows, I made one final attempt at rebooting the PC. I turned everything off (including the Digi 003 hardware) and only booted up the PC. It came up fine.

I promptly loaded up my copy of "Registry Mechanic", and did some cleaning of the registry. The PC seemed to be fine. The only thing I could conclude was that the Digi 003 was causing some problem with booting up the PC.

I do know that I have recently upgraded the Pro Tools LE software to the newest version (version 8), and the software had been running fine within Windows. I also believe the software updated some drivers/firmware in the Digi 003. This was certainly the first time I had the Digi 003 turned on before starting Windows, since upgrading the software.

So, moral of the story: Not every error code means what it says. Had I continued down the road that I was being led, I most likely would have ended up reformating the hard drive and reinstalling Windows (wiping all previous data from the hard drive). This was not necessary. Be sure to check all other options before you start taking any radical steps like reformating a hard drive. Sometimes a minor issue may be represented by a major sounding message. That was the case with me.

Oh, and I didn't get to loading the EZ Drummer software (ran out of time last night). I'll probably try that tonight. Wish me luck...

Updates and thoughts

So, welcome to Easter week 2009. This has frequently struck me as a busy time of the year, as I've usually been involved in church programs related to Easter. It wouldn't be unusual to spend the entire work in rehearsals/setup, and then spend the whole weekend working at performances. There wasn't any time for "family gatherings" or fancy dinners, as all the family was already tied to the church programs. I don't say this at all out of complaint, but more out of a perspective that I don't really connect with people who see the weekend as something akin to Thanksgiving or Christmas. It's just not that sort of holiday for me - it's more "personal".

I have mentioned in the past that I purchased the Digidesign virtual drummer software known as "Strike". It has plenty of capability, but I had also read many reviews comparing it to a product known as "EZ Drummer". Well, this week Guitar Center has the "EZ Drummer" software on sale for $99, and I had a 10% off coupon. So, I've picked up a copy, and plan on installing it tonight. There are plenty of tips on how the program interacts with various programs, and the manufacturer website (I forget their name) has numerous video tutorials. I'll let you know what I think, once I have a chance to try it out.

I've been rehearsing with both J3 (www.j3girls.com) and the cover band (now know as "Desperate Measures"). J3 has an opening slot for Heidi Newfield at Grand Rapids "The Intersection" on Saturday April 18. There are some ongoing issues with performance time, but we are assured we will get to play. Also, J3 has managed to talk guitarist Jim Cash into joining us when possible. Jim is a good friend and knows how to work within the J3 style, so this has been fun for me. Jim will be joining us for April 28. Desperate Measures has April 24-25 booked at a bar in Allegan, so this should be an interesting "maiden voyage" for this group. We have worked out quite a few various tunes over the past couple months, so we've got enough material. I graduated high school in Allegan, so I'm a bit conflicted about whether I want to run into any past friends or not (this is unlikely anyway, since many have moved away).

Movies I've watched this past week:
Revisited "A Nightmare On Elm Street" parts 1 and 2 - Part 1 still holds up pretty good. Part 2 has one of the better opening scenes (the bus in the canyon looks spooky), but the overall movie is a bit weak for me.
Revisited "Hellraiser" - Still holds up well, with the exception of the monster that crawls along the hallway walls. I'm sure this looked promising on set, but on film it looks cheap. Other than that, much of the film looks good, and is one of my favorites.
"Zombie Strippers" - I picked this up at the rental store, mostly because Robert Englund was in it. Some reviews said it was campy enough to be amusing. Overall, it was pretty much exactly what you expect from the title, but there were some amusing nods to other genre films. The ending "summary" of how the virus got out was very funny, and certainly didn't take itself seriously. I'd rate the film a C+/B-.

Music:
Picked up the new Queensryche CD "American Soldier". I've only gotten through it a couple times, and it should please most Queensryche fans. It's not amazing, but it's working a bit better for me than "Q2K" or "Tribe".
Bought "The Trumpet Child" CD from Over The Rhine. Picked this up at their concert, and the CD is nice pop stuff with a jazz slant. The first few songs are similar to some slow New Orleans jazz, before they move on to more traditional pop tunes. Good stuff.
I'm trying to find a copy of the new Les Claypool solo CD, as well as the most recent Saxon release.

Concerts:
I was around town Saturday with my friend Steve Reid, and we were catching a few free "Festival of Faith and Music" shows before the main event Saturday night (main event wasn't free). Around 4:30pm, we watched Katie Chastain at Schuler Books. Katie was reported as being from Boston. She had a supporting guitarist, but I can't remember his name. She has potential, but this specific performance seemed a bit weak vocally, and she came across as quite timid. The 1 and 2 acoustic guitar arrangements seemed lacking, so I'd be curious what the CD arrangements sound like. Next up was a 6pm performance by Aaron Roche, at "The Fish House" at Calvin College. Aaron said he now lives in California, but only recently moved there from Nashville. Aaron seemed a bit more confident than Katie, but he didn't have much stage presence. His voice was decent, and he is a good guitar player, but it just seemed to come across as dull. The final show of the night, was the main event at the Fine Arts Center at 8pm. Opening the show was Aaron Strumpel, an independent guy who won a band competition related to the weekend festival. Strumpel brought a few supporting musicians. The music had a bit of a celtic flavor, but overall seemed chaotic. He performed about 4 songs, and I never really took a liking to his music. I guess I expected more. Next up was Julie Lee. Julie had supporting musicians, including Aaron Roche (see earlier solo performance notes) and a guitar player from Jars Of Clay (who stayed solely on slide guitar). Julie played her entire new CD, and she did keep my interest for most of the set. But, I think she played a tad longer than she should have. About 1/2 way into her set, I was ready to buy the CD. By the end, I decided not to. Finally, we had Over The Rhine. I had never seem them before, but was familiar with the name. The band is a husband wife duo, supported by 3 additional musicians. The music was mostly mid-tempo pop tunes, with a bit of jazzy flavor thrown in. The vocals were fantastic, and the entire set was well prepared and tight. One of their encore numbers was a piano and vocal version of "Love Hurts", and this was very strong (despite the minimal arrangement). I ended up a fan, and picked up a CD (see noted review above). I'd recommend Over The Rhine, if you like some quiet pop/jazz that is a bit off the beaten path.

That's enough for now. I'll update again in the next few days.

Later,

Tim