Winters Returning Song

Sunday Service at First Avenue after a four week break. We haven't been resting on our borrowed laurels in the interim tho - oh no! Tristan brought 3 songs (left another one at home) and I fetched one along to work on, the Rhythmic Poets having heard demos and taken the initial sketches onboard.

First hour was spent getting back up to speed with the familiar numbers. We're used to the room being a sweatbox, so it was weird getting cold hands off the fretboard. Pete sacrificed watching the match to put up with such discomforts!

So, as well as the new songs, which got 3 runs through each, Why Do I Cry and The Squires' Going All The Way have both been given a bit spit and polish, the latter properly taking flight for the first time.

This blog's demo recording is brought to you courtesy of Tristan's new Zoom H1 recorder, hence the different, not as abrasive sound:

You're Gonna Miss Me

For those of you eager for a more intimate frisson of fuzz frenzy, arrangements are in place for some Spring-some garage shenanigans in the new year. Our warmest welcomes will be extended to you all.

Where autumns shadows idly muse

September 15th

I've lost count of what number rehearsal thing we're onto now - 7 or 8 - at trusty old First Avenue. Recent rehearsals have taken a shape of playing the set of the 11 of so songs we've got down pretty well, an hour or so of working on newer things and then repeating the set.

That 11 song set in full:

You're Gonna Miss Me

1-2-5

Pretty Big Mouth

I'm Gonna Make You Mine

I Ain't No Miracle Worker

Action Woman

Little Black Egg

I'm Not Like Everybody Else

Primitive

Hey Joe

I Can Only Give You Everything

All Day and All night is taking on a role of beery encore. The Bad Seeds' (not the Nick Cave one) All Night Long was given it's first run out with the proper chord changes in the middle bit. First runs out for My Flash On You (tho' our footing is trying to gain a-hold somewhere between Love's and Thee Sixpence's respective versions), Can't Explain, Tristan's new song When the Morning Comes and something I've cobbled together from a few chords thrown out at the last one called Stick or Twist.

To fill in the final few tired moments there was a fun blast through Territorial Pissings as well as Gloria. We've played that before and it sounded pretty lame, but didn't sound too bad this time! Might have something to do with Pete's later observation that it felt like we clicked as a band somewhere through the second run through of the set. These things take time, as someone once said about something totally unrelated, perhaps.

I was somewhat discombobulated early in the rehearsal by mucking about with that delay rack thing. No tech-head me.

The False Poets' Facebook page is public, so if you're on there - give us a likey for random updates.

The Nightcrawlers' Little Black Egg

September

Back at First Avenue to see September in with our 6th rehearsal. 

It was a couple of runs through the 11 song set. All Day and All of the Night has shapen up and All Night Long is just about there, too. The only thing with that one is the chord changes during the instrumental break need pinning down.

Dirty Water received the briefest of runs out - maybe we'll persist with that. 

Pete and me started kicking round with a few chords. Dean came up with an interesting beat, Tristan added some wah-wah licks and a fuzz-tone riff and ad-libbed some words on top. Our first genuine tune of our own took some shape! I've got some words and structural ideas for next time and am pretty confident that it'll be formed a week Saturday when we rehearse next. Provisional title of "Stick or Twist".

I agreed with Dean that we played best about a half hour in once we'd warmed up!

From a tech point of view, I took along my Zoom RFX 1000 delay rack. I've lost the adapter for it. Alas, Tristan's adapter didn't fit, so that's on hold til the adapter from ebay arrives. Continuing the tech-y vibe, Tristan brought some kit along to record the session. Like me, he has a Zoom MRS-4 track recorder. He managed to record 40 tracks in all with better results than I managed as he had some other kit there. Will find out for next time what that was!

As promised, here's a song from the session

I Can Only Give You Everything

5th Rehearsal

Quick update on Saturday, seeing as I let the 4th one pass by.

First 3 hour rehearsal for The False Poets on Saturday - £34.50 with the kit hire from First Avenue.
Tristan drew up a set of 11 songs that we do best: Can't remember off the top of me head what it is! Starts with You're Gonna Miss Me, ends with Hey Joe then I Can Only Give You Everything. We basically played the set at the start and end of the session with some bits and pieces in between.

First attempts at Going All The Way by The Squires, You Ain't No Find Of Mine, a few bars of Can't Explain and a few runs through of All Night Long. Also, a largely instrumental go at It's My Life and a fun romp through Territorial Pissings that Tristan sang very well! (Although he missed out the 'Never met a wiseman...' verse).

I took my A mouth organ along and had a parp on the Elevators' track. It sounded passable, so it looks like that'll be in. A new one's needed for 1-2-5, so I'll be looking into that.

Sounding better over all. Having a proper bass amp to use helps and the vocals were both at the best levels yet. Some of the songs we play too fast still.

No recordings this time, but hopefully at the next one there'll be some to stuff to possibly share from 1st September.

Broken String Count: 3 - all Tristan's.

False Poets

I've hardly used this blog, but it's still here, so might as well update on what's happening with the band I'm now in.

Third rehearsal for False Poets yesterday. Sadly, Tristan couldn't make it due to family commitments, but there's another arranged for next week. Yesterday was all about keeping up to speed.

Had a run through the 9 songs we do already:
You're Gonna Miss Me, 1-2-5 (pretty shoddy without the other guitar), Primitive, Action Woman, Pretty Big Mouth, I'm Not Like Everybody Else, I'm gonna Make You Mine, Hey Joe, Little Black Egg.

We spent a bit of time on It's My Life, had 2 or 3 goes at All Day and All of the Night - a couple of cracks at I Can Only Give You Everything - didn't sound too bad, that one! Pete mentioned Gloria so we had a go at that up to about halfway through it. We also had a few goes at I Ain't No Miracle Worker, so there's 14 songs getting into reasonable shape.

We missed Tristan, but he'll be back next week and I'm looking forward to that already.

The three of us had a go at Teen Spirit for old times' sake. I still don't get anywhere close to singing that chorus, so I'll give up on that now. Also had a fun impromptu stab at Running Free, tho that'll not be going into The False Poets set-up.

So, 3 rehearsals in, I think we sound alright and could entertain a few people already. It'll make a big difference when Pete uses a better bass amp.