Friday, August 12, 2011

A New Band (Actually, Our 2nd Performance): Uncle Fishstick and The Special Purpose

Dig the vibes!  Sounded great on "Rocket Man", & well, everything else for that matter.

We are appently now a regualr fixture on the off-weeks from the Wine Tasting Event at Java Monkey.  Our first night was last night.  It was a primarily unplugged event, although I brought my Music Man 5-string.  The lineup is a big one, and one that will probably not be too consistent.  We were, on this night: 

J.t. Alessi: guitar, vocals; 
Matthew Smith: guitar, vocals; 
Eric Gant: guitar, vocals; 
Gibb Connor: guitar, vocals; 
Adrian Ash: guitar, vibraphone, vocals; 
Me: bass, some vocals; 
Don Whitaker: drums


Well, this band is an unweildy, unfocused, & unrehearsed conglomeration, but somehow it works.  What really worked for me was that we were primarily an unplugged unit.  All acoustic guitar lineups lend themselves to decent stage volumes & a chance to hear everybody, more or less.  I was guilty of playing a bit up front in the mix, but not too excessively.  Adrian's vibes were a definite asset to our non-keyboard alliance.  He has a good grasp of chordal compage and melodic accents.  Yes.  J.t. has a great voice & song smarts.  Matthew is a righteous lead guitar player who narrows in on the essential part that nobody else tries to cop.  Eric is a dominant force on stage who commands your attention.  You feel that you gotta keep an eye on him or you might miss something.  Gibb is a strong rhythmic player who keeps everything on course.  Don is a drummer who really listens.  Sometimes he really underplays, which is refreshing.  He & I found a mutual terrain via King Crimson, specifically "Thela Hun Ginjeet" & that nasty period of prog.  Along those lines, we played a fine "In Your Eyes" in the original key.  All right then.  See you in 2 weeks.

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