Billy Batts Performs for Attendees of Dragon Con

Well, not exactly.  We were on the patio of the Capitol City Club and it was the first night of Dragon Con.  Very entertaining from a people-watching perspective.  It was the return of my upright bass to the scene where it seemingly broke in transit.  I brought a backup this time.  Brian shot some video, which turned out decent and actually helped to score a couple gigs since Mark shopped it around.  We played a lot of tasty jazz ' blues, with a slant towards the trad.

For a glimpse of the video footage, shot as we were warming up on Solar, check out our MySpace page here: https://myspace.com/billybattsensembleatlanta/videos



My upright has a different tone from the broken and then glued-n-bolted-on neck.  I can't say it's better, but it's different.  Perhaps I'm more aware of the changes.  The action is lower, and I'm not sure I can or want to change that.  I think it's a lighter, crisper tone, rather than a dark and full-bodied tone.  Upright players want the full-bodied tone, but as we all know, it's easier to remove the highs and add lows than the other way around.  I think it works in my favor.  I love the tone that Gary Peacock has always had with Keith Jarrett, and this seems like a few steps in that direction.  I'm not advocating one to break their neck and then glue it back on.  Just trying to see the bright side of a very bad tragedy.  In the back of my mind, I see it being very fragile and possibly coming apart at the most inopportune moment on stage.  That, and the sad fact that I have dried glue all over parts of the body.  Talk about character.  This bass oozes character now, that's for sure.

Lots of pictures of the crowd walking the streets of Atlanta on their way to the convention.  How could I resist?  We had a lot of compliments and it makes me wish we could play outside all of the time.  Till the next one...

The Eyes of the World Are On Atlantic Station

Photo by Dan Barker

Played a swanky birthday party near Atlantic Station with Sweetwater Junction.  It was an African-themed party was grilled steak skewers and all kinds of tasty foods.  Walk in music was provided by a hand-drum player and a compulsory shot of tequila was bestowed upon each guest as they entered.

The space we were in was Von Hoene Photography located in suite B-1, one of several studios in the 500 Bishop Street complex.  There was a closet with a large inventory of camera gear and various lenses.  The load in was up a hill or a large set of stairs and then more steps, then a long push to the stage area.  It was gloriously hot and steamy, even at the late in the day hour of 5 o'clock.  We brought what we normally bring, so the gear was substantial.  What most people don't understand is that it takes a decent amount of equipment to deliver a clean sound.  They also don't realize that many bands don't have a choice of systems to bring depending on the room.  That involves a serious inventory and storage, not to mention loading, unloading and keeping track of the cables and various necessary small pieces of gear.  So we actually had just what was needed for this function.  Brian also brought his brand new Canon HD camera to test drive.  It is impressive what these units can do these days.

We had a nice extended soundcheck that we used to run over a couple of tunes that I hadn't played with them yet.  We are playing some current stuff, in this case, some Bruno Mars tracks from his most recent album.  Who can sing that high?  We drop Locked Out of Heaven down a whole step to C minor, which is better than B minor as far as I'm concerned.  The main riff can still be tackled on a 4-string, as it includes a low E flat but only as a passing tone to the low F and happens so quickly that most everybody won't hear that it's a half-step off.  That's my take away.  I played my Jazz bass almost all of the night.  I had my fretless but never pulled it out of the case, as we just didn't have much room to work with.  I did also have my NS-Stick and I did play it on a few numbers, giving me a low B.  The low B string is a necessity on many of these modern tunes.  I try to get around that with an octave pedal.  Late in the night we pulled out the Dead's Eyes of the World by request and it was nice to honor some music from a different era and mindset.

We finally made it back up for a third set and this one was on fire.  Chris contributed a lot to the evening's energy.  I didn't want it to end, the grooves were so solid.  A seriously fun band to be a part of and for the folks dancing and vibing.  Regrettably, the load-out was just as painful as the load-in was earlier.

Rock at Stonewalls: Another Crazy Night in the Classic City

The view of Stonewall's as we strolled down Jackson Street,
artistically rendered by Google+.

Made my way over to DF Studios after a whirlwind Friday morning.  Too much stuff going on to relay here.  Time to shift into performance mode, and this one is a biggie.  A trip to Athens ensures a great evening of music and some hard work.  We returned to Stonewall's on Jackson, a fine bar in the heart of downtown Athens with an upstairs performance space.  The name certainly does bring to mind the great Civil War Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson.  Then you see it from the front, situated next to "Toppers" and you realize that it's not a place to take your parents to.  Ah, what am I talking about?  I'm the parent, and wouldn't take my sons to this place!  It's actually a fine drinking establishment, but not much more.  The fact that it has a good stage with plenty of room for both the bands and the crowd makes it quite attractive.

We loaded the gear up into the cargo van that David procured and set about heading East.  As we did the week before, we had the new 2nd subwoofer, new lights, new snake, lots of good stuff.  Plus my stuff.  Heading East on a Friday afternoon is always a challenge.  Traffic along I-85 North is a bear, even at 3 p.m.  Still, it's an early stat, considering we cannot load in any gear until management shows up at 8 or so.  It's not the kind of place that hosts happy hour.  We made the best of it, arriving in Athens close to 4:30 and flopping down at the lobby bar in the Hotel Indigo.  We quaffed a heady IPA and discussed song selections.  After meeting up with a sizable selection of family members and guests, not to mention key volunteers to help us load in and out, we enjoyed a really fine dinner.  Karl had joined us already, as parched as we were.  The big news was that Ira got an early flight back from Vegas and was on his way with Julie.  We all feasted at a very long table.  It was quite a memorable scenario.  Did anybody get a good picture?

Getting the gear up there is always a big deal.  With the hired help, it happened in about 10 minutes.  Then it was time to set it all up.  Lots to do, including the mixing board and snake, lights (yeah, yeah, I already blabbed about that), David's piano (more on that later), etc.  The real challenge, as always, is how to fit us all up there and make it look good.  We decided on having Ira at stage left, with my pedals cozied up to his elaborate kit.  A savvy player also prepares a stage plot with the idea of minimizing party spills, particularly with the the throngs of drinkers enjoying themselves in the front row.  No party fowls on the pedalboard!  Before you knew it, we were ready, tuned up, and it was time to hit it - a 3 1/2 hour set of party favorites.  No break.  Non-stop hits and party favorites for the college kids.  Some great surprise tunes called by David, including a raucous Refugee and a stomping Jumpin' Jack Flash.  Also threw in Comfortably Numb, if I recall correctly.  So many tunes that I lose track.

Many highlights, with our new Who triple-treat going over very well.  It was a big sing-along!  So powerful!  Farrel's tunes are always a highlight here, with Magic Power being the surprise once again.  David  played piano on Let It Be and Hey Jude and those were perhaps the best tunes of the night.  The boy's got some chops!  Talk about another sing-along!  Ira had serious energy, perhaps from the energy drinks he consumed.  Whatever it was, we were on fire!  The crowd was a lot of fun, cheering us on and really getting into it.  A great night for escapism in Athens.

"Locked at the Top of the Four Seasons" in mid-August

Those words are from Hot In Herre by Nelly, of course.  A song that was requested by the bride and groom on this swanky night of fun and good times.  I like this room and the load in isn't too bad.  Plus, the venue treats us well with a large room and a good hot meal.  We didn't realize we were sharing it with the other vendors, namely the photographers.  We are a group of 9 including Jason, who runs sound and lights and gets here hours before the rest of us.  Gee, do you think he was hungry?  We all are famished!  The poor photographers don't stand a chance with us around!  Can't they chefs cook a little more chicken?  Oh well, survival of the fittest.

The big news this evening was the public debut of my restored double bass.  I wish I had taken at least 1 picture of it busted up.  My neck broke completely off.  It's not a pretty site and it's not the same as it was by any stretch, but it is glued back together.  And well, now it's also a bolt on!  If I could, I would slap a Peavey logo up on the scroll.  The key was buying the best glue I could find, letting it seep into the cracked area, wiping off the excess that oozed out when I pushed the neck into it's hopefully final position, and then clamping it with a deluxe $30 clamp.  I adjusted the clamp several times to ensure pressure was being applied in the right direction.  I had even tapped it with a hammer (with a towel to buffer).  Once satisfied with the position and alignment, I let it sit for nearly a week.  I wasn't in a hurry to test it.  I wanted the glue to be dry dry dry.  Then I went a drilled an increasingly large hole to drive a super long wood screw/bolt into the back of the heel.  Yep, a big no-no, but at this point what is the difference?  Then I went about replacing the tailpiece that "The Russian" removed when he examined my poor girl.  I got the strings back on and gradually got them (and the bridge) back to where they used to be.  The soundpost looked good,  The bridge has to be a bit closer to the fingerboard now, so that's a bit of a compromise.  I get a little buzz on A, like an internal resonance.  The action is a bit lower, so the tone is a little thinner and slap-style is more challenging.  I don't really have much slap technique on the upright, so I don't do that anyways.  I think one needs gut strings for that, at any rate.

So it held in place and I used it here at the Four Seasons with Platinum.  The first set was dinner music and dances, and we played nearly 2 hours straight.  What a way to bring it back to life!  I also got to try out my Ashly 31-band eq to roll out offending frequencies.  It worked great, but not as well as it did at home.  Not sure why.  The trick is to patch in the eq through the effects send and return on the back of my GK Fusion 550, which is still going strong after its main board and power board makeover back in June.  I also wanted to certain to play it again in the 2nd set for Jump Jive & Wail.  What a terrific track that is for upright.  Too bad I don't have those kind of slap chops, although I sure try.  After all of that, the electric stuff was easy breezy and non-descript.  The funk and rock went over well.  It was only 2 sets so we played long and hard this evening, with 3 weeks off until meeting again down in Ponte Vedra.

Where Did the Summer Go? Last Call Finds Its Feet at The Southern Club

The MVP on this show has to go to David's son, Leo.  He wore many hats today and saw to it that the show was a complete success!  He booked the event, helped set up and engineer the front of house, monitor mixes, lighting, recording (on a new out-of-the-box mulittrack digital unit none of us had ever seen before), bring in his posse for good measure, and, drum roll please, he took many a great picture.  Not just a few, how about 48 great ones!  Of course I will have to share nearly all of them here.  Nice to have pictures taken with a real camera and real lenses, you know what I'm sayin'?  Farrel looked very nice, quite mature actually, with her 19th birthday only weeks away.  I think I remember being 19, back when Ronald Reagan was running the country.  She might have to be nominated as runner-up MVP on beauty alone.  Okay, and she can sing Magic Power better than Rik Emmett can these days.  Yep, not to mention Lights - uh huh, better than Steve "Na Na-Na Na Na" Perry.  One could say that the camera was kind to all us.  Must have been a full moon.

A quick add for those who might check back:
Unearthed some of my trusty phone pics.  Not the quality you'll see from Leo, but I did capture Leo in action, getting the shots on stage.  Also got one of the wild "shirtless man" who briefly hit on Farrel before her father put a stop to that.  Good stuff that I thought belonged here but not at the very bottom of this rather long post.

Fellow roadies Spencer and Molly resting after helping to load the van.

Shirtless man

Leo 1

Leo 2

The doorway to unlocked dreams

We hadn't played in a good long time.  The good news is we were able to meet up and dust off some cobwebs.  The song book is ever growing.  We added the mightiest of Who songs Baba O"Riley to the medley, mainly to take the place of Pictures of Lily.  Also added a couple of Green Day tunes, just because we had the urge: 21 Guns & Wake Me Up When September Ends.  I think there was another Avril Lavigne tune for Farrel to sing, but I can't keep them all straight.  Good song and easy chord changes, so why not?  We played 2 very long sets and made good in Buckhead.  Had our special guest on the piano once again.  Great versions of  Let It Be and Twist and Shout.  Finished with a sweaty Peace Love and Understanding that would have made Nick Lowe blush!

David supplied a 2nd subwoofer, a nifty new audio snake that saves so many patching headaches, a radical new Zoom digital multi-track recorder/mixer, and new LED light trees, which gave us a real nice professional look.  Hey, we also had foot controlled strobe lights for Helter Skelter!  It's getting better all the time!

Met the gentlemen for a fantastic meal at Fadó Irish Pub.  I was very hungry, but I have to say they serve one of the finest burgers in the city.  It's hard to describe, but a burger needs to be juicy, with fresh toppings and a sauce of sorts, yet not so messy that it falls apart or soaks through the bun.  This was perfect!  Great to have a terrific meal and relax with David, Ira, and Karl before we got down to business.  Buckhead is still under construction, and the commute in on a Friday evening is never that fun.  Such a relief to get here and relax.  As you can see, we were chilling like it was all over.  Only thing was, it was about to get bizzy!