On Feeling Young, Practicing, and Other Failed Endeavors

 I've been listening quite a bit to "Who's Feeling Young Now?" by The Punch Brothers, a newgrass supergroup of sorts - Chris Thile on mandolin, Noam Pikelny on banjo, Gabe Witcher on violin, Chris Eldridge on guitar, and Paul Kowert on bass.  I always thought that bluegrass and prog were about as two disparate genres as there were in music, but if anyone can bridge the gap, these guys can.  Anyone who has the nerve, with that instrumentation, to cover Radiohead's "Kid A" isn't afraid to take chances.  The leadoff song, "Movement and Location," is a favorite, the rapid-fire banjo and mandolin anchored by Kowert's clipped-quarter-note bass chords and Thile's open singing.  "No Concern of Yours" is another good one, a rather dark song where the playing is muted to great effect.  But it's not all navelgazing - "This Girl," for example, has a nice jazzy bounce to it, and "Hundred Dollars" has a healthy swagger to it.  Dang - more albums like this and I may convert!

(As to feeling young as a failed endeavor, Judy and I went bowling on Friday.  I ended up out $30 and with a very sore back.  How could that happen?  Why have I been going to the Y for the last three months, if not to avoid falling apart after a little exertion?  And I still manage to find inventive ways to miss picking up spares.  Thus the tie-in.)

So, how does one get to Carnegie Hall?  Well, if you ask me, I'll tell you "There's about nine subway lines and six bus lines that'll get you there."  If you think I'm going to say "practice, practice, practice," you're mistaken.  I have an incredibly poor work ethic, especially with the guitar, so I'm hardly in a position to tell anyone to practice.  My practicing usually consists of going to a jazz book, finding a song that sounds doable, and then playing the chords for about 15-20 minutes.  Tonight's unfortunate song: "Crystal Silence" by Chick Corea.  I do tend toward the slower jazz tunes since I've never really been a speed demon.

I did dust off one of the first songs I ever learned on guitar: Ralph Towner's "Icarus."  My instructor at the time, Steve Hutchins, was nice enough to indulge me.  (I was big into Towner's compositions at the time, and his guitar playing is one of the forces behind my going to Guitar Center, then on Clark Ave., and walking out with a $200 Epiphone.)  I went back to the sheet music, played the song, and some of those chords are not as I remember them.   Maybe I "cheated" when I first learned the song, and maybe it's memory, but it just doesn't sound the same.  Now to see if I have that CD by the Paul Winter Consort (which had Towner and fellow Oregon band members Paul McCandless and Collin Walcott) to hear the song again.

I did have a practice Saturday with Aerin Tedesco and Andrea Bunch.  They are known as A Congress of Starlings (great name, you gotta admit), and I'll be playing a gig with them this Thursday at a place on Western and Fullerton. ( I just hope the headline band brings a drum kit - I'm a bit keen on keeping physical labor to a minimum these days.)  I listened to their songs before practice and, as I told them, I "mis-underestimated the density."  These are not your basic I-IV-V songs, and it'll take a lot of attention to play them well.  What have I gotten myself into?