As musicians we probably don’t think about this. Maybe we don’t have occasion to. Most of us are probably too busy focusing on our “own thing” – too busy trying to build something – too busy just trying to make a living. But wouldn’t it be nice if as musicians we could over come our tunnel vision, our single mindedness, our egos, our concern for the “show”, our longing to be “rock stars”, our images, our longings to be seen, to be heard, to be discovered, to be respected by those that don’t matter or only want a “piece” of us.
What if we stopped trying to “make it” and just shared with each other - just had fun together? What if we could be musically inclusive? What if we could foster an atmosphere of community that helped and encouraged each other as musicians? What would happen if we stopped worrying about our share of the gate? What would it be like if we could eliminate the sense of competition among us? What if we could bring the intellectual, classically trained music snobs and the untrained “music from the balls” musicians together? What if we stopped trying to be profound? What would happen if we stopped comparing ourselves to someone else, to each other locally, nationally, publicly, especially inwardly, or otherwise? What would it be like if we conquered our need to be needed? What if we stopped trying to be accepted, stopped trying to emulate, stopped trying to simulate? What if we could be comfortable just being ourselves – no masks?
After all, isn’t music about finding that common ground, sharing a part of yourself, giving a part of yourself, making yourself vulnerable, exposing a portion of your soul, being honest with the music-ones self and others, being transparent, evoking emotions, being free from pretense, etc.?
Not trying to be deep or philosophical. This is just a dream that I have. Wouldn’t it be nice?
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Coz and Kevin Bacon
So I guess it’s my turn to blog so hold on to yo butts. Anyway, I’ve been sick the last few days so I decided ta take a shot and a half of the quill (Nyquil that is) and write a bunch of random thoughts that I can remember from the last couple of weeks so here it goes.
Robby touched on this in his last blog but I’m gonna elaborate about the Milligan college show. To start it off, the conditions for traveling were not too great considering that our oil refineries were getting pounded by hurricane ike so therefore everyone in America stocks up on gas making the gas prices raise to 5 dollars a gallon. Awesome right?!! Well, the show must go on so we head up to Elizabethton/Mayberry Tennessee to a little place called Milligan College. The campus was small and very clean and neat. Everything looked uniform as far as the landscaping and building décor goes which is usually how the vibe is on a small private campus. Anyway, we pull up to the building that we are performing in and find out that its about as big as a decent size living room and has couches set up everywhere. Uuuuhhh, this tells me they have never heard DWB considering our gear alone filled up half of the room. As I was meeting some of the folks there it gave me the vibe of the movie footloose starring Kevin Bacon. Do you remember that town that banned dancing? So I think you know where I’m goin with this ladies and gentlemen. This place was used to having one dude with an acoustic guitar and they’re about ta get there faces blown off. As it got closer to showtime I examine the room a little more. They pretty much make it a coffee house vibe. The tables were covered with sheets of brown construction paper and lit candles. Crayons were also given out so while people were chillin they could melt the crayons and draw on the table. I guess that’s pretty cool for a time killer. So now its time to go up so we get the not so big introduction followed by the softest golf claps ever heard. It’s getting better and better by the minute. I wish I had a camera for when we hit the first note. It was as if we were from another planet. Eyes got huge, people were whispering to each other, and there were confused looks on most their faces as if they weren’t allowed to like this kind of music. There were maybe 10 people that were diggin it off the get go though. Slowly but surely people are starting to loosen up and move a little except for these three people that sat at the very front and colored the whole time. I said it was good for a time killer, not to do while someone is 3 feet in front of you performing. They didn’t clap; they didn’t even look at us hardly. At first I thought they might have been def, but they were definitely talking to each other. Anyway, you all are lucky you left when you did cuz I wuz gonna call you up on stage so next time watch out. So back to the show, about 4 or 5 songs into it we finally got em as much as we were gonna get em. If anyone has seen dishwater you will notice that we really feed off the crowd so these signs of life were reviving for us. People are starting to get up and dance so now we’ve won them over. There were two girls that sat at the other front table that were into the show the whole time. One of the girls wuz in a wheel chair, but that didn’t stop her from dancing, noooooo. While she was really getting into it that made us get into it and Davis really got into it so he got into so much that he decided he was going to jump off the stage then up on top of a chair which was on a slick floor that caused the chair to slide out from under him and launch right into the girls lap. YEEESS!! Right when we are winning them over Davis decides it’s a good idea to launch a heavy metal chair at one of our biggest fans there, the girl in the wheelchair. Anyway, it turned out to be an awesome move she just ran with it like she was born to rock and we thank her for her cooperation. We tend to get outta hand sometimes. So you remember when I told you it was a “Footloose” situation, well it was. We were like Kevin Bacon saving the small town from being fonkless zombies, so thank you Kevin Bacon for inspiring us to dance.
Robby touched on this in his last blog but I’m gonna elaborate about the Milligan college show. To start it off, the conditions for traveling were not too great considering that our oil refineries were getting pounded by hurricane ike so therefore everyone in America stocks up on gas making the gas prices raise to 5 dollars a gallon. Awesome right?!! Well, the show must go on so we head up to Elizabethton/Mayberry Tennessee to a little place called Milligan College. The campus was small and very clean and neat. Everything looked uniform as far as the landscaping and building décor goes which is usually how the vibe is on a small private campus. Anyway, we pull up to the building that we are performing in and find out that its about as big as a decent size living room and has couches set up everywhere. Uuuuhhh, this tells me they have never heard DWB considering our gear alone filled up half of the room. As I was meeting some of the folks there it gave me the vibe of the movie footloose starring Kevin Bacon. Do you remember that town that banned dancing? So I think you know where I’m goin with this ladies and gentlemen. This place was used to having one dude with an acoustic guitar and they’re about ta get there faces blown off. As it got closer to showtime I examine the room a little more. They pretty much make it a coffee house vibe. The tables were covered with sheets of brown construction paper and lit candles. Crayons were also given out so while people were chillin they could melt the crayons and draw on the table. I guess that’s pretty cool for a time killer. So now its time to go up so we get the not so big introduction followed by the softest golf claps ever heard. It’s getting better and better by the minute. I wish I had a camera for when we hit the first note. It was as if we were from another planet. Eyes got huge, people were whispering to each other, and there were confused looks on most their faces as if they weren’t allowed to like this kind of music. There were maybe 10 people that were diggin it off the get go though. Slowly but surely people are starting to loosen up and move a little except for these three people that sat at the very front and colored the whole time. I said it was good for a time killer, not to do while someone is 3 feet in front of you performing. They didn’t clap; they didn’t even look at us hardly. At first I thought they might have been def, but they were definitely talking to each other. Anyway, you all are lucky you left when you did cuz I wuz gonna call you up on stage so next time watch out. So back to the show, about 4 or 5 songs into it we finally got em as much as we were gonna get em. If anyone has seen dishwater you will notice that we really feed off the crowd so these signs of life were reviving for us. People are starting to get up and dance so now we’ve won them over. There were two girls that sat at the other front table that were into the show the whole time. One of the girls wuz in a wheel chair, but that didn’t stop her from dancing, noooooo. While she was really getting into it that made us get into it and Davis really got into it so he got into so much that he decided he was going to jump off the stage then up on top of a chair which was on a slick floor that caused the chair to slide out from under him and launch right into the girls lap. YEEESS!! Right when we are winning them over Davis decides it’s a good idea to launch a heavy metal chair at one of our biggest fans there, the girl in the wheelchair. Anyway, it turned out to be an awesome move she just ran with it like she was born to rock and we thank her for her cooperation. We tend to get outta hand sometimes. So you remember when I told you it was a “Footloose” situation, well it was. We were like Kevin Bacon saving the small town from being fonkless zombies, so thank you Kevin Bacon for inspiring us to dance.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Robalicious Groove
Gig Talk
So normally the day of the gig is usually CRAZY. The average person has no clue what kind of chaos we go thru as a band to show up on time and play the gig. Life throws monkey wrenches our way and it is enough to get you totally frustrated.................but our love for music always prevails! The show must go on! If it was easy, we would probably lose interest and start other hobbies. Playing in this band is a blessing and let’s not lose focus on that. I’ll give you an example.
We played a show at Milligan college this past weekend. So at the last minute, we touch base with all of the band members trying to figure out where to meet, who hasn’t eaten yet, packing all of the gear, and let’s not forget getting gas. Davis drives from here to Kingdom Come, but fills her up for our journey. We are behind schedule with the Friday traffic, but our Milligan college contact says she understands and hope to see you soon. So we finally get there, get unloaded, set up our gear, eat, and head to our executive changing quarters ( men’s bathroom) for our stage apparel. You would love to be a fly on the wall as you are a normal guy, going to the bathroom, and you walk in to 4 guys changing into pimp suits. We always get the funny look. So as I unzip my suit bag, I notice that I have the essentials.........coat, tie, shirt, undershirt, shoes, black socks, and what the freak.................I have NO pants!
Now usually this isn’t a huge deal, but the guy in the band who forgets his stage attire gets the #1 spot of getting made fun of............oh for about a month. I take pride in being a seasoned DWB band member who comes prepared to a gig. Now I am the poster boy for Tacky Day USA. I have some casual gray pants that might work.............if you have grandma’s vision. But the show must go on! So I made the outfit the best I could and looked like the love child of Tommy Hilfiger meets Amy Whinehouse on a rough weekend. We shall see if I learn anything in future gigs.
Musician Tips
I recently played with several good musicians between the Fundamental Elements and my friend Bucco at his wedding with his band the Big Deuce. Both of these bands have great musicians and fantastic bass players. So we pulled them up there to jam with us....2 basses going at the same time. The FE bass player Mark is a cool guy that make you want to smack yo mamma during his bass solo. Emily, my now wife, leans over to me and says, " Can you do that?" I say.........Ahhhhh no. She then leans back over and says, "You should learn how to do that". I totally agree with her. But that’s Mark. Note to self...............ask Mark how to wow the crowd.
My friend Bucco is a funky ,funky dude. He attacks the bass like Flea from the Chili Peppers. He plays some way cool stuff. Now on these separate gigs, I had a choice to come out like a gunslinger and challenge these guys to a bass duel (which might bore people) or I could try hold the booty shakin’ grove ,keep the entire club dancing and let our friends shine. I chose the latter. It would have been fun to battle, but I wanted to be tasteful. I know my strength is finding a pocket or groove and setting up a camper That way you can be the cake and everyone else is the icing. Have you ever eaten too much icing by itself? I just try to be that cold glass of milk you are thirsty for. So I sat in my groove, let them add what they do and it just jammed. You have to a have a constant if everyone else is playing their best licks at the same time. On each of those gigs I had both of these bass players come up to me and complimented me on playing with them. It wasn’t anything extra special that I did, but I paid attention to what THEY were doing and tried to compliment them. I just listened. If you are more interested in what you neighbor is playing, you will be a better player.
Until next time.......
Peace and Chicken Grease,
Robalicious
So normally the day of the gig is usually CRAZY. The average person has no clue what kind of chaos we go thru as a band to show up on time and play the gig. Life throws monkey wrenches our way and it is enough to get you totally frustrated.................but our love for music always prevails! The show must go on! If it was easy, we would probably lose interest and start other hobbies. Playing in this band is a blessing and let’s not lose focus on that. I’ll give you an example.
We played a show at Milligan college this past weekend. So at the last minute, we touch base with all of the band members trying to figure out where to meet, who hasn’t eaten yet, packing all of the gear, and let’s not forget getting gas. Davis drives from here to Kingdom Come, but fills her up for our journey. We are behind schedule with the Friday traffic, but our Milligan college contact says she understands and hope to see you soon. So we finally get there, get unloaded, set up our gear, eat, and head to our executive changing quarters ( men’s bathroom) for our stage apparel. You would love to be a fly on the wall as you are a normal guy, going to the bathroom, and you walk in to 4 guys changing into pimp suits. We always get the funny look. So as I unzip my suit bag, I notice that I have the essentials.........coat, tie, shirt, undershirt, shoes, black socks, and what the freak.................I have NO pants!
Now usually this isn’t a huge deal, but the guy in the band who forgets his stage attire gets the #1 spot of getting made fun of............oh for about a month. I take pride in being a seasoned DWB band member who comes prepared to a gig. Now I am the poster boy for Tacky Day USA. I have some casual gray pants that might work.............if you have grandma’s vision. But the show must go on! So I made the outfit the best I could and looked like the love child of Tommy Hilfiger meets Amy Whinehouse on a rough weekend. We shall see if I learn anything in future gigs.
Musician Tips
I recently played with several good musicians between the Fundamental Elements and my friend Bucco at his wedding with his band the Big Deuce. Both of these bands have great musicians and fantastic bass players. So we pulled them up there to jam with us....2 basses going at the same time. The FE bass player Mark is a cool guy that make you want to smack yo mamma during his bass solo. Emily, my now wife, leans over to me and says, " Can you do that?" I say.........Ahhhhh no. She then leans back over and says, "You should learn how to do that". I totally agree with her. But that’s Mark. Note to self...............ask Mark how to wow the crowd.
My friend Bucco is a funky ,funky dude. He attacks the bass like Flea from the Chili Peppers. He plays some way cool stuff. Now on these separate gigs, I had a choice to come out like a gunslinger and challenge these guys to a bass duel (which might bore people) or I could try hold the booty shakin’ grove ,keep the entire club dancing and let our friends shine. I chose the latter. It would have been fun to battle, but I wanted to be tasteful. I know my strength is finding a pocket or groove and setting up a camper That way you can be the cake and everyone else is the icing. Have you ever eaten too much icing by itself? I just try to be that cold glass of milk you are thirsty for. So I sat in my groove, let them add what they do and it just jammed. You have to a have a constant if everyone else is playing their best licks at the same time. On each of those gigs I had both of these bass players come up to me and complimented me on playing with them. It wasn’t anything extra special that I did, but I paid attention to what THEY were doing and tried to compliment them. I just listened. If you are more interested in what you neighbor is playing, you will be a better player.
Until next time.......
Peace and Chicken Grease,
Robalicious
Friday, September 12, 2008
September Updates
September Updates:
"DaDiYa..say do u remember..Dadiya..Dancin' in September??"--EWF
A few new updates in the world of DWB 2 keep ya up on!
1.)We have a new website..several of them actually but our friend Matthew Reynolds has designed a slammin' new website for us. It's being updated daily so check out http://www.dishwaterblonde.net and give us some feedback!
2.)Saxaphonist Bob Maxon has relocated to Alaska and as much as we hate to lose him we are truly excited for the new beginning in his life. Bob we love U and your sexy sax licks will be forever remembered in the DWB hall of fame..not 2 mention those tight dance steps!
3.)We had a great gig-filled weekend this past weekend. Friday night we played with our friends from St. Louis, The Fundamental Elements and it was one funky evening. Thanks 2 all our friends from VFC/ Cornerstone and BDBC who made that night extra special! There is rumored to be some footage of Cozmo wearing out the cowbell as DWB and FE as well as members of The Dirty Guv'nahs jammed into the a.m. We'll keep u posted as that footage surfaces. Saturday night was equally as fun as we were honored to play the wedding of Adam and Amanda Bucco. There were so many musicians there that we couldn't help but turn it into one big jam session! Special guests included Brandy Robinson, Daniel Lancaster, Jon Worley and his Cornbread Blues Band as well as one heck of an encore performance from the one and only "Big Deuce". They rocked the mic hard.. DWB members were in the audience dancin' their booties off...so much so that Davis split his pants and had 2 take a break and change....now that's what I call a party..it ain't a party 'til U dance and split yo pants..U can quote me on that!
4.)Robby got married. He and Mrs. Robalicious are now working on "happily ever-after!" We're just glad he made it back from Jamaica with the hurricane and what not.:) Robby's wedding reception was yet another one for the history books. Jam packed with guest musicians from some of Robby's former bands, Static Huey, GL and the Debits and New Power Soul...of course DWB performed some DWB classics with the groom on bass. After a couple of songs Robby recruited New Power Trio bassist Tyler "Big Noise" Boldin to sit in and finish the set. Tyler did a bang up job save for one slight mishap...The rest of the band was in Bb and Tyler played the whole song in B:( For future reference Big Noise "What U Got?" is in Bb....HA, we love u Big Noise thanks for filling in for Robalicious. We'll all try 2 make it out 2 a New Power Trio gig soon. We heard u guys were great!
5.)Cozmo and Friends will be starting a 1x a month gig on Thursdays beginning this fall. If u missed the last one, u don't wanna miss this....it's Coz at his best! Preservation Pub Thursday's this fall! Check with Coz for details!
6.) 9/11 we remember that Freedom is not Free!
"DaDiYa..say do u remember..Dadiya..Dancin' in September??"--EWF
A few new updates in the world of DWB 2 keep ya up on!
1.)We have a new website..several of them actually but our friend Matthew Reynolds has designed a slammin' new website for us. It's being updated daily so check out http://www.dishwaterblonde.net and give us some feedback!
2.)Saxaphonist Bob Maxon has relocated to Alaska and as much as we hate to lose him we are truly excited for the new beginning in his life. Bob we love U and your sexy sax licks will be forever remembered in the DWB hall of fame..not 2 mention those tight dance steps!
3.)We had a great gig-filled weekend this past weekend. Friday night we played with our friends from St. Louis, The Fundamental Elements and it was one funky evening. Thanks 2 all our friends from VFC/ Cornerstone and BDBC who made that night extra special! There is rumored to be some footage of Cozmo wearing out the cowbell as DWB and FE as well as members of The Dirty Guv'nahs jammed into the a.m. We'll keep u posted as that footage surfaces. Saturday night was equally as fun as we were honored to play the wedding of Adam and Amanda Bucco. There were so many musicians there that we couldn't help but turn it into one big jam session! Special guests included Brandy Robinson, Daniel Lancaster, Jon Worley and his Cornbread Blues Band as well as one heck of an encore performance from the one and only "Big Deuce". They rocked the mic hard.. DWB members were in the audience dancin' their booties off...so much so that Davis split his pants and had 2 take a break and change....now that's what I call a party..it ain't a party 'til U dance and split yo pants..U can quote me on that!
4.)Robby got married. He and Mrs. Robalicious are now working on "happily ever-after!" We're just glad he made it back from Jamaica with the hurricane and what not.:) Robby's wedding reception was yet another one for the history books. Jam packed with guest musicians from some of Robby's former bands, Static Huey, GL and the Debits and New Power Soul...of course DWB performed some DWB classics with the groom on bass. After a couple of songs Robby recruited New Power Trio bassist Tyler "Big Noise" Boldin to sit in and finish the set. Tyler did a bang up job save for one slight mishap...The rest of the band was in Bb and Tyler played the whole song in B:( For future reference Big Noise "What U Got?" is in Bb....HA, we love u Big Noise thanks for filling in for Robalicious. We'll all try 2 make it out 2 a New Power Trio gig soon. We heard u guys were great!
5.)Cozmo and Friends will be starting a 1x a month gig on Thursdays beginning this fall. If u missed the last one, u don't wanna miss this....it's Coz at his best! Preservation Pub Thursday's this fall! Check with Coz for details!
6.) 9/11 we remember that Freedom is not Free!
Friday, September 5, 2008
09/05/08 Barley's Show w/ Fundamental Elements
Come check us out at Barley's Taproom & Pizzeria in Knoxville's Old City tonight at 10pm. We'll be playing with the funky St. Louis band, Fundamental Elements.
New Website!
Hey Everyone!
We've got a new website up and running. It's the same link, www.dishwaterblonde.net, but it's got a new look. Check it out and let us know what you think!
We've got a new website up and running. It's the same link, www.dishwaterblonde.net, but it's got a new look. Check it out and let us know what you think!
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Davis's New Blog
There's a new Blog up from Davis! Check it out if u have a minute:)
http://davismitchell.blogspot.com/2008/08/familiar-voice.html
Peace
DWB
WBIR Cameo
There's now a link up for the new commercial for "Live at 5 at 4" featuring DWB members Cozmo and Davis..check it out! We had 2 get in that van with a SNAKE......Yikes:)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y2oofllBn8
Enjoy!
WBIR Promo Video Cameo
Have U seen it? Davis and Cozmo made a cameo appearance on WBIR's new promo for Live at 5..."Live at 5 is moving to 4pm." Be sure and let us know if U see this. Will post a link ASAP!
Peace
DWB
Peace
DWB
New YouTube Video
check out this new video put together by Dave Gipson from New Hope ministres! It's of "When I came up outta that water"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5O7NIAKk-8
Enjoy! All the footage is from archive.org . It was a film from the 40's entitled "The Blood of Jesus"
August Update
August Updates:
First, our hearts and prayers go out to the victims of the TVUU shooting. There
are no words that I can think of to console the families affected by this tragedy.
Just know we will be praying for you and know that God WILL work ALL things together for good(Romans 8:28)
We've been working really had 2 finish up the "DWB Unplugged" CD and DVD set recorded May 10 at the World Grotto. We've put the finishing touches on this week and it looks and sounds incredible. Our friends at Streamline Pictures have done an amazing job making us look good, once again. I'll post a video in the next day or two so u can see!
August is here and it is HOT. This month we're excited 2 announce that
Robby aka Romeo aka Robalicious will be getting married. We wish u Emily
years of happiness 2getha. Word on the street is that their wedding reception will be a monster jam session with a special musical reunion of Robby's 1st band called "Regal Begal."
Still working on new material. Feels like a different direction than past DWB ventures but we will post some new demos as we develop the songs.
We'll be overhauling all of our websites and expanding...so bare with us this month as we'll be beginning new blogs, uploading new pictures and videos. Come and check us out on Facebook and add us a friend!
We're constantly looking for new towns and new places 2 come and play. If u have any connections with clubs, churches or wherever please send us an email. U will be handsomely rewarded!
Lastly, we need your help. the hardest thing we have to do is explain what we sound like to people. If u have a minute and have what U feel to be a good description of our sound please shoot us an email with a short description. Don't worry if we use yours you will be credited!
Until Next time remember this:
Psalm 20:7
Some trust in chariots and some trust in horses but we trust in the name of
The Lord Our God.
Peace
DWB
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