Monday, December 5th, 2011  Check out my latest acquisition!
A very good friend, with whom I work, is retiring and moving away. As a consequence, she’s bequeathed this beauty to me.
She gave me a lesson on Saturday, and now I’m a harpist extraordinaire. Well, not quite…but soon, soon! It helped that I already play several instruments.
The reading music bit wasn’t hard at all. The getting two hands to coordinate on multiple strings: a bit tricky.
By the end of the weekend, however, I was able to pluck out a recognizable version of “Stille Nacht” (chosen both for its simplicity and for the season).
I’ve never played a string instrument before. I can’t believe the way this thing resonates. The floor beneath my feet vibrates when I play. It’s delightful.
And playing brought on a whole spurt of creativity. I may have to consider a character who plays a harp…
Sunday, May 15th, 2011  I went to the M3 Concert last night.
It was a last-minute decision, since the concert date snuck up on me: I thought I still had a few weeks to decide.
For the uninitiated, the M3 is an all-day festival featuring a slew of metal bands that play from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. There are two stages, with the A bands playing on one, and the B bands playing on the second: alternating slightly so that there’s always a band playing while one stage is breaking down and setting up for the next.
Since I went alone, I brought my latest manuscript with me to edit between sets. (I am soooooo behind my self-imposed deadline to finish these edits!)
While checking my bag, the ticketer noticed I’d brought work with in me, and told me I wasn’t the only one: some guy had brought in a huge book to study for an exam.
“You gotta do what you gotta do,” I told her in perfect English. She said, “That’s what he said, too!”
Um, yeah.
I’d arrived late, and the outdoor arena was PACKED. I had to wade through crowds of people to get to the pavilion and take my AWESOME seat: 14th row, front and center.
And what do I find when I get there? Study-guy, with his book propped open on my seat. (Hi, Bill!)
That’s not the small world part of all this. It turns out that he graduated the same year I did, in the same county, only he went to the Vo-Tech school, and I went to the local high. AND, it turns out he knew well my (high school) boyfriend’s best friend.
It took a concert (a decade or so) later for us to meet. If not for the vagaries of fate, we might have met way back when.
Small world, eh?
As for the concert (if you’re interested) Sebastian Bach — formerly of the band Skid Row — played far too loud. The sound reverberated in the arena too much and muddied the music. The band played some Skid Row hits and some new music, and had tons of energy, but you could tell they hadn’t been playing together long. The lead guitarist for the band couldn’t have been 18 years old, but he could jam. That kid’s going places.
Tesla stole the show. They’re a mature band, and it showed: they worked around each other on stage like they’d been doing it for years and the music was tight. They’d also turned down the music-level when they started and you could hear all the notes in the music: everything was clean. Quite impressive. They’ve got a new album coming out soon. I plan to add it to my collection.
Lita Ford played lame. Her sound was good, the music was tight, but noticeably slower on the pieces I sat in on. Also: she tried for too much control with her voice, less screaming, and she sounded more like a folk singer than a rocker. She looked good though.
Whitesnake headlined, and closed down the night. They started out with some (literally) screaming tune I couldn’t put a name to. Like Bach, the speakers were turned up way too loud. There was so much distortion I couldn’t hear a thing. Luckily, someone else noticed (I’ve been to concerts where they haven’t!) and potted the speakers down. It got better after that.
They, too, played all the old favorites, as well as some new ones. I’ll be adding their new album to my collection, too. David Coverdale looked fit, and sounded great (when he wasn’t screaming).
I’m already looking forward to next year’s M3.
Wednesday, February 2nd, 2011  A lot of writers create specific play lists to put them in the mood when they write.
I don’t. I may choose a particular album or artist to write by fairly regularly, but I haven’t yet taken the time to choose a defined set of music for a project. It’s partially because I’m lazy – I don’t want to weed through thousands of songs to choose a small subset. Choosing would be hard!
Mostly, it’s because I don’t want to be limited.
What I like to do is decide how I’m feeling, or what it is I want to feel, and then I search my music database for songs which might match the mood. I say “might” because no database search is without its anomalies. You never know what you might find.
And this is a good thing.
For instance, yesterday I didn’t know what I wanted to listen to while I wrote. When I looked out the window, all I could see was the snow (and more coming down). No sun. No birds. A barren landscape.
A search for “barren” in my database found zilch, so I went with the more generic, “white” for the snow.
My database found 45 songs with white in either the title, the band name, or the the musicians’, producers’ or composers’ names. Songs were offered up by both Judas Priest (White Heat, Red Hot) and David Arkenstone (Nantucket).
There were several bands on the list I hadn’t listened to in YEARS (Crack the Sky, Yes, Def Leppard…)
It sounds like an atrocious mix, but I assure you it wasn’t. I was concentrating on the writing, not the music, after all. It didn’t matter when the music changed from red-hot-metal to new age. For the most part, it didn’t break the flow of writing.
Afterward, I looked at the list more closely. Those songs that used to mean something to me that I haven’t played in years…they gave me some ideas to play with: some writing ideas.
I knew I’d stumbled on to something good.
Do you use play lists? How do you choose and narrow down the songs for a work in progress?
Monday, May 17th, 2010  Ronnie James Dio passed away yesterday morning.
The news of it hit me like a slap in the face. I’d just seen him in concert, touring with Heaven and Hell a few short months ago. He’d made an appearance at the Golden God Awards on April 8, looking frail–but one expects that from chemotherapy. I didn’t think he’d be dead a month later–only five months after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.
There was a summer tour planned, and if they made it back to the states after Europe, I’d planned to go again.
I’ve been playing his music all day…listening to a lot of the really old stuff, some written and recorded before I was born. What a voice this man had! The range, the power… And despite Ronnie James Dio playing a blues-based heavy metal (my favorite), it wasn’t the music that drew me toward him.
Ronnie James Dio was a quintessential story teller…and he enjoyed telling fantasy stories. Dragons and knights, good and evil, all featured prominently in his music. (And the stage sets…I remember a tour with a giant dragon who reared up from the back of the platform, hulking over the drum kit, spreading his wings as wide as the stage.) The most impressive part: the guys in the white hats don’t always triumph in his music.
He told the NJ Star Ledger in 2000, “I took on the evil perspective, because I’ve always written from the ‘anti’ perspective. Most people don’t think in those terms, so you are freer to create.”
He added, “Evil always exists, good doesn’t always triumph, and that’s the universal balance.”
As a storyteller, I like to remind myself of that every once in a while.
Rest in peace, Mr. Dio. You’ll be missed.
Sunday, May 31st, 2009 Okay, so it’s a bit off-topic for a writerly-type blog, but I’ve got to tell you that the M3 Concert last night rocked. (I won’t be verbose, promise…only about 600 words…)
Don’t like glam or metal? So sorry.
A lot of bands were on the ticket, causing the venue (Merriweather Post Pavilion) to set up a second stage (for the second rate?) acts. The ballot (playing in reverse order) included: Twisted Sister • Ratt • Extreme
Kix • Dokken • Slaughter • Y&T • Gilby Clarke • Keel • Jetboy • L.A. Guns • Jani Lane – Formerly of Warrant • XYZ • BulletBoys • Carmine Appice’s Slamm • and Steel Panther.
M3 was a full-day event, celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Twisted Sister’s album Stay Hungry.
I was soooo into seeing Carmine Appice (one of Rock’s greatest drummers) but I didn’t realize that Slamm!! was a drum band. Three kits, garbage cans, plastic buckets, etc. They were good…but I got bored after about three songs.
Jani Lane (formerly of Warrant) wore eye shadow and liner. Not his usual style. IMHO, he looked like a clown. I was never a huge fan of Warrant, and I just couldn’t get over the creepiness of his eyes. On the other hand, he played something new…and it sounded pretty good.
I missed Y&T. [Rats] Love their music…and have wanted to hear them live for while now….
Never heard of Keel before. (Surprised to learn they’ve been around for 25 years!) They sounded pretty good. Might have to buy their album.
Dokken blew all the young guns away. Don Dokken is what, a grandfather? He claimed to be hung over, but I wouldn’t have guessed it. [Dokken’s been touring in Europe for several months. Don said, “It’s great to be back in the US where there’s some sun…and where I can talk to people. I only speak Californian.”
Extreme. Uh…what the heck were they doing there? These guys were odd-man-out in the genre department as far as I’m concerned…. Not a band I’m fond of. Moving on…
To be fair, Ratt played well. (I never like them.) But definitely too loud in the pavilion (never thought I’d say that about music…)
Dee Snyder of Twisted Sister put on an awesome show, coming out on stage in his glam outfit of yesteryear….definitely not what I expected (after all, every other rocker who performed forswore the hairspray and glitz for this occasion). I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised.
Not familiar with Dee Snyder and his buds from TS? Here he is:
Dee is the one with his mouth wide open.
He quipped on stage: “The people with back stage passes are getting old. [pause] I’m getting old. The bad news is: I look like an aging drag queen. The good news is: I’ve always looked like an aging drag queen.”
All I can say is this: I want to know what brand of cosmetics he sports: he ran around on stage, under the hot lights, for over an hour, and that stuff didn’t run or melt. I want some of that. In more subtle colors.
Despite the almighty greatness of Twisted Sister (not my favorite band, BTW, just the flavor of the day) Kix definitely stole the show. And I’m not saying that because I’m biased. (Kix hails from the Baltimore area – Hagerstown, MD, to be exact) and well, so do I…hail from the area, that is.)
This is Kix:
I think Twisted Sister exuded the same amount of enthusiasm and high energy that Kix did–and their music was tight…but the crowd was more into Kix. I think that kind of vibe contributed to their overall performance. Very symbiotic.
An excellent show all around.
Thanks for listening.
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Writers - Maryland Writer's Assn.
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