Well, it's been a couple of years, maybe more, but it's definitely time to start writing again. So much has happened!
As of this writing, I am happily retired....and yet I keep thinking about adding some part-time employment. I'm playing in a bunch of bands (some things never change!), and yet I feel the need for just a bit more structure. I'm sleeping too late in the mornings. Retirement has turned me fairly nocturnal again, and that actually surprises me. I don't like playing late shows, mind you....but I'm not to bed by10:30 pm, either. And craving employment isn't even due to being insolvent in any way, although a little extra dough would be nice. I have definitely cut down my "fun" spending.
My health has remained pretty stable, after the blood pressure incident of August, 2022. I take a few medications but nothing you wouldn't expect a gentleman of my age to ingest. I've had various issues with the "bad leg" (largely due to my falling-off-a-stage accident from late 2002), but some physical therapy I had back in June/July (and subsequent exercising) seems to have finally mitigated a lot of that. I'm more mobile these days than I've been in a few years.
Bands? Well, I'm still playing in both the Pocket FishRmen and the Hickoids. The Pocket FishRmen, after some years of what to me felt like "spinning our wheels" had a nice resurgence in the last year. We began rehearsing in the studio Cris is in now (which is much closer than he was before), and the result has been a burst of creativity. Everybody's now contributing to the whole. I had no issue with just dressing up Brant's demos, as we did before, but this feels nice. And more....well, involving.
The Hickoids had the most significant line-up change in some time, with long-time bassist Rice Moorehead moving to Baltimore, ending his lengthy membership. Rather than get another bassist, Tom was moved to bass, with Patrick picking up guitar to add to his key duties. The result has been, well....not the greatest. The relationship between the bassist and the drummer is a special one. You have to lock in with each other to provide a good foundation for the whole band. I find it impossible to lock in with Tom, largely due to Tom's unhappiness in the role. He just doesn't want to be playing bass, and it shows. (This is the only band I've ever played in where I specifically ask the sound person to not put bass in my monitor. If I hear too much of him, I'll lose my way quickly. And this ultimately just makes my job harder.) We probably sound rougher and sloppier, which might please some, but I can't stand it. Still, there's a lot I enjoy about the band, so I'm still hanging around. We'll see how this all plays out....it's been a couple of years now since the major change.
In later 2022, I began playing with a prog/metal band called Rëigncoät. That resulted from me feeling like I had one more new hard rock band hurrah in me, before I head to drumstick pasture. I say "resulted," because I mentioned this while out one night. Carolyn, our singer, heard me, and wanted to start something new, too. Next thing I knew, our line-up was formed. It didn't really turn out like I wanted, but I like everyone in the band a lot. So it's got that going for it. Maybe we'll get a more collaborative writing effort underway later. That would help my view of it.
Also, I began playing bass with old friends Mike and Rennie, in their band Smooth Move. I ended up doing the bulk of the singing, too. I really was not expecting that at all. It's fun to see friends and jam some...and it was really worth it for me to pick up another instrument. I'm not setting the world on fire with my bass licks, but I admittedly don't practice all that much. This has also led to me talking with another old friend to develop another band where I play bass, using more ideas I've come up with. I'll be spending more time on that in the future, I feel certain.
Okay, that's it for health and music. Perhaps I should write about movies or music more. Or the state of the world. Geez. Well, we'll see.
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