Now that 2016 is over (good riddance), It's time to hit the reset button in so many ways.
My goals for music is to play more this year, as it was last year. So in 2016, I ended up forming a cover band, "The Inbetweeners". I have to say it was a challenge. I did dabble in cover band situations in the 1990's and it really wasn't fun. I can trace my disinterest at the time to the fact I wanted to write and perform my own music, with my own bands. Of course back then, there were alot more venues to play for original music. Now, in my area, alot of clubs that would welcome original bands have gone by the wayside. There are still some options, just not as many. However alot of new places have popped up that have cover bands. Also, back in the day, the players I was doing cover songs with, really were not the kind of people I kind of gravitated to, personally. They were great musicians, and I did learn alot during that time, but overall, not my ideal situation.
So The Inbetweeners is formed by musicians I like as people, and as musicians. We've been fairly democratic in picking out songs for shows, and it's certainly been an interesting challenge. I'm still working alot of the aspects in a few ways. Figuring out some signature solos like Tom Petty's "American Girl" or trying to work out Jimmy Eat World's "The Middle", while trying to create some interesting improvisational solos for some other songs.
Our first show we did the standard electric type sound, while our last gig was semi acoustic. Our drummer played a combination of Cajon, Djembe, snare drum, hi hat. It was a great way to get the feel of drums, but not the standard drum kit sounds. Our singer played Acoustic guitar, and our bass player played electric, as I did too. It kind of opened up things sonically, as no one was clashing with the other. The challenge there was knowing there was no place to hide in the sonics of other instruments. I think this sound format was alot more controllable as well, without alot of the overall "loudness".
Overall it was a success, and I'm looking foreward to new gigs for The Inbetweeners in 2017. Hopefully when the New England weather wont affect things in the spring.
My Original Band The Goodbye Theory, completed our 5th EP this year "We've Got A Bad Feeling About This"
Of course in the link above, you can listen, and hopefully buy it.
The big challenges there was trying to break out of my standard licks and tricks. Thankfully I had help, as our singer Rob pushed me into really breaking things down. By the time those sessions were over, my callouses were shredded to the point of pain. I'm happy I was pushed into new areas, and it's made me aware of my weaknesses.
So for 2017 I'd like to gig a bit more with The Goodbye Theory as well, again when snowstorms aren't an issue. We did a gig in 2015 after one of Boston's largest snow storms, and had to haul gear over snowbanks that were 4 feet high, and we didn't draw a big crowd.
I have more than a few avenues to enhance my playing. A few years back, my wife got me Mark Tremonti's Instructional DVD. I kind of scratched the surface on it, but I'd like to dive into it some more. This past fall I grabbed David Grissom's Instructional DVD as well, and I'd love to really dig into that.
Recording wise I have a few little projects in the works, I now have a pretty decent rig for home recording. I don't think there will be a Goodbye Theory EP for 2017, but Im sure I'll be doing some recording. I'm up for doing more overall playing, as time will allow.
The only things I'm looking at are ways to make my rig a bit smaller. Considering I have a MINI coupe, trunk space is at a premium. I've got it down to 2 guitars in gig bags, a Pedalboard in a Hard case, a backpack, and my Fender Hot rod Deluxe.
Ampwise, I did my last Inbetweeners gig with my Hotone Diamond, with an Eginater 1x12.
I've found that Fender has 1x12 cabinets for $199 with a celestion speaker. They are alot smaller than the Eginater. So, my idea is to get a pair of those, and sell my current Eginater 1x12. Ideally I could get another of those Hotone Mini amps, and have a nice micro stereo rig, that would be useful live, at practice, and in the studio. I don't think I would part with Fender HRD, as it is a pretty good workhorse amp. The JHS black box really helps reign in the volume. My pedalboard will be ever changing I know. I'm currently maxxed out power wise, so I may be on the look out for some solutions for that.
I sill lust after a Baritone or a Fender offset, or a Piezo equipped PRS, but I can certainly achieve this years goals with what I have already. Im sure I'll have some pipe dream guitar projects that will try to distract from my actual guitar projects for this year. I still have the goal to modify/configure my existing guitars to be more functional to my needs.
The idea for 2017's resolutions: Play live more, explore more, practice more and record (audio and video) some more. More is better.
So lets put 2016 where it belongs, and get to making whatever resolutions become more action than wishes!
