When someone starts with this, you know shit just got real...
*ahem*
“Four score and seven years ago...”
Gettysburg, wasn't it?
Anyway...
“Four score and seven years ago...”
Look, being honest, I don't have
bearded notion what was happening 87 years ago. This little
Lincolnian device was meant to add a certain gravitas to my first
buh-log of 2013, and it really hasn't panned out. So let's see what
Jimmy Whales has to say about this. According to Wikipedia, 1926
began on a friday. In the proceeding twelve months, Fascism features
heavily in the news, Mussolini survives two separate assassination
attempts, and the average Cool factor per capita on planet Earth is
substantially increased with the births of Miles Davis (with whom I
share a birthday, but not THAT birthday), Marilyn Monroe and John
Coltrane. Other notable births include Hugh Heffner and Mel Brooks. A
Dick Dale was born. This Dick Dale, however, was not THE Dick Dale.
Just A Dick Dale. Well done, 1926. Not bad at all for a small-town
year that began on a Friday.
Moving on...
Four score and seven years ago, or more
accurately, 11 months ago, I took to the stage in one of Cork's more
prestigious venues with Keith and Barra to play a short support slot
for our friends Senakah. This band had rehearsed twice, had four
songs, and no name. 11 months later (that's last Wednesday), having
released an EP and three videos, having garnered over 10,000 youtube
views, and gained a whole heap of new friends and fans, played a
bunch of shows, and with national radio-play and offers to tour
internationally well and truly in the bag, Fast.Like.Fun (oh yeah, we
picked up a name along the way too) returned to the Crane Lane
Theatre to play our own show.
And? And??? It went wonderfully! We pulled in a massive crowd (far bigger than I
expected, and it wasn't like I was being overly pessimistic), got
everyone dancing, and got a great review from an online tv station
(I'm not actually sure what that is, but the young people assure me
it's what all the cool kids are doing). Maybe I'm being a little
overly dramatic about it, and I'm not altogether sure if I can
explain the way I feel about it, but it felt like a landmark gig. I
suppose it just book-ends the last year (give or take) of
Fast.Like.Fun-related hijinx nicely, with us returning to our first
stage, this time with a full set and a full house of people who know
and like (hopefully) the music. I suppose the gig last Wednesday is
the end of the first chapter in the FLF story (a raunchy and exciting
tale of questionable grammatical integrity) The first chapter of
many, I might add :-)
The shows in the Crane run pretty late
(pretty late for Ireland anyway). I was on stage for 1am, off by 2am
and gratefully collapsing into my bed at 4am. A leisurely three hours
later the alarm went off and out of bed I stumbled in preparation for
the penultimate recording session for the One Horse Pony album. I've
long been in the habit of setting my alarm clock ridiculously early
in these situations, simply because I know that these
early-mornings-after-late-nights are fraught with all manner of
confusion and accidents of the porridge-in-hair-instead-of-gel
variety. After only three minutes of methodical experimentation, I
managed to unlock the front door and, benefitting greatly from the
balanced breakfast trickling down the back of my neck, off I toddled
into town.
We set ourselves a timetable which, at
best, could be described as rigorous for the day's recording. Over
the course of the ten hour session we wrapped up the last guitar
parts and Badger's vocals, unleashed the Meerkat and his Low Whistle
of Destiny (+5 to Dexterity, +8 to Groove) on our take on the Robert
Johnson classic Last Fair Deal, kazoo'd some kazoo, laid down some
seriously soulful backing vocals, and even found the time to knock
out some handclaps (or 'claps' as they're commonly known...) on some
of the tracks. Handshakes (and accompanying winces) ensued, and we
made our way back West, thoroughly exhausted, but satisfied at a job
well done. Big shout-out to Jenny Mac, a stunning singer based in San
Francisco who happened to be back in Ireland. She added a lovely
country vibe to the backing vocals on a song of mine called 'Blue
When I Go'. There are some photos of the session to be found on the One Horse Pony facebook page (link waaaay over there on the right), so take a look, leave a comment and/or engage the Blue Thumb of Approval on anything that takes your fancy. I've got to say, the more I listen to the album, the more I love it. I
can't wait for you guys to hear it!
Life remains sweet. The Hound and I
have start running again after a sedentary winter. Let the local
poultry population beware! I continue to be surrounded by (and at
times, propped up by) wonderful people, and 2013 promises to be a
good'un. A bit late, I suppose, but I wish all of you a happy new
year, and sincerely hope that it's happy, productive, and filled with
love, laughter, good friends, good food and good music.
Thanks for reading guys, more to come
:-)
Later
R
