Music at Ila

Ila on Main Street,
where bands play in a cute little nook
with their backs to the big window

A potential new music venue announced itself during Friday's Artwalk.   The duo of Steve & Michaela McLain inaugurated music at Ila, a downtown restaurant that opened about a year ago, and at the end of the gig, Steve asked, "Wouldn't it be great to have a new music venue in Fairfield?!"

Well, of course, we'd love it!   Steve encouraged musicians in the audience to support the notion by talking to . . . I didn't catch who he said.   But after bouncing from the hostess to the bartender to the owner, I found myself talking to Sharon Stinogel.   She's intrigued by the idea of hosting live music in Ila.   She said, "We've never been open this late," (it was nearly ten) as her eyes sparkled in appraisal of the roomful of happy customers.

I gave her our band's card and added our names and phone numbers.   Ila is a lively place and they care about good food.   I'd love to play for their eaters, drinkers, and makers of merry. 

Sharon Bouquet
as Captain Switch

Just before I spoke with Stinogel, I saw her speaking with Sharon Bousquet.   Bousquet wore Halloween regalia ~ Captain Switch  ~ charming in a roguish sort of way with a dusting of shadow for a beard.   I hope she'll play at Ila, too.

She snapped this photo of her costume on Thursday night.   When I saw her Friday, the beard extended all along her cheeks into sideburns. 

Caught backstage

Mark Soth caught a pic of 3 of us Burnt Cat Blues players behind the gazebo in Bentonsport on Sunday.   We were listening to Keith DeBoer sing and play his unapologetically romantic ballads after we backed Eric Schaffer's set.

Keith DeBoer plays guitar and sings while we stand and listen ~~
Christy Ann Welty, Kevin Wells, Russ England
photo by Mark Soth

Burnt Cat Blues *

Sunday afternoon was perfect for playing at the Bentonsport Scenic Drive Festival (and Fine Arts Festival).   Sunny on the north bank of the Des Moines River, shady under grand old trees, breezy on the gazebo, we traded places in a game of musical chairs ~ a series of musicians joining and leaving the "jam session" organized by Mark Soth.

at the Bentonsport gazebo just before our set,
a few members of Blue Cat Alley (named from right to left):
Steve Jeffries at far right on congas, Mark Soth right of center behind corn stalks,
Beth Payne center, Astred Griffin left of center, and David Bordow seated far left
photo by Heather Miller-Rodriguez

Soth's band Blue Cat Alley supplied several players for the jam, including guitarist Kevin Wells and percussionist Steve Jeffries, who played with Russ and I for our four-song set.   Mike was busy taking photos of Chicago's marathon that day.

I chose cover songs because we had time for exactly one rehearsal before the gig, so everybody had to know their parts before the rehearsal.   Russ and I met with Kevin on Wednesday to work out chords and endings, and we were ready to go.   Steve Jeffries joined us on stage after I'd introduced our first song, and I was ready to gun the engine on that Cadillac.

Our 4-song set:

Bring My Cadillac Back
Wind Cries Mary
Little Wing
Wayfaring Stranger 

After our set, Mark asked Russ to stay for the next set to accompany Eric Schaffer, along with Kevin Wells, Steve Jeffries, Mark Soth, and David Bordow.   I decided to stay, too, and picked up a tambourine to jingle along in an impromptu blues jam with Eric's strong lead singing.   After his set, Eric told me that he specializes in simple songs that are easy to jam with no rehearsal.

*  With Kevin and Steve from Blue Cat Alley, and Russ and I from Burnt Sugar Blues, Will Gunn suggested the moniker Burnt Cat Blues.

Foliba wows the crowd

Energetic and tight as a drum (ha), Foliba wowed the crowd last night with the rhythm Marakadon, also called Maraka:



From left to right, the drummers are Dave Winningham, Dan Craig, Bob Miller, and JoLynn Gates.   These rhythms are infectious and inspiring ~~ I love soaking them into my bones to get the knick and knack of what to do during band sessions when I'm banging on the djembe.

Drum circle is a week from Saturday!

The video was captured by Burt Chojnowski (YouTube handle = coolburt) at Wednesday's Open Mic at Cafe Paradiso in Fairfield, Iowa.

Christy's first jam on congas

My first jam on congas went much better than I anticipated.   Really fun, actually.

Mark Soth gathered a group of us at his place last night to jam a bit in prep for a gig in mid-October ~~ Mark plus Mike Scanlon, Danielle Nance, and David Bordow.   Others will probably join later ~~ players will come and go from practice to practice, and from song to song during the gig.   Mark is calling the project Out of Context, which has layers of meaning . . . and a specially personal meaning for me: doing percussion in a band sure is a new context for me!

This is not just a whim, though, this is a strategy.

We, Burnt Sugar Blues, have been without a percussionist for three months and I figured to jump into the breach as a supplemental percussionist to fill in a little during parts of songs when I'm not singing.   Never having mastered snapping my fingers in steady rhythm while singing with focus, I set my goal for alternating between singing and percussion without awkward fumbling of percussion pieces and microphones.   Nominal grace would be a significant accomplishment for me.

When my children started lessons in West African drumming from Fonziba Koster, I started right along with them to give them a little boost of confidence in the new endeavor.   Even before that, I'd been joining in at drum circles, but I did not have much confidence for keeping a rhythm for a band during a whole song, plus pounding it out loud enough to make a difference instead of just scooting around on the edges.    So confidence was the next goal after nominal grace.

After confidence I wanted creativity ~~ to be able to tune into the needs of the song and add a rhythm to support it.   I figured I'd be asking for a lot of advice from other band members.

Well.   Maybe it was beginner's luck.  

Mark Soth heard I wanted to learn this new skill, so he invited me to the jam and set up a nice pair of congas plus a microphone on a stand, which was weird for me because I like to hold the mic in my right hand.   So I ignored the mic and started with r-e-a-l-l-y simple rhythms, just to keep the 1 and 3 going, sometimes all 1, 2, 3, and 4.   It was fun, though, having two drums in front of me, so I played around a little, and a little more.

By about the middle of the jam, we played "Can't Find My Way Home," for which I happen to know most of the words without a lyric sheet in front of me, although I wondered if I'd freeze up and forget them all.   What a shocker to find myself playing all the way through while singing at the same time!

Maybe I'll be able to work with a mic stand.   Maybe I'll be able to juggle multiple pieces and parts without dropping them.   Seems I can maintain some kind of beat while singing, although I don't have the perspective to know how steady it is.   It was a heckuva a lot more fun than I thought it would be to play one single rhythm all the way through a song without changing it up.   I always wondered how drummers could do that without going crazy.   Well, gosh, it felt cool, not crazy.

To add to my astonishment, I found enough creative juice to use a different rhythm pattern for nearly every song we played that evening.   I thought it would take several jams to learn some grace, confidence, and style with percussion, so I'm really pleased to get this far the first time.  

Our mascot Bodhi

Bodhi offers cards to listeners
photo by J.Y.Welty

Bodhi in profile
photo by J.Y.Welty

This is our mascot Bodhi, which means "Buddha-nature".   Bodhi is the final goal of a Bodhisattva's career.   Plus the name has a natural ring for a card-carrying blues master.   "Blues is the healer," says John Lee Hooker, who ought to know, and healing is the bodhisattva's work.

~ other resonances ~~~

Bo D . . . echoes of bluesman Bo Diddley
Bodey . . . ominous
Bodey . . . the waiting kind who bides the time

Notice that Bodhi has big hands for serving cards and for reaching out to people and has big feet for good under-standing, and also for stomping the beat to music, especially while we have no drummer.

Bodhi has no head ~ no ego ~ it was lopped off by Kali during a moment of the goddess's wrath.   Let that be a warning to any who would burn sugar: confronting Kali at the charnel grounds ends one way ~ her way ~ as she threads a new skull on her already long garland of past conquests.

Whew!   I guess you could say I have some strong feelings about burnt sugar.

I got the little squirt last year as a birthday gift.   After roughing out the background of our logo with orange and yellow fire, I looked around and saw these bright orange acrylic gloves and boots sitting on my table and figured they would coordinate perfectly with the orange/yellow firey logo on the next version of our wallet cards.   Now it can nestle among chocolate chips and sit right next to our tip jar to offer a warm welcome and farewell to listeners.

Which reminds me: I'm seeking a tip jar.   I'd like to use a cookie jar or a honey pot (reminiscent of the HUNNY pots that Winnie-the-Pooh used).  

Giglet: Open Mic July 24

This is a reminder about our giglet tomorrow . . . .

Wednesday, July 24, 9 pm - 9:30 pm at Cafe Paradiso.

We're doing a half-hour set for Open Mic starting at 9 pm at Cafe Paradiso, featuring our new drumless* sound ~ some original, some cover, all smoky sweet.

* No drums yet, but I've been shaking the tambourine lately and snapping my fingers when I'm not singing, and I welcome you to join in, too.   As a matter of fact, snapping your fingers is the special Burnt Sugar Blues call for encore.   A snap a second ~~ that's the way we start Fever, one of the first songs we did as a group. 

A donation of $2 supports Open Mic and other musical affairs at 
Cafe Paradiso, 101 North Main St, Fairfield, Iowa

Stilettos for giglettos?

My black strappies
on stage in a detail
of this bigger pic.

"Are you wearing stilettos for your giglettos?"

My friend Bob Miller of Foliba loves to play with words and sent me that question three weeks ago.   What an adorable rhyme!   Plus, it's a fair question because

   (a)   I love my stilettos ~~ they make me 5 inches taller!
   (b)   I have four different pairs.
   (c)   I've worn them for other gigs.

From my favorite shoe store:
Family Discount Shoes and Furniture
in Keokuk, Iowa, which is where
I got my stilettos, too
photo by J.Y.Welty

But I didn't wear them that night ~~ I wore my trusty black canvas Keds instead.

Lately they've been dancing Lindy Hop with me.   It's a lively swing dance that's wearing them out!

Coolest props

Coolest props to all my peeps!

. . . coz in weather like this, my warmest wishes would sizzle the swizzle right off yo' skin . . .

* * *

I like layers of meanings, and I like unwinding them ~ ~ ~

"props" ~ is kudos...and propellers ~ this is a reference to my very first fan club of 7 members: the big fan in the living room, the side-by-side fan in the bedroom window, three six-inch fans (one for each of us peeps), my daughter, and my son.

"swizzle" ~ could mean anything starting with "sw-", and here I meant "sweat", as in "When sweat oooze and soak you wet", the beginning of the third verse of Coconut Oil.

Coconut oil ran clear months ago, chocolate bars (and chocolate chips) have been gooing for weeks, and sweat oozes and makes people wet ALL DAY LONG.   This is summer in Iowa!

I'll link Coconut Oil to the lyrics page as soon as I add that song to it.

* * * Update:   July 22
Coconut Oil is now online.

Giglet: July 24

Wednesday, July 24, 9 pm - 9:30 pm at Cafe Paradiso.

We're doing a half-hour set for Open Mic starting at 9 pm at Cafe Paradiso, featuring our new drumless* sound ~ some original, some cover, all smoky sweet.

* Maybe drumless, but not entirely percussionless:  I'll snap my fingers when I'm not singing, and I welcome you to join in, too. 

Cafe Paradiso, 101 North Main St, Fairfield, Iowa

Gigletto

Last year I gave the word "giglet" another meaning: a short performance of two songs, like 10 minutes at an Open Mic.   I decided to change it up a bit . . . so the new word for a 2-song gig will be "gigletto", a tiny little gig, while the term "giglet" is reserved for a half-hour gig, like a feature performance at Cafe Paradiso's Open Mic night.   Like the one we'll be doing on July 24.

July 3 giglet-party

Announcing our next Open Mic giglet at Cafe Paradiso:

Wednesday, July 3, a ten-minute spot between 8 pm and 9 pm.

We've been drummerless for a few weeks so we arranged songs with no drummer ~ some original, some cover, all smoky sweet.

Chocolate chips for everyone!

At our last rehearsal, Russ said, "How about we do Open Mic on Wednesday after next?"

We all agreed, and when I got home and looked at my calendar, I noticed that Wednesday was July 3, my BIRTHDAY  ~~  a happy way to celebrate!   I'll bring chocolate chips for everyone.

Cafe P is at 101 North Main Street in Fairfield, Iowa.   A $2 donation helps keep nights like this happening at the cafe.

* * * Update: July 1
I'm now calling this kind of performance a gigletto: a tiny little gig. 

Burnt Sugar Glazing

What a GREAT place for a gig!

Artist William Lamson's Solarium

The glass is stained with carmelized sugar ~ that's right ~ BURNT SUGAR GLAZING!   (See more pictures and info at the artist's page.)   The glazing isn't edible, but it kindles fantasies of houses made of candy.   Mmmm!

Got a pen? Paper? Paper!

Just ordered cards . . .

. . . in the standard wallet size.

Now I'll always have paper to write on when a fan asks for info about our next gig.   :)

No Drummer (again) (sigh)

We have no drummer again.   (sigh)

Okay, we do have a drummer . . . for a limited engagement: Keith DeBoer is lending his hands for our upcoming Open Mic giglets.   And that's really cool because Keith has a great touch with our songs and glides right into the grooves.

We're prepping a couple songs for a 10-minute spot (maybe two) and also prepping a half-hour feature, both for Cafe Paradiso's Open Mic, hosted by {ta-da} Keith DeBoer.

* * * Update:  June 18
Keith is hugely busy this summer and bowed out of our project, so we do indeed have no drummer.   We're prepping the songs anyway, and they sound smooooth, like silky dark chocolate.

Tiny Circus Blues

This tiny project included my first published performance of the blues: 25 seconds of improv humming for an animated cartoon called The History of Blue (from 1:15 to 1:40 in the video below).



My son Shane helped with animating and sound effects, notably the wolf whistle.   We're in this photo watching as the video is shot frame by frame.

Creating video stills with Tiny Circus, July 3, 2010, at ICON in Fairfield.
Shane Welty is in foreground under a camouflage cap, operating editing software.
I'm standing at the back wall with long hair over right shoulder.
Torrey Witherspoon is seated in front of me.

The art gallery ICON hosted Tiny Circus and Fairfield participants in their activity room (pictured above).  After the topic "The History of Blue" was chosen, we needed a story line.   We tossed around lots of ideas and considered every notion of "blue" ~ the sky, pigments and paints, fabric dyes, the water cycle, the rainbow, cold weather, and others.   My mind gravitated to love and heartbreak since that's what I write about in my songs, so I suggested that as a storyline and they ran with it.

We made sound effects in ICON's basement.  Torrey Witherspoon played mandolin for the happy-dancing first part of the video and voiced the sighing transition.   I don't remember the name of the young man who strummed chords on Torrey's mandolin for the end where I hummed.   He said he had just begun learning blues and knew one chord progression.   Well, that's all we needed.

Tiny Circus wrote about the day on their blog.   If you know other details about this day (like the strummer's name), please tell me and I'll add to the story.

Foliba headlines Open Mic

Back during a 10-month dry spell on this blog, Foliba headlined Open Mic at Cafe Paradiso on October 10, 2012, playing traditional West African rhythms.  Dave Winningham handed me his camera to record some rhythms, so it's my fault the video is kinda shaky and beheads the players.

In the first video below, Open Mic host Keith DeBoer introduces the group and they begin with "a celebratory rhythm", Sinte.   From left to right the players are Dan Craig, David Winningham, JoLynn Gates, and Bob Miller.



Later in the set, they electrify the room with Jansa ~~ tremendous, vibrant energy swells to the ceiling and bulges the walls!   From left to right the players are Dan Craig, David Winningham, Bob Miller, and JoLynn Gates.  



These players anchor most of the drum circles in Fairfield.

Both videos were uploaded to YouTube by David Winningham.

Big Band O Yeah (Artie Shaw)

At the Sondheim tonight, I saw, heard, ingested the Artie Shaw Orchestra, a tribute band of the legendary band leader.   Their encore number was Mack the Knife, one of my favorite dance songs.   It usually played at least once during a Lindy Hop dance practice.   So inspired I rewrote the song for us and I hope Ira, Mike, and Russ are as excited as I am.

An old photo of the new incarnation of the Artie Shaw Orchestra.
These are different members than we saw.

Very enjoyable to listen to the big band swing sound of the orchestra.   The conductor kept the music moving along, sometimes starting a new piece before our applause for the previous piece ended.

I figure in our band blurb I'll say we have a small horn section.   That would be a small section (one horn) and a small horn (flute).   :)

* When I say "tonight" it means the evening during the time period before I sleep.   The posting says this was posted Saturday morning, and the orchestra played Friday night.   So, to bed I go now ... goodnight!

Monster Bassist Duffy

I've been wondering how an Open Mic feature set of Burnt Sugar might sound with minimal to no drums and only core players on stage.   I got my chance to hear a really cool rock/blues/folk/country/reggae band tonight as the feature at Open Mic ~ no drum kit ~ so I checked it out.

Bassist Tim Duffy of the
Jefferson County Green Band
(and guest player with 
Burnt Sugar Blues)

Cafe Paradiso's Wednesday night Open Mic featured the Jefferson County Green Band, who promoted an "unplugged" set although each of them had at least one mic or amp, sometimes two.   They did not, however, have a drummer.   Bassist Tim Duffy held down rhythm in fine form.   Most of their songs were new, some from their latest album Great Spirit (including the title cut) and some from their next album (as yet unnamed).   Duffy spends most of his time brokering hotels while living in Cedar Rapids, 95 miles away, so he heard JCGB's newest songs for the first time at 5 pm . . . four hours before taking the stage with the band.   This man is a master!   Tim Duffy monsters the bass!

Lead singer Steve McClain sounded buoyant and the 45-minute set was full of easy, happy vibes.   Fatherhood looks good on Steve ~ radiant, actually.   His wife, Michaela, sang two songs with the band ~ one was a really beautiful calypso version of Islands in the Stream (sung in 1983 by Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton) . . . calypso because they "had to spice it up."   Mmm, scrumptious.

The Green Band will be at the Neil Young tribute at Red Rock tavern tonight, Thursday night.

So . . . I'm excited about doing a feature set for Open Mic sans drum kit.   We have some songs that would be perfect.   :)

*** Update: Friday 12:02 am ~ I changed Tim's career info above to hotel brokering.   He handed off hotel management last summer.

Introducing Musician Walter Day

Walter Day

After grocery shopping late Saturday night, I went upstairs to Walter's office to pay my electric bill.   Coldest month ==>> highest bill.   When he asked what's new with me, I said "more attention to music lately" and told him about recent fluting and blogging.   I showed him my blog here and we listened to the Open Mic mp3 that I managed to upload.   His eyes kindled and he left the room for a moment and came back with his guitar.

Walter Day is winding down his celebrated season as the first and most famous referee in video gaming history by packing up his Twin Galaxies paraphernalia and sending it to its new home in New Jersey.   His new focus is music, specifically the 137 songs that he has been conducting in his head with orchestral strings and horns for decades.   He hears his songs with rich, multi-layered vocal harmonies and he wants to get them out of his head and onto recordings.   So he sang a few songs for me and I joined him with improvved harmonies.  

Maybe his extra focus on music lately has been boosting mine as well . . . like the coldest month was a pullback prepping to slingshot us through a warm spring tingle and a rocket-hot summer.

Backing at the Festino

Dick DeAngelis is a great friend of music in Fairfield and last December he hosted a party for musicians.   He said musicians support causes with free performances throughout the year, and this was his way to thank them for their generosity.   Dick cooked up some great Italian food, brought red wine, and collected the cool of Fairfield to evoke a special atmosphere for making music.   Several entertained us with solos and a few of us jammed with them as back-up players.   I did a few backing vocals.   Here's an 8-minute jam from that night ~ ~ ~



Players (left to right): Keith DeBoer, Christy, David Hurlin, Jon Estrin, Trina Neal, Tim Britton
Video posted by FairfieldRocksMe

Mike's Toon

Mike the guitarist

Mike's is the first caricature I made.   I like the transparent background and plan to do that to all the sketches.   Sketched so far:

     Christy's toon
     Mike's guitar

It'll take some time to climb the learning curve for the new software, GIMP, but I expect it to be worthwhile because it's in my budget (being free), plus being open-source appeals to my sense of amity and goodwill.

Christy's Toon

Christy the lead singer

Last March I created a caricature of my face to use in a poster for promoting the band.   I've been using as a facebook profile pic.   It includes my instrument, a microphone.   Haven't pixed a flute yet.

I gave Photoshop Elements a try-out for creating the sketches ~ Mike's guitar, my face, and Mike's face ~ and now I plan to use GIMP (free and open-source) to continue crafting the collection.