Journalhttp://www.datamusicata.com/journal/en-US2009-07-04T15:49:13ZSquarespace Site Server v5.5.4 (http://www.squarespace.com/)Tempos - How Do I Choose the Best One?http://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/7/1/tempos-how-do-i-choose-the-best-one.htmljames lee stanley2009-07-01T16:19:17ZI had a young songwriter ask me how to choose the best tempo for the song and I thought that was a good question and a good topic for today’s column.

Choosing a tempo is critical to the success of the song in terms of listeners getting it. As a songwriter who writes primarily with the guitar, I frequently have a feel that sort of starts the process off and then I tend to keep the song at that tempo.

But it’s a great experiment to change your tempos around when you are practicing. I already told you how I practice with a drum machine and I put the songs at very different tempos from where I usually play them. Too fast or too slow, and then force myself to play in that pocket. This is great practice for improving your timing chops.

But taking a song that is already known or like the above example, a song you’ve written, deliberately change the tempo. If it is a fast rocker, slow it down, see what happens. Change the time signature and see what happens.

My pal, John Batdorf (www.johnbatdorfmusic.com) and I did an album called All Wood and Stones (www.allwoodandstones.com) and did that very thing. We took well known classic Rolling Stones (www.rollingstones.com) songs and completely rearranged them.

The rocker Under My Thumb became a waltz. We moved it from 4/4 time to ¾ time. It completely changed the perception of the song. We took the raucous Let’s Spend the Night Together and made it a mid tempo shuffle. Check it out. It should give you some ideas for changing and possibly improving the songs you’ve written.

Now if you have a new song and you are trying to find the right tempo, there are several things to consider.

First how wordy is it. If there are a lot of words then a slower tempo might serve the lyrics better. Alternatively, if it’s really rhythmic and wordy, it might seem like an avalanche of lyrics if you did it really fast.

Ask yourself what your vision of the song and/or the recording is and try to serve that. Tempo frequently sets mood, so ask yourself if you want it to be slow and moody or fast and celebratory. There’s an old blues song by Jesse Fuller called San Francisco Bay Blues (www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lkumuirtwbo) and while the lyrics are sad, poor me I lost her lyrics, the melody and the tempo are uplifting and fun.

It all depends on what you want to do with the song, and further, how can you best perform the song?

You want to put the song into a tempo that allows your particular gifts to shine while at the same time serving the lyric and emotional content of the song.

I remember writing a song called Afternoon Rain for my first recording for RCA/Wooden Nickel. When I wrote it I was a little blasted and the tempo just fit, but later when I tried to play it, I couldn’t find the place where it sat comfortably. I finally got one of those strobe tuners and kept track of the different tempos until I found the place again where the song worked, and I wrote down that tempo.

It might have been my limitations as a guitar player at the time that caused part of the problem, because now I can pretty much play any song at any tempo and make it work—it may not be the way it was intended, but I can make it work.

On my new CD, New Traces of the Old Road, I do a Dylan song entitled, Most Likely You Go Your Way, And I’ll Go Mine. Dylan’s version was a cacaphonous, horn infused party of drunken revelers. I decided to take the tempo and some of the feel of Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together, (www.algreenmusic.com) and make that the framework for the song. It came out entirely different than his version, and many folks seem to seriously enjoy what I did to it.

In the final analysis, there is no right or wrong tempo. You play the song at various speeds until you find the place that works for you. If it feels good, trust yourself. Do it there.

]]>A Songwriting Discussion of Titleshttp://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/29/a-songwriting-discussion-of-titles.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-30T01:56:44ZI’d like to talk a little bit more about song writing today, as I did a show this weekend and talked to various folks about different aspects of the craft.

People frequently ask, “what comes first, the music or the words?” and of course, there is no right answer. Sometimes the words, sometimes the music, sometimes all at once, sometimes just a musical or lyrical phrase that sticks in your head and sometimes it’s just the title.

My pal, Stephen Bishop (www.stephenbishop.com) keeps notebooks full of titles and he almost always works from the title forward. Titles can be tricky, because you don’t want someone to confuse your song with another, or to think that instead of coming up with something yourself, you simply chose a title that had already been a hit.

While it is true that titles cannot be copyrighted, it doesn’t make any sense to take a title from a well known hit song. All that you do is invite comparison between your new song and the song that is already familiar and successful to the listener. You always end up on the short end of that stick, unless the title is so old that no one remembers the other song.

Another friend of mine, frequently got his ideas from book titles. He even wrote a song once from a McMurtry novel title, only to find out after he’d recorded and released the song that McMurtry had gotten the title of his novel from a Merle Haggard song...with the same title. Ouch!

For me, it is rare that I work from the title forward, with the notable exceptions of Mary January from the Eternal Contradiction (www.jamesleestanley.com/eternalcontra.html) and Daddy’s Eyes from the musical that I’m writing entitled Straight From the Heart. The song can also be heard on the Peter Tork/James Lee Stanley CD, Backstage At the Coffee Gallery – Live and on my Domino Harvest CD.

I usually start with a position or point of view that I’m trying to describe, but I have worked from chord progressions, as well as guitar licks, or melodies that spring full blown into my head. And once, I dreamed a song and woke up and wrote it down. Words and music all at once. It is also on the Domino Harvest CD. It’s called “Everybody Knows” because it’s obvious that no one does. At least they don’t behave that way. And yes, I have since come to find out that Leonard Cohen (www.leonardcohen.com) has written a brilliant song with that title.

And you are going to run into that as you go thru your creative life. Straight From the Heart, a beautiful song I wrote with my pal, John Capek (www.johncapek.com), that has become the finale song of the musical from the same name, is preceeded by no less than four other songs with that title; one a particularly wonderful one by Lowell George. I must admit that if I had heard his version first, I would have never written my song. But that’s the way this title game goes.

When Tom Robbins and I wrote the song, “Even Cowgirls Get the Blues” we thought, because he was the author of the book that that was a pretty safe title. It turns out that there are at least twenty songs with that title. When I was being considered for the job of musical director for several permutations of the film I even considered using every single one of them in the soundtrack. Imagine what that soundtrack album would have looked like. Every song with the same title but sung by different artists and written by different songwriters. A publishing nightmare.

All I can advise you to do is to write the best song you know how and derive the title from what you have said or how you have said it. That seems to be the safest and most original way of doing it.

]]>Arranging For Solo Guitar, Continuedhttp://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/26/arranging-for-solo-guitar-continued.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-26T22:09:39Z 

I am just taking a break practicing for tomorrow night’s concert at the Boney Mountain Concert Series in Newberry Park. I have been practicing every song from the Eternal Contradiction because I intend to do that album for the first set, and I’ve written a show around it. So I know what I will be saying when and what songs will come in what order. I have discovered that a structured first set has enormous impact on the audience and on CD sales, but I digress.

While practicing a song called Let the Tree Fall, I realized that I was avoiding the sixth string during the build up to the chorus so that when I hit the E min that begins the chorus I have that deepest note of the guitar to give it a big bottom for impact.

It got me to thinking about the arrangement I did for that song and how I used the guitar strings to build it into one of the most effective performances of the set. When you are performing solo, you need to think a lot about building the arrangement. The following arrangement would only be effective with a band if they all acknowledged what I was doing and contributed to that building process by laying out and paying strict attention to the inversions of the chords that they were using. In any event...

I start out with an arpeggio; single strings ringing over each other; a motif that I bring back several times throughout the song. No actual chords except what the overtones suggest as they ring against each other.

(Many people have asked me what tuning I use for that song. With a few notable exceptions, I use standard tuning; almost exclusively. For me, it is the most versatile and the most useful, not to mention that by staying in standard tuning, you actually learn the neck of the guitar and the relationships of chords to each other more readily than when you retune.)

After the motif, I begin a simple triad of G with a pedal tone high E on the four of each bar, using only the first four strings of the guitar. The progression goes, G, then pedal tone E, Gmin, then pedal tone E, then D, then pedal tone E, the an E7/9, raising the high E to an F# and then finally hitting the low E on the E min walk up to the A, which is the dominant chord or the five of the key of D that the song is in.

This makes the E, F#, G, A starting on the 6th string of the guitar much more impactful, because that low tone hasn’t been heard in the song til now.

Then the verses start with the standard G chord using the 6th, 5th and 1st string finger positions and leaving the other strings open. So I have now used a different sounding G chord on the verses. This differentiates the sound of the intro from the sound of the chorus.

You can hear the song at www.jamesleestanley.com/eternalcontra.html.

Throughout all my guitar/voice arrangements I employ different inversions of the chords to give it subtle differences. The audience may not be able to say exactly what has happened, but they respond emotionally to the colors that the different inversions create in a listener.

Inversions also serve to keep the song from sounding the same from one end to the other, which for me makes a performance boring. I want to hear forethought, arrangement choices, I want to hear and feel a momentum building and I want that sense of a destination in mind and that we are going to arrive at it.

I also employ that technique in the lyrics that I write. I want there to be a musical and lyrical pay off. A destination implied and a bona fied arrival. ( I love that word, just watched O Brother Where Art Thou? Again and they use that word a lot...always makes me smile).

So what I am stressing here today is for you to try different positions of the chords that you use. If the chorus is the biggest part of the song, then use the biggest version of the chords for that section and see what kind of smaller and different position of the same chord you can use for the verses.

Try different inversions and see and feel what they suggest to you. After you have mastered this and learned to apply dynamics (discussion for another day) to your performance, you will become a performer who delivers a song and a show.

 

 

]]>A House Concert Presenter Weighs Inhttp://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/24/a-house-concert-presenter-weighs-in.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-24T14:54:40ZAs house concerts have become a bigger and bigger part of the acoustic musician experience, I have talked with several presenters and gotten their feedback on what they expect, and I have already written a piece on what they performer expects of the presenter, but here is what one house concert presenter sent to me:

 

“After 7-1/2 years of hosting house concerts in our home, we’ve had some fabulous experiences... and some that were not ideal. One singer-songwriter (now our best friend!) showed up at our house with high-end chocolate truffles! You don’t need to go that far to win our undying affection, but there are things you can do that make a difference for us. Below are some tips that might be useful for performers as they decide to play at a house concert.”

 

Top 10 TO do:

 

1. DO make a commitment to perform and keep it. Cancelling on us may damage both your credibility and the relationship.

2. DO post the gig on your web site with accurate information... but no more information than we want advertised (like our home address, which we want to keep private until reservations are confirmed).

3. DO tell us in advance if you have dietary needs/restrictions so we can plan to accommodate them.

4. DO tell us if you need extra space (including for dinner!) for other musicians you’ll be bringing with you.

5. DO say “thank you.” Maybe more than once. We’ve worked really hard to make the show a success. Regardless of how it came out, please acknowledge our efforts.

6. DO offer to play a favorite song of ours. We picked you to play in our home because we like your work. See if there’s something especially meaningful to us.

7. DO offer to help with the dishes or other pre-concert tasks as we scurry around. We’re not likely to accept your assistance, but it sure is thoughtful to ask.

8. DO give us a choice of your CDs among those you have with you.

9. DO offer us feedback as to how we can do it better next time. Just do it gently.

10. DO make yourself available to vouch for the credibility of our series with a fellow performer if we’re having trouble reaching/booking him or her.

 

11. And a way-cool bonus? DO email or call the day or two after the show.

 

 

Top 10 Things NOT to do:

 

1. DON’T book another gig close by in geography or date without talking to us about it. There may be no problem... but there may be!

2. DON’T have your agent force us to do all the work... including finding you other gigs in the area!

3. DON’T send an email to your list without letting us know in advance. It’s probably helpful, but we might already be sold out and won’t want to disappoint your local fans.

4. DON’T forget to tell us about folks you’d like to comp for the show... far in advance! If we’ve already sold out, it’s awkward for us to squeeze them in.

5. DON’T be late to our house! It throws off our schedule... and our nerves... when you’re late. (And please don’t sneak out early! We may want to hang out for a few minutes, totaling up the $$$, drinking a beer with you, chatting, etc.)

6. DON’T tell us who we must book next. We definitely appreciate suggestions, but we probably have a long list of folks we’d like to present and don’t want to feel obligated to you.

7. After doing all of these, DON’T query about being booked again next year

8. DON’T spend all the pre-show time talking to the other performers, leaving us out of the conversation.

9. DON’T express disappointment in CD sales or the ultimate financial outcome for the night. It’s probably too late to do anything about it, and it just makes us feel badly.

10. DON’T forget to bring lots of product. It’s awful to create enthusiastic new fans who aren’t able to take some of your music home!

]]>Back It Up!http://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/22/back-it-up.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-22T18:20:53ZWelcome to another Monday. I’ve spent the last five days wrestling with my laptop (new) trying to get whatever worm/virus/caca that got in there to leave and allow me to go back to just using it effortlessly. So far, I am screaming at the wind.

 

Which brings us to today’s post. No matter what you are doing. No matter how important or unimportant it is. No matter how little you change it. Try to remember this, cause it’s a big one.

 

BACK IT UP!

 

I have been unable to post the articles that I have written because they are locked in the ether in the laptop. I have tried for days to extract them to no avail. Hence the lack of posts here, because I kept thinking I’d get them back any second and wouldn’t have to reproduce them from memory. No chance.

 

BACK IT UP!

 

Put it on a flash drive...put it on a cd or dvd, but put it someplace else so that you can go and get it and install it on another computer because as wonderful as these things are, they are also squirrelly. Computers are almost reliable. NOT RELIABLE! Almost reliable, so you have to head them off at the pass.

 

I’ve been working at my studio computer on a new CD, “Backstage At The Resurrection” and I have five or six things almost done. And I have’t backed up anything?

 

What am I? An Idiot?

 

BACK IT UP!

 

The best way to do this is to keep all the info for each song in it’s own separate folder. Then put each folder on a separate CD so that each song has it’s own CD, you see? And don’t forget to make two copies...yes, two copies.

 

And put them in different places.

 

One copy and things can happen to it. Statistically, you stand a pretty good chance of being able to retrieve your data if you have two copies of it. Something can still go wrong, but at least you have done your best to cover your act.

 

So the short post for today, in case you forgot, is...

 

BACK IT UP!

 

 

]]>Where Do Melodies Come From?http://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/16/where-do-melodies-come-from.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-17T01:08:22ZGot this post the other day from a friend and I thought it was worth addressing here on Datamusicata.

“Not to change the subject...but I will anyway <G> Though this might be more a Datamusicata thing.

At work the other day we were talking about music and the writing of it and I was wondering HOW you (or anyone) writes music. I mean I know how to do notation, and I understand using words to describe something, to express feeling etc. and I understand drawing or painting something for the same effect, because those are things pretty much everyone can do even if they do it really badly, but where does music come from? HOW does a melody become?
I don't quite understand the vocabulary of it as it were. I kind of get writing a tune to go with words, but not writing the tune first.. I hope I'm being clear, and that it's not too lame a question. We just had too much time on our hands that day I guess <G>”

Where do melodies come from?

As a song writer with, so I’m told, a gift for melody, the question still amuses and amazes me. Here’s what I do know. I keep copious notes for the lyrics and can actually see the progression as the lyric develops, even though once the song is written, I don’t have any actual memories of writing the lyrics, only the proof in my handwriting in my notebooks.

But the melody?

I remember writing a song with Michael Smith  called Racing the Moon (which amazingly, wasn’t included in our celebrated Two Man Band Two CD on Beachwood Recordings and available at my website.)
We actually worked on the song for a couple of weeks and we had come up with what we thought was a solid melody. We finally framed the last verse lyrically so that there was a payoff, which is the way I like to write my songs. I like a melodic payoff and I like a lyric pay off; a lyric crescendo, if you will.

In any event, we finished the song and scheduled some studio time, and laid down a very solid track with Michael on bass, he and I on guitars, Dan Tinen on keyboards and a solid drum loop, which we later augmented with live percussion and high hat.

We listened to the track for a few days and then scheduled the vocal. I was singing lead on it.

As the track played in my earphones and I started singing, I felt that the melody was too subdued for the track and for the intensity of the opening lyrics.

On the spot, I simply sang a new melody, based upon the original melody, but higher and more intense. After the bridge, which was a pensive look back lyrically, I went back to the original melody and sang that for the third verse.

We all agreed that the change was dramatic and effective and we kept it.

So where did it come from?

For me, the melody is a response to a chord progression, or a response to a lyric, or when I’m playing the guitar a response to what I’m playing. I like to experiment with tones that are not normally in the chord that I am playing.

And I know that the more you write melodies, the more melodies you hear. The trick is to not write a melody (or a lyric) that has already been written. Dylan frequently takes old familiar melodies and goes up where they go down, etc. This is a good device if you are stuck for a melody.

But most of the time, the melodies simply arrive, full blown, in my head. I heard someone say that we don’t actually write songs so much as we’re just the first person to hear them.





]]>The Audience Boos You. What Do You Do?http://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/15/the-audience-boos-you-what-do-you-do.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-15T16:01:51ZSo you walk out on stage as your name is announced and the crowd goes into wild rejection. Boos, “we hate you!” “F%#k you” and you haven’t played a not yet. What do you do?

I know it sounds like a nightmare, but it has happened and will happen and in fact, has happened to me; actually more than once. Here’s the story:

I walked on stage at a theater in the midwest. I was the opening act for the jazz/rock band Blood, Sweat and Tears. The promoter had a local DJ celebrity as the emcee and I specifically asked him to not pump the audienced about BS&T and then announce me as that would put me at a disadvantage. You KNOW what happened.

The DJ walked out on stage and yelled to the crowd, “ARE YOU READY FOR BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS? ARE YOU READY FOR THE BEST JAZZ/ROCK BAND IN THE WORLD? I CAN’T HEAR YOU!”
YES, THEY ARE RIGHT HERE AND READY TO ROCK...but first here’s a folk singer from California.”

The crowd went berserk, yelling and screaming, as I walked out onto the stage.

Boos, “we hate you!” “F%k you!”

I stood there for a moment, trying to think of what I could do, and suddenly, before I even thought about it, I said into the microphone, “wow, what a bunch of pussies. You call that a boo? I’m from California and when we don’t like someone, we let them know. This is just wimp stuff. Now if you don’t like me, let me hear the boos. Let me get it.”

The crowd erupted with epithets and boos, louder than before.

“Nope,” I said. “Not enough. I’ll tell you what. I’ll count to three and you can all boo at the same time. Let’s see if that will do it. Okay, 1, 2, 3.

BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

“No, not yet. Let’s try it once more...okay 1,2,3”

BBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Which miraculously turned into laughter and applause and then they just quieted down and I did my show.

I thought about it later and wondered where that came from and what happened. And after years and years on stage, I have discovered that the audience doesn’t like to be b.s.’d. They want the truth. And when you cope to what is going on, as I did in that instance, they somehow realign themselves with you.

If you say something that offends them and you can feel them receeding like a neap tide, acknowledge it immediately. They will come back.

I remember telling some joke that sent them away from me so fast I thought I heard a pop. I immediately said, “Did you hear that? That was the sound of you all leaving the building. I had you in the palm of my hand and that joke, well, I may not use that one again.” They all laughed. And climbed right back into my hand.

So the lesson for today is to cop to what is happening when you are up there. They appreciate it and they work with you.

]]>Guarantees, Getting Them; Living Up To Themhttp://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/11/guarantees-getting-them-living-up-to-them.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-11T19:39:29ZWow, you know you are wearing too many hats, when you write a blog post and then forget to post it. Sorry. Those two weeks of one nighters with John Batdorf (www.johnbatdorfmusic.com) really wore me out, I guess. Anyhow, someone asked me about guarantees and the ramifications and I thought that this might be helpful...

What do you do when you have been given say, a thousand dollar guarantee, and you journey thousands of miles and you don’t draw but twenty people, who pay $15.00 a piece to see you? This means that the promoter is now going to have to go seven hundred dollars in the hole to pay you the guarantee.

First, we have to decide what a guarantee means. It is a two edged sword, cuts both ways and both the artist and the promoter are agreeing to certain things.

In an ideal world, to the artist it means, you guarantee to show up, sober and prepared, and to do the very best show you know how. You also guarantee to do all you can to promote the date and to get people into the venue.

To the promoter it means that in order to get the artist to perform in his venue, he is guaranteeing that no matter what happens, the artist will be paid at least the agreed upon sum. And the promoter is going to do all that he can do to promote the date and to get people into the venue in the hopes of actually getting more people to pay the entrance fee than he must pay the artist. The promoter thereby makes a profit.

The promoter usually also has ancilliary income in the form of food, beverages, parking, and venue merchandise. It is also frequently agreed upon that the promoter will participate in the merchandise sold by the artist, a percentage between a dollar a unit and fifty percent of the retail price of the artists merchandise.

I also believe that by demanding a guarantee, you are creating a situation where the promoter is enrolled. If he doesn’t get people into the venue, he loses money, so he should do all he can to assure an audience.

Now let us get back to our imaginary scenario, what does the promoter do; what does the artist do?

First of all the artist must do the best show he possibly can, no mater how few people show up. The quote I’ve heard is, “there are no small audiences, just small artists”. So in that, the artist is delivering on his guarantee and holding up his end of the bargain. The artist can by rights, demand that at least the guarnatee be paid.

But there are always considerations. What is the relationship that the artist has with the promoter? The history? Does the artist want to return to the venue? What is the financial status of the venue? Are there some extenuating circumstances that must be taken into consideration?

In my decades of performing, I have always tried to put myself in the promoter’s shoes and I have always asked him what is the amount he’d be losing and I offer to split the loss with the venue. So instead of the thousand dollar guarantee that would be paid in this fantasy scenario, as the artist, I would be paid all of the door (the three hundred dollars), plus half of the difference between the thousand and the three hundred (which would be $350.00) for a total of $650.00, instead of a thousand. Both the promoter and the artist would be losing $350.00. Sometimes the promoter goes with that, sometimes he refuses to give the guarantee or any money at all.

These things have all happened to me, at one time or another.

I can also tell you that, in my experience, no promoter has ever hired me back when I have done cost them money. In the venues where I have taken no guarantee and had a small turnout, I have been rehired—for the same no guarantee and the same small house.

And from the promoter’s side, he’s in business to make money. He makes money when the acts he hires bring in patrons. When they don’t, why should he hire that act again?

Now sometimes a promoter believes in an act and brings them back anyhow believing an audience can be built for the act. And the act reciprocates by performing, even if it is initially at a personal loss. But very few people possess this sort of perspicacity. It seems to be that if you cost someone money, they don’t hire you back.

If the artist agrees to waive the guarantee and just take the door, does this guarantee that the promoter will have the artist back? No, it does not. It does demonstrate that the artist is a decent sort and that the guarantee wasn’t a guarantee.

So what are we to do?

It goes back to my favorite question...what do I want to have happen here?

If I want to come back to the club, then what I have to do is create a situation that will guarantee that (as best as guarantees can be upheld). I have never been a bridge burner so...

Perhaps suggesting that if they will hire me back again at some specified date for a smaller guarantee, I would be willing to waive the guarantee and just take the door this time.

If the promoter isn’t willing to do that, then you must face the fact that he’s not going to hire you back anyway and try to get him to live up to his guarantee, though how you can do that without spending even lots more money is beyond me.

The union won’t back you up in that situation, in my experience, though they still expect their work dues. You are thousands of miles from home and would have great difficulty suing the venue. What do you do?

Maybe be a nice guy and just take the door and assume the entire loss yourself? It doesn’t seem fair, but this isn’t fair...this is showbusiness.

I would love to hear some other suggestions as to what to do in this case, because sooner or later, it happens to all of us. What would you do?

]]>House Guest's Ten Most Important Things To Rememberhttp://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/5/house-guests-ten-most-important-things-to-remember.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-05T12:53:50ZThese are, I believe, the ten most important things for you to remember when you are a house guest. This especially includes when you are the performer at a house concert as well; because when you do a house concert you are frequently also a guest for the night.

1. Keep the host in the loop. Call in advance, let them know when you are coming. If you are going to be late, or early, let them know. Don’t leave them hanging. And keep your word. Arrive when you say you will.
2. If you have dietary needs; if you are diabetic; if you are allergic; whatever, let them know.
3. Arrive with everything you need and something for them; a gift, a bottle of wine, something. If you need batteries or strings, a strap, bridge pins, music, whatever, have it with you when you arrive so no one needs to go looking for; shopping for; racing like a maniac for whatever you forgot.
4. If you require time to yourself before the gig (as I always do) let them know that you require that. If you don’t want to be disturbed before the performance, let them know that. If you like to mingle before the gig, let them know that. Let them know your personal, psychological and/or performance needs in advance, so that they can accommodate them and be prepared for them before you arrive.
5. Do an inventory before you leave for the gig. Do the same inventory when you arrive. Know how many different things you carried in. And if someone helps you, only let them do so after you have put everything together for the trip from or to the car. This way you don’t forget anything and you don’t leave anything behind.
6. Once there, keep everything consolidated. The easiest way to leave something behind is to have it in another room, another place. Always put everything back when you use it. This includes their things as well. And if you keep all your things in a small consolidated space, you impose less on your hosts space.
7. Respect their space and their property. No muddy boots on the kitchen table. Inquire as to whether you are supposed to take off your shoes when you are in their home. Some folks don’t care. But always ask. Be considerate of them as people and as hosts. Imagine how you ‘d like to be treated by your guests and surpass that.
8. Be neat and clean. Your socks on their bannister, your toothbrush out, your used toothpaste in a glob in the sink is not cool. Be like the indians and leave no footprint, and never bring a sleepover date.
9. Gather your towels, strip your bed, put everything in a little pile and find out where the laundry room is. Put all your used linens there. Simply make it as easy as you possibly can for them to have you as a guest in their home.
10. Thank them for having you when you arrive. Thank them from the stage for having the concert. Thank them for their hospitality when you say good night. Thank them for all the trouble that they went to on your behalf. And send them a thank you note when you get home. Demonstrate your gratitude and do it sincerely. It is a magnificent gesture they are making by having you perform in their home.

]]>A Visit to CF Martin in Nazareth, Pennsylvaniahttp://www.datamusicata.com/journal/2009/6/4/a-visit-to-cf-martin-in-nazareth-pennsylvania.htmljames lee stanley2009-06-04T18:54:04ZYesterday, I had the pleasure of touring the CF Martin Guitar Factory in Nazareth, Pa with my pal, John Batdorf (www.johnbatdorfmusic.com)

Anyone who plays acoustic guitar owes it to their self to make the journey to eastern Pennsylvania and experience this commitment to excellence. (www.martinguitar.com)

I was lucky enough to go there with John, who has a life long admirer in Dick Boak, the Director of Artists Relations for Martin, so we got the most amazing tour.

From the place where they store the wood (millions of dollars worth of precious rosewood, koa, flame maple, etc), to the inlay around the sound hole to the ledgers wherein CF Martin himself entered data, it was thrilling

Since 1833, Martin has been making remarkable acoustic guitars and all the best players in the world seem to agree that Martin is one of the finest instruments being made today.

And they seem to have broken it down into areas where each person contributes their expertise to the overall product. While it was a factory, it didn’t exactly seem like one.

Most everything still seems to be done by hand, tho they do have some robotics in place to spray the lacquer evenly and to do the rough buffing out of the guitars. The final touches are always applied personally by us humans.

Since I saw the first Kingston Trio album at the age of 12, I have thought that the D-28, played by Bob Shane, was the most elegant guitar I had ever seen. It still looks like a piece of art to me and I am delighted to have one--mine also has the herringbone inlay around the body which is my favorite.

I could hang it on the wall and just look at it. But these guitars must be played and that’s what we also got to do while we were there.

Dick took us into the museum where guitars are on display dating from 1833 to the present. And for us, the most amazing and gracious thing was that Dick let us play them. This is obviously a very rare and precious permission that doesn’t happen often.

We were fortunate in that Dick is such an admirer of John’s work, so we played a half a dozen instruments that sounded just like a great guitar should sound. One 1942 D-45 we played was worth more than my house. Don’t you know I was careful with that one.

If you play guitar then you  must check it out. Make the time and go see where the acoustic guitar began here in the United States. What a fun and informative visit it was, and Dick Boak was so passionate about the guitars and there was no question that we asked that he couldn’t give a fascinating answer to. It was a great day. We thought we’d be there an hour. We were there six and a half hours. Go!

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