Blogging the Blues
October 13, 2008
Mom’s Day Out: My Son’s First Blues Performance
by Lisa Youngclaus
I must admit it has been fascinating to watch my son’s musical gift develop. I wondered what was up when he turned on a rock radio station when he was 14 months old and danced naked in perfect rhythm with some very soulful moves. By age six he was playing the piano, then drums and guitar. It’s a beautiful thing to see a God-given talent unfold effortlessly and joyfully. Now fourteen, my son plays in a band and continues to love and study all types of music. Lately, “The Blues” have been absorbing his time. After several weeks of long rehearsals, he and his band headed off to their first serious Blues performance and competition.
“Blues Challenge”, sponsored by The Piedmont Blues Preservation Society.
Oct. 12, Zion Bar and Grille, Greensboro, NC
3:30 p.m.: We arrive at the Zion Bar and Grille, just off I-40 West, on the outskirts of Greensboro. The parking lot is packed with lots of trucks with trailers that hold band equipment. A gray-haired musician is plugged in on an electric guitar, sitting in the back tailgate of his truck. The music sounds good.
3:35p.m.: My son’s band is walking around the parking lot getting psyched. The boys are definitely going to be a novelty with this older crowd. My fourteen-year -old, Will, wants to drink a Red Bull. His teacher, Baxter, warns him about tempo, e.g. “Watch the caffeine”. Will, the drummer, is jazzed up enough.
3:40 p.m.: We all look inside. It’s a very basic place with wood floors, a dance floor and stage, people sitting at tables, eating and drinking at plastic tables covered with striped vinyl table covers. The bar off to the side is packed and lively. It’s a mostly middle-aged crowd with a few younger couples with children.
3:42 p.m.: Here comes a gray-haired man in a hot pink sport coat and black fedora with a matching pink band. Weirdly awesome. His band buddy, in a similar get- up in lime green, has a long ponytail and wire-rim glasses. Hmmmm….what’s going on here?
3:45 p.m.: Our band calls themselves “Members Only” and are wearing vintage 1980’s Member’s only jackets—pretty funny that what I thought was so embarrassing, these kids now think is cool. The three of them, two fourteen-year-old students and their music teacher, come in with instruments and gear. The boys are clean cut and Baxter, their teacher, looks like a punk rocker. Their group is definitely out of place with this crowd.
3:55 p.m.: They are announcing the three finalists from round one. The guy next to me just told me he’s in a band and hopes they are finalists. Here comes the verdict: “T. Hammer”, “WSNB” (We Sing Nasty Blues)–what a name– and “Miles and the Blues Review”.
3:57 p.m.: Bad Situation,” the band sitting next to me, didn’t make it. Too bad. They look like nice guys. The bass player just told me he is in advertising. He works at the Daly agency in Greensboro. They said they thought they were too Rock and Roll for the judges who are looking for “pure” blues. Probably not good for us, either. ZZ Top might not cut it.
4:00 p.m.: The first band in our set is on. They are good. They have a bass player, drummer and guitarist/vocalist. “Just can never let you go…”
4:05 p.m.: The bass player and guitar player just switched. That’s neat. I’m thinking that Will should do that since he plays drums and guitar. More of the same. Vocalist is screaming. Painful.
4:07 p.m.: Feel worried for the boys. Hope they don’t choke. Baxter is cool. “Just have fun,” he says. “Let’s have a good time.”
4:10 p.m.: The last number is very upbeat and bluesy—the best. “I have love, I will travel.” Two little girls are dancing in the aisles. One is wearing shiny black boots and a blonde ponytail. “These boots are made for walking…”
4:13 p.m.: The nice guys that lost (“Bad Situation”) tell me they are playing at Coopers Ale House on the October 25th.
4:15 p.m.: The next group setting up. Very big guy upfront with a fedora hat. What’s with the fedoras? Is that a blues thing? Two guitarists, bassist, drummer. “Blues de Ville” is the band. Big John Hutchins is the big singer out front. They are introduced as a progressive blues band…raw, bare-boned, electric -in –your- face sound” Let’s see…
4:16 p.m.: Big John is screaming and shaking like three “Elvises”. Oh my. These guys are older than me. Or at least as old as me! They must have fans. “Go Big John!” is being screamed by several loud women. Whoops– the cymbal just fell off. Oh no. I hope that doesn’t happen to Will!
4:17 p.m.: These guys are good. Sound professional. They have been at it awhile. “I can’t see the street for my tears…” Now I am thinking about Chicago Blues Bars, remembering good times.
4:20 p.m.: I just met the bar owner. She wanted to know what newspaper I was with! She shook my hand! “Sorry. Just a class!”
4:22 p.m.: That’s it. We’re next. YIKES! They have 10 minutes to set up,
4:25 p.m.: I Just helped Will secure the cymbal that flew off. I think its okay. He seems fine. I am nervous and, Nick is a bit nervous. Nick’s Dad sets up a new tripod and video camera. He reminds me of a “country” version of Murray, the band manager on “Flight of the Conchords”. I have to film using Will’s little Flip video camera. The crowd is buzzing about the kids. Keep your fingers crossed!
4:30 p.m.: “Introducing, Members Only!”
4:45 p.m.: I’m back from filming. THEY WERE SO AWESOME!!! REALLY! The crowd was clapping and “WHOOOOOING”. If the judges are going for “young, hip talent”, they’re in. If they are going for old-timers, traditional blues, they’re out.
4:50 p.m.: “How did we do? “ Will and Nick are asking? I tell them, “Great”. Will is not sure. He thinks he sped up on the last number. “Big deal,” Baxter says, “You guys were awesome. I am so proud of you.” They beam.
Baxter wants to know how his singing sounded. I tell him great after the first song. For the first song, the mic level was too low. The rest of the set was “fantastic.” He really has the best voice I have heard here so far. Better than Big John. But I am biased.
4:55 p.m.: Next group. Looks like all the others. We shall see. They have a guy with a keyboard around his neck. That’s neat.
5:00 p.m.: Still going. They’re good, but I am bored. I can’t tell the difference between some of the bands. Best thing here is that piano deal in terms of uniqueness. Is “uniqueness” a criterion?
5:15 p.m.: Will just asked for the car keys so he and Nick can go listen to music? What? Isn’t that what we’re doing? I pray everyday for God to let me understand fourteen-year-old boys.
5:20 p.m.: The next band is up, an older group. This one has a sax, which I love. This group has played in the House of Blues in Hollywood, according to the introduction. They are “The Servitones.” Why are the singers all so big? Baxter, in our band, weighs about 90 lbs. But he’s a rocker.
5:22 p.m.: Now a harmonica. I think these guys will make the finals. The big singer has a lot of soul: “Too Sorry For You”
5:30 p.m.: An old drunk man just asked me what I was doing. I told him I was live blogging for a class. He leaned in closer and said, “You wanna dance?” Oh dear. “No thanks. Have to blog on.”
5:35 p.m.: Wow! A really beautiful, older, very thin black lady in a fabulous brown jersey dress just went onto the dance floor and started dancing! Now a group of younger women just joined in. Oh no! The old drunk man is out there grabbing at all the women! I’m not sure I want the kids here tonight. This is a little weird and hilarious.
People are getting drunk. This thing started at 2:00p.m.
5:40 p.m.: I love the black lady. She is so cool. She is wearing a long strand on pearls and her hair is in a French knot. Awesome. She must be eighty years old and she looks great!
5:45 p.m.: Last band in this set. Another big guy singer. Middle- aged again. No vocals? They are good musicians though. It’s a shame they don’t have a singer.
5:46 p.m.: I am trying to text my best friend while I blog. I am 48 years old, sitting in a bar trying to live blog, film a video with a Flip camera, while taking pictures and texting. I might explode.
5:50: “Pearl” (my nickname for her) is dancing again. She is my hero. So cool and can she move! I want to talk to her.
5:55 p.m.: I just talked to Pearl! I told her I thought she looked beautiful on the dance floor. She smiled. Then I asked her how old she was? “Ninety one”. WOW! Highlight of the day!
5:56 p.m.: Old drunk man’s wife is trying to get him to go home. She is not getting anywhere.
6:00 p.m.: Waiting for the announcement of the finalists. Whoops! Another band. Must be a late entry. I’m taking a bathroom break.
6:10 p.m.: This band is the same. The boys are outside throwing rocks. They’re still boys. Reminds me of Will digging for worms in the outfield during Pee Wee league baseball games.
6:13 p.m.: I am suddenly becoming paranoid that I have lost a significant amount of hearing which was already not good. I could go completely deaf if they make the final round.
6:20 p.m.: I just heard a little girl say, “I think my eardrums are blew”. I’m with you, honey.
6:30 p.m.: We are all waiting for the results of the second round. The winners will play again from 7:00 to 10:00. Right now I am having a hard time being up for that!
6:40 p.m.: Waiting. Hungry. Finally. Here comes the lady with the results card. Here she goes: “Round two winners are…”Blues de ville”… two more I couldn’t clearly hear, but not “Members Only”.
Epilogue: After a nice dinner at Carrabas Italian Grill, we all vow to try a Blues competition again sometime and congratulate the boys. They are a bit down but glad to be going home. We all agree it was a good experience and now the band has a good solid set and are ready to perform around town. The boys smile about that. So cute. Will is the most insightful about the results: He says, “Mom, you guys thought they would vote for us because we were kids. I think they wouldn’t vote for us because we were kids. How would you feel if you had been playing blues for 30 years and some kids came in here and beat you?” The mouths of babes….
Links:
Piedmont Blues Preservation Society
Personal Affects: Reactions to ”Blogging the Blues”
The mere thought of taking my laptop into a smoky bar and trying to type while my son played drums in one of his first “public appearances” gave me a bit of anxiety. How was I going to type constantly and not miss the performance and socialize with the other people I was there with? My son protested, too, “Mom, that is going to be so embarrassing. Why do you have to take your computer?” Despite these reservations, and being quite unsure of what I was actually doing, having never live-blogged before, I packed up my Mac book and hoped for the best.
After the initial self-consciousness and explanations about my class assignment, I just sat down, opened my Mac and started typing. After awhile, I actually didn’t mind the distraction which allowed me to be somewhat anti-social, which is not my nature. But even I would have otherwise had a hard time “shooting the breeze” for three hours amid the deafening sounds of electric blues riffs.
The hardest things were keeping track of the time, writing meaningful phrases instead of boring observations, and getting the full “gestalt” of the event while being distracted by the details I was blogging about. Yet, in the end, I think the “whole” did convey the gestalt. I find that fascinating as I have never considered writing in that manner to be a viable form of good communication.
Overall, I still feel a lack of confidence that my minute by minute thoughts are “worthy” of readership, entertaining or otherwise. I am more “old school” and still feel as if any writing I do must be well thought out, edited, researched, supportable, etc. On the other hand live-blogging was a freeing experience. These actual “notes”, and a little “gussying up” afterwards, are the final product? You mean I’m done? Hmmmmm….
Revision Note: Incorporated your corrections and added an introductory paragraph, per your advice.
