Volume
Nineteen
August 2010 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
The worst thing about 2010 has been
losing my father (see "In Memory" section). The best thing has been my
older brother Dave moving here from California. He's an interesting guy,
a very good musician and a man of great wisdom. We're doing some music
projects together, he plays with my band here and there and we have more
stuff in the works.
Dave
The highlight of the summer was being
a guest at Albert Goodman's lodge up in Northern WI. We got to hang out
with Albert and some very old friends and had great weather almost every
day. At night we would jam and party until the wee hours. This year Jim
Url was up there with his wife, Jean. He's a great bass player and also
plays a mean mandolin. Babs Hannon and her hubby Brent were also there,
and they played some really cool Latin music...she singing and playing
concertina with Brent on guitar. Later Babs would sing and Brent would
switch to drums and together we made some great music. All this was made
even better because we were playing for our friends.
Mary preparing to go hiking
in the Nicolet Forest
Last week I fixed our bicycles which were in need of repair, and the
plan is to ride a few times a week to get some more exercise. Seems like
the only work-out I get these days is lugging equipment to and from a
gig. Remind me to get a lighter guitar amp....
Volume
Eighteen
April 2010 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
This has been an exciting time for me
musically, as I suddenly departed from the trio format and added an
extra piece to my group in the form of the very talented Brian Taylor.
Brian plays sax and other reeds and woodwinds, and also guitar, so his
presence will add a lot to the music. We've only had a few rehearsals so
far, and a few performances, but already I am overjoyed at the sound
we're getting. Brian will be helping with the album project, as well,
and I'm really looking forward to hearing horn arrangements on my
originals.
I learned so much playing in the
trio format. I had really never played in that format much prior to this
experience. I know it has made me a better musician, but now I am eager
to enjoy the textures and harmonies only achievable in a larger band
format.
You really should come out and
hear this new sound!
Volume
Seventeen
March 2010 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
Are Performers Pestering
Their Facebook Fans?
I've been on Facebook since nearly the beginning, and have many of my
music contacts and buddies there on my 'friends' list. It seems like
everyday I get asked to join someone's 'fan club', but I decided early
on that the whole fan thing on Facebook is a nuisance to the people who
receive the endless stream of gig invitations and fan club requests. I
haven't asked anyone to become my fan, either, and don't plan to.
Sometimes it's nicer to invite people to a gig with a friendly e-mail or
a phone call instead of the invitation style mechanism Facebook uses
requiring some kind of response. I think that's intrusive and adds to
our already cluttered mailboxes.
Facebook has some really cool
features and is a great way to keep in touch with people in real-time. I
still don't get the whole barnyard thing and really don't understand how
some people can spend so much time tending to some virtual farm. The
barnyard requests in my mailbox are just as annoying as the fan club
requests and gig invites.
I've reconnected with some folks I knew a long time ago on Facebook, and
it's really easy to find an old friend assuming they are Facebook
members. Just enter their name into the search box on your home page and
you'll get a list of people with that name. You can tell who's who
by the profile pic, the home town or some other detail.
Facebook is a great way for
musicians and artists to showcase their wares, especially with the
Reverb Nation bundle. I have several of my songs posted on my page and
one of them, "Southbound Train" has been steadily climbing the charts.
If people choose to, they can view my gig calendar and listen to some of
my music, and that's good enough for me. I hope my musician pals don't
think me a snob when I ignore the fan club requests, I just don't want
to be a part of it.
Volume
Sixteen
March 2010 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
Spring is almost here, and boy am I
glad! The good thing about Winter though, is that it always brings with
it a period of creativity and production as I spend lots of time holed
up in my studio. I've been working with Joel Packer and Chris Pastin
religiously on our album project. Our first song is an original of mine
titled, "Juniper", which is coming along very nicely and will feature a
tenor sax part by Brian Taylor. It's a Latin influenced instrumental
and showcases Chris Pastin's command of not only traps, but percussion
too. He's has an incredible mastery of different rhythms, and is quite
adept at conga and hand percussion instruments. Joel is always adding
creative elements to the compositions and the guy is like "Mr. Music
Theory", so together we compliment each other with our various talents.
These guys are helping me take my songs to a new level of sophistication
and high quality, which is really exciting.
I'm working with Peter Quinn again on
some new songs, which is always fun. We somehow manage to continually
come up with compelling music together. He has such good ideas and we
both have different perspectives on certain things, but we always seem
to find that middle ground in our collaborations.
The Blue Monday jam at The Vine is
plugging along. Last week we had King Robinson in as a special guest
star and it was so much fun playing with him again, as it's been awhile.
We did a really swampy version of "The Same Thing", along with favorites
from the old Housewrecker's days. Jimmy Egan came up and added some
really tasty guitar licks to "Crawlin' Kingsnake" as we took that song
to a new and interesting place. Last year the jam closed for some of the
Winter months due to poor attendance, but this year we've remained open
all season with only a few really slow nights. I think people are
finding out that while there may be a volume issue at this jam, it's a
place to go to find really good musicians to play with. It's a small
space with so-so acoustics, so the volume needs to be controlled, but
the reality is that lower volume usually equates to better music in the
end.
Finally, there's Mac, our dog....
Pics were taken just before we had
him trimmed last week. He loves the snow, especially when he finds a
frozen goose turd, which I think Mac believes is a special popsicle
treat just for him. That would also explain his horrible breath, too!
Volume
Fifteen
December 2009 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
2009 was a great year! Lot's of
family, lots of music, a few adventures, and we're all healthy which is
the biggest blessing of all. We're just lucky to be here because life is
so precious. We lost a few good friends this year....Billy Ferrick...Kimmy
Friel...very sad. We will always remember them.
On a positive note, the end of 2009
brings some new musical directions. I have started working on an album
project with Joel Packer and Chris Pastin. The album will feature a
collection of those original songs of mine that are not currently
performed in my trio. The material is mostly older, written in the 80's
and 90's. I am also getting ready to do a recording project with Andrew
Szymanski and Chris Damman, but that project is less daunting as we're
slated to record mostly songs we currently perform live. 2010 promises
to be a very musical year because of the recording, but also because of
the new ground we are breaking creatively. I am so lucky to have the
pleasure of playing with such inspiring and awesome musicians. They have
pushed me into new territory with my playing and together we are all
growing wihin our 3-piece format. It's interesting that I play regularly
with 2 different trios. My 'regular' trio is Chris Dammann on upright
bass and Andrew Szymanski on drums, and together we play most of the
gigs on my calendar. The 'other' trio has Joel Packer on bass and Chris
Pastin on drums. Together we host the Blue Monday jam every week at The
Vine of Grayslake and we do some gigs together, as well. In addition,
the guys fill in for each other if there's a date conflict so it works
out pretty well. The best news though, is I get to play with these
fantastic players. In both groups we are simultaneously discovering
these new musical paths that are really interesting and exciting. This
is all based on the fact that we've all been playing together for awhile
now and we're getting good at reading the other guy and anticipating.
This means we can do more improvisational and experimental exchanges,
yet they all seem to work out. The cool thing about that is that one
successful musical journey inspires another and each time you want to
explore further and deeper. Another very cool thing I've noticed is that
the audience really responds to this free form music. They know what's
going on and they dig it. We still play our 'regular' songs and they are
getting really tight, but on every gig we lay down some of this new
music because it's going somewhere....it's developing into a new sound
for us and I long to see where we go next.
Either way, I am the lucky one
because I continue to thrive among these great musicians. The album with
Packer and Pastin will be a gas because both these guys bring so much to
the table in terms of taking my songs to another, higher level. I'm also
really excited about bringing these older songs to life. The songs were
never appropriate for trio, and when I had a 4 piece band we were doing
mostly blues, so the songs didn't fit in. These old songs mean a lot to
me and heck, they're good songs!
Both versions of the trio have a
different sound, mainly because one has an upright bass and one has
electric bass, but it goes way beyond that. The trio's sound different
because of the different combinations of individual musicians. They have
different backgrounds, different training, influences and experience.
They all have their own individual flair and expertise they bring to
bear and it comes out in the music. I have the unique perspective, as I
pretty much do the same things with both groups, and yet the sound and
style differs greatly from one to the other. It's a super musical trip
that I'm really enjoying!!
Volume
Fourteen
October 2009 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
There's nothing like a camping trip
to get reacquainted with nature and to evoke the primal man within. In
late September between gigs, I talked Mary into a short camping trip to
somewhere we had never been, Yellowstone Lake, Wisconsin. We didn't want
to drive too awfully far, and this was a mere 2 and 3/4 hours from us.
We hadn't been camping in over 5 years, and I missed it having been
lucky enough to be born into a 'camping family' and having experienced
camping trips to Yosemite, The Grand Canyon, Sequoia, Lake Tahoe, Rocky
Mountain National Park, Yellowstone and many other awesome spots
including various outings to the coast of California near where I grew
up. This recent trip, however short, reminded me how great it is to
pitch a tent and cook over an open fire.
Yellowstone Lake is a 455 acre lake
nestled within a relatively small 1,000 acre state park adjacent to a
4,000 acre protected wildlife area. It's beautiful country...very hilly
and surrounded by farms. It's about 40 miles north of Monroe.
Funny, but we didn't do much more than just enjoy camping...
There were some good hiking trails, and the lake there full of
fish, but we just felt like hanging out and enjoying our spot...
The campground was virtually empty, so it was very quiet and
peaceful. I played a lot of acoustic guitar and Mary read a lot.
I did all the cooking and with the help of this tripod
contraption the boys gave me recently, I was able to regulate
the cooking temperature and everything came out really well...
It's got a grill device you can raise and lower...I made beef
stew in the dutch oven the first night, followed by an apple,
marshmallow, coconut, walnut, brown sugar and butter concoction
that cooks in the campfire embers in foil while ya eat dinner,
for dessert.The next morning I served english muffins spread
with butter and a thick layer of creme cheese, topped with an
apple, cinnamon and brown sugar sauce that I sauteed. Of course
sausage and bacon on the side and fresh squeezed orange juice...
The second night I made a chicken gumbo in the dutch oven that
really came out well. The tricky part was controlling the
temperature at the end, after I added the rice, but thanks to
the tripod, it was perfect!
For breakfast the last day, I went
all out and made an egg soufflé in the small cast iron frying
pan (covered by the lid to the Dutch oven), with cheese, onions
and red and green bell peppers. I make hash browns, pancakes,
sausage and bacon and served it with a kick-ass Bloody-Mary,
garnished with a lime and green olives speared and stuck into
the celery stalk. I have this huge cast iron frying pan about
20" in diameter for multitasking.....hehe...
I built a little shower using a solar heated water supply (a
bag you hoist into the sun with a tube and a nozzle). Since the
sun wasn't out much, the showers were cold, but hot showers were
only a short walk away within the campground. It was fun to have
our own little place to wash up anyway.
We did have a little rain the first day, and I had to resort
to using white gas to get the wet wood to catch fire.
I had come prepared and strung up a large tarp over the
campsite area, so it really wasn't bad at all. It was just
drizzling anyway. It was a bit challenging setting up camp
in the rain, but the next few days were fine.
Mary loved the camping and I think I have her talked into
doing it again in the Spring. Mac the dog did good, too. It
was his first ever camping trip.
Now I have to figure out where to go camping next,
because I definitely have the bug again!
__________________________________________________________________
My old friend Greg Hester, who is a very accomplished jazz
pianist, came into town on a tour with singer Elena
Welsh and stayed with Mary and I for a few days. Greg and I
grew up in Los Gatos, California. I hadn't
seen Greg in something like 39 years, although we had been
keeping touch via e-mail recently. What a great guy, and a
fantastic musician. We really had a great time together,
playing music and recording, watching old jazz videos on YouTube, eating
good food and drinking outstanding wine, and hanging out. He
even accompanied me to my gig this morning at The Community
Church of Lake Forest & Lake Bluff and played a bit on the
Steinway grand there. I had a gig there with my trio, thanks
to my friend Ken Hall their musical director (Ken plays
piano very well, but is more known as a great
vibraphonist....you can hear Ken with The Messenger
Ensemble). This is a very cool, liberal minded church with a
very dynamic minister in Tom Dickelman. Music is featured
prominently in their services and the people I've met there
are really nice.
During Greg's visit, we recorded a few
songs with the help of Joel Packer on bass and Chris Pastin
on drums. Greg loves be-bop, so we did a few of his
originals and he really pushed this old blues guy to keep up
with him....whew!! I had to dust off the old chord book on
some of his stuff, but it was so inspiring to play with him
and also to revisit that boppin' jazz that I hadn't played
for at least 30 years. I learned a bunch from him and can't
wait to do some more musical projects with him on his future
visits here.
Here's Greg playing my acoustic piano at the house...
Greg also came with when I sub-hosted the Firehouse blues
jam for Crazy Al. Here's Greg doing a song with Joel and
Chris...
Greg's visit was inspiring and nostalgic as we talked about
old memories from Los Gatos California, and we talked about
our old schoolmates and places we used to go. Lately I've
been yearning to visit my old home state, so maybe now I'll
get my ass out there. Greg can be seen performing with his
jazz trio throughout northern California and beyond. Thanks
for coming Greg, and thanks for buying that great wine!!
Also putting the finishing touches to the 'utility shed'
addition I built onto the workshop I built several years
ago. Now I have a place to park my lawn tractor, and a much
more suitable storage area for garden tools, camping gear,
and lots of other stuff.
Around the same time, I built this little walkway to join
the back patio to the stairs leading to the back door of the
house. About a third of the wood was recycled from an old
jungle gym from Jay Rivelli's yard...thanks, Jay!
Now I need only to scatter some grass seed and this area
will really look nice!
Volume
Thirteen
June 2009 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
I'm a bit behind with my newsletter.
Still reeling from the loss of old friend Billy Ferrick. Memorial jam
for him July 19th at Potato Creek Johnny's in Glenview.
Had a very nice trip to Florida
with son Rob and his wife Margie, son Dan and his GF Courtney and wife
Mary...
Here's a few pics...
Above: Mary and Courtney
Above: Me biking
Above: Rob catching a snapper
Above: Dan boarding
Volume
Twelve
October 2008 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
The last month has been very
eventful! It's been a gas working with songwriter/performer George
Chalifoux in my studio. We recorded 7 songs, and they all came out
great. Actually, we're still tweaking a few things. George did a great
job and laid down some great guitar tracks behind his vocals. His
original, Loose Women" is one of my favorites, with an infectious groove
and intriguing 'bar-story' lyrics, punctuated by some gut-bucket guitar
riffs throughout. His cover of Van Morrison's, "Cleaning Windows" is
magnificent, done it a new way on a creamy groove with great
guitar work by George.
Here's George laying down a guitar
bit:
I
Also had a ball putting together the little video for my song, "Amerika"...you
can get that on my Home page (scroll down a bit). I am now working on a
higher quality video for my song, "Something Changed". This song always
gets a very positive reaction when we perform it live, and I'm hoping it
will reach more people using the video.
I am also playing with a new bass
player, Chris Dammann, a very talented younger dude who's background is
mainly jazz. It's a perfect compliment to my songs and the arrangements
of the covers we do.
Here's Chris...
Chris plays a mean electric bass,
too, but I think we'll stick with the upright on most of the material.
Welcome, Chris!
These days
I'm working on finishing tracks in my studio. I have a bunch of songs
that still need work, including the last 2 sessions I did with Ed
Williams before he moved. I also have a few new songs in the
works, which I hope to record with the band soon.
Volume
Eleven
September 2008 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
The Monday night open mic blues jam
at The Vine is no longer, but it was a nice run of almost a year and a
half. Thanks to all those who came out and enjoyed it! We had some good
times and made some really good music.
The radio show is doing great, and
I'm especially fortunate to have been given the two hour Sunday night
time slot. It's a much better time period for a blues radio show, and so
far it has been received very well. We're going to have a bunch of fun
in the upcoming months!
George Chalifoux has been doing some great work in my studio over the
last month on his project. Singer Mandy Zahn has been helping me lay
down vocal tracks on several of my album tracks. And I'm writing some
new songs now, and updating a few of my old ones. I plan to focus on
finishing the 2 albums I've been working on for the last year and a
half. I now have plenty of tracks, and just have to finish some odds and
ends plus editing and mixing.
"Summertime's Coming", a song I wrote
earlier this year, came out great in the studio and will be on one of my
albums. I'm also working on a project which will be made into a video,
due to be released in October.
Speaking of video's, check out the
videos I now have on You Tube:
Click Here
Volume
Ten
June 2008 Written By Bruce WilliamsI
T
Here's some pics of my
trio at The 3rd Annual Greenwood Park Blues Fest. Thanks to all the
folks who came out to enjoy a great day of blues and fun in the sun!
Special thanks to Jellybone and Steve Wik and Soul-Funk for donating
their time and putting on excellent shows. This event is organized by
volunteers and spearheaded by the amazing Marty Nelson. I'm glad we were
there, and Jim (bass) and Tony (drums) were in outstanding form. We
jammed with Bill Douglas later in the day, he with his vintage Les Paul
gold top and me with my custom shop reissue gold top. That was a blast,
too!
The last
jam at The Vine with Ed Williams, and it was quite a night. Ed took a
few of his signature drum solos, but that last one was killer. Here's a
few pictures:
The week before, we did some
recording at my place and got some really good takes. A few of the
tracks will be on my new album. Here's a few photos from the session:
Ed Williams was a such pleasure to
play with. He was one of those guys I just connected with musically and
otherwise. When we were playing, we could really anticipate the other
and inspire each other. I'll really miss his talent, his musicianship,
his showmanship and his friendship. I know our paths will cross again.
Here he is at a recent gig:
Volume
Nine
May 2008 Written By Bruce Williams
I never predicted I'd be doing radio,
but here I am with my own blues hour on WRLR FM, and I'm having a ball!
It's been challenging and fun learning this medium, and the more I do
it, the more comfortable I feel on the air. One of the highlights of
doing the radio show is that I get to play the music that I want,
including my own music. Sometimes, I bring a guitar to the broadcast
studio and play during my show, and in the upcoming months, I'll be
having some special guests in to jam with me on the air. The station is
small, and only reaches out to about a 30 mile radius of Round Lake
Heights, but can be accessed via the internet at
www.justintv.com/wrlr.
I am also able to use the radio show to promote my appearances, which is
a great marketing tool.
The other recent news is I have
cut back on hosting the open mic blues jams. I am now concentrating on
only the Monday night open mic at The Vine in Grayslake, and have
dropped the others. It was becoming a bit much to do 3 jams a week, plus
it appears that there's over-saturation as far as blues jams in this
area. Many bars have jumped on the 'jam' bandwagon, as they try to find
ways to increase business on slow weeknights. I plan to use the extra
time in my schedule to catch up on recording projects, rehearse with my
band and of course, hustle gigs. I'll also have more time for composing,
which was getting hard to work in. I really thank all the musicians and
blues lovers who supported me at the other jams, and hope they continue
to come out to The Vine on Monday nights to help create those magical
musical moments we all love.
Finally, I hope everyone get out
to see my band over the next few months, to check out Ed Williams before
he moves to Hawaii. Ed has been my drummer for over 4 years now, and he
will be missed greatly. We have shared many musical adventures, both on
gigs and in the recording studio, and he has helped me shape the sound
of the band with his creativity and style. Ed, in the US Navy music
program, is being transferred in mid-June and expects some sea duty, as
his musical legacy grows and carries him to Pacific ports halfway around
the world.
Volume
Eight
January 2008 Written By Bruce Williams
Casper was the greatest dog. He was
smart, he was cool, was was sensitive and playful. He was a top pure
bred standard and he knew he was special. There is a big void around
here with him gone. He left us with some great and everlasting memories,
though. We'll miss him a lot.
Volume
Seven
October 2007 Written By Bruce Williams
Marie and I are having a lot of fun
and success with our duet, and gigs are picking up. Our sound is really
coming together, too, and I'm especially happy with our arrangements of
my original songs. These songs had to be revamped from full ensemble
arrangements to the paired down stand-up bass and acoustic guitar
configuration of the duet. We've also talked about adding a
percussionist on certain gigs, because that would really add a lot to
the songs we perform.
Peter and I are still meeting
regularly to write and record new songs. Our latest song, "I Cry Just A
Little" is our first 'serious' song together. The other songs we've
written are amusing and wacky numbers from themes Pete has come up with.
I've performed the new song live in the duet several times to very
positive reactions.
Another song which has received a
bunch of attention is "Something Changed", a song I wrote last year. I
perform it both with the duet and the band, and it always stimulates
comments and a great reaction from the audience. At the moment, I'm
trying to produce a video for the song, so I can get it on YouTube and
thus seen and heard by more people.
If any of you film makers out
there want to help me on this, please get in touch me. I want to do the
same thing with the Quinn-Williams songs, which will really be fun!
Here's a recap of some fun stuff
from this past year...
Here's some pics from a
recording session in my studio:
Brian
Allman
King
Robinson
Ed
Williams
We had fun playing at The
Harbour Club over the summer months
Playing music with Marty at
his day gig event
My lawn helper
A powerful storm blew
through this summer and took out several old trees
Carpfest is an annual ritual
on Highland Lake....we hold a contest to see how many of these
destructive fish we can get out of the lake
Casper
& Mac
Rob
& I
Rob
& Margie
We had tons of fun at The
Appleton Lodge in August as guests of our dear friend Albert Goodman.
Somehow, he assembled a great group of old friends up in the north
woods, and every day was awesome.
Strummin'
at the lodge
Mary
firing scary weapon
Jammin'
with Brent, Barb and Frank
Barb
Mary
bags a northern
I
caught a smallmouth
Sailing, canoe trips, hikes,
fishing and lots of music were some of the things we all enjoyed at the
lodge...
This raccoon, living in the oak
tree overhanging the back of our house, must have found my guitar
playing soothing, as he would come out and listen when I practiced
acoustic guitar on the deck....
My dad visited from DC!
My dad and I
My
dad taking a pic of me taking a pic of he...
My last bike ride before
selling my Magna V65
Squab Fest Gig in Elgin, IL
It was an outstanding
summer!
(see the 'Pics' page for
photos of The Housewrecker's at The Illinois Blues Festival in Peoria)
Volume Six
July 2007
Written By Bruce Williams
Thanks to all the musicians who
pitched in and played at The Greenwood Park Blues Fest. It was a great
success, and I've heard nothing but good things from everybody about the
music.
Big News! King Robinson and the
Housewrecker's have been invited to play the main stage at The Illinois
Blues Festival September 1st in Peoria! This is quite an honor, and
we're all really looking forward to it. In 2004, we played the gig and
opened for the late Carey Bell.
The open mic jam at The Vine is
going very well, with new players showing up each week, and great music
echoing through downtown Grayslake.
Quinn and I are in the midst of
two new songs, "Caveman Daze" and "Dr. Death", both promising to be
unique, amusing and funky. He and I have had some very productive
sessions in my studio, and Pete continues to come up with offbeat and
wacky subject matter.
I just finished the first part of
a recording project with the amazingly talented Greg Vinson, with Greg
playing his upright bass, singing and operating a hi-hat all at once.
This guy really lays it down, and I look forward to working with him
more. It was a challenge to record upright, as always, and we managed to
get great tone throughout the session.
I am now offering music services
commercially, as of July 1st.
While I've done a few
money-making projects here at Highland Lake Records, it wasn't until
recently that I decided to take the plunge and do work for others on a
regular basis.
I have a modest and small, but
well equipped 24 track digital studio with complete post production
capabilities.
Here are a few photos of my set
up:
If you re looking to put together
a demo to help you get gigs or to showcase your original songs, I can
help you put something together that will be very impressive and will
make you sound your best. I will work with you on the rates and we'll
devise a way to do the work as efficiently as possible. There are a
variety of options in terms of using other instruments and personnel.
Give me a shout and let's see if I can help you achieve your musical
goals.
I am also available
to produce full blown albums for commercial release, and do soundtrack
work and specialized songwriting.
Contact:
astrumur@aol.com
Volume Five
May 2007
Written By Bruce Williams
There is so much going on! Pete Quinn
and I are on our 4th song together, in a collaboration that has proven
to be productive and a lot of fun. Our latest effort, "Tequilas Of Mass
Destruction", is in mid-production and is turning out to be a gem.
The work on the King Robinson solo
album continues, and we have a bunch of work to do. It's taking a bit
longer than originally planned, but we're hoping our extra diligence
pays off.
The most exciting thing going on
right now is what's happening with The Bruce Williams Blues Orkestra.
The recent additions of Joel Pace and Marie Martens have totally jump
started the band.
With Joel's amazing musicianship, and
his ability to play both piano and organ simultaneously, there is
a new energy and a 'big sound' quality to the music now. Joel is an
outstanding singer in his own right, and we feature him singing lead
vocals on several of our songs. He has a great voice and sings with
conviction and soul. He also provides vocal harmony with Marie and I.
JOEL
PACE
Marie Martens, our newest band
member, plays a mean slide guitar and is playing regular guitar in the
band, too. She has added a whole new dimension to the group with her
singing, as we now feature back-up harmony vocals on many of our
songs. It's been great fun working out our vocal arrangements. Marie is
from Sweden and her main instrument is bass. She just happens to be a
great musician and can play guitar too! We feature Marie out front
singing lead, too, and let me tell ya, she rocks!
MARIE
MARTENS
The band is
learning more and more of my original compositions, and with Joel and
Marie adding their thing to the mix, I am free to focus more on my
singing. And with Marie taking on some of my rhythm parts, I am free to
sing and play guitar licks with a new freedom of expression. I am truly
blessed to play with all of these folks. Marty's solid, funky bass and
enthusiasm, Ed's incredible drumming, and love of music, and now these
two talented individuals........what could be better?
The other big news is my new duet
thing, The New Rhythm Projekt, which features Marie and myself playng in
a more acoustic setting, doing blues, folk, R&B and other material.
We're rehearsing now and have a few gigs booked.
Finally, we're all excited about
hosting the new Monday night open mic blues jam at The Vine in Grayslake
starting 5/14. This is going to be a good one!
Volume
Four
January 2007
Written By Bruce Williams
The cold is finally here, and with it
the increased usage of natural gas as I hear our furnace on constantly.
Although I spent a bunch of money several years ago on additional
insulation and new windows, this is still an old and cold house, built
in 1916. It's only really bad when it's around 10 degrees or less.
I guess the big news this month is
that I added Auralex sound panels to my studio to facilitate the
acoustic album I am recording with King Robinson. What a difference it
makes! I needed to separate the upright bass from the acoustic guitars,
so I created a few "L" shaped partitions that can be moved about as
needed. I also finally enclosed the drums, which dramatically improved
the sound of the kit and reduced the ringing.
The panels take up even more space in
an area that was already too small, but it's worth the trouble. The big
logistic hurdle now is changing the studio between the different
sessions. To switch between the "King Robinson Solo Album Project" and
"The Bruce Williams Blues Orkestra Album Project", I'll have to take the
2 partitions out of the room, and set up a keyboard...not too bad,
really.
The King Robinson project has
already yielded some great tracks, and the Orkestra project is in the
midst of working out some very complicated arrangements, with 2, maybe 3
songs in the can.
The weekly 'writing/recording'
sessions with Pete Quinn are going very well. We're pretty much done
with "Lil' Miss Silverspoon", the last tracks being percussion added by
Jim Murray. Tom Trinka's multi-tracked horn section parts are awesome,
as is his tenor sax solo! Pete and I are now working on a song he wrote
the words to, 'Aches and Pains". I came up with several different
musical backgrounds to see what would work best, and we ended up with an
up-tempo Chicago blues style approach, with a cool little chord change
that makes it different.
Volume
Three
December 2006
Written By Bruce Williams
Happy New Year!!
Jeez...I can't believe another year
has passed by. Damn! Just remember, you young ones...The older you get,
the quicker time goes....
Well, the 'instrumental' I wrote about in the last issue turned into a
very cool afro-cuban/pop-funk vocal number titled, "These Are Things I
Wonder About". As the song was developing, I remembered some old lyrics
I had in one of my songbooks, and working from there I fit it in by
massaging the old lyrics and writing some new ones. We did it as a band
in my studio and recorded it, but I want to work with the groove some
more before we make our final stab at recording. The song is really
shaping up, though, and I'm extremely happy.
Since the last newsletter entry,
we've recorded several songs, and I've added some guitar bits and vocals
to them. We still have a long way to go, though, and we spend much of
our session time working out dynamics and screwing around with the
arrangements. I guess that is just part of the deal, as one tends to get
the best ideas as the song is evolving and you hear it blossom. Even
when I plan a song out in advance, with a set intro and all the little
bits and dynamics and the ending and all, a lot of this stuff is done on
the fly. Needless to say, it will take 2-3 months to complete the
recording process, but it should yield two albums.
I've set some pretty lofty goals for
'07, and I look forward to recording a bunch of music. I also am hoping
to play with more musicians from different backgrounds, and to learn
more about my guitar and about music in general. After 'quitting the day
gig' in 2005, one of my goals was to spend more time learning,
specifically on guitar. I continually spread myself too thin because I
do love to play keys and drums. Recently, I finally disciplined myself
to only play other instruments when I need to cut a demo or work out a
part or something...and spend my limited free time working on improving
my guitar playing. It's starting to pay off, as I am finding new
directions and developing new ideas when I improvise.
One of the projects on tap for Q2/'07
is an acoustic blues album with King Robinson. We hope to start
recording in the Spring. The album will feature the King on vocals,
acoustic guitar and National Steel along with me in accompaniment.
We'll also feature some guest artists, stand-up bass and percussion. I'm
pretty excited about this one, as it will showcase the 'other side' of
King Robinson, that of the old delta blues...where ya sit on the porch
with your guitar, stomp your feet and cry out what's troubling you, and
bare your soul.
We should be
recording another Harry Peter Project album soon, too (Peter Quinn and
Harry Reinhart), and I'm collaborating with Peter on a few very cool new
songs.
I have also started mixing the
live sessions from AJ's, recorded in Summer of '05. This will be a 10 to
12 song album featuring some of the jammers who frequent the Wednesday
night blues jam. There is some remarkable material from 3 different live
recording dates.
Volume
Two
October 2006
Written By Bruce Williams
Baby, It's Cold Outside...
Time to start thinking about the
winter months, and the shift from playing fun outdoor gigs to spending
more time hiding from the cold in the recording studio. There will
still be the indoor gigs, of course, and the area jams rock all winter,
but no more sitting around the fire playing acoustic guitar pretty soon.
Time to pull out those lyrics written on the back of a bar napkin, find
that notebook full of ideas, those hastily made 2 track recordings of an
idea and get busy making new songs.
The last thing I recorded in my
studio was about 2 weeks ago. I had been going through my old library of
midi sequenced music and stumbled across a great funky groove...some
unfinished idea from about 1992. I decided to try and develop it into
something, and as is often the case, made a rough recording to see what
might happen. I ended up taking that old 'over-synthesized' sequence and
turned it into a softer, acoustic number with 6 and 12 string acoustic,
bass guitar, conga and a small Rhodes part. I doubled part of the bass
line on the 12 string, muting the strings slightly. There were two 6
string acoustic parts, one providing the main rhythm for the song, the
other playing the head and soloing. I'm pretty pleased with where it's
at so far, but haven't decided yet whether to keep it as an instrumental
or develop it into a vocal piece. We'll see.
I just started prepping the studio
for the recording of my new album, which will include several originals
and some of the covers I've been playing live over the last few years.
My studio is very small, and it's always a challenge working in such a
confined space, but I've been doing it for long enough where I know I
can deal with the logistics and get a good sound. The drums is always
the most critical element, because it's very difficult to re-do drum
parts later, and you can only monkey with them so much from an editing
standpoint. It's necessary to get a solid performance from the drummer,
and good tone on the recording. Once the drum track is in place,
layering other elements becomes a simple process. In the case of this
album, I'll be laying down initial tracks with Ed and Marty, and am
confident we'll have a good sound as a foundation for other production.
And of course, we'll be trying out
material and arrangements at the AJ's weekly open mic jam. We're so
lucky to have a place to get in front of people to try new stuff. It's
kind of a validation before recording, but also a way to smooth out
dynamics and accents in a song.
Tomorrow I'll finish duct-tapping the
sound foam material around the kick drum mic on the drums (EV RE 20). I
build a kind of 'tent' around the mic area to block out the other drums.
This really helps later in getting a punchy bottom on the bass drum and
yields a cleaner overall drum mix.
I'm not sure what song we'll start
with...I guess it's not that important, although it makes sense to get
off on the right foot. Maybe 'Signals Of Change'....
Volume One
November 2005
Written By Bruce Williams
The Famous Hannon
"Tooth" Story
There are many great Hannon stories, but one of my favorites is the time
when
Mark lost his tooth at a big party I used to have every year called "Williamsfest".
Williamsfest was a party my wife and I would throw to be with our
friends and to
allow me to keep in touch with my musician friends. At this point in my
musical
career, I was doing alot of writing and home recording but not playing
out that much,
so the party featured an all day/all night jam, and I was able to play
with my friends.
Mark was at almost every one of these parties as the featured performer.
In 1989, we
hosted the last Williamsfest, and as usual Mark was there from beginning
to end.
At one point near the end of the party at about 2AM, a few of us were in
the food tent
eating leftovers. Most of us were shitfaced, and not paying particular
attention to how long the potato salad had been left out, but hey...no
one got sick! Anyway, Mark was eating a hot dog when suddenly he yells
out that his tooth fell out. Mark had a bridge with a falsetooth just to
one side of his upper middle teeth. Everyone started getting lights and
searching the ground. Mark was freaking as the bridge was expensive, but
mainly because without it Mark looked like a hillbilly and I know he had
to perform the next day. We looked and looked but didn't find it. Mark
went home shortly therafter, but called me at 8 AM to ask me to go out
and look in the daylight. When I got out there, I had to laugh, as the
lawn there was so covered with ground in toothpicks, beer bottle caps,
food scraps, all trampled in good. Well, I gave it a go and looked for
over
an hour, but nothing. I didn't talk to Mark for a week or so , but I
found out later that several days after the party Dave Cleland was
checking his shirt pockets before doing some laundry, and out popped the
bridge. I think it may even have had a little piece of hot dog on it.
Apparently, Mark was talking to Dave as he was chomping on this hot dog,
and as Mark pulled the weiner out of his mouth, the bridge must have
popped out and flown into Dave's pocket! Mark would always wince in a
'good sport' manner,
whenever this story came up later...hehe.
_________________________________________________________________
What's Happening
The new Housewrecker's CD, "Hit The
Big Time" now available.
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