Some folks may have heard this before, but I'll share it here on Phuks. I shared it quite some time ago in the weekly guitar thread, but here's why I'm sharing it today.
I had finished my admin duties - which were pretty light. So, I figured I'd catch up on some other stuff and that didn't work. I got caught in flipping through old files and recollecting the past. Like many things, that eventually led to music.
The actual track that I was looking for was one that has 'Dicky' in the title. The news about Dickey Betts had reminded me of it. You can hear that too, if you want.
It's hard to believe that this was somewhere around 20 years ago. It's almost like it's another lifetime. It's very much like I was a completely different person back then. The experiences between then and now have had a pretty big impact. Hell, I'm pretty sure it was a bit more than 20 years ago.
For this album, I helped to finish the guitar work - taking their idea and polishing it. The people I did this for were Dan and Linda, and I play better than Dan which meant he'd often want me to come in and do his studio tracks or want help to find some fit and polish for a track. That's pretty typical of a 'session musician.'
We had played together, in an entirely different band, some years prior. By the time this project rolled around, I was way too busy to commit to their schedule but I got asked to come in and do the studio work and help polish things a little. It was a pretty good time.
I don't think my memory allows me to be specific, but I'm pretty sure I was paid in beer and food. They housed me on their couch for a few days while we banged out the album. They took me out to eat and they paid me with beer. I seem to recall them sending me home with a half-trunk-load of beer, though I don't remember the brand (or, scary enough) the ride back to Cambridge.
In typical band fashion, that is exceptionally poor, they'd already paid their deposit for the studio and their harmonica player was incarcerated - for an OUI maybe? I'm not really sure, it was like 20 years ago! I have never taken a single harmonica lesson and my harmonica skills are nonexistent. Still, nobody else wanted to play the harmonica, so I did my best to give them an appropriate blues harmonica sound.
Anyhow...
At the time, I lived in MA and Dan and Linda had moved way up to Central Maine, in a little town called Belgrade - which Mainers pronounce funny (bell-grade). It was recorded in a little studio in a town called Rome, Maine. I'd been to Maine before - I went to a boarding school here - but this was probably my first time here as an adult.
I remember walking around outside the studio and listening to the lack of noise. There were no horns beeping, cars going by, or even people talking. It was just silent, except maybe a few birds. I remember thinking that they'd made a good choice to move up here and that I'd never be able to do that because I'd never be able to retire.
Why is this in the guitar sub? Well, 'cause it's somewhere that music once took me. Playing an instrument can open lots of doors and expose people to situations they'd otherwise never experience.
Oh! Sweet! I now have admin duties to attend to!
Hope you enjoyed the story, and you might even like the music. It's what I just refer to as "Bar Blues."
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