Showing up

My friend Doug didn't start playing guitar until he was 30 or so, starting out as an "earnest strummer." He has worked hard and learned a good deal and now is fronting his first band, the Feral Cats. I went up to see him this weekend and thoroughly enjoyed this music scene, dubbed Barnapalooza. This is a silouette of the barn as the sun went down. Many of my pictures from the evening were somewhat unsteady. Go figure.

I wish I had some pictures of Doug and the Feral Cats performing. Reference the unsteady pictures comment above. Performing is an interesting thing, in that there is a competetive aspect to it, if you're not careful. When I worked at the Youth Center, teaching guitar, the young men I worked with were a little like gunslingers, working on their chops and sizing each other up. There was a definite pecking order.

There was a band that played at the end of the night that turned in to a wall of sound, several guitars, piano, a strange woman with a banjo strung like a guitar, quite a menagerie. One person invited me up but it didn't make much sense for me to get involved so late. At the end of the row was a skinny older man with no chin, greying hair and glasses, who had been going with the flow for quite a while. He had a 72 telecaster with a bigsby tremolo bar (the big metal one that faintly resembles an old Buick front end), and an old Fender tweed studio amp. He had no pedals or effects, just the guitar and the amp. Finally, it was his "turn" and he stepped up. It was as though someone flipped a switch and he tore into "My Woman She Left Me ('Cause I Wouldn't Put the Guitar Down)" and took a lead break that was at once melodic, bendy, and rockabilly. He worked the Fender using only tone and volume knobs with a familiarity born of years on the road with the same axe.

I talked to him a little after the show, and he was as gracious as he was talented. We agreed that wherever you go, there are fine musicians working it out, contributing to the local scene. No matter how long you play, if you play, you are working on a song, a phrase, a riff you can't get right, and the process is the same, whether you're starting out, or have been at it for 40 years. If you're ever in the Madison area and get a chance to hear a band called The Westerners, you might want to take a gander. The man can flat play. Didn't remember his name, either. It was a great party.

Keith Dempster told me one time, between long monologues about Mexico, that "90% of performing is about showing up." Doug and the Ferals Cats practiced, developed a sound, and were able to show up and execute. That's as good as that gets.

It was a beautiful Saturday, and I spent some more time stopping along 151 to collect photos. I have a bunch, so I'll not squander them all now. Just one or two. The leaves are about to change, and there's finally the scent of Autumn in the morning air. Peace be with you, and remember to show up.