Odd, is he?

Where the hell did this week go?

It's Friday, and I have no idea how I got here. Before you jump to any conclusions, this disorientation is not due to the consumption of large amounts of alcohol. If only I were so lucky. It is due to the fact that this has been one of the busiest most eventful weeks of playing music I've had in a while.

As a side note, it's amazing how a week like this one can energize you, even if you're sleeping a lot less and putting out more effort. Just that psychological boost that comes from doing something you love and seeing the rewards of persistence.

To sum it up:

Tuesday: Did two performances of The Odyssey at Perspectives, a Charter School near Chinatown. The principal and founder of this school is a friend from the dog park where I used to run Hendrix when I lived in Edgewater. I did The Odyssey there last year about this time, and they were nice enough to ask me back for two shows this year.

A couple of cool things about Tuesday:

1) Last year when I played, the school was located in one of those "port-O-schools." Not too nice. This year, they've moved into a beautiful newly constructed school building. Very nice.

2) The teacher I worked with on this (same teacher as last year) had built a lesson plan around my performance.

3) The kids were great. Perspectives is mostly minority (is that an oxymoron or what?), and it was cool to see how they related to me and my music. Very into it, as respectful as any high school audience, and really asked great questions. Going into last year, I wasn't sure if it would connect with them, but this year sealed the fact that it did. It was excellent.

Additionally, I found out Tuesday that Barret and I are getting flown out to Las Vegas in a week for a four day, three night run of performances in Vegas-area high schools. I'll be doing three performances of The Odyssey, and Barret will be doing drum clinics. Flight, room, board, and a per performance fee. One performance (that's one hour) a day, and three nights free in Vegas.

I'm still rubbing my eyes. Barret's done a bunch of drum clinics at UNLV and has gotten to know a some music-types in the Vegas-area, several of whom work in the high school district as music teachers and band directors. A couple of them came to a show of ours at Double Door in December, and apparently the idea of The Odyssey stuck with them. So they're going to bring me out to do it.

The cool thing is, is that there are 40 high schools in the Vegas school system, so if it goes well this year, I might be able to do a longer run next year, with more performances.

Back to Tuesday...

So after a full slate of students (12 in a row!) at Village and a band practice and a trip to Double Door to see a band (detailed below), it was on to...

Wednesday: Burn Rome Burn is playing in St. Louis Saturday night. Seeing as it's our first gig in St. Louis, I figured we were playing a dump, some small club, maybe called The Barking Toad or something. Which would have been just fine with me. Wednesday, I found out we're playing Mississippi Nights, which appears to be a club the caliber of Metro/House of Blues. Wow. That kicks ass.

Additionally, we got a nice review on CDReviews.com. Now, I'm a firm believer that for a band at our level, there's no such thing as bad press. Hell, in our first article in UR Magazine they compared us to... the Gin Blossoms. Excuse me? The GBs had to stop playing concerts under that name because people would show up just to throw garbage at them.

True.

Anyway, I like what the guy in the review has to say. You can tell he listened to the CD a few times, listened to the lyrics, and makes some pretty insightful, legitimate comments, both positive and critical. And the line "The band Burn Rome Burn has a unique sound, a feat not found often in the rock world" is worth the price of admission. That pretty much says it all to me. It's also gratifying because a hallmark of this band has been conscious decisions about shaping "our sound." No matter what kind of song I bring in, I know by the time we're done with it, it'll sound like Burn Rome Burn.

I remember specific conversations with Barret and Aoife, the leftovers from Blue New World, about how we felt BNW was too scattershot, not focused enough, and how our new project would have a coherent "sound." We didn't want to limit ourselves, we just wanted to figure out what we sounded like and go from there. And it looks like it's happening.

We had two rehearsals, Tuesday and Wednesday, and things are sounding really good. Also, Doc has done some really kick ass mock mixes of some of the completed album tracks... experimenting with his audio software, adding sound effects, trying mixing ideas, and even on his limited set up things are sounding massive. Just great. I can't imagine what it's going to sound like when Dave mixes it. And we have it professionally mastered.

After rehearsal on Tuesday (I'm backtracking now), Barret, Doc and I went to check out a band at Double Door... one of the drum teachers at Village is playing with a band that was having their first show at Double Door. The band played pretty well for a first show. Obviously they were all pretty good musicians. It brought me back to BRB's first show, which was also at Double Door, almost exactly two years ago. Good times. Look for a sappy nostalgic band anniversary-related post next week.

Wednesday I also taught a private lesson in the city (see why I haven't been blogging?) and had a funny "dickhead rockstar" moment involving my arch nemesis, Guitar Center. I dropped $100 on two Mogami brand guitar cables just before our House of Blues show in April. These were to be the guitar cables to end all guitar cables, as they came with a lifetime warrant, a hefty price tag, and a ringing endorsement from the guy behind the counter at GC.

Well, at HOB, one of them went in and out on me during the set when I stepped on it. You pay $50 for a guitar cable, you should be able to step on it. I was not happy. I decided I would just return them, get the cash back, and go back to my crappy $10 cables. So I walked into GC on Wednesday night, one day before my 30 day "return for cash" grace period ended. Additionally, the cables were knotted hopelessly together as I had just bunched them up in frustration after the show and left them in a bag. Also, I had grabbed the wrong receipt from home, so I had no proof of purchase.

And for those of you who have never been to Guitar Center... it can be a nightmare. Radio blasting, video blasting, people playing Smoke on the Water in 15 different keys at top volume through amps large enough to cover the Tweeter Music Theater.

Ugh.

So my exchange with the sales guy goes thusly:

Me: (throwing tangled cables on counter): I'd like to return these cables for cash and I don't have my receipt.

SG: Okay.

Me: They shorted out on me.

SG: ...

Me: Both of them.

SG...

Me: Onstage.

SG: ...

Me: (deliberately, staring directly in SG's eyes) at House of Blues.

Yeah, I'm a dick. It was funny watching the reaction. After that, I seemed to get a lot of attention. Actually, the guy (Brian I believe?) was really nice and cool about it, more so than a lot of GC employees who are trying to sell you a $59 guitar for $359 (marked down from $559) so they can eat.

Thursday: Welcome to the newest sport, Extreme Home Lawn Care. That's right kids. I spent three hours going to Home Depot, cutting our grass (front and back), seeding the backyard, putting up a fence to keep the dogs off the grass seed, and spraying fertilizer/weed control on the front lawn. It sort of sucked. I wonder if Jeff Tweedy takes care of his lawn? Billy Corgan?

Actually, it was okay because a) it was beautiful outside and b) it gave me some ideas of further improvements that might make our "big by Chicago standards" backyard into a really cool place to hang out during the summer.

Then, energized by the weather and high on fumes from the fertilizer, I jogged the two miles to my gym, worked out, and jogged back. After that, it was off to teach at Village and then to a private lesson and home. Whew. So on to...

Friday: Well... shit. I've spent the whole morning putting this together while neglecting to mountain of papers on my desk.

DOH.

jbg