Tag: Musical ensemble

I saw Lamont Gillispie and 100 Proof for the first time tonight. In a nutshell they were good. They were actually way better than I thought they would be. That was mostly because I had some considerations about what blues and blues players were supposed to be about. After all, Randall Dubis and myself had played the blues as an acoustic duo for the better part of a few years and before that, were involved in the feel good, groove band, The Predictors. As a former working musician, every time I see a band play, naturally I listen with a keen ear, especially when it comes to bands that are heralded. I don’t knock them.
I just want to hear their licks, their chops, their hooks, their beats. I know what’s it like to be clicking on all cylinders when it comes to performing in a honky tonk. I also know what it’s like to fall flat on your ass when everyone is expecting the best you can give. What was better than the actual band for me were the folks who attended. I felt like a young man. That is, I thought I was back at the dining room while I attended school recently, where everyone I served was 80 something or greater and called me “young man.” The crowd was a bunch of white and gray beards. That was pretty cool in the sense that everyone was just hanging out, ready to listen to the music and have a good time.
What happens when you’re just hanging out listening to music
When you’re just hanging out listening to music, you are in a position to just let your soul take precedence and priority. That is, your body feels things.

What does your body feel?
Your body feels like it needs to move—in a nutshell. Music is roots. Music is primordial, music is feeling. That’s right. Music is feeling. When you listen to music you expect something. You play stuff on your record player if you’re a certain age and you move. In my case, Twisty Seconds, even in its old playing days, still holds up, more so than The Predictors. The Predictors were a Tequila Band in the sense that they still are irrelevant except for the time they were in existence. This is harsh, I know, especially to Predictors survivors, fans and the patrons who came to see us play. The Predictors were the kind of band that captured the moment. Twisty Seconds held up to this day while capturing the moment and still sound relevant today.

So what do you see when you watch a band?
Basically when you go see a band if they don’t make you feel like taking your clothes off they are not doing their job. This is the one thing I always kept in mind…whether it was playing with the Hot Dam Brothers, The Predictors, Twisty Seconds or just as myself as “The Bobster.”
Music is sexual
When you are attending a musical festival and listening to a number of bands, it is a watered down event in many respects. That is, if you are still able to last for numerous bands, you are doing better than I am.
Never go and see a multi-bill
When you go to see more than one band you limit yourself in the sense that your focus is taken away. You are just there to experience an onslaught of bands and music. Your focus is never something that you can enjoy in the sense that it is ever drifting. You feel each band is wonderful yet you forget them all by the end of the night.
So did you want to take your clothes off after reading this?
That is not my call. What we only know is how you feel if you’re reading this and listening to something groovy. Are you? Are you listening to something with a beat and a driving bass riff? If so, you might be able to take off your clothes while you’re reading this. I think you might be capable of it in fact. So much so, that if you just give it some time, you might feel that nakedness is where you could be right now. I’ll give it to you. Take ‘em all off. You know you want to. Listen to something that makes you want to dance.

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