Then, this.   She’s a 21-year-old from New Zealand.   She’s got a very interesting voice, but this was the only song that I enjoyed. Gotta love those lyrics. It’s been a long time since I heard a song in which the lyrics were so… lyrical.

Certain brands sound familiar to me, like Pirastro &… ok, just Pirastro.   I recall I only ever used gut strings, but that was when I played constantly.   Being on a bit of a budget I’m not sure it would be worth it to drop $250 on a set of gut strings just to add some parts to a recording.

Or is it?

I’m thinking I’ll give the synthetic strings a try.   They’re affordable & supposedly last longer than gut strings.   As far as gauge… it’s probably safe to go with medium, although I’m tempted to try out thin since I won’t exactly be bouncing off the walls of a concert hall.   I’m still suffering from pitch issues using light gauge guitar strings so I’m a little scarred there.

Anyway, for those wondering where I finally figured out how to start, I found a great explanatory article at Zaret & Sons.   Frankly I was so grateful for their clear & generous information that I was ready to buy strings from them regardless of the price but apparently they do not sell strings, only instruments & bows.   Oh well.   If you are in the market for an instrument please check these guys out.   They care enough to educate you on a product they don’t even sell.

Update: I ordered a $112 set of Pirastro Aricores from Quinn Violins; shipping is free!   The same set was $118 at Musician’s Friend & the cheapest shipping option would have been $21.   I’ve ordered rosin from Quinn Violins in the past & been happy with their service.

Excited!  =)

Anyway, I can’t remember how I discovered this band.   I ended up buying their CD, Seventh Tree, which contains a handful of songs that don’t engage me until the middle sometimes, but which engage me to the point where I can’t delete them off my playlist.

Mostly it has to do with singer Alison Goldfrapp’s very pretty vocals.   There are certain artists like Chris Daughtry & Leona Lewis that can make me love an uninteresting song simply because their voices engage me.   There are songs on this album that are like that – they would be boring except that the vocals just sound so… pretty.

However, the song that I absolutely can’t get out of my head is A&E.   I only recently figured out what it’s about, “A&E” referring to “Accident & Emergency.”   While it’s a pretty pathetic story the song tells, somehow it just made me like it more.   Although I might not like it at all without the dancers.

In this case this is a song that O-Dogg posted on Facebook that I fell in love with, & decided to share with Malo.   The Civil Wars is a duo with one debut album out which I am expecting now any day in the mail.   Their single “Barton Hollow,” which is, according to customer reviews, the most exciting song on the album, got stuck pretty soundly in my head.   I love the fourths & fifths.    Love them.

In spite of the distinction above, I’m still looking forward to the rest of their album after listening to clips because even sans epic adventure the clips I heard contained pretty melodies & lovely harmony.   Their website offers a free download of their live performance at some restaurant or something which I didn’t take advantage of because I really just wanted the studio album, but I did watch a couple of their YouTube videos from the performance & they are flawless.   They manage precision & emotion in buckets, which, live, is rare these days.

I understand that Taylor Swift told her fans about The Civil Wars’ “Poison And Wine,” saying it was one of her favorite songs.   I think Taylor Swift is probably a really nice girl.   I wanted to throw things at her for her rendition of Def Leppard’s “Photograph,” but I have to agree with her here; this is a gorgeous duet.

Oh, & their music is also available on vinyl.

I met a dude at a party & we hooked up; he turned out to be the bass player of a punk band.   We ended up renting out a house together (although the bass player & I did not remain an item) & I bought an Aria Pro II bass (Faith No More!) & ended up playing with a couple of guitarist friends in our lead singer’s living room every day after school.

And then one afternoon we were lying around the living room playing cds, & someone put Metallica’s Ride The Lightning on.   As soon as I heard “Fade To Black” I knew I wanted a 6 string.   I bought an electric blue Washburn Lyon (LA Guns!) the next day & sat down with the tablature.   I had it by the end of the week, along with a lot of missing finger skin.

We wrote a lot of crappy originals, & I experimented at home with my dual cassette recorder recording separate tracks on top of each other.   I found a beautiful Takamine dreadnought in the back of a boyfriend’s closet & wanted it so badly I traded him my cream Ibanez Artist (I was stupid) & a 100w amp for it.   You know, that guy was a bastard & I should have been more careful with negotiations, but I thought that since we lived together it wasn’t like I’d be really losing the Ibanez.   Yeah, right.

I teamed up with a guitarist/songwriter girlfriend & worked on a number of her (very awesome) originals & also performed as a duo here & there.   Later I met a guitarist from a once popular but now defunct metal band in a pool hall & we wrote & recorded a whole bunch of songs together in the back room where the manager did his oil painting, just us & a little Tascam 4 track.

But guitar playing mostly stopped around 1997, primarily due to 2 things: first, I was singing in a band that played Jane’s Addiction & Journey & there wasn’t any sitting down with the Takamine for me.   Second, I was hanging out with a bunch of veteran 80s guitarists who, as nice & helpful as they were, intimidated the crap out of me when it came to guitar playing.   I didn’t even know the right questions to ask so I mostly never asked.   I mostly just stopped playing.

For 13 years every time I thought about playing I also thought about how I’d never be as good as any of those guys & so I kept on mostly not playing.   I focused on my voice, & made a lot of progress there.   One can easily forget that I started out as an instrumentalist, not a singer.   I don’t actually have much of a voice.   Those of you who think I’ve got something here don’t know what I started out with.   My current voice is a product of tons of work, not any kind of physiological advantage.   It’s totally overclocked.   Totally.

For the last few years I’ve been doing an acoustic duo with my friend T, & he has been one of a kind.   I’ve learned tons from him over the last 5 years, just listening to him talk about music.   He’s pointed out all kinds of things that I would never have realized otherwise while we are listening to music & he’s changed a lot of my perspective with his knowledge & his very open viewpoints.   He’s also one of the only male musicians I’ve worked with that hasn’t treated me differently because I’m female.   He hasn’t hit on me, hasn’t sugar coated his opinion for me, hasn’t excluded me from technical conversations even when I have no idea what is going on.   He’s also never annoyed when he had to explain anything.   That’s why I’ve learned so much.   It’s also why I gradually became more comfortable with the idea of picking up the guitar again.

Our acoustic duo, first at a popular restaurant in town & now at a large, speakered-out pool hall, involved me singing & T playing guitar.   We encountered difficulties with repertoire; his was mostly 70s rock which he played with the veteran musicians.   He was initially resistant to “girl” music – Sarah McLachlan, Shawn Colvin, etc.   When we first started out we had to find a whole lot of middle ground & our setlist consisted of a lot of Bread, Dan Fogelberg, & Little River Band, albeit with the key raised a step or two.

At some point last year I realized that certain parts of our songs could use a little extra rhythm guitar & when asked T completely welcomed the idea.   He immediately pointed out various places where it would be a great help, & whatever insecurities I had about it were eased because I had a feeling I might actually be of use.   He wasn’t just letting me play along to humor me.   He actually had use for a 2nd guitarist, as limited as my contribution was probably going to be.

And boy, is it limited.    15 years ago it was nothing for me to sing & play guitar or bass at the same time, probably because I never thought about its level of difficulty.   I didn’t know something was hard back then; I just did it or didn’t do it.   Or maybe it was because I had approached singing from a guitarist’s perspective & now I was approaching guitar from a singer’s perspective.

Announcing that I was going to start playing guitar in our gigs was really hard.   I made all kinds of disclaimers & excuses, & it’s not something I feel embarrassed about.   I was really scared.   I was determined to do it.   I was still really scared.

I went out & dropped $1k on a new guitar.  While I loved my Takamine I needed something smaller that I could plug in.   More importantly, I needed a new start.   And I needed a guitar that I could fall in love with again, because it’s a lot easier to practice on an instrument that you’re in love with.

You know, just walking into Dan’s Guitars is painful.   It’s like walking into a men’s locker room.   They all stare at you & wonder what the hell you are doing in there while picturing you naked.   I couldn’t even go in there by myself; I got a bass player girlfriend to go with me so we could be stared at & pictured together.   We tried all kinds of guitars until I couldn’t even tell which one I liked better & then Daniel busted out the carbon fiber 3/4 & I was sold.   In guy fashion, he had initially handed me the red one, which was a huge turn off, but once I saw that they had the same guitar in black, I knew that was the one I wanted.   My girlfriend ended up taking home the red one.

Spraining my ankle was another big step (Was that a pun?   Sort of?) in my progress.   As I sat in on the couch with my foot in an icy bucket, the only thing that made it bearable was playing guitar.   I don’t know why this is.   Anyone who has had to soak a busted ankle in ice knows that it hurts.   I couldn’t watch tv or read a book.   Somehow playing guitar just made me forget my foot was in the bucket.   Someone explain to me how that works.

That was several months ago.   It’s getting easier playing at gigs, although I still need to strap my Cargo kinda high to save my left wrist & I still make tons of mistakes.   The hardest part for me is still singing & playing simultaneously; I would really like to get more songs into our setlist that someone else can sing so I can have time just playing.   I could do this at home — & I do — but it’s not really the same thing.   Playing alone at home is totally different from playing with other people.   Especially with T, who often uses very exciting syncopations.

My insecurities are still there but taking the first step through them was all I needed to do.   Every consecutive step has gotten easier & almost everyone has been really supportive.   I’d probably feel huge pressure if certain people were in the room, & in fact I still haven’t worked up the courage to invite certain people to my gigs specifically because I’m afraid of playing guitar in front of them.

But I’m playing guitar again.

First off, I’d like to apologize. This is going to be a fairly long post. I have a lot of things to say about the recent demise of the Honolulu Symphony. Much of this is background information before actually getting into the question of what should we do in Honolulu.

After 110 years, the Honolulu Symphony has finally come to an end. For those of you who did not know of the problem, the Honolulu Symphony filed for Ch. 11 bankruptcy protection about a year ago due to mounting debt. The other day, the federal courts approved a request from the Honolulu Symphony to transition from a Ch. 11 to Ch 7 liquidation.

I’ve read numerous articles over the past two or three years about the financial health and viability ofthe Honolulu Symphony, and taken the time to go through comments from time to time. Everyone seems to have an opinion and it seems that seems that a lot of people think the problem has clear cut and simple answers. Like everything else in life, there are many other factors at play that make the situation much more complicated. It’s not just as simple as saying management was bad, the business model was outdated, or something like, “if it can’t support itself then we don’t need it.” I’m not saying that I have the answers, but I’d like people to think a little more before making a snap decision or comments.

There are pieces of truth that have been printed in each story that I have read over the years, but I believe that most stories have been biased either toward the musician’s or toward the administration. I just wish that people would think about these articles instead of taking them at face value. I’ll admit it…I’m an arts lover, and this response is colored by my opinion.  A city the size of Honolulu should have a professional orchestra. Being born and raised here, though, I also understand that that a symphony is not a priority to a vast part of the population, and that most people just do not relate to classical music or even more contemporary pops music.

Arts and music lovers argue that it’s just a matter of educating the public. I disagree with this. You can’t just educate someone to like something that has no relevance to them. They may come to appreciate or value it, but in and of itself, this will not cause someone who is basically indifferent, to support a cause they are not passionate about. Personally, I believe that the value of a professional orchestra in Hawaii is in what it offers to our community beyond traditional concerts at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. Its importance to Hawaii is through outreach programs such as youth programs that expose our children to something that is oftentimes completely new to them; in providing music to those who might otherwise be unable to attend by offering community concerts as well as concerts at retirement facilities, hospice facilities, and even hospitals. In my mind, that is an organization that would be valued by the community it professes to serve. The difficulty in creating such an entity is that everything that would be valued by those who have no direct emotional or psychological tie is non-revenue generating. The question then becomes how to fund such an organization.

Most people do not realize the enormous costs that are associated with having a professional orchestra in Hawaii. Unlike many other business endeavors, due to its very nature, a symphony is going to have abnormally high fixed personnel costs. This cost exists for each rehearsal and performance. There really isn’t a way to reduce it, lest we move into the realm of sequenced fills for certain parts, but at that point, is it really live music? The amazing part of experiencing a live orchestral work is watching over 60 individual musicians and a conductor working together to weave a single tapestry of sound.

The situation in Hawaii, while not unlike what is being seen across the nation, is still unique in many ways. The economic downturn and shift in concertgoers’ preferences from season subscriptions to single concert purchases, have forced many orchestras to follow a per-service pay scale. It’s exactlywhat it sounds like. Musicians are paid for the performances they play. I’m fairly certain that there are a number of guaranteed concerts in a season for those who have something akin to tenure. I believe that the major difference versus Hawaii is that in any given area, there are more musicians. Additionally, there are many more jobs for instrumentalists on the mainland. They are not bound by geography and have the opportunity to find jobs in neighboring cities for a day, weekend, or even longer.

Our musicians faced a different challenge. After passing a blind audition, they had to decide whether they wanted to move to paradise to pursue their craft. They knew full well what the challenges would be…higher cost of living, lack of regular secondary performance opportunities, etc. The trade off was that Honolulu offered a guaranteed 32 week contract. Weekly pay was guaranteed from September through May and encompassed performances with the Symphony, Ballet, and Opera.

There has been a lot of discussion about musicians in Hawaii not making a living wage. I believe that the number quoted in the numerous articles was somewhere between $26,000 to $30,000 for a 1st year musician coming to Hawaii. I don’t know how many editorials and comments I have read where people have stated that it was criminal to paying such a small amount for the talent we had in Hawaii, and that this was nowhere near a living wage. I’d like to put this into perspective before I get the same comment here and so people don’t make snap judgments. There were fewer than a handful of musicians who were actually at the base pay except for those who had just won their appointments. The contract is based on around 20 hours per week. I’m not making a judgment one way or another on this one. I just want people to know the facts before they start making comments.

Declines in subscription sales as well as annual contributions coupled with an incremental increase inlosses after each concert finally created a situation where the organization had to be shut down. For those that are thinking, “Just increase the ticket prices to what they should cost,” please realize that in order to do this, ticket prices would have to have been in excess of $300 a ticket for all tickets. Ticket prices can only be increased to the point that the market will bear. Here in Honolulu, that translates to roughly $100 a ticket. The balance of costs had to be met through aggressive fundraising. Maybe not the best plan, but that’s just the way it was. Again, I’m not trying to defend anyone, but I am trying to provide realistic information.

In the case of the current situation, I do not believe either side is blameless. The shortcomings and errors made by all stake holders were compounded through the years. In the end, both the administration and orchestra took sides that were polar opposites of each other while professing it was the only solution. Stalemate led to an unfortunate end.

Where does that leave us? Sadly, it leaves us in a state of limbo. We had an incredible amount of talent here in Honolulu. The individual members of our orchestra were every bit as good if not better than those you would see on the mainland, and it may be a long time before we are able to ever assemble a group with as much collective talent as we have had in the past five to ten years. However tragic the current situation, there is an incredible opportunity to reinvent a cultural icon.

My personal belief is that given the similar levels of funding and ticket sales, Hawaii just cannot support a full-time professional orchestra with a season as long as it has traditionally offered. The market is just too small to be able to offer 14 pairs of classical concerts and 7 pairs of pops concerts in 7 months. Also, it needs to seek support from a larger population that sadly couldn’t care less if we had orchestral presentations in Hawaii. I think the key here is relevance. Start from the bottom up. Start with programming that is valued by the community. I have friends that work over 60 to 70 hours a week to make sure they can support their families. Going to see a Symphony concert isn’t even on their radar, but they have mentioned when Symphony musicians have been at their children’s schools or when their kids have gone to watch a concert at the concert hall. The opportunity is what holds value for them.

Maybe the rebirth of the Honolulu Symphony begins small: with a concert 4 to 5 times a year, with an active community outreach program. The basic costs of each is known up front. Determine if it can be funded. If not, scale back a concert or a portion of outreach before launching the program. Don’t expand unless you know what your funding sources are. The dream should be big, but let it begin with a seed that grows. Let the community nurture the organization and help it to grow and we will once again have a symphony in Hawaii, but this time, one that is fully supported by the community and is healthy and whole.

PS.  If you like the video, buy it on www.okgo.net and they’ll donate a portion of the net proceeds to the ASPCA, specifically for the support of animal rescue.

He then posted a recording of Chris Daughtry singing “Photograph.”   “I already bought it,” I commented. “Another disappointing solo.   What the hell Santana.”   Then there was the recording of Rob Thomas doing “Sunshine Of Your Love.”   I must confess I didn’t really care about that one.   I’d already bought the cd.   I’d listen to it when I had a decent recording.   He then posted Jacoby Shaddix (I don’t know who that is?) doing “Smoke On The Water.”   Really well.   Seriously pushing my buttons.   Very evil, that O-Dogg.

My cd (cds actually; I ordered one for KK & another for Mele so I could get Super Saver Shipping) arrived last week.   I’ve listened to it in my car, then with Terrence in the bar (Mackie wall speakers, Mackie 808 head) while sitting in the sweet spot, then in my car probably a dozen more times through (I had a lot of driving to do this week), & now I’ve got it on my computer, which Logitech 2.1 speakers actually sound better than my car & I think maybe the bar.   KK thinks I should pick up the Klipsch 2.1 since I can get it for $80.   I should.   I’m sorry I don’t have better equipment to listen to music on.   If anyone wants to help me with that please leave your email on your comment.

1. Chris Cornell did “Whole Lotta Love” flawlessly.   As the song began I was struck by the solid percussion.   Throughout the song the drums are much heavier & fuller than Bonham’s, & the overall tempo of the song is significantly faster.   Like the Foo Fighters’ “Baker Street,” this isn’t necessarily better than the original, but presents us with a higher energy version which I think is very appropriate for this cover.

Cornell manages to use all the best parts of his voice, high & low, without detracting from the charm of the original melody.   He basically sticks to the original, enhancing it with his own style.   He doesn’t do Plant’s orgasm sounds, which, to be honest, always kind of pissed me off about Robert Plant.   He does perform the mid-solo & the finishing wail with command.   I was especially touched, & I won’t say where, by his drawn out, deliberate ending of the 2nd chorus.

Santana was the weak link in this song, although I can’t say I didn’t still enjoy him.   There are a lot of fills, which is (I think) Santana’s style of playing.   The pre-solo “stretch of emptiness” was actually sprinkled with faint melodic guitar & I liked that.   The solo itself wasn’t better than Page’s, perhaps limited by the faster tempo.   I still enjoyed it except for his exit, which sounded jumbled & haphazard.

Overall this song was still like sex.   Very good sex.

2. Next up was Scott Weiland singing the Stones’ “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking.”   I’ve got one Rolling Stones album & I don’t think this is on it.   I never noticed Weiland a whole lot until he joined Velvet Revolver.   I never knew the guy could sing; I thought all he did was shout.

The latin percussion is very pronounced in this song, & although Weiland pretty much only shouted (he’s covering Mick Jagger; what did I expect?) he shouted very adroitly.   It’s a no-brainer that the production of this entire album is going to be cleaner & more processed than a few decade previous, & the chorus is clearly harmonized & pronounced, as one would expect anything recorded today to be.   Very different from the 1971 original.

This was one of the songs on the album in which I thought Santana’s playing was quite fitting, although Terrence disparaged his wah-wah.   Not being an electric guitarist, I know nothing about wah-wah.   Ignorance is bliss.

The second half of the song is instrumental & it’s fun.   Santana solos all the way out & he’s quite groovy as long as he doesn’t try to shred.   Incidentally, there was some discussion over the last decade about Carlos Santana being an influence to Mick Taylor in this song.   Well, good song choice for a Santana album.

3. “Sunshine Of Your Love,” performed here by Rob Thomas, is another classic song I have never been familiar with, but I was interested as soon as I heard the opening riff.   And if I had thought the latin percussion was marked in “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking,” it was pretty overpowering here.   Thomas must have loved this.

Thomas’ vocals are full-throated & powerful.   I can’t think of a better way to describe Thomas’ shaping of his notes other than “regretful,” although maybe I mean “sexy.”   It’s like he sobs.   I can’t think of anyone else who does that, although I probably will as soon as I finish writing this.   And then I’ll come back & edit 3 days after publishing.   Yeah, it’s what I do.   I do one take & then I come back & edit it like 100 times.   Sometimes a year later.   Sorry.

This is the 2nd song in which I feel Santana’s playing is a very good fit.   I think this was another very good choice.   I think Thomas & Santana make an excellent team, with Thomas’ heavy vocals very nicely complimenting Santana’s crowing licks.   Or vice versa.   I especially enjoyed the double guitar ending.   Nice job there.

4. I’ve heard of India Arie, but this cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” is the first time I’ve heard her.   I’ve always loved this song; it’s definitely in my Top Five Favorite Beatles Songs (#1 is Golden Slumbers & I’m not sure about the rest, but I know While My Guitar Gently Weeps is somewhere between 2 & 5) & the only Jeff Healey song I like.   I like this song so much that I can enjoy it even in a live Phish performance where the vocals are out of tune.   I just really like this song.

When I read that Yo-Yo Ma would be on this track I cringed inside.   I don’t like Yo-Yo Ma.   Surprisingly he didn’t get all whiny & Chinese opera-ish; he was quite subdued & dignified.   But India Arie… her voice is a bell.   A bell with that sexy hispanic hiss.   Ok, I guess black girls have it too.   Her phrasing is beautiful, her vocal stylings are exquisite.   I’m not much into R&B so I don’t know if most female R&B singers are like this.   I just assumed most of them would make me want to slap them, like Brandy or Rihanna.   Arie really did get into my soul singing this song (no doubt helped by the fact that, as mentioned previously, I really, really like this song).

I found Santana’s licks irritating.   It didn’t feel like his guitar was weeping as much as interjecting, & then changing the subject & getting really excited about something completely irrelevant.   Those neurotic sounding 32nd notes.   Yuck.   It didn’t matter a whole lot though, because I was mostly just hypnotized by the vocals, although they are almost drowned out at the end of the song.   The guitar solo was not too bad, except for, as always, the shredding.   There’s just something messy about Santana’s shredding.   I don’t know.   Some electric guitarist please explain to me why I feel like that.

5. Then it was Chris Daughtry singing Def Leppard’s “Photograph.”   Note that this is the first track for which I mentioned the original band’s name in the first sentence.   This is because I want to make sure you guys know which “Photograph” this is.

Chris Daughtry is one of my favorite vocalists.   I fully enjoyed his first album.   I didn’t buy his 2nd album because I already have Nickelback’s first 3 albums & that’s enough for me.   But seriously.   I can’t get over Daughtry’s vocals in this song.   It’s not just his range (how the hell does he belt those high notes after the last chorus?   I can’t belt those notes.   I’m a girl.), but his vocal control.   He doesn’t let any note go; his exits are all deliberate.   At the ends of “far from me,”  ”you’re all” & “I want” he adds tiny extra notes, but they’re super clean & clipped.   I can’t do that.   I tried all night this past Sunday & I can’t do it.   This is my new goal.   And then there’s his tone, which is in part due to the reverse gain on his voice, but his tone just seems to grow wings & lift off on the high notes.

The whole time I was listening to this I was thinking to myself that he needs to let Joe Elliott write his songs.   This is what Chris Daughtry sounds like singing a song not written by Chad Kroeger.   It’s a whole new animal.

When I listened to this track the first few times alone, I was completely absorbed with the vocals, but while listening with Terrence I became aware of the guitar solo, after which I looked at Terrence & said, “Fail.”   Terrence burst out laughing & said that there was no better word to describe it.

6. Some rap group called NAS covered “Back In Black.”   Well, I guess it’s definitely following the black motif.   They’ve got some slut singing the chorus & she sounds great but the mental image of a squirming ghetto sex kitten in a bright turquoise skintight dress somehow doesn’t do it for me.   I’m no judge of rap & maybe these guys are great rappers but Terrence had to force me not to skip the song.   He said that if I bought an album I should be able to say that I had listened to every second of it, even the parts I didn’t like.   And as we speak I am skipping the track.

7. I was very interested to hear Chester Bennington on “Riders On The Storm.”   Not the most exciting song, but I have never known Bennington to be boring.   The song opened sounding very much like “Black Magic Woman” & then the vocals began.   And.    It was more boring than the original, if you can imagine that.   I’m sorry, Doors fans.   I have nothing but respect for Jim Morrison; I think “Roadhouse Blues” is some of the best lyrics I’ve ever heard, but when I said earlier that “Riders On The Storm” is not one of the most exciting songs I meant that I think it is one of the most boring songs I’ve ever heard & I might even prefer to listen to rap if I had to choose.

Bygones; moving on.

8. I have always loved “Smoke On The Water” & I had no idea who Jacoby Shaddix was until this album.   This was the 3rd song on this album in which I didn’t find Santana’s playing disappointing, although I felt that the melodic framework of this song is so focused that there wasn’t much room for Santana to deviate from it & screw it up.

Like “Sunshine Of Your Love” the main riff of the song is captivating.   You can’t get away from it.   Santana’s solo tries at a few places to escape, but he’s held in check by the song itself.   You go, power chords.   Shaddix makes great use of the vocal gain, moreso than Daughtry did, & you’d never know this was the dude from Papa Roach.   He sounds really good; he manages to sound mellow & growly at the same time as he tells the story.

I enjoyed Santana’s solo, but Terrence didn’t.   He was particularly offended by the wah-wah fail.   Again, I am no expert on wah-wah.   I just love fifths.   I love crooning guitar.

Santana’s intermittent licks were pretty natural in this song.   In many of his other songs his licks seemed intrusive, like a kid sister interrupting a conversation.   Here his entrances were on varied locations in the measure, but each one was pretty congruous.   This was probably my favorite song on the album, which is saying a lot because Chris Cornell’s over there on the first track.

9. Pat Monahan (now who is that??) performs “Dance The Night Away” much like the original; so much so that Terrence & I both reached for the cd sleeve at the same time to see who this was doing the cover.   Then we both looked at each other in confusion because neither of us knew who Pat Monahan was.

Turns out we even have a song by Train in our setlist (the same Train song that’s in every acoustic cover band’s setlist) but I’m afraid I never really bothered to learn much about the band itself.   It’s almost as if I knew “Hey Soul Sister” was coming.    Actually they’d already lost me at “Calling All Angels.”

Santana’s playing in this song was kept mostly in the background.   His solo was short & nondescript, although it did nothing to detract from the pure enjoyability of the song itself.   This is one of my favorite Van Halen songs.   This cover wasn’t done with very much creativity but hey – if it ain’t broke, right?   Still utterly delightful.

10. Gavin Rossdale, the man that Terrence has said he would be willing to have sex with if he (Terrence… & I suppose Rossdale as well) was gay, does “Bang A Gong.”   As the song started, I looked at Terrence & said, “Not the best song choice.”   He was surprised that I didn’t care for T. Rex but that wasn’t the case at all – I love the original “Bang A Gong,” as I love the Power Station’s cover.   I just wouldn’t have chosen this song for Gavin Rossdale.   As we listened, though, it was quite apparent that Santana could have gotten anyone with a low voice to sing this song & we’d never know the difference.   Why feature a famous singer in a song with vocals this monotonous?   The only reasons I could imagine were that either Santana really, really wanted to do this song, or Rossdale had a cold & couldn’t sing anything with a range of more than 4 notes.

Santana’s licks are only sometimes intrusive here, & his solo is quite well thought out relative to the song in my opinion, but I just feel that this was a poor song choice all around.   I never really thought of this as a lead guitar kind of song.   It’s super groovy & all about the main riff.   During this song Terrence voiced what was bothering me, that Santana’s guitar was just too far in front of everything else.   “I mean, I know that’s him on the cover,” he said.   “But he just drowns the rest of the song out.”

11. I have heard many people sing “Little Wing,” but not Joe Cocker.   I thought this was an ideal song for Santana to do.   I also thought that no matter who sang this guitar showcasing song I’d still find it really enjoyable.   Famous last thoughts.

It’s not that I dislike Joe Cocker.   I like “With A Little Help From My Friends” & “Up Where We Belong.”   I know he’s got a raspy voice.   I know he’s got a very distinct, self-contained, emotional style of phrasing.   But as I listened to him sing with Santana, all I could think was “heart attack” & gasping noises.   This guy could barely sing some of the words in their entirety.   I’m sure this has to have been a stylistic choice, not that he was about to keel over in the recording studio, but it just wasn’t enjoyable.   I mean, this song is about a beautiful girl, not a lifetime of smoking weed & what it does to the lungs.

Santana did ok.   He played all the important parts.   I think Bin Yasuno could give him some competition creatively.

12. Ooh, Johnny Lang singing “I Ain’t Superstitious!”   I haven’t heard Johnny Lang in a long time.   Partly because I’m not heavily into blues rock, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t really like “Lie To Me” or “Still Rainin’.”   I first saw him open for some other band over a decade ago & thought he was kick ass.

I’ve never heard the original of “I Ain’t Superstitious.”   While we were listening to this I could easily imagine that while everyone else had rehearsed & recorded & made corrections wherever necessary, Santana had done this in one take.   Although a lot of the solo was appropriate, there were too many points where he seemed to stop & think.   Overall this is a bad ass blues guitar song & Santana did a good job, but the gem was Johnny Lang.   That boy’s voice is just sex.

13. Scott Stapp sang “Fortunate Son.”   At first I thought I didn’t know this song, but I recognized it a few bars in.   This is a very cool song & Santana seems very comfortable with it, but it just takes me awhile to get used to Scott Stapp.   To be fair, he sings this song really well, if perhaps a little James Hetfieldish.

I always liked Creed – I’m not ashamed to admit it.   I don’t watch tv or read magazines (unless I’m in someone’s waiting room) so I’m not really clear on whatever real life drama Scott Stapp had, but I did like his band.   However, to hear him singing a classic rock song – especially a high energy, happy sounding one – is kind of weird.

Santana’s licks seem like they’re struggling to keep up with the fast tempo at times, but when Stapp breaks into a near nonsense ad lib “Iain’tnosonofasonofamilitaryson… Iain’tnofortunatesonIain’tnomilitarysonIain’tnomillionaire’ssondididididididi” serenaded by partner in crime Santana it’s… well, it’s kind of funny.   This little hijink is somethig of a microcosm for the song itself – they really filled up the space on this one.   In “Can’t You Hear Me Knocking” that sounded good.   In this it still sounds good but I still like CCR’s version better.   I like the space in it.

14. The last song on this cd is “Under The Bridge,” performed by Andy Vargas.   I have no idea who this is except he sounds almost exactly like Anthony Kiedis with better pitch.   Is this to make up for Scott Stapp doing John Fogerty?

I never liked “Under The Bridge.”   I was buying Red Hot Chili Peppers albums when they were on cassette but this was one of the only songs I could never stand.   To hear a cover that starts off sounding only minimally different from the original that I disliked isn’t very encouraging.   Most of the song is performed exactly as if Vargas is singing karaoke & Santana took that recording & played over it.   Santana’s licks add a little more dimension to the song, which isn’t saying much, but at least it added.   I was pleased to hear a harder guitar sound by the second half of the song with a seemingly well thought out solo.   I would never have pegged this for a Santana song.

The last quarter of the song takes quite a turn from the original; bringing in a spunky background chorus (thank God; no screaming choirgirls) with Santana furiously soloing over them, & it works for me.   I can’t remember what Terrence thought of it; he was probably annoyed with the wah-wah.   I appreciated that Santana played a few lower notes, something I wish he would do more often.

In conclusion
I think you guys should buy this cd.   The production is pretty stellar (although a lot of classic rock purists don’t like that) & Santana’s band is awesome.   The studio band was the 2nd best thing about this album.   And guess what?   They’re on every song.   What a deal.

The best thing about this album was the pairing of vocal talent to appropriate songs.   This wasn’t every song, but the songs that did have good matches – at least 6 of them – make this cd worthwhile.

And Santana… he was ok.

She also did this rather enchanting song with the French band Indochine.   It doesn’t feel as gay the 2nd time you watch it.   Ok, maybe it does.   Just listen to it without looking.

My inner loser immediately raises her hand & says, “I know who Paramore is!   Their lead singer is this chick Hayley.   She has crazy range.   She has actually studied voice.”   This is true.   I have listened to ONE Paramore song, & was impressed with the singer’s voice so I looked her up, if not her band.   I don’t even remember what the title was but it had to do with getting a shovel & burying a castle.   I thought it was cool & not as generic as a lot of the other new songs circulating, but still a little too much overstimulation for my taste.

There’s no denying it’s a cool band or at least that its lead singer is cool.   I have nothing but respect for Hayley Williams.   I’m not planning to buy a Paramore cd any time in the near future though.   I mean, I could… but I’d never listen to it.   Unless maybe I had come coke.   And the neighbors were rebuilding their house.    And the Board of Water supply was jack hammering outside my window.

What was deeply disturbing to me about my young friend’s angry comment is that it showed me how fragile & subjective perspective is.   In English, it made me think of all the times that I’ve judged other people based on their musical taste while thinking of myself as such an expert, when in truth there is always someone smarter than you.

This is not to say that my judgment, or my friend’s judgment, is wrong.   I still stand by my opinions since I don’t generally come to them lightly.   And I’m sure that my friend knows a lot of idiots.   I have no doubt of that.   This is because I personally think that my friend is something of a musical idiot.

Let me qualify that.   I like him.   I consider him my friend, & occasionally it’s pleasant to chat with him.   But when it comes to music I honestly feel that his taste is based more on What Is Cool than How It Actually Sounds.   And he can’t help it, because he plays guitar in a band that equates Good with Loud.   The one & only time I ever went to one of his gigs I actually had to leave the building & go stand outside in the parking lot by their 2nd song.   It was too loud.   There was no way anyone’s eardrums were surviving that.   We’ve had a number of professional musicians & singers in the bar, some of them with voices as good as if not better than Hayley Williams’, & acts of instrumentation my friend’s band could never aspire to in a year of guitar lessons… & this kid never noticed.   You can’t notice what you can’t hear.

Yesterday KK told me he had been offered a vocal teaching position at a successful music school & he wasn’t sure if he had the chops for it.   I reasoned that all he had to figure out was whether or not he had something to contribute to the students.   For instance, if one of my girlfriends wanted to learn to play guitar, I could actually teach them a bunch of things.   But if my guitarist, T, wanted to learn something, I got nuthin’.   He reasoned that he could really help the students with correct breathing (which is huge, by the way), among other things.   I told him he should keep that in mind when considering acceptance.

It’s all relative.   Every time I bitch about someone whose hearing is less acute than mine, there’s probably someone else with greater audiophile capabilities laughing at me.

I can’t promise to never judge musical taste again.   I can’t.   I have my own opinions, which I so brazenly spout on this blog.   But I can resolve to always know why I feel a certain way about something & try to show how the subjective element evolved out of an objective one.   And I can also acknowledge that I am not by any means an expert.    On anything.

But yeah, my friend is still a musical idiot.