A year ago today I posted that I’d “finished an EP of five acoustic songs.” I was referring to my 2025 release, Acoustica, announcing that I had that “in the can,” as the patois goes. It’s a funny little expression, meaning that the final performances have been captured and the recording light is off; the project is now ready for the next phases, like post-production, mixing, mastering, etc. The expression’s origins go back to when recorded reels or film rolls …
Author: Steve
Ever notice that no one speaks of tribulations without involving trials? And no one speaks of laurels unless they’re commenting on resting on them. And what the hell is a laurel anyway? Apparently, it’s a wreath… but that’s not the point here. What I have come to learn is that, musically, if I have any of these figurative laurels, I don’t like to rest on them. From a creative standpoint, it’s always about moving forward. What I should be doing …
One of my favorite bands is this Canadian group, Sloan. They’ve been around for 30-plus years now, and they have a lot of records. One of the members of the band, Chris Murphy, often remarks that many of his favorite bands are ones that had big catalogs of music. “More than individual songs or records, I am a fan of careers, particularly the careers of bands,” he’s said. I can relate. While some of my favorite groups had short, sweet …
A Story About Sales It was 1994. I was relatively recently out of college and looking to land that first so-called “real” job… you know, the kind that provided benefits like health insurance. The kind that supposedly were the reason why we spent all those years in school. The kind of job that was maybe a little different than the type of jobs we did after school and on weekends when we were in high school. I had degrees in …
So, since we have discussed how it might be possible to be a musician who plays in lots of projects in part 1, let’s talk about the “why” factor. Why play with lots of people? Why would one want to do this, anyway? We can break this down to a few sub categories: Opportunity: I Can Put simply, I get the opportunity to do this in large part because I’m a drummer. Drummers are seemingly more in need. I think …
Some people think that a band whore is a groupie, and I suppose that’s one definition. But when local musicians call their fellow compadres by this name, it’s got a different meaning altogether. It refers to the player who “gets around” in another way—by being affiliated with a ton of different groups. If we’re to pick on another player for being a band whore, it’s usually done somewhat playfully, and at the same time, there’s truth in jest. It can …
Don Henley is one of my favorite drummers. That’s right, I said it. Some people think he sucks as a drummer, but those people probably also think Ringo sucks and are truly missing the point, so I don’t care. Of course, as one of the major contributors to the Eagles, I am tremendously inspired by his non-drumming contributions like his writing and his voice, but he’s an underrated drummer, too. His stuff is not difficult to play, but it’s very …
I gravitated towards drums when I was young because I had more of a natural proficiency towards them than I had for the other rock instruments. It was the quickest way for me to get involved in the music and start playing in a band. And it was also the most fun and what I liked best; probably specifically because it was the one that came most naturally to me. When I first started, I spent no time learning rudiments …
Last weekend, the 51s played a show and my stage mates Scott and David, along with me, were hanging out pre-gig with some folks who came out to see the show. At one point, one of them asked David if he played bass. David is a sax player by musical trade, but he also sometimes plays bass guitar. The context of the conversation made it clear that she was asking whether he played bass for the group she was going …
I wrote a blog entry back in 2008 about a peculiar habit I have when reading a book: Even if I am enjoying the read, I often find myself sort of wishing I was finishing the book. I explained it like this: Because I’m busy, and because I have numerous other hobbies I like to indulge in the rare spare time I do have, I don’t get to read nearly as often as I’d like to. So I always have …