07/09/2024
Welcome back friends. My sincerest apologies for my absence once again. Let me tell you, I thought I was feeling emotional a few weeks ago when I last posted, but since then we lost our beloved doggo. His death sent me over the edge, where I was already barely holding on emotionally. I can play tough through most things and do my grieving in solitude, but the floodgates couldn’t hold any more. I needed a few weeks to emote for all that I’ve lost recently, and then a few days to get my head back on straight. I’m glad to say that I am back and doing much better. That being said, everyone else has had a lot going on as well. Let’s get down to business, and if I miss something I’m sorry, it has been several weeks since I last reported our shows.
SHOWS
To be honest, there is surprisingly little to report here as far as shows, but Matt did do one with Mad Marge at a neat thrift store recently that he said he really enjoyed. I have some pics of that show for you that I will share below, but as for actual details I don’t have a ton. Matt is infinitely talented, but not a man of many words when it comes to telling me about shows for the blog. Take a look at these pics though:
Rhey has had a few things going on so I asked her to write up a little summary for me. Here’s what she had to say:
“Life has been a bit overwhelming lately for the blackhat crew but here’s a little insight into what we’ve had going on lately. A couple of months ago a dear friend passed away and we got the chance to run sound for her memorial at Gators in apple valley. The room was filled with so much love as everyone shared their memories of Crystal as she meant a lot to a whole lot of people. Next up we had Make Music Day with Loose Affiliates and Troy Story in Big Bear which was an absolute blast. The weather was much nicer than in the high desert for sure. Prior to that we had an all day event at The Wild Goose thrift store with Mad Marge, Johnny Dahmer, and Project Skeleton for a summer kickoff which included a pinup contest. It was a hot one but it was great to see a bunch of local vendors come together to support the community and have some fun while they do it.”
Forgive me the lackluster catch up this round. I have had so much less bandwidth for keeping track of these events this last month than I normally do. I will, however, be making an appearance at a show this weekend, 07/13/2024 at Rockstars of Tomorrow with English Entertainment for Andrew’s debut single release party. I will be hanging out with Rizz at the show while we sell our wares. This khajiit will have tie dye if you have coin, and at rock bottom prices too. That’s right, clearance priced stuff kids. I want it gone. You want a shirt? Gimme $10. Hell, you can probably haggle me down a bit more if you talk to me nicely. Come by the show, say hi to Andrew, and maybe even win a slick B&S Guitar Co. axe from the raffle. If that doesn’t sound fun, Matt has a big show at the Big Rock Inn, in Phelan, or Rhey will be doing a gig at Townsend the same day. Say hi to one of us at least!
Recording
We did have a Troy Story session the weekend of June 30th. I hit up Troy and he filled me in on how his session went.
“Studio time has a way of warping your brain, in the sense that Murphy’s Law is in full effect at all times. More often than not, I’ve had to pivot when I perform live because the setlist I wrote out beforehand was too long, too short, or I simply wasn’t feeling confident about being able to play certain songs, remember all the lyrics, etc. Leading up to this last session at Scott’s, Matt and I had this grand plan to incorporate a 4-part vocal harmony into one of the songs, which for a number of reasons didn’t come together in time for the recording session. Despite having plenty to get done even without that choir part, I still wanted to make sure there weren’t any wasted minutes once we got to the studio, so the night before, I anxiously prepared an acoustic guitar part that we could throw on to the single release (hopefully) without too much difficulty. I have to say, laying down isolated vocal tracks is its own special kind of vulnerable and empowering all at the same time, but fumbling through chord shapes on an instrument you barely play takes the cake. At the end of the day, I didn’t hate what ended up getting recorded, but rest assured it could have been a lot better if I had really taken the time to get picky about my technique and the chords I chose. Give me a piano any day.”
Art Studio
Seeing as though I’ve been in an emo well for the last couple weeks I haven’t actually done anything NEW. I have, however, continued to work on the things commissioned by English Entertainment for the show this weekend, as well as some memorial quilts (als0 for Rizz) that have been occupying the better part of the last few months. I’ve been working on things in between other things, but everything is finally ready for delivery this weekend. Behold, this stuff.
Thank you folks for popping in this week. I know my promises to be back next week have been rather empty lately, but I promise to deliver a firsthand account of Andrew’s release party for you all next week. Trust, friends. Until next week, rock on my loves.
blackhat 