What a Weekend!

I always joke, from time to time, that I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. That is oh so true this weekend.

Saturday, I DJ'd back-to-back weddings. The first was more a favor to a quasi-friend and it was outside (yeah, there was a tent) in 95 degree Annapolis weather. Rough. Then I had to travel 40 minutes north towards Baltimore and set up a sound system for a ceremony (again, outside -no tent) plus the main system for the reception (in an AIR CONDITIONED tent). Needless to say it was a LONG, HOT, SWEATY DAY/NIGHT for me. Both weddings went well, but there was one person -one asshole- who ruined the entire day for me. He was greatly angered that the song that he requested (several times via several people) didn't actually make it to my speakers in time for the intended person to hear the song. So, when I did play the song he made a special point to come up to me and explain that this song was requested especially for the grandmother of the bride (news to me!) who had already left the reception. I felt really bad. I told him that and sincerely apologized. I said, "Sir, I'm really sorry." He informed me I wasn't sorry. Instead I was a "fucking bad DJ".

Sorry folks. When you throw out the "F" word at a wedding reception - after I've been on my feet all day and working my ass off to make sure everything is perfect for two brides and two grooms- I just don't react all that well. I wanted to hit him. Hard. With everything I had. Instead I informed him that the conversation was over. But this drunk asshole wouldn't let it go. He kept blabbering on and on. I wanted to hit him. Harder.

Finally, I just walked away. My intent was to go find the manager of the hall and have her kick this chump to curb. But this guy followed me. He FOLLOWED ME. So, I turned around and asked him how long he'd been DJing. Totally threw him off... "I'm not a DJ!" he insisted. "Right!" I said, "so shut up and leave me alone!"

Sorry, but I take that kind of stuff to heart. It hurts me deeply. I put everything I have into DJing weddings including countless hours before-hand preparing music, schedules, and all sorts of details. And then I take great care at the actual reception to make sure I play what the bride and groom -and their parents- want to hear. After that, I focus on guest requests and try to play as many as possible. So when you come up to me and insinuate that I'm just a sucky DJ who is unconcerned about request, that just kills me. If this guy had come up and explicitly said "hey, this song is a request for the bride's grandmother who is going to be leaving soon" I can guarantee you the song would've been given a higher priority. That wasn't the case. It was just a request. And I did play the friggin' song -as soon as I thought it was appropriate and after I had accommodated all of the bride's requests.

I ended up getting a big thanks from the bride's father, and nice tip from the groom. Several other guests made it a point to stop by at the end and thank me for the great music too. But, of course, that one drunk idiot is going to be forever associated with that otherwise-awesome wedding reception. It's moments like that that make you wanna stop DJing.

And that brings us to Sunday. We had our first house concert of the season scheduled. My plan was to sleep in until 9am or so and then get up and get everything in order way before the 2pm start time. But my gung-ho tree-hacking friend/neighbor had other plans. He had already spent the better part of Saturday (while I was DJing) in my backyard -and my neighbor's backyard- hacking down this precariously leaning tree. There was very little left of it by the time I arrived home at midnight, but my neighbor figured it was his civic duty to finish the job bright and early Sunday morning.

When I heard the knock on the door a little before 8am, I peeled one eye open, looked at my wife, and said "That was someone knocking on our door... it's 8am... who the HELL is knocking on our door at 8am!!?!"

When I got to the door and saw my neighbor standing there -chainsaw in hand- I just groaned. I knew my plans to sleep in where gone. I ended up helping him clear the rest of the tree branches and logs out of the neighbor's yard and then it was time to set up for the house concert. It was a lot of running around. And it was about 98 degrees outside (where the house concert was taking place). We had hosted one last year -kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing- just to see if we could pull it off. It went so well and we enjoyed it so much, we decided to do it again. So, early this year, prompted by a singer-songwriter friend of mine, David Glaser, we took the plunge and set up a concert every month at our place starting in May. The May concert never happened because the scheduled performer had a death in the family -his mother. Rather than try to substitute someone else, my wife and I decided to just wait until June.

We intend to hold all our house concerts out on our huge back deck which means we are always going to be at the mercy of Mother Nature. So in the week or so leading up to the big day, my wife and I were constantly checking the weather forecast. Our main concern, of course, was rain. But that turned out not to be an issue. The excessive heat and humidity was.

Temperatures were hovering right around 100 degrees Fahrenheit and we had set a start time of 2pm for the show. 1/3 of our deck is a screened-in gazebo room but the other 2/3 is open and uncovered. The one big canopy umbrella that we own was placed at the "stage" end of the deck to provide some cover for the performers. That left a "no man's land" between the "stage" area and the screened in gazebo. No cover, no breeze, no mercy for anyone wanting to sit there. A friend of mine brought three of his box fans over and we placed them strategically on the deck but they did little good. They were basically just moving around extremely hot humid air. Let's just say it was one HOT show.

OK, lessson learned. A 10'x 10' pop-up canopy will be in place for the next show. I'm also thinking about starting the concert a little later in the afternoon... maybe 5pm. That might help a little too. But when all is said and done, it is what it is. Welcome to the wonderful Maryland summer weather!

I think more people would have shown up if it weren't for the extremely hot temperatures, but I was surprised and encourage by the 2 dozen or so people that did show up and stayed for the entire time, enjoying some great local original music. We made sure there was plenty to munch on and there were plenty of cold beverages to sip. Most folks came prepared with umbrellas, sunscreen, and cool clothing.

I really must say how great it all sounded. Aside from the fact that we had two incredibly talented singer-songwriter (who both brought along an A-list sideman to help them out), the simple sound system that I had set up just worked perfectly and sounded just awesome -to me anyway. I was worried about the music getting too loud and bugging my neighbors, but I had nothing to worry about. It was just all at a perfect level.

First up: Ruben Dobbs a.k.a. Swamp Candy. Now I've known Ruben for many years. He's played in a lot of different bands doing a lot of different styles of music. He's a top-notch guitar player, but I have to admit I was never really much of a fan of any of his previous projects so it was with great deal of skepticism that I took in my first Swamp Candy performance from Ruben about two years ago. Gee, sure glad I went. Ruben had hit upon something special. He had focused in on the classic roots and blues music of days long gone by and sprinkled in a little country twang here and there. The music instantly took me back to the first time I heard classic blues masters like Muddy Waters, Robert Johnson, and John Lee Hooker. His performance of this genre of music was genuine and emotional and, quite frankly, my wife and I were blown away.

I had approached him sort of last-minute (the week before) to perform at the house concert and he was gracious enough to accept, no questions asked. He showed up with his bass player toting a huge upright bass and a kick drum. Ruben had a couple different guitars with him and I just knew it was going to be a good time. And it was. He just sound awesome and I know he garnered some new fans and sold quite a few CDs afterwards.

Next up: One of my favorie singer-songwriters, Mr. Tony Denikos. He's a true song craftsman on par with the likes of Arlo Guthrie and John Prine. No one can tell a story with a song -and have you laughing and crying at the same time- like Tony can. At least that's my opinion. He had with him a bad ass guitar player, Gantt Kushner, who just perfectly highlighted all the songs Tony played. It was the best I've heard Tony sound -not that he ever sounds "bad" mind you. Maybe it was the heat that made everything sizzle, I dunno.

After it was all over, we all hung out and chatted and got to know some of the new faces that had shown up. It was a great time and so much worth all the effort leading up to it. I would be very remiss if I didn't give most of the planning and preparation credit to my super human wife, Asa. She cooked, cleaned, weeded, mowed, scrubbed and set up practically everything for the big show. And then we got an extra hand from some true and wonderful friends who ran to the store for more ice, brought box fans and umbrellas from home, and help Asa and me with the food. Awesome. Just Awesome. Can't wait until the next one.

More on Music

It takes a great deal of skill and music knowledge to be a good DJ. Most people don't realize that. The majority of bar and club owners these days don't realize that. A lot of musicians don't realize that. Quite a few DJs don't realize it either.

As with anything art-related, you really have to have a love and respect for music in order to successfully do anything with it; whether it's singing, dancing, composing, or DJing. DJing, quite simply, is the artistic programming and manipulation of recorded music. You can create an iTunes playlist with 50 great songs, but the magic is in the way the songs are ultimately delivered to the listener. The order in which they are presented. The timing. The grouping of songs. The change ups. All these things turn a playlist of songs into a powerful, motivating, and magical tool in the hands of a good DJ. DJing is a performance art when done correctly. But unless you're a bigshot club DJ spinning vinyl records full of techno, house, and alternative dance grooves at some ubercool club in NYC, you're not gonna get much respect as a mobile DJ playing in a bar downtown. It's just the way it is. It's always been that way and I think it's gotten significantly worse thanks to the giant leaps of technology that enable any dufus with a computer and a USB control surface claim to be a DJ.

Most of the people who are booking music (live and DJ) for the bars and clubs around town are ignorant to what works and what doesn't; who's great and who's not. And money continues to be the bottom line. This is great news to all those mediocre musicians and DJs out there who are willing to play the night for $50. It's downright frustrating to the true professionals who are losing gigs to these bottom feeders. You don't have to be very bright to know when a band or musician sucks. It only takes one or two songs; sometimes even less than that. It's a little trickier to pick out the good DJs from the not-so-good ones and you truly have to appreciate and love music to really notice and appreciate a great DJ. That's what I think anyway. And since I write, sing, play, compose, study, and DJ music, I'm confident that I'm qualified to make such an assessment.

I've DJ'd hundreds upon hundreds of bar gigs and witnessed first hand the euphoria (theirs and mine) that a stellar set of perfectly melded songs can deliver. I have had countless people shower me with slurred praise at the end of the night and tell me what an awesome DJ I was and how great the music was. Nothing beats the feeling you get after receiving a kind word or sincere compliment. Nothing beats the feeling you get from seeing a packed dance floor and knowing that you caused that to happen. I've had a lot of those good feelings over the years but there's still times when I get down on myself and discourage at the business side of things. There are people who can make you feel worthless and insignificant and cause you to question why you even bother at all. I guess it's a roller coaster sort of thing.

This was a very long-winded way to get to my point. I received a compliment last night from someone who wasn't really trying to compliment me, but really succeeded in making the frustration I've been feeling lately a little more "worth it" to me. I was DJing at place that I hadn't played at in years and I was playing off-the-beaten-path music for most of the night. There weren't too many people in this place, but one of them happened to be a "regular" who used to come every week to hear me DJ. I recognized her immediately when she approached and she had this big smile and hopeful eyes when she asked, "hey, are you gonna be here next week too?" I told her no; that I was just filling in. She was noticeably disappointed and then she said the nicest thing to me. "You know, nobody plays music like you do. I was all excited to see you back here. You've turned me on to so many great songs that I would have otherwise never heard. I hope you fill in more often."

Wow. Somebody notices and understands and appreciates what I do and what makes me different from most of the other DJs in town. And even though it was a dead night and a pretty uneventful evening, that little conversation made it all worth while.

Scapegoats and Plastic Bottles

We gotta have a scapegoat. It’s the American way. When something goes horribly wrong in our great nation, we like to narrow it down to one person or one entity, heap all the blame on them, and string them up for all to see. Ah, there. Now don’t we all feel better?

Of course I’m referring to that sinister, evil, spawn of Satan, Mr. Tony Hayward; the CEO of British Petroleum (BP), the most evil and heartless company on the face the earth; the entity solely responsible for the millions of gallons of crude oil that’s spilling into the Gulf. Yes, if it weren’t for BP, all would be right in the world. Mr. Hayward and his company have ruined beaches and waterways, destroyed scores of natural habitats and put entire species of animal at risk. Yep, it’s all BP’s fault and any apologies or acts of contrition from them or Mr. Hayward are obviously lies and utter nonsense.

Fear not dear citizens! Our noble and honest members of Congress are on the case and they are unleashing the scorn of a nation on that evil demon, Mr. Hayward; and all in front of rolling cameras that can broadcast the spectacle to all the world. Yeah buddy, BP’s going down for this one! Hey, and while we’re at it, let’s boycott all the BP gas stations. Don’t buy their gas – you’ll only be supporting the evil!!! Never mind that those BP gas stations are owned locally by, perhaps, a friend or neighbor of yours and you’re destroying their income and livelihood. Nah, that’s irrelevant! Someone’s got to pay for this! BP has got to pay for this!!

I’m sorry, but my heart really goes out to Mr. Hayward. Yeah, he may be a rich, greedy, fat cat who has profited tremendously as CEO of BP, but now he’s the poor schmuck who is the face of evil for millions of Americans and no matter what the guy says or does, he’ll probably go down in history as one of the top villains of our time. Bet that detail was never even remotely mentioned in his job description when he signed on. He may as well have just personally dropped a bomb on that oil rig because all of the dozens of people that will ultimately be proven responsible in part for this catastrophe will probably remain nameless while Mr. Hayward becomes a household name synonymous with pure evil.

If everyone would just pause for a moment, calm down, and really think this whole mess through, we’d realize we are all to blame for the debacle in the Gulf. Greed and Arrogance are the true evil behind this and other problems facing our country. We’re a gas-guzzling, electricity-hogging, resource-wasting, environment-polluting society. Anything goes as long as we’re fat and happy in our big SUVs driving through our big cities lit up like Christmas trees, throwing trash out the window, and leaving pollution in our wake. It’s the American way.

BP, ExxonMobile, ConocoPhilips, and Chevron all exist and thrive because we demand oil – and LOTS of it. It’s easy to sit and blame BP for everything, but every single one of us takes a big fat dump on the environment every day by insisting on driving performance and luxury automobiles, not recycling, and simply wasting everything imaginable in every imaginable way. We’re an arrogant society unwilling to cut back or modify our behaviors, foolish enough to believe that we’re entitled to everything and still wanting more in the process. We don’t think about the consequences until some catastrophe happens; the price of gas skyrockets, the economy tanks, or a major oil spill happens. And then, instead of each of us stepping up and trying to fix the situation, we immediately seek out our scapegoat and blame it all on them. Meanwhile, we keep doing what we’re doing and enact some insanely stupid measure like boycotting a business to vent our frustrations.

Nothing to me is more laughable than watching members of Congress get all holier-than-thou in front of the cameras and give the selected scapegoats of the month a good scolding on behalf of the nation. Remember when they hauled in the executives from the Ford and GM? How about the CEO of Toyota, USA? The Savings & Loan executives? Yeah, it was all pretty much the same show; a bunch of corrupt, greedy politicians yelling “shame on you!” at a bunch of scapegoats. Hypocrites with mighty big balls, that’s for sure. It’s like Charles Manson scolding you for killing someone. Laughable and so very sad at the same time.

Almost as laughable, but a little more irritating to me is seeing folks posting their “Boycott BP” messages on Facebook. Yeah! We’ll show ‘em! That’ll solve everything! I do believe our privileged way of life has seriously impacted our common sense. It’s really sad. The same people bitching about BP are the ones who refuse to recycle or half-ass the task because they’re too lazy to take the time to learn about how to effectively recycle. They’re the same people driving around in humongous SUVs or pick-up trucks that will never, ever, be utilized for their intended purpose -hauling huge loads or going off-road. Hell, most of the pickup trucks I see these days fall into the luxury auto class. It’s crazy. Why do we drive around in these monstrosities?! Because we can, that’s why! We always have to have the fastest, fanciest, biggest, newest, and most expensive of everything. It’s all about image, baby! Never mind the fact that we’re just fueling the vicious cycle of waste and abuse on our environment. Not our problem. After all, we got a scapegoat now!

Everyone all the way up to the President wants to stamp their feet and complain about how the automakers dropped the ball on developing alternative fuel sources and cleaner, more efficient vehicles. Well, yeah, they did but mostly because we all demanded that they do that. They’re all in business to sell as many cars as possible at as high of a price as possible. They spend a fair amount of money on research and marketing and, based on all their findings, they build and market the vehicles that are most likely to sell and most likely to turn a profit. They don’t have much room in their budget for noble for-the-good-of-all-mankind projects, they gotta sell, sell, sell!! And so when oil prices go through the roof and the economy tanks, who ends up being the bad guys? Yeah, the evil automakers who refuse to give us more fuel efficient cars… you know, the same cars that in more prosperous times, we laughed at the thought of buying.

Back to recycling. How much more easy can it be made for you idiots?! Nowadays, you have this big yellow recycling bin that you can throw –unsorted- plastic, paper, Styrofoam, metal, and glass in. Yeah, unsorted! You don’t have to do a damn thing except throw anything recyclable in the friggin’ yellow container. Years ago, you had to sort and separate paper and glass and aluminum into their own containers and figure out where to take them or, if there was a pick-up service in your neighborhood, figure out which days to put which items curbside. Now, it’s simple!! Just throw everything that’s recyclable in the yellow container and put it out by the curb once a week. Why do I see so many people having such a hard time with this?! Since my family started recycling in earnest in our house, I’ve found that probably 70% of what we throw away ends up as recyclable. Another 10% is food scraps that can be used as compost material or flushed down the sink disposal. On trash day now we have 2 to 3 times as much recyclable trash as we do regular trash. But yet I look up and down my block and I see the exact opposite. This can only mean that folks are either too lazy to recycle or they’re just not knowledgeable enough to be more effective with their recycling.

My office is another prime example. In every room they have both a regular trash can and a blue recycling trash can. So all a person has to do is throw the right kind of trash in the right kind of can, both of which are right there for them! And yet I can walk around and see plastic wrappings, soda cans, plastic water bottles, and discarded paper towels all thrown in the regular trash. Why?! Is it so difficult to grasp the concept of recycling? I also see lots of professed recyclers throwing away a plastic container or can in the regular garbage because it’s dirty. Maybe there’s a plastic takeout container with half a salad left in it or a yogurt cup that has yogurt smears. Nope, can’t throw them in recycling, they’re dirty. God forbid we actually have to take a moment and dump the remaining food in the regular trash or rinse something out in the sink. Nah. Too much trouble. Hey, guess what plastic is made out of…. OIL. Now you’re making BP work twice as hard so you can have your nifty little throw away plastic container that you simply refuse to put in the recycle bin. You tell me who the bad guy is.

I’m not denying that all of these big oil companies, automakers, and multi-billion-dollar corporations are mostly all run or influenced by greedy, rich fat cats whose primary mission is to make more and more and more money at any cost. I’m just saying it’s like that because we all ignorantly support that methodology in our daily lives and it’s time that we really own up to who and what we really are. It ain’t a pretty reflection staring us back in the mirror, but recognizing it, owning up to it, and then changing, is the first and only step in the right direction for our nation.