The Music Report...

 Someone, an old friend told me the other day, "come over I want to record you. Bring tuba, cigar box guitar and your resonator and let's capture what makes mudbelly mudbelly." I was honored and flattered at this idea thinking, wow my stichk must really be good or either he's thinking my music is like a painting by the early peoples of the desert that you might find hidden in a West Texas canyon. It's worth noting, seeing and documenting because one day old mudbelly will join them peoples to dance around a fire in the many rooms of the afterlife and while we won't want his sun baked cave paintings to hang in our living rooms it will be good to know they existed. 

Music has been picking up for Cathy and I. I think it has for all musicians with the easing of covid and vaccinations and I am seeing many friends busy also. All this spittle spraying from tuba blowing and yelling into microphones has not given me covid or made anyone else sick. 

Depending on where you see us playing you might see anything going on and with this blog entry I thought I might try to cover the range of musical activity that has been underway for the last few months. It might not all be rock and roll but as a musician I think you let your talent guide you and most of all you put music in places where it might not be. 

Of course there is the tuba playing that has been an ongoing cross to bear since 1969. Our Lufkin Brass Quintet has not been much active this year but we are going to begin again after Easter. In the meantime the Angelina Civic Band has been busy with rehearsals each week and a concert is scheduled May 1st at 2pm in Temple Theater. Here is a video of Leonard Bernstein's Danzon by our band from the last concert.

I also had a chance to jam with the Stone Wall Rockers and the Brazos River Rats and Bluegrass Orchestra to make a big racket to celebrate the re-election of Judge Travis Kitchens to District 258. There's a lot of rules in these jams like this. You can't use music, I think they make you sing a song you don't know or at least have never performed (that's what they do to me) and then you go back and see the rule about no music. I don't know if this politician we honored with all this chaos is a Republican or a Democrat and I've known him for 30 years and it's never come up but there certainly seems to be a spirit of all men are equal as long as they have an electric guitar in their hands which sounds like something the Founding Father probably would not say.

That's Chris Edwards in the background on the Stonewall Studio stage. I'm reading his book "Nobody Come to Visit Anymore" and you should also. 

After a couple of years of slowed activity playing at church retirement has helped us pick it up. Cathy is the musical director in this and the music is bilingual English and Spanish. We don't play a regular Mass but play anytime bilingual music is required. I just stand behind her and if her foot comes down and I'm not playing I start, if I'm playing when the foot comes down I stop.   

We've played music for a lot of funerals during covid, I wish I would have counted but thankfully we are seeing more weddings these days. The last two weddings have had good parties afterwards. We play real good for our supper and the food was excellent at both of these.  

With the Lenten Season coming to an end we furnished music for a couple of retreats. I think the fact that we both chose yellow shirts was as impactful as the music this day. It does not matter if it's church or a sweaty VFW stage somewhere this just reinforces my rule that you should always dress like you are with the band. 

Mary sings with us here and has shown a real talent for organizing retreats. 

This is a youth retreat group. I messed up and did not wear the yellow shirt fut the music was fun and the kids sang well. . 

Youth retreat group. 

Cathy and the other adults Mary, Maria, and Jose lead the kids. I worked the sound board.

Speaking of soundboard we have a new one, it's sounding good and also a camera to improve the livestreaming of services. Live had been done from a phone in the past and it's all been some new things to learn but I can compare it to my instruments. You have to put in the practice. 

We will be doing Easter music on Holy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter Vigil. Cathy blew her voice last week and between singing and yelling at grandkids she has had laryngitis but reports this morning, "better." 

Hopefully she is back to full strength by Thursday. I will sing and actually my Spanish is getting better but it will sound nicer if my cave paintings are not hanging out front in the living room.