Pribek

Alright, so one thing I’ve been working on is getting Huey…

…house trained.

It’s been quite a while since I’ve been involved in this sort of activity so, I looked around the web to see if there was any groundbreaking new info or helpful tips. It’s one of those deals where there is no standard method that everyone agrees on blah, blah, blah…

So, right off the bat, I put him on a leash and walked him around the perimeter of the yard a few times and he seemed to catch on to the leash real well. Wasn’t fighting me. We’d stay out until he did his business; no problem. Then, I took the leash off and he just followed along with me; didn’t try to run off or any of that.

So, we’re out there in the yard and…well…I walked over by the trees and took a leak. I looked over at Huey, kind of man to man and said, “This is why we go outside.” And, actually I did that a few times. It was kind of a bonding thing.

This afternoon, I went to the bathroom. Now, the bathroom door is just a tad wonky. Sometimes, it’s a little hard to close and it sort of opens up again slowly. I’ve never been a “pee with the door open” kind of guy so, I usually make real sure it’s closed. Today, I didn’t get it all the way shut and it starts to open slowly and I think…’what the hell, Traci is all the way on the other side of the house, just this once it won’t matter” and…I just let the door go open. So, I get unzipped and just kind of get started there and…in walks Huey.

So, Huey…he just kind of looks up at me…sort of turns his head, kind of a curious look on his face and…he hikes up the old back leg and lets her rip…whizzed all over the bathroom floor!

Go figure.

I’ve been doing a bunch of computer stuff that requires intermittent periods of waiting 15-30-45 seconds for stuff to load. I always have the guitar sitting close by so, it’s natural to pick it up and plunk a few lines in the interim periods. But, holding on to a pick didn’t turn out to be practical because I would have to put it down to manipulate the mouse-pick it back up again, blah blah blah.

So, I figures, why not just ditch the pick and play with thumb and fingers, it’s purely for entertainment purposes. And, actually I used to do a lot of that sort of thing but, I haven’t for quite a while. Matter of fact, the lead fills and first solo in the song “Trouble Ain’t Over” are an example.

Anyway, one little irritating thing that I’ve experienced over the last couple of years is; sometimes I will reach for a note, usually a bend and hit a plonk instead of a clean note. It’s almost like the coordination between the two hands gets a little off. Invariably, this seems to happen on the last note of a phrase or solo which, is frustrating because the first note and the last note are the most important.

Since I’ve been amusing myself in these short idle periods by thumbing and finger picking, I’ve noticed something rather curious. When I do pick up the plectrum (pick up the pick sounded just a little too goofy), I seem to have less of the type of incident I describe above. It’s as if there is just a bit more communication going on between the two hands.

I guess the moral of the story is, sometimes what you do to entertain yourself ends up being productive

So, I had this meeting with Bill Dees yesterday. The idea was to come up with some sort of plan regarding the release and promotion of his new record. Step by step stuff, some things need to be put in place, like a website and the artwork blah, blah blah.

Part of the reason I keep up with all of these guys that profess wisdom about music 2.0 is that, from time to time, I am involved in this indie music circus on a real level and, it’s always a situation where you need to maximize resources. What’s the best way to go about this, eh?

Bill, by the way, is sort of detached from the goings on in the music industry. You can be that way if you wrote one of the top 5 airplay songs of all time. So, I’m talking about how vastly the landscape has changed since Bill’s last record (“Castin’ My Spell” ‘06) and I realize, I’m trying to explain how Radiohead parlayed giving the album away into a successful venture, to a guy that played the Ed Sullivan show the year I was born; to a guy that toured with the Beatles and the Stones in the early days of mania for both. Bill just kind of rolls with the punches and, I think he came away with a sort of, let’s not put expectations too high, let’s have some fun with it, hey, I think we got a good record here attitude.

Anyway, Bill had his fill of the talk and said; “Let’s go get something to eat”. He’s like that, a meeting isn’t a meeting, a social situation isn’t official until we break bread. I said; “Well, I’m going to have to follow you because, I don’t know my way around these boondocks”. So, Bill knows a Mexican place, I am going to follow him there and then we’ll part ways after dining.
Bill is 69 years old a survivor of life, the music industry, quadruple bypass surgery and he is now a man at peace walking in the Spirit. Mild mannered and jovial.

He gets in his Jeep and takes off down the two lane black top like his ass is on fire. I’m having trouble even keeping him in my sights. We get to this crossroads and there is traffic coming. I know we have to turn left to get to Forsyth which, is like 4-5 miles, and that’s the part where I really need to follow him; when we get towards town.

Bill hesitates for a second and then, he just can’t stand it, I know he knows that I need to follow but, he just can’t do it-he pulled out in front of the traffic. Now, his move wasn’t all that risky but, if I would have pulled out behind him well, it wasn’t worth finding out. So, he’s just flying down the road and I’m sitting there waiting for nine cars to pass before I can go.

And, I had to laugh because, I realize that no matter what has happened, deep down this guy is still the crazy, red assed, roughneck, teenager from the windswept plains of Borger that was digging Elvis and rock and roll when it really happened. That spirit is still in him, you can’t get it out of him. And, that’s why he still wants to sing and make records.

As, I pulled through town, I spotted the Mexican place, the Jeep and Bill Dees grinning from ear to ear and, I pulled in.

“Sorry, about that Jack, those cars seemed like they sped up after I pulled out in front of ‘em. I thought you were going to give it shot anyway. I think you could’ve made it”.