Schedules and schematics

We've got a week of rehearsals leading into the show next Tuesday. Playing as a trio again has been a blast from the past, since that's the original configuration of not only Mohave, but The El Reys as well. It takes a lot of mojo'in to make it work as a three-piece and Mark and Rob have delivered the goods in what would be an insane consideration for anybody; learning 90 minutes of material in a little over a month. That's psycho, but it's happenin' anyway.

I just finished working up a demo of "April Fools" that I plan to use in selling the song as well as teaching it to others. It used to be where I'd slap together a demo in a few hours using hastily programmed drum beats and a thin layer of production, letting everyone fill in the blanks later. Now, it's important to get the details right from the get-go, as a number of different musicians will be performing the tunes. Though the bulk of the show will be a traditional trio arrangement, there will be some special guests sitting in on a few tunes, adding to the party mood that we're gonna bring with us!

I've got a couple of new Irish fiddle tunes committed to memory and I've been practicing them every night, along with some other newer tunes that have found their way into my sheet music book. I ain't doin' so hot with the music theory studying, but I'm still getting adjusted to a new schedule that's killer, but super-odd for this nocturnal guy. I also got Joline back from the shop where she recieved much love and care from our man Patrick. She's been totally refretted and he even managed to fix the buzzing brace that's been sounding on some of her notes. She literally hasn't sounded quite this good in a long time, at least tuning-wise. As the frets wear down, the distances between points on the fretboard changes, making your notes sound not quite the way they should. But as Patrick was noticing when I brought her in, her sound is twenty times better than when she was new in 1994, just by nature of all the music (and other things) she's absorbed over the past twelve years, her voice has gotten quite exquisite.