Ahhh, back to the desert where I was born

I wasn't born in Arizona, but I was born in the southwest. Dry heat is something I can deal with. Phoenix has been around 110 degrees F- this week and I'm loving it! Anything's better than all the rain and humidity that I had to deal with while driving Interstate 10 to get over here. Getting caught by tropical storm Erin was sort of scary, especially when the frontage road flooded and lifted the front end of my rental car off the concrete. I stayed in Houston for the night, but missed a couple of stops that I wanted to make. What are ya gonna do?

The next day, I drove from Houston to Phoenix - and it was partially because Texas has implemented an 80 m.p.h. speed limit along the western portion of I-10. Of course, I drive about 10 miles over the limit, so I was flying through the rest of the state, which got me into Phoenix at a pretty decent time.

It's been beautiful here - Amy Clair of the Phoenix Dulcimer Players set up the workshops and concert along with putting me up at her parents casita in Anthem. Sweet digs! I just love being back in Arizona, hearing the coyotes howl at night, seeing the red rocks blazing in the afternoon sun. The workshops were full and the concert went great. Amy's parents, Steve and Louise, are super-nice and I had a good time hanging out with them, having dinner, talking American Indian culture. Their house is gorgeous, filled with Native American art and artifacts. They gifted me with a really neat necklace of a mask painted by Two Dogs Doyle. Funny this. My gold dolphin chain, which I've worn for years, broke a link about two weeks ago, and at last week's gathering of the Florida Sunshine Dulcimer Society, Suz Chapman gifted me with a frog totem made of Chinese turquoise. Then, the gift of the mask this weekend. It feels like a real big blessing, and an omen of something to come. I'm looking forward to whatever it is.

Tomorrow morning, I head out for Colorado where Rick Laurenzi is awaiting my arrival. It's going to be a fun week - I'll be back with more when I get settled in at Manitou Springs.

Sit Long, Play Much

The Florida Sunshine Dulcimer Society is now a reality, thanks to Dennis Waldrop, John Morgan, Della Ashton and others who have rallied 'round to create a unique group in which mountain dulcimer players (and other instrumentalists), can get together and enjoy some "no rules" jamming in a friendly and challenging environment, other than their local dulcimer clubs.

The "Jam 'N' Bag" this past weekend was a fun-filled time of playing, visiting and eating - though I was having so much fun, I forgot to eat. Events will be sponsored all over the state of Florida; visit the website above for more info.

Heading Out

This past Sunday was a nice way to relax with fellow dulcimer players and enjoy the music and company. Today, I finally bounced back from the road-tripping to record some new episodes of The Dulcimerica Video Podcast that feature song demos and workshopping. Wednesday, I hit the road once again for Austin, Texas; Phoenix, Arizona and Manitou Springs, Colorado. Hope to see you at a show!

Back and Rolling

It was a brief but exhilarating swing through Louisville, Kentucky for Kentucky Music Weekend; so many sights and sounds, so many wonderful moments and visits. I spent two days standing up on concrete while shooting video for the event, so I didn't get as much time to hang with people as I would've liked.

Friday was interesting: hopped on a US Airways flight in the early a.m. and arrived in Charlotte, NC for a switch - which was canceled due to mechanical issues. The airline was going to put me on a flight to Cincinnati three hours later and *then* put me in a van headed to Louisville. Thankfully, Tom and Missy Strothers live in Cincinnati, so they planned to pick me up from the airport. I spent the time playing music and chatting with a very nice gentleman about the war in Iraq, the state of alternative news and his venture into home made chicken and dumplings, offering to ship me a box. I traded him a CD for the gift, and he bought me a drink for the entertainment. I love traveling with the dulcimer - talk about a conversation piece!

Kentucky Music Weekend was incredible - and what moment stands out in my mind? Jean Ritchie walking backstage, seeing me and saying, "hi Bing, how are you?" She's just amazing - so is her husband, George Pickow. I wish I had met them sooner in life, but I'm sure glad to know them now.

Another moment that stands out is hearing Small Potatoes play a song called "Knott!" I'd never heard them before and enjoyed their sets immensely, but this has got to be one of the most incredibly clever and funny songs I've ever heard. I bought the CD just for that tune and listened to the whole thing on the way back from Louisville. You ought to check them out.

Third big moment was seeing my adopted nephew Josh Noe (middle, holding the dulcimer he won) take first place in the Kentucky State Mountain Dulcimer championship on Saturday. I met Josh last year at Kentucky Music Week and we hit it off immediately, sharing a room at Kentucky Music Weekend later in the summer. He was my roommate again this year and the night before the competition, we talked through what he was going to do on-stage. He was coached by a lot of people, but I think he ended up making his own decisions up there and he beat Louisiana State Mountain Dulcimer Champion Aaron Thornton, who took second place!

I could go on about the weekend, but now I'm home, sick, and have a pile of work to finish amidst the clutter of a house undergoing cosmetic surgery. Sick sucks, but it's better than dead. Amen.

Tell The Rambler, The Gambler...

I'm very surprised at the responses to "Run On" over at MacJams - this one has charted even higher than "Crazy Feels Like." Granted, the vote inflation at MJ keeps shooting for the moon, considering the other tunes in circulation right now, it's still enough to once again make me wonder "what's the secret ingredient?"

Babelfish doesn't cover this.

Anyone speak Norwegian?

Da jeg selv er ejer af en dulcimer sker det at jeg studser over info på nettet om dette instrument. Bing Futch fra Orlando i Florida har virkelig gjort noget ud af at dele sin viden. Han har lavet en videoserie med spilletips på BlogSpot så du kan høre og se hvad det er for noget. Nu stammer dulcimeren ikke fra U.S.A. Den er kendt på britiske øer og også i Danmark hvor den er blevet kaldt en langleik ikke at forveksle med med det instrument der hedder ”Hammered Dulcimer” eller hakkebræt.

Like Feels Crazy

"Crazy Feels Like" has been voted "Track of the Day" at Garageband.com for July 22nd, 2007 - a special anniversary for me. It was the day that I bought my first computer, back in 1994. In any case, by clicking the red graphic above, you can reach the song page - which features listener reviews and other statistics; the song also got a "Best Lyrics" award during the week of July 9th. There are thousands of songs vying for attention at Garageband.com - so these very real opinions count for something when I take it all in.

Of course, it doesn't surprise me in the least that the word "cheesy" pops up a lot when describing elements of my music. Somehow, I'm really cool with that. Some people work real hard to be cheesy. For me, it's pretty damn easy.

I've been wanting to do "Run On" for a long time. (ha-ha) So, I'm messing with it now. There's a gig next weekend up in Jacksonville and I may ask Roger Zimish to come with me - it'll be a rock crowd, so we need to be able to bring that kind of game. I'd love to do "Run On" and then "You Will Go Free" by Tonio K. - performed with T-Bone Burnett on the album "Romeo UnChained." Look it up - buy it if you can.

Anyway - there's a demo for "Run On" here.

I hope Thomas and Ian don't read this blog - for if they do, I'm about to spoil the plot. Now, that would suck. Well - then I'll say this - I'm working up one of their tunes, one that has history in their town of Lincolnshire, England. I've almost got it down and want to record it for them - and that's what the rest of this Sunday is all about. The gardening went well. The compost pile is growing and we got a little rain. Hope the water is flowing wherever you are today. Aloha!

Been Home. Nice 4th. Get To Work.

Yes, I'm back. It was great, I've been busy. Busier than a one-armed cat in a room full of long-tailed paper-hangers. But check out some of the video - it really says it all!



And yes, I did bring Jae her own bottle of Four Roses. With a bottle of Elijah Craig for me.

Chillin'? Right.

There's something to be said for just chilling. To the lowdown. I do mean, extreme. When you've got the opportunity to kick back like a local, then you should be grabbing it, because it may be a mighty long time before you do it again.

On paper, three weeks between trips seems like a long enough time to bounce back, but with all of the day-to-day of running a business (albeit a creative and fun one), it seems like only yesterday that I was getting my respective chill on in Key West.

Saturday, I'm heading for a rendezvous with Butch Ross and we're carpooling to Kentucky Music Week. I'm still printing stuff over here. Nothing like the eleventh hour as inspiration for a musician.

It's funny in a surreal way. This time last year, I was attending my first dulcimer festival, Kentucky Music Week, meeting Butch and his super-cool soon-to-be-wife Christie Burns, and taking one of his workshops, learning about Robert Force for the first time. Nope. Couldn't have seen the next twelve months coming.

It's gonna be fun. And this time, I'm bringing home the Missus her own bottle of Four Roses.

New Additions/Directions

After my performance at Dulci-More 13 in Lisbon, I watched some of Four Shillings Short's set and then said my goodbyes and began the trek back towards Florida. In the middle of a rainstorm. Taking the backroad trip suggested by MapQuest, it took only a couple of hours before my eyes began closing and it became apparent that a stop-over would be happening sooner than later. I hate driving at night anyway - but I wanted to expedite the process in order to get home in decent time. We had a new member of the family to pick up before heading down to Key West.

I stopped over at a Best Western, uploaded the latest Dulcimerica Video Podcast, checked some e-mail and then got a decent night's sleep before heading out on the road the next day. Smooth sailing on Memorial Day - with only a ticket in West Virginia to dampen my spirits (I still call bullshit on that ticket, but contesting it from Florida would be a chore.)

Making pretty good time, I arrived home and fell into the arms of my loving wife, made time with our cats and switched out dirty laundry for clean clothes. We'd be up early to go pick up our new doggie. Jae had seen her on Craig's List - a full-blood border collie that had been rescued from a shelter where she was scheduled to be put down in a week. A couple had taken her home, not wanting to see that happen to her, but had too many dogs themselves - so this would be her second placement. When we got to their house - she ran out to meet us, no signs of mistreatment or fear. We decided to call her Bella Dolce - because she was obviously beautiful and very, very sweet.

We then proceeded to take her directly to Key West for her first big adventure. As a year-and-a-half old puppy, we're pretty sure that she hadn't yet been to the southernmost point in the United States, and was going to have a blast soaking in all the sights, smells and interactions that happen for everybody, no matter what your species.

Jae and I have been coming to Key West for six years now and it's become an annual stop to celebrate our wedding anniversary, since we got married just off the coast of the island. Every year, we have an appointment with the Schooner Liberty and we take a sail on our anniversary day. This time around, we'd be not only celebrating our wedding, but also the arrival of a new family member.

So, straight home from Ohio, and then skipping off to Key West - life will return somewhat to normal on Sunday when we return home to Orlando - where the true settling-in of Bella Dolce will commence. She still has two cats to meet and grow used to - not to mention the house and the backyard with the occasional snake sighting courtesy of Monty.

With Tropical Storm Barry providing a nice island breeze and a guaranteed tailwind home - we've got another night on the island, which will include an awesome dinner conjured by my brother-in-law George and a night of karaoke singing which will included the traditional showpiece of "Rock Lobster" performed with my sister-in-law Sheri.

I'm still in the afterglow of Dulci-More 13 and Dulcimer Days - more of that to come here and in the Dulcimerica Video Podcast.

A Week O' Busy

I arrived in Ohio Wednesday night and it's been an adventure every step of the way. From Bidwell, where I was the houseguest of Kendra Ward and Bob Bence to Coshocton, where all manner of interesting things began happening, including my first mountain dulcimer competition at The 33rd Annual Roscoe Village Dulcimer Days.

Mike Oliver of Ohio and Bing Futch of Florida picked up first place in the Mountain Duet competition while Doug and Gary Felt of Ohio picked up second. Judy and Bob Durham of West Chester won third place. - Coshocton Tribune

By the way, the paper made a mistake - that's Doug Felt and Gary Sager who were the second-place winners.

I also placed first in the mountain dulcimer vocal competition and second in the open competition, which was a mind-blower, considering who else participated. I'm still scratching my head over that one.

I've stayed with Jerry Rockwell and helped him get his new podcast up and running. I've met Marty and Don, owners of Wildwood Music (and couldn't resist picking up my fifteenth mountain dulcimer while I was there - named her "Marty"), I've played "Lee's Waltz", "Mississippi Sawyer" and "Wellyn" with Doug Felt and talked about Ireland with Lee Felt of Thistledew Acres. I've discussed the issues of TablEdit and the merits of margaritas with Sue Carpenter and the list of wonderful people I've met and visited with goes on and on - literally, a who's who of folk musicians. It's almost overwhelming - but everyone is so down-to-earth and nice!

I've also conducted a couple of radio interviews/in-studio performances that I'll have posted when I get the CDs. One was with 91.3 The Summit for the program "Just Plain Folk" which can be heard over the airways and streaming live on Tuesday May 22nd from 8-10 pm ET. I was a special guest of the program along with Bill Schilling, founder and organizer of Dulci-More 13, where I'll be performing and teaching this coming weekend.

The other was a live spot for WFCO 90.9 FM in Lancaster this morning at 8:30 a.m., which will be repeated at 5:30 p.m. this evening. This spot was to promote the workshop and concert that I'm doing tonight here in town.

I'll have a little time off this week to chill and relax with my good friends Denny and Rose in Medina before capping off the trip with Dulci-More 13. As amazing as this trip to Ohio is - I still get the delightful pleasure of returning home to my lovely wife Jae, and then driving down to Key West for our 3rd wedding anniversary. Talk about how sweet it is.

At some point, I'll get all of this great video up on The Dulcimerica Video Podcast, but I've been simply too on-the-go to settle down with the laptop, so be watching for new episodes later this week. Thanks to all the amazing people I've met, and to my hosts and hostesses for being so wonderful - this has been some kind of ride!

Looking Forward and Backward

What a crazy couple of weeks this has been! After the fair show, it all seemed to throw into super-overdrive as I stared down the barrel of a deadline to get things done before heading up to Ohio. There's been the matter of keeping on top of songbook shipping and then the finalizing of the companion CD, along with making accomodational arrangements for the journey (accomodational? does that word exist?) This trip is going to be a blast and I'm really looking forward to enjoying every moment. I'll be shooting lots of video and cutting it together on the road via The Dulcimerica Video Podcast, so be watching this week for updates.

As much as this is about looking forward - funnily enough, this trip has inspired a good look back at where I've been musically. See, back in the day, I was part of a Christian post-punk trio called Crazed Bunnyz that saw a lot of action on college radio and in underground print zines, and strangely enough, many folks remember this band and its music. The trio consisted of myself on vocals and guitar, Sean "Shaka" Harrison on vocals and Marc "Gadget" Plainguet on synth bass and vocals. It was a joke band, really - with only one live show to our credit - that got started with a four-song demo made in Marc's garage. Somehow, we managed to make enough of a splash in the Christian music scene where people, to this day, fondly remember and still play our music. That's very, very wild to me.

Regardless of being a Christian band or not - I was still a little rough around the edges back in those days and there was some friction between Marc and I. After he left the group and we both enjoyed solo careers, there was much carping back and forth in interviews about this and that. Thankfully, years later, I contacted Marc and we put it all behind us - in fact, we're planning on meeting up in Ohio next week for the first time since we parted ways. I'm really looking forward to it, and so apparently, is he.

This all began a little Googling to see what folks were saying, if anything, about Crazed Bunnyz and it really did my heart good to find some interesting stuff, including this post on the Arts and Faith forum. Also, a fellow named Tim who runs the Christian New Wave blog is planning a write-up on Crazed Bunnyz and said in an e-mail: "Crazed Bunnyz was ahead of it's time and was totally cutting edge during those days. I love the group and was dissapointed that you guys didn't took off with a major record deal. Your group made Steve Taylor and Bill Mallonee's controversies over their lyrics tame. That was really radical! : ) "

Talk about mind-blowing and a blessing - for a musician, it really does your heart a well of good to know that what you did was appreciated and has some kind of longevity. Here, over twenty years later, it's really wonderful to know.

And now - if you can stand it - check out this little trip through the past in pictures:


Me and Marc from our "Nutty Faith" days - circa 1985


From left to right - Phil Poole (drummer), Craig Cook (guitarist) and yours truly - Johnny Quest - from 1987



No joke - the duo was called "The Bing And I" - Tony Karaa and The Bing - 1989.


Okay - I feel kinda old here. But lovin' life. I'm heading out for Ohio in the morning - will check in again soon!

Multimedia message

Fun At The Fair!

The fair was a blast! What a great time; thanks to everyone who came out - there were folks from EverythingDulcimer.com and people from my dulcimer group. There were longtime fans and friends and lots of new faces in the audience. What a lot of people don't realize is that this was the first time that Roger, Mark, Kristi and I had ever performed in public together, which just goes to show how professional and awesome these cats are.

I will upload some more pics and video - right now, I'm trying to get over a cold that had just begun to settle in on gig day, and the day after was no picnic on a sandy beach, lemme tell ya. I'm a real snot-fest at the moment, so when I'm feeling better, there will be some more visuals and audio as well. Thanks to John of Beedle Promotions , Sarah and Becky for coming out and showing love and support, taking pictures and being cool as they can be. Here's a shot of us all hanging out between sets:



Again, just a real sweet time. More to come and thanks again! Aloha!

"All Over The Map" Now On Sale!

Final proofs have been submitted and my first songbook comes back from the printer tomorrow. "Dulcimerica: All Over The Map, Volume 1" is a twenty song collection of mostly original tunes with some unique arrangements of traditional and popular music as well. The songs included are:

This Road This Moment*
Gold Trails Hotel
From The Hills To The Sea*
Summer At The Fair*
Seminole Solstice*
Amazing Grace (Miles To Go)*
John Henry
Swing Low Sweet Chariot/He's Got The Whole World In His Hand
Juke Joint Hen (Cluck Old Hen)
We Shall Overcome
I Cried For Days*
Sandy River Elfman (a spooky version of "Sandy River Belle")
The Pirate O'Reilly*
Please Bury Me By The River Shannon*
Old Yeller
Theme From "Jurassic Park"
'Tis Only Faire*
Sunday Morning*
Minutes From Manitou*
Garden of The Gods: A Suite For Dulcimer*

Songs with an asterik denote completely original tunes, and there is a fair amount of improvisation in many of the others, so you won't find much duplication in this collection! There are also a number of photographs spread throughout that I took while on the road writing many of these songs, and the text that ties the book together tells stories behind the songs along with shedding light on techniques for interpretation. The book begins with a visual description of musical symbols used on the pages.

The book is spiral bound on heavy-duty 60# paper with a full cover glossy cover totalling 74 pages. There will be a companion CD made available at a later date; probably by mid-summer. I decided to sell them separately as an either/or/both deal, to keep the book price at a low $19.99.

First 100 books will be personalized, signed and numbered (store orders will simply be signed and numbered, unless you know who they're going to) and they will begin shipping within the next couple of weeks.

Reserve your copy at:

http://www.darkstudios.com/bfstore.html

This is a very fun book to play through, with something for players of every level. Each song features both standard music notation with chords as well as tablature. The one exception is "Garden of the Gods", which is a classical piece that does not have chord markings, but rather features all of the parts within the staves. So not only mountain dulcimer players can utilize the book, but also hammer dulcimerists, pianists, guitarists, mandolinists, harpists, flautists and anyone who reads music. The tablature is strictly mountain dulcimer, however.

This is a collection of songs that I'm proud to offer from my heart and musical spirit. Thanks for your time and consideration!

Me ke aloha,


Bing

Review of "Dulcimerica: Volume 1" From Dulcimer Players News

Bing Futch has been making music on the mountain dulcimer for a long time. As a front man for the Americana band, Mohave, he has demonstrated a unique playing style that incorporates tribal rhythms from African and Native American influences as well as Celtic and early mountain music. His technique is equal parts traditional and experimental, with a fondness for playing in DAA tuning. He also plays electric dulcimer with the band as well using distortion, delay and various digital effects to create a sound that has been described as "musical Tabasco" among other things. Mohave has performed at Walt Disney World and opened for bands such as the southern rockers Molly Hatchet and the classic doo-wop group The Crests. That's a pretty impressive resume but it doesn't really prepare you for his latest album which is solo dulcimer with no electronic gimmicks at all. The only "extra" is some fine harmonica playing by Charles Stansell. Bing is a relly fine player with an eclectic taste in music that takes him from "Polly Wolly Doodle" one minute to "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" the next. "Dulcimerica, Volume 1" is a real treat that showcases Bing's excellent playing on a wide variety of material, including several originals.

Thanks for THAT Neal!!!!

The Ramp Up

Here's the cover for my first songbook, titled "Dulcimerica: All Over The Map". Yeah, I decided to ride with the Dulcimerica theme, because it connects everything. The music, the video podcasts, the book, the concept that this is an American instrument that has international reach. How many truly American instruments are there anyway? I'm not sure. But I'm sure of this one.

The book has twenty tunes, most of which are originals. The rest are my take on traditional tunes and some more modern compositions. It's not a terribly difficult book to get through, there's a little something for everyone in there, from the easy-to-play to the sit-back-and-go-whoa. I'm offering it by itself to start - and will make a CD available probably later this summer as I get all the demos recorded.
I'm very, very excited about this and the proofing is being done right now, with my lovely wife Jae poring over the first printed copy. Exciting stuff!

A Classic

There's been quite a lot of recording going on, amidst all of this other hullaballoo - Mohave is playing this Sunday at the Central Florida Fair and we've got rehearsals all this week. Been a long time since the band played out and the line-up this time around is stellar, with Mark Kring on bass, Roger Zimish on guitar and Kristi Kief joining us once again on drums and steel pans. We're really looking forward to a fun show on Sunday night, 7-10 pm on the Community Stage. Plus fair food. Yum.

I'm also recording some more tracks for Mizieya's upcoming album and while that was going down, I realized that I'd never attempted a version of "Wellyn", the tune that was made famous by Robert Force and his late partner Albert d'Ossche'. So, I experimented and cut a quick demo of it and sent it off to him. Here's a sneak peek:

Wellyn.mp3

It's just a classic tune for not only the mountain dulcimer world, but music in general. I didn't want to change it too much from the basic two-dulcimer arrangement - so I retained that, of course, but I did rock it out with drums and bass, along with some extra distortion for a good head-bobbing effect.

Coming Up

I've got another collaboration on deck, this time with a musician from Baghdad, Iraq. His name is Feter, and I'm really looking forward to working with him - he's an amazing talent and totally inspired. I am in deep awe that he is able to be so upbeat and creative with all of the hell and chaos unfolding around him. When that work is finished, I will post a link to it here.

The Kentucky Music Week website now features the promo video that I put together, shot mostly last year at the event. The clip shows what fun KMW is and also shows many of the teachers, including myself, who will be there this year. There aren't many video outlets for the dulcimer world online, so I think this will be an eye-opener for a lot of folks, and hopefully, will increase attendance at this year's event.

One of the things I've wanted to do with the mountain dulcimer is to bring some more ethnic music into play. I love the old-time mountain music and European tunes from the U.K., and I love to rock out as well, but I've been consciously trying to learn songs of other cultures, including African, Native American, Polynesian, Asian and Indian music. Right now, I'm working on a medley of tunes that is really a small smorgasbord of languages, requiring me to learn not only new music, but new ways of singing as well! The trilogy of tunes includes:

"Kâua i ka huahua`i" - also known as the "Hawaiian War Chant" (though it's really a love song, and not about war at all.)
"Ue o Muite Aruko" also known as "Sukiyaki", originally sung by Sakamoto Kyu

and, inspired by something that happened yesterday, "Big Alligator" - a song by Chief Jim Billie of the Seminole Tribe.

Kristi, who is moving to Australia soon, is a gator wrestler at Gatorland and enlisted me in putting together a video so she can get a job at the Australia Zoo when she gets down there. So, while shooting yesterday, she offered to me the chance to wrestle an alligator; that is, sit on its back for a picture. Or so I thought.

All of the tourists she instructed to keep the gator's head held back, so it wouldn't go anywhere. She'd keep its head up until they had gotten it, and then back away for the photo, then take control again once they, er, disembarked. However, when I got on this old boy's back, she first had me hold his head up, which I did with little to no style, with my thumbs hanging over the edges of his jaws. She noted, over the microphone in the arena, that I could've lost my thumbs right then "and how would you play dulcimer?" I replied, "by using only my fingers!" Then she said, "put your hands on his neck," which I did. Of course, the gator then began crawling slowly back towards the water as Kristi exclaimed, "c'mon Bing, stop him."

Well, that wasn't happening. Try as I might, he was an unstoppable force, and as I attempted to be man enough to make this gator cease his motion, this picture was snapped. Just another day here with musicians in central Florida.

Love Was Comin' Through

Quintin Stephens is spearheading an effort to do a Mimi and Richard Fariña tribute album, which he's pitched to Robert Force. I hope we end up doing it - as he mentioned in his e-mail, it could be a new Pacific Rim Dulcimer Project along with bringing more attention to the Farina's music. He asked me what tune I'd be interested in covering and, with no hesitation, I said "The House Un-American Blues Activity Dream." Buddy, we're about to indict.

I began a new song yesterday and finished it today. It's deep. It works on many different levels. Here are the words:

love was comin' through
music and lyrics by Bing Futch

father
what's that you're smoking?
father
I need to know
father
I was only joking
I don't really need anything anymore anyway

father
what is your mission?
father
what was your crime?
mother
got away with murder
I don't really need anything anymore anyway

cause I got love
sweet love I found
she lifts me up
when I am flat on the ground
do you remember
how it felt to you
when love, sweet love, was comin' through

father
left you a message
father
left it on my knees
crosses
make me uncomfortable
I don't really need anything anymore anyway

chorus

instrumental break

father
why should I believe you?
father
where should I begin?
mother
says I need a reminder
I don't really need anything anymore anyway

chorus

father
what's that you're saying?

Easter 2007

Told you it was deep. The music is loosely southern gospel - and I'm working up the charts right now to get some players onto it and working it proper. More to come soon.

The Energy of Spring

Like the magnetic power of a waxing moon, this springtime buzz has been slowly seeping into everything. Ready. Steady. Goforth. Walkin' on the balls of my feet again and smilin' for no particular reason. Has Spring got a hold of you yet?
It's so good to smell the earth - to sense its unfurling underneath you, sending waves of brown and green scents to dance and flirt with the air, lovely for the allergic and asthmatic, it's true, but what a great pain to have, huh?

The songbook is almost finished and while I continue to knock out pages for that, I'm simultaneously working up charts for the songs that Mohave will play at the Central Florida Fair on April 29th. It's their 95th year. I think it's our seventh. It's one of our favorite shows to play each year (how can you beat milling about between sets eating polish sausage sandwiches and grilled corn on the cob? or riding something puke-inspiring?) and we've got a great line-up assembled for this outing. Kristi Kief, who just recorded "Music" with us, will be on drums and steel pans. Mark Kring will perform bass guitar - I had the opportunity to share a jam with Mark and local guitar hero Roger Zimish not too long ago; he's a magnificent bassist. Our man-on-the-harp Charles Stansell will be there and I'm still looking to rustle up another utility performer - I've got a phone number that's got the dreaded tri-tone "the number you have reached has ceased to exist" message.

Did you get that "Music" rough demo? If not, it's gone. Been replaced by this.

The raw Pro Tools tracks arrived from Full Sail last weekend, so I imported the 648MB of filework into Garageband and did a quick mix. There were 24 tracks! In configurations that only the talented students of Group 16 and their intrepid instructor Paul Harlyn could possibly know, I guessed at some of the microphone placement to recreate the room ambience that they'd built so beautifully in the studio. With the multimillion dollar toys in every direction, it's no surprise to notice the incredible quality in the sound as compared to the tracks that I record here at the studio.

While I'm dishing out music, here's one that I wrote to be in the songbook. It's called "Seminole Solstice." Just mountain dulcimer and Native American drums (with a few cinematic effects).

Podcasting Stuff

Stephen Seifert played "Positive Vibes" by Mohave to open show #11 of his Mountain Dulcimer Folk Podcast. If you know about Stephen, then he needs no introduction. If you aren't sure who he is, visit his page and let it hit you slowly. Stephen stands out in the mountain dulcimer worldwide community as a tremendous talent and teacher who explores the boundaries of space as often as he kicks back in the groove of terra-firma tradition. And the boy smokes some dulcimer, sho' nuff. Burn it to the ground.

Also, thanks to everyone who has been subscribing to The Dulcimerica Video Podcast and downloading episodes. The response has been fantastic and it's been a lot of fun. Road-trips are going to be especially fun.

But mostly - thanks to you "Nowhere" blog readers. You know who you are.

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together Pt.2

One of the worst phrases in the whole world has to be, upon arising from a deep slumber: "honey, what time were you supposed to be there?"

Needless to say, I made a few quick phone calls Friday morning to make sure that something would be happening for the Full Sail students besides a total absence of musicians. Charles was due to arrive at 9 am, so I dialed in and found that he was running slightly behind - with apologies to Michele, I jetted out of the house and got there as he was tracking. Big apologies to the students and to Paul Harlyn, the instructor, "no worries" came the response and we got on with the business of overdubbing. For all of my flustered tardiness, both Full Sail classes were quite professional, friendly, engaged and a good bunch of students, some of the best I've ever worked with at the facility.

As it stood, I left the dulcimer tracks as they were and added an acoustic track to "Ring-A-Ding" along with vocals and harmony. Kristi arrived and added tambourine to the mix, giving the song a real revival flavor. Quick. Done. Out of there.

After lunch, we began work on "Music", with its tri-vocal harmony and assorted percussion tracks. I also laid down a "bubble track" of burbling keyboards. All in all, it went just as smoothly as the previous day's session and by the time we were finished, I had a mixdown of "Music" with a promise of the ProTools tracks to follow on disc.

Here is the rough mix, which I'll keep up until I get the files for fully mixing the track. Dulcimer will come up in the mix as well as the lead vocal, backing vocals will be brought down some along with the bass. I don't remember if the tracks ended up dry or with reverb effect, but for a reggae tune, I'll probably throw a vocal slapback of some sort on there during mixing.

Again, it was just astounding to have actually met the rhythm section on the first day of tracking and sixteen hours later, we had two great sounding songs and two classes of students who were happy to be working with us and material that they enjoyed. As I stated with the titles of these two posts, "I love it when a plan comes together."

I Love It When A Plan Comes Together

Went into Full Sail today to record for two different classes. For those of you who don't know, Full Sail is a state-of-the-art recording school and facility that educates aspiring audio and video technicians in their respective skill areas. I've been working with Full Sail since 1999 - recording arts in the main studios A and B, live sound reinforcement with video across the street from the main campus, artist sessions on a more intimate scale, lecturing to music business students on the skills of the trade -- I mean like this. Michele Bunker has always hooked me and the various projects of mine up. But this was the first time that I had NEVER played a live note with any of the people involved.

Early this morning at 9 am, I met with Kristi Kief, whom I had met through Bob King, a member of my dulcimer group. She's a world-class drummer and percussionist who also works part time as a gator wrestler at Gatorland. I had lined up a bass player for this session, but it sort of fell through; twice. So, upon a suggestion by Cheech, the manager of Hank El Diablo, I got ahold of Larry Nader, who drove down from Jacksonville to do the double session.

Keeping in mind that I had never played with either of these people before, I wasn't concerned.

We did two songs, "Ring-A-Ding" and "Music." The first being a staple Mohave tune and the second being also a staple, but extracted from the song "The Miner and His Music" which was a mixing of two songs written by myself and Bunky.

I had sent out chord sheets and demos to Larry and Kristi so they could get the hang of the tunes, very simple ones at that. When today rose in the sky, we were there at Full Sail making it happen. I had a peaceful easy feeling about the whole thing, and as it turns out, for a very good reason.

First off, Kristi is on. The girl knows her stuff. Having listened to her demos, I knew she would bring a lot to the session. Something about talking to Larry also put me at ease. He had the ineffable way of someone who has been playing for years in the biz, and a confidence that could not be faked. I knew he would rise to the occasion after talking with him.

We ended up doing two different sessions with two different classes of students, both under the direction of instructor Paul. Kristi played a drum kit for the rockabilly/boogie-woogie hybrid "Ring-A-Ding" while Larry played bass guitar and we knocked out the track in five takes, working through all the changes for the first time ever. It sounded so good, that it was delightful to tell the students at breaktime that we had only met for the first time that morning and had never rehearsed together before.

Afternoon session brought on "Music", with its reggae beats and Kristi's expertise on steel drums. It was a sure sign of success as we tracked the rhythms with the students nodding their heads in time with the music.

Tomorrow, we do some overdubs, having laid down what are known as "bed tracks." They are the foundation for the rest of the recording. Once you've got the drums, bass and main string instrument down (in this case, dulcimer), then you're ready to keep piling on layers until it really begins to erupt.

I did a vocal scratch track, meaning, we weren't planning on keeping it - just as a guide for the live performance of the scratch track. Tomorrow, I'll actually stand alone and record not only the main vocals, but also the secondary harmony and, in the case of "Music", three-part harmony. We're also bringing in my friend Charles Stansell to play harmonica on "Ring-A-Ding" and Kristi will be adding some more percussion to "Music" in the later session.

I found out that Kristi is moving to Australia to be with her boyfriend, who moved there recently for a computer gaming job. I'm happy for her at the same time that I'm frustrated, because it's been a long time coming to find someone so intuitive and talented in rhythms. I wish her well, at the same time that I bemoan the chance to work with her in the near future - not that we won't work together from afar, but damnit! The good ones always get away, don't they?

What can be said about today's session is that it was wonderful, magical, informative, spectacular, eye-opening and jammin' to the highest degree. We're all looking for a way to gig together before Kristi heads off to Brisbane, because it's not very often that three people who have never played together before can come together and create such beautiful music as they did today. There's something special in that kind of inspiration - and as soon as the tracks are delivered to us - I'll share them here.