Area Music Nerd Dies, Goes to Heaven

Sometime in December I was approached by Marty from Spiraling to see about the availability of gigs in Little Rock in late January. I sent some emails out and it looked like we were going to set something up at Juanita’s, but Sticky Fingerz snatched them up for an opening slot. The guys played there last June and we took them out to a party afterward and got to be fast chums. So this time around we had a party for them at my house after their show Saturday.

Despite a massive promotional effort on the part of Jessica and I, very few of the people who attended were there because we told them to be. We must have told dozens of people about the show. Losers. So much for my career in music promotion. Still the crowd was a good size and the band was well received. We ordered pizzas for the guys, so Jennifer and I went to the house to wait for the deliveryman. Jessica and Heather stayed behind so the guys could follow them to my house. Pizza Hut is getting fast, by the way. They do not play.

Eventually we had several people milling about the house, talking with the band, playing records and jamming in the playground. Pictures coming soon. I remember the tunes we hacked away at included ELP’s “Hoedown,” Yes’s “Roundabout” and some random Zeppelin. Mostly it was freeform grooves, with everyone trading instruments. Did I mention Tom played a tour with Yes? I can now say I am one degree of separation from Yes.

The remainder of the night consisted mainly of conversation, me standing in front of the stereo saying “ooh you have to hear this!” and burning CDs on the laptop. It was so nice to have fellow music nerds in the house – people who really appreciate my music collection and the random assortment of useless crap I have lying around the house. Each of those guys is a stellar musician who plays every instrument well and has a broad listening palette. And they’re completely ego-free about everything. They’re everything great musicians should be, but so rarely are.

We also left a message for Jamie, since she was the one who turned me on to the band. The guys crashed on the floor (we had a couple of air mattresses and I brought in my old mattress from the garage) and we had ourselves a nice little sleepover. I didn’t get to sleep until 4AM because Tom and I kept talking about vintage keyboards and prog rock.

I got two hours of sleep before I had to get up at 7AM for my bass playing gig at Christ the King Catholic Church. Surprisingly I made it through three services without falling asleep while playing. Afterward I went to Vino’s for lunch and then came home and sacked out, which is a shame because the weather was so beautiful.

Nice weekend, though.

One thought on “Area Music Nerd Dies, Goes to Heaven”

  1. ah man. had every intention of making that show. But alas, the rock gods did not give me the much need second wind to get out of the house. next time i promise.

    speaking of vintage keys, i just picked up 4 (four!) Wurlitzers at the state auction. That makes five of them hogging space in the studio now.

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