What I Did......... On My Summer Vacation..
 
First..... I got up....
 
This possibly familiar start to an old Cheech & Chong routine aptly describes my slovenly approach to reporting the minutes (and subsequent blog entries), of Summer 2012 Henhouse Rooster Practice sessions/meetings. I have been REALLY LAZY about posting the outcome of our practice sessions, and last night's meeting really illustrated the importance of breaking that bad habit.
  I'd uncovered a couple of notesheets full of song ideas and realized that since I hadn't posted any of them, well... they got totally forgotten about! Seems blatently obvious NOW, but let's face it- that's why "bad" habits are called BAD habits!
  Without further ado (or procrastinating..) the most recent meeting of The Henhouse Roosters produced the following song ideas:
 
"I Got A Woman" originally by Ray Charles, but Ed identifies more strongly with a version by Blind Snooks Eglin (really cool name, I can see why Ed prefers this version), but really because it focuses on guitar as the main instrument, versus Ray Charles's heavy piano influence. We think we're gonna have a lot of fun doing this one! Standard tuning, but capo 1, so key is F, which puts me in Bb, and that's a really good harp key- (a good voice to that one!).
 
"Lawyers, Guns & Money" by Warren Zevon (strangely) seems like it might be an interesting pick for us- will require a little more fiddling around with, but it's a funny, rowdy/rollicking tune! Key of G/C.
 
B.B. King's "How Blue Can You Get" also packs a few funny lyrics and is a great Blues standard. E/A
 
"She's A Woman" by The Beatles, with a slight Reggae twist was discussed and run-thru. E/A
 
 The Rolling Stone's "Stray Cat Blues" might get the nod if we can convey the "proper nasty" snarl of the original. What's next?!? Mack & Ed wearing tight pants & pointy shoes???!? It's no capital crime...
 
Really wanting to showcase a couple of Doors tunes, we've been playing around a little with "Love Me Two Times" Key: E/A (not a Doors original, but a blues cover that they really stamped with their own style). Could be a Willie Dixon, will have to find out! The other Doors tune which I'm really itching to do is "Soul Kitchen". Really cool riff which may lead into a long jam. Has a real "Beat" feel to it. Mack vocals if Ed doesn't want to do. Key Am/D
 
Ended up the evening with a little "On The Road Again", and No!!! NOT THE WILLIE NELSON one, but the Canned Heat tune- Ultra Groovy Late Sixtie's Vibe. Great intro with harmonics from guitar, and long-winded droning from the harp.Need to listen & follow closely to the original, as I fear it will resemble "LaGrange" by Z.Z. Topp too much. E/A
 
And... That's a wrap. We've had a leisurely summer, but hope a new chapter in The Henhouse Rooster's history is just around the corner, full of lots of adventure & foolheartedness!!

Early in this month of July, it seemed that The Henhouse Roosters might practically have the month off! With only one engagement at Freddie's II slated for 7/28, there seemed to be a lull, which Ed & I BOTH were not crazy about. We've been proud & happy about our development since first meeting (going on almost FOUR years now), and have been enjoying around three gigs per month lately, pretty steady. It sure looked like a boring month...
  Life as a Rooster has taught me that just when you think you have the Rhythm of the Barnyard figured out.. here comes the Curve Ball- Lots of unexpected activity & lessons this month!!!
  Right around the beginning of the month, Ed announced a new addition to The Flock- a brand new Martin guitar!!! Lots of great bottom-end in this beautiful new axe, and that's what Ed's playing is all about! This guitar proves itself to be more Worthy every time Ed straps it on. It has a great Authoritative THUMP to it that further enhances our sound. We've always felt that The Henhouse Roosters deliver way more than you'd expect from just two guys, and this Martin really jumps to the front!!! We've both been learning a lot about what the new Martin can do.
  Then, out of nowhere, we managed to get a booking for a private party. Now, I mention the party simply because that was the beginning of a few revelations.
The gig was last Saturday evening. It was the hottest day of the year so far- upper 90's with high humidity. A perfect day IF you were an attendee at this party- there was a beautiful in-ground swimming pool, nicely landscaped all around. Not an ideal situation for The Henhouse Roosters though, as we were set up well above the pool, which seemed to suck up all our sound and the pool seperated us from our audience. This produced some new acoustic challenges for us but in the end provided some valuable lessons too.
  We got a rough start, dazed by the heat and daunted by our challenges to be heard by our audience. Ed said he had some of his amp controls pegged in order to get his volume levels up, which then created even more complications. I had my volume up so high that if I moved around much, our audience was treated to some real feedback torture. After a few songs, we got a handle on things and our show improved, but during the post-show debriefing we were doing a bit of head scratching trying to come up with solutions.
  That's when a gear change occurred - literally. A few days later, a practice session was called. We decided we'd try an alternate set up, using Ed's mixer board and vintage Peavy speaker stacks. The Rumpus Room in Bethel Park took on a studiolike aura... lots of cables, amps, big speakers...
But the SOUND!!! We both had so much power and balance, thanks to the addition of mixer board & speakers! We finally felt like we could stop TRYING so hard, back off from playing too agressively and concentrate on expressing ourselves. We were both so pleased with our sound that we both wished we were playing a show that night! We went through several of our standard favorites, all enhanced by great mixing and more volume.
  The combination of great wooden tone from the Martin guitar, proper mixing of our sound, and enhanced volume through the Yamaha mixer into the Peavey speaker inspired a new approach to our repetoire. We fooled around with "Knights In White Satin" by The Moody Blues! Has anyone out there ever heard of The Poussette-Dart Band??? (Didn't think so...) Keep your ears open for a great tune by them called "Amnesia". It has a great Country feel to it, with ample opportunities for Ed to show off some of his formidable slide skills.
  Open D tuning really seems to suit the new Martin exceptionally well. We're planning on bringing back a really interesting original tune created by Ed years ago which I titled "Curry In A Hurry". This tune seemed to blend well into a Rolling Stones song, Prodigal Son (actually a traditional folk tune), which was originally released on The Stone's album Beggar's Banquet. We're planning on squeezing these two together. Another mash-up could be "I Hear You Knockin'" going into "Come Together". Finally, we stumbled into another traditional blues tune, made popular by Blackfoot- "Train, Train", a Rock Classic based on the song "Mystery Train", lots of great harp on this one.
  This summer slowdown for The Henhouse Roosters has yielded some good, solid lessons. Ed and I both agree that the acoustic challenges we encountered at the private party triggered some real positive reactions. We'll have to try out the new approach to our setup with the mixer/Peavey speakers. Some potential winning new tunes were inspired during the chain of events too. Come hear the best Guitar/Harmonica duo around! The Henhouse Roosters are turning an important corner in their history!!!

The recent meeting of The Henhouse Roosters was a bit of a "bring-back" session~ We thought it might be best to bring back/revamp some songs that for one reason or another fell through the cracks and escaped further attention.
  A big discovery was doing "Can't Find My Way Home" (Blind Faith) in a different key. We love the song, but doing it in the original key was vocal torture.
Ed threw the capo on 3rd fret (F?) and vocals were much smoother. Harp in Bb, which is a nice, clear sounding key. Good bring-back!
  Also reapproached The Beatles "Come Together".  Key (Open D/ Harp G). Getting more requests for Beatles tunes, and we like to add LOTS of GRIT to this one- come check it out at one of our shows!Decided to bring "Revolution" back in occassionally too- We used to do this Beatles tune back when we'd meet on Tuesday nights at Barley's & Hops Open Mic Night.
  Ed broke into "Too Much Alcohol", a really old tune, but really well done by Rory Gallagher. Open D/Harp G. Can't wait to put this one into the set list.
  "Shake Your Money Maker" got a dusting-off and a shot of amphetamine!!! We sped it up and it got nasty raunchy! We like it much better now, hoping to get the crowd up... and shakin' their junk, out on the floor!! (You HEARD me!!).
  Always looking to add Traffic tunes, finally figured out that we should have been doing "Dear Mister Fantasy" since, like, First Grade... (where Ed & I went to different schools together) Key of A/Harp D.
  Discussed doing another tune from the classic Stones album, Beggar's Banquet- "Parachute Woman" may appear on The Henhouse Rooster's set list sometime soon!! Key of E/A.
Finally, mutually decided that Dylan's "Simple Twist of Fate" should occupy a full-time place in our shows. We do it pretty sweetly! People say so!!!
 That's what's shakin' with us- Ed & I want to urge you to come to one of our upcoming shows - You're gonna like what you hear!!!
 

The Henhouse Roosters met at The Rumpus Room on May 1st for practice. The new tunes are really shaping up! How do we know this?.... Suzie hollered down the basement steps: "That was REALLY great !!!", after our first genuine effort at Tull's "Locomotive Breath".
  We must be doing something right...
Ed launched into a song I'd never heard before: "Alberta, Alberta", and I liked it. It's a blues tune, but with a different kind of chord progression- something we want to keep in mind when adding new blues. We're both very conscious of falling into "Chronic Sameness", a malady suffered by so many blues bands. We are a bit germaphobic about this..
I think "Alberta, Alberta" was by John Mayall's Blues Breakers, key of C. I picked up my Low F and it seems like a tune we may try out.
  Delighted to be trying to add some more Led Zeppelin tunes. Zep was a HUGE influence on both Ed & me... when we went to different schools together!!
We went down the playlist of Physical Graffitti and gave "In The Light" a spin. I immediately turned on my green DigiTech Synth-Wah, Mode III, and cranked the delay/echo effect way up to show Ed that I was perfectly willing to take on John Paul Jones's synthesizer intro to the song. When he realized that I was copping some of the same licks in the song on my juiced-up harp setup, I could see it on his face, but he said " That sounds really good!!!" Seems an unlikely Zep song to try, but Ed broke it down into its blues-basics, as he is so good at, and we may actually feel that we've got a respectable handle on "In The Light".( Guitar Tech notes: Capo 5, A/E chord shapes- code word: "boom boom thwack") D harp w/heavy effects
  Also picked around at "The Night They Drove Ol' Dixie Down" Am/D (Ed to confirm) Rest In Peace, Levon Helm..
An old Yardbirds gem "But I Ain't Got You" sounded good too- key of G/C- Probably a GO on that one- good beat/easy to dance to (Rest in Peace Dick Clark!)
  Not long ago, Ed mentioned turning The Good Doctor Suess' "Green Eggs & Ham" into a blues number!!! What Fun!! Though it's true.. I do not LIKE green eggs & ham... I LOVE this idea!!! I like it in a box. I like it with a fox. I like it ... well.. you get the idea.
  Finally- It was mutually agreed that beers no longer be casually tossed to one another. Don't even ask what led to such a decision. Suffice it to say that we're both getting older, and that our reflexes are nowhere near what they used to be...

Practice session, Tues, April 24th was productive: The Rain Song is shaping up beautifully. Special Secret G tuning- Harp in C with lots of Synth Juice.
The Public is gonna Plotz. Ed's guitar work is Sterling!
 
Another Big discovery is Tull's Locomotive Breath- Seemed like an Automatic from the get-go Key: E/A. Should go through all the way a few more times- great song for shared vocals.
 
Ballad Of A Thin Man still seems like a worthy effort. This was actually requested at Rooster's Roadhouse.
Ed seems uneasy with vocals, but more listening/practicing will probably help. Key Bm/E
 
Forty-Thousand Headmen seems like a good bring-back especially for the "Old Head' crowd at Rooster's Roadhouse
 
Other songs for further cultivation/consideration are:
On The Road Again~ Canned Heat, but agreed that more authentic sound is required. Key E/A
 
BreakDown~Tom Petty. Sparse. Sultry. Smokey. If vocals are too challenging... I would be willing to try my hand (voice) Key Am/D
 
Waiting For The Bus/Jesus Left Chicago~Z.Z.Topp- Questions exist regarding the key changes between the songs. Ed said he'd try hatching it. Sit on it, Ed.
 
Some J. J. Cale tunes got brought up: Bringin' It Back from Mexico (Sliding E Chord_ I-III-IV progression), After Midnight,(Ed seems to prefer a hybrid version, melding Cale's original with Clapton's unplugged version ). I like what Ed likes in this case- what Ed came up with sounded great. They Call Me The Breeze was also mentioned.
 
A couple of Hooker (?)/Thorogood tunes came up : One Bourbon, One Scotch & One Beer, HouseRent Blues- Hey! Who's tune is "Hey Bartender"??? That might be a good one to try?
 
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please consider an occasional look back to previous notes- there are some ideas in old notes that might still be of value.
 
Ok, that's it for now- no gigs for (I think), a couple of weeks, but we'll benefit from Practice Sessions if convenient- Rain Song, Locomotive Breath, etc could use addt'l work. Keep On Keepin' On,      Mack