Open Mic, 12/20/11

12/20/11

333 on Broad

Rome, GA

A rainy night in Rome, GA.  The Harrison song is a holiday open mic tradition for me. I've performed "Amy" and "Genesis" in non-open mic situations, and finally got "Landslide" to where Stevie Nicks might actually enjoy hearing me sing it.  Now, to find a real gig...

Give Me Love (Give Me Peace On Earth) (George Harrison)

Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)

Amy (Ryan Adams)

Genesis (Hot Tuna)

Open Mic, 12/6/11

12/6/11

333 on Broad

Rome, GA

A friend and I were trying to get together to swap songs, but her keyboard wasn't working.  We thought about going to one of the chapels on the Berry campus to use their piano.  She and some other folks got distracted, so we ended up at 333 with a few other folks.  So I actually got to play in front of people I knew, who were there to listen to me play.  Yay.

Midnight Afternoon

I'm A Believer

Just Like A Woman

Harbinger

Open Mic, 11/29/11

11/29/11
333 on Broad
Rome, GA

I apparently can't get enough of playing in front of people who have no interest in hearing live music.  Not sure how the open mic has survived at this place.  Original music doesn't go over at all, so I worked up some covers, seven of which I'd never played in public.

I
Drift Away (Dobie Gray)
Me and Paul (Willie Nelson)
Still In Love With You (Thin Lizzy/Sade)
A Pirate Looks At Forty (Jimmy Buffett)

I played first, five or six more went on, then it was my turn again.

II
Romeo & Juliet (Dire Straits)
Sitting In Limbo (Jimmy Cliff)
Solitary Man (Neil Diamond/Johnny Cash)
Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones)

Chamber Concert

Blue Mountain Chamber Players
10/29/11
Ford Auditorium @ Berry College
Rome, GA

Anything At All (written by me, string arrangement by Joe)

APL - guitar, vocals; Joe Lester - violin; Samantha Lester - viola

Sam and Joe put this one together with several of their associates. There were some duos and trios. This was my contribution. We've played this song a few times with Earhorn, and it was a super thrill to play it again with them. Here's the mp3 for you to download: http://snd.sc/v0RCu4

If there was anything at all that I had left to say to you, it would probably come off as some kind of inside joke. You see, I've kept my emotions pretty close at hand the last few years; and the wall has grown quite imposing.
It's just that there's this one little matter of having it all out in the open; and it was never very easy, even when it was just the two of us. But it seemed like you were always holding court for this or that one there, and how does one holding these words come forth?
There has never been a better time than right now (well, there was that one day); just a familiar voice remembering my name. Your number is right there, I could pick up the phone at any time. Is there anything at all that you'd believe?

Open Mic, 10/25/11

333 On Broad
Rome, GA

"I wrote 63 songs this year. They're all about Joe. And I'm going to sing each and every one of them tonight."
Well, there are only four, and they're not about Joe, but the sentiment's the same. They're all relatively new, no band has played them, so I've included the lyrics.

Lions On The Lam

Here, in the jungle, lions -- there!
We could escape anywhere

Free as the north wind blowing through
I can’t believe I found you

Or that you found me -- wandering, lost
Tossed to the side -- hungry, ghost

I’ve heard the legends
I’ve had the dreamsYou, and now me
So it seems

Fire on the mountain -- home, almost
Wires strewn about -- signals crossed

Seen very clearly through the mist
It must be something like this

Dark, now the darkness -- home, safe, found
Start, it’s like this -- right here, now

So it begins
There is a way
Sleep, now awake
Into the day
 
Night's Watch (Holding Pattern)*

It's a rainy night in Georgia, and I wish you were here
One more night (like so many others) that's going nowhere
Too much excitement for one man to bear
Keeping the night's watch -- there are dragons out there

I hear the rumbling, hope that it's you
Turns out the thunder has brought no news
Bright-eyed wonder gives way to the blues
Standing in silence is the way that I choose

Fell into sleep, fell out again
So hard to keep, but what do I do with it then?
First thing this morning, a moment of Zen
Served with black coffee, a curious blend

The New One 

Went back in time to find that one old song
Saw myself as I was then, sat down to play along
Suddenly, it seemed, (somehow) it seemed the same

She comes to me after all these years
Like it was yesterday, right before I disappeared
That one is gone, this one comes to stay

tear down the walls that surround us all
praise the moon, praise the sun 
question yourself so the head is ruled by none

There was a word, it filled a space
And now the song is in its place
The strangest of gifts has been right here all this time

I come to her, and I give it my best
It's better than that, or anything else
Must have been the wind that's blowing my mind

the moonlight smiles on the palace we've built
this strange new world i've never seen
you made me your king, i made you my queen

After some time in the darkest of places
Here's a little light to read the story so far
What once was but a dream now stands before you in full bloom

I walk with her through shifting sands
And watch the sun go down again
A whisper speaks, and suddenly, the moon...

remember nights of starry skies 
the campus green, the downtown bar
it comes from me to where you are

As For Me

Everybody's always somewhere else
"Hey, whatchadoin'? I'm so damn bored."
As for me, I'll always be right here
"Come back. Stay."

Everybody here's from somewhere else
Down to the ocean, wash it all away
As for me, everything comes from right here
Please, make yourself at home

And we'll laugh at the world when they tell us to stop 
Who needs them anyway?

Everybody does what they say they won't do
The other shoe falls like rain
As for me, I'm still who you thought I would be
You can sleep, trusting the roof over your head

I still remember the dress that she wore

But I can't remember what happened before

Everybody says "I love you"
It doesn't always mean what they think it means
As for me, it's so simple -- I'll say it again...

You can't be afraid if there's nothing to fear
What is fear anyway?

*debut performance

The host summed it up perfectly when I was done. The girls wanted to hear some dance music, so they were going to take a break from the open mic format. There were only three or four of us tonight. I usually stick around to play a second set, but tonight wasn't the night for that. Oh, and all lyrics and music are written and owned by me.

Open Mic, 10/18/11

10/18/11
333 On Broad
Rome, GA

I decided to debut a couple of songs. I put the final touches on "Lions" this afternoon. "As For Me" has been finished for a while, but it's hard to play the slow ones in front of an unfamiliar crowd. But, since most of 'em weren't there to hear original music anyway, I figured it was the perfect time to debut it.
I played first, six or seven people played after me (including the "comedian" from Lindale), then I played a few more.
A note on the recording: I've not been happy with the quality of the recordings this guy makes, and I asked him if his machine would record at a higher bitrate. He did it, but found the problem lay elsewhere. Unlistenable is the word I'll use.

I
Lions On The Lam*
Midnight Afternoon
As For Me*
The New One

II
The Road Goes On Forever
Pancho & Lefty
Amanda
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
Just Like A Woman

*debut performance

Sittin' In Again

10/15/2011
Moon Roof Bar
Rome, GA

Scott Thompson invited me to play during his break. This is pretty much how I got my job. The Rome Derby girls came up and packed the place. It was nuts. Nothin' like playin' to a packed house.

The Road Goes On Forever
Pancho & Lefty
Melissa
Romeo & Juliet
Just Like A Woman
Tangled Up In Blue

Sittin' In

9/23/11
Moon Roof Bar
Rome, GA

Toodlin' 'round downtown, lookin' for the music scene (which is here, but keeps itself well-hidden). Spoke with Scott Thompson, whose gig it was tonight. He invited me to play a few. His keyboard player jumped in on the Cash songs. The booking guy found me afterwards, said he liked what I did, we exchanged numbers. Hold on to your nuts, Rome. I'm comin' for your milkshake.

Desperadoes Waiting On A Train, Pancho & Lefty, Folsom Prison Blues*, Ring Of Fire*

*w/Keith Tressell, piano

Open Mic 9/20/11

9/20/11
333 on Broad
Rome, GA

Even fewer people playing than last week. The Lindale crowd is here again, supporting their buddy who is trying to be a comedian. Unfortunately, they're not interested in music, and are outside while we are playing. They all come in for his act.
I continue to come up with songs that I haven't played here.

I
Fantastic/Existential Crisis? What Existential Crisis?, Wasn't Really, Memphis, Summer Somewhere

II
Pancho & Lefty, For The Turnstiles, Tomorrow Is A Long Time > The Boy With The Thorn In His Side, These Days

I put a lot of time into preparing this set, and they were all out on the deck until it was their friend's turn again. It turned into a roast when another friend joined him onstage and they proceeded to call each other "faggot" for fifteen minutes. There wasn't even any polite applause after the songs, so I cut it short and went home. The host recorded it again tonight, but I'm not at all happy with it, nor am I happy with last week's recording, so they'll not be shared.

Open Mic 9/13/11

9/13/11
333 on Broad
Rome, GA

Not as many players tonight, so I got to play more. Hooray. I was third, and played mostly originals again:
Isles Of Ae -- written with Joe for Earhorn; Jason McWilliams came up with the middle part.
Ritual -- I had some music and some words; pillaged some old notebooks and put it all together.
The New One -- This one first came to life while I was a Literature student at GSU, feeling oh, so poetic. I've always liked the music. Most of the words weren't relevant all these years later. Re-wrote it this past Spring. 
Desperadoes Waiting For A Train (written by Guy Clark) -- Saw Guy do this one at Live Oak a few times, I've done it a few times at open mic. One of my favorites.

After everyone had played, they started over. The host offered me the closing slot. I could have played for at least another hour. Originals and covers mixed up together:
Romeo And Juliet (Dire Straits) -- an open mic staple. I play it up a step from the record, it strums well and sits comfortably in my range.
24 Hours At A Time (Marshall Tucker Band) -- I didn't think this one was too obscure, but the host said nobody recognized it. I need a band for this one.
Surrender -- Never found its feet with the band. I'm gonna keep playing it 'til it finds its way.
Prologue -- The recorded version is all acoustic instruments. The only electricity we used was to power the microphones.
Midnight Afternoon -- This one came out last Fall. Really needs a band to let it run around in the yard.
Harbinger -- Wrote this one for the band. Always played it just the way I wanted it. The end jam was always worth the price of admission.
Henry (New Riders of the Purple Sage) -- Where's Garcia and his pedal steel when I need him?

*debut performance

Open Mic 9/6/11

9/6/11
333 on Broad
Rome, GA

My first open mic in the new town. A couple of people played, then I played some originals:
Midnight Afternoon; That Which We Are, We Are; Too Fast For You; Saturday
They wrapped up the list, then started the rotation again. I played some covers to appease the drunken rowdies:
The Road Goes On Forever; Cover Of The Rolling Stone
A woman sang "Georgia On My Mind" a capella, nailed it. One guy sounded straight out of Nashville, with some Eric Church/Jamey Johnson-style covers. Excellent. Good crowd, lots of compliments. Thanks, Rome, for makin' a guy feel welcome.

Kennedy-Scobbie Wedding

5/28/11
The Inn at Serenbe
Palmetto, GA

Joe, Sam, and I got this one together at the proverbial last minute, 11 days out. Apparently, the bride was having trouble getting the DJ to play what she wanted for the ceremony. Well, never send a DJ to do a musician's job, and never settle when it comes to your wedding music. She's a friend of our cousin whose wedding we played last year, so she knew what we could do. We do a contemporary take, custom arrangements of pop/folk songs, with some classical classics thrown in.

Personnel: APL - acoustic guitar, vocals; Joe Lester - violin; Samantha Lester - viola

Prelude: Here, There, And Everywhere; Morning Has Broken; Misty; I Will; Queen Of The Earth, Child Of The Skies; Crazy Love; It's Your Love; I'll Back You Up

Ceremony: In My Life (Processional); Crash Into Me (Bride); All You Need Is Love (Recessional)

Nice place for a wedding. Farm atmosphere. Walked through the woods from the wedding site to the reception pavilion. Llamas, pigs, goats, sheep, chickens, dogs. And if you're looking for a different take on your wedding music, call us.

Lefty Williams' Jam

4/4/11
Bella's Pizzeria
Smyrna, GA

Lefty is on vacation, so Preston hosted. Romin and Cassidy put it together, got me involved. Fun, fun, fun.

Eyes Of The World > Thirteen Days > All Along the Watchtower

APL - bass, vocals ("Eyes"); Romin Dawson - guitar, vocals ("Thirteen Days"); Cassidy Wall - guitar, vocals ("Watchtower"); Hayden Wall - drums

Shell Stamps And Friends

3/31/11
Moonshadow Tavern
Tucker, GA

Trip sat in the whole night. David Bard sat in on a couple of songs, including "Hot Girls Covered In Drugs". Amazing.
In no particular order: They Love Each Other, Don't Do It, Cold Rain And Snow, The Maker, Sweet Angeline, Johnny Too Bad, Deep Elem Blues, Long Black Veil, Jack-a-roe, Walking Under Ladders, Loving Cup, Tidy Up, Tell It To Me, Althea, 100 Years Ago, Friend Of The Devil, Skywater, Magnolia, I Fall Off The Wagon, Blackjack Davey, Don't Let Go, Midnight Moonlight, Henry*, Hot Girls Covered In Drugs*, Here Comes Sunshine, Lay Down Sally, You Ain't Goin' Nowhere, Althea

APL-bass, vocals; Robert Nichols-keyboards, vocals; Shell Stamps-guitar, vocals; Trip-mandolin, vocals.

* with David Bard, mandolin and vocals. I hope I didn't forget anything. Thanks to all the beautiful freaks who came out.

Lefty Williams' Southern Rock Night

2/28/11
Bella's Pizzeria
Smyrna, GA

The Legend Of Wooley Swamp (CDB)
Dreams I'll Never See (Molly Hatchet)
You Got That Right (Lynyrd Skynyrd)

Freebird*

APL - bass, vocals ("Wooley"); Nathan Fink - keyboards, vocals ("You Got That Right"); Kris Gloer - guitar, vocals ("Dreams"); Preston Holcomb - drums; Benji Shanks - guitar; Jason "Lefty" Williams - guitar
*add Barry Zion, guitar; Eric Gant - vocals; no Kris

A few groups played before us. We did our thing. A few more groups played. We played "Freebird". Grand time, y'all. I was glad to be in a band with these guys. Thank you.

Shell Stamps & Friends

2/17/11
Moonshadow Tavern
Tucker, GA

I fell down on the job, and didn't keep an accurate setlist. We played most of what we played at Ibex a couple weeks ago. Our good buddy Tripp sat in on mandolin for a good bit of it. Thanks to all the fine folks who came out. We will do it again real soon.

APL - bass, voc.; Robert Nichols - Keyboards, voc.; Shell Stamps - gtr. voc.

Lefty Williams' Love Jam

2/14/11
Bella's Pizzeria
Smyrna, GA

We picked some off-the-path doozies. A whole lot of people went with it as well. Some excellent choices throughout. Hayden came on board at the last minute and made the King's X song his bitch.

Candle In The Wind (Elton John), Magnolia(J.J. Cale), It's Love (King's X)

APL - bass, voc.; Muggs DeMayo - gtr., voc.; Mark vines - gtr.; Hayden Wall - drums

Shell Stamps & Friends

2/5/11
Ibex Atlanta
Decatur, GA

What was once an Ethiopian restaurant has been transformed into a bar/restaurant/pool hall/music venue. It's a new place, so it was up to us to promote it. Thanks to the six people who made it. It's a start. Shell, Rob, and I have been playing together for a while now, so it was easy to put it together.

1st set
Deep Elem Blues, Chance It, Tangled Up In Blue, Jack-a-roe, Don't Let Go, Cold Rain & Snow, That's What Love Will Make You Do, The Maker, Blackjack Davey, Tell It To Me, They Love Each Other, Jesse James

2nd set
Midnight Moonlight, Pigs On The Wing, Skywater (Ancient Harmony), Johnny Too Bad, Tore Up Over You, Don't Do It, Lay Down Sally, Harbinger, Loving Cup, Tidy Up, Queen Bee, Come On Baby Let's go Downtown, I Fall Off the Wagon (44 Long), Walking Under Ladders

APL - bass, vocals; Robert Nichols - keyboards, vocals; Shell Stamps - guitar, vocals

1/24/11

Lefty Williams' Jam
Bella's Pizzeria
Smyrna, GA

Ziggy Stardust, Suffragette City

APL - bass, harmony voc.; Muggs DeMayo - el. gtr., voc.; Steve Saunders - drums, harmony voc.

Whimsicality, y'all. Muggs and I hang out, picking on songs, dreaming rock star dreams. Nice to have an outlet so close to home.

Lefty's Hendrix Jam

1/17/11
Bella's Pizzeria
Smyrna, GA

Are You Experienced?
Stone Free
Crosstown Traffic*

APL - bass, voc.; Muggs DeMayo - voc., el. gtr.*; Mark Vines - el. gtr.; Alan Crowe - drums

Big thanks to Preston for hooking us up with Alan. Mark, Muggs, and I worked on the songs together over the weekend. We made sure we were on the same page as Alan, hit the stage and made 'em ours. Hendrix is one of my personal all-time favorites. I picked the songs, so that made it extra fun for me.