You are not logged in. Please login or register.
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by Dirty Ed
2 deg. this morning, had about all the "global warming" I can stand.
We had -6 this morning and it should get up to 8 or 10 today. National weather service is predicting -17 to -20 tonight then things should begin to warm up and get to the 30's by the weekend.
The A3R sounds pretty interesting. I checked out a review from Acoustic Guitar:
Zurf wrote:Oh my gosh Jeff! You may need to go buy a pair of pants, and some socks.
You have no idea how much I hate wearing pants when I am not working - It's miserable I'm telling ya!
Do you mean you prefer dresses or just going naked? 
It was like a Currier and Ives painting this morning when I went our with the snow blower and shovel to clear my driveway. About 6" of new snow- not enough to create a big problem as snowplows have been keeping the roads clear. It might sound odd to all the warm weather lovers, but I dearly love winter weather like we're currently having in our area - temps in the 20's during the day and just enough snow to create a winter wonderland.
DE
Didn't get much snow yesterday, only about 3" in my area so I figure we're pretty lucky. Checked temps this morning and at 8 am it was -12F (with wind chill probably around -25). At least I won't have to go outside and shovel snow.
Looks like a good day for some pickin'/writin'.
DE
Thanks for the kind words Phil
Excellent piece of work Phil - well done
Phil's excellent poem "Children" got me thinking about a song I wrote about 25 years ago when I was still into Whitewater Kayaking. I wanted to look at life from a paddler's perspective and use the river as a metaphor for life but then got the river metaphor wrapped inside a train metaphor. Zurf has heard me play it as a song, but I decided to post it as a poem. - DE
Life's River
We are all just pilgrims with paddles and kayaks
Floating down the stream of life and never looking back
And though we keep drifting we would like to remain
But the river keeps on rolling like a west-bound train
The current swiftly takes us by those people on the shore
Past places and faces that we will see no more
And though we keep drifting, we would like to remain
But that river keeps on rolling like a west-bound train
We eddy hop, we try to stop but we keep drifting on
'Til one day we look back wondering where the time has gone
Though we try to drop an anchor the chain will always break
We're at the mercy of the river and the choices that we make
The current swiftly takes us by those people on the shore
Past places and faces that we will see no more
And though we keep drifting, we would like to remain
But that river keeps on rolling like a west-bound train
I've seen my share of rapids and I've seen my share of falls
But my boat has held together and got me through them all
And all along the journey there's been times of joy and woe
I just grip my paddle tighter and move on with the flow
The current swiftly takes me by those people on the shore
Past places and faces that I will see no more
And though I keep drifting, I would like to remain
But that river keeps on rolling like a west-bound train
Some day the river's gonna end and we'll float out on the tide
Where we can rest forever where the water's deep and wide
Then we'll look upstream and you'll hear this last refrain
"That river kept us rolling like some west-bound train"
Yeah, that river kept us rolling like some west-bound train
Nope. First song was Southern Cross. Second song will be Sundown. Getting the strumming pattern on that one is tough. Jumping from G5 to G5/7 is not all that easy either. It's going to take some practice. Also, coming up with a decent intro arrangement when there are at least three very important parts and only one of me will be a fun challenge.
Back in the days when I played a Guild jumbo 12'er I learned a lot of Gordan Lightfoot songs from a book I bought that showed all the fingerings from his "Gord's Gold" album. For Sundown, the chords used were E5, B7sus4, A and D. The E5 was formed by barring the A,D and G strings on the second fret and using the little finger on the G string, 4th fret. Moving to the B7sus4 was easy - just move the little finger over to the D string, 4th fret while still barring the A, D and G on the second fret. If you want to play in G then I guess you could just capo up and use the same chord fingerings. You might want to try it buddy.
Instead of a 12er these days I just Nashville high-tune one of my git-fiddles. Puts out a sound somewhere between a 12 string and a mandolin. Works real well when played along with other guitars played in normal tuning.
DE
Schweeeet Zurf !!!!
As I don't play my 00016-SRGT much anymore, I'm thinking about taking it to GC and see if I can trade it for something I like better. If I get rid of it, I might have a Martin strap to give you at Chordiestock.
DE
I've always said that guitars and kayaks are like golf clubs - you need different ones for different situations. I've got 5 guitars but there's 7 yaks, a couple canoes and a raft out in the garage. I guess I just need more guitars.
Hang in there. I hope your wife's condition improves soon.
I currently own acoustics that have rosewood/spruce, mahogany/spruce and mahogany/cedar combinations. The rosewoood/spruce tends to accent the bass and treble while the mahogany/spruce accents the mid-range. (This based on two identical body shapes/types) The combo of mahogany and cedar top seems better balanced. Of course all of this is my opinion. The tone is also affected by the different body shapes of the guitars. For instance my hog/cedar dreadnaught is much boomier than my hog/cedar auditorium.
I'd like to try a rosewood/cedar combo sometime.
DE
Beautiful pix Amy. As much as I enjoy fishing, standing shoulder to shoulder with other fly flingers during salmon season isn't my idea of fun. I float streams and fish to get away from crowds and people so a time of year when the crowds and river activity is low would be my preference.
JT!
Thanks for the skinny! Tom and I are really looking forward to the jam!
I'll assume there's going be a P.A. of some sort...
See y'all at the gig!
SteveO & Tommy da Phat
I hope this doesn't turn into an open mic format with a PA - I much prefer a circle with some good ol' acoustic pickin' like last year.
Beautiful day here in the Old Dominion. I went to the woods at our archery range and had what is a very good score for me. Then I went and had a delicious glass of wine at a winery in the hills while watching the sun set. It was a wonderful day.
I had a great day too Zurf. My fishing buddy Doug called last night as the temps were predicted to be in the high 40's today. We did a short (3 1/2 mile) float on a local stream. Air temp actually made it to 51 degrees, water temp was 34 and the smallies were lock-jawed, but it was still a great day with lots of geese, a few blue herons, and an eagle accompanying us on our float. The "additive" in the thermos of coffee I brought helped too
Ended the day by taking Jen to a local restaurant/bar for a meal and listen to one of our local singer/songwriters perform then went to listen to some live bluegrass for another couple hours at another pub.
DE
Zurf wrote:I fished all those creeks, plus Fishing Creek, Beech Creek, Bald Eagle Creek, Penns Creek and Little Pine. There are a few creeks near where you live now that I'd like to fish. They haven't got the famous names or nearly as well documented as the ones above so I won't mention them by name, but you probably know some I'm thinking of.
Boy you really do know the area! My sister lived along Penns Creek for nearly 20 years. I spent quite a bit of my youth on Little Pine as well. There was a Boy Scout camp along Little Pine until 1972 when Hurricane Agnus completely washed it away. It was never rebuilt.
Zurf wrote:How about when the weather report is more pleasing we get together - wading or in my canoe - and do some picking afterwards?
I have a canoe also. Right now it resides alongside our little pond but it used to spend a lot of time on the 3 creeks I first mentioned. Early March in the Pine Creek Gorge, aka the Pa. Grand Canyon, was an annual event.
We touched on getting together last summer but it never happened. I'll take most of the blame for that. I wasn't really feeling like a part of the chordie community yet and was still in the process of relearning my way around the fretboard. I feel better about both now so yes, I'd like that. We'll touch on it again when the temps start climbing back into the 60's.
Although I enjoy Chordiestock in Florida, I really miss the creek bank fire-side pickin' like we did in our first get-together on the 'Doah. Count me in if another floating/fishing/camping/picking weekend is planned.
DE
Things went smooth and the weather co-operated although we didn't quite fill the concert hall. Still, between the food and monetary donations we probably donated in the neighborhood of 4500 lbs of food to the local food bank, which is greatly needed this time of year. After hearing some of the fantastic performers that took the stage, especially the original tunes of some of the singer/songwriters, I am contemplating burning my guitars. 
DE
We've had a pretty mild winter in our area so far. Just a small amount of snow but but lots of ice and freezing rain. There was a 10-car accident west of town yesterday due to ice. Only an inch or two of snow in my yard, 27 degrees today, 16 degrees expected tonight and temps just above freezing predicted tomorrow. Forecasters are saying we'll get 6" or snow over the weekend, nothing major but just enough to be annoying. 
I was worried that weather might interfere with our annual Foothill Folk Society concert/fund raiser this evening, but looks like ol' Mother Nature is gonna co-operate nicely.
DE
Zurf wrote:Uh...not JUST a vest and bow tie... right?
I hope all goes well.
I got a good laugh out of that!
I agree, that was pretty funny. - Good one Zurf
My condolences JJJ . I know your partner on your journey over the last 30 years will be sorely missed.
God bless,
Ken
The Foothills Folk Society (FFS), a local non-profit group made up of artists and musicians https://www.facebook.com/foothillfolk will be putting on its fifth annual winter concert/fund raiser at the Chillicothe, Ohio branch campus of Ohio University this Friday. This years theme will be an imaginary old-time radio station - WFFS. Yours truly has been selected to be one of the co-hosts as well as one of the 15 performers/acts for the event. My co-host (guitar/mandolin player Bryan Joseph) and I have been working together for a couple of weeks writing ads/promos to read, intros for the acts, etc as well as making a few props to look like old-fashion microphones, etc that would be expected to be seen at an old radio station.
I'll be performing a couple new songs I've written : "Spirit of the Foothills" (a theme song for the group) and "Devil's Creek Church of God" a song idea that has been laying around in my "hook book" for several years and I finally got around to writing recently. The acts will be from various skill levels such as some of the students in our "Bridge" program which puts free lessons and guitars in the hands of local children who's families could not normally afford it, to performances by several accomplished musicians and singer/song writers that have played local venues for years.
As we do at all our performances, there will be no cover charge but we encourage folks to bring food or monetary donations for the local food bank. Last we donated 2.7 tons of food and several hundred dollars to the food bank and are hoping to exceed that this year. We also accept donations to FFS to be used for group expenses and purchasing instruments for the Bridge program.
It should be a lot of fun and I'm hoping all goes smoothly. My wife just wants to see me on stage wearing a vest and bow tie
Ken
Great story, Dirty Ed! I especially liked the part about the numb lips.
You must have had quite a show if you drew in that many kayakin' folks. Any of your river songs on the Tube?
And what a hell of a birthday party that must've been!
Bill
A few years back I often played at my good fishing buddy John Locke's open mic venue. One of the attendees would occasionally record some of the performances and post them on youtube under "englishmanjohn". Here's one of my originals from back in 2008:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHsenGdNw2g
From that song you should be able to link to some others under my given name "Ken". I think there may be a couple of my river tunes ("Bluestone" and "Quetico" come to mind) as well as several other originals I played back then. Thanks for your interest Bill.
By the way, I used to twirl my sticks back in the day too. Actually I was a lot better drummer than I am a guitar picker. I played in some rock bands and even spent a couple years playing in a 17-piece big band. (Still love those big-band songs from the 40's) I even taught drums for a while (mostly rudimental drumming to junior high kids). Attending my first bluegrass festival put an end to my drumming days. Folk and bluegrass became my passion, sold my Ludwigs and never played again.
DE
DE
As folks are bringing up old stories from the past, I'll add one. It happened 30 years ago on March 1st (my birthday). I've never gigged much (not since my high school days when I was a drummer) as I prefer to just sit and pick around a campfire with other musicians. However, the winter of '84-'85 I agreed to play at a local watering hole/restaurant. The deal was $50 and all I could drink to play from 9-12, however, if there was a good crowd, I could make another $20 if I played until 1:00 am.
The first time I played, several of my kayaking buddies showed up and as they were all heavy drinkers, the bar owner was happy with the money she made and the waiters liked the good tips. I was heavy into whitewater boating back then and told the owner I would only play one Saturday night a month through the winter when it was too cold to spend every weekend on a river somewhere. Each time I played, there was an ad in the paper for "River Rat" night as I mostly played originals I'd written about river running. Sometimes I was joined by a couple other pickin' friends to add banjo and bass to the mix. In mid-February, I got a call wanting me to play again in a couple weeks. I agreed, forgetting that the date was on my birthday. When I realized it, it was too late to change the gig.
I was setting up equipment when a couple paddlers from the Cincinnati area walked in. I asked what they were doing in my little town and they told me the word was out that I was playing and it was my birthday so they came to help celebrate. Although my drinks were free, I told the bartender to give them each a drink and put it on my tab. Soon there were boaters from around Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia joining the crowd and I bought each one of them their first drink. One kayaker even cut his Florida vacation short to be there.
Needless to say it was a wild night, with constant requests for river songs along with a few covers to keep the local patrons happy. I played the extra hour but should have stopped earlier as I had been over-indulging in adult beverages and could feel my lips growing numb and began slurring words, all to the delight of the crowd. When the evening was over, the bartender added up my tab and found that after deducting my pay, I still owed them $4. I'll have to say, it was one heck of a party and one I've never forgotten. =)
Thanks Doug and Zurf.
BTW Doug, how's the excitement level out your way for the upcoming Bucks & Ducks football game?
DE
Guitar chord forum - chordie → Posts by Dirty Ed
