LIVE TV!!!

So now that I've been playing with The Woeful Ones for a year, and we've been trying (okay, Steve has been trying) to really get ourselves out there and promote ourselves, we've managed to take a few steps in the right direction. Promotion-wise, the biggies have been radio appearances. We were on the WMNF 88.5's Tuesday Sonic Detour as a full band with host Amy Snider and also Steve & I went on WMNF's morning show. I also booked us (Steve, Jay & myself) on USF Bull's Radio's Grassroots Groove with hosts James & Trey (I also made an appearance on the Groove solo). All three were great fun and great promotion. Today we took another step. This morning Steve, Jaybone & yours truly made an appearance on the local Tampa Bay television network's show Studio 10. We had a lot of fun, even though we did have a bit of a technical issue. We played my song "Caterpillars" and while the end credits of the show ran we played a bit of one of Steve's new songs, "Bury Me With My Boots On", which apparently got stuck in Mark, the sound guy's head, because he kept singing it with an imitation drawl ala Steve. If you weren't able to check it out live and you forgot to set the DVR, you can check out the archives. Big thanks to hosts Holley Sinn & Jerome Ritchey and sound man Mark.

Airstream 13

If you've seen me play live, especially solo, you know that I'm not big on telling stories of what my songs are about. In fact, you're lucky if I tell you what a song is called. Often, someone will ask the meaning behind a song and usually my wife, who is almost always in the audience will yell out that the song is about a girl. Half of the time she's right. Okay, three-quarters of the time. So, in that spirit, I sat down to write a song about a guy living in an Airstream with ten girls. You see I thought it would be funny if I wrote a song about not just one girl, but many. The list of names ended up being thirteen instead of ten which works out because it flows better that way and 13 is my lucky number after all. Plus, I'm kind of obsessed with Airstreams right now. I want one in the worst way. They are so cool. I wrote this song with The Woeful Ones in mind & having been listening to ridiculous amounts of Drive-By Truckers so it's a little bit of a different sound for me but I'm really happy with the way it has turned out. We actually just went to Pro Star recording studio in St. Petersburg & recorded it as well as two other songs, Mike Worrall's "Daddy Makes His Living on the Road" & Steve Vaclavik's "This Road". I hope to put Airstream on my website very soon.

Okay, without further ado, here's the lyrics.

Airstream 13

Jessica’s cooking my evening meal
But she doesn’t really know me or how I feel
But Britney knows how to make me feel much better
While Ashley writes my resignation letter
I’m not an easy man, I’m rarely satisfied
& I got these stars stuck in my eyes
While Nicole keeps my head a-floatin’ all around
Sarah tries to keep my feet on the ground
If my clothes don’t fit I don’t need no tailor
I got 13 girls in my Airstream trailer

Melissa’s always lettin’ me sleep in
But Heather wakes me up when I’m late again
My boss man’s pissed I missed another day
So Kim took him out with her samurai blade
I don’t need no job, I’m a guitar player
I got 13 girls in my Airstream trailer

If my head would stop pounding for a minute of peace
If there was room in my bed so I could get some sleep
I think that I could be a better man
If I could just say no to any one of them

Emma’s screaming, I left my clothes on the floor
& April, May & June don’t like the temperature
So we fight over the thermostat all day long
They never give me time to write a single damn song
I’m a laughing stock, I never leave this rig
& My band’ll fire me if miss another gig
The people in town think I should go to Hell
If that’d be worse or better I just can’t tell
I don’t go out in the sun so I keep getting paler
I got 13 girls in my Airstream trailer

I know my Momma thinks I’m just one big failure
But there’s 13 girls in my Airstream trailer

Getting Back on the Horse

So, up until that little gig sitting in on July 15th I hadn't played a set of solo music, cover or original, since last November. I've been preoccupied with the two bands that I'm playing with. Sometimes it's nice to just sit back and play guitar. Not to mention, booking shows sucks. But, I've been itching to do some of my own shows so I've sucked it up and started trying.

I love playing in bands. Always have. There's just something about throwing on the Stratocaster & cranking the ol' Fender Twin up to some blaring volume and let a few power chords go. I think that's when I'm the most happy playing music. I feel at home with that Strat under my fingertips, playing a riff that's a little bluesy, a little rawk. I will say though that there is something powerful about standing up in front of a crowd, big or small, and there's just you, an acoustic guitar & an honest, emotional song. This is probably where I'm the most comfortable as a singer. I like to belt it out as much as the next guy that grew up listening to Led Zeppelin & Jimi Hendrix but I think when you strip everything away and get down to the core of a song and it can still move you, mind, body & soul, that's saying something. I'm really looking forward to playing acoustic shows like this again.

Of course, having booked shows, I had better get to practicing. It's time to get to know my own songs again. We've been away from each other for awhile. I have my work cut out for me, the first gig is this Friday, July 23rd at Sacred Grounds in Tampa. It's a good night of music. Myself, Steve Vaclavik, Kirsten Campbell, Vanessa Brown & Richard MacLemale will be doing a sort of "in the round" kind of thing. That's good. Start slow. Three or four song sets. Sacred Grounds is located at 4819 E. Busch Blvd. Tampa, Fl. 33617.

I'm also really excited about a show that I managed to weasel my way onto in August. I was lurking in a corner of Facebook in the wee hours of the morning when I noticed my good friend Geoff's Evil Twin's status. It read, "Geoff Ford has nothing of consequence to report." The second comment was from an incredibly talented musician formerly from the area & now living in Atlanta, Geri X, taunting him to play a show with them at The Globe in St. Petersburg when they're in town. Geoff & I had been trying to set a date for a show there anyway & I'm a Geri X fan so I decided to see if I couldn't get myself on the bill. Just in case, I offered to supply the P.A. Geri, who also is apparently an insomniac, replied quickly with a "heck yes dude" and we proceeded to harass Geoff on Facebook while he lay in bed dreaming sweet dreams or whatever he was doing. The next thing I know I get a flyer emailed to me and not only are the three of us playing, but Dean Johanesen of area favorites Human Condition will also be there. Now I'm really stoked. And then, a correction to the flyer comes. Rebekah Pulley is in as well. Really? What a show. If you are a fan of Tampa Bay area music, heck just a fan of music in general, you don't want to miss this one. The Globe is at 532 1st Ave. N. St. Petersburg, Fl. 33701.



Last but not least, and actually this would be the first one that I booked, on Thursday September 2nd, I'll be at Tre Amici in Ybor City. It's their weekly Songwriter's Night, often referred to as the best in the bay. When I first started playing acoustic shows, this was one of the few places that I played. There has always been a good crowd. A crowd very receptive to original music. You're not just background at The Bunker. The Thursday nights here are so good that when I released my cd in 2008, I decided to have my cd release party at one of their Songwriter Nights. Yup, on a Thursday. Probably the best idea I had all year. Tre Amici is here: 1907 N. 19th St. Ybor City, Fl. 33605.

I hope to see you out at a show. Or all of them.