Untolerable Bohemian returned to Cat's Art MusikCircus last and that was cool but first the pre-story.
When I arrived in Second Life ahead of the show, I discovered a gigantic blue box sitting on top of the stage. By gigantic I mean maybe fifty meters on a side ... gigantic. For various reasons that would bore you to hear, I couldn't get rid of it. There's only one thing to do with the Big Blue Box at that point. Take the Army solution ... paint it.
I built a stage in front of the Big Blue Box and stretched it to cover as much of the box as I could. Then it needed a picture and lefty lives in England so I used one that I thought looked most like England (i.e. a rainy day).
All set. On with the show.
Untolerable is unpredictable and that can go well ... or not so well. Last night it went very well as he was full of improvisational spirit and this came out through his guitar playing and also in his words. While he does covers, he doesn't do them at all the same as the originals except they have the same lyrics and chords. He swings the beat all over the place and many times this makes his cover more interesting than the original.
Untolerable Bohemian has a quite good voice and delivers it with guitar playing that goes between jazz and flamenco. Where it gets really interesting is when he starts exploring. When you're flat picking (as opposed to finger picking), a guitar lead line tends to be more or less linear. However, when you're finger picking you've got more freedom to move in multiple dimensions at once as all the strings come into play simultaneously. This can be fascinating as you really can't predict what he is going to do next as he travels until he homes in on a melody and goes into the next song.
There will be an electric Bo before too much longer as he has been working up to it. Next week he will get some things engaged that he needs to go to electric and perhaps he will give it a shot the week after that. I've heard a very brief snippet of him playing electric and it was outstanding so I'm most curious about what will come when he tries it next.
You can find more about Untolerable Bohemian in his Artist Profile on Cat's MusikCircus Web site.
lefty Unplugged also returned last night.
The term 'song-writing' doesn't mean much as it can be anything from three chords with limericks on up to the best you will ever hear. What has been stunning me with lefty Unplugged is the artistry and craftsmanship in the way he makes his songs. He will take the basic dynamic of the song (i.e. the volume) and bring it up or down but that's not all as he may change the tempo, the chord changes, or anything else about the song. That might sound like he makes his music needlessly complex but that's not at all the case as every part flows deliciously into every other part.
It's not going to blow any big secret to say lefty is not a young rock stud as instead he is a man with a wealth of musical experience and this shows the most in how he crafts his songs. It sounds like it's been a long time since three-chord blues did anything for him. His experience is not only from playing in Second Life as he gigs like a young man. He's playing everywhere he possibly can and the regulars will have seen some video I shot this Summer of lefty playing out with his friend Darren Poyzer.
I doubt it would make much sense to try to determine if poetry or guitar playing means the most to him as he has extraordinary eloquence in both. I'll bash poems about every so often but there's a vast difference between making rhymes and writing poetry. lefty writes poetry and the way he wraps the music around it is nothing less than brilliant.
You can learn more about lefty Unplugged on his Artist Profile on Cat's MusikCircus Web site.
It's Christmas, let's dance!
How did we get this damn cool! (laughs)
Answer: Cat picked out my outfit.
Cat and I have now been together for a year now and she remains the best Christmas gift I ever got.
Glücklicher Weinachten, Baby!
That's close to Happy Christmas that Brits say, Merry Christmas that Yankees say or, well, here's what they say on Fox News:
When I arrived in Second Life ahead of the show, I discovered a gigantic blue box sitting on top of the stage. By gigantic I mean maybe fifty meters on a side ... gigantic. For various reasons that would bore you to hear, I couldn't get rid of it. There's only one thing to do with the Big Blue Box at that point. Take the Army solution ... paint it.
I built a stage in front of the Big Blue Box and stretched it to cover as much of the box as I could. Then it needed a picture and lefty lives in England so I used one that I thought looked most like England (i.e. a rainy day).
All set. On with the show.
Untolerable is unpredictable and that can go well ... or not so well. Last night it went very well as he was full of improvisational spirit and this came out through his guitar playing and also in his words. While he does covers, he doesn't do them at all the same as the originals except they have the same lyrics and chords. He swings the beat all over the place and many times this makes his cover more interesting than the original.
Untolerable Bohemian has a quite good voice and delivers it with guitar playing that goes between jazz and flamenco. Where it gets really interesting is when he starts exploring. When you're flat picking (as opposed to finger picking), a guitar lead line tends to be more or less linear. However, when you're finger picking you've got more freedom to move in multiple dimensions at once as all the strings come into play simultaneously. This can be fascinating as you really can't predict what he is going to do next as he travels until he homes in on a melody and goes into the next song.
There will be an electric Bo before too much longer as he has been working up to it. Next week he will get some things engaged that he needs to go to electric and perhaps he will give it a shot the week after that. I've heard a very brief snippet of him playing electric and it was outstanding so I'm most curious about what will come when he tries it next.
You can find more about Untolerable Bohemian in his Artist Profile on Cat's MusikCircus Web site.
lefty Unplugged also returned last night.
The term 'song-writing' doesn't mean much as it can be anything from three chords with limericks on up to the best you will ever hear. What has been stunning me with lefty Unplugged is the artistry and craftsmanship in the way he makes his songs. He will take the basic dynamic of the song (i.e. the volume) and bring it up or down but that's not all as he may change the tempo, the chord changes, or anything else about the song. That might sound like he makes his music needlessly complex but that's not at all the case as every part flows deliciously into every other part.
It's not going to blow any big secret to say lefty is not a young rock stud as instead he is a man with a wealth of musical experience and this shows the most in how he crafts his songs. It sounds like it's been a long time since three-chord blues did anything for him. His experience is not only from playing in Second Life as he gigs like a young man. He's playing everywhere he possibly can and the regulars will have seen some video I shot this Summer of lefty playing out with his friend Darren Poyzer.
I doubt it would make much sense to try to determine if poetry or guitar playing means the most to him as he has extraordinary eloquence in both. I'll bash poems about every so often but there's a vast difference between making rhymes and writing poetry. lefty writes poetry and the way he wraps the music around it is nothing less than brilliant.
You can learn more about lefty Unplugged on his Artist Profile on Cat's MusikCircus Web site.
It's Christmas, let's dance!
How did we get this damn cool! (laughs)
Answer: Cat picked out my outfit.
Cat and I have now been together for a year now and she remains the best Christmas gift I ever got.
Glücklicher Weinachten, Baby!
That's close to Happy Christmas that Brits say, Merry Christmas that Yankees say or, well, here's what they say on Fox News:
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