A message to Man of Errors.

I tried to comment on your latest post 'Consolation', but Wordpress wouldn't let me.
This is what I said,
"Hey, great post, my friend. As usual you manage to see through a wall like it is just glass. You make me want to dance too. I've been feeling like dancing to life lately - it might be the onset of senility."

Famous in Wainuiomata.

Shelley and I popped into the little Wainuiomata museum today. When the ladies from the local historical society (who run the museum) found out what my name was I felt like a bit of a star. The name Richard Prouse is famous enough in Wainuiomata to claim naming rights to a local park, but it appears that there was another Richard Prowse (note the 'w') around at the same time. The proof is here.
Everyone in Wainuiomata knows about Richard Prouse, but Richard Prowse (the other 1852 guy) is a bit of a mystery.
In the museum there is a photo of Wainuiomata's 1950s orchestra playing near The Village (not far from where we live). There's a guy playing a three string double bass and using a German bow.

I wonder if he is a descendant of Richard Prowse (the 1852 guy)? Maybe Richard Prowse (the 1852 guy) drank too much Chardonnay and never realised the same success, in the community, as Richard Prouse Jnr (the other 1852 guy). But maybe he played, or acquired, a double bass that he passed on down the family line. Maybe the guy in that 1950s picture is another reincarnation of Richard Prowse?
Wow, to think that members of my family brought the double bass (and Chardonnay) to Wainuiomata!
How special is that?
Time for a toast.

Bad Gig continued...

What makes a bad gig?
Many things can make, or contribute to, a bad gig; for example:
1) Playing Heavy Metal at a bowling club
2) Playing Jazz at an Upper Hutt wedding
3) Playing with people who can't play very well
4) Playing Irish songs with lots and lots of verses
5) Getting to the gig and finding that one of the musicians plays the bodhran
6) The vocalists can't sing in tune
7) The drummer is speeding up
8) The gig is in an RSA style club
9) Not having enough material (songs)
10) Having to play for more than 3 hours, with the same band, in one day
11) Someone in the band has recently taken up an instrument and thinks they're pretty good on it. They aren't interested in technical playing advice, by someone more experienced, because they are 'a natural'
12) One or more of the songs contain the lyric 'diddle doo dah dey'
13) You sense that the audience hates what you are doing
14) Everyone in the band is counting down how long there is to go after the first twenty minutes
15) The band is named after a song in it's repertoire (eg. a jazz band named 'Blue Bossa')
16) The band has to hire a PA because it doesn't own one. You bring all your own gear (amp, leads, double bass, bass stand, etc) and don't even use the PA, whereas the bodhran player just turns up with a silly little drum thing that needs to go through the PA to make it even more annoying. You get to pay an even share of the PA hire
17) The lead singer, who also plays bodhran, has friends in the audience so, as a special treat, he performs a number of songs accompanied only by his bodhran. He thinks he is showing off. His friends, for whatever reason, clap loudly.

Yesterday's gigs featured examples 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17.
Together, and seperately, they easily qualified as a bad gig.

Well, to be fair, the bodhran player did tell a good joke,
"What's the difference between a bodhran and a trampoline? Well, you take off your shoes to jump on a trampoline."

Bad Gig.

It's almost twenty to two as I write this post. Twenty to two in the morning.
It has been a long day, a bad gig day; well, two bad gigs really, but with the same band and on the same day - so let's just call them a bad gig.
I hate St Patrick's Day. It brings out the worst in musicians, and it brings out the worst musicians. Okay, I'm sure that there are some excellent Irish bands working on March 17th, but obviously there are more venues (or people hoping to make money because St Patrick got rid of a pile of snakes) than there are good Irish bands.

(picture borrowed from Comeinyourpants' site)
Yesterday, afternoon, we (this Irish band) played to an empty bar somewhere in Porirua. Later we moved on to another venue.
I think I should go to bed, so I'll continue this story later today.
Hey, it's nearly 2am!

It's a great day for the Irish.

St Patrick's Day; the day when bloody everything is green. I have two gigs today in Porirua. There must be a lot of Irishmen in Porirua. Irish music is not among my favourite types to play. I'll be playing a lot of root notes today.
St Patrick's Day, in NZ, is really more about celebrating being Irish than celebrating St Patrick.
St Patrick, it appears, was actually born in Wales. He was captured by Irish raiders when he was 16 and became a slave. He eventually escaped and returned to his family.
"Welcome back Trefan." his dad said.
Later Trefan went back to Ireland, found a career in the Roman Catholic Church and became patron saint of Ireland. The only bad bit about becoming a patron saint is that you have to be dead, and normally saints don't have peaceful deaths.
St Patrick is also the patron saint of the baked potato; I'm guessing there, but I'm pretty sure I'm right.
Someone made a window in his honour, but they forgot to make his outfit green.

Silly window maker! Everyone knows that St Patrick wore green! That's why they serve green beer on St Patrick's Day.
I'm not really looking forward to my gigs today. There are things I'd rather do than play root notes in pubs for more than six hours while everyone gets pissed.
Never mind, I'll do it for Trefan Patrick. I'll think of spuds and green things - sort of get in the spirit of it all.
What a great day for the Irish this one will be!

A young life lost.

I taught Taiana for five years. She wanted to be a singer and, when her nerves got out of the way, she sounded a bit like Mahalia Jackson.
She seemed to enjoy life. I often saw her introspective side as she worked on her treasured songs during her time in the music department. She was quietly spoken, but a lot more vocal when with her friends. Those girls seemed to laugh a lot. Good on them!
I was shocked to hear of her passing in what appears to be a freak accident in Samoa.
I feel very sad that such a good spirit was taken so young. I suspect that she had more to say, but I know that she deserved a longer chance to say it. Life often doesn't seem to operate a fair system.
Taiana, You are in my thoughts.
Rest in peace.

I woke up this mornin'

...to the sound of a cat; but let's not go there.
Except for the fact that I need to get a filling done today, the day promises to be 'not too bad'. Well, we have got a teacher only day that promises to be sleep inducing, but I'm taking some music along to read. I'm working on a new piece called Czardas - it's a violin piece that quite a few double bassists have already had a go at.

It's good to be learning something new - pushing the playing a bit.

Next week I'm down to do a 'bring and brag' at PD (Professional Development) at school. I put my name forward, in a moment of weakness, to help out Runner who seemed desperate for volunteers.
I'm going to waffle on talk about thinking and how it relates to playing the double bass. Then I'll present my redesigned model of the Key Competencies. No one else at NLHS knows much about playing the double bass, so I can really say whatever I like. That's the trick really - if you have to talk in front of a lot of teachers, pick a weird subject so you won't get a lot of technical questions at the end that you can't answer.
There you have it - Richard (of RBB) has all the answers to life's little tricky moments.
I've got two Irish band gigs on Saturday (It's St Patrick's Day). I'll take The Bob.
Enjoy your weekend.
Ciao.