11.15.2009, ftw

recorded a guitar track with will risinger for his contribution to the return of helldamncrap compilation. been meaning to get together with him and dana for ages. they poured lotsa good wine and fed us yummy tomatillo stew as well as snackage. they have four, count 'em, four boston terriers, which dana says are the closest thing to cats in the dog world. she was amazed at how they all responded to my sweetie, to which i replied that she's the all-purpose animal whisperer -- actually, animals, children, even me.

playing through will's amazing 5 watt epiphone valve junior and his blackface fender vibrolux made me realize what a slug i am about equipment and playing in general. he clearly takes a lot of care in selecting and tweaking his amps and they deliver great tones. i generally just plug in, crank up, and go. i was also reminded of how much i like ibanez tube screamers.

the recording situation also caused me to think more about what i was going to play, and i listened to the track several times before i was ready to do a take. in the event, i wound up blowing pretty much the way i always do, without the more precise articulation i was going to attempt, and as he appeared satisfied with the results, i opted not to do a re-take. it did make me think about the benefits of practicing on a more frequent basis, which i haven't really done since i was in austin, getting ready to go make a band in colorado, um, 30 years ago.

while i was playing his les paul through the vibrolux, i told him the story of how stoogeaphilia once accidentally played "mississippi queen" almost all the way through at practice. when i started playing the tune, he got behind the drums and we had a little jam.

i hope i get to do more recording with and jamming with will. i've always liked his songs, and with the stoogeband playing less than in previous years and hentai performing only infrequently, it'd be nice to have another outlet. plus will's a very congenial cat to work with.