Meeting a Hero

me and Martin Mull

Here's something different—a personal post.

I've sometimes been asked, usually in some internet or email questionaire, to list my "heroes." My personal definition of "hero" has always been someone who does something extraordinary, out of the line of duty, something exemplary, but I never actually knew anyone who did such things, other than my parents, and that's not really what such a questionaire is usually looking for.

It occurs to me that there is a guy who might qualify as a different kind of hero, just from the influence his work has had on me. This is a guy who wrote songs that I dearly loved, the kind of songs that I'd hear and think, hey, that's the kind of song I'd like to write! And, coincidentally, this guy is also a terrific visual artist, if by terrific one means someone with high technical skill and the ability and imagination to create striking and original images, and, what's just as important to me, ones I like. And two things I've been interested in all my life are music and art.

When I mention this guy to most people, the reaction I get is, Oh, you mean that guy who played the talk show host on Fernwood 2nite? Or, you mean Rosanne's boss? Well, yeah, I mean that guy, but not because of his acting, which is all most people are aware of.

I got a chance to meet that guy last night, when my friend Gordon Lustig invited me to join him and his brothers on a trip to Cobb's Comedy Club in San Francisco to see a Fernwood 2Nite reunion with the men who played the host and his sidekick on the show, Martin Mull and Fred Willard. I found the reunion show hilarious and even charming. Seeing that I'd brought my camera (despite numerous posted warnings against using recording devices or cameras) one of Gordon's brothers asked the bouncer if we could take some photos of Martin and Fred, and he went upstairs and asked them. He returned in a while and said, Martin will be down in a bit, if you want to wait.

We waited, as did a few other folks. When he appeared he seemed genuinely touched, and a bit shocked, that 30 after the reason for the event, Fernwood 2-Nite, people would want to meet him. He eagerly posed with us for photos, and chatted a bit. I told him that I played in a band, California Zephyr, whose older members told tales of playing a show in some midwest dive where Mull was the opening act. I didn't mention that I always cite his music, with that of Randy Newman and Neil Young, as a major influence on me. I used to play his first album over and over, and play along with it on my guitar, which I was just learning how to play. His tunes are very sophisticated, with tricky progressions, in a wide range of styles. And the lyrics are very clever and sly.

I could argue that I developed what passes for my style by playing along with that record.

I asked Gordon to take that photo of Martin and me. Bonnie saw it and said, Oh, don't you look proud! I guess so.

A really cool article from New Scientist about Music

Just ran across this in a year-end-roundup of articles, this one from February of this year. Very very interesting.

Points out that such things as rhythm, pitch, and timbre exist only inside our brains.

Busy, Busy, Busy

I haven't blogged lately. I've been busy.

1) Music: Played a week ago Thursday at Kelley's in Napa with Tom Overton, and then on Easter at the new Compadres in Napa with Johnny Smith.

I played the annual "O California" and "Sea to Shining Sea" shows with kids from all over Napa.

Also I've been helping a local singer get her CD recorded. And I've met some new musicians who may be lots of fun to play with. Life is getting interesting.

And tonight, in one of the most amazing gigs I've ever had, I played for a guy to propose to his girlfriend.

2) Murals: Finally got the go-ahead to start on a Redwoods Mural at Silverado Middle School in Napa. I was first contacted so long ago that I thought I could finish it before Christmas. But I didn't get to start until March 15. Here's how it's going:

This is the long side of the mural (it's on two walls that meet at a corner):


and around the corner to the right is the street side, which goes up higher:


I'd worried about having to get some long ladder to do the top of this one, but then I discovered the wonder of extension poles and painting pads and foam rollers. Painted everything from the sky up from the ground. A lot of fun, actually.

As if all that wasn't enough, last weekend I met a very talented muralist who asked me to help him with some projects. Could turn out to be a wonderful collaboration. I sure hope so.

I'm so happy to be busy doing the things I love. What a lucky guy I am.

Just my luck everything starts going great and the country falls into a massive economic depression. I hope not. . .

Big Aqus Cafe Fun and a Busy Day

Two days ago this extremely fun event occurred:

The show itself was as much fun as the handful of rehearsals we had, which were all hilarious.

(one minute of YouTube of the show is here.)

Pamela and Gary are both very talented singers and musicians, and the overflow crowd had a great time. I did a couple of tunes myself, which is pretty unusual. The real strength of the group, I'd say, is our three part harmony, the quality of which amazed even me.

The future? We're slated to make a brief appearance at a local fundraiser on June 2. Other than that, there are no other plans. Pamela has two other bands, and Gary plays with everyone in the area.

I had a very busy day Saturday. Up and to the cafe by 9am (I'm seldom awake before 9am on a Saturday!) and playing 10am until noon, and then helping Gary and his wife Peg pack up the equipment, just in time for a torrential downpour. Then rehearsing with Al Haas and his son for an upcoming Farmer's Market gig Saturday, June 30, until about 4pm. Brief stop to gather my wits, and then a cruise over to Napa to see some folks I'd only heard about, a cowboy (and cowgirl) band. I'd met one of the singers at a friend's house, and when I told her about the Aqus gig she said she couldn't make it because she had this private party to play with her band. Sean Allen, a great Napa guitarist who was playing lap steel with them, persuaded me to sit in for a tune or two on his Telecaster. Fun. Then it was off to meet with Gordon Lustig and a friend of his for dinner and a show. Dinner turned out to be at Piccolino's in Napa, where Gordon often plays, watching Bobby Simmons, whom I hadn't seen in months. Then we attended an Adrian Legg concert at Copia. How was it? It was about two hours long, all in what looked like open D tuning. That's a lot of one tuning.

A fun fun day. Now I'm tired.