Spring? Where are you?

Its official. I cannot stand Minnesota winters anymore! Its almost May and look what greeted us this morning, MORE SNOW! I will count my blessings, people south of us got over a half foot of it. Global Warming? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

4/20 Santana/ Derek Trucks Band

I bought tickets for this show about 4 months before the show. I have to admit, I wasn't very fired up to see it. Its been a rough road lately with a loved one battling a illness and my mind has been elsewhere. As the days rolled toward this show, I began to listen again to Santana.

I have always loved his first 3 albums. Very gritty and yet beautiful, ethnic and yet accessible. Even as a young man, I loved the sound of Carlos Santana's guitar. I can only describe it as a cry like tone. I can usually pick out a Carlos tone in about 2 notes, very distinctive. It very releasing to me, and I have turned to those albums several times for several reasons.

So, it was with a bit of irony that I would be going to a Santana show ( I saw them in 1982 as my 2nd ever concert) when I was feeling kinda down and needed some "healing". I was hoping to hear more of the early gritty stuff, and less of the radio friendly stuff that he has been putting out the last decade or so. Some of it is good, but much of it doesn't come close to the early raw stuff.

The show began with a mix of both. I was enjoying the show but it wasn't really hitting me. Then Carlos stopped the show, and spoke to the crowd. He spoke about how we all are a light, and even though we all have varying degrees of pain, happiness, success and failure, we all can shine our light. Now some yo-yo's thought that meant to light lighters up....and others took it as a much deeper spiritual comment. To each its own, I think you know how I took it. :-)

Then, as if on cue. Carlos ripped into 4 songs that were some of my favorite Santana release songs.


1.Batuka
2. No one to depend on
3. Incident at Neshabur
4.Everybodys Everything.

It was great. I loved it and felt released. As you know, I connect with music on that level. I am so glad to have it in my life.

The show as a whole, was solid. It was a night I wont forget, not just for the music but for the emotions.

Cathedral Of St.Paul

Today, I took a tour ( along with my Family and my Mom) of the Cathedral Of St. Paul. Built in 1904, it is a stunning sight. The intricate craftsmanship of the marble and sculpture really makes you appreciate how much work was put into this grand place of worship.

The tour guides throughout the Cathedral told stores of the history of the church and of a era long before todays modern style churches. I love history, and this place did not lack it in the least.

What I took away from this visit was how many different cultures contributed to the building of this dramatic structure. Financially and Physically. It was built by the people of Minnesota and by all walks of life.

Just like your typical parish, rich,poor, privileged, and down on luck. This was a place for sanctuary.

I found peace in it today. I feel blessed.

Regret

Even though I have been assured of forgiveness from the 2 people that I meant to hurt the least. Jeff and Lori. I want to apologize for my insensitivity. The comment about "hallmark and gooey" was written out of frustration at MY OWN INABILITY to write with the depth that I once did.

If you look back at my blog. At one time I wrote about things besides music. I still do, as recent as 3 weeks ago. I know I have gone through another long winter where as it marches on and on I get more depressed. It makes me start feeling less and less. The only thing that gets me feeling is music. So I write about it.

I know I have been forgiven by the ones that matter. I will now forgive myself.

Sorry once again. From a former goomaster.

Happy Easter

A nightly ritual

Every night around 9pm. My son makes popcorn for himself, our dog always sits right by him waiting patiently for a stray kernel to drop. It never happens. But he keeps waiting! Now how gooey is that !

Digital Music Stresserella

Yeah, gas prices are going through the roof. People are losing jobs, the war keeps going on and on, and Mike just keeps plugging along with trusty posts about Music. Yes, I can converse about these topics and many other "heavy" issues without embarrassing myself, but this blog is about fun and Me! I refuse to write stuff that is gooey artificial greeting card material, and also skin crawling personal stuff. It runs rampant on blogs and gets boring to me quick.
UPDATE: Uncle Mike was a little crabby. I love you people that write unlike me. No harm no foul.....I hope ;-)

So, sit back and enjoy more music blather!

After years of collecting music on Cd's, the writing is on the wall. The shiny disc is dying a slow painful death and being replaced by digital downloads. Virtually every age group owns a device that plays MP3's and knows how to use em! With a collection that borders on the obscene, I have struggled with the idea of migrating my collection to a device ( I would need at least the 160GB, 40,000 song ipod pictured above) that would eliminate the need to lug the dozen or so Cd's that I bring to work each day. I do own a small player that I use for working out, but the idea of loading so much stuff on a hardive that could fail..sort of freaks me out. But also intrigues me. I love technology, but I also like the feeling of having something tangible in my hands like a disc. Looking at the artwork...lyrics...etc.... I know its old school, but its one of the things that I enjoy with my music experience.

So, my question to all. What do you most commonly use to listen to your music. Cd's? MP3/Ipod? Etc.... I am curious about your thoughts!

Last Lesson: Back to my own learning

No. This isnt my guitar teacher, but they go to the same barber. :-)

The last night of class was much like last week. Mike leads the band. This week I instructed the class on how to do alternative bass picking ( no that isnt illegal in Minnesota) . The teacher asked me to play some of the stuff that I have been practicing...and I just was fooling around with fingerpicking and stumbled onto different ways of fooling around with the bass strings. Nothing too profound, but enough for him to turn the class over to me. ( EGO inflation pt 78)

I think for now I will keep the "mike teaches guitar his way" dvd off the market for a while. I will keep instructing myself until I feel I have hit a wall and then find a real teacher at that time.

Still enjoyed the class, just reaffirmed that I am on the right path with my learning.

Rock on Dudes! :-)

Deer!

This is not my picture. But this morning, as I drove through the park reserve I travel every day, I saw 15 deer! They were all in single file walking through brush and heading for a frozen river down the hill. I pulled my car off to the side of the road and watched them. They were totally unaware of me. It was a great way to start the day. Natural beauty.

Nothing against hunters...but I could never shoot a deer. Mr. softy! :-)

new lists

1.vocalists
2. soul music
3. rock
4. deep tracks

45 songs on each list. if you click on pop out player...you can use it as background music as you browse other sites!

Music to your ears.

By now you are hearing some music playing through your speakers. I have 2 playlists. The one you are listening to now is a vocalist playlist. If you wanna rock, click the green button on the far right of the player ( to your right!). If you dont want to hear my handpicked tunes....hit the mute button on the bottom of the player or turn down the sound on your PC.

Hope you like....I have always wanted a way to get my music taste on here somehow. It will be a elvolving process! Like a online mixtape! ( See high fidelity pic above if you dont know what a mixtape is)

Guitar Class: Mike leads the class

I joined the advanced guitar class. This is a continuation of the 2 intro classes I wrote about previously. The class is down to 6. 6 dropped out from the into phase. We are supposed to progress from twinkle twinkle to more challenging songs and concepts.

Once again, it was sort of a train wreck. In fact, I ended up teaching the class to read tab ( see below for a example) style music notation. I have learned to play this way. The bottom staff represents the six strings on the guitar. High E to Low E. The #'s represent what fret to place your finger on. Its a common way to read music for most young learners. The teacher saw me practicing a song before class and asked what it was I was doing. I showed him. I then showed the class, for 30 minutes. :-) Add community ed teacher to my resume!

We were handed 2 songs to work on. Both are songs about addictions.

1. The wacky drug fueled tune " PUFF THE MAGIC DRAGON" ( insert "dude" here)

2. The sage advice song about gambling "THE GAMBLER" pre Kenny "gets a facelift" Rogers.

One more class to go. I will probably find a better teacher to seek out. Still enjoy being around other learners. Oh, by the way...the teacher upgraded his attire with a snappy purple velvet sports coat. Same sweats....sandals.... A stunner!

PS- the pic of the guy on top. That is Carlos Santana. One of my faves. I am going to see him in concert in late April. 3rd row! Last time I saw him was waaaaaay back in 1981. One of my first concerts, probably the loudest show I have ever been to. And the first show where I was offered pot, and of course refused. ( kiddies.....uncle Mike has always been drug free!)

Very cool pictures of the day after a fire

These were taken by a co-worker friend of mine. They were taken the day after a big fire in below zero temps. Makes it look like we live at the north pole! On second thought, I think we do!

Lesson 2- Cords and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2nd night of class. Crazy teacher showed up in the typical crazy guy outfit. Sweatpants with a hole, black socks and sandals and a shirt with a big ol' mustard stain on it. ( cant make it up)

Class was a little better. We were asked to perform the song that we were supposed to learn. The toe tapper "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". 3 cords Gmajor, C major, and D7. I dont have problems with the cords, but the speed is the issue. C major can be a little stretchy, but I can get it pretty good. Anyway. Time came for the class to play one by one. I was the second best in class. There was a woman in class that was a ringer! This is the 7th time she has attempted to play guitar in her life. So....she had something on me! Mine was just a little more slow than her rendition ( I think I did a better job strumming!) :-) Maybe I was going for more of a bluesy version of Twinkle! haha!

We also spent some time letting the group share what goals they had for learning the guitar. I found that interesting, you can see the ones that are into this and the ones that will probably have the guitar in the closet in about a week. I also found it interesting that most of the people in the class were terrified to play that song "Twinkle Twinkle". Afraid to fail in front of others. I remember that feeling, maybe that is the advantage of doing this at my age. I just dont care what the other people think anymore. My goals are to play songs that I like to sing with. My audience will be my dog that loves to fall asleep when I play. If I get good enough at it...I will record a CD of the songs to have as my musical legacy! :-)

I spent about 90 minutes last night ( while watching that fake music show, American Idol) practicing my "Twinkle", and now I think I can WHUP Ms. Ringer! Ego is a good thing sometime!

I will sign up for the next level of this class, and try to learn some more cool tunes! Kumbya.....HERE I COME!

Father/Son Band

Having received Guitar Hero 3 for Christmas ( my son that is) and watching my son and I take turns trying the be the next Jimi Hendrix. I started looking at the game "Rock Band", mainly because it comes with a drum kit and and microphone in addition to the guitar like GH3. Its great because you actually get to participate together, just like a real band. I am of course the singer! My son the drummer. Its great because the drums are very much like playing real drums and it helps my son practice some skills for his real instrument.

We start as a lowly band that has no fans. As we get better we get more fans and $$$ to buy cool outfits for the lead singer! :-) There are tons of songs on this game and its about the most fun I have had with a video game. Most of the fun is that I am doing this with my son and both have huge smiles as we try to get the song right, and also its fun to just tap into your inner rock star thing!

If you get a chance to try it out....Do it!

The Moment

I have often been told about living in the "moment". I believe in it and often try to subscribe to that mindset. Its difficult to do, as we are conditioned to prepare for the future and look back at the past as source of comfort or pain. As you become older, you realize how fragile the time is that we are granted on this earth. We dont know how long we have, there are no promises.

This was brought into focus for me last week, as both of my parents were facing medical situations that were very serious and troubling for all concerned. It made me think once again about the moment. How great it is to just enjoy what is right in front of you and to not worry about the future or the past. Enjoy the loved ones you have and forget all the crap that gets in the way. I am very lucky to have relationships with both of my parents that are not complicated with grudges, anger, or frustration. But I see many that waste this precious time with those issues and never make peace with loved ones until its too late. Its very sad to me.

My father is still battling issues with his health, prayers are appreciated if thats what you like to do in your life. Kind thoughts are appreciated also.

Enjoy the gifts that are given.

Mike

March 4th, first new Crowes in 7 years

I have had an advance listen to this cd. Sounds like the best stuff they have released since the mid 90's. If you are a fan of the early Black Crowes sound, you must get this.

Click here for some 30 second clips http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=8830560

I will write more when I get my official copy!

My first lesson, my first taste of fame :-)

(Picture of the exact place I bought my guitar)

I decided to take a community education class. Intro to guitar. I have been holed up in my "practice space" for the last month or so, learning cords and strumming and picking. I have been encouraged by my progress, but I wanted to see if I was really doing it right.

I walked into the room with my slightly used guitar and was surrounded by students that looked really unsure as to what they were even doing. I felt pretty relaxed and confident in what I had learned as I sat there and just casually strummed the half dozen cords that I knew. I guess its what a guitar does, because within a few minutes I had a few people around me listening to me just goof around. Now, anyone that knows me, knows that I dont shy from attention. Yeah I liked it. :-) Felt like jumping up and workin the room (my Dad knows what I am talking about!)

The class itself was pretty disappointing. The teacher was a bit on the mentally ill side ( hey its community ed!) and babbled on for most of the hour. I kindly steered him toward actual guitar stuff with some creative questions ( gotta get my $$$ worth somehow).

It was a fun night though. It proved to me that my self educating is paying off, and I am on the right path. I will be back this week for part 2 of the class.

Should I bring security to hold off my fans? :-)

I'll be waiting

I like this new song from Lenny Kravitz. Lyricaly nothing mind shattering....its just one of those tunes that stick in my head and make me sing in the car!

Great Day

This morning I was greeted by frozen surroundings! Not that its actually been warm around here for the last month or so. 1 week ago it was -19 one morning when I ambled out to start the car. But this morning was actually pretty. I took my camera out and navigated through the icy backyard and grabbed this shot. Kinda gives you a idea of how nice the frost looks. I guess the best way to describe it is....its like looking at a huge black and white photo!

The super bowl just ended. Wow what a game. I am thrilled the NY Giants won. I always root for the underdog!