Hullo!  Hope everyone had a happy holiday.  I feel like I was a bystander of Christmas this year.  Self-employment is brilliant, don't get me wrong.  But everyday is a work day.  Note to self:  plan breaks/days off for 09.  At least one a week.

Teryn loved Christmas, which made it all worthwhile.  She cleaned up too, thanks to the relatives.  Favorite toy = Thomas the Tank Engine train set.  Also, Santa brought Mommy and Daddy a present - she decided to start wearing panties and go in the big potty.  Very proud.  Anyone who is a parent will get this.  Anyone who is not will be like "ewww tmi".  lol sorry. 

Had first band rehearsal on Monday.  Great stuff.  It's always gratifying to hire players who take the time to really learn the music.  Also, who can play (!)Embarrassing to admit that I have not done a Chris Huff band gig in almost 10 years.  Where is the time going?  Definitely it has been easier and more cost effective to fly solo.  I have had codependency issues with bands in the past.  MUCH better in recent years about having a business relationship as opposed to a personal relationship.  Was talking to a former bandmate of mine about this recently, how we felt bullied and abused by another band member - "I know he loves us even though he plays that fill/lick..."  hahaha.  Maybe I should start a codependency support group for musicians in bands!

Played the Beta Hi-Fi songwriter competition at World Cafe the other day.  Met a very nice fellow named John Reilly whose band www.reillytheband.com won (they had scores of people, they also have you-know-who on their side).  Invited my crew (had about 8 people show - thanks again!!), but definitely did not scream it to the rafters b/c of impending release party.  While nobody seemed to play by "the rules" (i.e. we were supposed to play solo with max 1 other accompanist), it felt good to get out and play.  One performer just didn't show up lol.  Why would you apply?

There are new stations playing Huffmusic - check huffmusic.com for the update tomorrow. 

In case you are not aware or "too young to lose it, too old to choose it", 28 years ago today John Lennon was shot. 

I at that point was already a Beatles fiend, taping the LP records off to cassette on my grandparents' stereo.   The fade out - fade in of "cranberry sauce" in Strawberry Fields used to scare the crap out of me.  While I emulated Paul first (high tenor bass players always drew me in), I gradually came to feel closer to John throughout the years.  Ever since a high school metaphysics class about spirit guides (ha!  great class!), I always felt that Lennon was somehow watching my back.   Sounds crazy to the uninitiated, but I would even talk to him if I had a problem.   Bigger than Jesus indeed!

The most moving account I ever heard was from one of Sean's preschool teachers, later my boss at a day camp where I was a swim instructor. The preschool class loved John and Yoko because they wore these big fur coats in the wintertime - the class would scream and shout "The Bears, the Bears are coming!" and John and Yoko would growl and the kids would scream, run, and hide. It was great fun for the kids. When he died, the class was very sad not because he was John Lennon but because he was Sean's daddy and one of The Bears. 

So although I think about John Lennon and the Beatles myth, how he changed the world, how much his music meant to me personally, and how much he meant to so many, I always think about Sean first and foremost. Even more since becoming a parent. I like to think John would have agreed with my take; I think he thought the rest was probably "rubbish", people needing to get a life and appreciate the people in front of them. And I think how sad it is that one of The Bears is gone.

Saw Robyn Hitchcock (or as I call him "The Old Man") at World Cafe Live in Philly last night.    Funny how so many things about this show remind me how rock music is changing.   When I see RH I think about time a lot - I've been going to see him play for over 20 years...!   I've seen his hair get short, get long, get weird, and turn grey.   I've seen him pudgy and skinny, tired and vibrant, and through all kinds of weather and in all kinds of venues small and large.  I saw him at a benefit in Prague for Slovakian refugees where I bought him a beer and he played three of my requests.   I saw a taping for his concert movie with Jonathan Demme and I actually walk across the background at one point.  So...me and him go way back.   To say that I am a fan is an understatement.   Robyn Hitchcock's music changed my concept of what was possible and the direction of my life.  I wouldn't be a songwriter today without his work.  

So I can be pretty hard on the guy as I have high expectations from him.  Last night's show did not disappoint.   The first 2 songs were piano tunes which he has said he worries about in interviews (being primarily a guitarist).  He did a fine job, a little clunky on the 2nd one, but who is counting :-)   The rest of the evening's standards all pulled from the record I Often Dream Of Trains (the theme of this particular show) were brilliant,  highlighting the Velvet Underground-ness (Velvetosity, Velvetude?) of some of the tracks with sparse arrangements and banging repetitive piano.   "Winter Love", one of the outtakes not released on the original LP, was given an droney, emo, Jim Morrison sendup which brought stronger focus to the lyrics ("everything is made of snow").  Terry Edwards from the Higsons and longtime Hitch collaborator Tim Keegan executed their parts with precision and excellence.  Terry Edwards in particular is like a character from an RH song - pinched features, wearing a little suit, with Marty Feldman style expressive eyes - he played great and certainly looked the part.  

Hitchcock himself was resplendent in purple denim, a polka-dot Dylanesque shirt, waistcoat, and top hat.   He had two guitars stolen over the summer (his blue Telecaster - I almost got weepy when I learned that as I've seen him play that guitar for...well...20 years), and has a new polka-dot Strat to match his polka-dot shirt.  

The encore was 5 songs including the chestnuts "Raymond Chandler Evening" and "Goodnight I Say" which I haven't heard him play in at least 10 years.  

Earlier I said the show reminded me of how rock music is changing in general.  Hitchcock shows I used to see in the late 80's and 90s were mostly standing room and young people;  it seems the audience has aged along with the performer as this show was sit-down (one RH email list member described the club as "for mature audiences only" lol).   Though I really do consider myself on the cusp between lets-stand-it-out-for-eight-hours-until-Prince-decides-to-show-up and looking at my watch to see if I can make it home before the Tonight Show, I like World Cafe.  Mostly for the sound.   But the show started at 7:30, ended by 9:30, started on time, was comfortable, sounded great, WCL has great if expensive food, and dammit I liked sitting down.  

I think rock stars age miserably for the most part, and I resent having to pay $200 to see Keith Richards mess up the chords to Under My Thumb in a big boomy arena with people my parents' age trying to out-drink him in the seats next to me and screaming Paint it Black You Devil which was a stupid line in 1970.  So I don't do it, and I expect the days are fast coming when no one else will either.   

In my opinion, the days of iconic rock stars on pedestals are over;  the audiences want human beings (for example:  Conor Oberst singing his diary out loud, the popularity of artist blogs, the fact that every up-and-coming indie band these days tries to look like "average" people, etc).  $30 for Robyn H. with great sound and a comfy chair playing his greatest album with great feeling is the mode of the future.     "Trams of Old London/taking my baby into the past/and it's Trams of Old London/blow my mind"   His greatest psychedelic achievement!  He is future and past at the same time.   2 Kudos to you, Mr. H.

Ok.  I'm having this obsession with the Aerosmith song Dream On.  I have a strange secret about this song that I cannot reveal completely, but suffice to say that I have certain knowledge of the song's history and inception through a bizarre series of incidents and I personally knew a guy who knew a guy.  That's all I will say about that.  

Also, after Sept 11th, my pal Joie Blaney posted the lyrics to this song on his blog, and him being a Lower East Side punk kind of guy brought I think a new credibility to it (I was like "oh yeah, that does have soul..."). 

I saw them perform it in DC with a good friend in 03 too...she gave me a free ticket and while buying an Aerosmith ticket would not be on my list of things to do, I thought they gave a great live show and certainly made the Stones look like rank amateurs.  

Some of you out there love them.  Some of you hate them.  I feel totally ambivalent about Aerosmith.  On one hand I think Toys in the Attic is a great record.   On the other hand, I think they are kind of bland.  On one hand, Cryin is a great song.  On the other hand, Dude Looks Like A Lady is one of the most annoying songs I can think of.   Anyway.  

So I decided to learn Dream On for my cover gigs.  But...you can't legally download the original version (from their 1st album).   You can't even download the first album on iTunes.  You can download the entire first album on Rhapsody for $9.99...but you have to buy the full album.  

OK.  Don't Aerosmith have enough money?   Didn't the original release of Dream On and subsequent album sales make them enough bread to offer Dream On as a .99 download?   I think this kind of thing sucks.  It must be nice to have millions of dollars and be able to extort people...however, in their defense, that is the way that everybody started to do it in the 70's - don't make a vinyl single, make people buy the whole album...now, however, there is a choice...and clearly Aerosmith's choosing to be greedy...even Metallica finally got off their high horse and put all their music on iTunes....

I do understand the business logic, but I hope the days of saying FU to your fans are hopefully over as the last big dinosaurs from the 70s and 80s begin to go extinct...that is such an insane decadent luxury that 99% of us cannot afford...I mght say "FU" to a fan but only if they want me to :-)  Or if you grab my mic without asking.   Back off!  lol

I also think that this just encourages people to go to Kazaa and get it for free.   Music has become The Man against the little people...with both established artists and labels banding together to form The Man...everybody pulling at the almighty dollar which is worth less and less...

so.  I will make money from playing Dream On learned from the live version which is everywhere (and, although most places I play are supposed to have ASCAP/BMI/SESAC licenses, I imagine less than 1/3 of them do...)...and with that money maybe I will buy their first record which is apparently "a good bar band record".   Giving something back so Joe and Steven can buy Ferraris for the kids.   Hopefully I can find it on vinyl.  

You know what's cool?   Listening to a baseball team all year long on the radio and then they win the World Series.   I used to be a baseball junkie;  back in the early Oughts, watching the real game and playing fantasy baseball was pretty much a career choice.  But this year I committed to following the Phillies and the Phillies only as I actually have a music career again (!).   Listened to and/or watched bits of every game all year along.  Saw Chase Utley get really hot in April and May and then cool off, saw Myers hit the minors and then bounce back, laughed at the radio announcers when they got cranky in late extra innings games, watched a 45 year old pitcher win 16 games and (the miraculous part) only lose 7, and heard Shane Victorino come through almost every time he needed to.   Along with Dobbs, Werth, Romero, and of course Lidge.   I would turn on the radio while giving my daughter a bath in the evening, flip it on driving down to the shore this summer for gigs, watch the TV both while playing and on breaks, and listen to the afternoon commentaries on XM (esp Tuesdays driving to Wildwood for a weekly gig).   Listening to the games gave me something to look forward to when the drive was long, the club was going to be empty, and I knew my little girl would be crying "I miss my daddy" at bedtime (I was gone sometimes 6 nights a week this summer).   Still, my chosen profession infinitely beats a desk job, and sometimes the club would say "wait until the game's over to start" so I would get paid to watch baseball.   Not too shabby....

In June it seemed like hopes were fading, the Marlins were on the move, and the bullpen was ridiculous (Rudy Seanez mopping up everyday).   In August they got spunky, and in September and October they seemed unbeatable.   I would sometimes get caught in the game traffic coming up I-95 if the game went late.   Whenever I was bullshitting with customers at the bars I played, I'd use my stock line - "Yeah, with the Phils it's either they all show up or none of them are there"...it certainly felt like that all year. 

So...while I have only lived in Philly for 4 years and was not born a Phillies fan, this season meant something.  For the city of Philadelphia, everybody can feel like a winner in the midst of tough economic times (Rocky anyone?  It took Fox until the 9th inning to finally play the Rocky theme lol).   For me, it proves that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.   And I feel very glad to have been along for the ride.  Thanks boys for the wild trip!