Performing "Ballad of Slowiks" at a family reunion is a trip

This Father's Day weekend my family had a reunion. Since I'm the youngest of 12, reunions are major productions, so I was very glad when our sister Liz asked if I'd perform the song I wrote about the family.

I wrote "Ballad of Slowiks" back in 1994 and it always gets a good reaction when I perform it. Like so much else I do musically it's evolved over time, and the musical evolution has accelerated since I began performing solo about two years ago.

I've come a long way as a performer since 2011. Prior to then I almost always performed in band, as bassist. A couple years ago when I started playing my songs on acoustic guitar in front of people I would have major butterflies before performing. Now I'm able to get up in front of family--the toughest audience there is in my

opinion--and perform without forgetting words, messing up the instrumentation or being too emotionally vested in the subject matter to perform well. You've got to be relaxed enough to get the timing right and appreciate the humor in a song like "Ballad of Slowiks."

So the performance was fine and I had great fun providing the evening's entertainment. Our daughter Hannah was kind enough to film the performance and did a great job--I'm very proud of her artistic abilities. The family gave a great ovation. The link above is to the video of the performance. I hope you check it out.

As I follow-up to the most recent post, I've decided to set the guitar aside for a bit, and not practice for a couple weeks. I'm trying to give the index finger on my left hand a chance to heal. It's had an open sore for four months or so, and maybe constant guitar playing is preventing it from healing. I might still do the Wednesday night open mic at Tribes Mokena but nothing more, and even then I might take off a week or two. So I may not be posting quite as frequently, as I may not be out having as many musical adventures to write about :)

Cheers until next time.

How much pain would you endure for your passion?

Hi folks. Readers of this blog will know from previous posts that I've been contending with a nagging wound on my left index finger for some time now, four months or so. It just won't seem to heal.

I'm getting excellent care from a great doctor (a hand specialist/surgeon who fixed my broken left thumb some years ago). I've followed his orders and haven't smoked a cigarette since April 25. The circulation has improved but still this fingertip wound won't heal.

It's very painful and hindering the progress of one trying to master a stringed instrument like the guitar. I'm right-handed, so I form chords and finger the fretboard with my left hand. The index finger is fairly important in that effort.

Blood tests have shown it's not diabetes, so that's good news. The finger's not cold like it was, but as

you can see the tip's not normal either. And it's not like a Band-Aid will help. I think letting air get at it allows what little healing is happening to take place. Besides, any sort of bandage or wrap interferes with the normal feel of learning to play guitar.

What to do?

I'm surmising that continuous guitar practicing is hindering the healing effort. Instead of a callous forming, which is what's normally happened my whole life (after blistering at times), I believe the constant contact of exposed flesh on steel strings is prolonging the injury.

Lately I've been trying to practice without using the finger. During performances I can't help it--I need to use that finger to play well. But are my efforts to perform well and practice regularly actually hurting my chances of becoming a better musician?

I'm wondering, should I just take a break completely from performing and practicing for a while--a week or two, or maybe more--and see what that does? Maybe that will allow the wound to heal properly and a callous to form like normal.

String musicians, what do you think? Have any of you ever experienced anything like this, and would you/could you give up playing the instruments you love for a couple weeks or a month to allow healing to occur?

Jamming outdoors at a summer party is great fun

By Ted Slowik

There's nothing quite as fun as getting together with friends and other musicians at an outdoor party in the summertime. On Saturday my friend Peggy graduated from North Central College, threw a party to celebrate and wanted live music. The dude abides.

Ron and I packed the van with gear, including drums, bass and guitar amps, PA and speakers and guitars. We figured we could do a few numbers with acoustic guitar but were counting on other musicians sitting in, and we weren't disappointed.

Peggy's son Jake played guitar with us on some Black Keys songs we'd never played before and it sounded great. He also played some Led Zeppelin, Rolling Stones and other tunes. His friend Matt, 15, sat in on bass and impressed everyone. He's a fantastic player--for any age--and when he said typically he spends his Saturdays practicing for about six hours I knew exactly what he was talking about.

Some others played too, like Dan on guitar. Peggy's husband Dave played and sang "Stormy Monday" and some other blues at the end of the night. Their place is in the suburbs but has a real country feel to it, with horses and other animals. To top off everything the Blackhawks advanced to the Stanley Cup Finals with a win, so it was a great ending to a great day.

It's always great jamming with Ron, and meeting new friends and musicians and having fun playing an outdoor party in the summertime. I think everybody had a great time.

Something for everyone who likes live music in Will County

By Ted Slowik

Just had a great night out hearing live music at two different venues: the River Club in Joliet and Tribes Alehouse in Mokena.

Blues Hall of Fame inductee T-Bird Huck jammed at the River Club in the shadow of I-80 along Railroad Street. It's right on the Des Plaines River, and tonight was the first time I heard live music outside on their deck.

T-Bird made a special appearance cohosting the weekly electric blues jam run by guitarist Billy Osman. Lots of players were there, like Captain Michael Brown, Tom Kallai, Tim Romanowski, Tom Slaboszewski and many more. It's a great sound outdoors, and many talented musicians join in, including several horn players, which is very cool.

From there it was off to Tribes for the weekly acoustic open mic singer/songwriter showcase hosted by John Condron. A great turnout as usual with the likes of Scott McNeil, Charlie Champene, Patrick Spiroff, Ryan Olsson, Bill Ryan, Greg Woods, John Narcissi and more. Patrick just finished a great recording of originals called "First the B Sides." Tonight he brought along a bassist friend, Charlie Graham, who sat in with a really great Rickenbacker while I played three originals.

I opened with "Springfield," followed by "Red Rover" and "Ballad of Slowiks," which I'll play at a family reunion next week. Got a great reception and had a great time. Thanks Charlie for sitting in!

That's all for now. Cheers until next time :)
 

A most fun time hanging out with great musician friends

By Ted Slowik

Just had a great couple days hanging out at Chicago Street Pub in Joliet hearing great music amid great company.

On Sunday, John Condron and the Old Gang Orchestra opened for Cutthroat Shamrock. The Pub's usually closed on Sundays but Triz opened special for the occasion. It was well worth it as there was a great turnout for a very special show.

Cutthroat Shamrock plays "Appalachian Punk Rock." They're currently on a 24-show, monthlong tour through Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, North Carolina, Florida, Georgia and back to Tennessee. That's a lot of shows in a short amount of time with a lot of travel in between. It takes some serious dedication to live music to commit to a tour like that!

Speaking of road warriors, I just started reading the book "Hitless Wonder: A Life in Minor League Rock and Roll" by Joe Oestreich. Joe teaches creative writing at a college, and plays bass and sings in a band called Watershed. In his book he recounts decades of performing, writing and recording music, and getting close but not quite making it. It's a good read so far.

John's opening set was highly energetic. The Old Gang Orchestra featured Tom Maslowski on upright bass, Doneco Nudi on drums and Pat Otto on mandolin. The band was great! I felt bad for Tom because the pickup on the upright crapped out right before the show. I brought one he could use (because, you know, in a previous life I used to be a bass player) but couldn't get there in time. There was some feedback, which goes to show how many variables affect a live performance and how every little thing has to align just right to have a perfect show.

Monday night I was back at Chicago Street for the Songwriter Circle hosted by Alex Hoffer. It was a small turnout so we got to spend some time playing originals for each other, plus some covers for people in the bar. Alex is a fantastic guitarist and vocalist and a superb songwriter. I'm more of a writer trying to become a good enough musician so that people will listen to my songs without fleeing the room. That's the thing about songwriting, for me anyway. To get your songs heard, you have to perform them. We are talking about music, after all.

And while I've always been confident my writing is strong and original and I have something to say, it's apparent I need more practice to become a better musician (my vocals are decent enough). I've been at it for nearly two years now--practicing guitar regularly for a couple hours a day, that is--and I can tell I'm making good progress. I'm not there yet, though. Not long ago a read a biography of Muddy Waters, and it talked about how his son Big Bill Morganfield spent about six years practicing intensely on his own before he felt ready to play out. He called it woodshedding, and it's what I need to do. I'm not concerned about getting gigs right now because I've got a lot more practicing to do to become the musician I want to be.

The most important part of guitar playing is tone

Hey there! Just a quick shout out to friend Bill Ryan today for something great and profound I read on his blog. Bill makes the point that tone is of the utmost importance to guitarists:

"It doesn’t matter how accurate, fast, or impressive your playing is," Bill says. "If you fall short of good tone, you will fall short of success. Whether I’m playing on my classical, steel string, electric through a clean channel, or electric through multiple effects, tone is always my first and foremost concern"

Amen, brother.

Bill's a regular at John Condron's Wednesday acoustic open mic at Tribes Alehouse Mokena. He plays guitar in a band, Time and the New Romans, with Greg Woods. They have a nice song called "Your Eyes" and a new one called "In Frantic Sound" from a release coming out soon.

Every great song deserves a great acoustic version

By Ted Slowik

Every great song can be played on any instrument. From accordion to zither, a good musician can use any instrument to breathe life into a good tune.

In the realm of rock music, you no doubt have favorite songs. Most likely these are recordings of electric versions. Chances are your favorite artist has performed and quite possibly recorded those great songs acoustically at some point.

If we narrow the discussion to guitar performances it's easy to come up with numerous examples. Consider this 2009 Foo Fighters hit "Times Like These." The electric version rocks out, but for a 2010 greatest hits compilation the band released this lovely acoustic version.

Artists have been performing excellent acoustic versions of rock hits for decades. In 1979, for the "Secret Policeman's Ball" benefit concert, Pete Townshend famously performed this acoustic version of the rock classic "Won't Get Fooled Again" from The Who's 1971 album "Who's Next." Obviously it's not a note-for-note replication of the synthesizer-laden popular recording. But the acoustic treatment follows the basic structure of the tune.

One has to understand that before The Who ever cranked up the amps to record "Won't Get Fooled Again," Townshend strummed it acoustically as he wrote it. Songwriting and recording is like any creative process. This article about Edward Hopper's creative process includes numerous early drawings and sketches for "Nighthawks" and other famous works. Similarly, a song's definitive version may end up being a recording of an amplified band. But a great song can be interpreted an infinite number of ways, many of them acoustically.

I'm a big Beatles fan, and when the "Anthology" releases came out I enjoyed hearing acoustic demos of many of their hits. Even the loudest guitarists can make it sound good acoustically, like Stevie Ray Vaughan did on MTV's "Unplugged" in 1990. You can even find footage of Jimi Hendrix performing acoustically and it sounds great!

The takeaway is this: you don't need a loud band or fancy effects and gimmicks to make great music.