Here’s the main video for my latest Common Chords column. It’s hard to believe this is the 18th post featured.
Nathan Belt was a pleasure to work with and an excellent musician and craftsman. His love for music is genuine and he has a good sense of life outside of his time on stage.
Please check out the last video on the post where some of the tribute artists at Legends In Concert get together for an impromptu jam covering a famous Beatles song.
Nashville singer/songwriter Kevin Gordon played an intimate show Saturday evening for the latest installment of the South by Southeast music series at the Historic Myrtle Beach Train Depot.
A Louisiana native Gordon’s songs have been recorded by Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones, Levon Helm of The Band, Irma Thomas, Ronnie Hawkins, Webb Wilder, Kate Campbell, Blackie & the Rodeo Kings, and others.
He played two sets and dedicated the second to my friend the late Jeff Roberts, founder of the SxSE.
One of the shows moments happened when Gordon performed a song on the autographed SxSE guitar now owned by Jeff Robert’s son Hunter. One could feel the connection to the musician by the SxSE crowd after Gordon played his song.
Sunday I had the honor of playing at Houndog Hanson’s Sunday Serenade with my friend Phil Swaby.
The concerts run through the Summer in Surfside Beach and feature local acoustic singers and songwriters.
It was the second time I’ve had the opportunity to jam with Phil and it was a pleasure. He is the best fiddle player I’ve had the pleasure to perform with and he adds so much to my songs.
We played 3rd in the lineup that afternoon with my friend Neal Peterson opening and Houndog’s allstar band playing in the middle spot. (Phil also sat in with Hanson and the Allstars.)
Here are the concerts from that day recorded on my Edirol R-09. I hope you like them.
Last Saturday I had my second concert at Fresh Brewed Coffee House in Myrtle Beach. I more than doubled the attendance this time and had a whopping 14 in the crowd.
It’s not the numbers cause those that showed were supportive and wonderful in their response to the music.
I was blessed to have a few friends come by and perform with me. Fiddlin’ Phil Swaby of the Bounty Hunters band came by and did the first set with me. Phil was featured last fall in one of my Common Chords posts and we’ve become friends.
Below is an mp3 from the first set of the concert with Phil and another friend James Rimes. James did the sound that night and took a break to help out with a cover of Hickory Wind.
I hope Phil and James are able to join me Sunday when I play at Houndog’s Sunday Serenade in Surfside Beach. The show will start at 2:00 pm but I go on at 3:30 pm.
From Myrtle Beach take US 17 Business South to Surfside Beach. Turn left on Surfside Drive. Drive down Surfside Drive just past the Library and the concert under the gazebo will be on the left. Houndog and his band will be playing along with Beatles cover expert Neal Peterson.
Fresh Brewed Show featuring Phil Swaby and James Rimes
There will be more audio posted soon from this concert including the world premiere of John Baldwin’s performance at the show.
My latest Common Chords column is on a 17-year-old North Myrtle Beach singer/songwriter named Steve Pethel.
I first heard Little Steve (he’s a junior) sing and play at the local open-mic I attend on Thursdays at Fresh Brewed Coffee House in Myrtle Beach. I noticed right away he was different and his songwriting skills were well beyond his age.
His playing is unique because he is left-handed and plays a right-handed guitar just flipped over. So the treble strings are at the top of his playing approach instead of the customary bottom. This gives him a sound that is opposite to most.
Being slightly different has not hindered his playing for he has adapted well and knows his way around the fingerboard.
This kid reminds me so much of me at that age. I too struggled to fit in with my peers at school and the guitar and writing helped soothe the pains of disappointment and rejection.
Steve’s advantage is he lives in a different time where uniqueness can be nurtured and encouraged. I know for sure his life will be better because of this trait, whatever path he chooses to take with his music.
For this CC, my friend James Rimes brought along his recording rig and he took care of the sound so I could concentrate on the visuals. This was a big plus and I hope you notice how well this one sounds.
What a surprise when during a recent visit to the Wat Carolina I found my old buddy Phra Platoon in from California for a visit.
Platoon was best friends with former Wat Carolina resident monk Phra Manass who lived at the temple a little over two years ago.
Platoon and Manass studied together in the international school in Thailand; a prerequisite to monks going on foreign missions including the US.
It was a joy at the temple when these two monks were together and I care for both deeply. With Platoon still serving as amonk, Manass has since disrobed and is living in Bangkok.
I wonder if Manass has retained the English I tried so hard to help him learn. I must admit my use of Thai has vanished in the wind like a feather in Forest Gump’s hat.
_____________________________________
As a second part of this post, My buddy James Rimes came back over to the house for another Mancave session in Surfside.
Last week we used my little Edirol R-09 to make recordings.
This week James brought over his rig and manned the controls while I made a few recordings.
His equipment used several high quality mics and a large equalizer and mixer. It was much more sophisticated than my lowly unit.
James would be a perfect person to hire if a band or singer needed a high quality demo recording.
Thursday evening after the open mic sessions at Fresh Brewed, my new friend James Rimes and I jammed on the front porch of my man cave in Surfside. We created a portable recording studio on the front balcony and played and recorded until the wee hours of the morning. I slept through my Honda Civic car service the next morning but it was worth it.
James has a terrific voice, deep and resonate and plays a beautiful Takamine guitar made with some nice Indian rosewood.
Here are some of the recordings we did.
Hickory Wind Byrds Cover
James and I are both playing guitar and I’m on my G Seydel Blues Favorite.
The Mountain Steve Earle Cover
James is helping me sing the refrain and I’m playing a C Hohner Blues Harp
Like a Rolling Stone Dylan Cover
This was recorded the next day and solo and I’m missing the mic stand I use to get the recorder higher. But I like what I did with my Seydel 1847 harmonica in the key of D in this recording. The energy level is so hard to keep going with this song.
It’s hard to believe this is my 16th Common Chords completed and done.
On this installment I met with the jam band Ten Toes Up for music and interviews about how they travel together and then live together in a small home in Murrells Inlet.
The challenge for these videos was the sound. Recording multiple instruments from several different sound sources in the bands practice area and without a stereo point made for some muffled recordings.
In the end I found the best solution was to place the Edirol close to the source of the lead vocals and then let everything fall below that in the mix. This worked and so I feel the sound is as good as it could be in this situation.
I’m getting pretty good at working with the Edirol and it’s fun to see if I can find a limit for it. So far it has shown no limits. It is the perfect field-recording tool that lets me worry about other things like the 2 cameras and 2 tripods I have to juggle while shooting these.
Dave The Horn Guy was at the 2010 California-Carolina Leagues’ All-Star Game Gala tonight and I decided to make a little clip. If he lived in the area he would certainly be a candidate for my column but since he is not a clip will have to do.
My latest Common Chords was fun to shoot as I got the opportunity to hang out with a group of awesome sisters for a warm evening of fellowship and music.
The Bellamy Sisters have one of the most loving relationships I’ve seen in my career and it was an honor to tell the world about them.
They have used this love to transcend hardship and sickness and make the world a better place for others. This is the heart of what my column is about.
I spoke with Jannett Bellamy soon after this video published and she liked it but for the close-up of her shoes. The sister’s claps and toe taps are the drums of the acapella group so I felt the need to show them working. Plus her shoes are the same color lime green as most of the rooms of her home. She said her daughters and nieces gave her a hard time about her shoes.
I’m having so much fun with this column and I’m hoping folks enjoy it as much as I do. It’s a lot of extra work but I’m learning so much about life and music from my subjects.
Go to the Common Chords blog page to see my story about the sisters and view extra music-only videos.
