We are really home now. The garden is started, the work continues, and my thoughts are filled with things that need to be done. I’m also filled with memories of our six weeks in the UK.
Since we’ve come home we have played three dances, and a festival. Friday we drove 600 miles and played four sets of dance music arriving back in Tacoma a little before 5 am. I’m still feeling the effects of that trip. Kristi drove most of the way, which was nice. I bought an mp3 player which has a 12 gigabyte capacity. I also bought an fm transmitter so we could use the mp3 player with our car radio. We listened to an audio version of George Orwell’s “Animal Farm” on the way over to Spokane. It finished about an hour out of Spokane, and we had hardly said a word to each other the entire trip. I suspect we’ll be discussing “Animal Farm” for weeks now, as it really gives one a lot to talk about (much more than when I was 16 years old and reading it for the first time).
The Gregerson's Guest House
The week before this we drove to Anacortes, WA and played the Anacortes Eagles. That is an arduous drive as it goes through the greater Seattle corridor, and the way things are scheduled we end up driving it at rush hour. That means that we end up stuck in traffic for an hour or so of the drive. We stayed with my sister, and brother-in-law there, which is always a pleasure as they live on a cliff overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca. Their guest house is always well stocked with everyone’s favorite beverages, and has a Jacuzzi bathtub and a big comfortable bed. We played Friday/Saturday, stayed over Saturday night, and drove back to Tacoma on Sunday afternoon.
The Gear We Use
The drive to Spokane is always an interesting drive to me. It is Kristi’s hometown, so we’ve done it a lot in all seasons, and in all kinds of weather. It is approximately 300 miles across the state of Washington. On the drive we cross the Cascade Mountains, and the Columbia River. Interestingly enough, a wind farm is being built on the hills above the Columbia. There are ferocious winds that drive over the Cascades into the little town of Ellensburg, WA, and I suppose it’s about time that someone used them for something besides blowing the roof off of a house.
Wind Farm on I-90
It is a year of aberrant weather here. Kristi asked me to check for snow on the pass on Thursday night. I told her not to worry, that there was no way there’d be snow. I was right enough, but it was in the 40s that night (Fahrenheit). I will admit to being a bit jaded about these drives across our state. I have done it, and done it in snow, high winds, blistering heat, with icy covered roads, and dust storms that completely concealed the roads from view. In spite of that, I almost always find myself looking for something new. There are still the places on the road that hold a complete fascination for me. One of them is the Columbia River which is crossed by Interstate 90 at Vantage, WA.
Rushing Across the Columbia River
It is a 4+ hour drive at best, so we dare not stop at the view areas overlooking the Columbia Gorge, or go for a wander in the Cascade Mountains. We don’t ever go skiing, although we often see the skiers on the slopes as we speed over Snoqualmie Pass at 60 + mph. We read the signs in the fields on the Columbia Plateau as we drive through farm country, or enjoy the Christmas displays of lights that the farmers put up during the winter. I am ever more cautious of the Washington State Highway Patrol, as they have taken to using unmarked cars. I honestly try to honor the speed limits, but it is often difficult for me as I make yet another long drive across the state.
Some of you may not know what an Eagles Club is? The Eagles is a fraternal organization. Kristi is a member of our local Eagles Club. They are working man’s clubs, and vary greatly in the texture of their memberships. You can usually count on seeing a few cowboy hats, and a lot of cowboy boots shuffling across the dance floor, although this is not always the case, especially in western Washington. They keep us employed, although we occasionally work Elk’s Clubs as well. These clubs are largely Caucasian, but not necessarily. In this part of the United States it would be illegal to have a club that would discriminate on the basis of race, sex, and probably religion, but on the other hand you can count on these clubs being 99% white, and Christian. Some of them insist that we end our night with “God Bless America”, which we gladly do as we depend on them for our income, and are there to serve to our best ability. I’ll admit that it turned my stomach during the Bush years to sing that song, but those were jingoistic times, and we jingoed right along with the rest of the crowd when we figured it would fill our pockets.
We are becoming an anomaly simply from outliving other bands. Spokane is a place where musicians find a place to play, and they stay there for years. It means that if you’re a young musician, you’d better find a gig with a band of oldsters who have the gigs, or you may end up not working. That’s the way it has been, but times are changing. Frankly, there’s a lot less live music than there used to be. The money has not gotten better, and in fact, as you all know, a dollar or a pound is worth a lot less in 2010 than it was in 1985. We don’t’ get more of them than we did then. As a matter of fact, we were able to demand more money in those days that was worth more than we can now. Our dance floors are not as crowded, and younger people don’t dance at all. The local police wait outside barrooms and pull cars over at closing time just to see if they can charge someone with drunk driving. The alcohol limits have gone down, so you don’t have to consume as much alcohol to get a drunk driving citation. Still, I see people stagger to their cars after drinking way too much to drive. Of course, that’s a bad thing. There are still too many deaths due to drunk driving in this country. On the other hand, we used to be better paid due to the heavy alcohol consumption where we were working. In the eighties Kristi and I worked in barrooms of all kinds. There was a bar that we worked in Ketchikan, Alaska where we actually did an eight hour shift singing. I still am incredulous that we did that.
When we arrived at the Spokane Eagles on Friday night there was a band playing. No, we were not double booked. That band is always there on Friday nights, and there’s always an elderly crowd filling the dance floor dancing to instrumental versions of their old favorites. This band is different from anything I’ve seen anyplace else. It is made up of piano, banjo, drums, baritone horn, or sometimes tuba, and saxophone, and/or trumpet. You see, it’s not always the same individuals who play in the band, although I think the piano player is usually the same guy. This band is a remnant of a band that was popular in that part of Washington in the late sixties through the eighties called The Moms, and The Dads. They play thirties, and forties hits that were favorites of my parents, as well as things like “Just Because”, and “Clementine”. I’m very entertained by them, and they always play all the way through our setup time. A lot of their crowd goes home shortly after we start playing, but we have our own bunch of dancers who come in to dance to us.
The Band In Spokane
We are playing in Spokane a lot this month, which probably won’t happen again as Kristi’s family is no longer there, and it is a long drive. It also doesn’t pay enough to justify the long drive, especially at today’s gasoline prices. Kristi did renew her acquaintance with some of her high school friends while her mother and brother were ill. That could draw us back across the mountains from time to time, and we have friends who have a solar house in Idaho. We will almost certainly make the trip to visit them at their house. Also, never say never huh? Well, almost never say that.
We have been working on Kristi’s CD, and are approaching final vocals. Here's a sample of the kind of thing we've been working on.
Crazy Arms - Rough Mix from Kristi Nebel's Solo Album
This week we will start working on backup vocals, and next week the pedal steel player/dobroist will come in and play some more. I think by the end of June this project will be at least in the middle of mixing. It is fun to work on this project. I am mostly just the sound engineer, but I will be singing some on the project, and I did play a few rhythm guitar tracks. We really want this project to fly, so we have been sparing no expense.
Heartaches By The Number from Kristi Nebel's Solo Album
We played NW Folklife Festival last Monday. That was a week ago now. We saw Kristi’s producer Toby with his band, The Smilin’ Scandinavians. He had a big band, and Toby was in fine form having more fun than usual.
Toby Hanson and the Smilin' Scandinavians
Just Because from Kristi Nebel's Solo Album
We also saw our old friend, Marc Bristol and his band, Okie Doke String Band with Doug Bright playing piano, and Marc’s wife Gabby on bass. We had a good crowd at our performance on an outdoor stage.
Crazy Arms - Rough Mix from Kristi Nebel's Solo Album
This week we will start working on backup vocals, and next week the pedal steel player/dobroist will come in and play some more. I think by the end of June this project will be at least in the middle of mixing. It is fun to work on this project. I am mostly just the sound engineer, but I will be singing some on the project, and I did play a few rhythm guitar tracks. We really want this project to fly, so we have been sparing no expense.
Heartaches By The Number from Kristi Nebel's Solo Album
We played NW Folklife Festival last Monday. That was a week ago now. We saw Kristi’s producer Toby with his band, The Smilin’ Scandinavians. He had a big band, and Toby was in fine form having more fun than usual.
Just Because from Kristi Nebel's Solo Album
We also saw our old friend, Marc Bristol and his band, Okie Doke String Band with Doug Bright playing piano, and Marc’s wife Gabby on bass. We had a good crowd at our performance on an outdoor stage.
I will be working in the garden today, and in between I’ll be at work on Kristi’s solo recording project. I hope you all are having interesting, productive lives. We are doing that.
Steve Nebel
