Rule 11
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2/2/2008 1:57:57 PM
The Virtues of Cash, a Big Dick and a Tall Guitar Man in a Kilt
In a champagne and martini saturated daze at a New Years Eve party, Pete Shaner, the director of the independent film, “As You Like It” for which I was hired to compose original songs adapted from Shakespeare’s text, compose the score and play the role of Amiens, the exiled Duke’s in-house minstrel, leaned over to me and said, “We are shooting the club scene on January 26th and I’m going to let you cast the band!”
Hmmm…well….shit!
Those of you who know me know that I was a co-founder of the now defunct, Gaslight District where I co-wrote and played rhythm guitar among other duties. In the wake of the dissolution of a musical project to which I had devoted about 11 years or so, I was utterly ill-suited to conduct a solo project. The journey of developing a methodology (and a voice) as a solo artist has been an odd and enlightening one. One of the side effects of which is…well, working alone. As a result, where once upon a time, I had musicians to draw upon for this sort of thing, now, I was at a loss for what to do.
The shoot entailed a mock performance of two songs I had already written for the film by a full band. As a total “Hail Mary” shot and in the interest of good form, I dropped Hugh Hamilton a line as he had been gracious enough to contribute lead guitar and backing vocals to one of the tunes. It seems only right to get him some screen time since he did the smokin’ geetar goodness. Since the rigors of a post-xmas journey from Philly to San Diego are not inconsiderable, I anticipated a polite refusal. Shock of shocks, Hugh said he’d look into it! Hmmmm…
Next, I fired off an email to Dick Aven, an incomparable musician and solid guy who also happens to be in LA and thus a two hour drive from the location. NOOOOOO!!!! Dick has a session booked on the appointed day! Damn! I got in touch with Lance Lee in Salt Lake City, former Gaslight District bassist as well as IAC artists Gina French, Stacey Board, Michelle Warner and any number of other projects to see if he could make it out…success! Lance is in. That’s terrific bass! Next, an email to Mark, another Gaslight District alumni who has since gone onto a successful cardiology practice in San Luis Obispo, the response….a definitive maybe…interesting. A call to Brad Moore, an exceptionally gifted black metal drummer and good buddy of mine for nine years locked in the drums…so let’s see…I have a rhythm section. So far so good.
A week passes and an odd juxtaposition happens, Lance is forced to cancel due to a scheduling conflict involving Sundance, Hugh actually confirms that he can do it, Dick has a change in schedule so he’s in and best of all, he’s got a line on a cool guy who can do the bass! A last minute call from Mark three days out confirms that I got keys on the way and viola! I have a lineup! The gig is on. I let Pete know the good news. We got everything under control.
Dry logistics aside, I gotta say that whatever our particular perspectives on the advent of internet music and it’s impact on distribution revenues in the music industry, you just can’t beat a stranded solo artist calling on the aid of his online collaborators to come down and pretend to play music for a small film! Coolness of all coolnesses!
It’s a common misconception that guitar players are, by nature, prima donnas who crave the spotlight and resent their singers for all the attention bestowed upon them. I spent a good fifteen years comfortably tucked away on the side during myriad live performances and was quite content to be so. The night before the shoot, I had the sudden realization that I was going to have to front my imaginary band. This is not a comfortable position by any stretch of the imagination!
“Well fuck it,” I thought, “someone’s gotta go out and make an ass of himself. It might as well be me!”
The morning of the shoot, I had a John Ritter-worthy bout of physical comedy coordinating my collection of stringed things for the faux
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Rule 11
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2/4/2008 5:17:56 PM
Larry & Mark,
We are shooting for Sundance '09 and one of the caveats is that Sundance is like a mama bird, if there is another festival's stink on it, they won't take it! Short of that exclusivity period, I am certain that there will be distribution of some sort. At the very least, I can finagle a copy for IACers expressing interest. Thanks for the support guys!
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