Finally figured it out...

I have recently switched back to using an Astatic mic for harp blowing, and have been thinking about how to park the mic up at the front of the stage with me when I'm not using it.

This is simple to do with a wand mic, like the Shure 545 that I have been using for a while now.  Just put another mic stand next to the vocal mic stand and put the wand mic in a standard mic clip.  However, the Astatic won't fit into a standard mic clip.

Here's what I figured out for the Astatic after a brief trip to American Music in Seattle's Freemont neighborhood:

First, I bought a bracket designed for attaching mics or small (very small) speakers to a mic stand.

Then I attached one of the spring-loaded type of mic clips.

Then I popped the Astatic (including the volume control and 1/4" plug adapter) into the mic clip.

This looks like it will work fine.  The clip has a firm grip on the mic, and the extra mic stand is eliminated.  I'll try it out on stage this Thursday at the Preachers gig in Portland.

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

Guitar Aficionado Magazine - A cork-sniffer's wet dream!

 

So I was killing a few minutes at the magazine rack at the neighborhood Safeway today when I came across the latest issue of Guitar Aficionado.  Funny that I've never noticed this magazine before, and also funny that I found it at Safeway.  I imagine that the regular readers probably shop at the tonier Metropolitan Market across the street.

 

 

Tucked in between ads for resorts, boutique shop guitars and amps, watches (did you know that you can buy a Girard-Perregaux Vintage 1945 XXL watch for only $40,800?  It's true!), Aston Martin sports cars, and really, really fine booze from teensy weensy small-batch distilleries, there are some articles about famous (and/or wealthy people) that play, er...I mean own stringed instruments.  And lots of guitar porn.

 

My favorite article is about the super successful plastic surgeon from Pittsburgh that owns over 60 guitars, most of them "signature" reissue models of guitars that were played by famous rock stars.  He keeps them in a wood-paneled, humidity-controlled room in his basement display area.

 

Then there's the article about the writer (and guitar collector!) that attends a five-day Rock 'N' Roll Fantasy Camp in Las Vegas.  Special guests at the camp included Roger Daltry (the Who), Dave Navarro (Jane's Addiction), Howard Leese (Heart), and Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield and Poco), plus some Vegas celebrity impersonators.  So this is the sort of thing that rock stars do in their spare time.  Who knew?!

 

Now, I'll bet you didn't know this - Fender, Gibson, and Martin have all collaborated to create the Eric Clapton Crossroads Guitar Collection.  These will be replicas of five guitars that Clapton auctioned off a while ago to benefit the Crossroads Centre addiction recovery facility.  Here's the good news; the copies of Clapton's '56 Fender "Brownie" Stratocaster and '57 "Lucy" Les Paul can be had for only $14,999 each!  But wait, that's not all - the Martin 000-45EC acoustic copy in Brazilian Rosewood is only...wait for it...$49,999!

 

I don't smoke, but I sure felt like having a cigarette after reading Guitar Aficionado.  I think I'll take a nap now...

 

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers (featuring people that actually play their instruments) here.  See you at the nightclub!

The Boneyard Preachers play at Duff's Garage on 5/30/13

Road trip!  The Preachers will be performing at Duff's Garage in Portland, OR on Thursday, May 30th.  Showtime is 9:00 PM.

Thursday is an off-night at Duff's, of course, but we are doing the networking thang in an effort to make enough at the door for gas money anyway.  I played at this joint one other time, with the final version of the Beckie Sue & Her Big Rockin' Daddies band.  Our old friend and Portland resident Les Hutchinson played drums on that gig, and did a sterling job!

Duff's provides a house sound system, so we won't have to bother dragging our PA with us to the Rose City.  That's a good thing!

We hope to see some friendly faces at this gig.  Keep an eye out here for details and photos from the show.

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

'80s Vintage Photos from the Vault

I managed to get my flatbed scanner working again this morning, so I went into the Jet City Blues vault and rummaged around in the photo section, back behind the pile of vintage vacuum tubes and pinup calendars.

So, here are a batch of previously unpublished (outside of this blog, anyway) photos from the Seattle/Portland blues scene, mostly from the '80s, I believe.  You know, before digital photography.  I couldn't identify everyone in every photo, so help us out here wherever you can, would ya? 

Check it out:

Son Seals at the Jolly Roger Roadhouse in Seattle.

Wild Child Butler and Roberta Penn at the Jolly Roger Roadhouse in Seattle.  Roberta was a music writer for The Rocket Magazine at the time.

David Brewer at the Jolly Roger Roadhouse in Seattle.

Tom McFarland at the Owl Cafe in Seattle.

King Strut at a long gone joint in Seattle.  Left to right:  Mike Lynch, Jeannie Dumont, John Lee, and Jeff Ziontz.  Kirk Tuttle is back there on the drums.

The Recession Blues Band.  That's Fat James on the far right.  I believe that this was some sort of event put on by the East Lake Zoo folks in Seattle.

The Phantom Sound Guy (aka: Patrick Lynch), somewhere in Seattle's Pioneer Square neighborhood.

Jeff Jiontz in Pt. Angeles, WA.

Left to right: Steve Bailey, Tony Thomas, and Jack Cook.  Jam session at the G-Note Tavern in Seattle.

Unknown keyboard player and Blackie Jo James at the Freemont Tavern in Seattle.

Leslie "Star Drums" Milton, Lopez Island, WA.

Left to right: Mike Lynch, "Barrelhouse" Chuck Goering, and Bob West in Ketchikan, AK.

"Barrelhouse" Chuck Goering in Ketchikan, AK.

Left to right: Leslie Milton, guitarist Perry Adams, Mike Lynch, and bassist John Lee in my backyard.

Tom "T-Boy" Boyle at Doc Maynard's in Seattle.

Leslie Milton and saxophonist/singer Ron "Sweet Talkin' Jones" Ussery at the West Seattle Street Fair.

Patty Mey at the West Seattle Street Fair.

Keyboardist Steve Flynn and guitarist Brian Butler at the University Bistro in Seattle.

Sonny Hess and Margo Tufo at the Portland Waterfront Blues Festival.

Bill Rhodes' Party Kings with Leslie Milton sitting in on drums in Portland.  I don't recall the guitarist's name, but I believe that that's Dave Kahl on bass.

Leslie Milton being interviewed by Bill Rhoades on KBOO FM in Portland.

Bill Rhoades and Leslie Milton in Portland.

 

 

Left to right: Drummer Les Merrihew, drummer/vocalist Rockin' Rick, guitarist  Jim Mesi, Mike Lynch, bassist Patty Mey.  This was probably a Rockin' Rick/Jim Mesi gig at the Owl Cafe in Seattle.

Drummer Les Hutchinson at the Owl Cafe in Seattle.  Les lives in Portland now.

Chris Stevens at the Owl Cafe in Seattle, playing a Stratocaster!

Howard Hooper and John Hodgkin at the Owl Cafe in Seattle.

Kirk Tuttle and Jimmie Jean at the Owl Cafe. 

Out of the Blue opening for William Clarke at the Seattle Firehouse.  Left to right: Les White, John Hodgkin, unknown drummer, and Tim Sherman.

Stevie and the Blue Flames at the Oasis Club in Seattle.  Left to right:  unknown bassist, Tom "Dawg" Berghan, Steve Bailey, and Chris Stevens.

Jim Mesi and John Hodgkin at the Owl Cafe in Seattle.

Brother Dave and harp blower/singer Perry Welsh.  Perry lives in Nashville now.

Tom Boyle and Mike Lynch at an undisclosed location in Seattle.

Super blues fans Mati and Dave Green  in Seattle. 

Jeff and Miki Ziontz

Butch "Mighty Flea" Rogers

Thanks again for stopping by.  You can check out the Boneyard preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

The Preachers play the Spar - 4/21/13

We played for the first time at the Spar in Tacoma's Old Town neighborhood last Sunday, and really had a ball!

This gig is a little different - Bands start early Sunday evening (7:00 PM), and the customer tables literally come right up to the playing space.  In fact, my vocal monitor was actually slightly under the edge of the closest table.  By the way, that table was evacuated pretty fast once we started playing!

The Spar is a good place to eat, serves wine and beer (no liquor), and has a coffee shop up front.  The place has been very crowded with music fans every time I've been there, and this night was no exception.

 

See what I mean?  I see you, Lauri!



The Preachers at the Spar.  Left to right: Steve Yonck, Mike Lynch, Conrad Ormsby, Patty Mey, and Tim Sherman.  Photo by Lauri Miller.

The tools of the Preachers' trade...

The highlight of the night occurred when Pastor Dave Brown and his wife brought guitarist and vocalist Jimmy Vivino to the Spar after his gig at the Dave's Blues Vespers gathering.  Jimmy is the longtime band leader for the Conan O'Brien TV show, and a really nice guy to boot.  Great guitarist too!

Jimmy sat in with the Preachers during our second set, and it was Death By Guitars there or about 45 minutes.  The crowd went wild!  Here are some photos for you from that set:

Jimmy Vivino

That went well!  Thanks Jimmy!  Photo by Lauri Miller.

A good time was had by all, and we had many new fans join our mailing list.  Our thanks to Ted Brown and the friendly staff at the Spar, and we will see you again soon!

You can find out more about the Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

The 2013 Washington Blues Society BB Awards Nominations

I downloaded the current Washington Blues Society (WBS) Bluesletter yesterday in order to check out the nominees for this year's BB Awards.

Afterwards, I started plotting a really snarky blog post associated with the awards.  However, in the end, I have decided to let that sleeping dog lie.  Because after all, what's the use?

Think nothing of it - you're welcome!

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

The Preachers in the Woodshed

I told one of my sons that the band was woodshedding yesterday, and he wondered what in the heck that meant.

We were practicing, of course.  Here's a photo of the Preachers' woodshed, a small practice room located at Metropolitan Music in Seattle's Maple Leaf neighborhood.  I was just leaving and the Machete hadn't showed up yet with his snare drum.

Left to right: Tim, Steve, and Patty.

We worked on several originals, including "The Boneyard Preacher," Hard To Kill," "Spooky Kate," and a Pee Wee Crayton tune by the name of  "Do Unto Others." 

I had to leave early so that I could take the Dynamic Duo and some of their friends to a skating party.  They turn 15 years-old tomorrow.  Time is flying by, my friends.

Our next gig is at the Yuppie Tavern in Kirkland.  It will be our first time at this venue, so we hope to see you there.

You can check out the Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!

Guitargasm at the Salmon Bay Eagles - 3/23/13

I dropped in at the Salmon Bay Eagles last night to see the guitar showcase hosted by the Eagles and Chris Stevens' Surf Monkeys.

The show featured the Surf Monkeys (Mark Dalton on bass and Russ Kammerer on drums) backing up guitarists Chris Stevens, Rod Cook, and the Preachers guitarist Tim Sherman.  I was invited by Tim to sing a couple of tunes during his set, and split shortly afterwards, so I only caught two sets of music. 

One tune that stood out to my ears was the Surf Monkeys' version of "Spoonful" that featured a haunting slide solo by Rod Cook. The enthusiastic crowd was treated to plenty of surf and blues instrumentals also. 

Here are a couple of photos from the show for y'all:

 

Chris Stevens' Surf Monkeys.  Left to right: Mark Dalton. Russ Kammerer, and Chris Stevens.

 

 

Chris Stevens and Rod Cook.

 

Tim Sherman with the Surf Monkeys.

You can check out the Boneyard Preachers here.  See you at the nightclub!