From: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org (fegmaniax-digest) To: fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Subject: fegmaniax-digest V19 #173 Reply-To: fegmaniax@smoe.org Sender: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-fegmaniax-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk fegmaniax-digest Saturday, July 21 2012 Volume 19 : Number 173 Today's Subjects: ----------------- Me 'n' the camp moms redux [Rex Broome ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Fri, 20 Jul 2012 18:11:38 -0700 From: Rex Broome Subject: Me 'n' the camp moms redux This week was an odd one. We have an all-ages camp and we sort the bands out of the general population into ages of like ages and abilities and stuff, and generally it's up to me and one or two other senior teachers to guide their way toward bandhood over the week. Well, this week the entire lineup of one of our permanent bands, all of whom are around 14, was attending camp, and due to them being, like, 14, and having been through camp so often, the Boss Lady decreed that they were not to mix with the general population and instead to focus on learning and/or writing a few songs they could use in their regular set, to be coached and attended by a single band coach. Their regular band coach (who's a pretty good friend with similar musical tastes) recommended me, and so I got/was forced to do that instead of regular camp. Which was, frankly to the detriment of the regular camp on a couple of levels (not least of all song choice, which was the most dreadful, execrable assemblage of songs ever to disgrace our stage... two Michael Jackson tunes and one each by Bon Jovi and Judas Priest???) but gave me a different kind of experience. Anyhow, the band has a female singer (Sarah) and I thought that their set needed a recognizable anchoring cover song that the "cool" parents would recognize and yet wasn't such a hideous clichi as to cause any eye-rolling when juxtaposed with their sorta vaguely indie-sounding originals. So along with a song by the always! brilliant! Rise Against and an actual kind of cool choice by them which was unfamiliar to my own damn self, "This Head I Hold" by Electric Guest, I threw out a few idea and the one that stuck was "Middle of the Road" by the Pretenders. Never mind that the band I regularly coach (with Miranda on bass) does "Mystery Achievement"... it's never bad to do a Pretenders cover, is what I say, unless it's that annoying "I'll Stand By You" song... the first three and a half records are pure gold, aren't they? And they do pretty damn well by it! So by yesterday I was thinking, this is good enough that I'll grace its presence with a harmonica solo on the playout, just like on the record. So at the show I'm standing in the wings with my D harp in hand wondering if there's really any point to it other than the fact that these kids think it's kind of cool that I can do it. And that's when I look out into the audience right as the solo ends, and there they are. The camp moms. Not all of them, but enough to convince me it matters... maybe just three of them mouthing along as Sarah the singer faithfully replicates Chrissie's countdown at the top of every other measure... "1... 2... 3... ", but it's enough. ------------------------------ End of fegmaniax-digest V19 #173 ********************************