Semi Millenial update... guess what year it is...skip the intro if you've read it before...This is still the .Mac homepage of Andrew Mullin, who, as you may gather, lives in Dallas. Most of you will have arrived at this page through the subtle machinations of web gravity, and will be more or less familiar with my person and circumstances. For the few of whom this is not true, here are key points of reference:
-I've been playing guitar for most of my life. While I don't currently play music for a living, I would be glad to find a few gigs for things like bluegrass weddings and small combo tours of juke joints and rockabilly car meets. Short of that, I am hoping to put together some type of blues band to play for all the tourists here in Dallas.
-Photography, design, and writing are all things I have worked on in varying amounts over the years. Any excuse to do more of these is OK with me.
-Texcentricity is the basis for good living. If it came from Texas, is going to Texas, or orbits Texas, it is probably better than OK. Ironically, I was not born here, but after many years of dedicated Texanicism, I am more or less universally recognized as an exemplar of that esteemed virtue of our fair state, incorrigibility.
A Quick Rundown of the Current Mode:1. Apparently there is some sort of mess going on with import restrictions such that it's harder to find good $10.00 shirts. It's even hard to find good $20.00 shirts
2. You can't be too rich, too skinny, or have too many pairs of 501s (or 511s) or Lucchese cowboy boots.
3. Appearance isn't everything, but it is at least as important as knowing what you're doing.
4. Working is obviously the most important thing I have to do. This is because it's the only thing I'm not innately good at.
5. People who seem friendly or interested are of course suspect.
6. I can't make sense of things, because things don't make sense. Why should you even try?
7. There is Bikram yoga and there is everything else.
8. The older I get, the more likely it is that I will not be widely regarded as either cool or stylish, which is actually sort of cool. Not stylish, just cool.
9. The blessings of health, serenity, and sobriety.
Dim Lights, Thick Smoke, and Loud, Loud Music. Various Comments on Music.-I haven't been playing as much as I'd like to, but I'd like to think that the time I do spend is quality time. Still, with everything that's going on, it's hard to get in the room with other players as much as I'd like. What am I gonna do about that?
-I haven't gotten on antidepressants, don't really want to, but I did go see that Townes Van Zandt movie, you know the one. My god, that dude was tragic and then some. The people in his life were something else too. Karma? I do love his music, but it just blows my mind thinking about the person he was. Some ways I wish I'd seen him perform, but I also feel kind of lucky that he wasn't in the bar one of those nights I was getting drunk and talking to everyone. Probably would've gambled my last cigarette away or some fool thing.
-(Old content alert:) Almost every day, I drive by 508 Park. For the unitiated, that is the location in downtown Dallas where Robert Johnson recorded a few of his sides in 1937. I realize Poor Bob was probably only in the building for a few hours at most, but it is really thrilling to me to just know that place is where Johnson (and others of note) made some music that endures. I just hope the place does too, some kind of way. It sits on the block with a Masonic Lodge building and a couple of other chunks of estate which are currently for sale, in toto. Ok, how about a museum in 508, and performance venue in the Lodge? Whatever happens, as long as I'm in Dallas, I'll always be glad for whatever remaining residue of cool that hasn't been paved over or demolished. The T-Bones, PeeWees, Gatemouths, Lemons, Playboys, Hillbillies, Rockabillies, and Rockers didn't swing that thing in vain.
-A few more of the good shows I've seen in the past, recent and not (usually in the company of my divine rock and roll girlfriend): Doyle Sr., various places, not the least being the fab HOTROD Show...wow, talk about big band...plus James Intveld was there too (plus the LeRoi Brothers...got to meet Mike Buck...); Nick Lowe at the fabulous Sons...mmm, well, how can I put it, this was simply the best show I'd seen in so long... how did he get to be so good? He can sing, he can play, he sure doesn't need a band to make things interesting, and he can interact with the audience in a really transcendent way...
And then: there was the KD Lang show at Bass Hall. You couldn't have warned me or anything. It was sort of like meeting the Dalai Lama on a hotel elevator and being whatever the quantum multiple of mesmerized is... her voice is indescribably beautiful, she radiates grace, her music is exquisite. I don't give a f**k about anything else she says or does, she is just the supreme being or something. And then there was Bob... he came through in the spring, started his tour here...great couple of shows I got to see at HOB (hate the venue)...the band seemed excited, Bob was Bob-animated, it was just fun. Later in the year, had a disappointing trip to Little Rock to see a show...got sick en route, missed it... ugh. Missed Tulsa too, which was even more disappointing...
-Speaking of Tulsa, missed Dwight completely. He hasn't been around much. Too bad...Dwight, come back...Also, let's talk Charlie...Charlie came back on the radar when I saw him with Bob some-odd times. That was cool, but then we saw him in Austin backing Edie Brickell, which was sort of astronomically cool (and the great, sadly late Carter Allbrecht was there too). Since then we've caught him in the fab Granada show with Shannon MacNally (she is the queen of soul you know), plus a couple of odd solo shows (Bend Studio and in Austin). My gosh, even see him out in public now and then in Austin. Well, Charlie is the cool one, always will be, and it'll be great to hear the next thing he has coming down the line...ps, dude, if you don't have time to play all those Gibson acoustics, I can keep one warmed up for you...Hey now, don't forget Denny Freeman, and better yet, the Cobras... we've been seeing Denny with Dylan, and that is happening. Bob lets Denny tear it up more than pretty much anyone since, oh, um, Larry, and it's really cool (ie, the LA Forum show a couple of years ago). Also Denny has had some fine nights at the (departed) Upstairs Gallery or whatever it was called next to the Continental, with organ maestro Mike Flanagan (did I spell his name right?). But most of all, the annual Cobras show at the Continental is a don't-miss item. Man, that is fun.
-I still miss: Robin Syler. Robin was my guitar teacher for a couple of days back 10-12 years ago. He was nice enough not to laugh at me when I told him what I wanted to learn, and skillful enough to demonstrate that probably most of the progress I'd make would be through observation, participation, and self-instruction, not his comments on how to hold the pick or what chord to play or whatever. A while after my student period, I got to play onstage with Robin at a couple of jams at Keys Lounge. He made me feel welcome, and didn't get bogged down in any technical stuff, but he played some good songs and inspired me to loosen up and just be IN the music. Another time, also at a jam, he put me in the drivers' seat with Kevin and Eric and just wandered off, content to let me sort out the particulars of what was going on. That was a great, if not necessarily calming experience, and it made me realize how incredibly focused he could be on putting his all into a performance. My best all-around recollection of seeing him play came at a show he did with Mike Morgan (and Mark Wilson?) at J&J's a few years ago. It's probably the closest I'll ever get to the Maxwell Street essence of guys like Hound Dog Taylor, Earl Hooker, or Otis Rush. It was just intense, and great. When I think about what a hero looks like with a guitar around his neck, I'm gonna be thinking of Robin.
Rodney Crowell is the hands-down favorite right now. In case anyone wonders. I like Guy Clark, and dig Townes Van Zandt, and Steve Earle is epochal... various others, but Rodney has something that connects, and speaks of the soul-searching he's done, the beauty he's seen, the lives he's touched, and those that touched him. I will always be studying Rodney some kind of way... watching his shows, listening to his stuff, trying to play it, whatever. I like just hearing him speak...the part in "The Johnny Cash Anthology" show about the first time he heard Johnny (see "I Walk the Line REvisited") was way entertaining. Thanks for sharing, Rodney.
Heard Enough?Things in my listening/learning queue: Hollywood Fats (man, I can't put that album down); "Telltale Signs"; Hendrix; Steely Dan (I got a songbook with the stuff all in it... don't ask); Dwight's "Population Me" (last great one in my book). Usual suspects: Rodney Crowell, Shannon MacNally, Asleep at the Wheel, Bob Wills, the Louvins, the Delmores, Bob, Jerry Garcia (fine live sets from Borders)...the odd rock stuff of the radio...Chrissy and the Pretenders (also a study topic), old Texas jazz-Lunceford et al , JJ Cale, and many, more.
Gearhead Rumble
The Strats are holding forth; There is the mongrel tele that emerged from the parts bin...the reissue Twin arrived, followed recently by the new Princeton reissue. EEK! How about them black Nocasters? No, I don't own one yet, but I would... also, got a backup Gretsch Sierra Jumbo...aaaagh...love it. Gear lust never ceases...
PS, visit these fine sites:
AM's Myspace...man this is geeky
Also, look for me on Facebook... "Andy Mullin"