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Online electric guitar lessonsGuitarz Forever's Current Updates Rogers and Hammerstein revisited (the guitarist has left the bus)
In '95 Frankie Avalon played the teen angel in the production of "Grease" I was working in when we played South beach Miami. It was a thrill to hear him sing "beauty school dropout" while I was in the pit.
Hello, This is Kingfreeze once more with road stories to raise the hair on the back of your neck. As I had mentioned in my last article, in the last year I played “Jesus Christ Superstar”, “New York City Rhythms”, “The Rocky horror show”, “Big River”, “Footloose”, the world premier of the movie “The Alamo”, and my most recent endeavor, “One Enchanted Evening”, arrangements from “Rodgers and Hammerstein”.
The Rocky Horror Show - this show ran for about 6 months. I'm the one with the Les Paul.
My association with “One Enchanted Evening” started 9/01, after confirmation from the production company, I began my drive to Nashville, TN. In a rented Hertz car. Rehearsals were to begin for the orchestra on 9/04. I needed to transport equipment for this contract, so driving was the best choice. Especially with all the problems I have encountered with air travel since 9/11.
My goal was to arrive rested and ready to undertake the opportunity I was presented with. I allowed 2 days to arrive in Nashville and obtain the score for the music and give myself a day to study it to be as well prepared as possible. The score presented me was basically badly done hand copying with not enough toner in the Xerox machine to be completely legible.
I checked into the Red Roof Inn in Gallatin, TN. with the music director, a very nice pianist from St. Louis, MO., and began the task of assimilating the information, and using a bic .07 mm mechanical pencil to make the score legible. Quite a chore, it looked terrible compared to scores produced by popular software such as Finale. And done by 3 different arrangers, 3 styles to deal with. Three charts imparticular contained all the vocal arrangements, bar numbers, articulation, and sometimes bass lines that appeared out of nowhere, where there was 2 staffs the measure before, now became 3.
The arranger seemed to have no idea how to approach a rhythm section chart. Still, no problem, I have seen this before and dealt with it in preparation for the first rehearsals. At the rehearsals, the rhythm section seemed comfortable, and seeing as the pianist, drums, and bassist had worked together before, I had to pass the test. It was obvious that I was one of the guys, and I felt accepted immediately. But the percussionist, who was an arranger for Busch-Gardens for 28 years, displayed he had no real performance chops. He played congas, chimes and faked xylophone parts on his sampling keyboard without playing the actual xylophone parts, frankly, some of it sounded like “The Three Stooges gone zany”. We poked and stroked our way through the rehearsal process with questions like “Is that E diminished 7, or E major 7?”
Regardless of the trial of putting together a show in a short amount of time, it left Nashville for it’s first performance 9/9 in Cullman, AL. Thanks mostly to the well rehearsed vocalists of 10 strong that provided the clues we needed to pull it off.
From AL. we drove overnight to Covington, LA. Then several nights in the VA. And N.C. areas.
On to PA., and a venue I had played before in Allentown, PA. I knew I could get a decent pizza there, and my hopes were answered at “pizza mart”, just up the street from the courthouse. I stuck my head in before sound check and asked how late they would be open, a disgruntled old pizza man yelled “12:00 midnight”, I thanked him and said there would be good business after the show was over, he yelled back “HOKAY”.
The Tour Bus
That night was a night on the bus, 463 miles to Mt. Vernon, OH. Several nights in the OH. Area followed. Departing Dayton, OH. We drove 384 miles to Cleveland, TN. I woke at 3 PM disoriented and roused from my bunk in my sleep clothes. The bus driver, a hell of a nice guy, had been discharged from his duties and we were to load our stuff off the existing bus to a new bus. This we did, during load in, the assistant crew chief informed me the crew chief was absent and had been discharged also. I stood outside the venue waiting while the set was being assembled to set my area up, music stand, score laid out, amp in place, my trusty “finger ease”, cords rolled out in their appropriate places, this I did.
About this time, I was informed by the producer that a meeting was in order involving me on the bus. I entered the bus where the assistant producer and company manager were waiting. I knew immediately what was coming down. “ When do I leave ?” was my first words. Everyone seemed surprised by my intuition, but, I have seen this before. The producer exercised his buy-out clause in the contract, I was given 2 weeks severance, most of a weeks pay, a travel stipend, and a Xeroxed sheet of services in the area (cabs, rental cars). I reminded him on how well the orchestra had jelled and how I would not be present that evening to prove it.
One Enchanted Evening Crowd
I was a casualty of typical American downsizing. The show was up, they cut corners. In all, I received 73% of a contract and worked only half of it. I asked them, “where the hell am I ?”. I was told Cleveland, TN. 20 miles from Chattanooga. I called a cab and made my way to the Chattanooga airport, rented a car, and drove straight through to San Marcos, TX. In 16 hrs. and 21 mins. I know the company missed my services that night in Cleveland, TN. After all, I am a professional hole plugger in the theater world. Am I sorry this happened, yes, could I have prevented it, no.
Dawn traveling through the bayou in LA. was especially surreal, I began to hallucinate about then. Live music is about chances, you roll the dice, and hope for the best. As an independent contractor, I acquire contracts, then fulfill them. You know, the stunning blonde in the bunk next to mine, that just finished working for Disney cruises, after our experience together, just didn’t look the same as when we first embarked on the journey. Funny how your perception of people changes so quickly on “THE BUS”. Special thanks to the rhythm section, Mark Maher, pianist: Todd Parks, bass: Ted Tretiak, drums. You guys are great musicians and I know we had a great rhythm section. I think you miss me. All inquires may be addressed to me stevewisnoski@msn.com KINGFREEZE http://www.stevewisnoski.com NEXT CHAPTER; REALLY FUNNY ROAD STORIES AND SITUATIONS.
Copywrite 2004
10 Ways To Break Free Of Your Guitar Playing Rut!
A rut is a fixed, usually boring routine. As guitar players we sometimes find ourselves in what can only be called a guitar playing rut. This is when we get to the point that we feel that we're just going over the same thing time and time again. In other words: not growing as a musician.
10 Ways To Break Free Of Your Guitar Playing Rut!
Updated: 2/16/07 |
