The Intergalactic Cowboy

Tonight in Thomaston, a musical event took place in which different singers sang music, written by Georgia musicians such as Otis Redding, Trisha Yearwood, Alan Jackson, James Brown and yes, even The Strange Hours, the band that I played guitar in two years ago. The singer, Daniel Foy, performed our song ‘Yesterday’s Tomorrow’, which some of you may have heard on our myspace site.
The singers performed in front of a one size fits all backup band that was surprisingly professional in its renditions of R + B, country and blues. I was apprehensive as to how this band would deal with our song, which is a euro-rock song in the vein of Eno, Bowie, Eurythmics. My guitar solo on the recording was constructed from notes that I heard in my head and then found on the fretboard, rather than being selected from a preset musical scale.
The musicians only had one practice session last Saturday. It took me three practice sessions to pull this piece of music off in a semiproffesional mannner, and I was just wondering how these apparently mainstream musicians would handle the job with only one practice session. The libretto listed the guitarist as being a member of the law enforcement community…
The venue for this event was the R.E.Lee Institute auditorium, which has a large stage, elevated about four feet off of the floor. There are about two hundred wooden seats, the bottom portion of which flip up for some reason. In 1970, ‘71, and ‘72, I performed on this stage as a member of the Lee High Singers. Our practice room was underneath the stage. The music teacher who conducted the Lee High Singers was Mr. Boyd Martin. Mr. Martin bore a strong resemblance to the man who later became the chief instructor and originator of Guitar Craft.
So, midway through the show, out comes Daniel to sing with this house band. The keyboard player started playing my guitar intro and then started playing chords. The band then came in at a faster tempo than the recording. The presence of humans on drums and keyboards added a little more energy than the programed keys and drums that the Strange Hours used. The guitar player played power chords on a Les Paul through a Marshall. Daniel, as usual, sang better in front of an audience than he does in the recording studio and practice room. When it came time for the guitar solo, the guitarist played it in a sort of Earl Slick style, with a few half-step trills that were somewhat similar to my guitar part. Since Earl Slick used to play with Bowie, his interpretation of the solo was rather acceptable, considering that he only had one practice with Daniel. All in all, this performance, which had so much potential to be a total disaster, was a success. My compliments to Daniel and his competent pick up band. Thanks also to Daniel for honoring our former band.
Good night,
I.C.