where is adrian?
or probably not...
rest assured I'm working hard toward new music
as well as an expanded palette for the upcoming shows.
this new year began with
The Attack Of The Kidney Stones!
a malady which laid me flat for a few days.
then michael clay arrived for a day of new music making
(more on this later, but I'm excited by the record we've nearly finished)
then, while Saul went fishing in upstate new york
Andre Cholmondeley from Project Object arrrived.
he and I have had our heads under the hood
of my guitar rig ever since.
andre is a master of many things including the illusive
language known as MIDI.
he is helping re-fashion my guitar set-up
to do old things better and to do new things I've never done.
it's exciting but tedious work.
I've always had excellent relations with selected manufacturers
and would like to thank some people and companies in particular
for their help in creating my updated beastly guitar rig:
thanks Tim Godwin and everyone at Line 6,
thanks Steve Lobmeier and the gang at Planet Waves,
thanks Mark Menghi and the folks at Samson,
thanks Bob Duncan and the genius of Roland,
thanks to Ray Maxwell and everyone at Eventide,
and of course Paul Muniz at Johnson amps.
Hi Adrian. Good luck with everything! Sorry about those kidney stones, that must hurt.
ReplyDeleteThe contest was fun. I'm glad we participated (our entry was the one with the saxophones, do you remember that one?). I listened to all three finalists, great work by everybody. Congrats to the winners.
Adrian -- I was shocked just now to meander over to your blog and read of your kidney stone attack. I had the godawful luck to bookend a summer a few years back with two kidney stone episodes -- one on Memorial Day weekend, and then another one pretty darn near Labor Day weekend. I'd never envisioned myself invoking Spinal Tap in an ER, but when they asked me to rate my pain on that woefully inadequate 1-10 scale, there I was screaming, "ELEVEN!!!" I hope it was never that bad for you.
ReplyDeleteLooking forward to seeing and hearing your kickass trio in Portland in a few weeks! Should be the highlight of my 2008 -- barring any unforeseen kidney stones, that is...
Pat
So, maybe that was a early release of the Line6 Pod X3 Live I saw at your St.Louis show?
ReplyDeleteGlad you overcame the stones and good luck with the creativity!
Bob
You're cool, Adrian. I like how you keep us (your fans) updated.
ReplyDeleteI'm 49 now but in my 42nd year, I had TWO kidney stone episodes AND an appenicitis! On my first kidney stone, I was curled up in a fetal position on the bathroom floor, in complete pain, thinking: so this is how I'm gonna die, on the bathroom floor just like Elvis!
Dan
I had a kidney stone. It was horrible. The hosptial sucked. I knew something wasn't right when the emergency room was empty. People in crisis with no money wouldn't even go this place.
ReplyDeleteAndyways..I would like to post this entertainment if it is cool with you-you can let me know if it is not cool famousjonnymambo@gmail.com (just remember I play you on my show)
Thanks, Your #1 Fan in Carrboro!!
Need fun?
Rock and Jonny Mambo will provide play-by-play, trash-talkin' as we spin
tunes with the most mind-bending beats ever laid down by the world's top
Master-Beaters. We extend our mojo-hands to you to join us for what promises
to be a dubious and awkward (but humorous) meeting of the "minds."
Rock is one of those mega-talented musicians whose work is criminally
under-exposed (Hanna Montana ain't got nothin on Rock-except money, fame,
youth, looks and her dad is country legend Billy Ray Cyrus) and MJBR is
righting this wrong for duty and humanity (our mission).
A word of caution to those of you with naive and trusting natures: Rock and
Jonny are out-of-control, back-sliding, late-stage Ringoaholics, who are,
what your mother would call "bad influences." Famous Jonny lost everything
in 1992 by his incessant need to play the Ringo the 4th Album for the entire
month of February, 1992. Here's a review of the album for the curious:
http://www.amazon.com/Ringo-4th-Starr/dp/B000002IU1/ref=sr_1_44?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1200101527&sr=1-44.
If you are a rabid fan of Phil Collins, Peter Criss, Don Henley, or Tommy
Lee-we can help. Just remember our mantra "let go and let Ringo."
Cheap shot: Is it true that you can tell that a stage is level if the
drummer drools from both sides of his mouth?
Totally gratuitous: Does Master-Beating make you go blind or cause acne?
Stoopid: Why are chickens good at drumming?
Offensive Warning-Could be interpreted in wrong manner: What do Phil
Collins, Don Henley, and Tommy Lee have in common (no it is not Pamela
Anderson-but it does involve sucking)
Truism: Most Tedious Drum Solo By A Major Rock Band: Found on "Made in
Japan" by Deep Purple (no link provided-you don't need one)
Best Jazz Drummers: Art Blakey, Max Roach, Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich
Hmmmmm: What would the world be like if Meg White was in the Beatles and
Ringo was in the
White Stripes?
Get a piece of the Rock http://demonbeachrecords.com/
Mojo Ballroom: A Monday night experience guaranteed to rock you hard to make
the rest of your week as soft as a baby's behind. 11-12:00 a.m. (EST) WCOM,
103.5, FM-CHAPEL HILL/CARRBORO
Stream:http://communityradio.coop/
Adrian, Bloggers I've felt the kidney stone pain 5 times in my life and all the stories sound painfully familiar. May we all never receive another stone again amen.
ReplyDeleteAdrian would you know if Andre has published any books or DVDs on MIDI?
I hope to hear about your new guitar set-up in the future and of course can’t wait to hear the new music.
lou
Hi,
ReplyDeleteGlad you're feeling better. For the many folks who miss/missed you (hope you don't mind my linking to this here in the comments), I wanted to let 'em know that you were kind enough to do an interview with About Creativity a while back, and the interview's now live.
It's a three-parter focused on your approach to the creative process, and it can be found here:
http://about-creativity.com
and (permalink) here:
http://cecilvortex.com/swath/2007/12/24/an_interview_with_adrian_belew_part_one.html
-Dan aka Cecil aka Dan
Well, Adrian-
ReplyDeleteYou've worked with everyone else I can think of, so why not the Stones (arf, arf!)? Well, SOMEbody had to say it. Seriously, hope you're feeling better and can't wait to see ya in March at Jammin' Java! We'll spread the word,
Regardz to the ABPT Family,
Bob G.
1600
hi jonny! i left a Christmas party early to come hear your show and i gotta tell ya.. it was as painful as a kidney stone to hear the false starts and unprofessional editing skills employed,the ridiculous banter between you and your sidekick,the lengthy bouts of silence. then, the skipping cd in it's entirety,after hearing you beg for donations to buy a new cd player! But this comment is the result of something else altogether. it's not my place to point out that you seem to be looking a gift horse in the mouth, but i will. let me know if it's not cool! However... as a drummer for forty years with vast influence, i was insulted by every dig you made. one of the best drum solos of all time was in fact 'the mule' performed by Ian Paice :found on "Made in Japan" by Deep Purple. hmmmm: i will leave alone all your bits of 'entertainment'. oh and let's add Bill Bruford to that list of jazz drummers. it's cool right? peace, rick
ReplyDeleteHey Adrian, i just found as your blog because your becoming more and more of an inspiration to me and its great that i can contact you and find out what your doing!
ReplyDeletesorry to hear about your kidney stones, thats pain i hope i never have to come across.
i was wondering if there is a list and or pictures of your current guitar rig? i like to know what people use to get there tones. do you still use that fender i saw on the eyes wide shut Dvd? is there any particular reason that you chose the Parkers overall?
anyways, thanks again for putting up a blog for everyone to read, makes us more human.
/goes back to writing music
I hope you're feeling better. Take care of them kidneys and all your other organs, for that matter. Not to worry, we know you're a clean liver. No pun intended, though fitting, I hope.
ReplyDeleteI assume that I'm not alone in this, when I say that I'd love to know if you'll be using the new rig to compose a volume two to what for me is the best solo guitar album ever?
what an exiting time , new sounds , always inspiring . thats awesome that andre is helping you re-fasion , cant wait to try and figure out your new sounds , still scratching my head over the writing on the wall dual sound , thats really a unique one !
ReplyDeletei picked up a foxx tone machine clone , eh freq. analyzer , and my wife got me an electric mistress for christmass (that doesnt sound right) . so i will be having a time fiddling and twisting with those babys .
hey cecil , great interview , really good one , great job .
the only thing that bothered me were the comments about desire caught by the tail . i LOVE listening to it ! the peices have a futuristic ancient other-worldly world music feel . i also notice musical one liners here and there , "funny notes" that make me chuckle . it is perfect for working , when i am thinking , drawing schematics and soldering it goes on repeat and 6 hours turns into 30 minutes . way ahead of its time . by far my favorite instrumental peices of all time .i can tell that it was a really involved project , and apreciate the thought that went into it .
i wonder any one has ever painted to it ?
Hey Indoorgames,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the constructive feedback.
Here is another review of the show: Hey Jonny, Soundz even better on the radio. Thanks for rockin it hard! greg
Peace
Jonny
PS-I hope you get this jazzed up about real issues
Dear Rick,
ReplyDeleteAs someone intrinsically involved in the promotion of local music programming in our country, I need to comment about your entry re. Jonny Mambo's show. As you may or may not know, it is very hard to tune LP stations via radio, therefore important to stream. I write this because I believe your inital comments to be inaccurate and therefore possibly uninformed if you had the wrong station. Your vehemenent response to his last email may have been driven by JM's tongue-in-cheek inflammatory writing style having struck a nerve in you or something. But I listened to the show and believe that you were listening to something else that evening as evidenced by: he did not have a 'sidekick' - no one was on with him that evening, he didn't miss any CD's (I'm not sure what you are referring to here, but there was no dead air time aside from the usual "uh"'s and such that amateurs tend to use). Next time I suggest you try streaming the show - you missed a good one! Best, Yettie
hi jonny, hi yetti...if anyone deserves a public flogging it's me for sure! as i reflect (due to yetti's kind post) i realized that i did wrongly confuse jonny's show with another webcast debut of 'side four'. i offer my sincere apologies for accusing you of that which you did not do. i would like to retract the first six lines of my post...but as i feel quite the fool, i want to retract the entire statement. it was stupid of me to let your comments get under my skin . sorry jonny and thanks yetti....peace, rick
ReplyDelete