Front Porch Music

This is the kind of music I heard in my youth. It was played on front porches and even at the general store. True to the form, I did not use a mic nor any effects. It is a raw acoustic recording of me playing a Hohner Crossover harmonica in a rack accompanying myself with a Martin LXM guitar. The sound is kind of raw to my tastes and I was amazed at the amount of reed rattle a nearly hundred dollar harmonica produces in an acoustic recording. But, the sound is also authentic. This is pretty well what front porch music sounded like around our place in the 1950's.

The song has no name. It is what my uncles used to call a breakdown. They did live radio back then. When they had to "stretch" they would go into one of these "breakdowns" and vamp until they ran out the clock. My uncle Eugene taught me some basic breakdowns when I was five or so.

At any rate, this is in remembrance of my Uncle Eugene who took the time and trouble to give me the gift of music when I was too young to appreciate it.

Post Script:

This was my first recording with my new Martin LXM guitar. I have had it now for a couple of weeks and I think I have developed a friend for life. It is very small guitar, 3/4 sized actually. It is made for children and adults who travel. But, it has a HUGE voice and more than adequate tone. It is easy to play and easy to haul around. I can play it all evening if I want to without developing cramps as I play or spending the night awake with aching shoulders.

The guitar is made in Mexico. I wish it had been made in America but I doubt that it could be under the current administration since it uses all high tech laminates whose manufacturing processes would cost a fortune to license in the US due to environmental restrictions. And, that brings up another point. I had avoided this guitar for months because of it is made of plywood. Problem is, whatever Martin did, they did right and their little plywood axe sounds much better than many solid wood guitars I played.

Sometimes, a musician develops an emotional attachment to an instrument. I have several guitars and ukuleles. Some of them are pretty good instruments and some are just adequate. I have played this little guy every morning and evening since he arrived on my front porch and I can see myself doing the same thing every day for the rest of my life. It is that comfortable. Thank you Martin for making a good quality, inexpensive guitar.

Good Time Over A Bad Meal

The Rat Pack went out Wednesday night for the five dollar spaghetti dinner special at Spaghetti Warehouse. I can't say much good about the meal. My soup was cold, my pasta was lukewarm, the chicken topping I ordered for it was a frozen entree that had been nuked. I have had better pasta out of a Korean War era C-Rat can warmed up over a heat tab. The only things really worth talking about on the table were the sourdough bread (which was good) and the really overpriced pitcher of Sangria. I suppose it would be really, really hard to screw up Koolaid and table red.

But, the talk around the table was pleasant as was the company. The conversation went something like this: Mike was deeply engrossed in getting his quite sophisticated, self installed home security system installed and working right. Maddy was exercised about Rush Limbaugh for calling Georgetown law student Sandra Fluke a whore. I have been reading a book about the destructive effects of meth on small towns and talked some about that. Vacation plans went around once or twice. We're kicking around the possibility of renting a beach house together next fall after the students clear the beaches. Probably someplace on the Redneck Riviera in Mississippi or Alabama.
















But, as usual, good food or bad, a good time was had by all.

The Rat Pack Takes A Cruise