It's been an interesting couple of weeks in the Kazoo Kamp.
I returned to Moose Jaw on July 11 to appear as one of the performers on Saskatchewan Nights Live, a prairie-based variety show in the style of a late-night show like Letterman or Kimmel. It was a very interesting situation in that I don't think I knew enough about it going in, nor did the promoter know a lot about me before I went in. Luckily, we were all persistent, creative folks with ideas and materials to use. I was given a few minutes of the show to play "American Kazoo" and even got the call over to the couch to talk a bit about what I do. It must have gone well because I've been booked to play the show again on Aug 15 and 16 in Swift Current and Regina, respectively.
Following on that, I quickly turned to my family's annual camping trip. We hitched up the ol' tent trailer and headed out to Buffalo Pound for a week of hiking, stirring fires and pretending we know how to fish. Of course, I brought my kazoo and guitar with me. I'd hoped to do some songwriting and just keep my chops up for the impending studio visit (tomorrow as of this writing).
The songwriting didn't come very smoothly. Part of it was that even though we had a relatively private site, sound travels right through trees, and it was pretty clear that lots of people were listening to me. That's fine, but songwriting and fine-tuning are intimate acts, and I wasn't getting into a good comfort zone. I did get some writing done. I have some new lyrics, some new riffs and some things I put together. One song in particular got to a point of being a "song," but it didn't feel like anything I'd like to play for people. But I know what I need to do to improve it, so hopefully I can finish it over the next few weeks.
But the right people were listening. On one of the last days, as I was preparing supper, what did I hear but the clear, sweet tone of a kazoo. A KAZOO! It didn't take me long to find the source of that delicious buzzing, and before long, we'd arranged a jam for later that night. And so it was that I found myself hanging out with new friends Matthew and Shannon as we strummed, sang and hummed a bunch of songs together. We found a few fun things in common, and I think we all learned a lot from each other. I was quite surprised to find that Matthew also plays kazoo in a harmonica harness like I do, and he has clearly studied the craft for a while. It was an absolute highlight of the week for me, and I think that whole corner of the campground was enjoying hearing three musicians just revel in the joy of making music. So inspirational and there's so much I learned that I need to dig into in the future. Namely, I need to study up on old jug-style bands from the 1920s and 30s. Matthew knew his stuff. The first and maybe only jam of the Meth Rabbits.
We've been home now for a day, and I'm starting to prepare for my visit to the studio tomorrow. I've finally bought a licence to Reaper and put some time into making sure I know what I'm doing. I found a silly good deal on a USB condenser mic at Princess Auto - of all places - so I've been using that mic to get practiced and ready to go. Nothing left but to practice and maybe lay out the tracks in Reaper so I'm ready for tomorrow.
I'm hoping to hit up the Farmer's Market once or twice more this week and might just hit up the open mic tonight if my wingman is up for a trip. Busy times continue!
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