12-Bar Blues Riff I'm Learning...

I'm trying to get this down, and Rosie is cooperating a lot better than my fingers! Lol.

I plan on working on this for the next month or so - and it'll be a bit different than in the vid, because I naturally strum with my right thumb instead of picking. I've got one heck of a callus on the left corner of my right thumb, and it's only getting more so. I also tend to grow out the left corner of that thumbnail so that I can pick with it when I need to.

Here's the lesson:



And here is Rosie with my little First Act MA-104 4-watt practice amp:

I'm Really Enjoying The New Theme...

I love the blues, so the new theme I just finished here on 66 Sax is hitting me just right.

I love the starfield background, and I've tweaked the fonts and colors to go with a "blues night club" kind of feel.

In that spirit, here's a really classic blues number from the year I was born in, 1962. I only discovered this amazing artist this past month, which really shocks me. I give you the amazing Barbara Lynn, who was so far ahead of her time:

Some Sweet Old Soul-Blues Fusion:



I first heard this song last year, but had no idea who sang it. I listen to a lot of blues and soul on Sirius XM radio. Love those sounds.

I heard this again just yesterday, and got the chance to look it up on Google. It turns out to be a very rare bird indeed - Ms. Barbara Lynn, who was a female lead vocalist and lead guitarist, and songwriter in the 1960's.

I love this song. To me, Barbara Lynn's voice is as smooth as butter half-an-hour out of the 'fridge. I want to practice a baritone version of this song and sing it for karaoke.

For now, let's just enjoy some righteous ear candy.

Dan

Jimmy And The Bones (Lyrics)

(MP3 Audio)

Jimmy and The Bones,
Had a Halloween candy jones.

Jimmy and The Bones,
Had a Halloween candy jones.

So they went out Halloween night,
Trickin' all the candy in sight.

Jimmy found a pretty little witch,
To pick up every stitch.

Jimmy and The Bones,
Had a Halloween candy jones.

Jimmy and The Bones,
Had a Halloween candy jones.

She gave her wand a flick,
Flew him home on his broomstick.

She put him in her pot,
But the spell got too hot.

Jimmy and The Bones,
Had a Halloween candy jones.

Jimmy and The Bones,
Had a Halloween candy jones.

Daddy Warlock got off the first shot,
They buried Jimmy in a backwoods plot.

Now Jimmy is the bones,
No more Halloween candy jones.

Now Jimmy is the bones,
No more Halloween candy jones.

Now every Halloween night,
That witch won't take flight.

She stands over a patch in the backwood,
Crying over nothing good.

Now Jimmy is the bones,
No more Halloween candy jones.

Now Jimmy is the bones,
No more Halloween candy jones.

© 10/28/2014 

Daniel A. Stafford

Guitar Song: Facebook Blues

I just recorded a new song called "Facebook Blues" after a post by my friend Cande about not being able to load her friends list. It was recorded with Audacity 2.02- and I figured out a trick to get rid of the playback audio / sideband delay that was making vocal track recording a real bear. Mute the track you're recording, duh.

Of course I recorded it with my rose-red Strat, Rosalita...and a 4-watt First Act amplifier from Toys-R-Us, $30.00 and the size of a hard-cover book, so really portable for practice or impromptu works like this.

Here it is: http://www.whizzyrds.com/Facebook-Blues.mp3 - 320 kbps audio.

Rock on,

Dan

By The Garage Lights 6

http://soundcloud.com/dan-stafford/by-the-garage-lights-6

A little better here - I'm still no great singer, but at least my vocal monitor isn't introducing delay and making it impossible to sing straight - now it's all operator error. LOL

Rock on,

Dan

Garage Band 2

An update of our bluesey indiestrumental with new vocals.




https://soundcloud.com/dan-stafford/garage-band-2

Kinda funky and low-down cool...

Rock on,

Dan

By The Garage Lights 3 - Audacity Evolution

This MUCH cleaner version was recorded in Audacity 1.3 Beta in multiple separate tracks. The drum track was created using the Pocket Drum Pad app for Android with my HTC Amaze phone.

Jon Ross laid down the guitar track after the drums were done.

I added the tenor sax last.

The tracks have all been cleaned of background noise and amplification levels adjusted to that all the instruments blend just right.

The result is nearly six minutes of smooth bliss. Enjoy:

http://www.whizzyrds.com/By_The_Garage_Lights_3-Audacity_Evolution.mp3

Rock on,

Dan

By The Garage Lights - Take 2 at Oak Brook IL by Dan Stafford & Jon Ross on SoundCloud

http://soundcloud.com/dan-stafford/by-the-garage-lights-take-2-at

MP3 version - cleaned up with Audacity: http://www.whizzyrds.com/By-The-Garage-Lights-2.mp3

By the way, Jon's guitar is named Judy. I love it! That was my Mom's name.

Rock on,

Dan

Louisiana Blue..

This sounds nice - I'll have to stream them a little.

Dan

66 Sax: Shaman's Trek - New Song (Instrumental)

http://www.archive.org/download/ShamansTrek/Shamans-Trek.mp3

New Age Blues Sax - Tenor sax, Audacity echo-effect, pin-can percussion, C-harmonica, low-octave tenor sax overlay. This tune has a haunting yet smooth effect, like walking on a misty night in the fall.

Play on, and thank you for listening.

Dan

PS - poetry to go with the track:

Night Of The Pumpkin Mystic...

Walking the Hollowed Hills on a thin-misted night,
Stars glitter in and out of view,
Shadowed trees reach dark limbs,
Leaves rustle underfoot,
Dried grasses rustle the soft breeze,
Chills tingle spine,
Steps beat time,
Entranced,
Treading to the Underworld,
The place of pumpkins and candle smoke,
Where a faded flower dwells,
Seeking whispers and secrets,
Seeking the roots of time.

AquarianM

By: Daniel A. Stafford
(C) 09/24/2011

Side note:

Kind of interesting how I did this track - I used a program called Audacity, which is free online. The program has numerous effects, and can record numerous multiple instrument tracks. There are actually two tenor saxophone tracks, a c-harmonica track, and a "pin-can" percussion track. (Meaning that the percussion is literally an empty paint can full of colored plastic stick-pins.) I went through and cleared noise and adjusted volume level on each track, then added echo to the high-octave sax track. The result, as you can hear, comes out kind of "spacey" and yet smooth. I'm planning to start practicing some traditional Christmas songs soon, then I'll try doing some effects to spice it up, and see how it goes.