Buskers! Radiohead! Thom Yorke! David Byrne! - A Stream of Consciousness Rave-Fest

First, hats off for the busking adventures!

This new addition to ER is really exciting and just goes to show that when Dr. Confusion brings it, he brings it raw! That's right, honeys- smarts, a fine storyteller, and one hell of a looker (if I do say so myself). These little tales of magic and woe, of singing into the cold alone and with strangers, have touched my inner troubadour right where he lives....

So what else has got me excited? The new Radiohead album!! It's affirmative, chilluns, that In Rainbows is already out in the land o' the rising sun and will be available on CD stateside January 1st!

In case you've been living under a mossy stone in some forgotten forest somewhere, Radiohead's long awaited follow up to 2003's Hail to the Thief is a double-disc extravaganza that's been getting stellar reviews left, right and center. Many worldwide have already snatched up the album online, as it was originally made available back in October from Radiohead's website where you could choose your own price to download the album!

Speaking of Radiohead:

Thom Yorke announced that Radiohead will be "broadcasting a pre-recording of some songs and other bits on New Years Eve.." over at Radiohead.tv.

It starts at midnight GMT on December 31, which is in the early evening here in America, leaving plenty of time to go get ready to see Spoon or the Black Lips or R. Kelly or whoever.

-according to Pitchfork.

Mmmm. A pretty sweet way to spend New Years if you're going to be staying in....

And by the way, if you like Thom Yorke and Radiohead, then you might (and by "might" I mean damn well should) check out the recent interview that Mr. Yorke did for Wired Magazine. It gives some nice insights AND (!!!) his interviewer is none other than mega geek and music legend David Byrne! Talk about givin' the peoples what they want....

LINK to the Pitchfork article for more details on the Radiohead New Year's broadcast.
LINK to David Byrne and Thom Yorke on the Real Value of Music at Wired Magazine

Busking, Round 2

I jumped up and act a fool and did it again.
I went back to what I learned is called a "pitch" back on Queen Anne and tried my fingers and throat again at busking.
I went a little earlier in the day this time, and wasn't as thorough with the sun screen, so i have odd burned patches on my right tricep and neck. I was there not quite as long - about 1.5 hours (i had some time constraints) and i earned nine dollars sixteen pence in tips. Not bad!

I gave one dollar away to a homeless dood who boozily wobbled up to me and said he played guitar, and that he'd had 7 guitars stolen from him down town (indeed sad), asked if i thought the pizza shop would give him a slice if he asked - I said "take a shot, who knows?" he came swaying back with a hot slice of cheezy goodness and then asked me for a dollar out of my hat. Well, friends - it's hard to say no to somebody who had such a story and seing as how we were both looking down at the hat with it's couple bills and shiny coins all arrayed just so I said, sure - take a dollar. Small price to pay for some karma i suppose. I got blessed by the cheese filled slightly yeasty smelling fella who then headed off to more adventure no doubt.

No dog pee this time. that's a plus.

I worry i'm getting greedy...I spent some of my pay pretty quickly down at the Arab Festival going on at the Seattle Center - and it sort of stung! I either need to not spend my take or maybe move to a higher traffic area - I don't want to get locked in to thinking "busking = that one pitch on queen anne" y'know?

Musically i had a good time - i need a broader collection of songs and instrumentals to shake it up for me, but I, on the spot, figured out two Dylan "licks" that I'd been wondering about forever. one is that quick hammer-on pull-off thing he does in in "Hollis Brown" and the other is the G variant chord in "Billy 1 - 4" . I was thinking he did it with an open tuning, but it turns out its the same chord/lick trick that's used in "Girl from the North Country", "Spanish Boots..." and Tom Paxton's "last thing on my mind" where you've got the G chord and you move your fingers into a C with your 1st and 4th fingers on the G on the high and low E strings...you know what i'm talking about. {jguitar lists it as possibly a G 6th, suspended 4th - which makes sense harmonically - i'm in love with Jguitar.com}

Also - I'm working on my own version of this song below. I can't top this - ever, but i can try and that second chord is such a pleasure to play. I could play that second chord ALL day. RT does it here with thumb and 2 or 3 fingers and that gives it a very "English" sound. Since i'm still learning the American country blues finger picking style I'm doing it with thumb and index finger. but anyone whose heard Rev. Gary Davis knows that those two fingers can bring on a FLURRY of notes.

Richard Thompson, man. I used to think that Jimi Hendrix was the most creative and possibly the greatest guitarist to have lived - I don't think that as much anymore.

Last thought - whose living room is that? How do I get Richard Thompson to come to *MY* living room and play one of the best songs in the universe?