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Topic: Bar comedy |
Kevin Hatton
From: Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 7:32 am
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This is a true story. My band opened Friday for Trick Pony here at University of Buffalo. I was set up on one of the three victorian rugs. I was also playing mandolin that night and eveytime I got up to get my mandolin off the stand my steelers choice seat would stick to the tape on the rug and I had to really pull it up to get it out of the way. Anyhow, I finished my mandolin solo in Marty Stuart's Western Girls and went to sit back down to follow up on a steel solo after the guitarist does his. I look on the side kick lid where I put my picks and bar, and there's no bar! 10,9,8, ... the guitarist is finishing up his solo and I'm next 7,6,5,... What the heck do I do? I look down at one of the compartments, grab a mini mag flash light (just the right size!)sit down quick, and rip off a solo, the song ends. I look over to the right and Trick's guitar player is busting up in stitches. He looks at me, hands me my bar and says, "is this yours?". I was never happier to see my BJS 7/8 in my life. Kids, don't try this at home. [This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 25 August 2003 at 08:33 AM.] [This message was edited by Kevin Hatton on 25 August 2003 at 08:37 AM.] |
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Nicholas Dedring
From: Beacon, New York, USA
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 8:01 am
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Did he take it off the seat as some kind of joke?? Did it just fall on the floor and roll over there, or what? Sneaking on and taking someone's bar seems like a really unpleasant gag to pull... |
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Don Crawford
From: Buford, Ga USA
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 8:23 am
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There's a name for guitar players who pull junk like that, but I'm sure you know what it is---- |
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Kevin Hatton
From: Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 10:19 am
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Sorry, to confuse you guys. The bar fell off the seat when I picked it up to move it. The bar rolled off to the side of the stage. Trick's guitarist was actually the hero because I had no idea where the bar rolled off to. Thank goodness he saw it. There was a ton of equipment on stage. |
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David Mason
From: Cambridge, MD, USA
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 10:48 am
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That "knurly" part of a Mini Mag flashlight grip must have made for kind of a "gnarly" sound. Maybe you'll start a trend. |
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George Keoki Lake
From: Edmonton, AB., Canada
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 11:20 am
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Was your solo "You Light Up My Life" ? |
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Kevin Hatton
From: Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 1:37 pm
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Dave, thats a great observation and very true. It was hard to slide the flashlight with the nurls. Any port in a storm.
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John Steele
From: Renfrew, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 2:03 pm
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More bar tricks...
One of the bands I work with does some tunes that call for a little toot on the harmonica... I'm not a harmonica player, but I'm a good sport, so I do it. Unfortunately in one of the tunes (Blue Rodeo's "What Am I Doing Here?) there's also a steel solo.
I guess one cold metal thing in your hand feels like another, because on more than one occasion I've caught myself laying a harmonica down on the strings to take my solo. Yeesh.
I haven't tried blowing into my bar yet, but I'm sure that's coming next.
-John |
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Michael Garnett
From: Seattle, WA
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Posted 25 Aug 2003 5:03 pm
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I've heard of people using the back of a comb to make a "dobro type" sound... (You out there, Dearmore?) One guy was experimenting with a computer floppy disk, but I haven't tried either myself. |
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Mike Perlowin
From: Los Angeles CA
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Posted 26 Aug 2003 3:09 am
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I have a little bar holder that clips onto the leg of my steel, and, on the theory that it's better to be safe than sorry, always carry 2 spare bars and 4 or 5 sets of picks (along with lots of extra strings) in my seat just in case.
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Roy Ayres
From: Riverview, Florida, USA, R.I.P.
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Posted 26 Aug 2003 4:35 am
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Kevin:
Get yourself a square bar. It's hard to get a good vibrato with them, but they don't roll around when dropped. |
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Kevin Hatton
From: Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 26 Aug 2003 6:19 am
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Mike, thats exactly what I'm going to be doing. Its the smart thing to do. The funny thing is that it had to happen in front of 2000 people. No one noticed from those I talked to. Its the Murphy's law thing (not you Big Jim). |
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David L. Donald
From: Koh Samui Island, Thailand
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Posted 26 Aug 2003 6:47 am
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Shot glasses, AA batteries, penknifes, coffee cups, a very hard carrot out of pure desperation one night, Bic lighters, toothbrush, mini mic stands, baby bottles, pill bottles, allen wrench sets, Norwegian fishermans knife.
Been there used that. |
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Steinar Gregertsen
From: Arendal, Norway, R.I.P.
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Posted 26 Aug 2003 6:53 am
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But have you ever tried lighting a cigarette with your steelbar?
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Rick McDuffie
From: Benson, North Carolina, USA
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Posted 26 Aug 2003 11:41 am
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Had the same thing happen with my picks not long ago. On my Sho-Bud, I always lay my bar on the strings inside the keyhead (a perfect place) and I put the picks on the back apron of the guitar- one finger pick inside the other, both clipped together with the thumb pick. At the Charlie Daniels show in Richmond this summer, I finished a song on guitar, the singer started the intro. as I was moving to the steel, grabbed the bar, no picks, uh-oh- here's the count and it's a steel intro... nothing to do but play with the bare fingers. No one knew but me.
I still don't know what happened to those danged picks!
------------------
Rick McDuffie
Marlen SD-10, Sho-Bud Professional S-10, Paul Reed Smith McCarty, Hofner New President, Fernandes LE2G
Rick's Music Photo Gallery
www.tarheelmusic.com
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Mark van Allen
From: Watkinsville, Ga. USA
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Posted 26 Aug 2003 12:07 pm
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Kevin, that sounds like Keith Burns (from Trick Pony)... he had a great country-rock band here in Atlanta before playing bass for Joe Diffie on the road (get him to tell you about the royal screwing he got on that deal, none of Diffie's doing, next time you see him). He's always been a good guy. I wouldn't put it past him to "steel" a guys' bar though... [This message was edited by Mark van Allen on 26 August 2003 at 01:07 PM.] |
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Kevin Hatton
From: Buffalo, N.Y.
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Posted 26 Aug 2003 6:06 pm
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Mark, he was a monster guitarist. |
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