Power Trio Saturday Night!

Last week, Nick "Sewer Boy" Ciani underwent a three-way coronary bypass. I wouldn't say it was an emergency, but they didn't exactly open up the floor for debate, either. He came through the operation great. One of the advantages of living like a monk is that, even though self-denial didn't stop his arteries from clogging up with goo, the rest of his body is in great shape.
I talked to Nick from his hospital bed on Saturday. He sounded groggy, but in good spirits.
"What I won't do for a blog entry," he said.
Nick thinks he'll be out of commission for two months. At least.
You coudln't ask for a more Geezer Rock worthy plot line. The only problem is that now our band story is mutating from one last exercise in mayhem and righteous noise to some kind of bullshit journey of love and healing.
It's sort of like we started as an independent film and ended up with a made for TV movie. ("Nick's Song?" Nah, he'd have to die for that to work.)
This is not the first time we've been forced into trio mode by health problems. The original KDOG bass player developed - I am not kidding - shingles of the brain, an incredibly painful and dangerous condition. I admit that I cursed him for leaving the band. I have a power. I must use it responsibly.
Kenton, Player X and I, like real show business troopers, will carry on Saturday night as a power trio at the Hilltop Tavern, 4747 Folsom Boulevard, next to Larry's Comfort Shoes.
I wish Larry's Comfort Shoes hosted bands. That would be great.
True story: Larry's once had a pair of custom made clown shoes in stock for years. My friend Zack Boles bought them after negotiating Larry down for weeks. They were black and white wing tips, but huge. I think Zack wore them to a wedding.
For the first time, I am scared. Nick the the heart and soul of KDOG. He writes our quirky original tunes. He sings 10 songs a night - that's a whole set. Plus, he plays half the solos. Now I have to do it all. Kenton, Player X and I have to handle all the vocals.
We devised a new song list to cover the holes at Monday's rehearsal.
Replacing Nick, even for a few weeks, is unthinkable. I mean, we've talked about it. A harp player? A guitar player? A keyboard guy? It doesn't feel right.
Player X, who is turning out to be a real grown-up, is forcing Kenton and I to play tighter. We're just a little too "off the cuff." Player X likes everything rehearsed and worked out in advance, then you play it the same way every night. I still think we need some spontaneous moments, but hey, we've been so spontaneous that you can't tell what song we're doing sometimes.
When you're my age and play guitar, you allow youself to fantacize at moments about fronting the classic power trio: Cream, Rush, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Double Trouble before the keyboard guy joined, ditto Gov't Mule, The Jam, The Jimi Hendrix Experience, ZZ Top, etc.
It's a great fantasy. The reality is that there's a lot of pressure on the guitar player to fill out the sound by playing lead and rhythm at the same time, while still working out interesting solos from song to song for a whole night.
I don't know if I'm up to it, but we're going to keep the fun and the show biz dialed up to 11. Nick will be recovering at his home a few blocks away. We'll set up his microphone and music stand with his lyrics and a harp, ready to play. Just in case.
After complaints (mostly from chicks) about the volume level at the last Hilltop Gig, I have made some changes in my set up. I found that a Stratocaster, with its lower power single coil pickups, makes a better pairing with my 50-watt Marshall half-stack than the Les Paul. I can reserve the Paul for later, when the place is crowded and loud isn't as much of a problem. The Les Paul puts out so much sound that the volume level gets harder to control We tested this out on Monday. It worked very well. The Strat makes the Stevie Ray Vaughan covers sound better, too.
I'm still clinging to the Marshall, even though it's a bit much, because the 4x12 cabinet creates suchh a big, lush tone, which really fills out the sound when my guitar is the only instrument that plays chords. Smaller amps just don't have this presence - unless you mike them through the PA. It's hard to do this right without a professional sound man running the board. That's a luxury we don't have. Also, the Marshall gets a great clean sound when I roll off the volume knob on my guitar - very useful. I use a hot plate power attenuator on various settings through the night to tame this monster amp.
The problem with a lot of amps is that they sound great when the guitar's volumne is on '10,' but get wimpy, dull and muffled as soon as you roll back. The Marhall doesnt' behave like that. With the guitar on '10,' the Marshall is filthy, loud, distorted, compressed and just plain nasty. With the guitar on '4' or '5,' the sound becomes very clean and shimmering and woody, but without now loss of the critical mid and high end sparkle. You hear this tone all over Hendrix recordings. So, we'll see how the sound balance works on Saturday. The Fender 1959 4x10 Bassman can be used this way. I have the reissue. You crank the mid and treble all the way up. Then you run your tone and volume with the guitar's controls. It works pretty well, but the sound is not as tasty as the Marshall.
The show starts at 8 p.m. on Saturday. It's gonna be interesting.