It's been fun!

Hi all and welcome to 2015!  It's really a shame that I haven't posted in a while.  No worries though as I am still around!  I should say that the period between August of 2012 and October/November 2014 was super fun.  I got to play a lot of shows with both the Janeen Leah Band and Cold Planet.  I grew as a musician and player, played many cool places with and for a lot of people, and forged many friendships.

As you may know, Janeen (of Janeen Leah Band - duh!), and Michael of *both* JLB and Cold Planet are a married couple.  In December 2014, they moved to a great home in Grass Valley, CA.  Great move, but making practice and playing Bay Area gigs a little bit harder than before!  Both bands are still going with mostly no lineup changes, but gigs going forward will be less frequent.

Janeen Leah Band soundchecking at Blackbird Tavern in San Jose, CA on August 20, 2014

I miss playing with all my bandmates, but despair not my legions of fans! There will be a Janeen Leah Band show this coming Friday, February 6 at our "home base" The Bistro in Hayward.  We haven't played together since October 2014, so it's really exciting.  We have a brand new set list and I'm pretty excited to play.  I still haven't' made up my mind as to which one of my main beauties I will play:

Ibanez Roadstar II, or Fender Precision Lyte?

I'm leaning towards the Precision.  I like the way the active pickups sound.  I hope to see you Friday!

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On the Cold Planet front, we are figuring out how to bring our high energy shows back very soon.  Stay tuned!

Cold Planet at The Bistro in Hayward, October 10, 2014

Pretty cool guitar I'm playing there, huh?

In the meantime, if anyone's up for a jam, let me know!  :)

I'm still alive!

It's amazing how time flies!  It dawned on me that it's almost been a year since I last posted!  Not good, particularly since the lat months of 2013 were pretty active as far as playing gigs, etc.

I'll try to catch up as best as I can in the coming days.  Topics may include: more live gigs, new friends, recording in the studio, "new" instruments/equipment and my usual musings about music, etc.

Needless to say, things are still going with the Janeen Leah Band and Cold Planet.  Stay tuned for upcoming dates since I'm hoping for another amazing summer of playing for y'all.  For now, this is my short update.

Stand by!  :)

This was taken yesterday (May 31, 2014) in San Lorenzo

Summer 2013 Sort Of Musical Update (Janeen Leah Band & Cold Planet)

Hi all groovy guys, groovy girls!  Here's a quick update of my musical endeavors of the past couple of months.

As I had hoped, I got to play several shows this summer, not only with the Janeen Leah Band, but also with rockers Cold Planet!  I officially joined Cold Planet as rhythm guitarist and backup vocalist after the April 20, 2013 show at the Red Devil Lounge.

--- Part 1 ---

As a bit of background, I sort of joined an earlier version of Cold Planet a few years back as, get this... keyboard player and backup vocalist just as that particular project was being put on hold.  Fast forward a couple of years later, the project was brought to life again and was asked to be a part of it.  The revamp was major since only Michael Burke (guitar) and J.D. Chilton (bass) remained from the original band (former drummer Scott Acridge was on board earlier on, but decided to bow out shortly after the "relaunch" but not before playing a blistering set with the guys at the Red Devil Lounge!).  The lineup was completed by lead vocalist Chris Zundel, Art Williams on drums and yours truly on guitar and backing vocals.  Michael also sings backup.  Yes, your keen sense of observation is correct!  3/5 of the Janeen Leah Band also make up 3/5 of Cold Planet; which works out great when we're both on the same bill!.  After very little in the way of practice time, we took it to the road and such road has taken us to several Bay Area cities such as Hayward, Oakland, San Francisco, Alameda and Danville to name a few.  I hope as many of my loyal readers (ha!) can come see the band at one of our upcoming shows.  The band's website is www.coldplanetmusic.com .  And there is also a fun Facebook page!

Cold Planet Rocking it at The Stork Club in Oakland on July 17, 2013

For your viewing and listening pleasure, here's a video of Cold Planet performing a scorching version of the blazing original "Mercy Me" at The Stork Club in Oakland on July 17, 2013.  Of note is that as awesome as this performance was, the occasion marked the very first time that this lineup took the stage!  Can you believe that?!  You can't see me too well, but I'm there!  :)

--- Part 2 ---

The Janeen Leah Band has also been tearing it down all over the place this summer!  We've played a variety of shows including acoustic solo Janeen, almost-acoustic shows with Janeen, Michael, Mike and me, partial band shows and full band shows.  We have added new songs to our repertoire including originals and covers and sound tighter than ever!

We were part of a California tour with excellent Scottish artist Scott Cowie.  The tour also took Janeen and Scott to Southern California for a series of successful shows.  Scott is an excellent guitarist/singer/songwriter and it was great to meet him and share the bill with him (btw, there was no hidden track on my CD Scott!  :)

By the way, if you want to see a whole bunch of pictures and videos of the tour, plus pictures and videos of most shows be it solo, full band or collaborations, be sure to "LIKE" Janeen Leah in Facebook!

In addition to Scott, we have also made more new friends including San Jose band Sweet HayaH with whom we've played a number of shows.  Sweet HayaH is made up of four wonderful, talented musicians and human beings: Nehal Abuelata (vocals & keyboards), Aaron Marquez (super massive bassist), Devin Moreno (lefty guitarist dude & vocals), and Josh Gardner (drums, gongs and vocals).  Sweet HayaH are well on their way to making it big and I so totally encourage you to check them out!

Last Friday night (8/2), we played another gig at the venerable Bistro in Hayward.  This was the first time we played with no other band(s) on the bill, and it made for an exciting evening.  Janeen and Art kicked things off with a short acoustic set, and then we brought the house down with the whole band.  Many friends (including Eric, Kelly, Yasmine, and many more!) came to see us and the crowd was hot!  Here's a picture from that night:

The Janeen Leah Band at The Bistro in Hayward, Friday August 2, 2013

I will leave you with a video of the Janeen Leah Band playing fan favorite "Like A Fool" at Alameda's High Street Station Cafe during the Janeen/Scott Cowie tour.  Mike could not make it to this particular show, so we went at it as a four-piece.  To me this was very interesting because almost one year ago, we played the same venue for the first time as a band.  It was an early band gig and Mike had not joined yet.  It was also my second or third time playing in public since my decade and a half break from playing music.  There is video of us playing this song back then also (I'm sure you can find it if you want to watch it! :) ).

So now I'm a bassist AND guitarist!  Go figure!  It's been a fun, great, interesting ride so far to say the least!

More Videos and Pictures from Janeen Leah Band's show at Red Devil Lounge, San Francisco, April 20, 2013!

Not much to add to the title, here is another picture of the band in action:

Left to right: Me, Mike Garza, Janeen, Art, Michael Burke

Man! My rare short-sleeve appearances are becoming less rare!

Here are a couple more videos.  This next one is the great quasi-Waltz-like tune "Like A Fool":

And here is the tour de force "Rainy Day".  I really love it how Art Williams kills it on drums, particularly around the 3:43 mark!

Next stop:  May 24th, 2013 at the High Street Station in Alameda, CA.  Sharing the bill will be Cold Planet with an acoustic set (watch out since I may sit with the band!), and none other than acoustic bluesman Ben Brown!  My old jamming buddy from the Plough And Stars Irish Pub!  Come for a nice evening full of great folks, food and music!

The Janeen Leah Band Live at San Francisco's Red Devil Lounge, April 20, 2013

The Janeen Leah band made its triumphant return to San Francisco's legendary and esteemed club Red Devil Lounge on Saturday, April 20, 2013!  Last time we played there was back in November 2012 shortly after Thanksgiving.

Bay Bridge traffic was horrible, so we were a little late for set up, but early enough where we got the equipment set up just fine.  This show also marked the debut of Cold Planet's new singer Chris (after an acoustic teaser at The Bistro in Hayward a few weeks ago).  Cold Planet is Michael Burke's high energy Rock band.  Michael plays in Janeen's band as well.  Since Cold Planet went first and Janeen second, we were able to share some of the equipment, including my trusty old Peavy TKO bass amp:

My old, trusty Peavey TKO, who sleeps no longer!

One thing that was different this time than in November is that Jacob, the Red Devil Lounge's sound guy miked the amps instead of cabling them directly to the PA system.  I think, at least in my case, the bass sounded better in November than this time around.

Cold Planet played a blistering opening set.  Here's a picture I took of the band in action (Videos from this performance can be found HERE):

L-R: JD (bs), Chris (voice), Scott (dr) & Michael (gtr)

After the opening set, Janeen and band took the stage.  My fingers were cold!  I should have warmed up a little while waiting for the set to begin.  We played a great, fun set, if a little too short.  My fingers were beginning to warm up when the set was over!  The crowd was great and some got up to dance!  This show marked the San Francisco debut of an unreleased Janeen song called "If You Love Someone".  I really enjoy playing this song since I came up with a really cool bass line for it.  Here's a video of the performance.  Too bad the bass is pretty much inaudible, but it's a great song.  I hope I get to properly record it someday:

The show also marked the San Francisco debut of the full band performance of Muse's "Super Massive Black Hole".  Again, I think I have a pretty cool bass run at one point during the song, but you can't really hear it:

I think I speak for all - Janeen, Michael, Art, Mike and yours truly - when I say that we had a blast performing at The Red Devil Lounge.  The weather is getting warmer and summertime is looming.  We hope that along with the great weather, summer brings many opportunities to play for as many people as possible!

Have you been at a Janeen Leah band performance?  Where else would you like us to play?

L-R: Alfredo (bs), Mike (gtr), Janeen (voice), Art (dr) & Michael (gtr)

Adventures of a 1968 lefty Fender Stratocaster Reissue (Part 3 - Epilogue)

Last time I wrote about about my lefty Strat, I had decided to leave it as is and sell it.  That was my intent and came really close one time, but unfortunately, the guy had to back out of the sale (nice guy).  I looked into a couple of ways of selling it, but didn't go beyond that and the guitar stayed in its case all these months.

About a month ago, I finally decided to get rid of it, so I took it out to clean it up and see how the strings were holding up.  I plugged it in, and man!  What a sweet sound it has!  I hooked up my Uni-Vibe pedal and started noodling with it, not really playing anything because I am not ambidextrous!  At that point I changed my mind.  I had to keep it and play it!  There is a place close to where I work called San Jose Rock Shop, which is really a cool place, so I took it there to see about the bridge, nut and strings.  They did a great job.  Very thorough and uber professional for a very reasonable price!  When I brought it back home... wow!  It played like a dream.  Very smooth, like buttah!

The positioning of the cable and knobs is taking a little getting used to, but it's not so bad since I don't move around a lot when I play.  It sounds great.

Back in December, I got me an Ibanez GRG120BDX for Christmas.  It is a really awesome guitar that feels and sounds great and is really easy to play (Wizard neck?)!  I may have joined a band as a rhythm guitarist, so if that happens, the Ibanez will be the one I take with me to gigs and use as my workhorse, but last week I took the Strat to practice and it sounded really great!

"Lefty" and "Wrath"

I've been playing the Strat a lot (considering the very little free time I have) and subjecting my poor family to interesting versions of Robin Trower songs!

Here's me taking a break from doing taxes on Saturday, April 13.  In order to just not post an old boring picture, I used a Photoshop 5.0 preset to touch it up!

 So there it is!  Right or wrong I followed my muse and now have a very nice looking and sounding 1968 replica Fender Stratocaster! Yay!

Adventures of a 1968 lefty Fender Stratocaster Reissue (Part 2 - the final chapter!?)

Well, it took me long enough!  :)  Well, to the point.  After my last post, I spoke to several people whom I consider experts in the matter, including a luthier, a guitar manufacturing guy, a guitar sales guy and someone from another shop.  A good friend of mine also helped me with the research and was basically told the same thing by the folks he spoke to: that the guitar should be left untouched.

I really tried to find reasons to keep it, but unless I learn to play left handed, it's probably best that the guitar goes to someone who will play it and enjoy it (and who can play left-handed as well!).

I still think the two guys I spoke to originally were pretty sneaky and dismissive.  True, they didn't have to be helpful since they're in the business of making money, but I think there's more to being a business person than that.  A few days after my original experience, I talked to a very reputable luthier in the area, and he in essence told me the same thing as the other guys.  The difference was that he actually took the time (about 20 minutes of his time) to explain to me why the modifications I wanted to make were more complicated than what I had thought, and he also went into detail on what it would take to make it work (at a significant expense) but basically, unless one's making a living playing in a Hendrix tribute band or something, in the end it's best just to leave the guitars as they are.  He explained things to me very clearly and in terms I could understand.  He didn't get any business from me at the time, but who do you think I will think of when I have guitar repair needs or when I am in the position of recommending someone?  There were other people to whom I spoke who were very nice and respectful.  They offered their respective services and depending on how this goes, I will definitely take them up on it.  However, I still won't be going to that original shop anymore!

There were some happy things that came out of this experience.  First, since I was itching to play, I went to the dark depths of my garage to retrieve an old Ibanez Electric I got back in the early 90's and that had sat, neglected for years!  I cleaned it up as best as I could, got new strings and now I have a wonderful-sounding electric guitar again!  Very soon, I will be taking it in for a nice guitar tune-up, and guess where I'll take it?  I also went and retrieved my old bass from a closet, wiped it clean, got new strings and got into playing it again!  I also have a nice Ibanez acoustic guitar that needs some repairs, so I'll be dealing with that, hopefully very soon.

Even though I'm still a little rusty, my bass playing apparently was good enough where I think I may have joined a band!  (we've been rehearsing once a week for about a month, and I * think * I got the job).

So all's well and I hope the lefty Strat finds a good home.  In the meantime, it'll be here, safe with me!  :)

Pics of my axes will be coming up soon.

So, what do you think?  Do you think I'm doing the right thing?  Any further advice?  Also, check out the band links and tell me what you think (it's not me in the recordings obviously), but we'll be playing some shows soon starting this coming Saturday.  Pretty exciting!

Music Store / Repair Shop Adventures of a 1968 lefty Fender Stratocaster Reissue (Part 1)

A short while ago, I got this beautiful 1968 Strat reissue (made in Japan, 1993).  Very nice lefty guitar.  Thing is, I'm a right-handed player.  No matter though.  I can just restring it, flip it and play upside down.  I'm certainly no Hendrix, but Hendrix did it (well, he played right-handed guitars upside down).  I'm perfectly aware about design issues, pickups, necks, knobs, pickguard etc.  Being mainly a finger-style bass player and acoustic guitar player, it actually quite works (playing a lefty upside down) given the way I play.  I just need a couple of adjustments made to the bridge and the nut.  I don't need any high precision adjustments, just enough to make the guitar more comfortable and playable.  I'm not gigging or anything, and just play casually at home.  Slam dunk, right?

I've been a customer of Music Unlimited in San Leandro in the past and had been very happy with their service.  They were very helpful the times I visited, so it was the first place I considered going to.  I went in and showed it to one of the guys there.  This guy at first feigned ignorance about my guitar and suggested that it might be a fake even after I told him exactly what it was.  He gave the impression at first that they just didn't want to do the work as he was presenting obstacle after obstacle to try and talk me out of it.  He then said to wait for another other guy.  After the other guy said my guitar was "a real Fender" and after I told him what I wanted done, he, instead of working with me, started asking me how much I had paid for it, what kind of investment I had on the guitar, and if it had any sentimental value to me.  Then both of them mercilessly tried to get me to instead trade it in for another guitar (any guitar! even the low-end Squiers and unknown brand guitars!) on the spot while offering me a ridiculously and insultingly low trade-in price. When I finally asked them if they could just do what I originally asked, they were very dismissive and not encouraging at all.  It was clear to me that they didn't want my business.  They just ignored me after I told them I didn't want to trade my guitar in. I didn't even feel like returning to buy strings!

It was a very unfortunate experience because one wants to support small / independent business, but those guys just made me want to stick to the Guitar Center instead (not a knock on Guitar Center mind you).

So now I'm actively looking for a local place where I can take my guitar.  Hopefully "Part 2" is going to be the happy ending of the saga of the bridge and nut!

Have you ever been treated like that before?  Have you been in a similar situation to mine?  Any advice?

Here's a not-so-good picture of a great guitar: