Della Mae – Luegra

Tidbits #8: John Candy/Vickie Vaughn/David Mayfield Parade

I have always loved John Candy. I miss him dearly. Uncle Buck is a classic comedy, right up there with Some Like It Hot. I also treasure his cameo in Home Alone, where he plays Gus Polinski, band leader for the Kenosha Kickers polka band. Growing up around a father that was obsessed with polka music, and as a kid having to go to numerous Polish picnics and have my father talk to various band members that he grew up with, I can truly appreciate Candy’s character in the movie.

I decided to show my love and appreciation recently by ordering myself a Gus Polinski Kenosha Kickers tour jacket. Gold with red piping, the band’s logo emblazoned on back and the name “Gus” embroidered on the left breast. I ordered a 3XL through Amazon, figuring that would make it comfortable to wear. Well, when the package came a few days ago and I saw the Asian shipping address, I knew that I was going to be a little disappointed. The 3XL in Asia clothing mirrors an XL here in the US. It barely fit, and the sleeves are a bit tight. Moreover, the name “Gus” is not embroidered but is a simple patch sewn on. I did write a negative review on Amazon, but I don’t feel like going through the hassle of returning it, as I will still have to pay postage and fight the foreign company through Amazon.

Congratulations to my “kid sister” Vickie Vaughn, who this past week won Bass Player of the Year at the IBMA World of Bluegrass Awards Show for the second year! She totally deserves it, as she is a workhorse when it comes to performing live. She currently plays with both Della Mae and High Fidelity, as well as sits in with a number of other touring bands and, when she’s home in Nashville, spanks the doghouse bass on Mondays with Bronwyn Keith-Hynes at Dee’s Lounge. I suggest that you watch the Dee’s Lounge YouTube channel on Monday evenings for Bronwyn’s jam sessions.

I first met Vickie in 2014 at the IBMA Leadership Bluegrass conference. We hit it off immediately. I call her my kid sister not only because she is everything that I would have wanted in a younger sister, but that our personal lives have paralleled in many ways over the years. She knows that she can always count on me if she ever needs anything, and she stays in my heart even though our paths cross maybe once per year. Check out some of her work with High Fidelity and solo stuff on YouTube!

This past week the David Mayfield Parade (Man, I love that band!) posted a video for their single “Times Winding Up.” The Bluegrass Today website posted an article about it, stating that fans are angered by the graphic violence portrayed (https://bluegrasstoday.com/fans-outraged-at-bluegrass-bands-shocking-new-music-video/). Well, I had to check it out, and yep, I fell for John Lawless’ tongue-in-cheek review. As I stated in the comments section, DMP is a fantastic band, and I love that they did something different than the cliché bluegrass video of the band lip-syncing to the song while performing on a log cabin porch, or shots of them recording in the studio. No, this video has a storyline, and you will love it! Watch it and see what I mean.

Chew on it and comment.

Songwriting Requires Inspiration (at least for me!)

I remember when I was playing in roots-rock and alt-country bands 20+ years ago. I could easily write a song each week that I was happy enough to perform live with the band. If I were to have taken one of those “song a day” challenges back then, I would have had no problem with the task at-hand.

For the past few years, more like the past decade, that talent has slowly left me. I still write, or try to write, but it is not as easy. A lot of it has to do with inspiration. Back then, I was hitting bars, visiting places, working with a lot of other musicians, and soaking up the experiences. Ever since I started caregiving my mother when my father passed away seven years ago, which is a full-time job along with my regular full-time job, I have lost a lot of creativity. I am lucky to go out to a show once every three months, my employment is most of my social life, and other than weekly church attendance, I do very little for myself as far as outside activity is concerned.

I started to realize that the need to “get out of the house” for my songwriting a few years back, but it has really hit me within the past few months. COVID took away a lot of that socializing for two years, but the problem was, I got used to staying home and doing very little to stimulate my songwriting. You can only write so much about staying home, and no one wants to hear about that in a song anyway.

I have a songwriting notebook, and right now there are about a dozen bits and pieces of songs in it that I try to re-visit every few days to get re-inspired. I was actually inspired a few days ago with a new song idea at work yesterday. A few lines are floating around in my head, but nothing big. But today (Saturday) is my busy day shopping for mom and the week’s food/supplies. Add to that I have a colonoscopy exam on Monday, so Sunday will be spent taking laxatives and starving. I may get some songwriting done in between trips to the bathroom!

I have tried the route of disciplining myself to sit and write for a few minutes each day no matter what the situation. For a while, I would wake up every morning, randomly open up the dictionary and put my finger down on a word, then write about it for 10 minutes non-stop. Even that didn’t help after a while, I seemed to be writing about my same complaints no matter what word came up.

I definitely need more inspiration. Hopefully this summer things will change. I plan to hit more bluegrass festivals, and perhaps attend a songwriting camp that I believe I mentioned a few blogs back. I need to just jump in my car and drive somewhere. I haven’t visited Nashville in over two years. I would love to go back, I should plan on it this summer. My Songwriters Anonymous group plans to start meeting up live again next month (it has been on Zoom for the past two years, and I do not have a great connection for it on my computer internet system), so perhaps that will motivate me in some way.

I hope to find a co-writer that I can work with regularly soon as well. The few good co-writes that I have done have been with people out of town, and our work has been over the phone or emailing back and forth. I have not found anyone in my area that I am compatible with and is determined to write quality bluegrass music. I am not saying there are not great songwriters in my area. Honestly, I get humbled many times when I go to the Songwriters Anonymous meetings and someone performs a song that floors me. I am just not finding anyone that meshes with my style.

I end this blog with a video from my Kitchen Koncert series. The song is “Brown-Eyed Soldier,” co written with my “bluegrass kid sister,” Vickie Vaughn, who is currently the bass player for bluegrass bands Della Mae and High Fidelity. Recorded during the pandemic lockdown, I attempted to give it a Jerry Garcia acoustic feel.

Chew on it and comment.