Gman and Keeney: News/Journal

Somewhere out beyond your dreams,
Lies a quiet place
That is safe and secure,
Beyond the vinyl, the dog-crates, the paper
Beneath the din of arguing struggle,
And smart-mouth shufflers who delegate duty
Where everything is shiny, then pastel shaded cozy
where the timbre can’t touch you
around the hurtful and misunderstood
And deliberate derailment of candor —but wait
There is a spot
You’ll find it Justine
Someplace all yours, where time can’t tap you.
And peoples stares reflected in you beauty
mirror images of what they are not
The echo return of a lie to oneself; ambient deception
Now nothing can hurt you not even intent
Because you see
You are a real best moment
Loved, missed, and often photographed
The mixer of pudding, nuker of scrambled
A sneaker of applesauce
With a willing heart and a radiant smile.
Yes smile if it suits you and we’ll all be smiling too
For when you laugh, we can’t help it
Though try to understand what it is
That makes you so wondrous
So sparkly, so unique.
It’s only you after all and that beautiful bracelet.

New Musical Album “G-force”, excellent cond. Must hear. http://cdbaby.com/cd/gmanblues

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=nAgpNEJ5MuKCfRcdNYALSg_3d_3d

Hello Friends,

Thought that I would give you the results of my survey.

First of all to those that responded Thank you! The turnout was
simply amazing.

The first three questions deal with whether I or not there is a
reason to go out and perform, probably if most people responded
negatively, I would really be discouraged. Your answers were very
positive and supporting:

1. I am more likely to visit an establishment that has entertainment:
70.8% Responded: Definitely!

2. I prefer Live Music over other forms of entertainment such as a
DJ. 76% Responded: Live Music Makes the Party!
* (comment) Live Music Rocks!

3. If you said yes to going out to see live music, would: Paying a
bit more for a drink (over "bargain bars") or A small cover charge
($2-3) Affect your decision to visit the bar? 95.7% Said: I'd go it
is well worth it to have a good time! (cool)
*(comment) Gary, I just spent about $800 or so to see Kenny C, Keith
U, Leanne Rymes, & others. I'd say it was good, but not great. You are
great - all you need is some exposure.

Thank you all very much!!!! You have filled me with the desire to
dial it up a few notches. Thanks.

___________________________________

I sometimes struggle with continuing on because let us face it, I an
not getting any younger. There are days when I look in the mirror and
go "Wesselhoff just who are you foolin'?" Other days I look around
and see people my age partying, rocking out and having a great time
and I think "Let's party!" The next couple of questions kind of deal
with that...

4. Would you see Gman Blues Play again? 100% Definitely!

5. Does Gman's age or appearance deter you from seeing him play? 100%
No
•(comment) Of course not Gary!! You ROCK!!
•(comment) What kind of stupid question was that???
•(comment) Oh come on, Gary! Or you mean we're too young?
•(comment) If Buz Killman can work with Steve Dahl, and If I didn't
meet Chef Hanz on Thursday when I turned 50, I might say Yep. Make the
age & appearance work for you. Personally, I'm loosing my crew cut &
gonna grow out my grey hair - at least on the sides!
•(comment) Good age - same age - old age! Ha ha!
•(comment) part of the 'cool' vibe- play into it

Wow!!! Talk about making a guy feel good! Thank you all so much
again. I will not let you down. We got a summer ahead of us, and we
are going to partay.


Lastly, if have not taken the survey but want to please do, I will
still monitory results for a few more days.

1) To please others
2) To please myself
3) To learn all I can learn
4) To be happy
5) To create
6) To enjoy
7) To be free
8) To hope
9) To love
10) To be loved
11) To sometimes hate
12) To sometimes be hated
13) To listen
14) To entertain
15) To be entertained
16) To laugh
17) To help others to laugh
18) To smile
19) To see inside other people minds
20) To be insightful
21) To become wealthy
22) To stay healthy
23) To run from fear
24) To enjoy a sunny day
25) To play music like has never been played
26) To keep secrets
27) To hide inner pain
28) To raise my children to become wonderful human beings
29) To contribute to humanity
30) To try my best
31) To have an open mind
32) To not judge others too harshly
33) To be a giving person
34) To not take more than my share
35) To add to the craziness of life
36) To tickle toes
37) To tease my loved ones
38) To learn to trust others
39) To be spiritual
40) To be intellectual
41) To be simple
42) To be an expert
43) To be a fixer of things
44) To sit back and watch life be handled by someone else
45) To be scared
46) To write the perfect song for Carla
47) To be able to listen to the single pluck of a guitar string and hear an entire song
48) To kick back and relax
49) To work hard
50) To be a compass to others who have lost the way
51) To be able to taste the feast in a single bite
52) To watch the grass swirling in the wind
53) To ride the tiger
54) To dismount
55) To see things in a way that others cannot
56) To connect to those with simpler minds
57) To bond with people I know
58) To lie in bed all day
59) To appreciate something as simple as a pad of butter melting on a slice of toast
60) To be forgetful
61) To make mistakes
62) To be thankful
63) To be a social leader
64) To be a scholar of sorts
65) To learn from the work of those with greater capacities than mine
66) To squander money
67) To accumulate musical equipment

Played the Brazen Head last night and WE ALL had a great time. I didn't get the high attendance numbers that I wanted, but boy did we party hearty! Everyone there was committed to fun.

Thanks to everyone.

Tip of the hat to Thomas Leach who came up and threw down some wonderful leads for Dave and I.

The G-force Premiere was a smashing success, and I was reminded what it was all about—why I created the work. An interesting side note to the story; I sent out an email to 250+ friends and fans on the gman Blues mailing list and one of the recipients worked for a PR firm. She generated a press release from the email that went out globally. I got back responses from places like the Department of Justice in Canada, Radio Stations in England, National Public Radio (NPR), the American Press (AP), and countries from all over the globe wishing me luck or RSVP’ing on the invite. To tell you the truth the response was so overwhelming that I wasn’t sure who would be there. Turned out that we had a wonderfully appreciative audience. I donated a copy of G-force to the library and now will be in the SLS networked card catalogue. Cool.
We all had the best time; the energy level was high as were sprits of both crowd and players. This is how I would like to be remembered as a performer. G-force lives!

There are a hundred-trillion-million-zillion bar codes in the world, but one of them is mine. That’s right 634479718236 belongs to G-force and although it seems like such a small thing, but in a way it’s huge. It means that G-force can be sold wherever scanner guns are located, and on this planet—they are everywhere.

My second milestone is having G-force make its debut on ITunes. Again, small but huge. ITunes is one of the largest, if not the largest online music catalog. Cool beans. It took nearly two months from the time I released G-force to its appearance on ITunes, but it’s there now and I couldn’t be more proud.

There’s this guy in a LOUD cowboy shirt and hippy hair perched on a stool in front of the crown droning, droning, droning, this dull, monotonous, repetitive, tedious acid laced dirge of a song; it begins to take root in my mind and mesmerize me.
Next thing I know I’m looking for a ledge to jump off of- -MAKE IT STOP!!! PLEEEEZE Make it go away!! But the song goes on and on, verse after verse, hour after hour.

At verse 97 I’m considering busting my beer glass on the bar for a weapon to put my ears out of commission—must break free—MUST BREAK FREE. But by now I have no will of my own. I’m on this journey for as long as Mr. Loud Cowboy shirt decides to drive. It is hypnotic I must admit, I think as I lose all sense of self. I’m just a phantom in the shadows drinking a black-and-tan; nothing more. I have no past, no future, only this moment that won’t seem to end.

I look across the bar and see myself on the other side looking at myself. Time has halted and I’m at one with nothingness. The song drones on. A pink flamingo sips from my black-and-tan, and the clock above the bar begins to melt in a Salvador Daliesque gloop.

Years later the song ends, and I’m abruptly jolted back into reality. Where the hell am I—Oh yeah I’m Gman and I’m in a bar and hey I’ve got to get the hell out of here before Mr. Loud Cowboy shirt has me like a deer in the headlights again.

The next song starts but I’m already headed for the door. My pace slows, and the doorway seems a hundred yards away. I’m wearing lead snowshoes as I trek across the peanut shell laden landscape for a shot—one and a million at having my mind back. There’s the door, there’s the handle—twist….. Got it.

A blast of frigid Chicago air belts me in the face and I’m back to reality. I’ve got to hear some gman blues.

A icy cold brew, some good friends, a bar that isn’t choking with smoking, and some good tunes—what could be better? Ordering a friggin’ Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza right from the bar that’s what.

It’s as close to nirvana as we can get in the winter you know. It ain’t such a bad deal though.

Announcing:

Gman Blues and David Keeney
LIVE at Beggars Pizza

This Saturday, February 9, 2008

8:00pm

That’s right folks, we’re gonna get up off of the couch and get up and moving, laughing and joking, drinking and …. And… well never mind we won’t go there.

But we’re gonna have fun. Believe it. Please come by and add to the friendship and fun. Beggars is starting to become a favorite place to gather and lose the February Blues. The end of Superbowl leaves us all a gap to fill until St. Paddy’s but we can do it! If we all pull together.

So come on out and let’s rock. All you have to lose is the February blues.

Thanks for your kind support! I can't express how cool it is to see friends having a good time when I play. Hope to see you there.

Here is what John is referring to in his guest book post....

What is the sound of a tree falling in a forest?

Well I’ll bet it’s not as God-awful as the sound of a 45 pound P.A. speaker on a stand squishing a Takamini acoustic-electric guitar plugged into an aphex acoustic exciter would be!

That is almost what happened!!!! Sproooongkeraaaaaash!!!

Luckily a hand shot out from the audience halting the speaker at about a 45 degree angle. The morbid side of me was thinking “Cool—I wonder what sound it’s gonna make!”

I got no common sense!
(then again;never have though he-he).

First of all finally finally finally, the album G-force is out for sale. The last 10% of the work takes 90% of the time…. It is something that I’m very proud of and I sincerely hope you will like it too. Although the style is my own, I have a lot of variety in the album—everything from Blues, to folk, to Pop songs are on G-force. Please check it out when you get a moment. Let me know what you think. I am already starting on a follow up album with the working title “In truth/lies destiny”. Truth may be a theme running through the album but it’s too early to tell yet. These things have a way of taking on a life of their own; sometimes I feel like I’m only steering and the momentum is beyond my control.

Next, I am thrilled to be working with the incredibly talented David Keeney on the Gman Blues Show. Dave has signed on and is now a permanent installation to the Act. He brings a wealth of musical talent and a whole slew of Irish Drinking Songs and some really hilarious parody songs (such as “Secret AGING Man which is about us all getting older sung to the tune of Secret Agent man….”).

Dave won a Chicago Tribune Contest a few years back for writing the best Irish Song “Don’t Quit Your Day Job (to join an Irish band) and has performed it to delighted audiences all over the city. Dave’s music is a nice contrast to mine, and when he’s not strummin’ a six string, he’s playing bass (he also plays trumpet, sax, and keyboards as if that weren’t enough!).

Anyway Dave and I have been best buds since FOURTH GRADE!!! For those curious, that is 44 years—we’ve been through some stuff! Unfortunately I can’t incriminate Dave on this forum, but I’ve got loads of dirt on him (and vice-versa ). Scratch that--Never mind, just think of us as Bluesmen Alter Boys. Yeah that’s the ticket.

Lastly to the friends who have been coming out to see us THANK YOU. It is always so good to see y’all there.

It seemed that the only way I could wheedle Keeney out from under his bed was to offer him a cracker, and another gig.

Apparently he had gotten a taste of stardom from the last and just couldn’t adjust to being “normal” again.

It was a challenge. I lined up seven triscuit crackers in a little trail leading away from Dave’s hiding spot and began talking to him in a calm voice.

“Common Dave—everyone knows that you are the best bass player in North America. You have nothing to prove come on out.”

(although there was no response a hand reached for first triscuit).

“Furthermore no one has ever written a better song than Viagra #9—you can’t deny that that….why it’s more classic than Inagodadavida—everyone says so”

Now I could see his arm up to his shoulder as he reached for the second triscuit. Still Dave hadn’t spoken a word. I began to wonder if I was speaking to Keeney at all or his alter ego “Professor Gedolphs the Medolphs. If I could see his face his glasses would be on upside down and I’d know for sure….

“I’ve got more triscuits Dave—but you have to come out.”

A hand reached out for the third triscuit, but hastily withdrew.

“Alright Dave I wanted to surprise you but I’ll come right out and say it. Tomorrow—that is Saturday January 12th at 8:00pm you and I are going to perform at Beggars Pizza at 155th and Cicero in Oak Forrest”.

For the first time in days I heard Dave speak.

“Will there be g-g-girls there?”

“Yep plenty of ‘em”

Quite suddenly Keeney was out from under the bed, glasses on right side up and ready to go. He looked at me with the intensity of a superbowl quarterback. “Ok let’s show them a good time” he said.

Hiding Mystery
So catlike beside her soft breathing
they expel cold signs before a smile
and nod of understanding
of what lies untold
Awaken! The nark is trailing in the mist
Sinful and colorful before the dream
They seduce hot dreams upon the fog
Weird and scary dreams upon the clouds
They breathe misty inspirations beneath the tomb
flickering curious
turning away the sense of fear

How many times?
brother take comfort
where she knew no-one before the chaff
Very sensuous below the circling radar
they tiptoe upon sinful leaves
cold dusty footprints upon the wake
Dark and vaporous below the wind
She spread arid deceptions beyond the dream
Betrayal ubiquitous draft
All damp against the fog
All luminous hiding the light
None out of control
an empty address book With what regrets
the witness for love
Has no sight
a trace of sadness
Under what skies
the witness writes a name
not knowing why

Greetings all….

On Saturday January 12th, Dave Keeney and I will work Beggars Pizza at 156th and Cicero on Chicago’s South Side. We play 9:00 until about Midnight or so--we like playing together so much that we usually have to be told to quit! Great new songs; Dave has some really funny parody songs (such as the take off of “Love Potion #9” to “Viagra #9”) #10 was too strong! You can just imagine what happens in the song. Funny stuff indeed . Please attend.

Beggars is a great place—you can sit at the bar and chow down on an Authentic Chicago deep dish pie, sip a pint of Ale, and see some good entertainment. Much better than TV re-runs!

Also for those really south, I have booked a four weekend deal at All Star Sports Bar in Frankfort IL. Acoustic Rock players are a new addition to the bar’s lineup—so if you like this kind of entertainment come on down to see me or any of the other players (on other weekends). If things go well for the venue, they will continue the format. Many people like acoustic rock because they can still talk, joke, and meet people without being plastered against the wall by the extreme volume that a full band produces—and it’s fun!

Last week was a great week for me. So many people came and enjoyed my music that I was overwhelmed. Thank you, really. It means everything to me.

Gary
www.gmanblues.com

PS: It was weird on New Year’s Eve when the pulled all the ashtrays out of the bar, and hung up the “NO SMOKING” signs. If you haven’t been to a bar in 2008 come on out—you will be pleasantly surprised how nice things are now in the bars. If you are a smoker you will undoubtedly network with new people outdoors, and if you don’t smoke the bars now smell clean—if you can imagine that!

Now you may (or may not) know me, my music, or the causes that I’m passionate about. Maybe you stopped by to pirate a tune or two (and just between us—if I didn’t need income to support my family I would happily give them all away….), maybe you want a sense of community—hook up with some friends at one of my shows, or maybe you just clicked on an interesting Google link. But for whatever reason that you are here—welcome.

You are not alone.

Every day hundreds of people around the globe surf to the gman Blues web page.

Collectively we are community. And at any given minute of the day someone in some country thousands of miles from you are at this very second is reading the same words that you are. Wondrous isn’t it?

From the most remote location on this earth Tuvalu, to downtown Manhattan, each click of the mouse is part of a collective whole that you now belong to forever.

Want to know who else may be surfing here when you do?

Here are some of the countries that Host Baby (Gman’s ISP) has reported for this month: Argentina Australia Austria Belarus Belgium Brazil Bulgaria Business (biz)Canada Chile China Colombia Congo, Democratic Rep.Croatia (Hrvatska) Czech Republic Dominican Republic Egypt Estonia Europe Region Finland Franc Germany Ghana Greece Guatemala Hong Kong Hungary Iceland Indonesia Ireland Japan Jordan Kazakhstan Korea (South) Kuwait Latvia Lithuania Malaysia Mexico Moldova, Republic of Information (info) Morocco Netherlands New Caledonia New Zealand Niue Non-Profit Organization (org) Norway Pakistan Peru Philippines Poland Portugal Republic South Africa Romania Russian Federation Saudi Arabia Seychelles US Military (mil) Singapore Slovak Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Taiwan Tanzania Thailand Turkey Tuvalu Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom United States US Government (gov) USSR (former) Venezuela Vietnam Yugoslavia.

Why do you think they came here? It is a small world after all and we have much more in common than we have differences.

Stand back honey—I don’t know how big this thing is going to get!

In my case however I’m referring to the album. First Barker gave me sign off on the mix, so I can begin my market campaign. I’m so psyched. I am considering making a small change to the name—G-4ce, rather than G-force. What do you think? Also Onederous You might become 1-dr-US-U.

I was told by Tracy that it sounds a little like a cross between the Grateful Dead and Frank Sinatra! What a combo!

Friends are calling me to comment on the finished work. It's a wonderful life!

So great to hear from everyone. I thank God that I was able to take my thoughts, ideas, and inspirations and convert them into a palatable form; it's humbling.

These songs as you may well know are simply dreams that now are locked into a digital format--that in itself is amazing!

It’s been a while since I have added anything to gmanblues.com. Been busy on lots of things though, and to you who might be interested, I’ll catch you up.

I was in Detroit all last week and played some Traditional Irish Music with a couple of blokes at Shanahan's Irish Pub, and I also threw down some Tom Waits, and believe it or not, a Monkees tune! It was the best time.

G-force co-producer Bob Barker (no not the) was there too. Self admittedly, Bob has NO musical talent, or ability. Just how he got involved producing the album with me is interesting. Bob has a great “ear” for details. Whenever I could manage to pull him away from ogling women, and booze, and poker, I coaxed Bob into directing his hyper-focus on the album; he came up with lots of good changes.

I was playing “Onederous You” for him; at a certain place in the song he stopped the music. Something is wrong here. It sounds muddled and conflicting he said. I listened very intensely and sure enough there was something muddying the waters. I made note of the place and moved onward. The tempo should be picked up—it sounds like it’s dragging. Noted. Keep the harp, can you maybe play more of a melody here? Noted.

I thought that if I could get this song past Barker, everyone would like it. I felt like Edmund Gwenn (in the role of that spry old gentleman Kris Cringle) trying to convince a young Natalie Wood that there really was a Santa Claus. If I could sell Barker, I could sell

everyone

on the song.

I went back to the tracks, pulling them apart like layers of a croissant. Sure enough, way in the back was an old track buried deep within the mix. A scratch guitar lead used for building the feel of the song, I meant to discard it into a pile of numeric junk but had forgotten it. Gone.

I eased up the lowest frequencies on the bass guitar so I got a good thump instead of a rumblethumprumble.

Like many, I am a huge Beatle fan. I bought all their records except (like everyone else) the last one. George Martin and the boys did some really cool (and radical mixing) in their day, placing sounds extremely off to one side or the other. We didn’t know it back then but we always got a slightly different mix of the song depending upon whose car or stereo you were listening on. To learn the tunes, we simply switched over to the channel that didn’t have to vocals.

These days we live in a world of musical perfection. Not only do we fill both left and right channels with much of the same stuff, but if you watch the lights on your graphic equalizer you’ll see that today’s songs fill the space vertically through a process call compression, and also all the frequency gaps are filled with instruments (taking advantage of the gap to be heard). No longer do we see the display happily jumping up and down to the music, but we pretty much see a flat line. Sure you can hear everything, but in my humble--yet superior (–thanks JR) opinion the music is a bit lackluster. Eh? You with me?

On the back of the Woodstock album there is a disclaimer that the tracks contain flaw but they suggest that we regard them as grain in fine leather. By that standard today’s music is pleather. Without flaw, but regarded as a cheap imitation. Whoa, why don’t I just break bad on the whole freakin’ industry man! No the music is as good and probably a lot better, but in our drive for perfection, perfection becomes the imperfection.

Not to worry about G-force however. Lots of imperfection there! I am good with that, because it is what happens to our soul, when we connect. That’s where it’s has always been at. That is why rock has proliferated and become the multi-billion dollar industry it has become.

Well anyway back to the story. I went back to the tracks ala Martin, Lennon, McCartney, Starr, and Harrison. I put the harp and lead on east and west tracks. I took my vocal, copied it and pasted it in new track and shifted the second vocal east a couple of hundred micro-seconds.

The ear truly delights hearing the same “thing” in both ears each sounding slightly different. You can’t really perceive the difference, but it just sounds good. I took the mixed down file, created a wave, imported it into Audacity and digitally sped up the tempo 7%. All in all about eight hours work. Not bad.

I haven’t tested the mix with Barker yet and that is the next step before posting on gmanblues.com. If he like young Susie Walker believes—so will you.

I as browsing through an old Hard Drive the other day and discovered tracks from a song I laid down maybe ten years ago.

This made me so happy that I celebrated with a slice of fresh juicy watermelon. Ummmm good!

The Guitar and Vocal tracks were in bad shape, but my daughter Amy put down some Midi Orchestration that sounds as fresh and they day she pressed the notes.

So I'm going to redo it with new guitar and vocals.

It's not a G-man Blues song per se, but more of an old Woodlind folksy kind of tune. Pretty, flowing, easy-going, fresh, like a slice of summer watermelon.

Meadow Echo

Meadow Echo
Whispering day
your mornings have come to pass
they slip away...

They slip so deep in day dreaminess,
and leave an offering--
lingering sweetness.

That's it!

To bathe in the light discreetly wrap her gently;
near brilliant fires pours burning love of the devil's paladin;
by that starlight she sighs, and the woods sing resonate sweet melody

Vision of her breasts, gentle waves upon abysmal ocean,
their coolness on my fingers, the beads of intrigue softly rising
slumbering embers soon edged by ashes
near smoldering indigo forests; the stars now sleeping

Lying in her long veils on the calm black water
embroidered with secret moss her great veils rising
mount in my soul but endless

I cared nothing for all, and everything once again
of teary red-eyed realizations; ancient dramas fade
like foggy scented twilight devoured by mist.