Silverwing Lite (The Mel & Mary Duo)

Yes, it's a non-band weekend and Mel & I have picked up a duo gig.  Just Mel and I together with our little drum machine.  That's how it all started for me, as a duo.  Well, re-started is more like it.

When we met Mel had been playing for years with different bands all over Northern Nevada, but I hadn't picked up a guitar in years.  I had learned how to play the guitar when I was a teenager.  My brother Kenny had brought home a few guitars and books and we sat in the living room working our way through the chords and notes.  I took guitar lessons for several years also, but then I put the guitar down and didn't pick it up for years.

I discouraged myself.  When I think back now, I realize I was good.  I could read music like nobody's business.  I made it through several Mel Bay levels and could play jazz chords to my teacher's lead playing.  Then I just stopped.  I was a blue, moody teenager and I probably couldn't see what might happen down the road.  So I stopped.

Many years later I meet Mel through some friends.  He's such a nice man and we start to date.  Months went by and one day the light bulb goes on over my head and I remembered "Hey, years ago I knew how to play the guitar!"  It was long forgotten.  When I told Mel, he was less than interested.  After years of people trying to get into his bands, he just nodded politely and changed the subject.  I thought "hum" and let it go.  No big deal. 

Months go by and one day he is hanging out at my house.  I'm cooking a big pot of spaghetti, the kids are playing video games and Mel is playing his guitar at the kitchen table.  It's a good day.  Then the phone rings and it's for Mel.  People knew we were dating and starting calling my place for him.  So I hand him the phone and he hands me his guitar. 

I think to myself "what were the chords to that song?" I start to strum the few things I could remember from years ago, but it was there, hidden back in the depths of my old brain. When Mel put the phone down, he jumps up and says, "Hey, you can play the guitar!!!!"  I said "Yep, I told you that a few months ago."  He says "Yes, but I you can REALLY play."  Then out come the story about how many people kind of exaggerate their skills, so he just smiled at me when I told him that I could play.  He'd heard lots of women say they could sing and ugh, yeah, maybe not so much.  So he's jaded.

But even at that point, I wasn't interested in learning 50 to 100 songs with the band.  I still enjoyed my time at the band table.  I applauded and laughed and hauled gear and typed lots of lyrics.  I had a place and I liked it.

Now years go by and Mel is playing lead for a different band.  He is getting frustrated being a hired gun as they are called.  He's not in charge and it's beginning to get to him for several reasons.  He feeling less than appreciated and I never get to hear him sing cause they never make it to his songs.  Right, sure.  So out of frustration I say, "What are the chords to Boot Scootin Boogie?  I can play that! I'll be your band."

So that's how it started.  I have a steno notebook with chords, a Yamaha keyboard with drum patterns in it and Mel playing lead in the back corner of the Big Horn Saloon.  I forget how long ago that was, maybe 8 to 10 years ago.  The first night we played my 5 co-workers showed up and pulled up chairs right in front of us.  Up close and personal.  I am staring at my steno notebook so I don't screw up the chords, when I look up and they have their lighters up and they are swaying like a crowd at a rock concert.  It was sooooo funny!

From the back of the Big Horn, it's been a wild ride.  Once we played for thousands at a political rally during the 2008 election campaign, but we've also played to two sad lonely drunks who need a ride home.  I wouldn't trade it for anything.

So this weekend, it's back to basics.  It's back to the beginning and really I love it.  I like being with Mel. I like the challenge of trying to make two guitars sound good.  My strumming has to be full and confident behind Mel's lead playing.  I have to sing backup and attempt some harmony.  It's a challenge and it's gonna be fun.  It's Silverwing Lite!

Next gig for the GuitarChic

My fascination with female musicians is not just some weird quirk.  I am a musician and knowing how challenging it can be to play on stage makes me respect these talented women all the more.

I am part of Silverwing, a rockin' country band based in the Reno, Nevada area.  We play classic and current country music with a few good rock songs thrown in to keep it surprising.  I have played for a few lonely drunks in a tiny bar to thousands of people at a political rally.  It's always fun, even at closing time and the place is emptying out, I still love and appreciate that I get to play music for a living.  It is a blessing in my life.

So where is my next gig?  The Whiskey Tavern in Carson City, NV.  It should be a great time.  Looks like they have a good crowd with lots of Facebook followers.  They approached us in Virginia City on the Fourth of July and immediately wanted to hire us.  Very cool, that's a nice compliment.

So Saturday is gig day.  We start playing at 9pm, but we live an hour away, so we actually have to start our "job" earlier in the afternoon, when we load the gear into the pick-up truck.  Gotta bring it all, don't want to be an hour away from home and forget one chord, ugh.  So it's personal gear, like guitars, stands, microphones, amplifiers and tuners plus PA gear like mixer board, power conditioners, more chords and lots of speakers. 

I don't sit by watching my husband loading gear, frightened to break a nail, I jump into the back of the pickup and organize all the stuff.  It's like the old video game Tetrus, putting all these amps, boxes, speakers and guitars into a nice little package in the bed of the pickup. 

We gotta get there early enough to set up and sound check, so when we turn it on, it sounds good right off the bat.  Each room is different.  What worked great at the last gig, could be a real disaster at the next gig.  We go from outdoor gigs, to small rooms, to large rooms and everything needs to be adjusted for the unique situation.  Plus, you don't want to be rushed and chaotic.  So after the sound check we need time to relax and kick back just a bit.

You'd think I would be nervous, but it rarely crosses my mind.  I was so shy growing up, that even I am amazed by how cool, calm and collected I am when I'm getting up on stage in front of people and singing.  Recently we played a wedding.  The first song was the couple's first dance and the first note of that song, was me singing with no music behind me, HUH? What!  I admit I was shaking, but, I did great. Yeah!

So, that's why I am a great fan of female musicians.  I am just a part of a band.  I can't imagine how it would feel to step up and be the focal point, to keep a crowd entertained for an evening.  Wow, these women are my idols.

Please stop by my website www.guitarchics.com and learn a few interesting facts about my favorite female musicians.  The site will be growing each week, so come back often.  Also, check out our band at www.silverwingband.com, that's me right in the middle.  Our CD "Moonshine" is available at our gigs, our website, CDbaby and Amazon.com.

GuitarChics is Alive and Well

My website, www.guitarchics.com, is finally active on the Internet.  It's has been a personal challenge for me, but it is working and I will be adding to it weekly for the rest of my days.

My hope with GuitarChics is to introduce people to the stories of women who have made a living in the music industry.  Whether they are headlining in a stadium, playing in a coffee shop or teaching young children how to play, I want to share their stories.  The stories that encourage and inspire young women to pursue their hopes and dreams.  I want guitarchics to be a Power of Positive Thinking with musicians as our role models.

It's dear to my heart because I play rhythm guitar in Silverwing, a rockin country band from Northern Nevada.  I have played to thousands in a convention center and to a few in an empty bar at closing time, but regardless, it's always showtime.  It's my "job" to do my best, to reach down and give you my heart even if it's time to turn off the neon lights and head home and I love my "job."

So stop by www.guitarchics.com and read up the bios that I have completed so far.  Check back each week to see what else I have added.  If you have an idea of a great female musician that should be added to the site, send me an email at maryband_girl@yahoo.com with "Guitarchics" in the title.  I'll do my best to get that person included.

Get Silverwing's first CD of original music at www.silverwingband.com.  It's fun and I'm very proud of it, since I wrote a lot of the lyrics, played guitar and my husband wrote the music and played a bunch of instruments.

Home Recording: The Scratch Tracks

Our first step in recording our original music will be to create what we refer to as scratch tracks.  The CD is going to be recorded one instrument at a time, but the scratch track will be all of us performing the songs together.  That scratch track will be used by each member of the band.  We will listen to the scratch track through the headphones while we play and recording one instrument at a time.

So we met a few weeks ago to create the scratch tracks.  We set up our equipment as if we were going to play at a gig.    Everyone had a vocal microphone that was plugged into the recorder.  Each instrument amplifier had a microphone in front of it and they were plugged into the recorder.  Then the drums were miked also.  Those microphones were input to a mixer and the two line outs from that mixer were plugged into the recorder.  We needed to do it that way, because our recorder doesn't have enough inputs for the drums to go directly into it for recording with all the vocals and instruments.

We are using a Tascam Digital Portable Studio DP-24 for creating this recording.  We have had two failed attempts at recording this music in the last few years and decided that instead of depending upon others to produce the CD the way we wanted it, we would just do it ourselves.  We pulled together some money and my husband researched home studios and selected this model.  We are sure that it will do a great job.

Recording the scratch tracks was not very difficult at all.  We have played these songs in public many times.  Our original music gets very good crowd response and sometimes we get requests for our original music and that is quite the compliment.

We ran through a few warm up songs, just to get the cobwebs out.  The bands favorite warmup song has to be "The Fireman" the George Strait hit or the Dwight Yoakum version of the Elvis hit "Little Sister."  Those songs are upbeat and fun, they just get you in the right mood for playing music.

After the warmup songs, our engineer turned on the DP-24 and we played one of our originals.  The main point right now is not to be absolutely note for note perfect, but to have the tempo be perfect.  The DP-24 has a click track option, which is like a metronome playing in your ear, but we decided we didn't want to do it that way, so it is up to the drummer to maintain the tempo and not speed up or slow down.  This is critical because as we each lay down our individual tracks we will be listening to this scratch track through the headphones.  If it speeds up or slows down, so will our final product. So this is alot of pressure on the drummer.

We did a few of the scratch tracks on the first take.  That is very satisfying.  Several of them required more than one take, but it went very quickly.  We created scratch tracks for nine original songs in less than an eight hour day.  Very productive

Our next step will be to record the individual drum tracks.  That will be the first track that will be layed down on the final CD product.  Very excited.  I will report back on our progess soon.

GuitarChics is launched!!!

The new website GuitarChics.com is launched. At GuitarChics we will be falling all over ourselves telling you about great female guitar players of all genres. We want to share the news and find the talent and let everyone know what we girls have to offer the world. Its going to be exciting to learn the history of female guitarist. Who stepped up to the mic years ago and paved the way for the rest of us? Who is creating a new sound and being unique and true to themselves? How is the female guitar player changing music and in kind changing the world?

Stop by often. It's young and new, but it's growing. My favorite part will be a section for young women who have never picked up a guitar. The basics, the answers to the questions that you don't want to ask the cool hot guy at the music store. Ask me and I will get the information for you. And then when you stop to talk to the cool hot guy at the music store he will be impressed.

Guitar playing has changed my life. I just want to share it with other young women and share my passion for music. Have a great day.