Hey CDG Fans and anybody else who’s dropping in here, I’m back in Japan for a pretty good little tour and I’ve got the venerable John McKnight on the drums with me for this tour. The pairing up of John and the omnipotent Yoshi Ogasahara on bass has made for a positive combination. Both guys are learning each other and working well, dare I say it’s been a fun ride for me as it is me who is the recipient of this ‘rhythm rocket’ I get to climb onto. We got into Fukuoka on a flight originating from Atlanta, just about 24 hours in the air, and as John is not used to the long flight, just Yoshi and I went out when we got to the hotel. We bid John good night and we ventured out into the Fukuoka night life. It really wasn’t that much though, just about 2 hours or so then the plane ride started to catch up to me so we had a quick meal after saying hi to some friends here, Ichiro was playing S.O.R.A. the night of our arrival, and sounding really great in his scaled down group tour, (Just 2 guitars and rhythm tracks on an Imac) but doing a great job and playing for a nice turnout too. I have to mention that there was a low level Sumo wrestler in attendance at the show ai knew he was a sumo wrestler cuz besides being dressing in their typical kimono that you see the understudies wrap up their sensei after a match, it was obvious too because of his size and the hair was spot on perfect too. I didn’t get his name or talk to him but he was of low level and young too. Maybe I’ll be seeing him years later on TV in the division. The next day was rehearsal and in typical Nihonjin fashion, we plugged at it for about 6 hours or so with nary a break. Just getting down the basic forms and assigning vocal duties, we wrapped up the rehearsal with a confident feeling that the bare bones were intact and we were ready to start applying the exo to our endo we constructed. Although the club we played in Fukuoka is small, maybe a capacity of 50 at the most SRO, the turnout was a good one with our old friends coming out every night we were there. The warmth I feel from my Japanese friends over is as genuine and enthusiastic as any I’ve gotten in America. Truly one of my favorite countries to be in and the icing on the cake is that I get to do what I love doing; playing music for the people. At times I’m so grateful for this I imagine myself as Lou Gehrig proclaims in the holy confines that is Yankee Stadium, ‘I’m the luckiest man on face of the earth.’ We played with good conviction and besides some of the small mistakes that are to be expected an auspicious beginning for the CDG Japan 2013. We did our two night stand in Fukuoka and moved onto Saga City Festival. Yoshi explained to me that having western musicians for the festival in Saga was like us going into the wildness in Alaska. An outpost in Japan that doesn’t get frequented by western musicians so even though it was a small festival and as it turns out to be the first time for me to play right in front of a train station, Eki, people couldn’t help but listen to us and at times stop and enjoy the sounds coming off the stage. I got to see several of the acts in front of us and it’s just amazing to me to see the great talent that this country has in the hinterlands and the appreciation from the fans and music lovers. I later gave a ‘master class’ for guitar and Yoshi and John played with me so it was pretty much me doing a bit of talking then playing but we had a good turnout and since it was a ‘quiet show’ the playing came out different but fun. Next it was another new area for me, Uwajima. We were informed that Immigration officials did not officially sanction the live event for this gig so it was supposed to be a ‘private’ affair. The local promoters, Sei chiyan, did a great job of getting out the word cuz’ I would venture to say that the Uwajima gig is most likely going to be our biggest crowd. The club that Sei chiyan owns is called Texas, so he was thrilled to be getting me to play there and we were told the club had been working almost 3 years for this gig. Sei’s band opened up the show, The World, a quasi-heavy metal band with good vocal harmonies and Sei fronting the band as the singer, they were really enjoyable and fun to watch. The guitar player was embarrassed cuz’ he had cut the tip of his finger on his left hand but I didn’t notice anything awry. Spot on Marshall riffs and great tone. I was also treated to a new pedal from my friend Chi kun. He’s been making pedals for the last couple of years and this is a distortion pedal he made just for me with my preference of tones; big and loud! It’s called the ‘Texas Tornado’ and I’ve had it in my line up ever since to learn its applications. It’s been a fun learning curve. Arigatou Chi kun!!! The next day we had a sampling of the noodles in the area at the town’s best noodle shop. It was an assortment of 3 typed, Soba, cold, Ramen in a shio broth and Curry Udon, which if you’re not careful will fleck little droplets of yellow curry all over your shirt so be sure of your grip and don’t wear white. On to Osaka for a travel day. The truck stops are fun cuz’ the accoutrements that are being sold feature specialties from the area the truck stop is in. I didn’t partake too much cuz’ Tomomi was still about a day away from joining us so I just pretty much kept to my book. (I always read Haruki Murakami when I’m in Japan. I seem to soak in the desc riptions and the story better while being in Japan;’ Sputnik Sweetheart’ and’ Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World’) Our hotel is always right in the heart of the Kansai District so there’s lots to see at day and night. I was tired this night so it was Tenkai Ippin Ramen then right to bed. Tamara!
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:27:41 +0000