Swallows Inn, 6/24/21

 Greetings!

Yes, we are back at our favorite dive bar with special guests Amanda Kate and Dani Chere, for the first set anyway. I thought they were friends but this was the first time they'd met. They worked together really well, even on those songs we worked up just for tonight without any rehearsal. But let's start at the beginning.

I was happy I remembered to put on my gloves before loading my gear this afternoon. The old country bass player's skin is paper thin these days and he's always getting banged up.



I managed to park right behind the venue, grabbed a space as someone pulled out. Usually I have to park down the block. This is the rear entrance to Swallows Inn, the funkiest country dive bar around. It's named such because of the annual return of the swallows to San Juan Capistrano.



I rolled my handy-dandy Rock-n-Roller cart around front, past the front doors, to the stage door. I brought my small rig today. I probably didnt' have to. Jed was running sound today. Arnie brought a good sized PA but we used only one sub-woofer because of the size of the place.



Since Arnie and Jed brought the floor wedges I did not use my IEMs. I probably should have. It didn't get too, too loud but I would've rather played a little quieter and let the PA do the heavy lifting out front.



We saw a lot of familiar faces on the dance floor tonight. This is a fun crowd that like the more traditional two-stepping, Texas-swinging, honky-tonkin' music that we love to play.



Here's my little rig setting next to the PA. Jed was out front all night with is tablet making us sound great. That guy works hard. I brought my JBS as backup but left it in the gig bag for space concerns.



OK, we're plugging stuff in, twisting knobs, stomping on pedals, making noise, etc. Arnie and John are good at that.



I'm on stage left, right by the door. It normally stays open all night. This is my view. An old friend I hadn't seen in years happened to strolled by tonight. It was kind of cool to chat and get caught up while I was playing a song.



Somebody covered up my graffiti with a conduit! The cads! Don't they know art when they see it?



For the first set our special guests, Amanda and Dani, sing a few duets. We learned "Fooled Around And Fell In Love" and pulled it of on stage without rehearsing, pretty much. Pretty fun. There's a Miranda Lambert cover of this song she does with friends. I'd forgotten how fun this song is to play.



Yes, we're having lots of fun now. I'm not sure what was so funny but we were enjoying ourselves.



Amanda and Cheri were doing "Cole Miner's Daughter", complete with both half step modulations.



You might recognize the lady on the right. Yes, that's Kelly Rae with an entourage. They were having a girls' night out, dinner down the street, heard some country music, and decided to check it out. It was great to see Kelly again.



This crowd loves to two-step.



On a break Drummer Dave and I think about when a set of jumper cables walked into a bar. The bartender said, "Hey! Don't you start anything!"



The area across the street has been decorated up a little bit to improve the foot traffic to that area. There are other venues just a block over with food, drink, live music, etc.



The hair legged pickers are back at it again.



You guessed it! Johnny Magic Fingers is playing his big boogie-woogie number.



Dave's keeping time but I think he'd like to go on a motorcycle ride.



Arnie points at his favorite bass player on the stage. He says, "Your playing like you've never played before."

Look who else is in the house! It's everyone's favorite real estate agent, Tami! We haven't seen her, um, I guess since the last time we played here.



It's late in the evening. Now we've got a ton of gear to pack up. I stuck around to help Jed wrap cables and move cabinets.



Oh! Will you look at that! These folks were so nice to us.



We each walked out with an extra sixty five bucks. How about that? I hadn't had anything to drink all night but once home I had a little of this and the last of my Maximus Colossal. Sorry, no food shots tonight. The band doesn't get fed on this gig. I had leftover tacos when I got home.



We are actually scheduled to play Swallows again in the afternoon on the 4th of July from 1-5pm. If any of you are local I would encourage you to come down. This really is a funky fun little place. Sure, it's a dive bar but it's the good kind of dive bar, a five star dive bar.
 

This is really getting to be enjoyable again. Good stuff guys!


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

Heritage Hill Brews and Views, 6/19/21

 Hey boys and girls!

Here it is Wednesday already and I haven't bored you to tears with a slide show about "How I Spent My Weekend Gigging". We played a special event called "Brews and Views" at an event venue called Heritage Hill. It's a place for weddings and such but the owners will just throw a party once in a while. Three hundred tickets were sold for this event. I think they heard Amanda was going to be there.

Heritage Hill is located in the Murietta Valley near the wine country of Temecula. I got to drive by an old employer of mine, March Air Force Base near Riverside. I was stationed there in the late 70s. There's an air museum on the base.



The traffic on the SoCal freeways is approaching pre-pandemic levels but I won't bore you with that. When I reached the back service entrance to the venue I had to call and ask someone to buzz me in. (Going in the back door with the rest of the hired help.)



I drove up to the top of the hill through this gate. It looked a little creepy, like something out of a Dracula movie.



And then there was this narrow dirt road on the side of the hill on the way to the loading area. I'd hate to drive this at night. Oh wait, I guess I will later.



It turned out to be a lovely venue and our stage area and dance floor was a really good size. Here I'm helping everyone to set up by taking a selfie.



Jed is here to get us set up and sound checked. He'll go to Knott's Berry Farm later to play that gig for us.



Johnny Magic Fingers set up in the shade on that side of the stage. He has to keep his fingers cool.



I think Arnie is working too hard. I hope he changes his hat before downbeat.



In addition to his Teles, Arnie brought his nice Les Paul and a PRS.



Here's the view from my mic just before sound check. Back beyond the little amphitheater was a taco truck and you see the old VW bus being used as a photo booth. Cute.



Here she is! We've missed this young lady. I know it's only been a week since our last gig but before that it had been a while. She'll be with us for a set on Thursday night this week too.



Jed is taking a good listen as we soundcheck. He's got to get outta here soon to make his gig at Knott's.



Amanda, Arnie, and Paul do the soundcheck thing.



This is a duo known as Wildflower. Sophie and Ryan sang to tracks as one of the opening acts. The young lady with the guitars is Gina, another opener who played/sang solo.



Gina soundchecks. This young lady writes a lot of original material and really shreds on that acoustic guitar, like Appalachian Metal.



This is Kaitlin. She sang a couple songs solo also. This was her first time singing and playing solo in front of an audience. She did great.



Here we are looking down the hill at the stage/dance floor area. It was pretty warm today so the EZ-Up was moved onto the stage to give shade to the ladies while they were performing.



Here's the taco truck. I didn't get any. Dang.



I was on my way to our green room to put on my stage clothes. It is a nice view from up here.



As it turns out, our green room was a green house. And there was air conditioning!

Inside our green house was a selection of Jersey Mike's subs, chips, cookies, veggies, fruit, etc. Plus a cooler full of drinks and suds.



I did not wear a Scully shirt today. It was too hot! It looks like folks are enjoying the shade while they sip their brews.



Here's Gina shredding up a storm and flinging her hair.



While Kaitlin, Gina, and Wildflower did their thing, the owners wanted their photographer to get some pics of the band. We went to the tippy top of the hill.



Everyone point at your favorite bass player in the band!



Jerry, the photographer, also had a really cool drone to take pictures with. Hopefully the pics and video will be made available.



After our photography session we made our way back to the stage. Wildflower was finishing up their set.



Then Gina got back up to sing a few more before we provided the dance music.



I think Arnie is ready to play some Merle. He's not wearing his Scully either.



It was a fun crowd tonight, a pleasant evening.



Drummer Dave brought his cowbell but was caught off guard. He threw it on the floor tom and wailed on it.



This was my standard rig tonight with JBS as backup. What's that on my amp?



It's a blonde! From one of my favorite breweries. But I didn't drink it. I brought it home to enjoy later. It's still in my fridge. Maybe tonight.



It was fun playing Amanda's songs again, both originals and covers. The kids just loved her, like a cowgirl princess.



As the sun went down and the evening cooled our friends in the crowd relaxed.



I tried to grab a picture of the birthday girl in the cabana but it was getting too dark. The birthday party was having a great time.



We got a rousing standing ovation at the end of the night. Of course we played one more. We're like that.



Then I went back up to the green house to change my close for our load out. Nice view.



The rest of the band took off so I helped Arnie pack up. I must've wrapped fifty mic cables. Then we loaded subs, speakers, racks, bins, lights, etc, into his production company van. It took only an hour. It's what bass players do, right?



When I finally arrive home I enjoyed another Maximus Colossal and put the blonde in the fridge for later.



And that was how I spent my Saturday gigging. Thanks for coming along. Take care.


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff