Guitar

 

Hi there, beautiful Grace!  Keeping busy?  Welcome to your world!  Please get adequate rest, and pray.  I'm doing OK over here.  I've been trying to get a perfect vocal take from Mary for the song "Gyrlie Roxtar".  I might as well get a kid from the elementary school down the road to sing it: Mary might be too old for this song.  One element that Mary doesn't have in her voice is innocence.  It's all tears, tears, tears.  Wah, wah, wah.  In the end, she gave me an OK take, now I have to edit it to make it sound better.

Ah guitar!  Jared Dines put together a list of shredders on YouTube that you should check out, Grace.  Jared said it right in the intro: gone are the days of guitar heroes, now everyone can shred.  Which may explain why guys like Slash are turning to the blues.  Well, there's guitar everywhere now.  And the problem with everyone playing fast is that they all sound the same.  Even Jared's favorite, the guy at the end of the video, is just a modified piano player who doesn't look good in a dress.  People have been playing fast on the piano for centuries already.  In the end, these guitarists can only play with themselves, because no singer would ever want to work with them.  Perhaps Jared could get them together for a yard party, and they can play dodge ball.

Thailand

 

You're proud of that wah part, aren't you Grace?  It is skillfully executed.  But I'm sure you have more than one funk tune to write.  Did you know that funk turned into disco?  Are you trying to make them dance?  Lol do you dance?  I wanna dance with you, Grace!  Anyway, check out the disco tune below.  It needs wah, probably.

The border to Thailand is only about half an hour casual drive north of my house.  Many Siamese live locally.  Thailand has the highest percentage of transsexuals of all the world.  I discovered the singer above on YouTube maybe 10 years ago.  I have no idea what happened to the singer since.

India

 

Grace Bowers and the Hodge Podge is at the Underdog, August 6!  Someone please record the show so I can watch!

Competition is everywhere.  Check out the duo in the video above, Grace.  Does it somehow remind you of you and Mary?  I don't know who the singer is.  She's obviously a skilled Hindi chick singer, and there's a lot of that in India.  The bass player is Mohini Dey.  She's a world class bassist.  Sure she can play a million notes a minute, but she's world class.  Search the name Grace, and you will find just how incredible she is.  

You will also find that she has jammed with pretty much everyone, just like you.  That kind of social musicianship is something you have that I don't.  I'm sure you have valid motivation, but I simply don't have the nature for that kind of effort.  Most people would say that it's definitely better than dying a frog's death out here in the sticks.  We are all less than road kill: God is the One Who makes life sacred.  And the biggest difference between good and bad people is that good people give away the good stuff, while bad people give away the bad stuff.  Ironically, I wish I had found my reclusive nature when I was a younger musician.  I would probably had become more social.

Anyway, modern India is another thing I can't relate to.  The India I'm familiar with is more along the lines of the video below.

Funk begins with the bass

 

Hi Grace!  Staying busy?  Make sure you get adequate sleep, Honey.  No dreams, no music.  I tried to listen to that interview, but it wouldn't come up for some reason.  I'm sure you did well, you are great at interviews.  It's silly that they made you do a sexy pose in that outfit.  You might as well have worn your "Register to Vote" t-shirt.  Sexy poses aren't your thing, Grace.  I love you just being you.

I hope you're always thinking about music while you're doing all this busy stuff.  It's because you need to write music.  Do you think in music?  You must always think in music, Grace.  Sit in silence, what music is playing in your head?  Think in guitar riffs and melodies no matter what you're busy at.  I always write bass and drums first.  Funk must always begin with the bass, I don't care what George Clinton may say otherwise.  When you write funk riffs, start with the bass line.  Only after that do you add your wah.

I really like this outfit on Mary.  It's tough to get every outfit perfect, but this one totally suits her.  Mary's style is simple, folks.  It's called "More Feminine Than Thou".

Old

 

I guess the biggest difference between me and Bugsy Siegel is that I've outlived him by 18 years.  Hey you're 18, Grace!  Have you registered to vote?  Congrats on the KS and NE shows with Gary Clark Jr.  

Check out this old guy singer I found on Nashville Heatwaves.  He's great, right?  Such clear lungs, such great heart.

The LA connection

 

Damn, I can't seem to get a good vocal take on "Gyrlie Roxtar".  Mary is pissed at me, she said "What the fuck do you want me to do?"  I want you to give me a good vocal take!  It's going to be one of those nightmare songs...

Grace, I didn't know you had freckles!  You're so cute.  There's a chance those desolate shows could be my fault, because I really don't want you to have anything to do with LA.  I'm sorry.  Your guitar sounds great on that lawn, though.  About your upcoming album release show, I would prefer that you had booked it in Nashville, but it's too late for that.  So please study these two videos I posted, so you have a grasp of the situation you put yourself in.  Again, it's the connection to me that might push it over the edge.

The Jewish/Italian mobs used to rule showbiz in LA and Vegas, and now they rule Israel.  They probably still have an iron fist in LA, but most likely only the more profitable or personal ventures.  Nowadays it's more profitable to keep the Palestinians fighting, so they can spend aid money on guns supplied by the Mob.  Here's a curious bit of trivia: Bugsy Siegel and I share the same birthday, exactly 60 years apart.  This means that Bugsy and I are the exact same person in both traditional and Chinese astrology, if you believed in that shit.

Anyway folks, please go see my Grace at her album release show, and please be nice to her.

A global scale

 

Grace you're so young, yet you have to use religious judgement.  I am a servant of God, so is Mary.  Don't be nice to your enemies and God's enemies.  Don't offer them love and friendship.

I was hoping not to have to explain this to you, and that you would have figured it out yourself.  Mary Unknown7 has been streaming a capella for many years already: she doesn't need an accompanist.  Then I chose you to accompany her because I want to marry you.  What you're doing is jamming to her a capella stream, so technically anyone can accompany her, as they have been doing so already.  The difference is that I endorse you.  The numbers are much greater than what you see in the stream, and what you have seen in front of you on stage.  But when you abandon Mary in favor of some other gig, other people are going to pick up the ball that you dropped and run with it.  People from your country, and other countries.  They could be excellent musicians, because there will always be someone stronger.  They will take the audience that wasn't important enough for you, and your ambassadorship becomes just another vanity.  A pedal that you don't really use.

I suppose each gig has its value and you have to honor your commitments.  Which makes it worse when you intentionally schedule a conflicting show, regarding Mary as the disposable one, in favor of performing for your enemies and God's enemies.  I have to forgive you, but your competitors don't.  Other countries don't.  There will always be someone stronger, but Allah is the Strongest.  Ya Allah, please bless and protect our work.