Tad Dreis

I’ve already played two shows this month and I’m only now making announcements. Sorry! The photo here is from Weaver Street Market in Hillsborough, where I played the featured spot at the Lilac Lounge open mic’s outdoor summer edition, with Casey Toll on bass. The photo was taken by the event’s impresario, Pete Pawsey.

A couple days later I played my monthly set at the Eno River Farmer’s Market with Seth Barden on bass, again in Hillsborough. Two shows in Hillsborough in the same week – when it rains, it pours. Literally. There was a huge, fierce thunderstorm today that cut our second set short. We still made a good haul, thanks to produce donations from the vendors, even if a few tomatoes were squished in our haste to clear out.

Coming up, I’m playing solo at Jack Sprat Cafe in Chapel Hill on Tuesday July 20 at 10 pm, along with Jeff Hart and the out-of-towners Black Mountain Symphony.

What else? Last month I played one out of town show at UNC Charlotte, and I’ve also been having fun experimenting in the latest edition of my home studio with some new toys, using a Linux-based system. And even though it’s the summer, my teaching schedule has kept me busy working with guitar folks and a number of harmonica students in Carrboro. That’s all for now. The last webcast went well, it’s archived for your reviewing pleasure. Hope you’re enjoying your summer!

This past week, me and my trio played four shows in three days, starting Thursday with a noon gig at Brightleaf Square in Durham, followed Friday by an evening show at Harry’s Market in Whitecross, and then morning duties at the Eno River Farmers Market on Saturday for Hog Day in Hillsborough and two sets Saturday night at Broad Street Cafe in Durham.

Each day, we’d be setting up to play, and Seth or Charles would nonchalantly mention that they’d already played one, maybe two gigs that day, or were headed to do the same after our show. Casey Toll filled in on bass for the first time at Harry’s, and even he, the pinch hitter, had a similar schedule. Meanwhile, I was apparently swimming in leisure time, playing “only” 1.3 gigs a day. Every band’s gotta have a slacker, I guess.

From six to eight pm Eastern Time this Saturday, you can log on and watch me play live at home. I mean, I’ll be in my home, and you’ll be in your home. It’s kind of ridiculous and also kind of awesome. I’ll take live requests and comments from audience members using a chat box on my Ustream page, and there’s a good chance that if you comment, I MIGHT NAMECHECK YOU ON CAMERA. Beware the virtual bouncers if you start spilling virtual drinks on my pixel guitar.

The link to watch is http://www.taddreis.com/webcast

Right after the coffee shop jam, I headed out to Aberdeen, North Carolina, to catch Howard Levy performing in the Rooster’s Wife music series. I got there just in time, and enjoyed two hours of solo harmonica and piano tunes and improvisation. He played jazz, blues, Latin music, spirituals, and, if I remember right, even some rock’n'roll. Several of his tunes referenced both Middle Eastern and Eastern European music.

I got up my nerve after the show and asked if he’d be free to meet with me the next day for a lesson, and he graciously agreed. I drove home on cloud 9 and in the morning headed back to Aberdeen, where I met Howard at his B&B. We sat out on the porch and he had me play a little bit and asked me a few questions about my interests. Then we went over a bunch of stuff to walk me to where I wanted to go.

Subjects included: simple jazz tunes, how to play two notes and only bend one of them, different kinds of vibrato, keeping a drone going while playing a melody on top, tongue rhythms, sound effects, tongue blocking, trills, bending overblows, and basic reed adjustments.

Basically, I’d made a list of things I thought I heard him do in the concert, and just asked him how to do them. He broke things down into components and was patient while I tried them out, even though we were moving fast and covering a lot of material.

Pretty awesome, overall, and pretty much a lifetime of work, although to my surprise, some of the “impossible” things I tried at his suggestion actually worked right off the bat. Thanks for everything, Howard!

Wait (or scroll forward) until I pan the camera on the audience and you’ll see the nifty tablecloths and floating candles, plus a huge curtain that reminded me of Batman’s cape.

The sound is once again strangely warbly, but it’s still kinda interesting to have artifacts like this of my live shows. Do you need a link to view the video? It’s at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/5124227. Enjoy!