7-29-12 Survival Jobs for Writer-Musicians – Starter Job #162 (The Washington Squares - On the Beach Boys Tour: Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Ba-Babra Ann, actually)

Beach Boys "Barbara Ann" with Washington Squares

Actually, the last show of the Washington Squares/Beach Boys tour leg that we shared happened in Maine, in Old Orchard Beach. We heard that the Bush family compound in Kennebunkport was nearby, and that they may have even been around at the time. Not that we cared. . . we were folkie liberals who shunned those trickle-down-theory Reagan conservatives.

At any rate, Old Orchard Beach, Maine, was a really big outdoor daytime concert, with thousands in attendance. I’d have freaked out to BE in that crowd (ugh -- I just hate crowds -- can’t move, can’t breathe), but to play to that crowd: great! And as I recall, it was a pretty receptive crowd -- although one person might have heaved a near-empty container of suntan lotion (not yet the era of sunblock) at us onstage. Maybe.

I remember that before the show, the Beach Boys did a special pre-show merch giveaway (tee shirts and hats) and signing, a radio-station sponsored meet and greet. I made sure to get in line and get some tee shirts and a baseball cap signed. . . I still have them, somewhere, with signatures of Carl & Brian Wilson, Mike Love, Bruce Johnston.

We were invited to come onstage and sing and dance with the Beach Boys on “Barbara Ann,” and I am SO glad somebody actually videotaped that moment. We were singing along and dancing in our Squares stagewear, so happy to be a part of the party, being silly and having a ball. I’m hopping around, dancing and smiling and giving it my all (in those silly black fishnet gloves and my Ray Bans, of course). I shared a microphone with Carl Wilson! Yay! The whole experience was so cool.

(Remember, this happened YEARS before video equipment was as affordable, prevalent and portable as it now is. . . the camera was probably thousands of dollars, and probably weighed half a ton.)

If you watch at the very end, Carl says something nice to us as we’re getting offstage, Bruce asks the cameraman, “You got that?” and Brian’s “keeper,” the cute young blond surfer dude, is in the very last frames of the video. Wow. Let’s hear it for documentation. . . got a few B&W shots of us onstage with the BB’s too (though the people are pretty far away -- probably Jill took ‘em?).


(I'm onstage, the person furthest left, in my Ray-Bans and a white shirt over my black top)

(I'm onstage, dead center, in my white shirt and black leggings, dancing away)

7-28-12 Survival Jobs for Writer-Musicians – Starter Job #161 (The Washington Squares - On the Beach Boys Tour: More Endless Fun Fun Fun with Brian)

One day soon after, Brian Wilson did show up. He was accompanied by a young cute surfer-dude looking guy with long blonde hair and eyeglasses -- sorta like how Michael Stipe of REM looked in the early-mid ‘80’s.  Apparently, whatever was going on with Brian, whatever his issues, he had to have a “handler” on board with him pretty constantly. (I recently read that he had been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, like my older brother Tom. . . and on a lot of medication.)

When we were invited to meet Brian, it was a pretty formal event for a rather casual situation/lifestyle (being on the road as musicians isn’t a very formal type setting, after all). We Squares were approached by one of the roadies to follow down a hallway at one of the arenas (probably Pittsburgh). It was sort of Spinal Tap-ish, a long hallway in a subterranean passage that went on for a while. The anticipation of the meeting in our minds probably lengthened it considerably. . .

At last, we faced an unmarked door and the roadie guy opened it and left. We were then greeted by the young blonde surfer-dude guy. He told us, “Brian’s looking forward to meeting you.” Aw, I’ll bet he says that to all the fans. Still, it was nice to hear.

Behind the surfer guy, in the back of a plain white room backstage, an almost gauntly thin Brian Wilson stood, sort of smiling, sort of gaping in a slack-jawed way -- the side affect of some psychiatric drugs. “Pleased to meet you,” he slurred, and shook our hands, one by one.

What do you say to a legend, especially one that seems discombobulated and kind of reminds you of your troubled older brother?

Beats me. . . I probably murmured back, “Pleased to meet YOU -- thank you!”

(Somewhere, I have a photo of us with Brian -- but can’t find it at present. Sorry!)

7-27-12 Survival Jobs for Writer-Musicians – Starter Job #160 (The Washington Squares - On the Beach Boys Tour: Continual Fun Fun Fun)

At one point in the tour -- maybe it was in Pittsburgh, which BTW I think is a great city & I’d love to visit again someday -- the rumor wafted through like pungent  incense at a teenage basement party in the early ‘70’s: Brian’s coming!  Brian’s coming!

The Brian, of course, was none other than the Grand High Poohbah and revered founder of the Beach Boys, Mr. Brian Wilson.  With (cool) brother Dennis gone, and sweet younger brother Carl dutifully keeping the name alive and the band on tour, the legendary Brian had been invited to join the tour periodically whenever he was available.

For years, he had been off and on in the care of  -- or under the spell of -- the infamous Doctor Eugene Landy, but at this point in ’87 he was once again more or less a “free” man. Brian was going to come on the tour for a few dates. The anticipation was as palpable as. . . well, name your favorite brew and, there ya go.

At any rate, when a guy is a living musical legend and you’re a musician, you just have to cross your fingers and hold your breath. . . We were so looking forward to seeing Brian.

We chatted with the tour manager about it, how much we wanted to meet and hang out with Brian. “I’ll let you know,” the tour manager said. We were extra nice to him and the entire crew. . . we so wanted to meet B. Wilson!

(photo of Bruce & BB band musician with equipment) 

7-26-12 Survival Jobs for Writer-Musicians – Starter Job #159 (The Washington Squares - On the Beach Boys Tour: Endless Fun Fun Fun)

One of the BB tour shows happened at a huge arena just outside Chicago. The weather that day was bizarre, I recall. We took turns driving our rental car and got kind of lost on the highways trying to get to the gig from our hotel rooms.

The sky just kept getting uglier and uglier. I complained how dark it was, and somebody in the car pointed out, “You’re still wearing your shades, Lauren!” Oh! I took off my Ray-Bans, but still: it was only midday and the sky still kept getting darker and darker, the color of a big purple and blue bruise. Scary! The rain let loose and golfballish hail filled the air and dented the car hood & roof. 

To the west we could see something even weirder in the sky: a large funnel cloud. Tornado time! I was more fascinated than scared at that point, but we pulled over on the side of the highway just because the precipitation was so horrible you could hardly see and somehow it seemed safer to stop. Traffic slowed or stopped in deference to the deadly show that Mother Nature presented for about thirty minutes.

Fleetly, the storm and its fury passed away. We started up the car and drove to the Chicago gig, car a little dented but safe again, where we all performed for about 8,000 BB fans. Wild day!

The next day, the tour played Milwaukee at some festival in a huge tent, and Victor from the Violent Femmes came out for a backstage visit. Here’s a pic of him and Billy Ficca.

7-23-12 Survival Jobs for Writer-Musicians – Starter Job #156 (The Washington Squares - Business: Getting on a Major Tour)

Because Goodkind was managing us, he spoke with the press, record companies, and agents. One agent, a sweet and very cute, tall guy named Michael, talked to Tom about getting us on a leg of a Beach Boys Summer Tour in 1986. I don’t know what deal was struck or what if any strings were attached, but what a coup!

At the time, I was temping in offices as a secretary -- in an era when the men didn’t type their own correspondence yet, for the most part. The move to word processing was underway, and the most used program was MultiMate (followed by WordPerfect by Microsoft). More anon about that. . .

Being on the Beach Boys tour was a dream come true, though in its own way stressful and harrowing. Funny that I never felt unsure or nervous about performing on a large, raised stage in front of thousands of fans. Thousands of fans of the OTHER band might have given pause to most sensible performers but to me, it was all good and once we opened our mouths and sang in that lovely, tight harmony with our songs of inspiration and fun -- how could they NOT love us?

I confess to only being nervous to playing in smaller venues when I can see the faces of the people, especially if I know them personally.

At any rate, the opportunity and the exposure when playing in the large stadiums on tour opening for harmony-singing legends The Beach Boys was pretty huge. . . I bought a new little easy focus camera, an Olympus, that had a slide out panel for the lens and a flash attachment that screwed in to the side. It was small and easy to use. We still had to buy film (usually 100 ASA B&W), but snapping away on a once-in-a-lifetime tour was definitely a given for me. . . I just HAD to document it.

We played Milwaukee, Chicago, Pittsburgh, PA, Ohio, and Old Orchard Beach, Maine. . . and perhaps a few other stops.

(photo of “big arena ‘87” above & “View from wings” below)

Knowing Limits: Inotherwords, So Long but not Goodbye to Bill & Em

Blog for 12/17/10

The kind of courage it takes to admit you’re overextended and that something has to go seems to be natural to some sagely humans, and a learned behavior for people like me (hardheads). You have to have gone through a few similar situations in life to know your limits – and then some (hoping to learn mine before my tipping point).

Musicians – as it’s commonly believed – are a breed apart from the norm, or whatever you consider “normal.” As if normal people are savvier at knowing their limits!

At any rate, I’m referring to the decision made by our friends and bandmates in the Small Town Concert Series Big House Band, Bill Calhoun and Emily Lisker. This week, Matthew and I got an email from them with a decision they (and we) have been dreading: they need to cut back and can’t participate in our shows in the foreseeable future. This is due, however, to a happy circumstance: Bill’s part time Science Teacher (in a private RI middle school) job changed to full time.

Now, as long as we’ve known Bill & Em, they’ve been fully committed to living their lives authentically and on their own terms. But that also meant a great deal of financial struggle. None of this seemed “fair” (as if life IS fair, right?) because, between the two of them, there are mind-boggling oodles of artistic talent.

Other than her compelling stage presence and tuneful tooting on the bari sax and accordion playing (plus a few good vocals), Emily Lisker’s paintings and drawings create a colorful mondo bizarre, taking viewers to a place somewhere between imagination and chimera. I think of her brave delvings into the unconscious that create these vivid canvases. I also think of Emily’s writing – blogging – as being expressive, heartfelt, and wonderful. And who could forget her irrepressible laugh, often and hearty when she’s feeling up and silly.

Able to play piano, organ, and banjo with proficiency and precision, Bill Calhoun’s love of pianos extends from his superb playing to his repairing, refurbishing, and piano tuning skills. He also designs graphics with Emily, notably (for us) our signature posters for Small Town Concert Series.

Let me say that again: Bill & Em designed our distinctive SMALL TOWN CONCERT SERIES posters that award-winning Peter Good considers “brilliant.” They must have designed 40+ posters, drawing more and more curious music fans to STCS shows.

Bill would also kick my butt (in a GOOD way) during STCS rehearsals, figuring out song arrangements. His sweet, patient, good-humored nature, so caring and honest, has been vital to our sanity and continued success. Bill’s laughter, too, is contagious – music to our ears.

Their songwriting has been coming along, as well; I especially love “I Live in a House,” a Calhoun blues song. Emily sometimes rewrites lyrics to polkas, as she’s a huge Brave Combo fan (like me).

Bill & Em have been stalwart Small Town Concert Series Big House band members since inception in Fall 2007, at our first Leonard Cohen tribute.

We met them at our July 2006 wedding, in fact: Brave Combo leader Carl Finch asked me if they could invite a few friends from the area to our wedding who are Combo fans and can dance up a storm. Being game for anything that sounds interesting, we agreed and two nice couples from RI and MA danced the whole time the Combo played.

Kind of hard to miss, Bill & Em look really “interesting” (and cool, I think): he has a large long white beard & mustache, twinkling blue eyes and wire rim glasses; she has a thick, long, wavy-curly head full of hair that can whip around wildly as she twirls in her full-skirted ‘50’s dress.

We arranged to meet them in August 2006 in Northampton, MA, to hear Brave Combo. We sat upstairs at a table, together, through the opening act, Young at Heart, then Emily, Bill & I took to the dance floor when Brave Combo hit the stage.

As I knew Bill & Em were regular open mic goers, I threw out the offer for them to play in our Leonard Cohen show. Happily all around, they agreed and ever since have taken up the challenge of learning new material and shining on the stage with us, brilliantly.

For every big show, Bill & Em would drive to an average of six weekly rehearsals from Woonsocket, RI. And then, they’d come to the dress rehearsal AND the shows (sometimes three nights in a row). They might have stayed with us overnight, but their dog needed them.

NOBODY was more dedicated or worked harder for Small Town Concert Series. We really loved the communal dinners we’d assemble with the musicians after rehearsals, and Bill & Em would always bring yummy home made bread & eat heartily, their laughter booming regularly like timpani thunder in a symphony.

At any rate, nothing is forever so maybe their ability to do music again too will change and they can join our shows again. Their contributions and their friendship will always remain. I look forward to seeing them again.

I need to sign off now – feeling happy for them that their fortunes have improved, but sad too ‘cause I’ve been missing them since the last (amazing) Leonard Cohen IV tribute in September. And then, they kindly designed an incredible poster of our STCS accomplishments for the INK Magazine article that just came out in December.

I know that changes are necessary, inevitable, and (due to my optimism) usually good, but the absence (? temporary) of Bill & Em will take a lot of getting used to. . .