tag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:/blogs/stories-tall-tales-and-various-ramblingsStories, Tall Tales, and Various Ramblings2022-03-03T23:10:00-08:00The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucherifalsetag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372472019-11-06T16:00:00-08:002019-11-07T04:28:19-08:00It's in Mastering!
<p>The Album! She can't take much more, captain!</p>
<p>After a hiccup with the estate of Jimi Hendrix...recording is finished.</p>
<p>Again.</p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372462019-06-21T17:00:00-07:002019-06-22T08:27:58-07:00Solo Record Delayed due to Accident
<p>There's no easy way to put it.</p>
<p>The solo record has been delayed.</p>
<p>The last week of May (2019) I was on my way home from my day job and a massive accident happened. I was injured, amazingly alive, but have several broken ribs. Needless to say, picking up a guitar is not the easiest of things for me to do.</p>
<p>Worse yet, the breath control I need to sing...that's bad, too. Not exactly easy to take a full breath and feel the ribs complaining.</p>
<p>For now, the gigs set up with the Ain't Got No Time band in July are still a go. I hope to be mended enough to play well there. After that, I plan to start re-scheduling the studio dates!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Dave </p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372452019-05-01T17:00:00-07:002019-05-02T07:40:45-07:00In the Studio!!!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/2086d3cd7361eaacd6a6e94258538613ebb598fc/original/studio-and-guitars.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NTE4NHgzNDU2Il0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="3456" width="5184" /></p>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>YES! I brought 6 guitars and 3 amplifiers.<br></strong><strong>YES! I used them all!</strong></em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I hit the studio again and in a flurry of recording and mixing am that much closer to the reality of my first solo album!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">"When the Giants Fell" is the title of the forthcoming album and while in the studio we recorded five new tracks for it! </p>
<p style="text-align: left;">The title track: <em>When the Giants Fell</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em>Down the Track</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em>My Sweet Angel</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em>Nightfall (Man-O-Madic)</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em><br></em>and <em>The Breeze</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">That last one is <em>not </em>the JJ Cale song, though that's an awesome song, too. It's an original. </p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Joining me in the studio was the drummer you see up there, Chris Amaral. He plays currently with two bands, <em>The Nickel Slots </em>as well as the rockabilly band <em>Cretins Castle. </em>Chris came in and killed it in the studio!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/1c3e6d64e5e9b454b6ad728f5e0f3b7ce8eeda8c/original/img-1049.jpeg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MTUzNngyMDQ4Il0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="2048" width="1536" /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Also joining us was fellow member of the <em>Ain't Got No Time (Rock and Blues) Band </em>Eric Rosander!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">Eric brought his upright bass as well as his electric to help create some shuffling...as well as some intense rocking music over two days at Sacramento's Pus Cavern Recording Studio.</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I also had a surprise guest on vocals for <em>My Sweet Angel:</em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;"><em><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/1ad63f97d65ec431036afd3bd24092dc3103c90a/original/img-1062.jpeg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MjA0OHgxNTM2Il0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="1536" width="2048" /><br><br></em></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I needed another voice to add to the background vocals in a ballad I had written. In it I refer and use lyrics by one of my inspirations, Jimi Hendrix, and it seemed oddly empty with just my voice. My daughter Abbi agreed to come in and fill in that gap, and strapped in to sing for me! When she finished, Joe Johnston said "You got it in one take!" To which Abbi confidently told him "not my first rodeo!"</p>
<p style="text-align: left;">I am desperately close to completion on the record! I will let you know updates as they come!</p>
<p style="text-align: left;"> </p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372442019-04-10T17:00:00-07:002019-04-11T09:53:54-07:00Hitting the Studio Again!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/817b89c0a0b50551f0b9faf6505be5c4b40f592e/original/img-6586-1.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MTUweDE1MCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="150" style="vertical-align: middle;" width="150" /></p>
<p><em><strong>Hitting the Studio Again!!!</strong></em></p>
<p>I'm going into the studio again April 17th and 18th (2019) in order to continue the long process of finishing my solo album.</p>
<p>Tentatively titled "When the Giants Fell", the album will hopefully be out end of 2019 or early 2020! The plan is to complete 4 tracks including the title song!</p>
<p>Joining me will be Eric Rosander, from the "Ain't Got No Time (Rock and Blues) Band" on bass...as well as Chris Amarall, the drummer from the band "The Nickel Slots" and "Cretins Castle". </p>
<p>Rehearsals have gone exceptionally well...expect updates as they come!</p>
<p> </p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372432017-06-25T17:00:00-07:002017-06-26T05:03:54-07:00Give 'Em the Finger
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/d43e96f3ce5804557540f0d4b13f553d66939d1f/original/img-1276.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAyNHgzMDI0Il0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="3024" width="3024" /></p>
<p>I got an email recently asking the status of the solo LP, and when I think it might get released.</p>
<p>Well . . . it isn't just a matter of funds, or time, or any of the other sundry single dad reasons you normally have for procrastinating things like this. I, put simply, can't play the guitar at the moment. Haven't been able for awhile.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/68f6d4ff21679113e79355eb06ea2c85f6c6ef81/original/img-0695.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzMzOHgzMDI0Il0%3D.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="3024" width="3338" /></p>
<p>It actually started here . . . months ago. I was recording a cover tune for an annual video I do for my family. I played a little too hard, too long, and my finger started to bleed. All over my Fender Stratocaster. I bandaged my finger up, limped through the rest of the recording session, and moved on.</p>
<p>Except my finger didn't move on.</p>
<p>It never healed. It got infected, somehow, and I went through an entire course of antibiotics and antibiotic cream and what have you. Then it just didn't heal right. It started growing cells kind of out of control and hurting and it just was a mess.</p>
<p>Which then led to the very first picture up there . . . the giant middle finger (not giving you the middle finger, bear with me). I had to have surgery on my hand, a big chunk of that finger cut out, stitches, and now weeks and weeks of recovery. That will be followed by weeks and weeks of building the strength in that hand and those fingers. </p>
<p>We have an August fundraiser that we are playing and it worries me to no end. I am also determined to finish the record, though I don't know when that will happen. Hoping to get demos for the remaining 8 or so tracks completed sometime after August.</p>
<p>So for those of you listening, THANK YOU!!! For those wondering, yes, I'm still planning to complete this project. I just have to be able to play the guitar to do it.</p>
<p>Dave</p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372422017-05-28T17:00:00-07:002017-05-29T07:11:29-07:00Listen to the Music
<p>Every year, on the anniversary of my wife's passing, I got together with the kids - yes, all four of them - and put together a video commemorating the last year. It always had the memory of their mother in there with it. The first year, being honest, was sad. We were still wondering what had happened to our lives. The second was angry, as many people came to us looking for help to process their own grief when, two years in, it was still fresh for us. The third looked at where we were going. Frankly, I thought we couldn't do much more than that so we skipped a time of doing it.</p>
<p>Then this year my kids asked to do it again, at least one more video. We came to the conclusion that we never would have made it this far alone. We asked all the people who helped us - those willing, anyway - to record a video on their iPhones of themselves singing along to the chorus of a song. We used one I sang as a kid and my kids sang as well, an old Doobie Brothers song called <em>Listen to the Music.</em> I coaxed my middle daughter, Hannah, to sing along. Then we put all the people who helped us into the video as well. I think the result is pretty amazing!</p>
<p>Hope you enjoy it:</p>
<p></p>
<div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><div class="video responsive"><div class="video-container"><iframe frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GFup5HmVD-M" width="425" class="wrapped wrapped"></iframe></div></div></div></div>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372412016-05-10T17:00:00-07:002016-05-11T10:08:44-07:00The Influencers . . .
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/52eb6e8522742122b8a51ba9aa4ea2952e82b888/original/when-the-morning-comes-cover.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NjAweDYwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="600" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="600" /></p>
<p>I have gotten a lot of questions in the last few weeks that center around who influenced that first single?</p>
<p>Initially? It was my late wife, as I was very sad and it caused me to write the lyrics. But a few other people, whose lives encountered mine and showed me how good life is and can be were influential in giving it that touch of a hopeful feel.</p>
<p>But musically? One big one that seems to come up often is <em>The Eagles.</em></p>
<p>I actually had never even thought of them when writing the song, but the comparison is certainly there. I do believe it's the harmonies in the track that get the obvious comparison. I wish I could say I was like Pete Townshend or Phil Collins who wrote their songs, recorded demos at home and they were <em>SO </em>perfect that a record company grabbed them and simply put them to acetate and moved on from there.</p>
<p>HOWEVER . . . </p>
<p>That was not the case.</p>
<p>Those amazing backup vocals . . .a veritable choir of voices . . . is actually the work of two amazing individuals, Matt Retz and Eric Rosander; the other guitarist and bass player, respectively. When we were rehearsing the pieces they asked if I heard harmonies and I certainly did. I did not ever dream they would come out as amazing as these and this was simply because they know what they are doing. It was not my arrangement it was theirs. Those vocals seem more choral than country, but they fit perfectly. It's like a an almost-gospel-choir is singing with me.</p>
<p>But the influences . . . that's a whole other ballgame.</p>
<p>One of the early possibilities is the second <em>Black Crowes </em>album: <em>Southern Harmony and Musical Companion</em>. The arrangement and the sentiment seem to fit there very well.</p>
<p>I wrote the rhythm line, though, after a long course of listening to John Hiatt songs, though my lyrics are never as clever and perfect as John's are. I wish they were.</p>
<p>The addition of the acoustic guitar was something I had put in demos but when we went into the studio it had not been the inclination. It was an all-electric song. When I went in to record the acoustic as an experiment it made sense to remove the electric at the beginning and end and let the song get a far more emotional feel. It was what it needed. </p>
<p>The last influence comes in that guitar solo. Using my <em>Fender Squier Artist Series Esprit </em>I had the Les Paul-meets-Robben Ford tone going through a 50 Watt Marshall. </p>
<p>As Matt Retz put it: "that's a total Dickey Betts line there!" He's right, too. Listening to older Allman Brothers and going into the era with <em>Brothers and Sisters </em>it's hard not to use that descending line because it's just perfect for the song. It brings the whole thing to a crescendo where it peaks and then diminishes.</p>
<p>That build to a high pitch, like the solo and song are a story within a story, is the last influence: Derek Trucks. I've seen him onstage and have all his records and those with his wife, Susan Tedeschi. Like Eric Clapton, his guitar solos themselves are songs within songs, telling a story. Using lines from Dickey Betts and structure from Derek Trucks, in hindsight, is what makes the solo such a short but powerful statement as the song descends to its closing lines and harmonies.</p>
<p>So there you have it . . . bet you never figured so much would go into a 4 minute song did you?</p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372402016-05-09T17:00:00-07:002022-03-03T23:10:00-08:00The Gear...part Two!
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/2cef8684e581d50cac729558c112a2c4f59f3801/original/img-6674.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDUzMyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="533" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></p>
<p>In 1989 or 1990 (I forget which, call it lapses in the synapses) I had had enough of the cheap guitars and fighting with the tuning machines and intonation of my guitar. I had bought a used 1985 Fender Stratocaster as my first guitar and it served me very, very well. But I wanted another guitar; an expensive guitar; a guitar like my idol played.</p>
<p>I wanted a Fender Eric Clapton model Stratocaster.</p>
<p>I also wanted it in bright green. I like green. Sue me.</p>
<p>To quote Dr. Seuss: "I looked around but since (green EC Strat's) are scarce there were none to be found."<br>So I drove the 2 1/2 hours or so to Kansas City to buy one. At the time I'd saved up every penny from every gig I had ever played in order to afford it. Even then . . . they were expensive.</p>
<p>This isn't that guitar.</p>
<p>Never mind, at first, that the dealership said it didn't come with a case (they were wrong, I knew better) or that they'd sold the tweed case (which still pisses me off) but they gave me a hard plastic one that I still have. They had emblazoned their infernal logo on the case and riveted it there permanently.</p>
<p>A couple weeks in my bass player tripped on my stand and the Strat fell face-first, rather non-dramatically onto the floor. A fall of about 3 inches.</p>
<p>The neck split on the joint to the body along the grain.</p>
<p>I had seen Stevie Ray Vaughan lift himself up by the neck of his guitar on a stage. I had seen Hendrix burn one and then play it again. I had seen far worse with far fewer dings and mine was a mess.</p>
<p>The dealership in Kansas City wouldn't take it back or offer to fix it, either.</p>
<p>So I called Fender up. </p>
<p>Unbeknownst to me I was speaking with a guy on the other end that was not, as I suspected, in customer service. The operator had actually transferred me to one of the luthiers in the Custom Shop. He asked the name of the dealership (who I heard later got reamed for their customer service) and asked me to send him the guitar. In a couple weeks he informed me that the design had an issue . . . too much pressure was being applied to the neck due to a routing error on the body. They fixed it on the saw and he had a body from 1988, a neck from 1989 and then, ultimately, a new body from 1990. </p>
<p>And it came back a Custom Shop Stratocaster. In green, of course.</p>
<p>My older brother, having seen it, affectionately named the guitar "Dot" after the big dot on the green 7-Up cans. The name stuck</p>
<p>Dot has been my go-to guitar since then. 26 years now. Lasted longer than my marriage (not divorced, she passed away at year 18) and older than all my kids. </p>
<p>Dot plays prominently in the sessions that led to the first single, "When the Morning Comes" and will be featured heavily in the next single due soon: "How Much More?"</p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372392016-05-01T17:00:00-07:002016-05-02T06:24:57-07:00The Gear...part One
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/5962aa4a247ad6032d3edc710861ae892b96c075/original/img-2598.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDIyNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="225" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></p>
<p>Since the first single was released on April 22nd (2016), I decided you should get to know the gear that is dear to my heart. All that I'm profiling here is what's been used in the recording so far.</p>
<p>Part one, you see, is my 2005 Squier Master Series Esprit, built by Fender. It was designed by one of the Fender Custom Shop artists, to my knowledge, it was only built for a few years. It is, essentially, a working-class version of the Fender <em>Robben Ford </em>model guitar. I have always loved Ford's tone, and since I cannot afford a Dumble amplifier (if you don't know what those are, suffice to say you'd have to have Warren Buffett money to afford one) I always wanted a Ford model.</p>
<p>However . . . the Squier offered a few things I favored over the more expensive models:<br>It didn't have the jumbo Les Paul style frets, though they're larger than a standard Stratocaster's. The chambered body is the same as the Ford's and the neck feels far more like a Strat even tough it's glued on and not bolted.</p>
<p>So why, if you're not a musician, should you care?</p>
<p>Tone, my friends. Quite frankly, I used this for the rhythm for a forthcoming track . . . and it's the tone for the solo for <em>When the Morning Comes. </em>The combination of this guitar through a 50 Watt Marshall amplifier is almost pure Allman Brothers tone. </p>
<p>When I bought this, it was one of 2. The other had a different finish, was red, and that one . . . just didn't sound very good.</p>
<p>This one, though, was amazing. </p>
<p>The pickups - the things that capture sound - were decent but not great. I ordered a pair from Lindy Frailin that made this thing sing. </p>
<p>When I went into the studio with the <em>Ain't Got No Time (Rock and Blues) Band </em>I knew this had to be the guitar to do the solo for the first song.</p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372382016-04-20T17:00:00-07:002016-04-21T04:32:05-07:00Ain't Got No Time (Rock and Blues) Band
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/a0b8575a1e44eb110704d74697aa49fcc1a528e0/original/agntb.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6OTYweDc4NSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="785" width="960" /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>The Ain't Got No Time (Rock and Blues) Band</strong></em></h2>
<p>Considering that my first single comes out tomorrow, April 22nd, as of this writing . . . I thought there was a very important group of people you should meet.</p>
<p>None, and I do mean <em><strong>none</strong></em><strong> </strong>of this would be possible without the help of one of the most talented group of musicians I have ever met.</p>
<p>Frankly, this entire project has taken on a flavor and inspiration that propelled it far beyond anything I had anticipated and it's all because of their help.</p>
<p>A few years ago, Matt Retz, who is the other guitarist, vocalist, and just extraordinary friend - like all of them - sent a message to the rest of us and basically said we were in a band together. No question, no choice, just performing. The reasoning was we all liked to play and we all had very small egos and we all loved music for music's sake. </p>
<p>Given that none of us ever had the time to do much of anything the name was a given: <em>The Ain't Got No Time (rock and blues) Band.</em></p>
<p>When I finally reached a point where I'd healed, written, and gotten the drive to make this material into my own record I asked all four of the other members if they would mind being the backing band for this. None of them blinked an eye they simply said "yes". </p>
<p>So without further ado let me introduce you to the amazing people who helped me make this possible:</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/f5991629cf7952cad6a629b1ac66094394bb35bf/original/img-6569-1.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NDAweDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="300" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></p>
<p>Matt Retz is a guitarist and singer and more or less helped me produce this record. As did the others, for sure, but Matt took a pivotal role in helping get vocals and everything together. It was his arrangements that make such a beautiful addition to the song. They, frankly, make the song!</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/bf8fa7fe44f280138f19b1440839bba77701e0fc/original/img-6543-1.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDIyNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="225" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></p>
<p>Kevin Mooney is the percussionist and he has an ear for it. Where we were working for a specific drum tone, Kevin knew how his kit would sound, how it should sound, and what needed to happen to get the backing rhythm just right. He can play everything from blues to country to straight rock and does it with aplomb.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/4ef3bc80c1899f63d67902cc0b8d47b86d34de84/original/img-6585.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDMwMCJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="300" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></p>
<p>Eric Rosander is the bassist and vocalist. He also plays upright bass, sings with an a-capella group, and was also responsible for the amazing backing vocals in this upcoming track. He had no issues when we handed him impossible ideas for bass lines as he just tore through them like it was no big deal. Add his vocals and co-arrangements and it's a pretty damn amazing addition to this track.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/f14d2121744f5677c05ff46626c949d187bace96/original/img-0752-1.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDE2OSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="169" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></p>
<p>Rob Sabino might just be our ringer.<br>He had years as a studio musician and every time we see him we drag out of him another musician who he played with and recorded. From Bowie to Jagger to Paul Simon and Madonna. He helped Matt, Eric and I with arrangements. He is one of those people who you can just call out the chord change and he makes it sound like he played it for 10 years.</p>
<p>You can see, then, why I love these guys and why they were the only people I asked to do this with.</p>
<p>The result comes out tomorrow, April 22nd, and I'm insanely proud of it. Please...give it a listen, and help me thank these amazing guys for their work!</p>
<p>Dave</p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372372016-04-11T17:00:00-07:002016-04-12T04:31:30-07:00The First Single
<p><a href="http://our-story-begins.com/?attachment_id=25939" rel="attachment wp-att-25939" data-imported="1"><img src="https://ourstorybeginsdotcom.files.wordpress.com/2016/04/img_6636-1.jpg?w=300" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="IMG_6636 (1)" height="300" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></a></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><em>When the Morning Comes</em></h2>
<p>I decided, after much deliberation and fretting and sweating and stress, that the first single from our recording session should come out. This even though we're still in the process of rehearsing and recording the rest of my record.</p>
<p>Why?</p>
<p>Because I . . . and frankly all the musicians in the <em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/AGNTBB/?fref=ts" target="_blank" data-imported="1">Ain't Got No time (Rock and Blues) Band </a></em>were moved by the results. That's not something happens all the time. The mixture of the acoustic guitar along with the beautiful vocals that Matt Retz and Eric Rosander arranged for the tune were so stirring I felt that the time was right to release it.</p>
<p><em>When the Morning Comes </em>will be the first single, released April 22nd in iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, YouTube Music, iHeart Radio, whatever the hell that thing Jay-Z and Beyonce have is called . . . hell I'll beam it to Pluto so the aliens can broadcast it to the computer chip in your fillings if you want. </p>
<p>So let me regale you with the background of this song, if you will.</p>
<p>I came up with two lines in the very beginning, and that was some time ago, not long after losing my wife, Andrea. She passed away on March 26th, 2011.</p>
<p><em>I'm broken and bent, beat down 'cause I spent my time fighting my battles of the heart.</em></p>
<p>I also had the chorus:</p>
<p><em>I see the moon...rising in the midnight sky, I see your headlights as you pass me by.<br></em><em>Though I wait here for you you've left me behind</em></p>
<p>Some years later the aching and pain started to fade and were replaced with some yearning. Not for who I lost but for wanting to find someone else. When that came I realized that meeting, seeing, hearing someone new was just as exciting and lovely as what I had. So the last line of the chorus just fell into place:<br><em>And she'll be here when the morning comes</em></p>
<p>The song is about loss, about love, and about the drive and enjoyment of moving ahead. Sometimes you lose and you never recover. Sometimes . . . life catches you by surprise.</p>
<p>This project...it's just such a personal one, and as a musician that's what you want, I suppose. You grab deep into your soul, find themes that are universal, and bring them to the fore. You don't have to lose someone . . . we all have had breakups, arguments, divorce, loss takes all forms and faces. I feel like this song could apply in so many ways.</p>
<p>My colleagues and fellow musicians say they can hear so many of my influences, from the <em>Allman Brothers Band </em>(particularly in the guitar solo) to <em>The Black Crowes </em>to <em>The Eagles </em>(particularly in the harmonies). In the end, though, that combination of all of those makes this uniquely our own creation.</p>
<p>April 22nd the song drops. I hope you are touched by it as much as we were.</p>
<p> </p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheritag:davemanoucheriguitarist.com,2005:Post/61372362016-04-10T17:00:00-07:002016-04-11T03:20:43-07:00On the Dot
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/2cef8684e581d50cac729558c112a2c4f59f3801/original/img-6674.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NTAweDY2NyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="667" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="500" /></p>
<h2 style="text-align: center;"><em><strong>On the Dot</strong></em></h2>
<p><em><strong><br></strong></em>I have someone in my life that has been there longer than most.</p>
<p>It's my green <em>Fender </em>Eric Clapton model Stratocaster</p>
<p>You might think this is an odd thing to write about, a gearhead kind of thing that only musicians will care about but bear with me, there's far more to the story than you think.</p>
<p>There is a lot behind this guitar. She's my pride and joy and her name is Dot.</p>
<p>This goes back years . . . to roughly 1989 or 1990. I spent every gig, nearly every week, saving my money and squirreling it away in the hopes that I could save enough to get the same guitar and - hopefully - tone as my idol, Eric Clapton. Slowhand himself.</p>
<p>No one in Omaha, Nebraska had an EC Strat in-stock so I found a dealer in Kansas City, drove down to Quigley Music there, and found one. A bright green one. At the time it cost more money than almost any other new Stratocaster, and because it was green it had sat on the shelf for over a year.</p>
<p>Now...I like green so this was perfect for me. I bought Dot and drove back home, the nearly 3 hour drive, and was thoroughly excited to use it on my next gig.</p>
<p>First gig was with the band <em>Drastic Measures,</em> who in my bio I list as having had the dubious distinction of opening for Foghat. (They still owe us after what was one of the worst gigs . . . ever . . . and they stiffed us. After being total d**ks to us. Can't listen to them ever. Those scars run deep, man) Prior to said in-distinction I had the green EC. My bass player stepped on my guitar stand and she tumbled forward.</p>
<p>Now . . . bear in mind . . . I have seen Hendrix set a Strat on fire and still play it. Stevie Ray Vaughan stood on the body and lifted himself up by the neck and threw it in the air. None of that made a difference other than cosmetic dents.</p>
<p>Mine . . . after a soft little fall face-first onto the stage . . . was un-playable.</p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/0293263f16e9a92396527eff1119bd6e2f709a52/original/img-6676.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6MzAweDIyNSJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="225" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></p>
<p>The neck, seen here attached to the body, had a hairline split right along the grain of the wood. It should never have happened.</p>
<p>I called Quigley, a mere couple weeks after my purchase, and they said "not our problem. It's your own fault." That short, that rude. Never mind that Dot was supposed to have a tweed case and they claimed it never came with one, just the cheaper, molded plastic they didn't even want to give me . . . for the exorbitant amount of money I paid.</p>
<p>Dejected, I eventually typed a letter (yes...this was an era where we <em>still </em>used typewriters) to Fender and asked them what to do. Then one day, at my desk at work, I got a call. I believe his name was Alex Ramirez, and he wanted to know what happened. I told him the accident on stage and he simply said "well . . . that shouldn't have happened." When I told him what the dealership said he asked "what was the dealership's name? I need to have a talk with them!"</p>
<p>I boxed up the guitar and shipped it to California to Alex's attention. It took a couple weeks . . . but he called again and told me what had happened.</p>
<p>Apparently, the EC's from that year had some sort of design or routing problem. The neck joint was just enough off-center it putt a tremendous amount of stress on the neck. They adjusted the design because of my EC. I had electronics from 1988...they had grabbed a new neck for me, which was at the end of 1989 I believe, and then by 1990 had the body.<br>"What color do you want," he asked me . . . and of course I said green.</p>
<p>It wasn't until much later that I came to know that Alex worked in the Fender Custom Shop. He basically built a new custom shop EC Strat for me and shipped it back. Someone from Quigley tried calling not long after I got the EC back...I hung up on them.</p>
<p>When I had it back, my older brother was visiting and saw the guitar.<br>"It's, like, 7-Up green," he told me. "Like the stuff with the dot on the commercials." At that point 7-Up had a long commercial campaign with the red Dot on a green background and it may even have worn sunglasses.</p>
<p>We named the well-worn, mongrel Stratocaster "Dot" in that honor. She has been called that ever since.</p>
<p>Dot is my go-to guitar. I have another EC, a black one, and several others. I had girlfriends, was married, and she since passed away. But nothing has been with me longer than Dot. </p>
<p>She'll always be my girl, I suppose. </p>
<p><img src="//d10j3mvrs1suex.cloudfront.net/u/398243/bee14c768f08a0dcf5b0d0e3295b19584b5a1f84/original/img-0729.jpg/!!/b%3AWyJyZXNpemU6NzAweDM5MyJd.jpg" class="size_orig justify_inline border_" alt="" height="393" width="700" /></p>
The Amalgamated Rock and Roll Website of Dave Manoucheri