SubscribeStar Saturday: Lounge Gig Review

31 August 202425 August 2024 The Portly Politico2 Comments

Today’s post is a SubscribeStar Saturday exclusive. To read the full post, subscribe to my SubscribeStar page for $1 a month or more. For a full rundown of everything your subscription gets, click here.

On Friday, 23 August 2024, my friend Sarah and I performed a show to celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday. Sarah selected tunes performed by Adele and Linda Ronstadt, the two artists who have had the most profound influence on her own singing and musical tastes.

We’d been rehearsing all summer to play a small program of eight songs—four Adele, four Ronstadt, mixed up with each other—for the partygoers. Sarah wanted to capture a real 1970s piano lounge vibe, and even asked guests to dress up in cocktail dresses and suits.

Naturally, yours portly had to lean into this vibe with a pink velvet tuxedo:

It helped that I already owned that outrageous paisley shirt. Here’s me right after showering, my hair still wet:

I love how I look like a gay choir director in that second picture.

Questionable sartorial choices aside, the concert itself was a smashing success.

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Lazy Sunday CCLXXVI: Music Stuff

25 August 202423 August 2024 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

This past week was a musical one for yours portly, so I decided to dedicate today’s Lazy Sunday to some recent music posts:

“Midweek Composing Updates” – a quick update on some musical projects I have in the works.
“Gig Day X: An Evening with Adele and Ronstadt” – a preview of a gig I played with my friend Sarah to celebrate her twenty-fifth birthday.
“SubscribeStar Saturday: Composing ‘Ötzi’” (SubscribeStar) – a preview of a new piece about the legendary ice man.

Happy Sunday—and Happy Listening!

—TPP

Other Lazy Sunday Installments:

Open Mic Adventures XCI: “Tu Me Manques”

6 August 202431 July 2024 The Portly Politico8 Comments

Yours portly has been composing a ton of instrumental music over the past year (ten releases since 1 September 2023: Spooky Season, Spooky Season II: Rise of the Cryptids, Leftovers, Firefly Dance, Epistemology, Leftovers II, Four Mages, Advanced Funkification, Heptadic Structure, and White Boy Summer), but my songwriting has lain fallow for some years now. As far as I can tell from my records, the last song I wrote to completion was back in 2019. D’oh!

So I finally sat down this past weekend and hammered a new song, “Tu Me Manques”; it translates to “I miss you” in French, but the literal translation is “you are missing from me”—far more poetic. I took that concept and wrote this 1970s-style piano ballad, with liberal use of common French phrases.

Live Music Public Service Announcement: Don’t Ask for a Recording

27 September 202323 September 2023 The Portly Politico10 Comments

Yesterday I shared video of a live performance of my song “Hipster Girl Next Door” with an extended, absurd, frequently sloppy medley of songs tossed on at the end(s). It was great fun, even though I mixed up the lyrics to my own song!

Before the gig, regular reader and contributor Ponty asked if I’d be recording the performance. Ponty lives in Merry Olde England, so obviously could not make it to the performance here in these United States. I was happy to oblige my Anglo-Saxon friend, but I must explain a somewhat unfortunate, visceral reaction I had initially upon reading the request (disclaimer: Ponty, I am not upset at you. —TPP).

I hate it when people ask me “will the performance be recorded?” (with the exception of Ponty, who, again, lives in England, or Audre, neither of whom I would ever expect to travel to hear me play sloppy cover songs in a coffee shop). I imagine if you ask most small-time indie musicians, they’ll confess to the same sentiment. For me, it boils down to two things:

1.) You’re clearly indicating that you have no intention of even attempting to make it out to hear me play live.

2.) You’re asking me to perform extra work to record a video of a performance you have no interest in attending, and you’re probably not going to watch the video anyway.

Again, there are exceptions: people who live abroad/far away (Ponty, Audre, readers of this blog more than thirty minutes away), parents of school children for school performances (parents want recordings for grandparents and family members who live far away, or because work won’t allow them to attend a performance), and the like.

But it kills me when locals ask for a recording.

Open Mic Adventures XLIX: Sloppy “Hipster Girl Next Door” Medley

26 September 202323 September 2023 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

This past Friday, 22 September 2023, I played a gig at a local coffee shop with my buddy John. I was recovering from a sinus infection, but through a combination of cough drops, water, and tea, I soldiered through and managed to hit quite a few high notes—woooooot! It also helped having John there to carry lead vocals on several tunes.

It was a sloppy performance on my end—I mixed up the lyrics to a song I have been singing for eleven years!—but I’m chalking that up to the sinus congestion and my slowly diminishing mental faculties. The result, regardless, was an absurd, self-indulgent, over-the-top, ridiculous, long closing number to a very fun show.

Gig Day VIII: Tickling the Ivories

22 September 202317 September 2023 The Portly Politico6 Comments

Tonight, for the first time in awhile, I’ll be playing a solo gig at a local coffee shop in Darlington, South Carolina. I’m looking forward to stretching out these stubby fingers and doing some soft rockin’.

Well, it won’t be entirely solo: my buddy John will be joining me on a number of songs. His gorgeous twelve-string guitar and his capable backing vocals add a great deal of depth and texture to my tunes, so I’m glad he’ll be joining me.

Open Mic Adventures XL: “Parada”

25 July 202324 July 2023 The Portly Politico10 Comments

I’ve just got a couple of more open mic nights before I get into my school year schedule and become a slave to the grind, but I’m going to do my best to keep pumping out the goods. This time in two weeks, I hope to have a new song uploaded for your delectation; stay tuned.

In the meantime, I’m continuing my deep dive into my obscure deep cuts, songs that I’ve never managed to get recorded in a studio. Some of these songs are very good; some need some polish. Whatever the case, I’m realizing that I have enough material for another EP, and I might need to get back into the studio.

This week’s feature is “Parada.” I wrote “Parada” in 2015 during a particularly fertile period of open mic attendance. The Spanish word “parada” roughly translates to “stop” or “bus stop/station” in English. I wanted to capture the notion of lingering in a moment—stopping a poignant moment in time, trying to freeze it in place as long as possible.

SubscribeStar Saturday: Spooktacular 2022 Preview

8 October 20227 October 2022 The Portly PoliticoLeave a comment

The Spooktacular—my annual Halloween concert—returns in one week, on Saturday, 15 October 2022. Since 2020—during the height of The Age of The Virus—I’ve hosted this annual celebration of musical spookiness (and spooky musicality) from my front porch. It’s worked pretty well, and even spawned a published piece in Self-Reliance, so why mess with success? We’re back on the front porch again.

I am adding one innovation, though, one that worked quite well with the TJC Spring Jam earlier this year: like the Spring Jam, I’m turning the Spooktacular into a recital. My buddy John and I will still play some tunes, and we’ll invite the kids up to play with us on “Monster Mash” and KISS’s “I Was Made for Lovin’ You,” but the opening segment of the Spooktacular will feature my private music students. Indeed, it’s an open invitation to anyone who wants to play a tune—come on out!

Of course, I’ll be working hard this weekend to get the house prepared for the Spooktacular—and to remind folks about it! There are many little tasks to complete and items, large and small, to prepare, both to give everyone a fun time, and to squeeze some buckaroos out of the event.

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TBT: The Frisson of the Night

15 September 202212 September 2022 The Portly Politico1 Comment

The night has always been a time of excitement, a time when—as I wrote a year ago—music “lives.” There’s something exhilarating and fun about the night, which is why I chose the word “frisson” to convey the tantalizing possibilities of the night.

I’m more of a morning person these days, rising early, well before the dawn. Well, isn’t that just another way of saying “the late, late night”? There’s not much exciting happening at 5 AM (other than reading the Bible and talking to God), but it’s still pretty dark out. Try waking up then and you’ll see!

Still, there is a real appeal to the night. I’m at my most alert and mentally focused in the morning and—you guessed it—at night. Afternoons would be naptime for yours portly, if I had my druthers—and a schedule that permitted it.

Regardless, night is when everything interesting happens. It’s the time when things go bump. It’s probably when Bigfoot comes out to play, too.

With that, here is 15 September 2021’s “The Frisson of the Night“:

Open Mic Adventures VII: “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes”

13 September 202212 September 2022 The Portly Politico1 Comment

It’s been a few weeks since I’ve been able to make it out to open mic night, but I’ve built up enough of a back catalog, I still have some goodies to share.

My schedule has been bonkers lately, especially with lessons, and interim reports are due this week. I’ve also been on the road a great deal lately, so everything is a bit tight at the moment.

Fortunately, I have a real gem for your listening pleasure this week: a cover of “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” by Crosby, Stills & Nash.

The Portly Politico

One Southerner's unique, erudite, conservative perspective in a hectic world

Tag: live music