The Bean Counter (05.12.12)

Ah, real life. I remember you, with your bright lights and crosswalks. Your PA systems and guitar cases and cables. It had been far too long since I performed in the flesh, so I scheduled a semi-random Saturday afternoon show at my local coffee place, The Bean Counter here in Redondo Beach, CA.

In one aspect, I could sit here and complain about the show. First, we were supposed to do a simulcast on Ustream, but time after time, the Ustream servers kept losing the connection. We stopped bothering with it after awhile. Second, even for a Saturday, the Bean Counter was unusually quiet that day, so we only had a small crowd there during the show. However, none of that matters. We all had fun, and it was actually a great way to dip my toe back in the pool of live in-person performances.

The set was completely random; I'd intended on putting together more of a specific set list well in advance of the show, but I decided instead to just grab my entire massive stack of lyrics, and make it an impromptu performance instead.

Set List for The Bean Counter...
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
Ziggy Stardust (David Bowie)
While My Guitar Gently Weeps (Beatles)
Losing My Religion (R.E.M.)
Jane (Barenaked Ladies)
For the Turnstiles (Neil Young)
Sour Girl (Stone Temple Pilots)
About a Girl (Nirvana)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Landslide (Fleetwood Mac)
Ashes to Ashes (David Bowie)
Oh Susannah (Traditional, arr. Zak Claxton)
Here Comes the Sun (Beatles)
Old Man (Neil Young)
Tangled Up In Blue (Bob Dylan)

I ended up playing for over an hour and I'm really glad I did. I can pretty much guarantee you that I'll be doing some more live shows in the near future. Meanwhile, enjoy the video that Kat shot of me doing "Falling Down" at the Bean Counter below.

Molaskey's Pub (05.10.12)

While my first show back after my six-week illness hiatus was on April 26, and my second show was on April 29, both of those shows were special fundraising events, and both had me being tentative about my singing voice. Last night at Molaskey's Pub in Second Life was the first show back where a) it was a regular old Zak Show, and b) I felt confident enough to tackle more of my typical repertoire.

As is typical for any weeknight show at 6PM, it's not easy to scare up a crowd. But as usual at Molaskey's, by the time I was a couple of tunes in, we had a nice-sized audience of fun and cool people. I felt great; it had been way too long since I was able to do a performance that I was really happy with, and everything really came together well. Also, it had been way too long since I was able to do some of my own tunes in my higher singing register, so pulling out songs like "Broken Day" and "Perfect Girl" for the first time in a couple of months really made me appreciate being able to sing again.

I finally remembered to put on my SL harmonica that Kat bought for me. Getting even closer to reality. Photo by Kat.

Molaskey's is such a great place to put on a show, for performers and audiences alike. Photo by Kat.

Speaking of songs, I also did a couple of premieres: it was the first time ever that I did my arrangement of "Oh Susannah" live, and I followed it with a Zeppelin song that I'd never bothered even learning until a couple of nights ago.

Molaskey's Pub Set List...
Broken Day (Zak Claxton)
California (Joni Mitchell)
You're Like a Cloud (Zak Claxton)
*Oh Susannah (Traditional; arr, by Zak Claxton)
*Friends (Led Zeppelin)
Shine (Zak Claxton)
I Am A Child (Neil Young)
Fade Away (Zak Claxton)
You've Got To Hide your Love Away (Beatles)
The Man Who Sold the World (David Bowie)
Perfect Girl (Zak Claxton)
Wish You Were Here (Pink Floyd)
Tribute (Tenacious D)

*Indicates my first-ever performance of this song in SL.

Massive thanks to all who came out to the show, especially those who helped support it!
Phobe Cazalet, Kat Claxton, Sesh Kamachi, Magnalov, Diana Renoir, Christine Haiku, TheaDee, Thinkerer Melville, Molaskey's terrific hostess team of Stace Silvercloud, Mia Kitchensink, and Cicadetta Stillwater, my manager Maali Beck, and Molaskey's owner Katydid Something!

The Story Behind My "Oh Susannah"

LISTEN NOW

Toward the end of April, while I was getting myself ready for my comeback to live music performance, I had wandered by Thrasher's Wheat, the de facto Neil Young fan site/blog, and saw something interesting. I knew that Neil had just recorded a new album with Crazy Horse to be released rather soon, and that the album was comprised of classic American songs (hence the title Americana). What I didn't know was that Neil had put together a contest for people to cover one of these tunes.

Now, I'm not a contest kind of guy. In fact, on an overall basis, I don't believe that music should ever be judged as a competition. But just for fun, I took a look at the list of eligible songs that could be covered. The choices were as follows: “Oh Susannah”, “Clementine”, “Tom Dula”, “Gallows Pole”, “Get A Job”, “Travel On”, “High Flyin’ Bird”, “Jesus’ Chariot”, “This Land Is Your Land”, “Wayfarin‘ Stranger”, and “God Save The Queen”.

Obviously, there are a ton of true classics in there. In narrowing the list to one I thought I could do well, the problem was that there are so many great definitive versions of these tunes to the point that I felt it would be pointless to cover them again. Johnny Cash did an amazing “Wayfarin‘ Stranger”, while Zeppelin's “Gallows Pole” and the Kingston Trio's “Tom Dula” are both superb. There are many more examples I could cite, and it wasn't going to be worthwhile doing unless I could bring something new and cool to the party. I didn't have much interest in most of the other tunes, but then I thought about what could be done with a song as open, honest, and simple as "Oh Susannah". Hmm.

LISTEN NOW

Old Song... New Direction
I knew that Neil, when performing the song as he's done occasionally, used an arrangement from 1963 that was originally done by a folk outfit called The Big Three (singer Cass Elliot, banjo player Tim Rose and guitarist Jim Hendricks). While it's a gritty and cool version, it wasn't the one that resonated strongly with me. I also knew that I didn't want to do an ultra-traditional rendition per the original 1847 music that Stephen Foster wrote.

I suppose the best way of describing what I did was to take Foster's words and melody (and basic harmonic structure in places), and add them to the type of music and overall vibe that I'd create for one of my own tunes. I don't know that this was a conscious decision; it just kind of happened that way. In fact, heh heh, the whole song just kind of happened. I really didn't plan much; just picked up the guitar and magic came rolling out. I don't know how it happens any more than anyone does.

I created a rough demo and shared it with a few friends. They supported the direction I was going, so I decided to go ahead and record the tune "for real". I mean, what the hell... why not? It was a good reason to get some recording done and give my friends/fans something new to listen to after 2-1/2 years since my last album came out.

LISTEN NOW

How I Did It (For Recording Geeks and Others)
The one thing that I am unable to do well here at Frothy Studios (my home recording setup which is amateurish at best) is record live drums. The problem is not so much that drums are loud; I have cool neighbors. The difficulty is that I'm right on a fairly busy street, and the external noise of brakes squealing, engines revving, kids playing ball, and life in general makes it hard to get good, clean tracks with a bunch of open microphones on drums.

So, having no choice in the matter, the one thing I did non-organically was to program the drums using samples in Pro Tools. I do this in a way that some others don't; I am incredibly tedious with the placement of each drum hit and the velocity at which it's played. Over the previous weekend, I had jotted notes about the final arrangement, and over the next few days when I had spare moments, I'd work on those drum tracks, making sure that everything sounded as natural as a computer drummer could be.

The entire remainder of the recording was done on Saturday May 5. I woke up, showered, had coffee, and then got to it right away. Because I'd used sampled drums, I made sure to layer a good number of acoustic percussion over them to bring back a little of the organic vibe I desired. The basic recording setup for "Oh Susannah" had me using good-quality studio condenser mics into a Groove Tubes Brick tube mic preamp (which is sadly no longer made). From there, it went into my little Mackie mixer (bypassing those preamps), then into my ancient Mbox audio interface, and then into my MacBook Pro and Pro Tools software. Bass and electric guitars were recorded direct through the Brick. In case you really want to geek out audio engineer-style, here's a track list. Unless otherwise indicated, all individual sources were recorded in mono.

1. Drums -- stereo submix
2/3. Acoustic Guitar -- doubled and panned
4. Bass
5. Djembe (hand drum)
6. Tambourine
7. Egg Shaker percussion
8. Glockenspiel (bells)
9. Electric Guitar lead (w/leslie effect)
10. Slide guitar (w/delay effect)
11. Lead Vocal
12. Harmony Vocal
13. Backing Vocal 1
14. Backing Vocal 2
15. Backing Vocal 3
16. Backing Vocal 4

The acoustic guitar was my trusty Martin D-18V, the only high-end piece of gear I used other than the tube preamp. The bass was my Squire P-bass, while the electric guitar was my son's little Squier Strat. You'd be surprised what kind of sounds you can get from cheap guitars if you work at it a little.

LISTEN NOW

How I Sound Like "Me"
My sound, if such a thing exists, is an amalgamation of all the musicians whose music I've loved over my lifetime. On this song, though it certainly wasn't intentional or pre-planned, I think it's pretty obvious that my years spent listening to the Grateful Dead, Joni Mitchell, and Neil himself shine through rather clearly.

Oh Yeah... the Contest
Since the song was inspired by Neil's "Americana" cover contest and it came out pretty good, I went ahead and uploaded it as an entry. You can listen to it any time at the Talenthouse link for now. The actual voting for the contest starts June 5, so while I won't be doing a massive campaign about it, I do hope that some people like it enough to give it a vote. Who knows? Maybe I can win the thing and get some more people exposed to this and my other songs as well. After all, most songwriters only want one thing: to be heard. I'm very appreciative of the folks who have already listened and given me their feedback. It was fun to work on and the result is cool, which is really all I wanted from it. Anything else is just gravy.

Zak Comes Back: My Short Film About Me

What do they tell you in school? "Write what you know."

Well, I know me, probably too well for my own good. That's why I decided to document the time period during which my singing voice was recovering from pneumonia by making a short film about the process. As I mentioned earlier, I started out making what was going to be a video blog, but then remembered that I hate video blogs. So it turned into a little film project. It's not going to win any awards, but it does have some fun moments with my friend Bunny, some whiny introspection about my voice not being where I want it to be at that moment, and a triumphantly happy ending. It also has snippets of a bunch of my songs, so if you like that kind of thing, it's all there.

Give it a watch below, or in HD on YouTube. Enjoy, hopefully.

Key West (04.29.12)

Oh... My... God.

I suppose I should start at the start. Yesterday, I had a special show with my buddy Lyndon Heart, with whom I've been performing dual-streaming shows in Second Life for quite a long time. Key West owner Liz Harley had put together a terrific weekend as a Relay for Life benefit fundraiser. Both Saturday and Sunday, she hosted nine straight hours of musical performances with dual streams. The schedule featured some of SL's coolest musicians performing as duos or even trios via the magic of multi-streaming, where one artist sends his/her stream to another, who then adds their part and sends it into SL. Among many others, the teams of performers included acts like Phemie Alcott & KevinMThomas Carpool, Lexie Luan & Zorch Boomhauer, Maximillion Kleene & Marky Helstein, Voodoo Shilton & Mulder Watts, Frogg Marlowe & Jaycatt Nico, and many more.

Well, having done probably 7-8 shows as a dual-streaming team at this point, Lyndon and I pretty much have this wired. We take turns being "on top" of the stream )i.e., being the one who leads the song, while the other one adds harmony and lead instrument parts), and Lyndon was driving the bus this time. I was concerned right at the start of the show because when Lyndon's stream first came in, it was a distorted mess of sound. However, he did a quick restart and everything was fine... for most of the show.

He'd chosen some cool tunes, many of which I'd never done before (and several of which I'd never even heard before). However, I'm a quick study, and we really didn't have any difficulties with the songs throughout most of the show. We got all the way through to the second-to-last number, "So Into You" by the Atlanta Rhythm Section, when Lyndon's audio stream spontaneously went back into psycho robot mode. Listen to the example below... the first 30 seconds or so show you the previously good-sounding performance we'd been doing when all hell broke loose.

LISTEN: Zak & Lyndon: So Into Robotic Madness

As you can tell in the recording, I started laughing uncontrollably when my musical partner turned into RoboLyndon. I mean, I was hysterical after awhile. I could not stop laughing. Just when I'd get my shit together, I'd start trying to play along and I'd lose it again. As a result of my reaction, the crowd also began rolling with laughter (in a virtual way). Here are some quotes during this moment of craziness:

• Rosa Gardner: Lyndon is no longer able to generate his human form
• Spiral Silverstar: ......and a new genre of music is born!!
• adina46 Magic: He has been captured by alien music lovers
• Phobe Cazalet: Lyndon spilled coffee on his equipment?
• Triana Caldera: it's like lyndon manson
• Noelani Lightfoot: Lyndon acid rock
• Kat Claxton: It's like a Zak Claxton and Number Johnny Five duet!!
• Maali Beck hands Zak a Depends
• still Braveheart: THIS IS SO WORTH JUST HEARING ZAK CRACKING UP
• Grace McDunnough: I have concern for Zak's spleen

When your friends and audience members start expressing worry for one's internal organs, I'd say that's the true mark of an excellent show.

We had a great crowd at this RFL benefit show at Key West. Photo by Kat.

The crowd boogies and makes donations to RFL while Lyndon and I rock, little knowing what insanity is about to befall us. Photo by Kat.

Zak and Lyndon, doing the voodoo that we do so well. Photo by Triana Caldera.

Key West RFL Set List
Stuck In The Middle With You (Stealer's Wheel)
The Joker (Steve Miller)
*I've Just Seen a Face (Beatles)
*Three More Days (Ray LaMontagne)
*Lyndon's Jimi Medley (Jimi Hendrix)
*And It Stoned Me (Van Morrison)
*Home (Marc Broussard)
*Drop Baby Drop (The Mana'o Company)
*I'm A Believer (The Monkees)
*We Are The Ones Who Read As Children (Lyndon Heart/Salome Strangelove)
*I Am So Into You (Atlanta Rhythm Section)
*Back in the USSR (Beatles)

*Indicates the first time I've performed this song in SL

Thank you to everyone who came out and supported Relay for Life, and enjoyed the show! Lyndon and I appreciate all of you!

Relay for Life Fantasy Faire (04.26.12)

I'm trying to imagine how I could be happier after my first live music performance back in Second Life since I came down with the flu and then pneumonia back in mid-March. I suppose a bikini-clad supermodel could have come by during my show with a copy of my Grammy nomination and a tray full of sushi, but apart from that, it went as well as I could have possibly hoped.

I arrived at the 2012 Relay for Life Fantasy Faire pretty early, mostly because I knew it tends to be a bit laggy there and I didn't want to take a half hour to make it to the stage. It was good, since I got to see my friend Rapture Damone performing in the slot before me, and she was playing along with her teenage sons who were on bass and drums. Fun. It was then my turn to get rolling.

I seem to be enjoying myself. Photo by Kat.

My view from the stage at RFL Fantasy Faire. Photo by Kat.

We had a great crowd comprised of extremely generous folks. Photo by Kat.

I told Kat not long ago that I only had one goal with the show performance-wise: I wanted to make it through the hour without my voice giving out on me. I mentioned that it would also be nice to not sound like a giant ball of phlegm trying to sing, and not to feel like I'd run a marathon after a few songs. Well, I have no complaints at all. My singing, while not quite up to the power and range I'd had before my illness, was fine for a typical SL show. I mostly stuck to a repertoire which didn't have me straining for high notes, and as a result, I was able to do a pretty decent job. By the end of the show, I felt confident enough to pull out a song by the Band that I had never done before, dedicating it to its singer Levon Helm, who passed away from cancer just last week.

There was a bigger purpose for this show, of course; it was for Relay for Life, the fundraising arm of the American Cancer Society. I have performed every spring for five consecutive years for this organization, and I managed to beat my record from last year by raising about L$35,000 (aka about $130 USD) during my one-hour set.

2012 RFL Fantasy Faire Set List...
This Afternoon (Zak Claxton)
Polly (Nirvana)
After the Goldrush (Neil Young)
Brain Damage/Eclipse (Pink Floyd)
Things Behind the Sing (Nick Drake)
Always Tomorrow (Zak Claxton)
Blue Skies (Irving Berlin)
Falling Down (Zak Claxton)
Love Hurts (Everly Brothers)
Pink Moon (Nick Drake)
*The Night The Drove Old Dixie Down (The Band)

*Indicates the first time I have performed this song in SL.

Giant thanks to everyone who supported Relay for Life during my show, and throughout the 2012 RFL season. You're all terrific people!

Here I Come, I Come, I Come

Well, loyal readers (I assume you exist), I realized that it was high past time to give you a mini-update on what's happening with me and my music. Despite having had the longest hiatus I've ever taken in recent years from performing live music (six weeks!), there's been quite a bit happening. Since I return to SL this Thursday night with a show at Relay for Life Fantasy Faire (more on that below), it's a good time to also get back on the blog train... choo choo... and throw words at you.

My Short Film
Here's some advice if you ever want to write and direct a short documentary: do it on someone other than yourself! I grew about as sick of me as possible within three days of starting the thing, but I did manage to get some possibly decent stuff, and have continued to add to it as time has gone by. I've decided to have it culminate with my hopefully successful show on Thursday night, and finish editing over the following few days. If all goes well, by early next week, I'll debut it in the usual places.

My New (Yet Very Old) Demo Song
I never enter contests... really. Never. But my old musical inspiration Neil Young is doing a new album with Crazy Horse called "Americana", and as a promotion, he's having people do covers of certain classic American songs. It's not my usual cup of tea, but I got this idea out of the blue to do a Zak-like arrangement of "Oh Susannah". On Sunday, I did a quick demo here at Frothy Studios, and I'm enjoying what I'm hearing so far. I really am not concerned about winning any contests; I just thought it was a cool reason to stretch musically and do something different. I need to wrap up the final recording of the song and submit it by May 7, so you'll be hearing it as well soon enough.

My Return to Performing
It finally happens tomorrow evening. Yesterday afternoon, for the first time since getting sick six weeks ago, I ran through a whole show's worth of tunes... about ten of them, back to back. While I was pretty hoarse after the last one, I made it through, and now feel really good about my show on Thursday, 6PM SLT at Relay for Life Fantasy Faire. It seems appropriate to have an important benefit show mark my return; I tend to put my own worries aside much more when I'm doing something to help someone else. As usual, all the proceeds from the show go to the American Cancer Society, so there aren't many worthier causes.