October 2005
Sunday, Oct 16
Trip to Virgin Falls, Cumberland Plateau.
Eric T., Eric Wooldridge and I left Nashville on Thursday afternoon, and got there well after dark. The plan was to either hike all the way in, or stay at Sheep Cave, depending on the number of vehicles in the parking lot. There was only one, and they were camping by their car, so the pocket wilderness was all ours.
Our moonlighter headlamps made this possible. For those unfamiliar, the moonlighter is an ingenious device, a battery-powered four-LED lamp on a comfortable headband, and the LED's emit light in the same spectrum as moonlight, so it's like having a little full moon on your forehead.
We hiked maybe a mile and a half up to the overlook trail. Eric and I hadn't been there since I first took him there at the age of two. This was Eric W.'s first trip to Virgin Falls. We toyed with the idea of continuing on to the big falls, to come up on them in the dark, but we were so enamored with the overlook that we decided to stay the night.
I took the field recording unit, having found an ideal daypack to fit everything into. I got some ambience that night - the night insect life of warm weather still present, but diminished somewhat by this time of year. Next day, I made many different recordings, performed as general tests of mic, mic pre's, and battery life at 96k. Outdoor material came out okay, but I'm pretty disappointed in the cave interior recordings. I had the Edirol's mic pre's opened up pretty wide, and they're rather noisy. I want to try large-diaphragm mics, and a higher quality portable mic preamp, like the Metric Halo ULN2.
I discovered an unexpected advantage with the Edirol recorder at night; after setting it up on the forest floor a long way from camp, you can walk away in the dark and leave it, knowing that you'll easily find it again, as the unit's generous display gives off an intense little beacon of light way off in the woods. Sort of like a tiny UFO that just landed.
Eric W. took some excellent photos. I've posted the best of them in a separate document, as I've yet to dig up a javascript photo album application from the past. If you're on a dialup connection, be prepared for a long wait. I will soon unearth the app. from the messy remains of our recent move, and make it nice and easy...meanwhile, the photo below is a taste of the trip.
I slept on the little sandy spot in the lower left corner of the picture, so this is where I woke up Friday morning.
Click here for all photos.
Wednesday, Oct 12
The gig was done, the gig was good.
The Cardwell's farm is very cool - several wooden buildings handbuilt by Clayton Cardwell himself. I'm truly impressed.
There are photos, all contained in a separate document because I have other things to do besides creating or copy/pasting any sort of photo album set or application. I suppose in the coming cold months I might come up with a more elegant form of presentation, especially to show the many great photos of a summer '05 England foray, but I'm too preoccupied to pursue it now.
The link below will take you to a handful of photos, shot by Tom the guitarist's brother.
His Boy Elroy - Cardwell's Farm, Oct. 05
Wednesday, Oct 5
"What's that, you're playing out? So you're in a band again?"
"Well, sort of. I got a call back in August, from a fellow I've known off and on for years, like a friend of a friend. He said that they were looking for a percussionist for a little outdoor deal they're doing in October. It would be with his significant other, and two fellows that I briefly played with in the summer after high school. I thought it would be great to play with some people on a one-off situation, and would love to see those other guys again after so many years."
"You're playing drums, or keyboards, or what?"
"Congas. The first two rehearsals, I was playing a pair of small congas that belonged to the couple who'd called me. The congas sat on the floor without a stand or anything. After the second rehearsal, there was still no stand available, so I figured I would take matters into my own hands and facilitate this little adventure myself, and it just so happened that Fork's was having a sale on some pretty good quality congas - buy two, get a third free. Actually, the higher pitched one is called a quinto, the lowest one a tumba, and the middle one is the conga. Semantics, whatever. And with this acquisition, I started an instrument collection for the studio, so two different objectives were accomplished."
"What is this gig?"
"It's some sort of annual outdoor thing on somebody's piece of land, and there are other groups of musicians playing as well...like those full moon festivals, except the moon isn't full, it's waxing crescent right now, I think. Anyway, it's a bunch of players at this big outdoor party...for all I know, it could be a cult thing where the organizers try to steer my mind in a different direction. Just kidding really, and not concerned. The rehearsals have been fun and gratifying, and I think we'll do pretty well. We've worked up five songs."
"Do you have a name?"
"His Boy Elroy."
"Like the Jetsons?"
"Well, there is the obvious connection, but as far as I know, there's no trademark infringement going on. One of the guys came up with it, most of us thought it pretty clever, and we need a name in about forty-eight hours. So away we go."
Sunday, Oct. 2
After leaving Pigeon Forge on Friday morning, I cruised into Smoky Mountain National Park. It was big fun to not be on anyone's schedule, and to have a few hours where no one on earth knew quite where I was. I ended up walking a little over a mile up the Middle Prong trail past the Tremont area, then casually made my way out and drove over to Knoxville via Maryville. (Who were Knox and Mary?)
Hooked up with Eric, got lunch, and we drove back over to the mountains. We ended up walking the same trail I'd taken that morning, and went up (we think) about four miles before coming back down. I am ready to get my backpacking gear refurbished/replaced and do many extended trips. We got back to the car at dusk, and I took a few minutes to get some ambient recording of the forest, with the first night bugs coming out before nightfall. I also really need to get a handle on the driving route through Maryville; got lost on the return trip and went in a couple of big circles.
Decided to stay the night in Eric's dorm room, too sleepy and tired to feel good about driving home to Nashburg. His roommate was gone for the weekend, so I laundered his sheets and my clothes and slept there. I did feel a bit self-conscious doing laundry duty among the resident students...yes, I'm somebody's dad, don't mind me...please...but it was sort of refreshing just to be there. And the dorm is actually a quiet place at night. They observe quiet hours, and Eric's at the end of the hall away from the elevators, so I slept well (on Trillo's clean sheets).
Rehearsal yesterday for next Friday's set.The band is sounding pretty tight and well-rehearsed. It will be interesting to see where it goes from there. We also need a name by Friday.
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