Speaker 1: W m n H rip the novels.
Speaker 2: You're listening to macconnorton unleash on m n H ninety
five point three.
Speaker 1: It's so hard to say where we are today. It's
like everything we wanted so far away, all our dreams
and like distant stars at play squeezing through a fingers
like a ball of play calls and say we need
another dollar stack. We hate to holler a retch you,
but you gotta call us back. You pull at you
call her like a cardiac. You pull the pressure like
a herd attack. Then like a thundercrack, you could see
through it, off pas the unders, everything that makes you fall.
World turn a sunday like herb and sprawl as you
wander through the dust like a resole, as you try
to put the world together again, as you weigh your
soul up against the feather and again put together. It's
about the weather, and then we can talk about the
rest forever and then whatever. Then talk about how we
treat each other, to feed each other, how we beat
each other. We need each other. We gotta plant to
see the brotherhood bleed for the common good. So when
you're sitting pissed in a traffic jam, and you could
see it all around you like a hall of gram
But the lady in a way welcome em me scene,
but it's another Birmingham. Because I tell you the truth,
soone dissen the lead. I don't want to sell you
the proof. You should listen to me. The cradle fell
with the roof as erst u looks like youth and
still wear missing the key sign of the.
Speaker 3: Times, the sign of the times, paying no attention just to.
Speaker 4: Rhythm and ride.
Speaker 5: Put your hand down.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna help you climb because I don't want to
be another sign at the times and just signing the times,
just a sign of the time, paying no attention just
to rhythm and rise.
Speaker 4: Put your hand out.
Speaker 1: I'm a healthy climb because I don't want to another side.
Speaker 6: Of the Times.
Speaker 1: We gotta bounce when we hit the ground. Take ahead,
coun't take a look around. We y all amount to
something I found. So help somebody. You have to make
the world go around the sound of one hand.
Speaker 6: Just don't clap.
Speaker 1: We cantra build up with off handed wrap. We can't
pretend this is just a mishap. We can't defend our
opinions with straps. We gotta acosolidarity, stay focused on freedom
and cheery tee.
Speaker 7: We gotta share.
Speaker 1: It's the key to prosperity. Don't let fear turn into barbarity.
Speaker 8: Or would you care to be?
Speaker 1: And someone else shoots through the deal like hell of
heaven to chew. There's every bone, there's people who roll
with the blue. Say a prayer because this mother just
sold to lose. I know you're feeling alone, engaged as
I'm coversing this microphone and rage. Gotta stuftreuss in your
craning and boat bert caged up, obsessing because you're not
on your own. You never know when the need will appear.
Trouble booze as I do better, heed what you hear
double true when your plan you see it's soon here
because your two need is to let the world into fear.
But you gotta stay clear of any of the aerive
that got you here. You gotta see a lot of
what we see his feeling, but you gotta rise above
it like the atmosphere.
Speaker 3: Sign of the times, just a sign of the times.
Are you no attention?
Speaker 1: Just a rhythm and rhyme. Put your hand out on
a healthy cline because I don't want to be another
sign at the times, and just a sign of the times,
just a sign of the time. You no attention, just
a rhythm and rhyme. Put your hand out on a
healthy climb, because I don't want to be another sign.
Speaker 9: Of the times.
Speaker 1: This is just the dark before the dawn. So gather
in the park with your park is off, make another
spark for the stars are gone to keep away the
sharks of bab alone, because they traveled on the waves
of tragedy. They gathered in the graves so glad to
see another dead sleeve to the powers that be, and
they fed on the dreadlike energy.
Speaker 3: But don't let them be.
Speaker 1: Don't give them nothing to take it, because there will
never be a time when you've got nothing at stake.
Speaker 5: Are you gonna bend?
Speaker 4: Are you gonna break?
Speaker 1: Are you're gonna defend all the plays you make? Are
you're gonna run away from ans?
Speaker 9: So?
Speaker 1: Are you're gonna shun another?
Speaker 3: Who's in distress?
Speaker 1: Who's the one who your mother taught to me? God blessed,
who's the one who your mother taught to help?
Speaker 9: The rest?
Speaker 1: Sign of the times, it's just the media spin head
lines dramatized to see that we're in posing down the beach.
If they imagine a fi don't trust what they each
on your television.
Speaker 4: Sign of the Times.
Speaker 1: It's just the line of the sand, designed to hide
how close we off them. A trust the takes the
time washes over the lair wash us over the lair
wash us over the land. Some sign of the times
with the.
Speaker 3: Sign of the times, do you know it?
Speaker 1: Just a rhythm and ride. Put your hand out. I'm
gonna help you climb because I don't want to be
another sign of the times and just sign of the times,
the sign of the times, paying no attention just to
rhythm and ride. Put your hand out. I'm gonna help
me climb because I don't want to be another sign
of the time, sign of the times, the sign of
the times, paying no attention just to rhythm and ride.
Speaker 8: Put your hand out.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna help you climb because I don't want to
be another sign of the times and just sign of
the times, for the sign of the times, paying no
attention just to rhythm and ride.
Speaker 2: To put your hand out.
Speaker 1: I'm gonna help you climb because I don't want to
be another sign of the time.
Speaker 4: Hmm. I love that for a couple of different reasons,
but we'll talk about that in a moment. That is
Sign of the Times. Welcome everybody. We have entered our
number two new maridos of Matt Connorton unleashed and we
are live from the studios of wm NH ninety five
point three FM in glorious but very cold, but glorious Manchester,
New Hampshire. Today is Saturday, January third, twenty twenty six.
Happy New Year, everybody, our first show of the new year.
Jenny is here, of course at the news table. I
really like that song a lot. Yeah, isn't that good?
I'm like over here, it's so good. And joining us
in studio, Gary Smith is here.
Speaker 5: Hello, Gary, Hello, how are you guys?
Speaker 4: Gary Smith, as I like to say, the busiest musician
I know anywhere. He's in two hundred and seventy four
bands and there's something like that. Right, we're in double digit,
definitely in double digit. Can you just pull that mic
over a little. I just want to make sure it's right. Yeah,
there we go, perfect, Thank you, so Side of the Times.
So I mentioned that that's special to me because so
I that song has been played on the show before,
but not that version. So I played the uh, I
played it. I've played it maybe a couple times, not recently,
but the Chemical Distance version of the song that I
played bass on years ago seems like another lifetime in
some ways. But but that is my favorite version, the
one that that you've brought to us. That's amazing what
you took and did with it. And of course our
friend MHP Michael Halpley Pierce, who of course I was
in Chemical Distance with him along with Auto Kinsel, and
that was always one of my favorites to play live
because it's such a great track and Mike's rap on
that whole thing is so good. It's so smooth. Oh yeah,
And I assume you didn't take the original vocal track,
that's he redid that, right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, we redid that at our engineers, just with kind
of a backing track, and then he sent the raw
vocals to me and then I just kind of did
everything up in my bedroom and then I sent the
stems back to Pete and we went and mixed it
and made it sound good on all his his nice
expensive equipment.
Speaker 10: Yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, So just kind of a little studio time sometime
in my room and then just the mixing time. So
it was really it's a fun way to do it
because I had pretty mu as much control.
Speaker 4: I knew it.
Speaker 5: You one he said that weird little breakdown section.
Speaker 4: I love that.
Speaker 5: He's like, just do whatever you want. So I did
like a halftime guitar, so good. Yeah, the whole thing
is so good.
Speaker 4: I think it's the third version of that song, because
I think it was originally a Litherman's song, a Litherman's load,
the hip hop duo that Mike had, MHP had and
then and then he brought it to chemical Chemical distance
and then and then brought it to you to do that.
Like who's whose name is that? Officially? Under?
Speaker 5: Is that under? It will be released under JAM tomorrow, Okay,
but it will be featuring Percussive Maintenance because that's my
like producer name, so that yeah, so it'll be you'll
be able to find it through my my streaming stuff,
which is all under Percussive Maintenance.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 5: Yeah, just because me and Pete kind of I did
most of the product production. Pete did the mixing and
master he did some little production stuff, so okay, but yeah, yeah,
it'll be Uh, it'll be under Jam Tomorrow. We have
three or four other songs that should be coming out
this year. That one and two other songs are basically mastered,
ready to go. Okay, I'm just waiting for some art
and some other just two other Jam Tomorrow. So the
Jam Tomorrow songs, Yeah, one with a guest. Actually probably
three other yeah, three other Tomorrow songs. One with Michael
Freeman who's in Free Will, which is a little group
around here. Yeah, he's playing drums. Ones with Brian Murphy,
who's my trumpet player, Buddy, who's been on some of
my stuff, who's okay, a Boston musician. He's amazing. He's
playing trumpet on some stuff. So uh okay, yeah, we
we actually added him on drums and stuff. So like
he was, he was hanging out with me. So I'm like, okay,
you're going on a bunch of Jam Tomorrow songs. But yeah,
we have I think four songs that should be coming out.
Oh wow, probably fairly soon.
Speaker 4: Oh fantastic? Are are there songs we would know from
the show that that you guys have.
Speaker 5: Played on the whole wide World? The Rachel the Yeah, yeah,
that's pretty much ready to go White Whale, which I
think we played here once. That's the one that me
and Mike wrote when I was broken. Yes, yeah, that
one's pretty much recorded. I played piano on that, okay,
that's the one Mike Freeman plays drums on. And then
twenty two we've done that before, okay, and we added
some cool trumpet harmonies on that one, so that one's
really unique sounding too. Okay, I think those are Yeah,
those are the four I think that are pretty much ready.
Speaker 4: The ones that I have, because I definitely have recordings
of at least a couple of those. Are those demos
that we that I he may.
Speaker 5: Have given you either like not fully mastered ones right right, yeah,
or like like the song one of the songs I
gave you here is the non fully ready to release
version the stems. He's going to do some mixing and
mastering to that, but this is kind of the pre
mix version, just to kind of tease it out there.
That's that jazz ones, okay, but yeah, that's probably what
we did there. But yeah, now twenty two is much
further along. You may have played close to the studio
version of White Whale. That would probably.
Speaker 4: Probably okay, yeah, yeah, and then so you've been you've
been very busy, you know, we always say you're you're
the busiest musician I know. But also you've been since
the last time you were here. So you're now playing
with Roots of Creation, right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, Roots of Creation and Grateful Dub.
Speaker 4: So that's that's huge.
Speaker 5: I've been a fun adventure for sure. Those guys are
so fun, so fun to jam with, and it's a
it's nice to kind of see the next level of
like band leader and like how Brett runs the band
is it's a it's a it's given me good ideas
in terms of like how to operate my things because
he's just so like good at controlling what's going on
on stage, and especially in something like that where there's
like a lot of improvisation or New Year's Eve show.
We did two of the seven songs on our setlest
he's like, let's do this instead, Let's do this and
said so but and then it's like we'll hold accord.
He's like, let's see how we can get to this
next part. It's like, okay, now go up a half step,
now go up before to get to that. So it's
like it's really all a lot of improvisation, which as
a jazz nerd is is right up my alley. Yeah,
but yeah, I know, it's it's been fun. It's met
some crazy people and uh, they just released Werewolves of
London for Halloween. I played based on that, and we
have the Grateful Dub album is coming out. The second
one is coming out very soon. I've recorded some stuff
on that and that's very exciting. A bunch of stuff
in the theater or a bunch of stuff in the
studio like Paul from Slightly Stupid on a bunch of
stuff a bunch of a bunch of cool people on it.
You loves on some stuff. Yeah, yeah, it's uh, it's
been so fun. And yeah we're doing a big Florida
South Southern tour February in March. Yeah, but yeah, I
mean we are playing a couple of cool shows around here.
February sixth and seventh. We're playing a Flying Monkey in
Plymouth excellent, and then Wally's on February seventh. Oh, very good,
both of those with Paul uh the organists from a
Slightly Stupid opening for us. Okay, nice, It was definitely
worth worth checking out. But yeah, I know it's it's
it's been. It's been an awesome adventure. And uh, all
the guys at the band are so fun and so
easy to play with. And yeah, obviously as a bass player,
I care about the drummer, and the drummer is so
easy to get along.
Speaker 4: Oh really yeah, that's good.
Speaker 5: After a few crucial like we're like locked in.
Speaker 4: It's good. Good. Now, how did that come about? Because
you initially you were like a fill in right.
Speaker 5: Yeah exactly. I filled in actually with my engineer back
in March at a at a show they had up
in a sugar sugar bush or one of the yeah,
one of the mountains up there, just sugar sugar loaf,
sugar loaf, yeah, okay, yeah, And I just filled in
with uh, with Bread on bass, just for like a
last minute show. And then when they were looking for
a bass player because their bass player lives in Florida
and it was difficult for for that, he recommended me.
He's like, oh, Gary does all this weird jazz fusee
and stuff like that, I can just dial it back
and do some dude.
Speaker 8: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And then once I did, like okay, yeah, this word
so then yeah, yeah, we stubbed in for a few
shows like up in Vermont, U in New Jersey, and
then uh yeah, towards the end of last year kind
of made it official, got some cool pictures, So yeah,
I know, it's it's been Uh, it's definitely been an
experience and it's yeah, it's a lot of fun.
Speaker 4: It's uh.
Speaker 5: I ended up doing you know, probably Eve though I
only joined really in September. I did like twelve or
thirteen shows with him last year, and it was really
fun to kind of to lock in and kind of
learn some new stuff. And obviously I'm a nerd. I
show up with all the sheet music because I like
transcribe everything. Yeah, yeah, like what are all these notes?
I'm like, I write out all them?
Speaker 4: Dokidding?
Speaker 5: Yeah, it helps me learn, Like like in schools, taking
notes helped you learn, Like that, I listened to it,
I write it down, and then I like locked in
my brain as a picture of those that writing out
those notes.
Speaker 4: That makes sense.
Speaker 5: Yeah.
Speaker 4: Interesting, It must be cool too to have something like
that work out where because that probably wasn't something you
thought was going to happen in twenty twenty five, right,
that you'd end up playing with Roots of Creation and
then and then become a member of the band.
Speaker 9: Yeah.
Speaker 5: No, it's definitely wasn't on my Uh, it wasn't on
my guest list of what I thought it was gonna happen.
But yeah, yeah I was. I was really pleasantly surprised.
And yeah, I mean it's I love playing bass and
playing bass with you know, a bunch of guys who
just loved the music, like you can't you can't go
wrong with that, and they've obviously been around for for
so long, you know, over twenty years. Yeah, Breton tal
have been doing it, so it's uh, it's definitely, uh,
it's cool to step into something like that. I mean,
obviously my other band's like Fox, like Fox and Flamingos
have been building so long, and like it gives me
ideas with how they operate in terms of transferring. And yeah,
we got a new piano player with Fox and Flamingos
last year too, so yeah, he's a little he was.
I met him through Kevin Haran, who I know, you know,
we did that show at the Bank of Hampshire stage
last year. Yeah, and I met his piano player who
was in the Dave Matthews tribute band, and then our
piano player was leaving because family stuff. So I'm like, hey,
you should join us. So like he's like Dave Matthews
tribute band's like a national tribute band and they're actually
their managers the same managers Roots of Creation. Oh, so
like it's all like this weird thing. So yeah, now
both of us are in and so like that's kind
of bump Fox up a little bit in terms of
his professionalism, like having day sheets, having stuff much more
organized instead of just kind of flying by the seat
of our pants.
Speaker 4: Sure.
Speaker 5: Sure, So that's that's definitely helped Fox get a lot
of cool and better opportunities.
Speaker 4: Oh that's fantastic, great, great, I still love that song
Don't Be a Stranger. Oh my god, that is such
a great song. I love Fox on the Flamingos. Is
it hard to juggle all this? I mean, you must be.
You strike me as someone who must be very organized,
right because you've got so much going on, you have
to be organized.
Speaker 5: It's in certain things. I'm very organized. It's organized chaos.
I know exactly where I need to be, where I
should be, but like some things of my life are
definitely not the most organized. But yeah, sure, I mean
it's for when I I kind of just go down
rabbit holes, like I I know what I need to
do and like, but yeah, I'm mostly organized. Yeahs my
ask my kids. They may give you a different answer,
but I mean, obviously it helps. I try to kind
of check off all the boxes. And then like even
now with the root stuff, like I have for Fox,
We've got a sub basis. So for then shows that
I can't make it, oh, we have a basis who's
a very good basis who can fill in for me
as needed, and pretty much you know, obviously Jam Tomorrow
can operate without me. Cosmic Boston can operate. They have
a separate basis, so most of this stuff can. I
can wiggle it around as needed. And then you know,
even my solo shows, if I get a last minute
tour thing, I can just plug in someone to one
of my solo shows and most of the venues are
cool with that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, so yeah, that's really good.
Speaker 5: So yeah, it's a mixture of things, but yeah, it's definitely. Uh,
I look at my schedule many times.
Speaker 4: Yeah, yeah, I can imagine. And this is probably the
busiest you've ever been, right, I mean, have you ever
had a point where you were busier than you are recently.
Speaker 5: No, because I mean, I I don't know if we
ever talked about it too much. I took a long,
long break from music, so like when I was in
high school, I was doing a lot of jazz, probably
playing thirty forty shows throughout high school. In the beginning
of college. Then, I mean, my ex wife got into
having a kid, having a family, and I didn't play
music for two thousand and three to twenty twenty pretty much. Really, Yeah,
so I didn't pa music out for seventeen years.
Speaker 4: That shocks me, Yeah, because I remember, I do recall,
because Eve been on the show several times, I do
seem to recall you talking about a break, but I
didn't realize it was that long. So seventeen years.
Speaker 5: Yeah, the last The first time I played out was
during COVID. I played at six oh three Brewery with
the old piano player and the drummer from Fox and
the Flamingos. I yah got in with them, and that
was like the first time being being ah then and
then I started playing with Jam Tomorrow, and then Fox
and Flamingos formed and then it's just been a whirlwind.
But yeah, like I was looking back twenty twenty three,
I did like forty shows. Last year I did one
hundred twenty shows. Well, two years ago I did one
hundred twenty shows, and then this year I did two
hundred and ten shows. So yeah, I don't that trajectory
isn't sustainable. But if I can stay around two hundred,
I'll be happy.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Now during that break, did you still pick up
the bass or other instruments.
Speaker 5: I played my guitar decent amount during then, but not,
but it was like it was weekly. It wasn't like, okay,
daily like, so you never completely disengaged. But I still
had a guitar, but there would definitely be times where
I would probably go a month without playing it. No, yeah,
I was doing I mean that was when I was
super into car racing and oh yeah I was. Yeah,
so that that was part of it. Two that that
kind of took away. But yeah, I mean my ex
wife didn't necessarily love the music side of things. So
even a lot of times when I would go to
like pick up the guitar, that's when you turn on
the TV or something. Oh yeah, I get it.
Speaker 4: So oh wow.
Speaker 5: So then I got divorced in twenty twenty and that's
kind of what what sparked me. And actually MHP we
had some jams with my sister used to date Hernesto
before she passed, and so we would jam it Arnesto's
like garage, and that's how I originally met MHP and that's.
Speaker 4: How that all.
Speaker 5: Okay, it all started. Okay, that was probably yeah, like
twenty nineteen that we did that. Twenty eighteen, twenty nineteen
we jam for the first time, but that was like
my first time even playing with anyone, wow, for probably
fourteen years. Yeah.
Speaker 10: Wow.
Speaker 4: It's just mind blowing that, you know, you had such
a long break and now you're so busy. It's like
a completely as like such a total life shift in
that way, it really is.
Speaker 5: I Mean I wish I had been doing it the
whole time, but also like I wouldn't be in the
place because like obviously I was a car sales manager
for a long time stuff like that, so I have
a little bit of stuff aside. So when I kind
of took the plunge, yeah, I had some safety net
where if I was twenty and taking the plunge, it
wouldn't have ever worked.
Speaker 4: True.
Speaker 5: Yeah, so's it's kind of a blessing in disguise. And
you know, I know a lot of I have a
lot of friends who've been doing music their whole lives.
Some of them more burnt out than others, you know,
like I've I'm definitely burnt out from being a car
sales right. This is like I still don't I tell
people I don't work, like I just play music all year,
Like yeah, it's not like I need a vacation, like right,
play music.
Speaker 4: Yeah, that's true. That's true. So it's you're doing what
you love. Yeah, that's yeah.
Speaker 5: Yeah, And that's what my parents when they were my mom,
when she was like forty five fifty, they got a
they started a music store and wallis so like that
was kind of there chasing their dream, leave the corporate
world and start a music store. So she would be
she would be happy that I was doing what I'm doing.
Speaker 4: Yeah, no doubt, no doubt. If you're just joining us,
Gary Smith is here with us, And should we play
another track? You sent us a bunch of new stuff.
Speaker 5: Yeah, let's let's uh, let's do the Heist tune.
Speaker 4: That'll uh okay.
Speaker 5: This is called listen here. Heist is a project I'm in.
We play every first Wednesday of the month at Hermano's
Up and Conquered residency. There play it. Panucci's a bunch two.
They have a jazzy and kind of a rock side.
I tend to stay on the jazz side because the
rock side is usually on Saturdays when I already have gigs. Okay,
but yeah, no, they're they're cool, they're under heyst improvised
music on Facebook. Yeah. Curtis Arnett, Curtis Martin, what's his Aaron?
Who does the kids the kids concerts?
Speaker 4: Uh?
Speaker 5: Aaron? Oh, I can't think, but yeah, he's in.
Speaker 11: It.
Speaker 5: Took Randy Honeyman a bunch of people in it, so
it's it's a cool Eric Billadoh, it's a cool little combination.
Speaker 4: But yeah.
Speaker 5: This is when we recorded actually in Basement and Conquered.
This is with Randy, Curtis Arnett on sacks, Curtis Martin
on drums, and me on bass guitar.
Speaker 4: Okay, very good, very good? All right? So this is Heist.
This is Heist and the what's the track call?
Speaker 5: Uh listen listen here? Yeah, let me just make sure, yeah.
Speaker 4: Listen here, listen here by High Star. I checked this out.
Speaker 8: And short about and the Tho, the Thotle Bird and
compla compa turn of Turn.
Speaker 4: And then.
Speaker 12: Look at Baby's and the.
Speaker 9: Records as the.
Speaker 4: H I love that that is heist. What's what's the
track again?
Speaker 5: Listen here?
Speaker 4: Listen here that uh that guitar soloids. It's like it's
telling a story, you know what I mean? Thank you?
Speaker 5: That's the goal?
Speaker 4: Yeah? No, I love that. I love that very very cool.
Is that I haven't heard you mentioned heyst before. Is
that a new project? You're newer for you?
Speaker 5: It's somewhat newer. I kind of just came think I
sat in with them at Hermanos just to start out,
because they needed someone to do some jazzy stuff.
Speaker 7: Yeah.
Speaker 5: And then yeah, then Curtis is a bartender at Frevate Friends.
So we've sat in with sitting with me at Feathered
Friends and then yeah, we just kind of it all
worked out. Curtis Martin the drummer from this and said
in with Cinnamon Jazz Trio, one of my other jazz
group too. Oh okay, so it's a yeah, it's fun.
We're all, we're all we all just shared it. Jazz
is fun like that.
Speaker 4: Yeah, Yeah, absolutely it's uh, I've never played jazz music.
I've only been in rock bands and stuff like that
and a couple of things that were a little a
little different. But it must be kind of I imagine
it to be liberating to have that kind of freedom
with a project like that, where where it can you
can play in different configurations and you know, and do
a lot of improv is improvising and and all that.
That must be really cool.
Speaker 5: No, it's definitely nice. I mean, I ran jazz dams
up at PCL for the last couple of years. Okay,
just people come in if you kind of has some
semblance and how to play jazz like. It's so even
though people think it's so like nonstructured and it's so chaotic, like,
there is a lot of structure to it, so why
you understand the structure. It's easy to just kind of
PLoP in, Like Cinnamon Giastrio. We've played a bunch together
the last song or one of those songs that she
plays flute in our piano player on that. But we've
never had a rehearsal because we just get up together
and we're all tight. We all know how each other
works at this point, so we can just play and
put on an amazing show just without we know how
to interact with each other.
Speaker 4: So yeah, that's fantastic. Yeah, it's very fun if you're
just joining us. Gary Smith is here with us and
sharing some some new music and uh so what what's
kind of the thing that takes up is Roots of Creation?
Does that take up the most of your time in
terms of because we're talking earlier about how you you
don't have to be very organized with your calendar.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean they probably. I mean in terms of
actual work, solo solo shows take up the most time.
Like last year I did seventy solo shows and like
twenty two jams Iran, so the majority of the shows
are that. But yeah, I mean in terms of just overall,
especially this year, I'll definitely be playing the most non
solo shows with Roots, Okay, and then obviously like traveling
and Tory and stuff that you have travel days and
stuff like that, so yeah, those will get those will
get gobbled up. Yeah, but yeah, I mean beyond that,
I mean I did play the most shows with Fox
last year. In terms of band, I mean with me
and Mazie again more projects Me and maze split off
and we do Vaudeville Vixen, which is me and Mazy
just doing jazzy stuff and some Fox songs in like
kind of a duo thing with my Looper.
Speaker 4: So oh cool.
Speaker 5: So we did probably thirteen shows like that last year
then on top of the thirty Flamingos shows.
Speaker 4: So wow. Yeah.
Speaker 5: So, I mean me and Maizie are probably the most
busy together or being Bob, because me and Bob play
together a bunch with Me and Bob are actually playing
tonight with RGB Trio at Brickhouse in Milford, and we
have Amanda van Tyne, this lead singer from Cosmic. She's
going to come in and join us for a lot
of the sets, so it's going.
Speaker 4: To be excellent party, excellent.
Speaker 5: But yeah, I mean they all take some amount of time,
and even like Jam Tomorrow last year I didn't get
play with them as much, but we did a lot
of stuff in the studio. So I did more stuff
in the studio with them last year than really probably
anyone except for Rooster Creation, so okay. So yeah, I
mean it's just where they're so good to operate among
themselves and even some places they like we don't have
space for a trio. We just need to du like
play at Eva Tratoria or whatever in Bedford and they
just want to du.
Speaker 12: Oh.
Speaker 5: So I'm like, okay, that's fine. Yeah, yeah, but yeah,
I mean it's I gotta juggle. But I keep busy.
I'm always adding things. Yeah, I'm in a project Scott
Soulski now, who's a seven string guitar, So I play
eighth string guitar. He plays seven ring. And then Mike Waller,
she was an amazing drummer like me, in seventy three
different bands. He played drums. We're playing at a big
bear lodge Andre's Art Institute, which is gonna be a
cool show. So yeah, but yeah, like he was someone
I met literally last year and we've become friends and
started playing with and recording a bunch And he was
in Foresight Funk when they when that existed in a
bunch of.
Speaker 4: I think, didn't you bring the eighth string here once?
Speaker 13: Yeah?
Speaker 5: I've road here a few times. Yeah, yeah, I usually
bring the nylon string eighth string, but I most of
the time I'm playing an electric eight string when I'm
out out about.
Speaker 4: But yeah, yeah, because I remember you, Yeah, that's right,
I remember you playing the eighth string here with Jam
Tomorrow yep. And I think I had comment I think
I had said to you that day on the show
that it was fascinating to me. I was like watching
you the whole time because it's like you're it's it's
like a bass and a guitar having a conversation exactly. Yep.
It was so fascinating to me, to me to watch
you and listen to you, you know, kind of go
back and forth between you know, it's just really really
because I've never seen I don't know if i'd ever
even seen an eight string, let alone seen an eight
string up close like that, you know what I mean,
And to just watch you play it, it was fascinating
to me. Thank you.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I know, I mean I try to kind of
get the Charlie Hunter like pianist approach where you're kind
of being like a pianist and combining the two as
much as possible. But it's yeah, it's definitely a different
world than piano. But uh yeah, I mean it's it
gives me some extra flexibility and like, yeah, tonight with
O rgb G, it's just me and Bob. Bob plays guitar.
I play the eight string. Yeah, so we're just going
back and forth. I'm playing bass guitar. Sometimes he's singing,
but he has like a bass patch on his thing,
so he'll play ice well bass while I play solo.
And I've been teaching. Oh okay, so it's a it
throws people for a loop because there's always bass going on.
Speaker 4: Right right. Oh that's awesome. Well why do we play another?
Oh yeah, we have time. Let's uh play day lous.
That's a quick one, okay, and uh tell us about this.
Speaker 5: This is I played in my buddy's wedding in October,
and I wanted to just fill out the procession with
some songs that I had created, So I just randomly
wrote a classicalish song. So I recorded it. I thought
it came out cool. Put a little rain stick track
behind it to make it kind of like vibe like that,
and yeah, that's what this is. But it's a cool,
cool song.
Speaker 4: So this one's all you.
Speaker 5: This is all original young guitar.
Speaker 4: Yeap, nice, nice, all right. This is called Deluge.
Speaker 8: Yah Ah.
Speaker 4: That is so pretty.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 4: I really like that. I really like that. If you're
just joining us, Gary Smith is here with us in
studio and when you when you record something like that,
I mean, is are you improvising or are do you
actually sit down and write that ahead of time? Or
how does that work?
Speaker 5: So it starts off with me kind of just improvising,
and then I do write it down for those types
of things, So like for that, I will improvise to
kind of figure out the parts, and then I'll put
it into my use music score for sheet music and
I'll kind of put it in there, and then I then,
even though I can read music, then I look through
I convert it to tab so I can see if
there's a better way to do any fingering and interested
in doing something that could be more like then once
you see it in the tab, like you're like, oh,
why would I go from here to hear? Because that's
how I had it in my brain. But yeah, I
can just do this to this and it's so much easier.
So even though I read sheet music, but a lot
of times will convert it to tab just to kind
of make sure that the fingering is as efficient as possible.
Speaker 4: That is that's very interesting to me. I've never heard
anyone say that before, but that makes sense logically. Yeah,
you know, because most people, I think most guitar players
are and bass players too, think of tablature as you know, well,
if you can't really read music, or if you don't
want to bother with it, you just look at the
tablature and it's you know, that's what I would do.
I never really learned to read music, so that's.
Speaker 5: What I would be for example, too, was just reading
tab Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah, but but what you just explained makes sense. You know,
the tab is going to show you a more efficient
way to do the same thing. And obviously, I mean
that's one of the first things I learned when I
took guitar lessons is you know, you want to be
efficient with everything you do because that way you can
do more. So that, yeah, that makes total sense. That's
that's really interesting. Does it? Does it ever change? Like
so obviously when you when you look at the tablature,
it's going to show you a more efficient way. Do
you ever end up changing anything at that point?
Speaker 5: Or Yeah, I've definitely changed some things because like once
I put it to that, I'm like, why would I
go from here to here? And then I'll just I
won't change the notes per se, but just where I'm
putting them and so if if you know, I was
on the first threat, might go to the sixth threat
to make it more efficient coming from the fourth threat
instead of going down to the first, go up to
the sixth or something like that. So I do, yeah,
I do change kind of how I play once I
do that, and then like once I do the final recording,
I've kind of already figured out all that aspect of it.
So okay, like that is kind of the most efficient
way that I could have played that song. Yeah, yeah,
but yeah, I know that's that's kind of how on
songs like that. Again, all the songs are a little different.
There are definitely ones that are more improvisatory. But though
that's kind of more of like a not a classical
guitar song, but kind of a take on the type
of classical Yeah.
Speaker 4: No, it's really nice. It's really nice. And when you
write something like that too, I mean, does the idea
does that melody kind of come to you first? Or
do you sit down and you say I want to
write something like this.
Speaker 5: Most of the time, it's usually me just sitting there
with my guitar, even sometimes with my brain like half
shut off, like watching something or listening to something else
and then I'll just say, oh, I like that, and
then I record it and then I kind of just
branch upon that.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: So yeah, I mean usually the melody does come, but
a lot of times I'll have the chord first and
then I'll build the melody around the chord progression that
that tends to be the way, okay, way that it works.
But again, everything that the melody and that like that
kind of came really quick, just with some like things
I was working on in terms of studying like harmonic
without getting to like Barry Harris things, and then it
I'm like, wow, this is a cool way to do this,
and so that's how the melody came. And even though
it's not like a jazz song, like I took jazz
harmony ideas to kind of create it. So yeah, yeah,
I mean, every every song is different. I I try
and I try and do I try and keep it
as efficient as possible in songwriting because like a lot
of times when I'm producing beats, I would like produce
and i'd mix and I produced and a mix and
now I try and just produce. Once I get like
the song where I want it to be, then I
do the mix thing so that I'm not bouncing back forward.
Say this is it, It's done, don't don't mess with
it after that?
Speaker 4: Right right? Yeah? What do you what do you play
for instruments? Obviously you play guitar and bass. What we
else do you play?
Speaker 5: I mean I play enough piano. I wouldn't say like
I'm not like Caleb in terms of playing piano, but
I can play piano. I mean like most stringed instruments,
I can. I can futs around on on mandolin. I
have a tenor guitar that I sometimes play, which is
tuning like a violin. But really it's mostly that. I mean,
I I messed with drum machines my whole life, so like, yeah,
play I have an Akai that I can play drums on.
But now most of the stuff I just you know,
I'm doing stuff through able to any But yeah, I
mean that's really it. I mean again, I'm a I'm
a music theory nerd, So theory has been one thing
that I've always studied a lot on and never stop learning.
And but yeah, I mean really I just try and
be as good as at those instruments as I can.
Do you teach oh yeah, yeah, I teach uh. I
I have one student this year who doesn't play out
the majority of the people I teach are actually already
gigging musicians. So like people I'm not going to talk about,
but there's people who are very regular gigging around here
that will come for whether it's a technology lesson, some
theory lessons. There's someone who's you know, who's a very
well known trio who doesn't have le guitars, so she
wants to kind of amplify her legua gitar playing, so
stuff like that. Or like someone who plays a lot
of solo shows and their arms hurt, they want to
get used to how to use a looper where I
ad I can like show the tricks and the the trade.
So and that's really I don't I grew up giving
lessons at my parents' music stop, so I don't want
to be like teaching you know, C chords and G
chords when there's other things I could be doing. There's
definitely a value in that. I don't want to take
away from that. Everyone should pick up an instrument, learn it,
but absolutely with my time, Like I have a friend
from high school I've known forever who I teach. He's
an intermediate, doesn't really play out, but I've I got
him to come out to an open mic at least.
Oh yeah, most of the people are playing in bands
and I just kind of want to expand. And then
I mean, like even my friends, I like teaching them
stuff like like Nick Burns from Cosmic Blossoms. Like his
mind's like a sponge. So when I come up with
some new idea or I like have a breakthrough harma,
I'll send it him and we'll just nerd out about
it for a little bit.
Speaker 4: So, oh that's great. Yeah.
Speaker 5: I mean that's half the fun too, because like especially him,
like I give him some harmonic idea and he'll have
a song the next day. That's that's amazing. Oh no today, Yeah,
he's great like that.
Speaker 4: Oh excellent, excellent. Well we are, Yeah, we're approaching the
top of the hour, so we do have one more
track we're gonna play to finish out. But before we
do that, where where should people go online to keep
up with everything that you're doing?
Speaker 5: My Facebook stays pretty active. My Facebook is just Gary Smith.
Surprisingly if you just google Gary Smith Facebook on like
the first page or two. But I do also have
a website gsmithmusic dot com that has all my projects,
has a bunch of press, has a bunch of ways
to contact and book any of my bands.
Speaker 4: Yep.
Speaker 5: And then I do have a few quick little plugs.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 5: All means by that you also can listen to all
my music under percussive maintenance. That's what I released all
my music under I released. I was on twenty four
different tracks last year, including Fox and Flamingo's Roots Creation,
Costic Blossom stuff. Yeah, like I said, I'm playing a
brick house tonight. Next cool shows actually with Caleb who
was just here. Yeah, playing at the Tupelo with Brad
Dubay's blues group because Max Chase, their piano player, can't
get it and Caleb usually plays bass, so I'm playing
bass with them.
Speaker 4: Excellent.
Speaker 5: And then like I said, Cosmic Fox and Flamingos with
Phoenix Syndicate, which is a cool funk show that's up
at the Bank New Hampshire Stage and conquered on January
twenty third. That's going to be a serious, serious fun show.
Phoenix Syndicate used to be for side funks, so a
bunch of funk people, Okay. And then like said Flying
Monkey and Wally's Roots of Creation, speaking of piggybacking on
them with the fire for the Vine Street thing. I
am running at PCL on February fifteenth, a fundraiser for
the Vine Street calling me Vine Street Vibes.
Speaker 4: Oh cool.
Speaker 5: Both of those guys will be here, Nick will be there,
some other people, so it'll be donations. Everything's going to
those guys, obviously excellent. And then the only other ticketed
things I have May ninth, Cosmic Blossom is playing at
the Andre's Art Institute, Big Bear and Brookline which they
redd their sound. That's a real venue. And then me
with Scott Solski called seven eight is playing there with
Sad Bastard Loose Standards. That's the band they they do
like jazzy covers of stuff. That's Mike Effenberger and Chris
Claxton to like two well known jazz jazz nerds. So okay, yeah,
so those are the cool things coming out. Yeah. G
Smith Music Percussive Maintenance and Gary Smith.
Speaker 4: On Facebook outstanding And what should we know about this?
So pedal boat is that the pedal pedal bike is
the name pedal bike.
Speaker 5: This is another original I wrote this one, and I
played it with my Cinnamon Jazz trio, which is me,
Cinnamon and Joe Virga. But me and Scott Solski and
Mike Walts are also in a jazz trio, so we
combined forces. Uh So we have Cinnamon on flute, Joe
on piano, Me and Scott going back and forth between
seven and eight string bass and guitar or seven eight
string guitar, and then Mike Walsh on drums. Okay, and yeah,
it's just an original. We have three songs like this
that are coming out this year. We recorded them in
Scott's garage and conquered and yeah, so it was it
was a fun thing. These guys are so fun to
play with.
Speaker 4: Fantastic Gary Smith, Thank you so much. Always wonderful to
see you and great to see you. Great to see
your doing great stuff and as all and keeping very
very busy as always. So I think you're probably an
inspiration to a lot of musicians who you know, want
to really get out there and and you know, just
do a lot, you.
Speaker 5: Know, and and that's what that's what they just get
out there, get out there, talk to people. And like
I've had people say basically that all the gigs are
doing is and like that's what I want. More music
in the world. Is nothing wrong with that?
Speaker 4: Well said, well said, not a competition, exactly exactly all right,
thank you Gary. And this is pedal Bike.
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Speaker 3: Won dude, WMNH rip the novels.
Speaker 9: We're back on the break.
Speaker 6: Wide awake, but my mind's in pieces, trying to slow
down my stride.
Speaker 13: Can't believe all the thoughts that filled my side, Gotta
feeling bout a can't escape.
Speaker 16: Rising deep in my mind. Baby, I don't want to normal.
It's wasted too much time, and it's all.
Speaker 20: The times A shake, And it's all the fears I fake,
and it's all the downs I make it all right,
And it's all the times I shake, and.
Speaker 6: It's all the fears I fake, And it's all the
towns I make it, all.
Speaker 9: The times I sh cant.
Speaker 6: The fierce I think, the jumps.
Speaker 9: I make it all.
Speaker 6: W a wik but I'm trying to get silence. I
can't confide. I can't believe when my thoughts that twisted
right well frozenne I'm caught inside it can't see past
the lights. Maybe I don't want to no more.
Speaker 5: It's wasted too.
Speaker 6: Much time, and it's all turns I shake, and it's
all the farce I think, And it's all