Garageband

This is fun for me. I participate in this international music contest at www.garageband.com. I've actually received quite a few awards over the past year. I appreciate that my musical colleagues occasionally throw accolades at my guitar playing or arranging or producing.

The latest award is for "It's a Shame." I wrote this song in 1979, nursing a hangover in an empty (except for my fellow itinerate musician, Tim Kohler) sports stadium in Flagstaff.

A couple months ago I was in my makeshift studio working on a song that had me rather frustrated. I decided to take a break and blow off some steam. Within about a half an hour I had recorded all the parts to "It's a Shame" and mixed the darn thing. I was going for the original garage band jam sound. I fully expected to delete the result.

On a whim I submitted an MP3 of the song to Garageband.com. As I expected, the guitar hero wannabes dissed my unschooled licks. A few reviewers caught the feeling, but nobody seemed to catch the parody that I intended. Apparently "Garageband" is now a program for Apple computers rather than a way of life.

Imagine my surprise when "It's a Shame" was named Track of the Day in the hotly contested category of Blues Rock. Makes me want to jump on the hood of the Rambler, wailing on my Flying V!