WHAT :: concert coffeehouse featuring electric guitar wizardry

WHEN :: Friday, February 2, 7:30pm

WHERE :: Grace Fellowship Coffehouse, Latham, NY – for directions go here or call 518.785.4595

WHY :: Because you love me and I play guitar in the band… and hey, free coffee and snacks!

No, really… these past nine days have been a pungent combination of a full-time job (software engineer), various social functions and groups, and a slew of guitar activities and events. Last weekend (October 14 and 15) one of my bands, MCCLAINE TRIBE, played three times for the worship services at Grace Fellowship church. Then on Tuesday I played for a special Acts 29 Boot Camp event in Troy, NY. Then on Thursday another of my bands, Hundred Monkey Theory, played for an event at Russell Sage College (my wife’s alma mater) called Artists for Social Justice (never have I heard so many “positives” of communism). Then on Saturday both Hundred Monkey Theory and MCCLAINE TRIBE played for an event called Shine to benefit arts in the schools. Then Sunday (today) I played for the worship service at Terra Nova Church.

So, when I say I’ve been busy… I mean it. I’ll post something meaningful soon.

Usually these type of gigs are purely acoustic because of the smaller intimate settings, but this one will be electric, with myself on electric guitar and Dave, our drummer, on a full drum kit. If you come and check us out you’ll hear new originals, time-tested originals, and some familiar covers. I hope to see you locals there.

The show will be different from the Hundred Monkey Theory gigs you may have heard me play before at the coffee house. Steve McClaine’s style is heavier with electronic loop-based influences. We’ll be doing about half originals and half worship covers… but the covers will be vamped up to our intensity.

Kris over at ShutUpMilo.com (who is very talented behind a lens) snapped the shots of the gig you see below. You can see these and others in Kris’ gallery or in my gallery. I’d recommend meandering over to ShutUpMilo.com to check out all his galleries.

I’ll be playing with HMT this coming Friday night, February 3, at Grace Fellowship Church. It’s a coffeehouse so there’s no cover, starts at 7:30pm, and there’s plenty of free coffee and goodies so if you’re in the neighborhood stop by. And, yes, the rumor that we’ll be playing some cool chords is still true.

  x
-----------
1 | 2 | | | <5
-----------
| | | 3 4 4
-----------
| | | | | |
-----------
| | | | | |
-----------       

  A7(#5b9)

But so that no one feels deprived, here is a cool chord that I will NOT be playing this Friday night. As a movable chord shape it can already be played with any progression. But also as a very jazzy (and eccentric) chord it can be played within many different keys in a jazz context. As anoted here, at the 5th fret, it could be worked into many jazz keys.

Oh, and because I get asked constantly (for good reason) where HMT gets their name from, here is the explanation straight from Wikipedia on the origin of the Hundredth Monkey.

Here’s an interesting wallpaper I came across on Musician’s Friend… and, yes, this is actually a real guitar… the stormtrooper has been skillfully painted on (including onto the pickups).

And let’s complete the hat trick with a couple cool chords to chew on. These can be found in many pop, folk, and celtic tunes, and even in some rock. The fingerings are similar and can sometimes be used together, especially in the keys of E, A, and B.

x o     o o          x o     o o
===========          ===========
| | | | | |          | | | | | |
-----------          -----------
| | 1 2 | |          | | | | | |
-----------          -----------
| | | | | |          | | | | | |
-----------          -----------
| | | | | |          | | 3 4 | |
-----------          -----------

     A2                 Bsus/A

As a note, the Bsus/A is also frequently fingered with the first and second fingers. It all depends on how you are moving through your voicings in the progression.

UPDATE: The show has been cancelled due to lead singer illness. I can’t begin to tell you how much it sucks that we’re not playing. You can’t perform without a lead singer… that’s all there is to it.

I’ll be playing with Hundred Monkey Theory tomorrow night (Friday) at Grace Fellowship Church. It’s a coffeehouse so there’s no cover and plenty of free coffee and goodies, so if you’re in the neighborhood stop by. Rumor has it we’ll even be playing some of the now famous cool chords I covered in here about a week ago.