From The Mind(?) Of Damon Warmack

Monday, July 23, 2012

Notes From The Road (or 10 Simple Rules For Lacing The Boot): Italy '09

Here are a few things I learned on my most recent tour of Italy a few summers ago with the Thornetta Davis Band:

1) Don't buy a Blackberry charger at an airport (in Philly) for an international trip. Even with an adaptor and a transformer, it'll explode within an hour of use.

2) When in Italy, there is no avoiding the ubiquitous Autogrill.

3) Since you cannot escape the Autogrill, my advice is to either pack a lot of perishables for road trips or be prepared to choose from some really bad paninis.

4) Seriously. It's the only bad food to be found in the whole country.

5) Italian bees seem to be colorblind, as they frequently mistook the dark, dred locked hair of Black people with the brightly hued colors of actual FLOWERS!

6) Don't forget your swim trunks! You never know when you'll find yourself on a beautiful island with an equally beautiful pool...

7) While you're at it, don't forget to work out. Especially before a summer tour. You won't regret it.

8) As Einstein postulated, time is, indeed, relative. Particularly when concerning Italian sound crews. No matter when it's scheduled to start, soundcheck will be at least 45 minutes behind. Tack an additional 45 minutes if you're near a large body of water. And don't try to be purposefully late; you'll only push everything back. The only reason these affairs even pretend to end on time is because everyone needs to break for dinner.

9) There is, under ANY set of circumstances, never a time when it is okay to stand up and apply lip balm during the gig! You will get laughed at in the middle of the song and you will never live it down (you know who you are.)...

10) There is only one mission... (from Massimo)

All things considered, we had a great time on this tour. Thanks to Thorn, Phil, Rick, Mike, Massimo and Stefano for yet another memorable trip to (and through) Italia!

Monday, July 9, 2012

The Set List From Hell

This is yet another post from FB a few years back but it's a fun one so I decided to repost it here. Enjoy!

One winter eve, lo these many weeks ago, my buddy Skeeto and I were hanging at the Cadieux Cafe when this subject came up. We retired to our respective napkins and the following is what I came up with (with peanut gallery assistance):

1) Mustang Sally
2) Maputo
3) Ain't Nobody
4) Sweet Home Alabama
5) Mr. Magic
6) I Shot The Sheriff
7) Been So Long
8) Freebird
9) Misty
10) Sissy Strut
11) At Last
12) What A Wonderful World
13) Louie, Louie
14) Ribbon In The Sky
15) I Just Called To Say I Love You
16) Down Home Blues
17) Piano Man
18) Moondance
19) My Funny Valentine
20) What's Goin' On?
21) Summertime
22) Stormy Monday
23) God Bless The Child

Keep in mind, most of these tunes I actually like. But if I never played them again, I'd still be fairly happy. (Some of the tunes I hate, but I won't name names)

Feel free to add a song or two but if you have more than 5, you may want to consider starting your own list....

Be Good,
DLW

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing

I'm taking some time this week to work on solo bass version of a Prince song that I'm hoping to post next week. In the meantime, here's my arrangement of Lift Ev'ry Voice And Sing. Enjoy!

Be Good,
DLW

Friday, June 22, 2012

Gratitude

(This was something I blogged about on another site and I decided to share it here...)

I was sitting and thinking about how blessed I've been to perform music for audiences big and small around the country and around the world. I want to take a little time out and thank a few people:

Kelvin Sholar: Thanks for being one of my best friends and for vouching for me on so many gigs over the years (even when I wasn't ready for some of them). I owe so much of my career (and resume) to you it's not even funny.

Ronnie Cuber: Thanks for hiring me sight unseen (hearing unheard?) after just a phone call (and Kelvin's recommendation). You were the first person to take me out of the country to all parts of Europe (including parts of the UK, and even Russia) with a band that thoroughly kicked my tail night after night. Special thanks to Kelvin and Jonathan Blake for making the hang worthwhile. I learned my road chops the 2 years I did this gig.

Amp Fiddler: Thanks for remembering me! We'd met working with Detroit-based singer-songwriter Inohs Sivad back in 2001 and he would tell me every few years that we were gonna work together. He made the call in early 2005. I kinda refined my road chops with Amp. I learned the art of maintaining dignity while being on a month-long tour from him. Oh, and thanks for my first trips to Japan, Montreal, Paris, Ireland, Scotland and some of the largest audiences I've ever seen from the stage.

Brian O'Neal: Thanks for taking me to Lexington, KY, Houston, TX (Yao Ming!) Fresno and LA, CA. You taught me the meaning of grassroots. You're going farther than anyone's imagined (and that's pretty far).

Gayelynn McKinney: Thanks for taking me to Connecticut (twice!) and showing me some of the nicest people I've met on the east coast. And how country is found only one hour outside of NYC! =p

Bob James: Thank you for taking me on one of the most eventful, well-organized and downright FUN tours I've ever been on! It was a pleasure to share the stage with one of my earliest musical heroes AND find out he's one of the nicest guys around.

Bujo Kevin Jones: Thanks for taking me seriously when I said I'd stick around and do two gigs with 10th World when a bassist canceled. I've done a handful of gigs and two recordings with the band and it has been a blast. My first two trips to the Caribbean were thanks to Bujo and it's been a great ride.

GoodBrother: Thanks for the most whirlwind, seat-of-your-pants week in London I've ever had. I learned how to move a crowd, make friends, eat on a serious budget. "I'll say!" =p

Kem: Thanks for taking me to the motherland, South Africa, just on word of mouth. We played a song of his (Heaven") two nights in a row and both nights the whole audience sang the WHOLE song lyric-for-lyric. I've never had that experience and it almost took me out of the gig like I wasn't a part of it and I was just witnessing it. Amazing....

Carl Craig: Thanks for putting me on records that will reach parts of the world that I may never see. And for letting me be a part of the Tribe reunion and the Innerzone Orchestra.

There are certain people I've played and recorded with but haven't traveled extensively with (Does Kalamazoo count?) like Shelby Brown and Inohs Sivad but I'm as proud of my work with them as anything else I've done. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to co-write some gems with you.

I'd also like to thank my parents for providing my first bass guitar when I was 16 (and for SO much more) and Fransisco Mora, Pamela Wise and Althea Rene for giving me my first gigs on the Detroit scene.

=)

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

The Caprese Omelet

As this is the most recent omelet I've made, I've decided to make this the next post of my signature omelet series. As you can see you the pictures and list of ingredients, the Caprese Omelet is a fairly simple construct. I'll only be posting the ingredients list and not a proper recipe with instructions. I'm still working on measurements and whatnot. And I'll probably alter the preparation of this one, too...

1 Tomato

Fresh Mozzarella

Fresh Basil

Olive Oil

Balsamic Vinegar

Unsalted Butter

2 Eggs

Salt Pepper

Be Good,

DLW

Friday, April 13, 2012

The Veggie Omelet

This one is really a work in progress. I'll be playing around with the ingredients on this one for a while before settling on the recipe but this is what I used the first time around...

Green Onions
Red Pepper
1 Tomato
1 Asparagus Spear
Spinach
1 Garlic Clove
Olive Oil
Unsalted Butter
2 Eggs
Colby/Jack Cheese
Salt
Pepper
Fresh Oregano

Like I said, I'll probably experiment with the vegetables in this one for a few months before a true recipe solidifies. Gonna have fun in the meantime...