A revolving door of special guests

The Building Science Boogie Band and special guest, from left:
Mike Lubliner, Steve Sauer, Eric Werling, Collin Olson, Betsy Pettit, Randy Martin

Our Monday night performance was quite the marathon. I don't know how many extra people sat in with us, but it had to be a record. After some rehearsals, we kicked off the first set around 8 p.m. Our plan was to play Pink Floyd's entire Dark Side of the Moon album during the set. Two and a half hours later, we finished our set not having played a note of it. We also didn't play it in our second set either.

Some of the highlights included Joe Kuonen's additions on trumpet and his newly fixed accordion, especially his trumpet solo on a riveting version of "La Bamba" sung by Frank from the Texans, plus Jay West's show-stealing James Brown impression and some blues numbers featuring Bart "Burt" Laemmel and David Keefe. All our other guests were too numerous to mention!

I've got to credit the regular band members for both their reliability and their flexibility. These are great attributes for musicians! Having five people be able to pull off a song we maybe last played this time a year ago? That's really something. It's funny to me that Mike Lubliner generally doesn't play outside of his own home any other time of the year. The rest of us do. Would somebody please find Luby a band in Olympia, Washington?

Maybe tonight, we'll get to play Dark Side of the Moon for y'all. Either tonight or tomorrow, we are also due to play the Beatles' full Abbey Road album again since only a handful saw us running through it Saturday night. When we do Dark Side, we hope to have a special guest in Rosie, who is an opera singer with classical training. When we do Abbey Road, we are joined for harmonies by Betsy Pettit.

Playing Summer Camp 2011

Building Science Boogie Band members, from left:
Steve Sauer, Eric Werling, Michael Lubliner, Collin Olson, Randy Martin

Congratulations to our regular drummer, Randy "Gramps" Martin, on winning the Building Science Boogie Band's annual basketball game of Horse and beating all the weaklings in the band.

Every year, we get a bunch of guitarists lining up to jam with us. If you can jam, come up and introduce yourself. I, Steve Sauer, should be your main point of contact. If you just want to sit in and don't need to be heard, bring your unplugged electric axe and strum along.

This year, there has been an unusually high number of drummers wanting to sit in. Maybe that's because this year, for the first time, the drummer is the focal point of the band, now being in the middle, and everybody wants to be in the spotlight.

On Sunday night, we welcomed Summer Camp first-timer Barbara Baker onto the kit, and we hope to have bachelor Burt back on drums again since he's not here every year. And if Manfred succeeds in getting German beer to Joe's house today or tomorrow, I'll throw in that he can sit at the drum kit too!

Speaking of beer, I was appalled at the sight of the crappiest of all crappy American brews, Budweiser, in the cooler while I was reaching for my Grolsch after switching over from Pilsner Urquell. Joe Lstiburek made a point the other night by telling me I'd never have to worry about having bad wine at his place. Well, if that's so, then why should I worry about bad beer?

Joe Kuonen did an excellent job Sunday night adding trumpet and some new repertoire entires to our lineup. His rendition of a Cab Calloway tune brought down the house. The crowded house, that is! I think the band set a new record for audience size -- maybe even exceeded occupancy load! Joe Kuonen was at the first Summer Camp, and now he's back after a 14-year absence. He plans to be playing trumpet again tonight and, technology-willing, also accordion.

Eric Werling, who recently switched federal agencies, must have been spending his time wisely as he's especially well rehearsed this year and debuting some new songs he's written. Some building science-related, others about confused and bored adults. But don't worry, there's nothing boring about his songs! Pay attention to the lyrics, and you might catch a pop culture reference from back in the day.

Danny "Locomotive Breath" Greenblatt helped last night with one Jethro Tull piece, and we hope to be performing another soon. We're in rehearsals; you never know when it's coming next.

Big props to the Building Science Boogie Band's own Collin Olson and Gary Nelson for opening Summer Camp with their presentation with Terry Brennan. OK, so it doesn't compare with Pete Consigli's Official Reading of the Summer Camp Menu, but then again, what else in life does? We look forward to Collin being able to play with the band tonight since he had to sit out last night. Thanks to Rick Duncan for being our capable backup bassist! We've also been lucky to have Terry Brennan jam with us as we kick off every night.

Finally, here's a little plug for guitarist Mike Lubliner and his survey project on energy audits and retrofits. Don't forget to complete your survey!

Conjuring Lou Reed, BSBB 2010

It's nice when we pull off a song rather well without any rehearsal together. Yes, it happens. Sunday night, during our prime-time set, we played Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" having never attempted it before. It was on our set list because somebody had suggested it years back, although we never did get around to tackling it. So, you'll hear a few unsavory notes in here, and you might also hear the bass and guitar drop out when they're not sure exactly what to play. But forget all that and concentrate on the feel. I think we captured a great deal of attitude when we ran through this song. And when Luby realized he didn't have the second page of lyrics, it meant we'd have to end the number before it was due. That's when I grabbed hold of the reins and started an improvised vocal that ended up sounding like Lou Reed, an interesting choice given Dylan might have written this song as a revolt against the whole Andy Warhol crowd.

More Lou Reed was to come at the beginning of our intentionally loose Wednesday night set.

Hey Joe/Locomotive Breath from Sunday night

Some of the sets we play are planned out in advance, but some numbers are ready at our disposal to be played at a moment's notice. "Hey Joe" is one of them. Since the lyrics are adapted and dedicated to our Summer Camp counselor, Joe Lstiburek, we generally pull out that chestnut only when its namesake is within earshot. Another one that keeps our band quick to the draw is Jethro Tull's "Locomotive Breath," which is sung by guest vocalist Danny Greenblatt. Part of the way through our performance of "Hey Joe," I noticed Danny was sitting off to the side of the band with his hands folded in his lap. This, to me, is the telltale sign that Danny's here for one reason only: to sing his song. These two songs are played in the same key, and I could start off the long intro to "Locomotive Breath" on my own and the rest of the band would follow in due course. So, that's what we did. Danny has always said he needs no attention drawn to him before he starts singing, only copious amounts of bourbon. That's the way he likes it, and we like it that way too. This is from our Sunday prime-time set.

Sunday rock set, BSBB 2010

Building Science Boogie Band
Photo by Layla Thomas

For those who weren't there, and for those who for whatever masochistic reason care to relive it, we're going to post some MP3s of our work during Summer Camp 2010. We've embedded them right in line with the text so you don't have to go hunting for them. The lineup from the start was Michael Lubliner and Eric Werling on guitar, Collin Olson on bass, Randy Martin on drums, Brad Oberg on percussion, and Steve Sauer on keyboards. Most of the vocals were shared by Luby, Steve and Eric.

Summer Camp 2010 wrap-up

Photo by GreenCurmudgeon

Summer Camp 2010 has ended, and it was a monstrous success for the Building Science Boogie Band. We had more guests than ever before sitting in with us. We were also mindful of those who could not join us, including our trombonist Gary Nelson and our deceased friend Larry Palmiter. Plans for improving the Building Science Boogie Band experience in 2011 are soon to be unveiled. You should also look here for select recordings from Summer Camp 2010.