Mad as a Hatter – SCONES VOM May 12th 2022

[Bill_Brown]

Nicely done Darren @Moonhare 👏👏👏 Great guitar playing🤩🎸🤩 Oh yea, by the way, congrats for the shout out from Tony on the AC Show👍👍

[Moonhare]

Thanks. Acoustic Tuesday was a bit of a surprise too. 😯 Love the 90 day parties but that’s the first time I actually spoke to Tony during one.

[Philb]

Most Excellent! Singing is a big step, and you did well. Loved the playing and sound of the guitar. First time I’ve heard this song. Thanks for sharing!

[Moonhare]

Thanks. I’m actually great at backing vocals because but lead is never going to be my thing and I’m more interested in learning the guitar to be honest. D

[Kitman]

I loved it, @Moonhare ! I know of Larkin Poe however am not familiar with their music. Thank you for telling of your connection to the song and for sharing it. Also thank you for posting your VOM. I am thinking about perhaps joining in on one, but am unsure. The group you were in was very supportive!

• This reply was modified 3 years, 10 months ago by  Kitman.

[Moonhare]

Hi there. What I did originally was just go to the Open Mic and watch. Not everyone plays and there is no pressure to. Now I actually love it. As you can tell I fumbled a couple of chord changes but no one minds if it isn’t perfect and the practice in front of a ‘home crowd’ is priceless. I’d thoroughly recommend going to one to see what it is all about.

[Kitman]

Thank you for sharing your experience and your encouragement @Moonhare

[bugmeist]

What a great rendition of a great song. Your strumming rhythm is great.

[Moonhare]

Thanks so much. I find strumming quite natural but as I already play the irish side drum, the bodhran, rhythm comes easy to me.

[bugmeist]

I wish I could say the same. Strumming patterns and finger picking rhythm are difficult for me. I just keep at it and like everything else on this journey I eventually get better.

[Moonhare]

Flat picking and barre chords for me – we all have a way to go along this journey for sure!

[Guerra6007]

Excellent cover, Moonhare! Very good song, too. Not many out there about it. My paternal grandmother had those issues in her last few years too.

[Moonhare]

Thanks so much. It is distressing for everyone as it robs you of the person you love. So great to find music that reflects what so many go through.

[stevieblues]

That was awesome Moonhare! 👏 I like Larkin Poe they’re great. I’ve not heard this song before though. You put on an awesome performance! 👏😎

[Moonhare]

Despite being written over 10 years ago it had never been recorded for an album until the live recording with the Nu Deco Ensemble. This is the first version I heard, in fact the first song by Larkin Poe I heard.

https://youtu.be/dGEjbJkxFhs

[Marty75]

👍

[Kitman]

Thanks for posting this YouTube of Larkin Poe’s performance of the song @Moonhare . It is very compelling and emotive. My mother slipped away into dementia and then lived another 11 years having no short term memory and very little long term memory. It is all very sad and everyone feels hopeless.

[Marty75]

That was a nice cover @Moonhare enjoyed it. 😊😊😊😊😎

[KevinZ]

Hey that was spot on @Moonhare My father having to go in a care home because of Alzheimers Aunt Grandma all went down very much think about it hoping my music can slow it down for me and yes buy time well done 👏

[Moonhare]

Lots of research out there that says playing music keeps those connections in your brain firing and it certainly helps emotionally with good mental health so I’m happy we’re getting all the music therapy we can!

[paul0r]

Thanks for your performance and for posting. I want to specifically encourage you to work on your vocal instrument: your guitar work is a pleasure and will support lots of future projects. The human voice is a muscle that does respond to exercise, and I hear some good music fundamentals in your singing. Let me suggest that you try this tune with your capo up a couple of frets, and that you try my favorite bit of vocal advice shared with me by a seasoned professional. Sing with the voice you would use to call your run-away dog. Standing up will automatically allow better breath support, more stable pitch and less strain for higher notes. The most important result from all of this is confidence in the sounds you make. Like the guitar confidence you have now learned from an open mic performance and posting. It’s all a journey, and I think you can extend your musical enjoyment with your voice. (Hey, none of us are Adele!) Cheers!

[Moonhare]

Hey there – Thanks so much for those tips and tricks! I have always been great at backing vocals because I have more of a low vocal range and my voice is very flat (a great advantage for harmonising with a lead vocalist and not distracting from their performance!). But you are so right that the voice is every bit as much an instrument as the guitar. I have no ambitions vocally but there is certainly no harm in uppping my game in this department for those campfire moments in life. Cheers! Darren

[paul0r]

My main reason for posting suggestions is that my vocal mindset was almost identical to yours: comfortable doing backup, more comfort in a lower range, hard to project my voice successfully. A few years ago I was fortunate to find my way to a local Open Mic, with a wonderful group of musical friends, and that was the beginning of my vocal development. One guy advised that I should sing like I was shouting at my kid(s). Not particularly PC, but I got the point. The “call your dog” advice came from a woman who had decades of experience as a working musician and decided to take voice lessons in ‘retirement’. Both ideas really helped me.

A few years ago I joined a men’s barbershop chorus and was most comfortable singing bass. Covid broke that option, but if I were to return I would probably sing lead. I have also found that songs I have learned and performed in the past almost always work better a few half-steps higher. Listening to you I recognized that as potentially useful.

It’s clear from your recording that you have lots of musical experience (I would guess keyboards, right?) and your vocal pitch was surprisingly good for someone with misgivings about his voice. I like to think of musicianship as a learned/earned capacity that forms the basis of musical growth: you seem to have that quality in excellent supply, so forge ahead! Cheers!

PS: Give my best to the Scones crowd the next time you Zoom.

Paul Hudson (paul0r)

[David_Sonn]

Well done Darren! I’m a fan of Larkin Poe too; I saw them in person last September. This was the first song of theirs I heard, and it resonates with me for the same reason as you: My mother has Alzheimer’s. I think it is great that you made the song your own and took it to an open mic. Another excellent song about surviving dementia is 1970 by Reina del Cid: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2vOF1DSm7Uhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2vOF1DSm7U

[Moonhare]

Thanks David. Yes they are a superb band and this song really resonates with so many people.

[Ted_D]

@Moonhare Congratulations! That was excellent! Yep, Larkin Poe are really fantastic, glad to see other fans in the TAC family. And real kudos for including the vocals, well done!

[Moonhare]

Thanks Ted. They are playing a festival just up the road from me in July but at £85 for a day ticket I think I’ll have to settle for just seeing them once this year!

[Jonathandavid]

That was really great Moonhare! I’ve never heard of Larkin Poe but I liked the song and then watched the attached video of their performance of the same song. Your cover was excellent and I liked your rhythmic percussion at the end.

[Moonhare]

Thanks a lot. I’m happy withthe arrangement. I might record a version with one of my many vocalist friends at some stage as I know they’d really do it justice.