beats, rhymes, and life

I am getting a washboard. And I am absolutely tickled about it.

Last weekend I attended Sugarfoot Stomp in Asheville. It was a blast, and much fun was had by all. I especially enjoyed learning the Texas Tommy.

One of the highlights was familiarizing myself with the washboard that Carl had brought. It was a little jarring playing on the metal, especially with thimbles, but I got used to it. I also tried it out with my fingernails, and I liked that better. But what I am completely excited about is that strumming the metal bit with your fingers is not even half of what you can do with it! Oh no. You can beat the metal, like a drum. You can beat the wooden part above the metal like a drum. If you drum with different parts of your hand, it sounds different - just like a djembe would! You can even rap your knuckles on the very top of it, and it sounds like you're knocking on a door.

The reason I'm so thrilled about this discovery is this: Yesterday Chuck and I were practicing - I sing; he plays ukulele. We've been practicing here and there for a while, learning chords and lyrics and all that because we want to busk. Chuck really wanted to do the tune "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow," made famous by the Shirelles. I wasn't thrilled about it, but I agreed - it's simple, it's easy, kinda pretty, and he really liked it. No problem, right?

Well yesterday I was done with it. Boring. It's boring! And I thought, "How could we play this tune so that people would not only want to listen to it but also be compelled to tip us?" And then practice got fun. I asked Chuck to arpeggiate his strum pattern: instead of just strumming so that the pick quickly goes across all the strings in succession, he picked out each string one at a time. Then I laid down a beat.

Yes I did: I laid down a beat. On a piano bench, no less. So we had a sweet, chill modified strum pattern and a beat, and then I changed the rhythm and styling of the vocals so that they were more soulful. The truth is that I sang the song while channeling Lauryn Hill. And it is indeed a good start. Now I really like that cheesy '60s tune.

Obviously we can't drag the piano bench along with us to Market Square - it doesn't project all that well anyway. We walked all over my house in search of some inanimate object with a decent resonating body and a good sound, but got nothing. Then I remembered the washboard. I texted my mother, and it turns out my Aunt Judy has one she's going to give me. It probably came from Granny's farm in Mississippi, and I have no idea how old it is, BUT - I'm getting a washboard! And then it is ON.