Now: We All Get Back Up Again?

I got the 50 fans back, but the song plays are flat. I am probably leveling off and headed back down. It will have to take care of itself. No tweaking from me! I'm getting ready to move to Vermont soon. I will record another song tomorrow in Indy! RRG Chuck

Now: We All Fall Down!

I made it to # 5 today on the Louiville Reverbnation chart for Rock! Wow! I'm impressed...not! The system is easily tweeked and you will see artists with way more fans than song plays? Why would you become a fan when you have not heard their songs? To get a higher fan number for yourself. I gained fans steadily after a few key artists became my fan. It is like joinign a fan club or secret society. You are however only allowed to have 1000 favorites so you have to drop artists as you go to keep your own numbers up. I just lost 50 fans today after never losing more than 1 or 2 before. So funny! I guess my fair share payment will go down now! I did earn 18 cents so far, which helps you to see how important "Fameville" (Reverbnation) really is. I will keep my songs on there, but the climb up the charts may be over. I will let it take care of itself. You can spend more time tweeking the fans than writing and playing songs. I'm gonna be Rockin' instead. I did meet a few nice people on RVN which does make it worthwhile. Watch Liam's video on my page or Utube. It is so funny! RRG Chuck

Check out music from Rock and Roll Grandpa Chuck F...

Way Back Then: My Family's Musical Roots

To be fair, I thought that I would mention that I do come from a musical family. My mom was an excellent pianist, but never taught me to play. she did buy me my first guitar! I was a part of our family sing alongs. My both of my uncles sang and played guitar. My uncle George taught me some guitar when I was a teen. My grandfather played violin with the Chicago Symphony until he broke his shoulder when he fell on some ice. His father played fiddle in Iowa. My great uncle Frederick W. Agard sang at the Edgewater Beach Hotel in Chicago in the 1920's and was one of the first to be broadcast on radio. The station was WEBH which became WGN. This is a piece of sheet music with his picture on it that I somehow found on EBay. He was the "Ace of the Air". I chose to paint after seeing my Uncle Richard's work when I was 11 in New York state. It took me a long time to get into music (starting again at 57), but here I am! Thanks, Family!

Now:T-shirts Anyone!

The Reverbnation lesson continues! Part of what you need to do to finish the promotional check list on RVN is to start a store and sell things. I only have signed guitar picks to sell, that I have been putting on EBay to get people to read this blog. I did, actually sell some. Thanks! I now have learned what "Merch" means. I used the handy little RVN program to create my own line of "Designer" t-shirts. I can make mugs and hats too, but I tried to limit myself. I am a good designer after being an artist all my life and I will do some better and more fun shirts soon. I don't like to take away from my music, so it may be awhile. We also tried to make a video yesterday (My wife Dee is a wonderful photographer!) but the wind was too noisey. It sounded like a train going by. We will get one out soon, just for fun! I have moved to #18 today on the Rock chart for Louisville, which is amazing! I did contact some bands, but I do listen to their music before becoming a "fan". I get new fans everyday now, but I noticed that they didn't HEAR MY SONGS! Wow! It is about music isn't it??? At least it is for me. So play my songs and tell me what you think. I'm just learning. Rock and Roll Grandpa Chuck

Now: The Keys To Success!

Next in my journey through music, comes the latest story about fame. My wife Dee is playing a game called Farmville on Facebook. I don’t have time for such games. So I thought. Instead, I signed up for Reverbnation. I saw that some musicians that I knew were on it. After signing up, I found out what a “hub” for the music world it is. You upload your music easily and it can be shared with My Space, Twitter, and Facebook with the click of a button!. This is where I came across the thing called a “widget”. I started placing them everywhere I could, which is something like planting “bugs” in your neighbor’s apartment. It shares your latest songs with a click and also records the play in your “secret log” on Reverbnation. I am not saying that Reverbnation is bad, (I like it!) but you have to remember it really is the game I call “Fameville”. There are rules. Rules you ask? Oh, yes. I get emails from RVN (That’s what the musicians call it.) that tell me how I am doing and when someone wants to become a fan. I got a fan request from Slovakia. The contents of the email was surprising. It had “secret information” hidden in it about how to move higher on the charts on RVN! I am checking things out and I will write more as I learn the “secret rules” of etiquette of RVN. I did move from an obscure #227 for Louisville to # 36 today. Thanks to my “real” fans, not tricks. I am not doing many of things suggested in the email, because I want to see how I do on my own. I do realize that RVN is made up of lots of musicians. (It is like going to an art show opening and seeing that the crowd is mostly other artists or family.) But, I don’t know how many listeners are non-musicians. The CHART really is not like the old Top 40 of the radio days. The chart rating doesn’t help you write songs or pay the bills, although you are supposed to get “a piece of the action” (cash) if you do well. Please visit my site and become a fan to help me out. (My commercial message.) More later, Rock and Roll Grandpa Chuck

Now: Learning The New World at 61!

I just posted a thing called a "widget" which is new to me. As I learn the music business of today, I find myself becoming a bit to a "geek". I guess learning to play and write songs at 60 is not enough. The Reverbnation site is something because somehow I have quickly climbed to #42 (of 250) on the Louisville charts for Rock.I am also meeting other musicians, as they find my songs and contact me. I learn from so many things and people. Thanks, Rock and Roll Grandpa

Now: Reverbation Connection

Then: In The Mixer!

I decided to go crazy and try to record one of my “sketches” in Indianapolis at Hit City Recording with Tim Brickley. We found the studio after being “wowed” by being in the big city with its contrast of Ghetto vs. Mansion scenery . The studio is a great place to record because it has a “lost in the Hippies” decor and vibe. I had no idea what to do at a real studio, because I was just starting to move from the Spanish Program’s mic to a real Shure mic ( a 58 but some people seem to like the 57) that I had been advised to get at a music store. I did try one from Toys R Us, but it wasn’t right for my equipment. It made me sound younger? The first shock at the studio was the Emmy sitting on a table that Brickley had earned. I was totally intimidated, but Tim is so encouraging. He had me play my songs (and re-tune my guitar) as he sat on the rug listening and taking notes. When I would tense up or have problems, he would say,” that’s alright Daddy, you can do it”. He chose a love song which was a ballad and not a Rock tune for our first try. He quickly learned the songs and began playing it as if he had written it himself. Tim is a genius and my playing for him is like painting in front of Picasso. I asked him if my songs were worth recording and he told me that he wouldn’t waste his time if they weren’t. “I could be home watching the Colts!“, he said. The song “Unlucky in Love” was the first to record. I had to re-sing it many times to get it right. He pasted it together to make the final demo. He jokes that that was how Madonna does it. Dee and I listened to it over and over on our way home to Louisville. We in “another world.”

Then: The Hat Trick

I found that they had several Peddler’s Malls in Kentucky shortly after we moved there. In the unbelievable piles of crazy stuff that is being sold in these stores, I found a hat. I was looking for music related things like a Fender hat, but saw one that said, “Ernie Ball” . I remembered that way back in high school I used to buy Ernie Ball strings. I decided to buy the hat. And, as you can guess, when I went out to the bars to listen to the local bands, I wore the hat. When the bands took a break, the musicians would notice the hat and ask if I played. I would gladly reply that I did, but I was only a song writer and never performed on stage. They wanted to know about my songs, so I gave them a card to direct them to my website and my primitive “sketches” of home recorded songs. I thought that this was fun, so I always wore my Ernie Ball hat and brought cards to hand out. I was interested in learning about bands and wanted to talk to performing (gigging) musicians. You see some crazy things at the bars in Louisville late at night. One night, I listened to an old man tell me about his troubles in his neighborhood and with his gangster son. It became an easy word-for-word song I call “Don’t Bring You Troubles to Our House.” I also was handed free “high roller” tickets to see Roger Daltrey of the Who at the Horseshoe Casino! That was a great show and something that I would not have gone to see on my own. It affected the recording of my song “All Fall Down”. One night I saw a band called the Bleeding Hearts from Indianapolis. Their lead singer was Tim Brickley. I was impressed by his versions of the cover songs that they were doing. He didn’t just try to mimic them, he made them “his own”. I told him that I enjoyed what he was doing and gave him my card as usual. He was very friendly and tolerant of the old amateur. He did listen to my songs and liked them. So, when I saw him again on another night, he told me that he was a producer up in Indy and that I should come up and “flesh out” my songs there at his recording studio, Hit City. I am thinking that the “hat trick” was on me. I was now going to have to learn how to record a song and work with a (genius) musician. Yikes!

Then: The Sun Shines Bright On My Old Kentucky Gnome

So, we packed up our stuff to move to Louisville, Kentucky to take care of Liam, while his parents worked. They need a break and "instant" baby sitters at non-work times too. We were glad to help out. Liam is our only grandchild and we love to be with him! The trip was challenging because we had to drive a big U-Haul truck across the U.S. whom we named "Bob". We should have gotten a smaller truck and forced ourselves to get rid of more stuff, so that our things would have to fit into it. But, that is another story. We got to Louisville and moved into a one bedroom apartment. After a full four bedroom house in Oregon, it was tiny! I used the closet for a painting studio and the possibility of doing quiet recording using the little mic from the language program became nearly impossible. I still wrote some songs, but I needed to branch out and meet some other musicians to learn the "business" of music. Louisville had three casinos that became a Mecca for us during our stressful change of location and life. We didn't hit any cash jackpots there, but they did have live bands and performers that you could see for a beer. I also started meeting people in the bars and listening to their stories. I was never a "bar guy"and going to a place like that was new for me. But, my songs were about to change, or should I say, "grow up." The KY gnome was a card I made for my wife Dee. So who did I meet in those bars????

Now: New song

I just finished writing a new song called "Up On The Fence". What a shock? We seem to always be waiting on something or someone in our lives. It is a Rock song that has some new "extra" invented chords and a catchy rhythm in it. I will try to put new "sketches" of songs on this Blog after I get some recording issues solved. I want them "thicker" first.

Now: The Wick's Virgin Experience

Well, I decided to go to Wick's pizza in Louisville to see what an open mic night is. I didn'yt bring my guitar, because I know nothing about it business and wanted to see what it is all about. We got there and nobody was in the bar except for the Mic Night Host and a friend. Nice guys. Everyone was at the State fair. I talked to John the host and he told me how things worked. I told him I wrote songs and have never tried performing. I said that I didn't have my guitar with me. Guess what? They have a house guitar there! Rats! He signed me up as the second act. He then broke a string on a warm up song. I thought that I was off the hook to perform until he said that he lived next door an would get another guitar. Fate??? I waited until he finished his songs and then it was my turn. After three trips to the bathroom and some beer I was on. A few people had come in to perform and listen. I stood up at the mic and played two of my songs. Good thing I had practiced like Tim had told me! I did ok and wasn't nervous, just worried about messing up. they actually appaulded. They invited me to come back and perform again. I will practice "Big Time" before I do. I don't want to sound bad. Crazzzzy!

NOW: Song For Rachel

After reading another, "Nashville is a commercial music hole "article, I had a song pop into my head. I had thought about writing about the streets of Nashville, but I had only been there once (so far) and didn't really "know" it first hand. It was in winter and it was very cold, not the tourist season for sure. I did see the grim side of Nashville. I remembered visiting the home and graves of Andrew Jackson and his "disputed" wife Rachel (Who cares if they were married.They were in love.). I had a little song and movie story in my head about a song writer who visited Rachel's grave and was comforted somehow. He kept going back until he finally sang a song to her one winter day. He then left Nashville and returned to his home and his love. He found his musical voice in his true home. What I wrote is not a Rock and Roll song, but it says something. It is called "A Song For Rachel". I don't know if I will record it. I like singing it. Maybe I will sing it for her myself someday.

Then:Trying to record

So, after the song "Old School" was written, I played it for my wife Dee. She was surprised that I could write songs, but said she liked it. I was thinking about old Rock and Roll songs and how every time they tried to put on a "sock hop" at a car show very few people wanted to dance. The song "It's Time to Rock and Roll" just fell out of my guitar along with other songs. Songs would come to me while I was mowing the lawn or doing other things like emptying the house to sell. We decided to sell and downsize, so I was busy fixing and cleaning daily. I kept playing guitar, but the echo was getting louder, because we had put may things into a storage unit to help with the house sale. We kept cruising our cars, but the possibility of a bigger move to be with Liam meant the classic cars must go. I wanted to save the melodies of my songs so that I could play them later. I needed to record them. I found a little microphone that came with my son Colin's Spanish program and tried to record. The echo and short cord small mic and no experience lead to primitive song recordings. But, I was getting my songs down. My fingers were getting sore because I was playing daily, but songs about the past began to pour out! The 57 Chevy wagon was mine.

Now: Cramps Gramps

I just got back from Indy and recorded "I'm in Between Love". I wrote the song while I was visiting in Oregon and staying with good friends. I couldn't bring my guitar, but the daughter of a friend (Thanks, Ashlee !) let me use her little First Act guitar. I had an idea for a song so I went out on their front steps and banged the tune out. Ashlee thought that was so cool that I wrote a song using her guitar, that she asked me to sign her guitar. The song is about friends and relatives who are "in between loves". Tim did his usual genius job of producing the song. When it came time to do the vocal I was getting tried (being past my nap time) and had been sitting too long helping with the song. I started the vocal and was standing trying to learn the changes in the song and trying to get better at "telling the story" of the song, when I got a terrible cramp in my side. We were pressed for time because Tim had to do some truly important business, so I did like Tim always tells me and acted tough. "Ya gotta be a Marine he always says."
He didn't know I wasn't all there (I didn't tell him.), but my vocal could be better and I will need to do it again. Still, the songs sounds great and is a Rocker! The album is just about done except for the clean up work. Thanks, Big Tim and Ashlee! This me getting to play a 1948 Martin guitar once owned by Stephen Stills while I was in Oregon. It was being auctioned. I couldn't afford it!

Then:For Randy

I just started bangin' on my guitar and a song popped out. I decided to write is down and managed to find some paper and a pencil. I didn't know how to record anything at this time, so I played it enough to "lock it in". The song is "Old School" and was about being cool driving a car that was not all shiny and a "trailer queen". My friend Randy, who was oddly enough a younger member of the car club, told me about the style and encouraged me to do my cars in "Old School'. I wrote this song based on his comments. We later lost Randy in a tragedy and the song is now a memorial to him, his friendship and spirit.

Then: The Club

I won the 50/50 and the person who counted out the cash was our good friend to be Karla. She was with the local Chevy club and it turned out that we joined up. I told my wife Dee, that I would really like to have a 1958 Chevy like my old high school days, if I could ever find one. Next thing you know we found and bought one. We then proceeded to buy and sell classic cars for several years (I think 15 cars?). We were living in the "American Graffiti" dream and I heard old Rock and Roll at each cruise-in. We had always listened to Oldies, but we had been listening to the Grunge Music that came out in the 1990's . The music in the 1990's was so boring! Grunge was alive and fresh. We went to see Nirvana and Sound Garden. But the car club got me back to the Oldies. I hardly ever played my Washburn guitar that I had had for many years. No time. We really enjoyed the car club and we made great friends and actually became "social" and more outgoing. As I retired from teaching I found that I had time to play my guitar, which I had told myself I was going to do. Then one night I had had a few beers and was playing my guitar (poorly, because I had almost lost my skills and my calluses.) when I heard a song in my head...

Now:Don't Stop Singin'

I just finished a rockin' song called Wake to the Rock and Roll. It is an anthem for sure, but a rocker. It has to do with Geez Music (Neo-Classic Rock) and the fact that much of the current music bores me to tears, which is crazy at 6o years old! Our little grandson loves my songs. He especially likes Rest of My Life. He has just start to sing along with a song. He fills in as a backup singer on Step Back in Time when he feels like it and when we aren't paying attention. He is only 2 1/2 years old. He does play a bad Sponge Bob Uke!

Then:Cruizin' Back in Time

So.... I bought a little 64 Chevy from a student because he had bought a better car and needed the money. Yes, I paid a fair price. I do have ethics. We saw a bunch of old cars at a drive in Salem, so we stopped and walked around to look at them. The cruizers told us that they met there every Saturday night. We shined up the old Chevy and went to our first cruize-in. We had the wrong kind of chairs(old school aluminum) and found out that you need to back in to be cool. Let me tell you that backing any car in to a space at a crowded cruize-in with super expensive classic cars next to you is not relaxing! We had a great time livin' in the American Graffiti movie and left with the fifty-fifty cash. I didn't know what the 50/50 was until that first cruise. I won it. $86? We also met our future friends and heard about the local Chevy car club.

Now: Neo-Classic Rock/ Geez Rock

My wife Dee calls my new songs Neo-Classic Rock. My producer likes to call them Geez. They both are right. My songs are in the style of the Classic Rock and Roll fof the 60's and 70's, but they are all new and written from a Grandpa's perspective, not that of a teenager. Hopefully, there will be new ears to listen to Neo-Classic Rock when the current musics styles come up empty.

Then: Better get back to the woods...

After college, I got totally into pottery making. I made my own kilns and struggled through the Great Oregon Gas Shortage to get supplies. The clay and water made guitar playing more difficult. I sold pottery at art fairs and married the manager of one of them-Dee. We moved to the mountains to a the town of Sisters. I made pottery(no money) while Dee cooked (made money) at a restaurant. I learned to train and drive a sled dog team and entered races. Not much guitar playing at this time. Mostly, small town living. Parenting and a move back to the Valley and a little teaching came next. I finally got a certificate and a Master's and taught Junior High, High school and evening college classes for 30 years until I retired in 2007. During this time I also built a house and continued to play a little guitar at times. I bought a classic 64 Chevy from a student and then.....

Now: Getting closer to the end

I need to raise the cash to go up to Indy to work with my genius Emmy Award winning producer to finish another song for my first cd. I have 11 songs pretty much done and I think I will only do one or two more. I may replace an older recording to make a better album. I did write a couple of new songs in the last few days. One was done with stupid lyrics (Another breakup?? My wife Dee said it was just another breakup song...)and I think I managed to save it with some real ones. I also wrote a song called Dark Castle, which is based on a favorite book of mine called The House on the Strand. It is a spooky Doors/Morrison channeled type song that I wrote on my 12 string. It may have to go on my next album. My Grandson Liam likes my songs. Rest of My Life is his favorite and he starting to sing a little. Hey, if a two year old likes your songs you must be doing ok.

Then vs Now

I will title some posts starting with "Then" or "Now" to jump around in time and to keep this saga more interesting. Now: I wonder how long it will take before anyone will read these?

Movin' from high school to the woods

I played (auditioned) one time with a garage rock band. They were looking for a lead and my friend wanted me to try out because I had an electric guitar. Problem was, I didn't know how to play lead guitar! I did hear some hear some great music during the riots at my school in San Bernardino. We went on vacation to Oregon and my family (including me) stayed there. I never went back at all! Bye old friends and the SoCal music scene! I stripped the stripes (try saying that fast.)off my Silvertone and brush varnished it. It looked terrible, so I got a 12 a Harmony string and continued to play and learn guitar (on my own) as I went in a small college. I was also getting deeper it painting and pottery. I was an art education major but didn't want to teach. I changed my major at the last minute to The Arts:Art Music and Drama. I always do things backwards! I took some music classes and was in the concert choir. My voice was fried after a full day of classes. It was hard to believe that I was majoring in voice. I didn't play any real instruments except guitar, so voice was it. I couldn't learn or play many of the popular songs of the late 60's and early 70's so...I started writing my own! I thought that they had been thrown out. But, as you will learn later, I still have them.

The Early Years

I taught myself to play guitar (with the help of my uncle George) back in the 60's. My mom played piano well and did family sing-alongs. I got a Harmony (Sears) guitar for Christmas because I wanted to learn to play. It had tiger stripes and a black and gold cord (which I threw away.) for a strap. It was a Sears special. I now have one similar that my wife found for me at a Goodwill for $8. It is a Stella and is like one of B.B. Kings. I learned to play the theme to Gilligan's Island and Green Backed Dollar (Kingston Trio) from a high school friend. I also liked the electric guitar my uncle had at our sing-alongs. My friend pushed me to "buy an electric" to play in a band he was starting. My uncle kindly sold me his electric guitar and amp. It was a Sears and the amp was an Airline. Now the 60's....

Gettin' Started in Rock at 60

I plan to share the crazy road that has lead me from a life of painting and art teaching to writing and recording my own Rock and Roll songs at the age of 60. (Soon to be 61.) It will take awhile to catch up to the present day., but I'll get there sometime? You can hear a sample of my songs at www.lynncharlesfoster.com/music.