fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)
Friday

I ran out of gas on my motorcycle.

Banner's mom came to the house to stay for the weekend.

I took waffles to the dog park at Amazon Park, walked laps with chatting with JT, and told him of all the shenanigans happening near me, Satya had quite a train wreck on Tuesday, the gossip factor of which demands that I tell the story to someone who is at least marginally removed. So that conversation lasted 5 laps of the park.

Later Went to BlairAlley barcade and caught up with Scot and Russell. Went to hang with them at Scot's place, where I used to live! Its now called the cathouse, because of reasons. We stopped at Old Nick's, then went to Black Forest for Dwight Dickinson show. Scot and I are sometimes members of Dwight's band, but he performed as a trio with Eddie Cancer on bass, and a new drummer named Dan ( who drives a sweet VW vanagon westfalia. ) I ran over to WOW Hall, as I had won tickets to Led Zepagain, cover band, and watched that for a while and had a beer in their lounge downstairs. Then I returned to Black Forest, had some pickle chips, then drove Scot and Russell to 80's night, just as it was ending. I was accosted by a longtime Soothesayers fan, Vanya. I was limited in what I could say about the Old Nick's Kerfuckle, didn't want to say that I think Tim is fucking up, and going after Emily, Vanya is a sweet kid, and he told me about all of his first edition vinyl of MC5, Stooges, Rocket from the Tombs, Johnny Thunders, etc etc etc etc etc etc etc

Saturday
Slept.
Dog Park.
Yard Work, minimal eating, I had a microwaved Angus Burger patty with black rice, with horse radish, sriracha and some dried cherries for a desert.
I went to 'The Space' to play music with my Soothesayers people, Samantha and Jimmy. Jen and Chris joined us there with some 2 towns cider and tons of fresh raspberries and strawberries.

Sunday
Slept.
Stopped in at Pint Pot, and had their new smoked pork chop, with a thimble of Aardbeg 10 year scotch and a pint of guinness on nitro.
put the motorbike battery on the trickle charger.

Monday
Got my bike out for a ride! its a '92 nighthawk 750, probably needs a good going-through before I take it up to Portland or the coast... but I had fun today, and it ran great.


Troy (Anti-Troy) and Ben ((Black Forest cook!)
fredxmertz: (Default)
its absolutely pissing down with rain, as it has for at least the past 2 weeks . We've had a few brief breaks for 'partial sunshine', but otherwise brutal winds, torrential rains, flooding and the overall general mayhem that accompanies these storm systems that pile up on each other...
Of course, I'm out there driving in it. I've been "full-time" at Oregon Taxi since February of 2015, where my 'meat and potatoes' is the ride source account: mostly driving older folks to medical appointments. The owner of the cab I'm driving has been really great to me, and offered plenty of 'overtime' in the form of extra hours in the taxi, beyond what I'm paying on the lease. The trick is that I get complacent about the early morning hours, I'm able to come in later than I 'need to', and run the cab later, with the potential to make more. The hitch is that there is no guarantee of actually making more, and I find that the early morning clinic runs are about the only consistent hours with heavy activity. So if I sleep in till 7 am, I'm (potentially) missing out on some of these high dollar runs to the outskirts of civilization around here. There is not any guarantee, however, that if I DO get in bright and early, I will make money, the distribution of work is so random and haphazard. The cab company has figured out my old tricks and implemented a more randomized distribution of these better paying runs. So there is no merit award based on performance, and being better or more patient in the job only pays off in the health and wellness category, based on lower stress level for the driver (me). So I have this nagging feeling that I'm a slacker, and that even one small traffic collision could wreak havoc.
yet I persist.
music-wise I'm keeping busy with four projects:
The Soothesayers
Davy Jones' Locker Combo
Pirate Radio
La Petit Mort
with my calendar of events at: www.fredxmertz.com
my daughter and I are flying down to L.A. to see my mom and step dad, but I don't have plans for actual Christmas Day, and I had actually hoped to be in the cab (it might be snowing that day) but I think the regular Friday guy is keeping his day shift...
meanwhile, its just me and my animals around here.
Soothesayers played at Naughty Dottie's Dirty Flirty Thirty party Saturday.
I took Tim Kinney up to Portland Sunday to see X and Mike Watt, but haven't been out since then.
I'm not currently dating anyone, but I'm available! I discontinued my OKCupid, because it was OKStupid. The only ladies I took an interest in were people I've already known, and I feel like a creepy stalker with the 'wink and kink' interface of reading internet profiles and looking at candid photos.
Hope this finds you all well, and I wish you a Happy and Festive Solstice celebration, whatever that may mean to you!

and TOMORROW:
Wed 23
First Annual Krampus Holiday Special!!!
The Googins (Local punk Eugene)
Lucika (Metal)
The Soothesayers (Eugene Female fronted Garage Punk)
Astern (Metal)
Come celebrate The Holidays at Old nicks
First Annual Krampus Holiday Special!!!

Naughty or Nice show up and rock out to this awesome Lineup :
You never know you might get a visit from Father Christmas, but knowing you.... Krampus might be waiting on the shadows......... Gruss von Krampus! $3
9:00 | $3-5 sliding scale
fredxmertz: (Default)
Davy Jones' Locker Combo played 2 shows this week: Old Nick's and Boreal, big surprise!
Wednesday was Kim's show at Old Nick's, featuring two train hopper bands, and the DJLC. Le Petit Mort was supposed to play, but Whisky Scotty had a surgery,


(edit 6/22/17: some pictures were missing, that was a weird show, I feel like we played great, but the other groups were last minute, and sounded grating. RIP Boreal.)


then Friday, (last night) at Boreal with Googins and and Not a Part of It.



Tonight, Me and Santina are cuddling with Jackie and Waffles, and binge watching Netflix.
Thanksgiving was some work, but amazing in several ways; having my kids see my (long-divorced) parents get along so well
Apparently, I'm rainbow dash.

lots of upcoming shows: I'm playing bass with Pirate Radio, opening for TSOL on Jan 13th.


Soothesayers are opening for the Supersuckers in February, and playing Dot's birthday party 12/9 and a Krampus show at Old Nick's 12/23.
fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)


Tenmile Mountain Bash Campout/Concert nhappened over last weekend.  Jason Kelly was put in charge of procuring musical talent, and he did a great job, though I might be biased because JK loves him some Mertz.  Friday was mostly jam bands of the Grateful Dead/Pink Floyd variety: these are the tenmile mountain regulars, and though its not my 'cup of tea' by any means, the musicians are local and friendly.  The party was started by Sam's friend, Searose, and used to take place at tenmile creek rd in Yachats, Oregon.  The party has been moved in recent years to a bigger spot, with more camping spaces, more music, bigger stage, etc.
Saturday, my group DAVY JONES LOCKER COMBO played in the afternoon.  We got a great response, but most of the crowd were still not ready or receptive to any band that played for less than 2 hours!  I like to leave 'em wanting more, and we hadn't had a whole lot of practice, but the crowd forced us to play pretty much every song we know, and then improvise a bit.  So I'm not crazy about the whole hippie vibe, but its hard to argue when people are being so friendly, and get SO into the music.  The older guys in the crowd seemed to appreciate our act, and praised us for not playing 20 minute songs in a 3 hour set.  Other Saturday bands included: The Googins, Beast of Eden, Everyday Automaton, The Soothesayers (featuring your truly), and a surprising late night acoustic set by LE PETIT MORT (also featuring your humble narrator, I'm kind of a whore huh?)  I think this was the highest attendance (see?) there has been at Tenmile yet, even without the 'big name' acts of years prior.
My Mom is visiting, at the same time that my daughter is in town for her Eugene Ballet Academy summer intensive.  So, its great having everybody around after a VERY quiet two months at Mertz Manor, but I'm having to sleep on the couch.
fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)

Old Nick's has been open since the big D.R.I. show on April 9th.  My bandmate, Tim; my ex-neighbor, Emily; and Jevon were the original partners.  Since that time, another close friend of mine has jumped in as the fourth partner.
But I don't get out of the house much on weeknights, as I'm full-time Daddy 5 nights per week.

I have played a number of shows at Old Nick's already: I'm losing count by this time...  The Soothesayers played with D.O.A., as you may have seen in previous posts.  Davy Jones' Locker Combo has played there a couple of times, twice in one weekend.  I've played banjo there with Le Petit Morte and Brain-Ake & The Family Mullet.

I've completed the sale/buyout of M's ownership of Mertz Manor, and should be able to get started on fixing/upgrading, etc pretty soon.

After the Pierced Arrows show Saturday, me and the kids will go down to SF to attend cousin E's wedding.  I'll get back Tuesday night, and work thru the rest of the week.  I've been putting in 13 and 14 hour days, driving for Oregon Taxi. but I haven't been getting shifts at Sheltercare.

DJLC will be recording with Sean Shanahan on June 12th.
fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)


Joe joined us onstage to sing "Nervous B reakdown" with Samantha.

DJLC played a last minute gig (early) Thursday at the Boreal.  It wasn't our best moment, necessarily, but it WAS fun.  We were the first band to play on the Boreal's brand new sound system, so there was a good deal of hum, feedback, mic testing, etc etc.  The Double Deuce (my former Band Mates) Also played , and the show was headlined by a Jesse Ray Carter

I didn't stick around to hear Double Deuce or Jesse Ray Carter, but I bought a shirt, I had a last minute practice with the Soothesayers at 8:15 to get ready for the DOA Show at Old Nick's.

Friday 4/17: Pirate Radio opened, the Soothesayers played second, and DOA headlined.
Old Nick's was pretty generous in offer DOA to play a show at the (All Ages/No Alcohol) gig place one block over (The Boreal) on their brand new sound system I mentioned. So DOA was playing a double header.  The show was pretty great.
BUT:  Pirate Radio's bass player talked a bunch of crap , and they've been banned from Old Nick's because of that....

good news:  Santina appears to be taking pretty good care of Apple.  Their Green Hill club meeting was cancelled Friday, because they didn't have a chaperone.  That gave me a chance to hang out a bit more with San.  She's got dance performances all this week, and I'll try to make it to most of them: then she has a choir solo Friday, if she can miss one of the ballet performances to attend the school choir concert.

I'll be playing these upcoming shows (this week) all of them appear to be in the Whit.....

Friday, April 24th

DAVY JONES' LOCKER COMBO w/  Free Beard

at Old Nik'sc.

Saturday, April 25th

DAVY JONES' LOCKER COMBO w/ Everyday Automoton

at The Boreal.  All Ages.  Donation.

fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)
DOA SHOW UPDATE

so, there was an unusual bit of drama on my part, that somehow I'd missed getting off work that night in time for the show, so I thought I wouldn't get off work til 10:30 pm, and usually thats not such a big deal, but it did turn out to be a huge deal for this one night. How so? well the inimitable Bruce hartnell of the Detonators has tendonitis, he's an older guy these days, so The Detonators, who were not originally on the bill, were set to play second, after the Soothesayers, for only 20 minutes. Bruce had also arranged to supply the backline (amplifiers) and had spent a small fortune recently upgrading/maintaining his gear. So the soothesayers could not go on 2nd... then their drummer , Sean Shock had a hissy fit about playing after the soothesayers anyway... then the whole show would have to be pushed back one hour, and the headliners DOA would have to shorten their set.
my band hated me, drama drama drama. why did I fuck up? I thought I had arranged to get the night off by working a partial shift, but somehow I didn't remember.
I told everyone to chill, something would work out. Tim arranged for his instrumental surf band THE MISSING LINKS to play the early set, and it was looking like the Soothesayers would not get play at all.
well, that was the situation on Friday as I went into work, cursing the day of my birth and thinking I'd fucked up royally. I had fucked up royally.
then at 6:30 pm, the nocturnal shift lead called in, he had just woken up, sick as a dog, if he couldn't work, maybe I could pull a double shift, get off at 3 am , and then leave early the next shift, have plenty of time for making it to the show. Supervisor on call said, call up relief staff, see if they can work. well, I didn't have to call at all really, but I offered that I would work. I called anyway, and it worked out for me, no one else was available.
so it worked out. then the Detonators had to cancel, Sean Shock sick puking, can't stand up. Bruce didn't bring the backline, I had to use Joey Shithead's amp head and a speaker from Dave of MDC. Soothesayers fairly tore the roof off of Luckey's and the place reached capacity three times during the evening. My friend Megan from work brought her usually upright Common-law Husband, he actually had a good time.
during our cover of Homicide by 999, Bruce picked me up and tried to put me on his shoulders during the guitar solo. he wound up dropping me on my head. no worry, I was feeling no pain. MDC rocked, DOA put on an amazing show. I slept at the drummer's house from 5 am til 7, then crawled home in the blinding sunlight. cheers.
fredxmertz: (Default)
9th annual whiteaker block party

Locker Combo at 2 pm, Soothesayers at 8 pm. Other favorites will be Missing Links, Pirate Radio and Wetsock.

You may also find Ricky Bidness playing steel guitar with Dwight Dickinson at the Lazarus Pit.




fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)


Can't believe the fucking coffee maker died...

Whiteaker People's Party is Saturday. I got the day off from work and I'll be appearing with Dwight D @ Lazarus Pit at 1 pm, Davy Jonesers at Tiny's @ 2, and the Soothesayers @ 8 pm. The Whiteaker PP is a response to the Whiteaker Block Party, (Whiteaker BLock Party is now in its 7th year!) Tim (of Soothe sayers) and Jevon organized the "People's Party" last year (2012) outside of the Block Party area, as a kind of act of defiance to the gentrification and monopolization of the Whiteaker neighborhood by Ninkasi brewing, this year the poeples party will be sponsured by Pabst Blue Ribbon, and that fact will be more of a 'two finger' salute to Ninkasi.
Originally, DavY jones' Locker Combo was going to play at the Jesco Club (AA) where Dave was caretaker at the time, THAT was to be the big F.U. to Ninkasi, because it was to be a sober party! but the little area we were to play was too small, and as soon as word got out that there was a 'non-Ninkasi' stage, it started to snowball a bit.
obv'ly not everyone is down with all the trash talking inevitably happens, about 'corporate beer' and the buying up of the neighborhood, whether its true or not, trash talking doesn't really achieve anything. & Where Tim is usually extra careful of what he does day, others close to him pick up the torch and mouth off about it. The politics of this situation makes for yucky band practices, can't we all just get along?

I've inherited the 'games group' at work, and will be running it for the first time tonight, still haven't decided what I want to play with residents. I'm very lucky to work with such great people, the staff at garden is pretty cool.
fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)
Davy Jones Locker Combo has 2 final shows: August 2nd at Tiny Tevern, and August 3rd at 2 pm @ the Whiteaker People's Party also (sigh) at Tiny Tavern. I mostly don't have a lot of time to setup any shows between family, home, work and school. We may stick around in some format under a different name, at least me and Motor City Scott. The Soothesayers are playing the Whiteaker PP at 8 pm.
recap:
DJLC 8/2 at Tiny's with BrainAke & PetitMort
DJLC 8/3 Tiny's parking lot 2 pm
Soothesayers 8/3 Tiny's 8 pm.
Anyhoo, today marks the official start of my new hours at work.


I got my baritone guitar, but it needs a setup (intonation & truss rod adjustment) otherwise it sounds great,


ExpandRUSSIAN ska? )
fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)
so I'm gona miss my brother's birthday shindig in Berkeley. I'm trying to negotiate time off for the day off, August 3rd, Whiteaker block party. If I get the day off, It'll be a double header Soothesayers and Davy Jones Locker Trio amongst the entertainment at the 'anti-Ninkasi' block party stage, Whiteaker People's Party at Tiny Tavern.

My baritone guitar will get here tomorrow. Its the 59 re-issue, not the "Dead on 67".





I've been enjoying the book about VOCODERS: "How to wreck a Nice Beach" (http://howtowreckanicebeach.com/)

and trying to wrap up my 5 year long love/hate affair with Thomas Pynchon's MASON & DIXON

this post brought to you by NUXIEMADE handcrafted yarn stuffs.
fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)



Did a gig with Dwight Dickinson last night at Tiny Tavern. It was a benefit for Brain Ake and the Family Mullet, as they got pulled over on their way to play a show in McMinnville, their RV was impounded and they got tons of fines for expired tags, speeding, and I don't know what all. So they raffled some gay porn and PEZ dispensers... Walking Trainsong played, which I didn't see, they're some (other) ex-bandmates of Mr. Mertz...

Soothesayers play in Portland this evening at Kelly's Olympian.



some ambient stuff recommended by STYLSS (Stop Taking your life so seriously)


BLACK LIPS!!!!!!!!!!!
fredxmertz: (Default)
(missing licks!)

also this: JP will be graduating this coming week. JP was good about going to Santina's ballet peformace yesterday with the family, inlcuding my (paternal) Dad, who drove down from Portland for the ballet... JP's pretty active on soundcloud, when he should be probably working on illustrating a book, 'Strong Jay'- but this is what he's been up to: ♠JUNES♠.



Nuxie's guppies had babies! We rounded up as many as we could and put in an isolation 'nursery' that separates the babies (fry) from adult fish, because the fry get eaten... by everybody. The frogs eat 'em, mommies and daddies eat 'em, even the neon tetras got a piece of the action, by eating the babies. On a less joyous note, while cleaning Nuxie's tank, I noticed tiny white worms (planaria) which are not harmful (but totally disgusting imho) so I vacuumed the substrate (gravel) and we did a 35% water change, the results have been good. Next thing is to stop feeding the fish (except the babies!) for a few days and be more careful about overfeeding... I tell ya, its the darn frogs! You want to make sure they're getting food after all, but I guess they can probably go a few days wihtout food, expecially after binging on babies!

Mertz Manor will be full to the brim with family visitors for the graduation next Saturday. Then, Soothesayers play at Kelly's Olympian in Portland, June 15th and Davy Jones Locker Combo plays an acoustic set June 29th at Cozmik Pizza.

LATEX
fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)
the 'show' for tonight is actually only $12, not $32. the $32 includes most of the 'hot glass' areas where artisans will be competing and creating original glassworks.
There will be DJ's between bands, and I'm told the Soothesayers' performance will be followed by the showing of a new film about glassworks. ? I guess they'll need something to calm them down.
Had a great hike with Nuxie and Waffles at Mt. Pisgah yesterday. JP is off on a camping trip to Fall Creek, returning tomorrow.
I've got to work on our bathroom, garage and yard to prepare for all our visitors next week. I've got finals Tuesday, but they should be pretty easy for me. Biology class last night was mostly identifying skulls of woodland mammals, by measuring size and counting teeth: bear, marten, skunk, coyote, shrew, etc.
Came home and finished the new Arrested Development season with Nux, then watched Trailer Park Boys.




time for me to get my coffee...

'ta

DFO 2013

May. 21st, 2013 08:29 am
fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)


the degenerate flame off 2013 will be at cornerstone glass in the whit. Soothesayers' singer, Samantha, is glass royalty around these parts: she says the event will have a limited space, the tickets to attend are $10, VIP passes can be purchased that allow one to attend 'special rooms' in which ornate glass items will be used for (dot dot dot)
The flame off, which Soothesayers have played before, used to be at Eugene glass school. Its a weird crowd for us, we're used to hooting punks not blazed hippies. The 'official' flame-off prohibits items like hash/weed pipes. the 'degenerate flame off' focuses almost exclusively on this type of item and has become at least as big, or if not BIGGER than the regular flame-off. So they're trying to keep fairly tight security, in order to keep out true degenerates... we'll see how that goes.
Anyways, we were invited to play in 2010, but I couldn't make it that time (I had to rush the fam down to Walnut Creek to see my Grandma Gladys before she passed away) Samantha says the DFO turns into a grand competition, with famous glass workers trying to out-do each other with ornate and creative works which are for the most part, dope utensils(or 'cheese converters' if you prefer).
My buddy Michele's baby-daddy is one of the glass workers who will be in attendance, and though I've only met him once or twice: I REALLY do not like the guy. The level of crappy stuff he's done to Michele, and the bizarre way in which he brainwashes his own sons bothers me to no end, and though I don't want to go to civil court for battery, I struggle against the urge to put a hurt on him when I do see him. He doesn't pay her child support, he often doesn't take custody when its his turn, and he's moved in with a very young Mormon chick, who also seems to be brain-washed.
anyhoo, thats on the 31st.
I got 6 or 7 cd's from Ed in the mail. CD's made from scratchy old 45's from the 50's, some really great stuff!
JP graduates from South on 6/8 and we will have a bunch of company all that week. I have final exams on 6/11.
fredxmertz: (Default)
My DJLC Sunday gig at Black Forest aint hap'nin. Dwight Dickinson is doing 2 dates at Tiny Tavern... wtf wtf wtf? I think I'm only going to play the Friday one, with Cuntagious & Security in Numbers. I will be reprising my role as Ricky Bidness, Dwight's steel guitar and harmonica man.



fredxmertz.com
fredxmertz: (Default)
This Saturday at Oak Street Speakeasy, Double Deuce opens for The Sawyer Family. This will be my final show with the Double Deuce!



I made a really good meatloaf last night. The market didn't have any ground pork in the meat section ("How are things in the meat department, Brian?") so I used ground turkey, which is the opposite of pork, but it still turned out great. gravy failed, though.
The Soothesayers have a great show coming up 3/16 with the Pierced Arrows at Luckey's. I'll be doing another show with Dwight Dickinson.... in my role as lap steel magnate Ricky Bidness.



Last.Fm stopped working on my powerbook (OS 10.5.8), required me to download a program, then wouldn't run anyway, requires OS 10.6. SO I said goodbye to last.fm. Goodbye Tumblr, Goodbye Last.Fm, Goodbye Double Deuce. Springtime for Hitler, I guess huh?

fredxmertz: (Ed 'Big Daddy' Roth's RATFINK)
Mertz appearing:
__________________________________________
Friday, Feb 15th - Double Deuce with Stone Foxes at John Henry's. 21+, ?$
__________________________________________
Saturday, Feb 16th - Double Deuce with Bomb Pots and Brain-Ake & the Family Mullet at Tiny Tavern. 21+ free.
__________________________________________
Saturday, March 2nd - Double Deuce with the Sawyer Family at Oak Street Speakeasy. No Cover!
__________________________________________
March 16th - THE SOOTHESAYERS are proud to join Pierced Arrows (ex Dead Moon, Fred & Toody) at Luckey's +more tba (hopefully The Underlings!)
__________________________________________
Friday, April 12th - DOUBLE DEUCE with Brain-Ake & the Family Mullet + TBA at Black Forest.
__________________________________________
Stay tuned for an upgrade to this site, & more music online.dd
fredxmertz: (Default)


Davey Jones' Locker Combo might be kinda resurrected, anyway Colin is talking bout moving back down here. I have a bunch of new material... I even have demos for about 15 songs to give to the Soothesayers, a couple of them are a year old, that just haven't gotten learned &/.or moved into rotation....

I'm in school, taking psych, biology, tai chi, and still spinning. ALC 11 is less than 6 weeks away!!!

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