1st day of fall- recordings

now that fall is finally here, I have begun recording; fall always inspires me.

my intention was to do some solo piano and vocal tracks “live” to my laptop; no multi tracking; everything played & sang at once. I like that method. However, I had technical problems.
I was running my piano and mic through my Roland VS1680 [using it as a mixer- since i hate using it- very complicated] into the laptop. 1^st the Roland was picking up some local radio station, then, the piano would come through the headphones, but not the mic. So… I got frustrated and began multi tracking.

wrote/recorded a couple of jam tracks, then did covers of "for what it's worth" [buffalo springfield] and "season of the witch" [donovan/ julie driscoll & brian auger] which i later fused into one very long psychedelic medley... with lots of fx... and a 60s psychedelic organ solo. I did them in honor of the 40-year anniversary of "the summer of love"... I thought about posting those 2 covers in this blog …but what w/copyright laws… thought better of it.

later i tried my original plan again… and variations…and it still didn’t work. so... maybe i'll just play directly into my old Fostex 4 track recorder as a mixer! voila.

[c]2007 doug duffey

writing lyrics/manual typwriters

have been going through [listening to, adding to or subtracting from] tons of tracks on my pc... and writing/ recording some new stuff, lately- and while the spirit is upon me, when i take a break from the music writing, i've been writing some lyrics using my old manual typewriters [better to hammer out the rhythm with, rather like piano keys, than a PC]

i have one on each porch of my house, and on various desks throughout; have collected them for years... the one in the foto below has been used for lyric/poetry/dairies & journals since the early 1970s [pre-computer]! most of my hollywood and new orleans diaries, all letters, poems and lyrics, etc. were written on it up until 1998 [when i got my 1st laptop]- i really prefer typewriters to computers... i like the uber alles feel [like an acoustic piano as opposed to a frigging keyboard] -the paper trail- [no crashes- you don't lose work]- the sound and feel and the beauty of the machinery... same thing with cameras: i prefer old manual ones to new digital ones.
above: a shot done today- on my front porch- with my old 'schreibmachine'- and below: one from a hollywood yard sale- circa 1970s- on the back porch looking out onto my 'outside' porch and my forest in the distance: a great/serene place to have coffee, smoke, THINK and TYPE...

now if only it were possible to easily find ribbons for them... but then, there IS the computer/internet, n'est pas?

[c]2007 doug duffey

summertime blues redux

i'm back in louisiana and it's hotter than hell - w/heat index over 100F daily- bloody brutal! why would anyone think of colonizing this jungle/swamp?

i have this foto [shot it the day after i got home] ALSO on my travel blog... but it fits the "uber alles" situation. the illiterate 'psycho christian sign changer' who did this NEEDS a dictionary... but, there again... this kind of screwed up stuff is part of the charm of the deep south...


i have my 1st stateside gig tonight, and am already drained from going in and out in this heat... on top of having jet lag. oh well, it's only rock and roll... down in the delta!

[c]2007 doug duffey

shots from the last european gig

below are some shots i made at sound check- just before the last gig of the tour- at the blue note in biel-bienne [8.14.07]

kiki [sound] and kelvin

hani... on his throne

sebi tuning and jamming

the piano awaiting me... while i'm snapping pix

kiki at the board

[c]2007 doug duffey

happy birthday, switzerland

foto: jacqueline trachsel

a shot of us playing on swiss "independence day"- august 1st, 2007.

[c]2007 doug duffey

Biel/Bienne Switzerland 7.26.07

some shots from today's gig- outside- at the Expo Bar, Guisan-Platz, Biel/Bienne... most shot during sound check

below: me [self portrait] w/ hani in the background

below: kelvin bullen [guitar]

below: sebi niessner [bass]

below: hani ali [drums]

all shots were done by me with my casio digital camera.

[c]2007 doug duffey

la belle suisse

my time in louisiana is coming to an end and i return to europe for a month and some days.
i hope to get a lot of webwork and music done, between gigs, while in europe. i have a lot of live european video footage that needs to be edited [and put on youtube, etc]... and hopefully the band can/will do some recording while i'm there. we need to; we really groove together.
there's a lot to do in one little month. but, i look forward to being back in "la belle suisse", performing, and seeing my friends. i'll be posting from there in one of these blogs [maybe travel-ology]

p.s. i posted the gig dates on my website www.dougduffey.com .... so "come see" if you're in the region.

[c]2007 doug duffey

tonight at julios on the bayou

i shot this foto one of the many times i played here. i love this pic. i've been playing this club since it was the bayou tavern in the early 80s. there will be no gator cooking tonight... but the band will be cookin'!

we'll be doing a mix of doug duffey originals with some delta blues, memphis soul, and a whole lotta louisiana R&B standards.... band line up: doug duffey- vocal/piano; tommy miller- guitar/vocal; dusty vines- bass/vocal; john brown -drums

anyone in the delta region [northwest mississippi/northeast louisiana] come on over.
julio's- hwy 80- tallulah, louisiana

[c]2007 doug duffey

Father's day foto

[c]2007 doug duffey

SOLO @ ENOCH'S JUNE 8

foto: a shot of me playing solo at Tipitina's in New Orleans, November 2006

I'll be doing my solo thing @ enoch's [507 louisville, monroe, louisiana] friday june 8. i usually do a mix of my original songs, louisiana standards, some old soul, jazz and blues stuff... and basically whatever pops into my head! adventures in improvisation

we're having the annual hippie reunion the 9th [YOU know where] so... whoever is coming "be sure to wear some flowers in your hair" [or what's left of it] and your best tie-dyed drag... and come by enoch's the night before!!!!!