socks

It just occured to me - that must be a long list! They've had nearly everyone in what - nearly 40 years, leave or been kicked out. Out of all the Way Corps, there can't be more than a couple hundred still signed on. That must mean that list is 100's of names long! I wonder how many Wayfer-hours it takes to maintain it, keep it current? Or maybe the yogurt-heads that have wussed out and are "alumnae" or in one of those sub-POW Corps classes of "inactive but actively maintaining inactive" statuses don't have their names on the list. The ones who have about as much active involvement as a door-stop but hide out in their second-class citizen status and make lame excuses year after year for why they can't go here or go ther to that meeting and have to suck it up and grit their teeth once a year to get to something so they can please their Masters and keep their cherished membership status. Someone described this whole cat-mouse-wink-wink game some of the corps people I once thought I knew, engage in. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. But it's too rich! A list to keep out the people that don't want to be there. That's efficient. I love it! Aaaah. There's always some new bit of news about the Way that makes my mind reel. Okay, enough of that - back to reality.

Security? To keep out the dreaded "marked and avoided"? They're sad sacks. It shows the level of cultist paranoia that reigns there, if that's what they do and I have no idea other than your say so. But if that's what they do they're wasting their time trying to keep the ghosts of their past from showing up when they only live in their minds. Scarey.

Slightly off center of the topic, but I think this applies - there was some chicanery in the corps assignments over the years as ex10 says. It seemed to build through the 80's as the Way grew in numbers. Strip away the "spiritual" double talk and what's left is a group of people in "top" leadership capacities in the trunk, region and limb positions negotiating and coordinating where 100's of people would be assigned every year. It was the early 80's when I first heard how the summer "leadership" meetings where assignments were put together were being run and it was suprising. Region and limb bosses jockeying for position to get more people, have cities that would receive high profile marketing in the Way Tree. Pretty much a person could get caught in the cross fire and be sent somewhere based on nothing more than heavy lobbying by that region's limb leader(s) for more people. In the 70's you could certainly contribute to that assignment process. You were able to make the decision for yourself if there was a place you wanted to go to and work and live, or an endeavor that you wanted to pursue. It was popular to leave it open and see where the winds of change blew you. When you're young it sounds exciting, interesting, an opportunity to do good. One of the biggest things that affected all of this "go forth as leaders in areas of etc" that a lot of people don't realize was the establishment of the "Trunk" office and a U.S. Trunk leader who oversaw the regions and limbs of the entire country. Following that there was a position put into place called "Worldwide Outreach" coordinator. So you've got a WW boss, a Trunk/U.S. boss and support for those two positions at the Way Nash, and those two people had a huge impact on what happened to the Way Corps. The political structure became very business like by 1982-3, and with that came all of the things, good and bad, that go with big-business. In theory the Way Tree was supposed to allow for there to always be one-on-one consideration of each person. But that depended on the PEOPLE that were in the Way Tree positions. With the Way growing as fast as it did and people being shuffled in and out of "leadership" positions every year you simply didn't see the kind of maturity and ability that would be required at all levels of the Way Tree. Sure you had some people that cared and had no ill intent and some very caring people too. But the primary qualifications for tenure were - PFAL registrations and money taken in ABS. High numbers got and kept people on those positions. But many of the older Way Corps grads were shuffled off and out of leadership positions where they could have impact because they weren't keeping up with the times and changes. You would hear about so-and-so, "they're taking a year or two off". Why? There were definitely cases where people got shoved out to make room for those who were more in step iwth the direction the Way wanted to go - fast, business like growth. Others simply redirected their energies to things that were becoming important to them, like family and careers. As the newbies came on board many were, IMO, less interested in the value of the individual person and their success and more interested in the "big picture" of numbers growth, grads, attendance, dollars taken in. A lifetime of service was a fluid thing when I was involved. It was expected it might mean many things over the years, and certainly as long as I was involved with the Way it would involve doing things with them. I do think the push to become more of a big successful company/church hurt because it didn't allow the time necessary for people to grow and mature and gain the experience and skills needed to responsibly pastor people. that's what it comes down to - what's the motivation? Is it the best thing for the person and their success? Or is it the best thing for the "program"? Programs serve people, not the other way around. But not in the Way. The Program rules supreme. People get with it or get gone.

Maybe that's why reincarnation has it's adherents. Do welll now, get a good do over later, keep doing till you get it right. Not a bad system, if I got it right.

Nice work! Like the title..."Episode 1"...If you ever do visuals with it you can roll off the opening on a black starry background...."A long time ago, in a far, far away place..." There's a little chuckle when you intro the show Paw, sounds friendly. I like the "Ringtones" name, and the intro theme is cool. Reminds me a little of "A Bugs Life" for some reason. And that's some snappy music on there, too. :) For the mic you might want to get a filter screen, you've probably seen them - they look like this one - Screen You can also make one easily enough out of mic stand, coat hanger and a pair of women's nylons, although when you buy them you may want to say "these are for my girlfriend" at the register to avoid any confusion. Just don't by "extra large" sizes. Basically you just want some material to absorb some of the volume and some of the highs, the trebles before they hit the mic Another mic item that's pretty nifty is one of these - A shockmount There's several kinds, I've got one on a desk stand with an SM57. It isolates the mic from external contact by floating it in a suspended holder. Works great. All in all, a significant entry into the world of podcasting/radio/internet audio. Congrats. It takes a lot of work to do this stuff and yer gettin' e'r done.

Well, it was fun and great! Being a long time Sons fan it's nice to hear the tunes again live. (first time I saw them was in Oakland, 60-something at a school dance, St. Elizabeth's I think, right at the time they were starting to play) Grillo smoked, and duh - he plays a Fernandes "Strat", set up with a Floyd Rose trem. White body. Nice guitar. He does a great job of working with the guitar parts, which are stamped with the sound of Terry Haggerty who played on the recordings over the years. "The Hag" played a lot of jazz oriented melodies in the solo sections, shaped with a rock sound. This guy takes it and really does a great job of keeping the essence there, doing some of the same stuff but adding to it. It's a good sound. Champlin plays a custom guitar, a Tele style, got a couple pics of it but they're pretty fuzzy. The body's slightly smaller than standard and a little different shape but it definitely is based on the Tele design. His arrangements have a lot of stuff going on and they're doing some double guitar parts too, dropping references here and there, like a "Third Stone from the Sun" harmnoized part that was a kick. Skip's sax playing was great. The arrangements are a workout, there were 4 in the horn section. Solid sound, great playing. Sons audiences are like Dead audiences, only - different. :blink: Hard to describe. There's no musical noolding, 1/2 hour one chord jams or shoe-staring solos, it's arranged, and dead-on solid The music means a lot to people that heard it years ago, Champlin's writing had a lot of ideas going on. So there's a lot of older people enjoying the sound, but a surprising amount of people in their 20's and 30's. The place was sold-out. It reminded me of how music draws people together from diverse backgrounds. We were surprised to see a few other folks there we knew, had no idea they'd be there. That was a plus. It's nice to see people doing well and getting on with their lives. It reminded me of how healthy it is to see people as - people. And how lame it is to see people through a haze of religious condemnation, especially when that relgiion is "The Way" of New Knoxville. :) Back to the gutar stuff.....................................................

"Loan Me a Dime" :) Great tune. Scaggs has got such a good feel on that album. "Long Gone" brings back memories. Great stuff. Speaking of Stratocaster players, we're off tonight to hear one, with Bill Champlin's band, the reunited "Sons of Champlin". Heard Champlin last year, and he's as hot as ever. Champlin had one of the better SF Bay Area bands of the 60's, (musicianship wise, probably the best) then went solo to make a few million bucks writing tunes like "September Song" for Earth Wind and Fire, then was with Chicago for several years after Peter Cetera left. ("Hard Habit to Break" is one of his tunes) He's back up in Northern California and is doing a lot of the Sons catalogue. Those of you who remember Skip Mesquite, sax - he's playing, taking the call when it comes in and is in the horn section tonight with the Sons. Love the Skeets, he and his wife are two of our favorite people on the planet, and he's playing great! I'll try to keep up with his calendar and post it here, if you like funky stuff, Skip's got it. They're at Mystic Theater in Petaluma, CA. tonight. Bill's got this guitarist with him playing, Carmen Grillo and he was on a Strat last time we saw him. He's a burner, does all the riffs you know and love and then a lot more. Looking forward to it. Terry Haggerty was the original Sons guitarist, a unique player at the time, jazzer, playing a big Gibson L-5. Always one "tab" into either a great night or a strange night whenever they played, and I saw them dozens of times. The new Sons are solid, funky and with Champlin singing and playing organ - it's all good!

Tom, the truth isn't out there, it's here...and it's amazing....! Chas, Sune will be back to answer for herself, but I can say - well, I can't remember the year(s) - must have been around mid to late 70's? I remember Sunesis at Emporia, playing great stuff and at the Way Nash in the summer. She's a great guitarist. There's some very good musicians come through the Way over the years, and it's great to read everyone's stuff. :)

Chas - Derek Trucks!!!!! :) :) :) Joyful Noise is a GREAT album, I love his sound! He really has a great style and is very diverse, doing some very interesting things with blues and other kinds of music. D Minor Blues is a great tune too off that album. Footprints off the first album, great. He's coming to S.F. and I want to catch him.

Aaaaah....guitar talk...I like it JL! Sunesis, glad you're here, love the read. Always enjoyed hearing you! No wonder JW did! NPR "Guitar Talk!" well, someone should do it! I listen to an FM station, think it's KRSH up here in Northern Cal, has a show called "Blues with Bowker", great blues show, Bill Bowker's been around a long time and plays some great stuff. JL. Danny's up in Seattle Washington. Spoke to him a few weeks ago, after many years. He's doing well, and yes, Danny's an excellent guitarist. Still plays - check his biz at American Music. Albert Collins is definitely one of my favorites too! Posted awhile back on meeting him when I was a wee teenager, playing a Telecaster myself at the time. Great blues player and performer. Not many blues guitarists can say they haven't picked up some stuff from The Freeze. SRV - oh yeah. He really defined a sound, that "Texas" sound they call it, although there's a lot of sounds in the Lone Star state. In his absence I think Doyle Bramhall's been doing that sound justice. Doyle's been around quite awhile, since the Arc Angels, and now off and on still with Storyville, plus his solo stuff. Definitely worth checking out. He's got some very hot sound on the Arc Angels tunes "Sent by Angels" and "Living in a Dream". Charlie Sexton was with them, and in Storyville too, great slide guitarist. One thing SRV brought back was the battered battleaxe guitar. Unfortunately the 2nd generation that's followed his style tend to distress their guitars early, sanding off portions to simulate the look of a worn off finish. Saw Kenny Wayne Shepherd a few years ago, and was immediately turned off by his nearly new Strat, with a fresh sand job done to the outer body where his arm rubs. It was so obvious it was almost funny except that he ruined a very nice Strat to try and add some cool to his look. As Frank Zappa once said "I don't wear a guitar, I play it". Los Lonely Boys do some nice Strat-blues rock too! Saw them last year, and they really have that high energy sound of youth mixed in with their blues-rock. They really kicked it, hard. Very hot, very good. Here's something a little different - some Mike Bloomfield - definitely one of the best electric blues guitarists of the 60's and 70's! At the height of his powers as they say, he was off the chart, technique, style, chops, foundation. Saw him at the Fillmore during two of the "Super Session" live gigs they recorded. The first night he was all over it, kind of hammy in his sincerity and very much wired to the point that his intro that's on the record opening caught a little of the laughter when he started his "one-two, one-two" rap. He was just wound very tight, to say the least but he played extremely well. Literally bug eyed by the middle of the first set. He was something to watch, the intensity of his playing. Second night he was fuzzy, wandering around the stage a little too much but still playing like a fiend. And the final tune, "Refugee" has the big clang on the record because he swung his guitar down to signal the end and the strap fell off his guitar and he just kind of swacked it down and lost it, and it banged down on the floor. It was a moderately uncool move, he picked it up and he had to be steered offstage. I didn't go for the rest of the gigs, but he didn't make it for them as he was hospitalized for..."insomnia". But he could play, and if not for the drug use he might still be with us today. A guitarist who draws a lot on his sound is Robben Ford. He's stil around, saw him a couple years ago in Marin County, extremely nice guy, very approachable. We still have the music though and I love his tuff. Some of Mr. Bloomfield at his best to share....Don't Think About It Baby (might take a second to load...you can load it or save it)

Texas Tea time...I can almost smell those 6L6 tubes heating up. Life Is Hard

Gimme a mo'.... :)

Winter's a deep guy, here's a non-slide piece off off his Still Alive and Well release JL and all. He tears it up Texas-blues style. No holdin' back from Winter. :) I think he's just visiting sometimes. Rock Me Baby

Winter time JL!

How...sweet.

Check this puppy out - owwch! Chas, you're right - they're staring at 1500 smackers! VALCO 1960'S AIRLINE JETSONS J.B. HUTTO JACK WHITE

National guitars.... - the original heavy metal guitars? Sweet guitar Bluzeman! Tom, some explanation from the Folk of the Woods website - Resonator Guitars How does a resonator work? The history of the resonator dates back to the early 1920's. This was an era when the resonator was a favorite among blues musicians. Resonators are also known as resophonic guitars and are characterized by a shaped cone for amplification, instead of a soundboard like on an acoustic guitar. The shaped cone is nestled underneath the bridge of the guitar. The bridge is connected to the cone so that when the strings are hit, the vibrations run through the saddle and then into the bridge, which resonates the cone. The cone acts like a built-in speaker and the body acts as a speaker cabinet. This made the resonator, a pre-cursor to the electric amplifier, one of the loudest instruments available of its time. The sound produced by these specially shaped cones and bodies is very bright and snappy with great sustain and a slight attack. Resonators are still favored today by blues and country musicians as well as a new generation of players.

It's....alive! Sweet stuff. Mando pics! Those tuners are beautiful dmiller. That bad boy's got some years! Ala, I confess I've never heard of a Yamaki, but a guitar's a guitar. My wif' had a nylon string classical that she bought in Alameda for about 50 bucks when she was a teenager, made in Mexico and it was a very good sounding and playing guitar. I did find some information on Harmony Central on Yamaki's HERE and learned some more about them.

Buy it and it will come.... You need it. You want it. You deserve it. Buy it. Figure you're saving money Bluzeman. The price may go up. It would be wise shopping and good stewardship of the money you're going to earn to get it now as those dollars you earn later won't be able to buy as much as they will now. It's simple economics. When willingness meets plastic, you've got explosive ability!!! diazbro, I don't know if we can upload mp3's or not - I could put it up if you send it to me, at soques@hotmail.com. I'll check it later. wow, I started playing guitar when I was 10, and stuck to it like a lot of people have. I played around Northern California from about '63 to '72 quite a bit, giggin', clubs, some concerts. Travelled some, then was in Way Productions at the Way Nash with people there, includig the inestimable Ted Ferrell, the hardest workin' man in show business, The Man, the Myth, the Legend, the One and Only Magi of Musical Madness himself. I survived that and have been playing around since then. I still write and "work" some as they say, (and it's harder than I remember) I'm coming out of a long Spring of contentment, AKA "raising a family". I've had a lot of good experiences and been able to work with some great people and musicians, I'll say that.

wow - you said you have an Epiphone Les Paul. How do you like it? I've played some, played a couple of the "SG" models too. I like their dot 335's. What kind of amp do you play it through? Speaking of strings, playing and sore fingers, I got 'em. Played a fair amount this weekend and danged if my fingertips aren't sore. It's weird - I used to get callouses, thick callouses that would peel off sometimes. Even when I played light gauge strings on a Les Paul. But it seemed like I only got the thick callouses when I was young. Now no matter how much I play they stay about the same. I've wondered if it's because my playing is more select now where I used to play more styles all the time....? dunno.

He he!! Coolchef, that Silvertone ROCKS! Chas, I've seen photos of the guy in White Stripes with his Airline guitar. That's "Monkey Wards" at it's best. ! Harmony and Kay made the guitars for Ward's and Sears. I thought they looked very cool. But sound wise - I knew a guy when I was about 11, who got one of their "triple pickup" models, sort of a Stratocaster on 'shrooms, cherry red, with a very thin tone and some kind of a molded plasti-wood body. But it seemed very cool at the time. I'm going to try the J. Pearse's and get a couple more sets of D'Addarios Chas. I've been using them too now for awhile, they do seem as consistent as any other, so I'm glad to hear your husband uses them too. I tried some Fender's off and on, and they seem okay too. It's just such a pain to change strings more than I need to, which is about once a month these days. So I'm going to do some switching around as I go. I'll have to save the bags and get some cool stuff. A barstool...? SWEET! That's funny about your son and the bass! And I agree, many of the Ibanez's hold up better for regular playing than their Fendar counterparts. My son got a Fernandes Strat on sale about 11 years ago. It was a midnight sale or something at a local store, and we got it for 200.00 bucks, pretty decent Strat copy. I played it, it seemed solid. That guitar has held up better than any I've seen in the 2-300 dollar range. The neck has stayed true from day one and he's strung it up with heavy-heavy gauge strings, .013's are as light as he really likes. He's a thrasher heavy metal enthusiast when it comes to guitars, like all kinds of music but when it comes to guitars he's in the sub-strata zone of heavy metal sounds. He has huge hands and fingers and he's double jointed in all his fingers and thumbs, (his sister has d-j'd thumbs and long wrists and fingers too). He can do some strange things with his hands and has a very long reach on the neck. So one of the biggest things for him was to find a comfortable way to hold the neck as it was tiny in his hands. We worked on it and he found his way in time. Plays his own style, has never been interested too much in learning music, just figures it out as he goes. His sister's the opposite, studies, practices, wants to know they why's and the wherefores. She took drum lessons for a couple years and studied meticulously - he sat down and got the feel soon enough and within a couple days was whacking away. Kids, different, but the same. :blink:

Hi CK - yes, they were. We did, few times but we didn't have the "Tink and Tank" show or anything. :) Fun stuff, to bless as they say or used to say. Wow, thanks for sharing that with us Chattykathy. Instruments age as we do don't they? They grow with us, into us, around us. In a way they carry the music we made in them. Long time ago I was told about a way to "break in" a new guitar, and age it a little faster. Keep it out in a stand near your stereo speakers so that the instrument would vibrate ever so slightly by the sound coming out of the speaker. The body would react in a similar way to being played, so that even if it was out in a room it would pick up sound waves, and of course heat, cold, dust so you'd have to be careful with it. Florida - I can appreciate the controlled environment storge - heat and humidity can be really rough on a guitar. I liked the idea of having my guitars out and it made me feel more comfortable about it. They're made to be played. So I've had a ding or two here come up on guitars but I've tried to keep mine out safely so they can absorb the environment, and so my children would grow up used to having them around. I've never told them to put them down or not play them, I taught them how to handle them. I thought of that with your brother's guitar and it being played by your Dad, being shared by your step-father like that. What a moment that must have been! :) Thank you for sharing it, now i have it too.

Thanks dmiller. I'm going to get a set of John Pearse's for my Takamine. It could use a little brighter sound. It's maple archtop and smaller body gives it a 'jazz' sound, in fact it was Takamine's one model they put out like that, for about a year. I'll check 'em out. I really like the John Pearse thumb amd finger picks, although I don't use them much at all I got some given to me at one point and I keep them in my bag o' stuff. Woods - spruce is a popular wood for the tops of guitars. Rosewood is common for the sides and backs, the bodies. Lots of different types for each - Sitka and German are common spruce woods and Brazilian and Indian for rosewood. Koa is also used a lot for the bodies now, maple some and walnut. Electric guitar bodies like Stratocasters, Les Pauls, have "solid" bodies, where they're made out of one piece of wood, or two pieces joined at the center, usually matching or close to it if they have a clear finish. Common body woods are alder, ash, maple, basswood. Leo Fender originally built his bodies using ash and maple for his necks. That's very common now, although it was a new idea in his day. Most necks, including many Fender necks now, have a rosewood or ebony wood fingerboard over the neck. That's why Fender necks look light colored on the fingerboard where you put your fingers and others will look darker that have a rosewood fingerboard. Rosewood fingerboards have a rounder, smoother sound and the maples a bit sharper, "brighter" sound. A lot of electric guitars will have the body made out of one kind of wood and a thinner veneer on the top made of another wood, like maple. This reduces the cost some and also reduces the weight of the guitar as a solid maple body is heavier. In some cases the top veneer is fairly thick if it's a "carved" top, an archtop, where the shape raises slighly in the center, like a Les Paul or some of the other solid bodies that will incorporate that shape into the design. My favorite combination is a Telecaster body like the one I have, with the archtop configuration. It allows for a good combination of woods and a great look I think. But that's just for starters. :) Others probably know more, and there's LOTS more! BTW, "Vintage Guitar" magazine is a great source for information. It's a big honkin' monthly mag that's always filled with 100's of ads for guitars and good articles on all things guitar.

Aside from the Freudian slip "apart" (which was a typo I'm sure but funny coming from a Way grad. Hey, just know what I'm readin'...) this is the normal language used by Wayfers. Others "just" believe in Jesus Christ, others are "random religious groups". But they need to fix it otherwise every person who was a part of the Way but is now apart of the Way will want to post there. What exactly is a random religious group? I won't even go there. I browsed the posts on the one board, and the first response to that "Matt"s question was more classic Wayfer gush. Most of the things he would think are special and unique to the Way Ministry are "a part" of many other churches and ministries and form the foundation of biblical inquiry in general. But Wayfers feel special because, well they're just special I guess. Or maybe "different" is more accurate. Whatever, if the Way Nash bullies leave them alone or decide to allow their members the same freedoms every other citizen of the U.S. has to use the internet maybe they'll be able to stay without intervention.

Hey, it's alive! Welcome sunesis. Bluzman, there's beer in the back of the barber shop, usual place. Got the Sunn used, diszbro, it's a 70's top, but still works without a problem. Good volume, not a really diverse tone but effective. The Spider's a Line 6, think I had Lab Series on the brain. :) Nice Martin dmiller. Good tone, no doubt. Definitely a great guitar for bluegrass! Strings - Chas's got it, Tom. Flats = flat wounds. The 3rd (sometimes) 4th, 5th and 6th strings have a core string that's wrapped. Where "round wound" strings are standard (ubiquitous!) the flat would have a mellower, smoother sound. Look like they're wrapped in little metal ribbons, and don't make a rubbing sound when they're played. So there's round wound, flat wound and now "half-wound" strings, that are basically round wound with the uh roundness flattend a little. They're actually nice sounding strings. I went from 009'-.46's and crept up to a heavier E and A, and then went to an .010 on the E. I have two guitars set up with light gauge and a "heavier" light gauge sets. I like something in the .050 and up range on the low E. But for stretching inside the chords on the G and D strings, I need them lighter or the fingers twist up. I found a nice sound where you use a bar chord, like an A 5th fret, and drop the 3rd on the G string down a step from C# to the B, and stretch that back up with the index finger, and stretch it up a half step to D with the middle finger. It's a little weird but easy once you I got the feel for it. It similates a pedal steel sound fairly well for melodies. Likewise stretching the 5th strings on the bottom of the chord. When the strings are too light it's easy to go sharp but when it's a blend of heavier on top and bottom and light in the middle I think it allows for better control. But I still struggle with string brands. Was using Elixirs for a few years, and liked them. Fairly expensive but seemed worth it. Then I got a few sets that were dusty, had to clean them before they felt right. And several sets in a row had small dings in the windings. I have a magnifier lens/light and I put a set under it and examined them closely and found imperfections all over the place. Another set, couple, not quite as bad. But a few I could feel when they were on. That was very disappointing, given they run about 15-16 bucks normal retail. I get them for about 11 bucks, but still. What brands do you all use? Any better than another? (I was even sorely disappointed with some "Les Paul" brand strings which played - not good) :( I'm using D'Addarios now - they seem as good as any. Tom, Taylor's a good brand too. Worth the money, good sound. Check those bad boys out HERE.