Tony Sings Log Book

The log book page is an attempt to note things that have been done that relate to music. This is a kind of personal blog I guess. It is now connected to a database so hopefully it will be easier to to update and keep more current.

Wednesday June 18th, 2003 - Setup the initial page

The tonysings web page is created with a little adjustment until it was working live on the Internet. Restored Springhill Properties which had stopped working.

Thursday June 19th, 2003 - Tweeking by Ray to Solve website problems

We came up live and well and I added this log book to the site. Off line I got nervous because the mic stand fell last night and the mic stopped working. I tried other mics and none worked so I concluded the problem was the cable. Low and behold with a little solder it is working better than ever. All is ready for tomorrow and Oobahs.

Thursday June 19th, 2003 - Keeping Equipment Working

Off line I got nervous because the mic stand fell last night and the mic stopped working. I tried other mics and none worked so I concluded the problem was the cable. Low and behold with a little solder it is working better than ever. All is ready for tomorrow and Oobahs.

Friday June 20th, 2003 - Added music to the Website

6/20/03 Today I added the first music. This was a recording on the fly of a segment of the song Come On In that will play automatically with the startup of the website. The file is large enough that there is a little delay before start. I am going to put it on line and test is with several machines to be certain that I can work with the wma format.

Saturday June 21st, 2003 - More refining of the website

Placed a copy of the information that was on the computer farm site onto the Tony Sings Site. Separated the booking and links page from the home page. Matched the screen color with the music page from The Computer Farm. Imported the picture for Back of the Equipment Case.

Tuesday July 1st, 2003 - Tricky getting the music to play

A frustrating struggle trying to get a javascript to let me play either the mp3 or wma versions of the excepts from the song "Come On In" without bringing up an external player. I have not figured it out yet but the automatic playing of music has been disconnected and you can click on your choice. MP3 file is pretty large, too.

Tuesday May 31st, 2005 - Moving from Connecticut to Vermont

Having lived in Connecticut for the past 7 years new employment and a new place are now relocating Teddy and I to a spot further north in Vermont than we used to live. We have a place out in the country where will we be able to try our hands at farming.

Tuesday May 12th, 2009 - Restarting work in Music

Started redoing this site with it in mind to begin getting out and performing. The time has come because there is room in the world for music about the times. I am not certain where this is going but I am being drawn into music again and I like it. It started with playing with some people that I work with and then trying out new equipment and adding more and more new equipment. Progressed to moving my old sequences from floppy disks back into the computer and re-editing them a little at a time and then visiting with Newel and Denise in Portland Oregon and then going to rehearsals and gigs and recording sessions with Newel and finally coming back to Vermont to discover all the music that is going on around me. When I listen to how it feels to play it is feeling really good. I have to keep that in mind as I find more places. What I am actually doing is revising this web site, setting up some music for demos, looking at and reveiwing music places around my area, and playing.

Saturday May 23rd, 2009 - REcording Generations

Not performing but doing some recording for a demo for Generations Rock and Roll Band. They did two shows Saturday one was part of the Memorial Day celebration for the Town of Williamstown, VT where Generations did a two hour outdoor concert. A good part of the time there was spent working out the bugs and get some old equipment functioning again. The second show was a fund raiser in the evening at Christ Church in Montpelier. The evening was fun and I even got to get up and sing a song with the band as part of the process. I have done some rough mixes from the recordings that were made and we will have a mixdown session to prepare a sampling demo from the recordings. I used a 4 track recorder for these sessions and was frustrated because more tracks would have really helped.

Thursday July 16th, 2009 - Did Record Long Set at Elixir

Thursday Evening performance at Elixir was a long one. I played a single set that started at 8:00pm and ended at 10:45pm. I was not planning to do this but it just happened. I started out frustrated because I wasn't getting the sound I wanted from the guitar. I was slow but sometime after 9:30 I got the sound I wanted. Well I was so pleased I just wanted to hear what songs would song like with the guitar sounding the way I wanted. Well I just went on trying and enjoying songs and next thing the night was over.

Friday February 26th, 2010 - Added New Equipment and approach

This is really stuff that I have been working on for the past 3 or 4 months. I saw a woman playing at Goddard College using a device called a looper. It allows you to play and record your music and then kick a pedal at the end of a verse so the whole verse is recorded. Once you kick the pedal to end the loop the looper immediately starts playing back what you have recorded and you can play along with it. You can add another part to the loop a number of times and build a fairly complex piece of music adding one part at a time. I have used the looper to record many of the sequences that I created and then I have added a rhythm guitar part over the sequence which allows me to play more lead and add other acoustic instruments. I also can do some other more sophisticated things which frees me to try new things and makes the songs flexible in length and styling. Having fun!!!

Tuesday March 2nd, 2010 - Started Work updating the website

I have started working on the revising of this page. First of all it needs to be more current and so I am working with setting up a faster and easier way to keep it updated. I have added a couple of new pictures.

Tuesday March 9th, 2010 - Added Promo page to website

Added a promo page to the website with some photos and a write so I can direct club owners and managers there as a way to get promo materials to use when I am playing. This is a tremendous time saver. I am going to use it as a repository as I get new materials. It also gave me the idea of creating an archive of actual information that is produced about shows that I am doing.

Monday September 6th, 2010 - Musc at Corinth Historical Society Opens Museum Labor Date Celebration

9/6/2010 Corinth Historical Society Opens Museum with music and refreshments for the community Participated by putting together lyrics for a series of labor songs ranging from John Henry to the Union Maid to Dark as a Dungeon. Passed out copies of the lyrics to people in the audience. Had an enthusistic group of people who came and spent several hours talking about the times and reviewing some of the history of the town. Teddy met some relatives who live here who have studied the family history and offered her some new insites about where she came from.

Monday September 20th, 2010 - Lighting using LED Lights

Ordered an LED light box to use for performing and getting enough light to photo the show. I would like to get some video as well as stills and just collect more history of what we are doing. The single light produces a range of colors and can be set to change colors in rhythm with the music. I'll maybe try that later in an evening when people want to dance. I have ordered but not yet received a controler that will let me modify the light from a control panel that I can setup. Because the light contains red, green and blue color almost any color can be created by combining these colors.

Thursday October 7th, 2010 - Added Six Days On the Road

Playing at the open mic at the Greenhouse I tried out my version of 6 days on the road. It was the first public performance and people liked it. But I noticed that almost everyone knew the song and sang along. Well I did a little research. The song was written by Carl Mongomery and Earl Green and made into a #2 country hit by Dave Dudley. It also reached 13 on the easy listening chart and 32 on the top 100. It was covered and made the country charts by three other performers. In 1974 by Johnny Rivers, in 1980's by Steve Earle and in 1997 by Sawyer Brown. It was also recorded by 13 other artists.

Thursday October 14th, 2010 - Taping the Big Show for Citizens TV in Hampton, CT

This was a real retrospective. I played with Bobo Lavorgna in Connecticut as a Duo working at a place called Earl's Pub in Groton as well as participating in the band known as More Bulk. Bobo is an extraordinary bass player who plays a full stand up bass. He and another musical partner, Tommy Cosmo, do a monthly TV show called the Big Show and feature people from the New Haven music scene on their show. A special treat for me was being able to do a couple of songs for the show with Bobo. He also shared a tape he had saved from a show we did together many years ago. It was great to remember some of the things I used to do as well as to be reminded of some good songs that I could still include today. Thanks Bobo

Thursday March 31st, 2011 - Tony Goes Subwoofer Crazy

Added a second EV subwoofer to my sound system. Teddy's comment is now the house shakes all the time. The fullness of the low end is sooooo big and so easy that it excites me. It takes my attempt at being a one man band a major step forward. You will be able to feel the kick drum and the bass. Am I having fun yet? I think I am!!!

Tuesday April 5th, 2011 - Setup Logbook Database

Updated the logbook page for this site to become a database driven page. This will allow easier entry and update of information. Hopefully it will keep it more current.

Wednesday May 11th, 2011 - Website Expansion

I am using a tablet to handle booking and the updating of information. It give me reminders and allows me to have my information with me all the time. I had software to allow me to make the updates to the tonysings.com website without having to redesign the code for each update. It did not work with the tablet but I have redesigned the software so that now it does. This is not really about music but definitely a win for me.