ricky don't lose that martin

Posted: April 28th, 2009

we've spent almost 20 years developing our craft as a live act. a good deal of that relies heavily on improvisation, which ultimately depends on our ability to listen to one another & be able to respond to subtle changes in the music at a moment's notice - & more importantly, having the tools to do it. having the encouragement of a great audience, along for the ride, helps the runners @ mile 20.

one of the key things for us, has always been to keep the improv as organic as possible. the changes should sound subtle & never forced. if it ever sounds forced, or as if the music suddenly tripped over itself & started a new song, then something was wrong. sometimes it takes a LONG time to get there in an organic manner, as I'm sure you all know. sometimes that's epic. sometimes it's simply LONG.

we've never been a band that is content w. the model, & we're always making changes to the previous version (see recording methods used for last 3 albums). we've also always operated on the one principle that we do this because it makes us happy. if we do not all enjoy the work we do, we don't do it (see shelved songs, side projects, real jobs, etc). enter ricky.

the recent shows have been sprinkled w. some new jams that use a different approach then the open ended 100% improv of the past. we the idea was to compose new instrumental themes, often utilizing variations or movements of other pieces being played that night, as platforms for segues - each one providing a foundation for a new arrangement of a familiar idea, but taking it somewhere new. by connecting these islands together, we could then link new songs together in new ways. the concept was to combine some of our songwriting/arranging skills w. our improv skills to create some new music & see what happened. as they grow & evolve, we'll be able to use these sections as trailmarkers along the way, throughout the course of some evolved improv.

a combination of this structured improv, along w. our more traditional open ended jams should ultimately make for a more dynamic show (as opposed to every song just being ">").